Working vehicle

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-9476334-B2
Application number	US-201113046229-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Mar 11, 2011
Priority date	Apr 27, 2010
Publication date	Oct 25, 2016
Grant date	Oct 25, 2016

Abstract

A working vehicle has a cooling fan provided on a first side of an engine to blow air to the engine; a muffler main body provided on a second side thereof in a position lower than an upper surface of a head cover of the engine; and an exhaust pipe exposed in a position facing an air blowing path of the cooling fan higher than the upper surface of the head cover of the engine to discharge exhaust from the muffler main body.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A working vehicle comprising:
a vehicle frame;
a mower unit coupled to the vehicle frame;
an engine having a head cover;
a cooling fan provided on a side of the engine to blow air to the engine;
a muffler main body provided on an opposite side of the engine in a position lower than an upper surface of the head cover of the engine;
an exhaust pipe having a portion exposed in a position higher than the upper surface of the head cover of the engine and facing an air blowing path of the cooling fan to discharge exhaust from the muffler main body;
a spacing gap arranged within an upstream end of the exhaust pipe; and
said spacing gap being located at a position higher than:
the muffler main body; and
the upper surface of the head cover of the engine,

wherein the working vehicle is a mower vehicle and the engine is at least one of oriented along a front and back direction of the mower vehicle and/or arranged at a rear of the mower vehicle.

2. The working vehicle according to claim 1 , wherein
the exhaust pipe is separately formed from the muffler main body;
the muffler main body is supported and arranged on the side of the engine, and
an exhaust pipe portion is arranged between the muffler main body and the exhaust pipe and is supported by a support frame extending from the vehicle frame.

3. The working vehicle according to claim 2 , wherein
an exhaust manifold is provided on a side portion of the engine;
an air cleaner is provided on a side portion opposite to the side on which the exhaust manifold is provided;
the air blowing path from the cooling fan is provided on the side portion of the engine on the side on which the exhaust manifold is provided; and
the exhaust pipe is supported by the support frame standing from the vehicle frame such that an exhaust direction in an exhaust outlet of the exhaust pipe is aligned with the air blowing direction in the air blowing path.

4. The working vehicle according to claim 3 , wherein the air cleaner is supported by the support frame supporting the exhaust pipe.

5. A riding mower working vehicle having a mowing unit, a vehicle body and an engine with a head cover, comprising:
a cooling fan provided on a side of the engine to blow air to the engine along a front and back direction of the vehicle body;
a muffler main body provided on an opposite side of the engine in a position out of an air blowing path of the cooling fan;
the muffler main body being oriented along a left and right direction of the vehicle body;
an exhaust pipe provided in a position facing the air blowing path of the cooling fan to discharge exhaust from the muffler main body along the front and back direction;
a spacing gap arranged between a downstream end of a first section of exhaust pipe and an upstream end of a second section of exhaust pipe; and
the spacing gap being located at a position higher than:
the muffler main body; and
an upper surface of the head cover of the engine,

wherein the engine is at least one of oriented along the front and back direction of the vehicle body and/or arranged at a rear of the vehicle body.

6. The working vehicle according to claim 5 , wherein
the exhaust pipe is coupled to an exhaust pipe portion that is separately formed from the muffler main body;
the muffler main body is supported and arranged on the engine side, and the exhaust pipe is supported by a support frame extending from a vehicle frame of the vehicle body; and
the muffler main body and the exhaust pipe are arranged so as to allow a relative movement of the muffler main body and the exhaust pipe.

7. The working vehicle according to claim 6 , wherein
an exhaust manifold is provided on a side portion of the engine;
an air cleaner is provided on a side portion opposite to the side on which the exhaust manifold is provided;
the air blowing path from the cooling fan is provided on the side portion of the engine on the side on which the exhaust manifold is provided; and
the exhaust pipe is supported by the support frame standing from the vehicle frame such that an exhaust direction in an exhaust outlet of the exhaust pipe is aligned with the air blowing direction in the air blowing path.

8. The working vehicle according to claim 7 , wherein the air cleaner is supported by the support frame supporting the exhaust pipe.

9. The working vehicle according to claim 5 , wherein the exhaust pipe comprises a section of exhaust pipe arranged along the left and right direction.

10. The working vehicle according to claim 5 , wherein the exhaust pipe comprises:
the second section of exhaust pipe having a larger cross-section than the first section of exhaust pipe.

11. The working vehicle according to claim 10 , wherein the first section of exhaust pipe has an upstream end coupled to the muffler main body.

12. The working vehicle according to claim 10 , wherein the second section of exhaust pipe has a downstream end that discharges exhaust gas rearwardly.

13. The working vehicle according to claim 2 , wherein the exhaust pipe portion is configured to move relative to the exhaust pipe.

14. The working vehicle according to claim 1 , wherein the exhaust pipe has air inlet openings and is configured to move relative to a section of exhaust pipe coupled to the muffler main body.

15. The working vehicle according to claim 1 , wherein the exhaust pipe has one end that overlaps a section of exhaust pipe coupled to the muffler main body and the end that overlaps the section of exhaust pipe forms the spacing gap.

16. The working vehicle according to claim 1 , wherein the exhaust pipe comprises an L-shaped elbow pipe having cooling air inlet openings and has one end that receives therein one end of a section of exhaust pipe that is an L-shaped elbow pipe and that is coupled to the muffler main body.

17. A mower vehicle comprising:
a vehicle body;
an engine arranged on a rear side of the vehicle body;
the engine having a head cover;
a mowing unit coupled to the vehicle body;
a cooling fan provided on a front side of the engine to blow air to the engine along a front and back direction of the mower vehicle;
a muffler main body provided on an opposite side of the engine in a position lower than an upper surface of the head cover of the engine;
a section exhaust pipe exposed in a position higher than the upper surface of the head cover of the engine and facing an air blowing path of the cooling fan;
the section of exhaust pipe comprising cool air inlet openings and baffles and discharging exhaust gas received from the muffler main body;
a spacing gap structured and arranged to allow for relative movement between the section of exhaust pipe and the muffler main body; and
the spacing gap being located at a position higher than:
the muffler main body; and
the upper surface of the head cover of the engine.

18. The mower vehicle according to claim 17 , wherein the spacing gap is arranged between an upstream end of the section of exhaust pipe and a downstream end of a connecting section of exhaust pipe that connects the muffler main body to the section of exhaust pipe.

19. The mower vehicle according to claim 17 , wherein an upstream end of the section of exhaust pipe is oriented along a left and right direction of the vehicle body and a downstream end of the section of exhaust pipe is oriented along a direction of the air blowing path.

20. The mower vehicle according to claim 17 , wherein exhaust gas enters into the section of exhaust pipe from a left an

Assignees

• Tada Hiroyuki
• Asahara Masato
• Ueda Yoshihiro
• Sato Eiji
• Minoura Akira
• Kubota Kk

Inventors

• Tada Hiroyuki
• Asahara Masato
• Ueda Yoshihiro
• Sato Eiji
• Minoura Akira

Classifications

• F01P5/06

  Guiding or ducting air to, or from, ducted fans · CPC title

• F01P2060/16

  Outlet manifold · CPC title

• F01P2001/005

  Cooling engine rooms · CPC title

• Y02T10/20

  Cross-Sectional Technologies · mapped topic

• F01N3/055 Primary

  without contact between air and exhaust gases · CPC title