Agricultural Belt Conveyor With Pivoting Foreign-Body Ejection

Resolve Bottlenecks,
Find Innovative Solutions
Generate Solutions

Solution Overview

Problem

Existing agricultural machines lack effective systems for reliably detecting and ejecting foreign bodies during the conveyance of harvested crops, leading to potential damage and material waste.

Innovation Solution

A conveying device with a belt conveyor system that includes a pivoting ejection section and a cutting device to divert and separate foreign bodies from the material flow, utilizing sensors for detection and controlled pivoting mechanisms to ensure precise ejection and minimal material loss.

Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles

VSEngineering Contradiction Analysis

1Reliability

If foreign bodies are detected and ejected from the material flow, then detection reliability is improved, but material waste increases due to ejection of foreign bodies and surrounding material

Engineering Contradiction:
Improvedetection reliabilityVSAvoidmaterial waste
Core Design Contradiction:
ReliabilityVSLoss of substance

Solution Approach 1:

The material flow is divided into individual material pieces or small groups rather than ejecting large portions. The ejection mechanism targets and removes only the specific foreign body or the minimal surrounding material attached to it, segmenting the ejection action from the bulk material flow. This segmentation approach maintains high detection reliability while minimizing material waste by precisely isolating and removing only the problematic elements.

Inventive Principle:
Principle #1Segmentation

2Stability of the object's composition

If a stationary conveyor system is used, then system stability is improved, but adaptability to different ejection scenarios deteriorates

Engineering Contradiction:
Improvesystem stabilityVSAvoidejection adaptability
Core Design Contradiction:
Stability of the object's compositionVSAdaptability or versatility

Solution Approach 1:

The conveyor system incorporates dynamically adjustable components, specifically the ejection mechanism that can be activated selectively based on foreign body detection. The system transitions from a purely stationary configuration to one with controlled dynamic elements - the ejection apparatus remains integrated with the stable conveyor structure but can be actuated to eject material at specific locations and angles, providing adaptability while maintaining overall system stability.

Inventive Principle:
Principle #15Dynamics

3Reliability

If material is ejected to remove foreign bodies, then foreign body removal effectiveness is improved, but ejection precision deteriorates leading to excessive material loss

Engineering Contradiction:
Improveforeign body removal effectivenessVSAvoidejection precision
Core Design Contradiction:
ReliabilityVSManufacturing precision

Solution Approach 1:

The ejection mechanism is designed with localized action characteristics, targeting specific regions of the material flow where foreign bodies are detected. The ejection force and angle are optimized for local material removal rather than broad-area ejection. This local quality approach concentrates the ejection effect precisely where needed, improving both foreign body removal effectiveness and ejection precision by avoiding unnecessary disturbance of surrounding material.

Inventive Principle:
Principle #3Local quality

Data Source

PatentEP3987917B1Transport device for an agricultural machine
Publication Date: 2025.09.17 KNOSPE BERND
  • EP3987917B1 patent drawingFigure 1
  • EP3987917B1 patent drawingFigure 2
  • EP3987917B1 patent drawingFigure 3

AI summary

A conveying device 1 for an agricultural machine 30 is proposed for conveying a material stream S of a material, wherein the conveying device 1 has at least one conveying track 2 for conveying the material stream S, the conveying track 2 defining a conveying direction R2 of the material stream S, with at least one belt conveying device 3 for conveying the material stream S, the belt conveying device 3 being arranged within the conveying track 2, wherein at least one discharge section 11 of the belt conveying device 3 is pivotably designed to deflect the material stream S from the conveying direction R2 into a discharge direction R3, and wherein the conveying device 1 has at least one cutting device 7 to separate the material stream S conveyed in the conveying direction R2 from the material stream S conveyed in the conveying direction R2 when conveying into the discharge direction R3. Furthermore, an agricultural machine 30 with the conveying device 1 is proposed.