Agricultural vehicle cab fitted with an HVAC system

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-10160287-B2
Application number	US-201113805364-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Jun 30, 2011
Priority date	Jul 2, 2010
Publication date	Dec 25, 2018
Grant date	Dec 25, 2018

Abstract

A cab of an agricultural vehicle has having a seat for an operator and a console unit arranged forward of the seat for housing an instrument display. The cab is fitted with an HVAC system comprising a heat exchanger unit located within the console unit and a blower located on the floor of the cab beneath or adjacent the seat and serving to blow air by way of a floor-level duct to the heat exchanger unit.

First claim

The invention claimed is:

1. An off-highway agricultural vehicle, comprising a cab, comprising:
a roof, including an intake opening formed along a portion of the roof;
a floor;
a plurality of spaced-apart pillars, wherein at least one pillar of the plurality of spaced-apart pillars is positioned between a forward end pillar of the plurality of pillars and a back end pillar of the plurality of pillars, the at least one pillar connects the roof to the floor and is configured to support the roof, and the at least one pillar configured to move air from the intake opening above the at least one pillar through the at last one pillar;
a wheel fender arranged on an outside of the cab, the wheel fender defining a top surface configured to be spaced apart from an adjacent wheel of the off-highway agricultural vehicle;
a seat for an operator supported within the cab; and
a console unit arranged forward of the seat and configured to house an instrument display, wherein the cab is fitted with a heating, ventilation and air conditioning (HVAC) system including:
a heat exchanger unit;
a filter unit configured to receive the air via the intake and the at least one pillar and to direct the air to the heat exchanger unit, wherein the filter unit is positioned between the top surface of the wheel fender and the adjacent wheel of the off-highway agricultural vehicle;
a blower configured to provide the air received from the filter unit to the heat exchanger unit; and
a filter unit conduit disposed within the cab, wherein the filter unit conduit is configured to guide the air from the filter unit to the blower, and the filter unit conduit curves to follow a curved fore-aft contour of the wheel fender between the filter unit and the blower;
wherein the heat exchanger unit is located within the console unit; and
wherein the blower is located separate from the console unit on the floor of the cab beneath or next to the seat and is connected to the heat exchanger unit by way of a blower conduit, and a portion of the blower conduit is positioned to extend through at least a portion of the floor.

2. The off-highway agricultural vehicle as claimed in claim 1 , wherein the filter unit has a clean box and a dirty box separated from one another by a filter element, and wherein the clean and dirty boxes of the filter unit are housed between the top surface of the wheel fender and the adjacent wheel of the off-highway agricultural vehicle.

3. The off-highway agricultural vehicle as claimed in claim 1 , wherein the at least one pillar is positioned next to a door of the cab.

4. The off-highway agricultural vehicle as claimed in claim 2 , comprising an access cover positioned adjacent to the top surface of the wheel fender, wherein the access cover is removable from the wheel fender to enable access to the filter element.

5. A cab of an off-highway agricultural vehicle, the cab extending between a forward end configured to be located aft of an engine bay of the off-highway agricultural vehicle and an aft end opposite the forward end, the cab comprising:
a roof having an intake opening;
a floor;
a duct configured to receive air from the intake opening;
a seat for an operator supported within the cab; and
a console unit arranged forward of the seat at a location adjacent to the forward end of the cab and configured to house an instrument display, wherein the cab is fitted with a heating, ventilation and air conditioning (HVAC) system including:
a heat exchanger unit located within the console unit so as to be positioned between the forward and aft ends of the cab;
a first filter unit configured to receive the air directed to the heat exchanger unit, wherein the first filter unit is positioned between a top surface of a wheel fender positioned on the outside of the cab and an adjacent wheel of the off-highway agricultural vehicle, and the duct is configured to direct the air from the intake opening of the roof to the first filter unit;
a blower configured to provide the air to the heat exchanger unit;
a floor-level conduit extending between the blower and the heat exchanger, wherein the blower is located on the floor of the cab, separate from the console unit, beneath or adjacent the seat and is connected to the heat exchanger unit by way of the floor-level conduit, and the floor-level conduit extends through at least a portion of the floor;
a filter unit conduit extending between the first filter unit and the blower, wherein the filter unit conduit is disposed within the cab, the filter unit conduit is configured to guide the air from the first filter unit to the blower, and the filter unit conduit extends along the wheel fender; and
a second filter unit coupled to the filter unit conduit along the wheel fender between the first filter unit and the blower, wherein the second filter unit is configured to enable interior air from an interior of the cab to flow into the filter unit conduit toward the blower.

6. The cab as claimed in claim 5 , wherein discharge vents are mounted in the console unit to direct the air passing through the heat exchanger unit toward the operator.

7. The cab as claimed in claim 5 , wherein the first filter unit has a clean box and a dirty box separated from one another by a filter element, and wherein the clean and dirty boxes of the first filter unit are housed within the wheel fender.

8. The cab as claimed in claim 7 , wherein the filter unit conduit is configured to guide the air from the clean box to the blower, and the filter unit conduit curves to follow a curved contour of the wheel fender.

9. The cab as claimed in claim 5 , wherein the intake opening is positioned along an underside of the roof of the cab.

Assignees

• Amura Mario
• Bugeja Pierre
• Cadalora Alessio
• Salvini Tiziano
• Stanzani Lorena
• Cnh Ind America Llc

Inventors

• Amura Mario
• Bugeja Pierre
• Cadalora Alessio
• Salvini Tiziano
• Stanzani Lorena

Classifications

• B60H2001/00242

  Devices in the rear area of the passenger compartment · CPC title

• B60H1/242

  located in the front area · CPC title

• B60H1/262

  Openings in or on the vehicle roof · CPC title

• B60H3/0608

  Filter arrangements in the air stream · CPC title

• B60H1/00378 Primary

  for tractor or load vehicle cabins · CPC title