Mulching Device with Adjustable Sickle and Flail Mower
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing mulching devices are cumbersome and difficult to handle, especially in rough terrain and on slopes, due to their heavy design and rigid coupling of blade carriers, which leads to high torque transmission and potential damage when encountering obstacles.
Innovation Solution
A mulching device combining a flail mower and a sickle mower with adjustable blade carriers that can move linearly along a parallel axis to the rotor shaft, featuring a holding frame with axial and linear bearings, and a V-belt drive system to reduce torque transmission and protect blades from obstacles.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Adaptability or versatility
If blade carriers are rigidly coupled to the PTO shaft drive to ensure coordinated movement, then the working width adjustment range is increased, but the transmission is heavily loaded by suddenly occurring high torques when blade carriers or blade tools hit obstacles
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies a flexible coupling mechanism between the blade carriers and the PTO shaft drive, allowing relative movement and torque absorption. The flexible coupling acts as a buffer that can deform elastically to absorb sudden torque spikes when blade tools encounter obstacles, while still maintaining coordinated movement of blade carriers for working width adjustment.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent incorporates cushioning elements in the coupling mechanism between the blade carriers and the drive system. These cushioning elements are pre-positioned to absorb and dampen sudden torque shocks before they can be transmitted to the PTO shaft and tractor transmission, protecting the system from heavy loading while maintaining operational flexibility.
2Productivity
If two rotor shafts are used to increase working width, then the cutting capacity is improved, but the device becomes very heavy and difficult to handle, especially on slopes and in rough terrain
Solution Approach 1:
The patent merges the functions of multiple rotor shafts into a single rotor shaft system with multiple blade carriers that can be independently positioned. Instead of using two separate heavy rotor shafts, the invention combines their cutting functions into one shaft with adjustable blade carriers, reducing overall weight while maintaining cutting capacity.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent introduces dynamic adjustability to the blade carriers, allowing them to be moved along the rotor shaft axis to vary the working width. This dynamic configuration replaces the static dual-rotor-shaft design, enabling the system to achieve the same cutting capacity with reduced weight by only activating or positioning blade carriers as needed.
3Strength
If blade carriers are made heavy and rigid for stable operation, then the cutting performance is improved, but the device becomes difficult to handle in rough terrain and on slopes
Solution Approach 1:
The patent makes the blade carriers dynamically adjustable along the rotor shaft, allowing the working width and blade positioning to be optimized for different operating conditions. This dynamic adaptability enables the system to maintain cutting performance while reducing the effective working mass that needs to be handled in rough terrain, improving ease of operation.
Data Source
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AI summary
The invention relates to a mulching device (10) comprising a flail mower (12) with a rotor shaft (42) rotating about a rotor axis (44) and with tools (46) mounted thereon for cutting and/or shredding green material and/or wood chips and/or straw, in particular corn stover, and a sickle mower (14) with a knife carrier (50) rotating about a knife shaft axis (48) that is skew to the rotor axis (44) of the flail mower (12), on which at least one knife tool (52) for cutting and/or shredding green material and/or wood chips and/or straw, in particular corn stover, is mounted. According to the invention, the knife carrier (50) of the sickle mower (14) is arranged to be linearly displaceable along an adjustment axis (38) and lies in a plane parallel to the rotor axis (44) of the rotor shaft (42) of the flail mower (12).