Kubota Corporation

Kazuaki Kurohara

Nobuyuki Yamashita

Katsuhiko Uemura

Hiroyuki Ogasawara

Masatake Murakawa

Mikio Yuki

Hiroki Nagai

Eriya Harada

Niro Bando

Masaki Hayashi

Tetsuaki Hayashi

Fumihiro Ikeda

Masatsugu Tone

Junji Miyata

Hiroshi Itatani

Akira Minoura

Hiroshi Oshima

Ryouzou Imanishi

Ryozo Imanishi

Tomoyuki Morikawa

Takashi Fujii

Yoshio Tomiyama

Hiroyuki Tada

Shoso Ishimori

Takashi Shibata

Masatoshi Yamaguchi

Toshiki Kanai

Masaji Kure

Shinichiro Saji

Akio Matsui

Yasuo Fujima

Yutaka Nakata

Mitsuaki Miyata

Kenzo Usiro

A mower unit includes a housing, a pair of cutting blades arranged inside the housing, each of the cutting blades being rotatable about a respective vertical axis supported by the housing, the cutting blades being driven to be rotated in opposite directions, and a baffle arranged generally between rotation regions of the cutting blades to guide air flows generated by the cutting blades. The baffle defines an upper baffle portion located adjacent an upper region of the housing, a lower baffle portion located adjacent a lower region of the housing, and an air passage formed for allowing the air flows to flow between the upper baffle portion and lower baffle portion.

Mower unit

A grass collector adapted to be attached to a rear of a riding-type mower for receiving cut grass from a mower unit through a duct, the grass collector including a front container section having a rearwardly facing opening and adapted to be attached to the riding-type mower, the front container section carrying a first bottom plate having a substantially horizontal position. A rear container section is supported pivotably about a pivot point located in a rear upper region of the front container section and pivotable between a first position wherein the rear container section substantially covers the opening of the front container section and a second position pivoted from the first position to allow cut grass to fall, the rear container section having a second bottom plate having a substantially horizontal position.

Grass collector for a mower

A riding-type mower vehicle comprises a mower supported by a vehicle body; a grass collector configured to receive cut grass cut by the mower; a vehicle-side connector located at a rear position of the vehicle body and having a pair of inclined guide portions that face each other such that a distance between the inclined guide portions decreases toward lower portions of the inclined guide portions to open upwardly; and a collector-side connector provided to the grass collector to extend generally downwardly and having a pair of inclined guided portions whose distance from each other decreases toward lower portions of the inclined guided portions; wherein the collector-side connector is attached to the vehicle-side connector by inserting an inclined guided portion of the collector-side connector between the pair of inclined guide portions of the vehicle-side connector.

Riding-type mower vehicle

A grass collector adapted to be attached to a rear of a riding-type mower for receiving cut grass from a mower unit through a duct, the grass collector comprises a front container section having a rearwardly facing opening and adapted to be attached to the riding-type mower, the front container section carrying a first bottom plate having a substantially horizontal position; and a rear container section supported pivotably about a pivot point located in a rear upper region of the front container section and pivotable between a first position wherein the rear container section substantially covers the opening of the front container section and a second position pivoted from the first position to allow cut grass to fall, the rear container section having a second bottom plate having a substantially horizontal position.

A lawn mower has driving front wheels and driving rear wheels. The mower includes a mower unit mounted between the front wheels and the rear wheels to be vertically movable, an engine mounted to a front portion of a vehicle body, a transmission case disposed rearwardly of the engine, an HST coupled to a rear wall of the transmission case, the HST having a pump shaft and a motor shaft both projecting forwardly, a charge pump for the HST attached to a front wall of the transmission case, a transmission mechanism disposed inside the transmission case. The transmission mechanism includes an input shaft operably coupling a transmission shaft from the engine to the pump shaft, a first output shaft for transmitting power from the motor shaft to a transmission shaft for the front wheels, a PTO shaft for transmitting power from the input shaft to a transmission shaft for the mower unit, and a second output shaft for transmitting power from the input shaft to the charge pump. The first and second output shafts extend in a fore-and-aft direction of the mower and parallel with the input shaft, the second output shaft being disposed upwardly of the input shaft, the first output shaft being disposed downwardly of the input shaft.

Lawn mower having HST

An engine enclosure for use on a vehicle having a cooling system for a vertical shaft type engine with a cooling air intake fan disposed above the engine. The engine enclosure comprises an upper hood for covering the engine from above, the upper hood having an upper surface and right and left side surfaces extending downward from the upper surface, a lower hood for covering lateral areas of the engine, and a cooling air intake opening formed in a position above a lower end of at least one of the right and left side surfaces of the upper hood for taking in ambient air. A partition wall member is disposed between the cooling air intake opening and the cooling air intake fan for restricting mixing of ambient air drawn by the fan and heat generating from the engine.

Engine enclosure

A mower with a grass catcher ( ) for collecting grass clippings transmitted from a mower unit. The grass catcher has an inlet opening ( ) in a front position thereof, and an outlet opening ( ) and an openable lid ( ) in a rear position. The grass catcher ( ) is connected to the rear end of a vehicle body to be supported in a suspended state by a grass catcher support unit ( ). The support unit includes mounting posts ( ) attached to the rear end of the vehicle body and extending upward, and a support link mechanism ( ) for interconnecting upper regions of the mounting posts and lower rearward regions of the grass catcher, and for switching the grass catcher between a grass clippings collecting posture with the inlet opening directed forwardly of the vehicle body, and a raised dumping posture with the outlet opening directed downward. The support link mechanism performs a switching process for switching the grass catcher from the grass clippings collecting posture to the raised dumping posture. The switching process includes a translating process for translating the grass catcher obliquely rearward and upward while maintaining the grass catcher substantially parallel to the grass clippings collecting posture, and a rotating process for rotating the grass catcher until the outlet opening is directed downward.

Mower with a grass catcher

An apparatus for raising and lowering a mower unit, having a control lever movable between a first terminal position and a second terminal position for raising and lowering the mower unit, a link mechanism for raising the mower unit with movement from the first terminal position to the second terminal position of the control lever, a first stopper for holding the control lever in the first terminal position, a second stopper for holding the control lever in the second terminal position, and an assist mechanism for applying a force to the link mechanism to raise the mower unit only when the control lever is located between the first terminal position and the second terminal position.

Apparatus for raising and lowering a mower unit

A working vehicle with power steering, having a substantially closed accommodating space defined by an engine hood and a control panel, an engine disposed in the accommodating space and a steering shaft disposed in the control panel. A cooling fan produces cooling air flows moving toward the engine from an air intake formed in the control panel. A power steering apparatus for supplying steering assist power to the steering shaft, and a control unit for controlling the power steering apparatus, are arranged in the accommodating space to be exposed to the cooling air flows.

Working vehicle with power steering

A power transmitting structure for a mid-mount mower having a mower unit disposed in a middle region of a vehicle body. The power transmitting structure includes an engine disposed adjacent front wheels, axle shafts for rotating drive wheels, a stepless transmission operatively connected to the axle shafts, and a power branching device. The power branching device includes a branch input shaft connected to the engine through an engine power transmitting device extending longitudinally of the vehicle body, a first branch output operatively connected to the stepless transmission, and a second branch output operatively connected to the mower unit. The first branch output is a pulley connected to an input pulley of the stepless transmission through a belt to transmit power to the input pulley. The power branching device is disposed independently of and spaced from the stepless transmission. The mower unit is suspended below the engine power transmitting device between the engine and the power branching device.

Power transmitting structure for a self-propelling vehicle having a

An engine hood construction for a work vehicle is disclosed. The engine hood is vertically separatable into a lower hood section and an upper hood section. The lower hood section is fixedly attachable to and detachable from a vehicle frame, and the upper hood section is attached to the vehicle frame to be pivotably and vertically opened and closed relative to the frame. A control panel is provided at a rear portion of the engine hood and forming a rear wall of an engine room. The control panel has a forwardly opened hook shape in a plan view. The construction further includes a connecting arrangement for fixedly connecting the lower hood section to the vehicle frame and engaging members for enabling the lower hood section to be engaged with the control panel along a fore-and-aft direction of the vehicle when the connecting arrangement is not connected.

Engine hood construction of work vehicle

A cooling system for a vehicle having a radiator disposed above an engine, and a muffler disposed in a region below the engine. This system includes an air intake guide for guiding cooling air to the radiator from outside, an exhaust guide for guiding a large part of the cooling air having flowed past the radiator, forwardly of the vehicle, a cooling fan for producing air currents flowing from the air intake guide past the radiator to the exhaust guide, and ducts provided for opposite sides of the exhaust guide for guiding part of the cooling air having flowed passed the radiator into a muffler cover enclosing the muffler. The ducts communicate with positions of the muffler cover to blow the cooling air toward connections between exhaust pipes of the engine and the muffler.

Cooling system for a liquid-cooled engine

A lawn tractor has an engine with a vertical output shaft, front wheels and rear wheels, a body frame extending longitudinally of the tractor, a mower unit supported by the body frame, a grass catcher supported the by body frame, a blower unit supported by the body frame, and a duct for transporting grass clippings cut by the mower unit into the grass catcher. The duct includes a first duct portion extending between the mower unit and the blower unit, and a second duct portion extending between the blower unit and the grass catcher. The mower unit has a vertical mower drive shaft for receiving engine power. The blower unit has a vertical blower input shaft for receiving engine power. An intermediate shaft is disposed between the mower unit and blower unit. The intermediate shaft has a first, a second and a third pulleys mounted thereon. The first pulley is drivably connected to the engine output shaft. The second pulley is drivably connected to the mower drive shaft. The third pulley is drivably connected to the blower input shaft.

Lawn tractor having a blower unit and a grass clippings transport duct

A lawn tractor has an engine, front wheels and rear wheels, a body frame extending longitudinally of the tractor, a mower unit supported by the body frame, a grass catcher supported by the body frame, a blower unit supported by the body frame, and a duct for transporting grass clippings cut by the mower unit into the grass catcher. The duct includes a first duct portion extending between the mower unit and the blower unit, and a second duct portion extending between the blower unit and the grass catcher. An output shaft of the engine, an input shaft of the mower unit and an input shaft of the blower unit all extend vertically. The engine output shaft, mower input shaft and blower input shaft are arranged inwardly of the rear wheels in the transverse direction of the body frame and substantially linearly in the longitudinal direction thereof. The engine output shaft and mower input shaft are interconnected through a first belt transmission mechanism, and the mower input shaft and blower input shaft are interconnected through a second belt transmission mechanism.

Growing community of inventors

Sakai, Japan

Kazuaki Kurohara