The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document.
The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge covers the following: Patent number, Date patent was issued, Date patent was filed, Title of the patent, Applicant, Inventor, Assignee, Attorney firm, Primary examiner, Assistant examiner, CPCs, and Abstract. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document (in Adobe Acrobat format, aka pdf). To download or print any patent click here.
Patent No.:
Date of Patent:
Dec. 30, 1997
Filed:
Aug. 11, 1995
Kanzaki Kokyukoki Mfg. Co., Amagasaki, JP;
Abstract
An axle drive unit for facilitating maintenance, such as replacement or cleaning of an oil filter for filtering operating oil. The present invention uses the interior of the housing of the axle drive unit as an oil sump. The axle drive unit has a hydrostatic transmission for driving axles and operating oil supply means for supplying the operating oil to the transmission. A plug-in bore is open at the side wall of the housing opposite to a suction port of the operating oil supply means. The oil filter is inserted into the housing through the plug-in bore and connected to the suction port. The plug-in bore is covered with a cover member for freely opening and shutting the bore. Such construction enables a worker, when inspecting or replacing the oil filter, to remove the cover member from the side wall of the housing while the axle drive unit is being loaded on a vehicle. The oil filter can simply be inserted or removed through the open plug-in bore. The oil filter is horizontally mounted in the housing and avoids other parts of the axle drive unit. At the same time, the oil filter has a sufficient length to obtain an increase in filtration area without reducing ground clearance of the axle drive unit. Additionally, the oil filter is inexpensive to produce.