Adjustable Screening Belt Bars for Root Crop Impurity Separation
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing sieve belt systems for root crop harvesters require significant effort to change the screen belt pitch, necessitating disassembly and replacement, which is time-consuming and inefficient, especially during tight harvesting windows.
Innovation Solution
A sieve belt unit with movable sieve bars and a positioning means that allows for variable adjustment of sieve bar spacing without disassembly, using pivoting or rotating mechanisms to alter the distance between sieve bars, enabling flexible pitch adjustment.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Adaptability or versatility
If the sieve belt pitch is changed by disassembling and replacing the entire belt, then the sieve bar spacing can be adjusted, but the time expenditure and effort increase significantly
Solution Approach 1:
The sieve belt is divided into modular sieve bar units that can be independently adjusted. Each unit comprises sieve bars mounted on a carrier in a movable manner, allowing individual or group adjustment without replacing the entire belt. This segmentation enables pitch changes by repositioning only the necessary modules.
Solution Approach 2:
The sieve bars are mounted in a movable manner on the carriers, enabling dynamic adjustment of the sieve bar spacing during operation or maintenance. This dynamic mounting allows the pitch to be changed by moving the carriers relative to each other, rather than requiring static belt replacement.
2Adaptability or versatility
If additional crossbars are mounted individually to vary screen belt spacing, then the sieve bar spacing can be adjusted, but the effort and complexity increase
Solution Approach 1:
The carriers serve multiple functions: they support the sieve bars, enable movement/adjustment of the sieve bars, and act as the structural element for spacing variation. This multi-functionality eliminates the need for separate additional crossbars or mounting components, reducing overall device complexity.
Solution Approach 2:
The adjustment mechanism is merged with the carrier structure itself. The carriers are designed to be movable relative to each other and to the sieve bars, combining the support function with the adjustment function in a single integrated component rather than requiring separate adjustment mechanisms.
3Ease of manufacture
If the sieve belt is designed with fixed spacing, then the structure is simple, but the adaptability to different crop sizes is limited
Solution Approach 1:
The sieve belt transitions from a fixed spacing design to a dynamic spacing system where carriers can be moved along the belt length. This allows the same simple structural design to be manufactured once and then adapted to different crop sizes by adjusting carrier positions, maintaining ease of manufacture while gaining versatility.
Solution Approach 2:
The key parameter of sieve bar spacing is made variable through the movable carrier design. The physical structure remains relatively simple, but the spacing parameter can be changed by repositioning carriers, allowing adaptation to different crop sizes without redesigning or replacing the entire belt structure.
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
The solution minimizes the effort required to change the sieve belt pitch, allowing for efficient sieving by varying the spacing of sieve bars to prevent crop loss and enhance impurity separation, while also reducing the need for additional components and simplifying maintenance.
Implementation Method 1
The positioning means acts either directly or indirectly on the movable sieve or cross bars. It results in a relative position of the movable sieve bars to the continuous carriers such that, viewed in the sieving direction, the spacing of the sieve bars is varied by changing the position of the positioning means.
Implementation Method 2
The spacing of the sieve bars can be varied by shortening the distance between successive sieve bars both vertically and in the conveying direction. The essential point is that a movement of the sieve bars, which are movably arranged relative to the endless carrier, induced by the positioning device, varies their distance to adjacent, stationary sieve bars. This can be achieved by pivoting or rotating the movable sieve bars
Implementation Method 3
The flap unit thus includes the sieve bar to be pivoted. The angular position is determined by an angle between the conveying direction and a longitudinal extension of the flap unit extending radially from the axis of rotation or pivoting.
Implementation Method 4
The flap unit is pivotable or rotatable via at least one joint directly or indirectly connected to the continuous carrier, and the positioning means is designed to influence the angular position of the flap unit.
Data Source
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AI summary
The invention relates to a screening belt unit for a harvesting machine or crop transportation device, in particular for a root crop harvester or a root crop transport conveyor and for screening admixtures of a mixture of crops and admixtures, comprising a screening belt (2) having at least two endless carriers (3) which are preferably designed as support bars or support chains and between which screening bars are arranged in the direction transverse to the conveyor direction, said screening bars forming a plurality of screening bar units (11) comprising in particular in each case at least two screening bars (4, 6), wherein at least one portion of the screening bars is movably fixed relative to the endless carriers (3), wherein the screening belt unit (1) has a positioning means (13), at least sections of which are arranged along the screening belt (2) and which acts on the movable screening bars (6) and via which, as viewed in the screening direction in screening zone S, a distance A between screening bars arranged successively in the conveying direction F is defined and in particular can be set in a variable manner. The invention also relates to a flap unit, a screening belt, and a harvesting machine or crop transportation device.