Skid-steer vehicle

• US 4,705,449 A
• Filed: 03/30/1987
• Issued: 11/10/1987
• Est. Priority Date: 07/10/1985
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: Donell P. Froehlich, Kellen J. Chicoine, Leslie L. Christianson, Ralph Alcock
• Original Assignee: Donell P. Froehlich, Kellen J. Chicoine, Leslie L. Christianson, Ralph Alcock
• Inventors: Alcock, Ralph, Christianson, Leslie L., Froehlich, Donell P., Chicoine, Kellen J.
• Primary Examiner(s): Valenza, Joseph E.
• Application Number:
  US07/033,903
• Time in Patent Office: 225 Days
• Field of Search: 414/685, 414/697, 414/914, 180/6.5, D15/25, D15/30, D15/32
• US Class Current: 414/685
• CPC Class Codes: E02F 9/163 Structures to protect drivers, e.g. cabins, doors for cabins; Falling object protection structure [FOPS]; Roll over protection structure [ROPS] for handrails mounted on cabins E02F9/0833 takes precedence; for vehicles in general B60R21/11, B60R21/13, for fork-lift trucks B66F9/07545
• CPC Class Codes: Y10S 414/127 Handling vehicles with overhead guard for operator

Abstract

A skid-steer vehicle has a housing defining a driver'"'"'s compartment and a loader arm that permits the driver to enter and leave the vehicle through left and right side access openings. The arm is constructed to eliminate the hazardous condition of entering from the front of the vehicle or from a side where the loader arm crosses the access space. The housing includes first and second spaced apart support frames. Each support frame includes a forward and a rearward upwardly extending member joined at an upper portion by a connecting member. The forward, rearward and connecting members, define a side access opening to the driver'"'"'s compartment. The loader arm has a rearward portion which is pivotally attached to the rearward members of the support frames and a forward portion and a middle portion connecting the forward and rearward portions such that when the loader arm is either in an up position or a down position, the loader arm does not extend into the access openings.

Claims

1. A skid-steer vehicle comprising:

a body having a right and a left side and a front and a rear pair of ground-engaging wheels with two of the wheels rotatably mounted along the left side and two of the wheels rotatably mounted along the right side;

means for operating the wheels on the left side at a different speed than the wheels on the right side to create a skid-steering movement;

a housing including first and second spaced apart support members each support member having a forward and a rearward upwardly extending member joined to each other at an upper end portion by a connecting member such that the housing defines a driver'"'"'s compartment and the first and second support members defining first and second side access openings with the driver'"'"'s compartment being located substantially between the front and rear wheels;

a loader arm having a downwardly extending rearward portion, a forward portion and a middle portion, the rearward portion being pivotally attached to the rearward member of the support member rearward of the access openings at an upper portion of the rearward member and wherein the loader arm, when either in an up position or a down position, does not extend into the access openings;

hydraulic cylinder means for raising and lowering the loader arm and wherein the hydraulic cylinder means is pivotally attached to the body at a position forward of the access opening at one end and attached to the loader arm at another end such that when the loader arm is either in the up or the down position, the hydraulic cylinder means does not interfere with the access openings; and

wherein the first and second spaced-apart support members and the connecting member of the housing define an arched upper portion of the access opening and the rearward portion, forward portion, and middle portion of the loader arm are in general alignment with the arched portion of the housing when the loader arm is in the down position.

2. The skid-steer vehicle of claim 1 including a portable electric power source mounted on the body rearward of the driver'"'"'s compartment and the rear wheels and first and second electric motors powered by the portable electric power source and first means for transmitting power from the first electric motor to the ground-engaging wheels on one side of the vehicle and second means for transmitting power fro the electric motor to the ground-engaging wheels on the other side of the vehicle and means for controlling electric power to the motor such that the speed of the ground-engaging wheels on one side of the vehicle are operable separately from the speed of the ground-engaging wheels on the other side of the vehicle.

3. The vehicle of claim 2 and including a hydraulic motor and control means for controlling power from the portable electric supply to the hydraulic motor to operate the hydraulic cylinder means.

4. A skid-steer vehicle comprising:

a frame having a left side and a right side and a front end portion and a rearward end portion and including first and second spaced-apart support members, each support member having a forward and a rearward upwardly extending member joined to each other at an upper end portion by a connecting member such that the frame defines a driver'"'"'s compartment and the first and second support members define first and second side access openings;

front and rear pairs of ground-engaging wheels supporting the frame for over-the-ground travel with two wheels rotatably attached to the left side of the frame and two wheels rotatably attached to the right side of the frame;

first electric motor means drivably connected to the wheels attached to the left side of the frame;

second electric motor means drivably connected to the third and fourth wheels attached to the right side of the frame;

a portable battery means for supplying electrical power to the first and second electric motor means and located on a rearward portion of the frame rearward of the rear wheels;

control means for selectively controlling the speed of the first and second motor means such that the speed of the first and second wheels are operable independently of the speed of the third and fourth wheels in such a manner as to cause forward and rearward movement and to provide steering based on speed differential between the first and second wheels and the third and fourth wheels;

a loader arm having a downwardly-extending rearward portion, a middle portion and a forward portion, the loader arm being pivotally attached to the rearward portion at a position rearward of the access openings and at an upper portion of the rearward member;

hydraulic cylinder means pivotally attached at one end to the frame and at another end to the loader arm for raising and lowering the loader arm; and

hydraulic means for selectively supplying hydraulic fluid to the hydraulic cylinder means under pressure and including a hydraulic pump means electrically powered by the battery means for placing the hydraulic fluid under pressure.