Arcuate Spring Tine Contour for Haymaking Machine Crop Guidance

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Solution Overview

Problem

Existing haymaking machines for tedding and turning agricultural stalks and leaves suffer from contamination and uneven delivery due to the design of spring tines, which pick up soil particles and fail to guide crops reliably during rotation.

Innovation Solution

The haymaking machine features tedder rotors with radially aligned tine arms equipped with elongated spring rod elements having an arcuate contour, ensuring a concave contact surface for optimal crop absorption and guidance, reducing contamination by maintaining a consistent distance from the ground and preventing crop jamming.

Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles

VSEngineering Contradiction Analysis

1Ease of manufacture

If spring tines are designed with straight or simple curved contours, then the structure is simple and easy to manufacture, but the crop guidance is unreliable and contamination occurs

Engineering Contradiction:
Improvetine structure simplicityVSAvoidcrop guidance reliability
Core Design Contradiction:
Ease of manufactureVSReliability

Solution Approach 1:

The spring tine is designed with a specific arcuate contour where the processing section forms an arc with a radius of 50-150mm. This curvature creates a concave contact surface that reliably guides the crop along the tine during rotation, preventing the crop from slipping up into the fastening section and causing contamination. The curved geometry transforms the simple structural approach into an effective crop-guiding mechanism.

Inventive Principle:
Principle #14Spheroidality (Curvature)

2Productivity

If spring tines extend significantly towards the ground to pick up crop, then crop pickup is improved, but soil particles are picked up causing contamination

Engineering Contradiction:
Improvecrop pickup efficiencyVSAvoidsoil contamination
Core Design Contradiction:
ProductivityVSObject-affected harmful factors

Solution Approach 1:

The spring tine is divided into distinct sections with different geometries: a resilient fastening section for attachment and a processing section with specific arcuate contour. The processing section's curved geometry creates a natural guidance path that allows the crop to be picked up effectively while the concave surface prevents soil particles from adhering to the tine, thus achieving good crop pickup without excessive contamination.

Inventive Principle:
Principle #3Local quality

Solution Approach 2:

The spring tine design incorporates a specific three-dimensional arcuate contour with radius 50-150mm, transforming the simple linear extension towards ground into a curved spatial path. This dimensional change creates a concave contact surface that guides the crop along the tine's curvature, enabling effective crop pickup while the geometric shape prevents soil adhesion by creating a smooth flow path for the crop.

Inventive Principle:
Principle #17Another dimension (Dimensionality change)

3Productivity

If spring tines have angle greater than 90° with ground for complete pickup, then crop pickup is complete, but even and undisturbed discharge is not possible

Engineering Contradiction:
Improvecrop pickup completenessVSAvoidcrop discharge quality
Core Design Contradiction:
ProductivityVSEase of operation

Solution Approach 1:

The spring tine utilizes its inherent elasticity and the dynamic rotation of the tedder rotor to achieve both complete pickup and undisturbed discharge. The resilient fastening section allows the tine to flex during crop pickup, while the arcuate processing section guides the crop smoothly. As the rotor rotates, the dynamic motion naturally facilitates even discharge without disturbing the crop, resolving the contradiction between complete pickup and quality discharge.

Inventive Principle:
Principle #15Dynamics

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

This design enhances the efficiency of crop picking and delivery, minimizing soil contamination and crop sticking, resulting in improved tedding and turning processes with reduced risk of contamination and enhanced crop guidance.

Implementation Method 1

each spring tine consisting of one, the outer end of the tine arms spatially assigned, resiliently flexible fastening section as well as a processing of the agricultural stalks or leaves serving, having two elongated spring rod elements

Methodology Applied
Scientific EffectElasticity: Elasticity

Data Source

PatentEP3087822B1Haymaking machine
Publication Date: 2018.03.07 MASCHINENFABRIK BERNARD KRONE GMBH & CO KG
  • EP3087822B1 patent drawingFigure 1
  • EP3087822B1 patent drawingFigure 2
  • EP3087822B1 patent drawingFigure 3

AI summary

Haymaking machine for tedding and turning with at least two tedding rotors (3) arranged on a machine beam (2), which are provided with several approximately radially oriented tine arms (6), wherein the outer ends of the tine arms (6) are equipped with spring tines (4) and each spring tine (4) consists of a resiliently compliant fastening section (7) spatially associated with the outer end of the tine arms (6) and of a processing section (8) serving to process the agricultural straw or leaves, having two elongated spring rod elements (11) extending towards the ground, and the two elongated spring rod elements (11) have an arc-shaped contour (12) with at least approximately the same shape when viewed in a vertical projection plane in a direction radially oriented towards the tedding rotor (3).wherein an end of the elongated spring rod elements (11) facing the ground coincides with or is subordinate to the ground at a point of intersection (13) of the elongated spring rod elements (11) with the ground in relation to the direction of rotation (U) of the spring tines (4) and a vertical reference line (16) passing through a center point (14) of the cross-sectional area (15) of the tine arm (6).