IP Library Granted Patent US 11,214,138
Granted Patent B2
US 11,214,138 · App. 16/669,807 · Granted Jan 4, 2022

Utility vehicle

Inventor: Yoshinobu Uozumi (Amagasaki, JP)
Assignee: KAWASAKI JUKOGYO KABUSHIKI KAISHA
B60K11/085B60S1/68B62D25/08B62D35/005B62D35/02
View Patent ↗
Loading inventors, assignments & file history…
Monitor This Case
Get email alerts when status or documents change.
Order Certified Copies
Most orders are placed with the USPTO same day — all within 24 business hours.
Order via The Patent Place →
Pre-filled with this patent's details
Quick Facts
Patent No.
US 11,214,138
App. No.
16/669,807
Granted
Jan 4, 2022
Kind
B2
Abstract

Provided is a utility vehicle that can efficiently take the traveling wind into a vehicle and discharge muddy water and earth and sand that enter a passage for taking in the traveling wind to the outside of the vehicle. The utility vehicle includes an opening formed on the vehicle body, the opening through which a traveling wind can be taken into the vehicle body when the vehicle body travels, a radiator capable of cooling a coolant for cooling a driving source by exchanging heat with the traveling wind taken in from the opening, a passage that is provided between the opening and the radiator and guides the traveling wind taken in from the opening to the radiator, and a discharge mechanism that performs discharge operation to discharge foreign matter to outside when the foreign matter enters inside of the passage together with the traveling wind.

Claims (35)

1. A utility vehicle, comprising:

a driving source;

a vehicle body equipped with the driving source;

an opening formed on the vehicle body, the opening through which traveling wind can be taken into the vehicle body when the vehicle body travels by driving of the driving source;

a radiator capable of cooling a coolant for cooling the driving source by exchanging heat with traveling wind taken in from the opening;

a passage that is provided between the opening and the radiator and guides the traveling wind taken in from the opening to the radiator; and

a discharge mechanism that performs discharge operation to discharge foreign matter to outside when the foreign matter enters inside of the passage together with the traveling wind.

2. The utility vehicle according to claim 1 , wherein the discharge mechanism performs the discharge operation when a predetermined amount or more of foreign matter enters the passage.

3. The utility vehicle according to claim 2 , wherein

the discharge mechanism includes a tray whose position can be changed between an open state in which the tray is opened when the foreign matter is discharged and a closed state when the foreign matter is not discharged, and a biasing member that biases the tray to a position of a closed state, and

when gravity greater than or equal to a biasing force by the biasing member acts on the tray due to foreign matter having a predetermined weight or more placed on the tray, the tray moves to a position of an open state, and the discharge mechanism performs the discharge operation.

4. The utility vehicle according to claim 2 , wherein

the discharge mechanism includes a tray that supports the foreign matter in the inside of the passage when the foreign matter enters inside of the passage, and a motor that can move the tray,

the tray is configured to be movable by driving of the motor between a support position at which the foreign matter is supported and a storage position at which the tray is stored in a storage portion, and

the foreign matter supported by the tray at the support position is discharged to the outside by gravity when the tray moves from the support position to the storage position and the tray is stored in the storage portion.

5. The utility vehicle according to claim 2 , wherein

the discharge mechanism has a sensor that detects whether or not an amount of the foreign matter that enters inside of the passage is a predetermined amount or more, and

the discharge mechanism performs the discharge operation when the sensor detects that the amount of the foreign matter is the predetermined amount or more.

6. The utility vehicle according to claim 5 , wherein

the sensor is a pressure sensor, and

the discharge mechanism performs the discharge operation when a pressure detected by the pressure sensor is a predetermined pressure or more.

7. The utility vehicle according to claim 5 , wherein

the sensor is an optical sensor,

the optical sensor has a light emitting unit and a light receiving unit, and

the discharge mechanism performs the discharge operation when light emitted from the light emitting unit is blocked by the foreign matter accumulated in the inside of the passage and an amount of light received by the light receiving unit is reduced.

8. The utility vehicle according to claim 1 , wherein the discharge mechanism performs the discharge operation at regular intervals.

9. The utility vehicle according to claim 1 , wherein

the discharge mechanism has a camera capable of recognizing whether or not the foreign matter enters inside of the passage based on an image, and

the discharge mechanism performs the discharge operation when the foreign matter is recognized to enter inside of the passage based on an image captured by the camera.

10. The utility vehicle according to claim 1 , further comprising an air conditioning mechanism for air-conditioning an inside of a vehicle interior in the vehicle body, wherein

the air conditioning mechanism has a condenser capable of condensing a refrigerant by exchanging heat between a refrigerant and the traveling wind taken in from the opening, and

the passage includes a condenser passage that is provided between the opening and the condenser and guides the traveling wind taken in from the opening to the condenser.

11. The utility vehicle according to claim 10 , further comprising a fan that can take in a larger amount of traveling wind from the opening by rotating, wherein

the passage includes a fan passage for taking in traveling wind from the opening when the fan rotates.

12. The utility vehicle according to claim 11 , wherein the condenser, the radiator, and the fan are arranged in this order from front to rear of the vehicle body.

Assignments (2)
ASSIGNMENT OF ASSIGNOR'S INTEREST Recorded Apr 7, 2022
From: KAWASAKI JUKOGYO KABUSHIKI KAISHA
To: KAWASAKI MOTORS, LTD.
Reel/Frame 059630/0169 →
ASSIGNMENT OF ASSIGNOR'S INTEREST Recorded Oct 31, 2019
From: UOZUMI, YOSHINOBU
To: KAWASAKI JUKOGYO KABUSHIKI KAISHA
Reel/Frame 050878/0670 →
Continuity (1)
Related Publication 20210129661A1 · May 6, 2021
Cited By (1)
US 12,441,178