BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

Field of the Invention

The present invention is directed to a front loader.

Description of the Related Art

As front loaders, there are ones including: a boom removably coupled to a vehicle body; a bucket supported at a front end of the boom; a stand that supports the boom, when removed from the vehicle body, in a state in which the bucket is engaged on the ground; and a support link that is provided spanning the boom and the stand, and is configured to prop and support the stand in the grounded state.

For example, U.S. Pat. No. 4,347,031 discloses a front loader of this type. The front loader disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,347,031 includes a stand body serving as the stand, and a slide mechanism.

RELATED ART DOCUMENT

Patent Document 1: U.S. Pat. No. 4,347,031

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

Problem to be Solved by Invention

The stand is required to be stored more compactly so as not to obstruct loader operations. Accordingly, for example, when the front loader is coupled to the vehicle body using a conventional technology and performs loader operations, the stand is folded to be compact using a conventional technology and stored. To fold the stand to be compact, using a bending/stretching link as the support link has also been considered, but there may be cases where the bending/stretching link is unlikely to bend due to strong bending resistance, and thus there is the risk that it will take time to store the stand.

The present invention provides a front loader and a working machine in which a stand can be raised smoothly with a simple structure even if a bending/stretching link has strong bending resistance.

Solution

According to the present invention, the front loader includes:

a boom configured to be removably coupled to a vehicle body;

a bucket supported at a front end of the boom;

a stand configured to support the boom, when removed from the vehicle body, in a state in which the bucket is engaged on the ground;

a bending/stretching link that is provided spanning the boom and the stand, and is configured to prop and support the stand in a state in which the stand is engaged on the ground; and

a link operating mechanism that is provided spanning the bucket and the stand, and is configured to cause, using a swing force of the bucket, the bending/stretching link to bend so that the propping and supporting of the bending/stretching link are released.

According to the present configuration, even if the bending/stretching link has strong bending resistance, the bending/stretching link is forcibly caused to bend by the link operating mechanism so that the propping and supporting are released, and thus it is easy for the bending/stretching link to bend compared to a case where it is bent only by the ascending force of the stand, and thus it is possible to smoothly raise the stand.

Since the swing force of the bucket is used as a power source of the link operating mechanism, the structure of the link operating mechanism can be simplified.

According to the present invention, preferably, the link operating mechanism includes a link operating member slidably supported on the stand, the link operating member being configured to abut and press against a lower portion of the bending/stretching link to release the propping and supporting of the bending/stretching link.

According to the present invention, preferably, a pressing operation portion is provided on the bucket, the pressing operation portion being configured to abut, with a swing force of the bucket, against a bucket-side end portion of the link operating member to press the link operating member.

According to the present configuration, with the simple operational structure in which only the pressing operation portion is provided on the bucket, it is possible to achieve an operational structure in which the link operating mechanism is activated with the swing force of the bucket.

According to the present invention, preferably,

the bending/stretching link includes a boom-side link swingably supported on the boom, a stand-side link swingably supported on the stand, and a coupling shaft configured to couple a free end of the boom-side link with a free end of the stand-side link to be swingable relative to each other;

the boom-side link is configured to prop and support the stand engaged on the ground as the free end thereof comes into abutment against the stand engaged on the ground;

the link operating mechanism includes an operation target portion provided at the free end of the stand-side link on the side opposite the side where the swing pivot point relative to the stand is located and a link operating portion provided on the bucket; and

as the link operating portion comes into abutment against the operation target portion in association with swing of the bucket, the stand-side link is swung by the swing force of the bucket about the swing pivot point and the bending/stretching link is operated to the bending side opposite to the case of propping/supporting.

According to the present configuration, with the simple structure in which only the free end of the boom-side link is placed in abutment against the stand, it is possible to prop and support stand engaged on the ground.

According to the present invention, the front loader includes:

a boom configured to be removably coupled to a vehicle body;

a bucket supported at a front end of the boom;

a stand configured to support the boom, when removed from the vehicle body, in a state in which the bucket is engaged on the ground;

a boom-side link swingably supported on the boom, the boom-side link being configured to prop and support the stand engaged on the ground as the free end thereof comes into abutment against the stand engaged on the ground; and

a stand-side link swingably supported on the stand;

wherein as the stand-side link is swung relative to the stand by a swing force of the bucket, the boom-side link is swung by the stand-side link to be swung more upwards relative to the boom than the case of the propping/supporting.

According to the present configuration, as the stand-side link is swung by a swing force of the bucket, the boom-side link is swung more upwards than the case of propping/supporting. Thus, even if the bending/stretching link has strong bending resistance, the boom can be raised smoothly. Further, with the simple structure in which only the free end of the boom-side link is placed in abutment against the stand, it is possible to prop and support stand engaged on the ground.

According to the present invention, preferably, the front loader further comprises:

a holding member posture-switchable between a holding posture in which the holding member is engaged with the stand for holding the stand at a raised/stored posture and a holding releasing posture in which the holding member is released from the stand;

an operation tool manually operable into a locked position for switching the holding member to the holding posture and an unlocked position for switching the holding member to the holding releasing posture;

an inhibiting portion switchable between an inhibition effective state for inhibiting release of the holding member relative to the stand in spite of switchover of the operation tool to the unlocked position and an inhibition releasing state for allowing release of the holding member relative to the stand; and

an inhibition switchover mechanism configured to maintain the inhibiting portion under the inhibition effective state as the bucket is supported to the boom under a first set posture and to switch the inhibiting portion to the inhibition releasing state as the bucket is supported to the boom under a second set posture.

According to the present configuration, when the bucket is supported to the boom under the first set posture, the inhibiting portion is maintained under the inhibition effective state by the inhibition switchover mechanism. Thus, even if the operation tool is switched from the locked position to the unlocked position, the holding member is maintained under the holding posture and the stand is kept under the raised/stored posture by the holding member. When the bucket is supported to the boom under the second set posture, the inhibiting portion is switched to the inhibition releasing state by the inhibition switchover mechanism. Thus, as the operation tool is switched from the locked position to the unlocked position, the holding member is changed in its posture to the holding releasing posture and the stand can be lowered from the raised/stored posture to become usable.

Therefore, by setting the bucket as being supported to the boom under the first set posture, e.g. when the vehicle body to which the front loader is coupled is to be parked, even if the operation tool is switched to the unlocked position by e.g. a malicious mischief, the stand can be kept under the raised/stored posture by the holding member.

According to the present invention, preferably, the vehicle body comprises a vehicle body of a working machine.

According to the present configuration, since the stand can be easily raised even if the the bending/stretching link provides strong bending resistance, a loader work can be made ready speedily with coupling of the front loader thereto.

According to the present invention, preferably, the vehicle body includes a riding type driving section and a driving cabin.

According to the present configuration, even in the case of bad weather such as rain, strong wind, etc., operations are possible inside the driving cabin not affected by the effect of such bad weather, so a work can be carried out easily.

According to the present invention, preferably, the driving cabin include an access door; the access door is openable/closable about a pivot shaft provided as a swing pivot point at a vehicle body rear side portion of the access door and oriented vertically of the vehicle body: and the operation tool is provided at a position hand-accessible from a riding space of the riding type driving section.

According to the present configuration, in spite of the provision of the driving cabin, it is possible for a driver to lock the stand under the raised/stored posture or to release the stored locking of the stand without having to exist the driving section.

