DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

[0028] Next, a first embodiment of the invention will be described with reference to FIGS. 1 - 5 .

[0029] In FIG. 1 , numeral 1 denotes a tractor/front loader/backhoe (TLB). A tractor body T is reinforced by a pair of right and left reinforcing frames 2 . To an intermediate portion of the body T, there is detachably attached a front loader F extending forwardly therefrom. The tractor body T also detachably mounts at the rear portion thereof a backhoe B as a rear implement. The tractor body T is capable of mounting also, at an intermediate lower portion thereof, a mid-mount mower M.

[0030] The tractor body T includes a main body T 4 formed by interconnecting along the fore and aft direction an engine T 2 , a clutch housing T 4 and a transmission casing T 3 , a front axle frame T 6 for suspending a front axle casing for front wheels T 5 projecting forwardly of the engine T 2 and a rear axle casing T 8 projecting from the rear of the transmission casing T 3 for suspending rear wheels T 7 on the right and left sides.

[0031] On the top of the transmission casing T 3 , there is mounted an implement lifting hydraulic device T 10 . And, upwardly of this hydraulic device T 10 , there is mounted a driver's cabin 4 including a driver's seat 3 reversible between the forward and rearward orientations. A floor sheet T 11 is provided to extend from under the driver's seat 3 to a control console T 14 . On the right and left sides of this floor sheet T 11 , there are attached fenders T 12 for the rear wheels T 7 .

[0032] To the right and left rear axle casing T 8 , there are detachably attached, via bolts, a pair of right and left supporting members 5 for supporting right and left legs 13 A of ROPS (Roll Over Protect System) 13 . In this ROPS 13 , the right and left legs 13 A are connected to each other via a cross member and to upper portions of the right and left legs 13 A, there are attached lower opposed ends of a main frame body 13 A formed of a pipe member in a one-side open rectangle shape, via a bent portion 13 C, so that the ROPS is foldable via the bent portion 13 C and a free space is assured for a driver as seated at the driver's seat 3 .

[0033] Mark T 13 denotes a hood for covering the engine T 2 , and rearwardly of the hood T 13 , the driver's cabin T 14 is provided. Further, at the front end of the front axle frame T 6 , there is provided a protector T 15 for protecting the engine hood T 13 .

[0034] Referring to the front loader F, right and left stays F 1 thereof vertically pivotally support a base of a boom F 2 . The boom F 2 pivotally supports a bucket F 3 so that the bucket F 3 can be pivoted up and down for scooping and dumping operations. A boom cylinder F 4 is provided for hydraulically driving the boom F 2 and a bucket cylinder F 5 is provided for hydraulically driving the bucket F 3 .

[0035] The stay F 1 is configured to be engaged into from the top of a stay receiving member 10 C of a loader attaching member 10 to be stopped at the bottom end thereof and locked at an intermediate portion thereof by means of a lock pin F 6 . When out of use, the front loader F can be detached from the loader attaching member 10 by pulling out the lock pin F 6 .

[0036] The mid-mount mower M is mounted to the underside of the tractor body T via a suspension means M 1 to be movable up and down. In response to transmission of power from the transmission casing T 3 , a blade of the mower M is driven to rotate. When a loader operation and/or a backhoe operation is to be effected, this mid-mount mower M can be removed together with the suspension means M 1 from the tractor vehicle body T.

[0037] The backhoe B includes a pair of right and left attaching members B 2 provided at the front of a base frame B 1 . The base frame B 1 pivotally supports, at a rear portion thereof, a pivot bracket B 3 to be pivotable about a vertical axis. The base frame B 1 mounts thereon a steering device B 4 which can be operated from the driver's seat 3 when oriented rearward. The base frame B 1 also mounts, on the right and left sides thereof, hydraulic driven outriggers (stabilizers) T 16 .

[0038] The pivot bracket B 3 can be swung to the right or the left by means of a single swing cylinder B 5 . As bases of the boom B 6 and the boom cylinder B 7 are pivotally supported to this pivot bracket B 3 , the boom B 6 is vertically pivotable by the boom cylinder B 7 . Further, the boom B 6 supports at the leading end thereof an arm B 8 , so that the arm B 8 can be vertically pivotable by an arm cylinder B 9 . The arm B 8 pivotally supports at the leading end thereof a bucket B 10 , so that the bucket B 10 can be pivotally driven by a bucket cylinder B 11 for effecting scooping and dumping operations.

[0039] Each of the right and left attaching members B 2 of the backhoe B includes upper and lower engaging portions B 14 , B 15 , and these upper and lower engaging portions B 14 , B 15 are detachably connected to each of right and left upper and lower connecting portions 11 , 12 at the rear end of the reinforcing frame 2 , for allowing attachment and detachment of the backhoe B to and from the tractor vehicle body T.

[0040] The upper engaging portion B 14 and the upper connecting portion 11 are pin holes which are disposed coaxial opposition to each other for allowing insertion of a pin 14 therein. The lower engaging portion B 15 comprises a pin (connecting bar) extending to the right and left. The lower connecting portion 12 comprises an upper open hook (recess), so that with engagement of the pin of the lower engaging portion B 15 in this hook-like lower connecting portion 12 , the attaching members B 2 are pivoted and the upper engaging portion B 14 and the upper connecting portion 11 are brought into opposition to each other to allow insertion of the pin 14 .

[0041] Incidentally, a pin can be provided to the upper connecting portion 11 and a mounting device can be provided to the upper engaging portion B 14 for automatically engaging with this pin. Further, in this embodiment, the lower connecting portion 12 is formed by welding a thick plate to a connecting member 7 to be described later herein. Instead, the lower connecting portion 12 can be formed integral with the connecting member 7 .

[0042] Next, with reference to FIGS. 1, 2 and 3 , the attaching construction of the above-described reinforcing frame 2 will be described in greater details.

[0043] The rear axle casing T 8 projecting to the right and left from the vehicle body T includes a pair of right and left rear supporting members 5 for supporting the right and left legs 13 A of the ROPS 13 . At an intermediate position of the tractor vehicle body T in the fore and aft direction thereof, there are provided a pair of right and left loader attaching members 10 for detachably attaching the front loader F and the connecting members 7 are provided for interconnecting the rear support members 5 and the loader attaching members 10 .

[0044] Referring to the rear supporting member 5 , to a bottom plate 5 A fixedly attached to the lower end of the leg 13 A, there is fixedly attached a back plate 5 B fixedly attached to a lower back face of the leg 13 A. An attaching plate 5 C formed of an angle member projects forwardly from the lower portion of the back plate 5 B. Further, a fin plate 5 D is fixedly attached to the back plate 5 B with the fin plate projecting rearwardly therefrom. And, at a lower portion of this fin plate 5 D, there is formed a check chain connecting portion 5 E.

[0045] Further, in this rear supporting member 5 , the bottom plate 5 A is attached to the rear axle casing T 8 and the back plate 5 B is attached to the back face of the casing, with these plates being fixed to the casing by means of a plurality of bolts. And, as the right and left legs 13 A of the ROPS 13 are inclined rearwardly, the rear supporting member 5 is also attached with rearward inclination.

[0046] The loader attaching member 10 includes a bracket 10 B attached to an inner end portion of a horizontally oriented tubular member 10 A on the side of the tractor body T. The attaching member 10 further includes, at an outer end thereof, the stay receiving member 10 C having a substantially one-side open rectangle shape in its plan view and also includes a connecting piece 10 D formed integral with and projecting downward from the stay receiving member 10 C. As the attaching brackets 10 B are bolt-fixed to attaching portions T 16 formed in the tractor body T, the loader attaching members 10 are attached to the tractor body T to project to the right and left relative thereto.

[0047] Each of the right and left connecting members 7 for connecting the rear implement B has a length extending from the rear supporting member 5 to the loader attaching member 10 and has a reduced vertical width in the front half portion thereof. And, the connecting member 7 is bolt-connected to the connecting piece 10 D of the loader attaching member 10 and is connected also to the stay receiving member 10 C via a connection reinforcing member 8 F having a substantially “L”-shape in its plan view. for reinforcing the connection therebetween.

[0048] Further, the connecting member 7 has an increased vertical width in the rear half portion thereof and includes here the pair of upper and lower connecting portions 11 , 12 , so that the connecting member 7 is connected to the fin plate 5 D of the rear supporting member 5 via a connection reinforcing member 8 R.

[0049] Adjacent the rear portion of the connecting member 7 , there is formed an upper open fit-in recess 7 A. So that, with fitting of the fit-in recess 7 a to the rear axle casing T 8 from the under, the connecting member is disposed between the tractor body T and the rear supporting member 5 in the right and left direction.

[0050] Further, when this connecting member 7 is fitted to the rear axle casing T 8 , a fit-in recess reinforcing member 9 connects front and rear portions of the fit-in recess 7 a on the upper side of the rear axle casing T 8 , thereby to avoid strength deterioration due to the formation of the fit-in recess 7 a . The fit-in recess reinforcing member 9 comprises a tie plate having a substantially upwardly convex dogleg-like shape, so as to avoid physical interference with the rear axle casing T 8 .

[0051] Further, an intermediate portion of the connecting member 7 is fastened by means of bolts 15 to the attaching plate 5 C of the rear supporting member 5 . More particularly, with interposing a spacer 17 between the connecting member 7 and the attaching plate 5 C, the bolts 15 are inserted through the connecting member 7 , the attaching plate 5 C and the spacer 17 and then fastened by nuts.

[0052] As shown in the plan view of FIG. 3 , the portion of the connecting member 7 extending between its portion connected by the bolts 15 and the portion adjacent the rear of the connection reinforcing member 8 F has a dogleg shape. And, the front portion of the connecting member 7 is connected to the loader attaching member 10 distant from the tractor body T and the rear portion of the member 7 is attached to the rear supporting member 5 adjacent the tractor body T.

[0053] As described above, each connecting member 7 is attached to the rear supporting member 5 and the loader attaching member 10 at total three positions. In this regard, it is preferred that the bolt through holes be formed as elongated holes or slots for allowing adjustment of each attached position.

[0054] The connections of the members such as the connecting members 7 , binding plates 16 , the connection reinforcing members 8 F, 8 R and so on are all bolt fastening connections for allowing detachable attachment. Hence, each of these members constituting the reinforcing frame 2 can be detached and attached, with the rear supporting members 5 and the loader attaching members 10 being kept attached to the tractor body T. Further, these members function to reinforce the tractor body T without being directly attached to this tractor body T.

[0055] FIGS. 4 and 5 show a modified construction including an intermediate connection reinforcing member 8 C. This intermediate connection reinforcing member 8 C includes a connecting bracket 19 and a supporting bracket 20 . The connecting bracket 19 is formed by fixedly and perpendicularly attaching a vertical plate 19 b to a bottom plate 19 a bolt-fixed to the bottom face of the rear axle casing T 8 . The supporting bracket 20 comprises a single flat plate. To an upper portion of this flat plate, the vertical plate 19 b of the connecting bracket 19 is bolt-fixed and a lower portion of the flat plate is fixed between a side frame member 6 and the connecting member 7 and fastened together therewith. The spacer 17 may be formed integrally with a lower portion of the supporting bracket 20 .

[0056] The intermediate connection reinforcing member 8 C is position adjustable in the fore and aft direction, the right and left direction as well as in the vertical direction between the bottom plate 19 a and the rear axle casing T 8 and between the vertical plate 19 b and the supporting bracket 20 and fixed thereto with appropriate position adjustments. As such, this intermediate connection reinforcing member 8 C can add to the attachment strength of the rear supporting member 5 to the rear axle casing T 8 and also the attachment strength of the connecting member 7 to the rear supporting member 5 .

[0057] Accordingly, with the above construction, the connecting member 7 is connected to the rear supporting member 5 both at the front and rear portions relative to the rear axle casing 8 . Further, as the connecting member 7 can be more firmly supported to the rear axle casing T 8 , the connection supporting strength for the rear implement B can be improved also.

[0058] Next, a second embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS. 6 through 9 .

[0059] In the first embodiment described above, the forwardly extending extension of the connecting member 7 is detachably connected to the loader attaching member 10 . In this second embodiment, the connecting member 7 and the rear supporting member 5 are detachably connected to each other via the side frame member 6 .

[0060] FIGS. 6, 7 , 8 and 9 show an attaching construction of the reinforcing frame 2 having such side frame members 6 . The rear axle casing T 8 projecting to the right and left from the vehicle body T includes a pair of right and left rear supporting members 5 for supporting the right and left legs 13 A of the ROPS 13 . At an intermediate position of the tractor vehicle body T in the fore and aft direction thereof, there are provided a pair of right and left loader attaching members 10 for detachably attaching the front loader F. And, the side frame member 6 and the connecting member 7 are provided for interconnecting the rear support members 5 and the loader attaching members 10 .

[0061] Referring to the rear supporting member 5 , to a bottom plate 5 A fixedly attached to the lower end of the leg 13 A, there is fixedly attached, in the shape of letter “T”, a back plate 5 B fixedly attached to a lower back face of the leg 13 A. An attaching plate 5 C formed of an angle member projects forwardly from the lower portion of the back plate 5 B. Further, a fin plate 5 D is fixedly attached to the back plate 5 B with the fin plate projecting rearwardly therefrom. And, at a lower portion of this fin plate 5 D, there is formed a check chain connecting portion 5 E.

[0062] Further, in this rear supporting member 5 , the bottom plate 5 A is attached to the rear axle casing T 8 and the back plate 5 B is attached to the back face of the casing, with these plates being fixed to the casing by means of a plurality of bolts. And, as the right and left legs 13 A of the ROPS 13 are inclined rearwardly, the rear supporting member 5 is also attached with rearward inclination.

[0063] The loader attaching member 10 includes a bracket 10 B attached to an inner end portion of a horizontally oriented tubular member 10 A on the side of the tractor body T. The attaching member 10 further includes, at an outer end thereof, the stay receiving member 10 C having a substantially one-side open rectangle shape in its plan view and also includes a connecting piece 10 D formed integral with and projecting downward from the stay receiving member 10 C. As the attaching brackets 10 B are bolt-fixed to attaching portions T 16 formed in the tractor body T, the loader attaching members 10 are attached to the tractor body T to project to the right and left relative thereto.

[0064] Further, an intermediate portion of the connecting member 7 is fastened by means of bolts 15 for connecting the rear supporting member 5 to a rear portion of the side frame member 6 . More particularly, with interposing a spacer 17 between the side frame member 6 and the connecting member 7 , the bolts 15 for connecting the attaching plate 5 c of the rear supporting member 5 to the side frame member 6 are inserted through the connecting member 7 and the spacer 17 also and then fastened by nuts.

[0065] Each of the right and left side frame members 6 is bent in the form of letter “S” rearwardly of the connection reinforcing member 8 F and the rear portion of the side frame member 6 is located closer to the tractor body T. Whereas, the front portion of each connecting member 7 forwardly of the portion connected by the bolts 15 is bent in the form of letter “S” and is located away from the tractor body T to be opposed to the side frame member 6 .

[0066] As described above, each connecting member 7 is attached to the rear supporting member 5 and the side frame member 6 at total three positions. In this regard, since the connection between the connecting member 7 and the side frame member 6 is binding connection by the binding plate 16 , this connection is position adjustable. Instead, this connection may comprise bolt fastened connection. In the case of such bolt fastened connection, it is preferred that the bolt through holes be formed as elongated holes or slots for allowing adjustment of each attached position.

[0067] The connections of the members such as the side frame members 6 , the connecting members 7 , the binding plates 16 , the connection reinforcing members 8 F, 8 R and so on are all bolt fastening connections for allowing detachable attachment. Hence, each of these members constituting the reinforcing frame 2 can be detached and attached, with the rear supporting members 5 and the loader attaching members 10 being kept attached to the tractor body T. Further, these members function to reinforce the tractor body T without being directly attached to this tractor body T.

[0068] Incidentally, the fore and aft, right and left and upper and lower positional relationships among the respective components in the foregoing embodiment are at their best when provided as illustrated in FIGS. 1 through 9 . However, the present invention is not limited thereto. The respective components and the constructions may be modified in various manners and combinations thereof may be changed also.

[0069] For instance, the connection reinforcing member 8 R may be disposed between the vicinity of the lower connecting portion 12 of the connecting member 7 and the fin plate 5 D. The intermediate connection reinforcing member 8 C may be disposed between the fit-in recess reinforcing member 9 and the rear axle casing T 8 . Further, instead of providing the intermediate connection reinforcing member 8 C, the attaching plate 5 C of the rear supporting member 5 may be bolt-fastened to the rear axle casing T 8 to be connected to the connecting member 7 .

[0070] The invention may be embodied in any other way than disclosed in the above detailed description without departing from the essential spirit thereof defined in the appended claims. All modifications apparent for those skilled in the art are intended to be encompassed within the scope of the invention defined by the claims.