Stump cutter drive system

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-11612115-B2
Application number	US-202117226463-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Apr 9, 2021
Priority date	Apr 15, 2020
Publication date	Mar 28, 2023
Grant date	Mar 28, 2023

Abstract

A stump cutter includes a cutter wheel rotatable about a cutter wheel axis, the cutter wheel supported by a boom for sweep movements about a vertical cutter wheel sweep axis, and the cutter wheel is supported by the boom for tilt movements about a horizontal cutter wheel tilt axis. A prime mover is configured to drive the cutter wheel about the cutter wheel axis. A mechanical driveline provides power transmission from the prime mover to the cutter wheel, the mechanical driveline including a final drive cutter wheel gearbox positioned along the cutter wheel axis, and a swivel gearbox assembly including two right angle gearboxes joined with a swivel joint therebetween. The swivel joint between the two right angle gearboxes forms a driveline swivel axis. A downstream one of the two right angle gearboxes includes an output shaft connected to an input shaft of the final drive cutter wheel gearbox.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A stump cutter comprising:
a boom-mounted cutter wheel rotatable about a cutter wheel axis, wherein the cutter wheel is supported by a boom for sweep movements about a vertical cutter wheel sweep axis so that the cutter wheel sweeps along an arcuate path within a horizontal plane, and wherein the cutter wheel is supported by the boom for tilt movements about a horizontal cutter wheel tilt axis so that the cutter wheel tilts along an arcuate path within a vertical plane;
a prime mover configured to drive the cutter wheel about the cutter wheel axis; and
a mechanical driveline configured to provide power transmission from the prime mover to the cutter wheel, the mechanical driveline including
a final drive cutter wheel gearbox positioned along the cutter wheel axis, and
a swivel gearbox assembly including two right angle gearboxes joined with a swivel joint therebetween, wherein the swivel joint between the two right angle gearboxes forms a driveline swivel axis,
wherein a downstream one of the two right angle gearboxes includes an output shaft connected to an input shaft of the final drive cutter wheel gearbox.

2. The stump cutter of claim 1 , wherein the prime mover includes an output shaft extending along a horizontal axis, the stump cutter further comprising a right angle gearbox configured to pivotally support the swivel gearbox assembly about the driveline swivel axis and to convey power from the prime mover output shaft to an input shaft of an upstream one of the two right angle gearboxes of the swivel gearbox assembly.

3. The stump cutter of claim 1 , wherein the driveline swivel axis is coaxial with the cutter wheel sweep axis.

4. The stump cutter of claim 1 , wherein the prime mover includes an output shaft extending vertically along the driveline swivel axis.

5. The stump cutter of claim 1 , wherein the prime mover includes an output shaft extending vertically parallel to and offset from the driveline swivel axis.

6. The stump cutter of claim 1 , wherein the driveline swivel axis accommodates one of the movements of the group consisting of: the cutter wheel tilt movements and the cutter wheel sweep movements, while an upstream one of the two right angle gearboxes is pivotally supported on the stump cutter to define another driveline swivel axis accommodating the other one of the movements of the group consisting of: the cutter wheel tilt movements and the cutter wheel sweep movements.

7. The stump cutter of claim 6 , wherein the upstream one of the two right angle gearboxes is pivotally supported on a right angle gearbox that is fixed with respect to the prime mover.

8. The stump cutter of claim 6 , wherein at least one of the driveline swivel axes is/are not aligned with either of the cutter wheel sweep axis or the cutter wheel tilt axis, and wherein the mechanical driveline between the swivel gearbox assembly and the final drive cutter wheel gearbox includes at least one joint.

9. The stump cutter of claim 1 , wherein the prime mover is an internal combustion engine including an output shaft extending horizontally to an additional right angle gearbox on which the swivel gearbox assembly is pivotally mounted.

10. The stump cutter of claim 1 , wherein the driveline swivel axis accommodates one of the movements of the group consisting of: the cutter wheel tilt movements and the cutter wheel sweep movements, the mechanical driveline of the stump cutter further comprising a constant velocity joint accommodating the other of the movements of the group consisting of: the cutter wheel tilt movements and the cutter wheel sweep movements.

11. The stump cutter of claim 1 , wherein the final drive cutter wheel gearbox is swivel-mounted on the boom, wherein a driveline alignment structure extending along the mechanical driveline between the swivel gearbox assembly and the final drive cutter wheel gearbox includes a sliding joint.

12. The stump cutter of claim 1 , wherein the final drive cutter wheel gearbox is fixed-mounted on the boom, wherein a driveline alignment structure extending along the mechanical driveline between the swivel gearbox assembly and the final drive cutter wheel gearbox includes a sliding joint and a pivot joint.

13. The stump cutter of claim 1 , wherein the boom supporting the cutter wheel includes a sweep subframe pivotally coupled to a mainframe of the stump cutter about the sweep axis, and the boom further includes a tilt subframe pivotally coupled to the sweep subframe about the tilt axis.

14. The stump cutter of claim 1 , wherein the mechanical driveline includes one or both of: a speed-reduction unit and a clutch between the prime mover and an input shaft of an upstream one of the two right angle gearboxes.

15. The stump cutter of claim 1 , wherein the final drive cutter wheel gearbox and the swivel gearbox assembly are stressed frame elements of the boom on which the cutter wheel is supported.

16. A stump cutter comprising:
a mainframe;
an engine supported on the mainframe such that a crankshaft of the engine extends horizontally when the stump cutter is situated in an operative position on a horizontal ground surface;
a cutter wheel support structure extending from the mainframe to support a cutter wheel at a distance from the mainframe, the cutter wheel support structure having:
a sweep subframe pivotally connected to the mainframe defining a vertical cutter wheel sweep axis, and
a tilt subframe pivotally connected to the sweep subframe defining a horizontal cutter wheel tilt axis on one end and with a cutter wheel right angle gearbox mounted to the opposite end with an output shaft for supporting the cutter wheel and an input shaft;

a jointed driveline having:
a first right angle gearbox fixedly secured with respect to the engine and having a horizontal input shaft connected to the engine crankshaft, wherein a vertical output shaft of the first right angle gearbox defines a driveline sweep axis parallel to the cutter wheel sweep axis,
a second right angle gearbox pivotally mounted on the first right angle gearbox about the driveline sweep axis, wherein the second right angle gearbox includes a horizontal output shaft, defining a driveline tilt axis parallel to the cutter wheel tilt axis, and
a third right angle gearbox pivotally mounted on the second right angle gearbox about the driveline tilt axis, wherein the third right angle gearbox includes an output shaft extending in a direction toward the cutter wheel right angle gearbox; and

a driveshaft configured to provide power transmission from the output shaft of the third right angle gearbox to the input shaft of the cutter wheel right angle gearbox;
a gearbox alignment structure extending along the driveshaft and having a first portion fixed to the cutter wheel right angle gearbox and a second portion fixed to the third right angle gearbox and configured to limit misalignment between the input shaft of the cutter wheel right angle gearbox and the output shaft of the third right angle gearbox so that the orientation of the second right angle gearbox relative to the first right angle gearbox about the driveline sweep axis, and the orientation of the third right angle gearbox relative to the second right angle gearbox about the driveline tilt axis are controlled by the combination of the driveshaft and the gearbox alignment structure when the cutter wheel support structure moves relative to the mainframe about the cutter wheel sweep and tilt axes.

17. The stump cutter of claim 16 , wherein the driveline tilt axis and the cutter wheel tilt axis are offset.

Assignees

• Vermeer Mfg Co

Inventors

• Pfoltner Chris
• Alexander David
• Munk Jesse
• Rempe Scott

Classifications

• A01G23/067 Primary

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