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:
Aug. 30, 2005
Filed:
Aug. 26, 2003
Douglas Dean Korthals, Fuquay-Varina, NC (US);
Douglas Dean Korthals, Fuquay-Varina, NC (US);
Deere & Company, Moline, IL (US);
Abstract
A neutral start switch arrangement is provided for a work vehicle having a motor driving a hydrostatic pump, the hydrostatic pump driving a hydraulic motor which drives a wheel. The hydrostatic pump typically has an input control shaft, the rotation of which moves the hydrostatic pump from the neutral position to the forward or reverse drive position. A selectively rotatable control arm is fixed to the input control shaft. A first arm is mounted for rotation about the input control shaft axis. A second arm is mounted for rotation about the input control shaft axis. The control arm and the first and second arms are configured for the control arm to be rotated from a neutral drive position to rotate the first arm in a forward drive rotary direction or the second arm in a second rotary direction corresponding to the reverse drive. A first leg extends from the first arm and a second leg extends from the second arm, and a spring is stretched between the first and second legs. The spring rotationally biases the first arm and the second arm toward each other and both into the neutral position. A neutral start switch is mounted to the first arm to orbit about the input control shaft axis with rotation of the control arm. The switch has a push button actuation portion that is arranged to be actuated by contact with the second arm to change switch states when the control arm is moved into the neutral position.