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:
Sep. 25, 2001
Filed:
May. 26, 2000
Matthew J. Plas, Elyria, OH (US);
Marty Pierce, North Royalton, OH (US);
MTD Products INC, Cleveland, OH (US);
Abstract
A riding mower has a deck attachment mechanism for use in attaching a mower deck to the mower frame and a deck lift mechanism for use in lifting the mower deck. The deck attachment mechanism forms a four-sided parallelogram and includes a first side formed of a first link and a second side formed of second and third links. The second and third links together form a split link and the third link may be pivoted about the second link into first and second positions. The first link has an effective length L,and the split link has an effective length L,when the third link is positioned into the first position and an effective length L,when the third link is positioned into the second position. The effective length L,is less than the effective length L,. The deck attachment mechanism also includes a lock bracket and a lock lever to lock the third link into the second position. The deck lift mechanism includes a lift cylinder mounted to the frame and connected to the third link. The lift cylinder is operated to position the third link into the second position as the mower deck is lifted.