GB2114072A

GB2114072A - Tractor

Info

Publication number: GB2114072A
Application number: GB08302550A
Authority: GB
Inventors: Rauno Bergius
Original assignee: Valmet Oy
Current assignee: Valmet Technologies Oy
Priority date: 1982-01-29
Filing date: 1983-01-31
Publication date: 1983-08-17
Also published as: SE8300435L; FR2520691A1; GB2114072B; GB8302550D0; FR2520691B1; FI71097C; BR8300435A; FI71097B; NO157167B; NO830301L; NO157167C; FI820289L; DE3302188A1; SE8300435D0

Abstract

A tractor, particularly an agricultural tractor, has an engine with a load-bearing oil sump (20) which constitutes a structural part of the tractor frame, and the axle (15) of the front tractor wheels (14) is directly affixed under the oil sump (20). The oil sump (20) has, as viewed from below, a depression (38) in the region of its transverse central plane, the tractor's front axle (15) being disposed at this depression. The tractor engine (13) is located over the front axle above the oil sump. <IMAGE>

Description

SPECIFICATION Tractor The present invention relates to a tractor, in particular an agricultural tractor.

Tractors, e.g. agricultural tractors, have in the past been provided with a front frame made by welding of beams or by casting and by which for instance the engine of the tractor and the front axle are supported. The oil sump of the tractor engine is made either by welding from sheet metal or by casting to be a light-weight structure. This oil sump is, as known in the art, located between the side parts of the auxiliary tractor frame mentioned above. The use of a separate auxiliary frame is one of the factors causing increased weight of the tractor and its complex structure.

In known tractors, the engine of the tractor has in general been located to the rear of the front axle, with the consequence that in four-wheeldrive tractors sufficient weight is not obtained on the front axle and it is necessary to employ extra weight in the front part of the tractor. The known auxiliary frame has also resulted in repairs and servicing of the tractor being cumbersome, the auxiliary frame impeding access to the engine and to certain parts of the power transmission and thereby making their dismounting difficult.

The present invention aims to avoid such drawbacks and to provide a tractor construction wherein it is possible to reduce significantly the total weight of the tractor, and also to provide a construction which is more favourable from the point of view of repairs and servicing of the tractor engine and the power transmission apparatus.

One of the aims of the invention is to enable the engine to be located so that the weight of the engine is substnatially carried by the front axle, which is a remarkable advantage of four-wheeldrive tractors, because then as a rule no extra weight is needed at the front end of the tractor.

The present invention provides a tractor, wherein the engine thereof has a self-bearing oil sump which constitutes a structural part of the frame of the tractor, and wherein the axle of the tractor wheels is immediately mounted in conjunction with the oil sump.

Since according to the invention the oil sump of the tractor engine is constructed to be self-bearing and the tractor axle, preferably the front axle, is directly supported by this oil sump, the tractor engine may be placed directly above the front axle, with the consequence of the advantages mentioned before. Since no separate auxiliary front frame at all is needed, servicing of the tractor and repair work will be facilitated, as the front end of the tractor may be completely dismounted, for instance for servicing the clutch. In addition, the engine may be dismounted with or without the oil sump.

Mounting pads for work implements may advantageously also be provided on the oil sump of the tractor engine.

The invention will be further described, by way of example only, with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which: Figure 1 is a schematic elevational view of a tractor according to the invention; Figure 2 is a central vertical section Of the engine oil sump of the tractor; Figure 3 shows the oil sump of the engine in elevational view; Figure 4 shows the oil sump in top view; Figure 5 is in the left part thereof the section A-A and in the right part thereof the section B-B in Figure 3; Figure 6 is in the left part thereof the section C-C and in the right part thereof the section D-D in Figure 3; Figure 7 is the section E-E in Figure 3; Figure 8 shows the oil sump, viewed in the direction F indicated in Figure 3; and Figure 9 shows the oil sump, viewed in the direction G indicated in Figure 3.

Figure 1 schematically shows a tractor, the axle 1 1 of its rear wheels 10 being rotatably carried in the rear frame 51 of the tractor. The tractor includes a safety cab 12 and an engine 13 in front thereof, this engine being located further towards the tractor's front end compared with conventional engine placements. The engine 13 of the tractor has an oil sump 20, self-supporting and constituting an essentiai structural part of the tractor frame. To a front flange 34 of the oil sump 20 is attached the front frame 1 6 of the tractor, over which the radiator 52 of the engine is located. The oil sump 20 is attached by a horizontal flange 23 thereof to the engine frame in a plane slightly below the crankshaft.In Figure 1, the oil level in the oil sump 20 is indicated by the broken line L and the level of the crankshaft by the dot-and-dash line K-K. By its rear end, the oil sump connects by a flange 22 with an intermediate frame 50, housing in itself for example the transmission means. In front of the flange 23 the flywheel of the engine is placed and .therebehind the clutch.

As shown in Figure 1, axle 15 of the front wheels 1 4 of the tractor, preferably a rigid rocking axle, is joined to the oil sump 20 by the aid of axle pins 1 9a and 1 9b with mounting lugs 1 8a and 1 8b. The mounting lugs 1 8a and 1 8b and the axle ,pins 1 9a and 1 9b within them are placed in the vertical centre-plane in the direction of travel of the tractor. The lugs 1 boa and 1 8b are directly attached by screws 33, without the intermediary of the auxiliary frame, to the oil sump 20, which serves as a structural and loadbearing part of the tractor frame.

As shown in Figures 2 to 9, the oil sump 20 consists of a suitably shaped bottom wall 40, side walls 41 and 42 and a front wall 21 and a rear wall 37. The oil sump 20 is by a flange 22 and by screws inserted in mounting holes 26 connected to the intermediate frame 50, and by a flange 2.3 connected to the body of the engine 13. To the oil sump 20 is attached the front frame 1 6 by screws fitted into mounting holes 35 provided in a flange 34 of the front part. The front part of the oil sump 20 has a depression 31, at which is located an oil drain hole 32. The front wall 21 of the oil sump is provided with reinforcing ribs 43 (Figure 9).

Adjacent to the mounting flange 22, inside the oil sump 20, there is free space to accommodate the flywheel of the engine 13.

In the upper parts of the sides 41 and 42 of the oil sump, vertical mounting flanges 29a and 29b are provided, tapped holes 30 or equivalent mounting members of which permit the mounting for example of work implements such as a mower to the front part of the tractor. Viewed from below a transverse depression 38 is formed in the centra area of the oil sump 20, this depression being provided for the front axle 1 5 of the tractor and for its mounting members 18,19,33. In the bottom wall 40 of the oil sump 20, holes 33 best visible in Figures 2,3,4 and 6 (section C-C) are provided for the mounting lugs 1 8a and 1 8b of the rocking axle 15 of the tractor.Around the mounting holes 33, reinforcing parts 44 shaped like truncated cones are provided, by which the stresses acting on the front axle 1 5 are transferred to the oil sump 20 and therefrom to other structural parts of the tractor.

For servicing the clutch of the tractor, the front part of the tractor may be totally dismounted with engine 13 and front axles 1 5 and front wheels 14, detaching it at the flange junction. The tractor engine 1 3 may also be detached at the flange 23, whereby the oil sump 20 remains connected to the rest of the tractor body part by the flange 22 and remains carried by the front axle 1 5.

Alternatively, after undoing the flange 22 and possibly detaching other parts as well, the engine 13 may be dismounted with its oil sump 20.

Heretofore, the front axle 1 5 could be dismounted by unscrewing the screws fixed in the holes 33.

Claims

1. A tractor, wherein the engine thereof has a self-bearing oil sump which constitutes a structural part of the frame of the tractor, and wherein the axle of the tractor wheels is immediately mounted in conjunction with the oil sump.

2. A tractor as claimed in Claim 1, wherein the front axle of the tractor is attached under the oil sump.

3. A tractor as claimed in Claim 1 or 2, wherein the oil sump has, as viewed from below, a depression in the region of its transverse central plane and at which the front axle of the tractor is placed.

4. A tractor as claimed in any of Claims 1 to 3, wherein the tractor engine is placed over the front axle of the tractor above the oil sump.

5. A tractor as claimed in any of Claims 1 to 4, wherein in the bottom wall of a trough-shaped oil sump are provided reinforcements for holes for mounting screws of the front axle of the tractor.

6. A tractor as claimed in any of Claims 1 to 5, wherein as viewed from below, on both sides of a depression of the oil sump are attached mounting lugs in the central plane substantially parallel to the direction of travel of the tractor, axle pins at the centre of the front axle of the tractor being attached to the said lugs.

7. A tractor as claimed in any of Claims 1 to 6, wherein on the rear margin of the oil sump is provided a vertical flange, the oil sump and the engine being affixed to an intermediate frame of the tractor by screws fixed through fixing holes therein.

8. A tractor as claimed in any of Claims 1 to 7, wherein on the front margin of the oil sump is provided a vertical flange, the front frame of the tractor being affixed to the front of the oil sump by means of screws fitted into fixing holes therein.

9. A tractor as claimed in any of Claims 1 to 8, wherein on both side walls of the oil sump are provided mounting flanges with mounting members for the attachment members of work machines to be attached to the front end of the tractor.

10. A tractor as claimed in Claim 9, wherein the said mounting flanges are arranged in vertical planes.

11. A tractor according to Claim 1, substantially as herein described with reference to, and as shown in, the accompanying drawings.

1 2. A construction in a tractor, particularly an agricultural tractor, characterized in that the engine of the tractor has a seif-bearing oil pump which constitutes a structural part of the frame of the tractor, and that in conjunction with said oil su mp the axle of the tractor wheels has been immediately mounted.