A vehicle such as a lift truck or the like including a vehicle frame having two spaced apart side frame members, a drive system for the vehicle including a differential having a housing disposed between the frame members with oppositely directed drive train tunnels extending towards a respective one of the frame members, an opening in each side frame member and aligned with the associated drive train tunnel, a pair of final drive units, each including wheel spindles, one on each side of the frame with each final drive unit having a mounting plate abutting an associated side frame member on the side thereof remote from the differential and a sleeve for housing a drive component extending from the mounting plate through the opening in the associated side frame member for connection to the associated tunnel, and a securing device securing each mounting plate to the associated side frame member so that loading on the vehicle will be transmitted directly to the vehicle frame and the differential will not support vehicle loads.
This invention relates to an apparatus and method for mounting a transmission (32) in a frame (10) of a vehicle (12) which eliminates the problems of accessibility, complexity and the need to elevate the vehicle for access from beneath. The mounting arrangement has a first trunnion (42) releasably connected to a first side (34) of the transmission (32) which is slidably disposed in an aperture of a first side member (14) of a frame (10) and a second trunnion (52) releasably connected to a second side (36) of the transmission (32) and slidably disposed in an aperture in a second side (16) of the frame (10) and a guide apparatus (72) for slidably connecting a second end (40) of the transmission (32) to the frame (10) and guiding the transmission (32) for movement in directions substantially normal to a transverse trunnion axis defined by said trunnions. Thus, the mounting arrangement eliminates the problems of installation of a transmission from beneath a vehicle frame and facilitates faster installation and removal while providing support for the transmission during installation. The mounting arrangement is particularly useful in a fork lift truck.
Disc brakes have heretofore not received wide utilization on fork lift trucks because of the problems of space and lubrication. A lift truck has a very small, central hub area which greatly limits the size and type of brake and the ways of lubricating the brake. The disc brake actuator (7) of the present invention meets the problem of incorporating disc brakes (10) into the limited space of the wheel drive assembly (22) of a fork lift truck by mechanically applying the disc brakes (10) through axial rotation of the actuator (37,50) about the jack shafts (18). The difficulty of lubricating the disc brakes (10) is overcome either by utilizing the brake actuator (37) as a conduit for lube oil from the differential (11) or sealing off the lube oil from the differential (11) with a seal (58) in the brake actuator (50) so that the disc brakes (10) can be independently lubricated.
A mounting arrangement for closely connecting a lift mast assembly to a frame member of a work vehicle includes a first apparatus for pivotally connecting a first end portion of lift mast upright guide member to a first shaft, a second apparatus for connecting a first end portion of the first shaft to a first support flange and guiding the first shaft for slidable movement in directions substantially parallel to a wheel spindle axis, and a third apparatus for connecting a second end portion of the first shaft to the vehicle frame member and maintaining the first shaft from slidable axial movement relative to the first support flange. An arrangement for passing pressurized fluid to a location between the first end of the first shaft and a support flange second side is provided to force the first shaft from connection with the first support flange. The mounting arrangement is particularly suited for use on a fork lift truck.
