Mower deck gauge wheel support

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-9924633-B2
Application number	US-201514804998-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Jul 21, 2015
Priority date	Jul 21, 2015
Publication date	Mar 27, 2018
Grant date	Mar 27, 2018

Abstract

A mower deck gauge wheel support includes a one-piece sheet metal bracket mounted to a mower deck, having a sleeve mounted thereto outside a skirt of the mower deck, a wheel shaft inserted through the sleeve, and a J-pin having a first end that engages the wheel shaft at a desired cutting height, and a second end that is engaged by and retained by a coil spring within the bracket.

First claim

The invention claimed is:

1. A mower deck gauge wheel support, comprising:
a bracket having an inside wall, an outside wall, and a vertical sleeve attached to the inside and outside walls;
a wheel shaft inserted into the sleeve and having an upper end with a first set of vertically spaced holes, a second hole offset from the first set of vertically spaced holes, and a lower end with a gauge wheel mounted thereto; and
a J-pin having a first leg insertable through one of the first set of holes in the wheel shaft and a second leg insertable through a first pair of holes through the inside and outside walls of the bracket to align the gauge wheel to rotate in a first direction, the first leg insertable through the second hole in the wheel shaft and the second leg insertable through a second pair of holes through the inside and outside walls of the bracket to align the gauge wheel to rotate in a second direction, and a spring retaining the second leg of the J-pin in the bracket.

2. The mower deck gauge wheel support of claim 1 wherein the spring is located around the second leg of the J-pin within the bracket.

3. The mower deck gauge wheel support of claim 1 wherein the J-pin includes a flange on the second leg thereof.

4. The mower deck gauge wheel support of claim 1 wherein the first set of holes in the wheel shaft are perpendicular to a forward/reverse direction of mowing, and the second hole is offset 90 degrees from the first set of holes.

5. The mower deck gauge wheel support of claim 1 wherein the first pair of holes through the inside and outside walls of the bracket are perpendicular to a forward/reverse direction of mowing, and the second pair of holes are angularly offset from the first pair of holes.

6. A mower deck gauge wheel support, comprising:
a bracket supporting a wheel shaft in a vertical sleeve;
a gauge wheel rotatably mounted to a lower end of the wheel shaft; and
a J-pin having a first end insertable through any of a first set of holes in the wheel shaft so the gauge wheel may be set at a plurality of different heights to rotate in a forward/reverse mowing direction, and insertable through a second hole that is offset from the first set of holes so the gauge wheel may rotate in a sideways direction; the J-pin having a second end insertable through a first pair of holes in the bracket if the first end is in any of the first set of holes, and insertable through a second pair of holes in the bracket if the first end is in the second hole; and having a spring within the bracket to bias and retain the J-pin to the bracket.

7. The mower deck gauge wheel support of claim 6 wherein the first end of the J-pin is a short end and the second end is a long end, and further comprising a curved intermediate portion between the first and second ends.

8. The mower deck gauge wheel support of claim 6 wherein the spring is a coil spring around the second end of the J-pin.

9. A mower deck gauge wheel support of claim 6 wherein the J-pin is positioned substantially perpendicular to a forward/reverse direction of mowing if the first end is in any of the first set of holes and is offset angularly if the first end is in the second hole.

10. A mower deck gauge wheel support, comprising:
a one-piece sheet metal bracket mounted to a mower deck, and having a sleeve mounted thereto outside a skirt of the mower deck;
a wheel shaft inserted through the sleeve; and
a J-pin having a first end that engages a first set of holes in the wheel shaft so a gauge wheel can rotate in a first direction at a desired cutting height, and engages a second hole in the wheel shaft so the gauge wheel can rotate in a second direction, and a second end that is engaged by and retained by a coil spring between a first pair of holes or a second pair of holes in the bracket.

11. The mower deck gauge wheel support of claim 10 wherein the coil spring biases the second end of the J-pin into the first pair of holes or the second pair of a pair of holes in the bracket.

12. The mower deck gauge wheel support of claim 10 wherein the one-piece sheet metal bracket includes a first wall, a second wall, and a bridging surface between the first and second walls.

13. The mower deck gauge wheel support of claim 10 wherein the coil spring is coiled between a flange on the second end of the J-pin and a wall of the bracket.

Assignees

• Deere & Co

Inventors

• Ressler Kyle T
• Tolson Melissa
• Shaver Patrick

Classifications

• A01D34/74 Primary

  Cutting-height adjustment · CPC title

• A01D34/54

  Cutting-height adjustment · CPC title