Walk-behind, self-propelled machine

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-10524417-B2
Application number	US-201916371267-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Apr 1, 2019
Priority date	Dec 23, 2016
Publication date	Jan 7, 2020
Grant date	Jan 7, 2020

Abstract

A walk-behind, self-propelled machine includes a clutch having a driving state where a motor drives wheels to rotate and an unlocked state where the wheels freely rotate relative to the motor. The clutch includes a movable member and a driving member. The movable member is capable of moving between a locked position where the clutch is in the driving state and an unlocked position where the clutch is in the unlocked state. The driving member transfers power to the wheels by means of friction. When the clutch is in the driving state, the motor drives the wheels to rotate in a first direction, when the motor stops rotating, the wheels rotate in a second direction opposite to the first direction and can drive the driving member to move by frictional force so that the driving member pushes the movable member to move from the locked position to the unlocked position, and after the motor (40) is turned off, the wheels rotate without driving a motor shaft to rotate, so that a relatively small force can push or pull the walk-behind, self-propelled machine.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A walk-behind, self-propelled machine comprising:
a chassis;
a handle connected to the chassis;
a plurality of wheels for supporting the chassis and being rotatable relative to the chassis;
a first motor mounted to the chassis and used for providing a driving force for rotating the plurality of wheels;
a working element, movable relative to the chassis to implement the function of the walk-behind, self-propelled machine;
a second motor for driving the working element to move; and
a transmission mechanism connecting the first motor with the plurality of wheels and comprising:
a clutch for realizing one-way transmission between the first motor and the plurality of wheels, wherein the clutch has a driving state where the first motor drives the plurality of wheels to rotate and an unlocked state where the plurality of wheels are free to rotate relative to the first motor, and the clutch comprising:
a movable member capable of moving between a locked position and an unlocked position; and
a driving member which transmits power to the plurality of wheels by means of friction;

wherein, when the movable member is in the locked position the clutch is in the driving state where the first motor is capable of driving the plurality of wheels to rotate in a first direction, when the movable member is in the unlocked position the clutch is in the unlocked state, and when the first motor stops rotating, the plurality of wheels rotate in a second direction opposite to the first direction and can drive the driving member to move so that the driving member pushes the movable member to move from the locked position to the unlocked position.

2. The walk-behind, self-propelled machine of claim 1 , wherein the first motor comprises a motor shaft for outputting the driving force and the clutch comprises a transmission shaft connected to the motor shaft and driven by the motor shaft to rotate, a fixing member coupled to the transmission shaft or as a part of the transmission shaft and forming a driving surface capable of driving the movable member, and an outer ring member sleeved on the transmission shaft, connected to the plurality of wheels to drive the plurality of wheels to rotate and forming a mounting groove, and the movable member is located between the wall of the mounting groove and the driving surface.

3. The walk-behind, self-propelled machine of claim 2 , wherein the wall of the mounting groove is an annular surface, and the movable member is a pin.

4. The walk-behind, self-propelled machine of claim 2 , wherein the driving member comprises a plurality of driving portions, and the driving portions get into the mounting groove and are capable of contacting the movable member to push the movable member to move.

5. The walk-behind, self-propelled machine of claim 4 , wherein the clutch comprises a plurality of movable members, a number of the movable members is the same as a number of the driving portions, and the driving portions and the movable members alternatively arranged.

6. The walk-behind, self-propelled machine of claim 5 , wherein the fixing member forms a plurality of driving surfaces, a number of the driving surfaces is the same as the number of the movable members, and the driving surfaces are in one-to-one correspondence with the movable members.

7. The walk-behind, self-propelled machine of claim 2 , wherein the frictional force between the plurality of wheels and the driving member is greater than the frictional force between the fixing member and the movable member when the movable member is in the locked position.

8. The walk-behind, self-propelled machine of claim 2 , wherein the plurality of wheels forms a first wheel gear or a first wheel gear is mounted on the plurality of wheels, the walk-behind, self-propelled machine further comprises a first transmission gear meshing with the first wheel gear and driven by the transmission shaft to drive the wheel to rotate, and, when the motor shaft actively rotates, the transmission shaft drives the first transmission gear to rotate so as to rotate the plurality of wheels and the plurality of wheels exert a force, whose direction is opposite to the rotation direction of the first transmission gear, to the driving member.

9. The walk-behind, self-propelled machine of claim 8 , wherein the plurality of wheels forms a second wheel gear or a second wheel gear is mounted on the plurality of wheels, the walk-behind, self-propelled machine further comprises a second transmission gear meshing with the second wheel gear, and, when the plurality of wheels rotates, the first transmission gear and the second transmission gear rotate in opposite directions and the second transmission gear exerts a force, whose direction is opposite to the rotation direction of the first transmission gear, to the driving member.

10. The walk-behind, self-propelled machine of claim 9 , further comprising a friction plate disposed between the second transmission gear and the driving member and realizing a friction transmission between the second transmission gear and the driving member.

11. The walk-behind, self-propelled machine of claim 2 , wherein the clutch comprises a magnet exerting a magnetic attractive force to the movable member.

12. The walk-behind, self-propelled machine of claim 11 , wherein the clutch comprises a plurality of the movable members and the magnets, whose number is equivalent to the number of the movable members, and the transmission shaft rotates about a central axis, in the direction of which magnets exert a magnetic attractive force to the movable members of the central axis.

13. The walk-behind, self-propelled machine of claim 12 , wherein the magnets are fixed to the outer ring member and are evenly distributed in the circumferential direction of the central axis.

14. The walk-behind, self-propelled machine of claim 11 , wherein the magnet are annular and surround the transmission shaft.

15. A walk-behind, self-propelled machine comprising:
a chassis;
a working element, movable relative to the chassis to implement the machine's function;
a handle connected to the chassis;
a plurality of wheels for supporting the chassis, the plurality of wheels being rotatable relative to the chassis;
a motor capable of providing a driving force for rotating the plurality of wheels and comprising a motor shaft for outputting a driving force; and
a clutch providing a one-way transmission between the motor shaft and the plurality of wheels, having a driving state where the motor shaft drives the plurality of wheels to rotate and an unlocked state where the plurality of wheels are free to rotate relative to the motor shaft;
wherein the clutch comprises:
a movable member capable of moving between a locked position and an unlocked position; and
a driving member capable of being driven by the plurality of wheels;

wherein, when the movable member is in the locked position the clutch is in the driving state where the motor shaft drives the plurality of wheels to rotate in a first direction, when the movable member is in the unlocked position the clutch is in the unlocked state, and, when the motor shaft stops rotating, the plurality of wheels rotate in a second direction opposite to the first direction and can drive the driving member to move so that the driving member pushes the movable member to move from the locked position to the unlocked position.

16. The walk-behind, self-propelled machine of claim 15 , wherein the plurality of wheels drive the driving member by friction.

17. The walk-behind, self-propelled mach

Assignees

• Nanjing Chervon Ind Co Ltd

Inventors

• Fan Gongyuan
• Wang Zhen

Classifications

• F16H3/10

  with one or more one-way clutches as an essential feature · CPC title

• A01D69/08 Primary

  Clutches · CPC title

• A01D69/002

  driven by power take-off · CPC title

• F16H2048/305

  using manual actuators · CPC title

• A01D34/73

  Cutting apparatus · CPC title