Lawn-mowing vehicle with outwardly and upwardly rotatable lawn-mowing unit

1. A lawn-mowing vehicle comprising:

a carriage;

an up-and-down cylinder connected to the carriage;

an arm connected to the up-and-down cylinder via an elongate hole;

a lawn-mowing unit connected to the up-and-down cylinder, the lawn-mowing unit being movable between a moved-down position for lawn-mowing, and a moved-up position for driving while not lawn-mowing, by activating the up-and-down cylinder connected between the arm and the carriage;

rollers connected to the lawn-mowing unit and supporting the lawn-mowing unit relative to the ground while lawn-mowing and rotating in a traveling direction of the carriage;

a deck arm connected to the lawn-mowing unit;

a first connection mechanism including a first rotary shaft which rotatably connects the deck arm to the arm so that the lawn-mowing unit is manually rotatable in a plane parallel to the ground while the rollers contact the ground between the moved-down position and a biased side position that is laterally shifted to a side of the carriage; and

a second connection mechanism including a second rotary shaft which rotatably connects the deck arm to the lawn-mowing unit so that the lawn-mowing unit is manually rotatable while in the biased side position between a facing-the-ground posture and an outward posture, the facing-the-ground posture having the lawn-mowing unit in a prone orientation, the outward posture having the lawn-mowing unit in an upright orientation.

2. The lawn-mowing vehicle according to claim 1 , wherein

the rollers are located at positions where the rollers contact with the ground at the time when the lawn-mowing unit is rotated from the facing-the-ground posture to the outward posture.

3. The lawn-mowing vehicle according to claim 1 , wherein

a longitudinal direction of the arm is perpendicular to an axis along a front-and-back direction of the carriage, and

in the biased side position, the second rotary shaft is perpendicular to the longitudinal direction of the arm.

4. The lawn-mowing vehicle according to claim 2 , wherein

a longitudinal direction of the arm is perpendicular to an axis along a front-and-back direction of the carriage, and

in the biased side position, the second rotary shaft is perpendicular to the longitudinal direction of the arm.

5. The lawn-mowing vehicle according to claim 1 , further comprising:

a rotation restricting means for restricting a rotation range of the lawn-mowing unit by use of the second connection mechanism;

wherein the second connection mechanism includes:

a first bracket fixed to the lawn-mowing unit, and a second bracket fixed to the first connection mechanism; and

a shaft for supporting the first bracket with the second bracket, so as to be rotatable;

the second bracket is provided with a pin that moves backward and forward, in a direction toward a side where the first bracket is located; and

the first bracket includes a pin-insertion hole;

wherein the pin-insertion hole faces the pin when the lawn-mowing unit is rotated until the rotation restricting means restricts the rotation, and at the time, the pin advances toward a side of the first bracket to become inserted into the pin-insertion hole.

6. The lawn-mowing vehicle according to claim 2 further comprising:

a rotation restricting means for restricting a rotation range of the lawn-mowing unit by use of the second connection mechanism;

wherein the second connection mechanism includes:

a first bracket fixed to the lawn-mowing unit, and a second bracket fixed to the first connection mechanism; and

a shaft for supporting the first bracket with the second bracket, so as to be rotatable;

the second bracket is provided with a pin that moves backward and forward, in a direction toward a side where the first bracket is located; and

the first bracket includes a pin-insertion hole;

wherein the pin-insertion hole faces the pin when the lawn-mowing unit is rotated until the rotation restricting means restricts the rotation, and at the time, the pin advances toward a side of the first bracket to become inserted into the pin-insertion hole.

7. The lawn-mowing vehicle according to claim 3 further comprising:

a rotation restricting means for restricting a rotation range of the lawn-mowing unit by use of the second connection mechanism;

wherein the second connection mechanism includes:

a first bracket fixed to the lawn-mowing unit, and a second bracket fixed to the first connection mechanism; and

a shaft for supporting the first bracket with the second bracket, so as to be rotatable;

the second bracket is provided with a pin that moves backward and forward, in a direction toward a side where the first bracket is located; and

the first bracket includes a pin-insertion hole;

wherein the pin-insertion hole faces the pin when the lawn-mowing unit is rotated until the rotation restricting means restricts the rotation, and at the time, the pin advances toward a side of the first bracket to get inserted into the pin-insertion hole.

8. The lawn-mowing vehicle according to claim 4 further comprising:

a rotation restricting means for restricting a rotation range of the lawn-mowing unit by use of the second connection mechanism;

wherein the second connection mechanism includes:

a first bracket fixed to the lawn-mowing unit, and a second bracket fixed to the first connection mechanism; and

a shaft for supporting the first bracket with the second bracket, so as to be rotatable;

the second bracket is provided with a pin that moves backward and forward, in a direction toward a side where the first bracket is located; and

the first bracket includes a pin-insertion hole;

wherein the pin-insertion hole faces the pin when the lawn-mowing unit is rotated until the rotation restricting means restricts the rotation, and at the time, the pin advances toward a side of the first bracket to get inserted into the pin-insertion hole.

9. The lawn-mowing vehicle according to claim 5 further comprising:

a biasing means for biasing the pin toward a side of the first bracket;

a catch that is provided to the pin, and engages a finger when the pin is moved against a biasing force in a direction away from the first bracket; and

a hook that is provided to the second bracket, and to which the catch is hitched when the pin is pulled out from the pin-insertion hole, so that the pin is prevented from moving to the side of the first bracket.

10. The lawn-mowing vehicle according to claim 6 further comprising:

a biasing means for biasing the pin toward a side of the first bracket;

a catch that is provided to the pin, and engages a finger when the pin is moved against a biasing force in a direction away from the first bracket; and

a hook that is provided to the second bracket, and to which the catch is hitched when the pin is pulled out from the pin-insertion hole, so that the pin is prevented from moving to the side of the first bracket.

11. The lawn-mowing vehicle according to claim 7 further comprising:

a biasing means for biasing the pin toward a side of the first bracket;

a catch that is provided to the pin, and engages a finger when the pin is moved against a biasing force in a direction away from the first bracket; and

a hook that is provided to the second bracket, and to which the catch is hitched when the pin is pulled out from the pin-insertion hole, so that the pin is prevented from moving to the side of the first bracket.

12. The lawn-mowing vehicle according to claim 8 further comprising:

a biasing means for biasing the pin toward a side of the first bracket;

a catch that is provided to the pin, and engages a finger when the pin is moved against a biasing force in a direction away from the first bracket; and

a hook that is provided to the second bracket, and to which the catch is hitched when the pin is pulled out from the pin-insertion hole, so that the pin is prevented from moving to the side of the first bracket.