Riding Mower Cover Seals Frame Gaps and Directs Cooling Air
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Solution Overview
Problem
Riding-type mowers face issues with mown grass entering gaps between vehicle body frames, causing malfunctions, and there is a need to prevent deposition of dust and grass on high-temperature areas in the engine hood to maintain efficient operation and comply with emission regulations.
Innovation Solution
A riding-type mower design featuring a cover to seal gaps between vehicle body frames and a cooling air guiding path with a gap between the air guide and in-hood elements to direct cooling air effectively to high-temperature areas, preventing dust and grass deposition.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If the vehicle body frames are designed with a gap structure for basic functionality, then the structural simplicity is maintained, but mown grass enters the gap and causes device malfunction
Solution Approach 1:
The patent extracts the harmful function of the gap (allowing grass entry) while preserving its structural simplicity. A cover member is introduced to selectively block grass entry while maintaining the gap's structural role, thus taking out the harmful aspect without removing the entire gap structure.
Solution Approach 2:
The cover member acts as an intermediary element between the gap structure and the mown grass. It mediates by allowing the gap to maintain its structural function while preventing grass from entering and causing malfunctions, thus resolving the contradiction between simplicity and reliability.
2Object-affected harmful factors
If the cooling air guiding path uses a gap structure between air guide and in-hood elements, then the system simplicity is maintained, but dust and grass may deposit on high-temperature areas
Solution Approach 1:
The patent extracts the harmful effect of dust and grass deposition from the cooling system by introducing a cover member that selectively blocks particle entry while preserving the gap-based cooling air flow path, maintaining system simplicity while eliminating the harmful deposition effect.
Solution Approach 2:
The cover member serves as an intermediary that protects high-temperature areas in the engine hood from dust and grass deposition while allowing cooling air to flow through the gap between the air guide and in-hood elements, thus resolving the contradiction between protection and system simplicity.
3Productivity
If mown grass is discharged rearward and may be blown up into the vehicle body frame gap, then the mowing function is achieved, but grass adherence to devices causes malfunction
Solution Approach 1:
The patent extracts the harmful aspect of grass discharge (entry into gaps causing malfunction) while preserving the rearward discharge function for productivity. The cover member blocks grass entry into the gap while allowing the mowing and discharge operations to continue efficiently.
Solution Approach 2:
The cover member acts as a protective intermediary between the mowing operation and the vehicle body frame gap. It allows grass to be discharged rearward for productivity while preventing it from entering the gap and causing reliability issues, thus resolving the contradiction between efficiency and reliability.
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
The solution effectively prevents mown grass and dust from entering gaps and adhering to the engine hood, reducing the risk of malfunctions and ensuring efficient mowing operations while maintaining a simple and effective cooling system.
Implementation Method 1
a cooling fan that is located in the engine hood at a position forward of the diesel engine; a cooling air guiding path that is provided in the engine hood, the cooling air guiding path being configured to guide a portion of cooling air from the cooling fan to a heat radiation area
Implementation Method 2
a heat radiation area in the engine hood, such as an exhaust manifold part that extends from the exhaust port of the engine to the DPF
Data Source
AI summary
In a riding-type mower, a vehicle body includes a rear portion in which a pair of right/left vehicle body frames extend in a front-rear direction relative to the vehicle body, with a gap therebetween in a lateral width direction. A mowing device is configured to discharge mown grass rearward relative to the vehicle body such that the mown grass falls onto the ground. A cover is provided in a bottom portion of the vehicle body, at a position that is rearward of the mowing device, and covers a gap between the pair of right/left vehicle body frames.