Bale Tag Twine Assembly for Crop Traceability
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Solution Overview
Problem
Current baling systems lack effective methods for identifying and tracing baled crop materials during the baling process, which is crucial for ensuring quality and traceability, especially in agricultural and organic food industries.
Innovation Solution
A bale tag and twine assembly system where bale tags with unique identification indicia, such as bar codes or RFID chips, are coupled to the twine before the baling process, allowing for easy assembly and attachment to the baled crop, enabling traceability and quality tracking.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Loss of information
If bale tags with identification indicia are integrated into the binding material, then traceability and quality control are improved, but the device complexity and assembly difficulty increase
Solution Approach 1:
The bale tag is pre-assembled to the twine in a separate operation before the baling process. The tag is attached to the twine using a simple insertion method where the twine passes through a bore in the tag body, and the tapered portions guide the twine into proper positioning. This preliminary assembly simplifies the overall system by separating the tagging function from the baling mechanism.
Solution Approach 2:
The bale tag design incorporates self-aligning features where the tapered first and second portions automatically guide the twine into the correct position as it passes through the bore. The geometry of the tag body itself performs the alignment function, eliminating the need for additional alignment mechanisms or complex assembly procedures.
2Reliability
If the bale tag is assembled to the twine before the baling process, then the identification tracking is ensured, but the manufacturing process time increases
Solution Approach 1:
The system separates the tagging operation from the baling operation into distinct segments. Bale tags can be pre-assembled to twine segments in advance, allowing for batch preparation and quality verification before the actual baling process begins. This segmentation enables parallel processing and reduces bottlenecks in the overall manufacturing workflow.
3Ease of operation
If the bale tag body has tapered portions for easy twine insertion, then the ease of operation is improved, but the manufacturing precision requirements increase
Solution Approach 1:
The tag body incorporates tapered portions with specific angle parameters that transform the insertion operation. By carefully selecting the taper angles of the first and second portions, the design achieves self-aligning behavior that guides the twine into the bore without requiring high-precision manual alignment. The parameter optimization balances ease of insertion with manufacturability.
Data Source
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AI summary
A method of assembling a bale tag (300, 500, 602, 702, 802) and twine assembly to a baled crop during a baling process is disclosed. The method comprising: providing the bale tag (300, 500, 602, 702, 802) having a body (306, 504) with a first end (302, 506) and a second end (304, 508), and a piece of twine (502, 606, 704, 804) having a defined length; indicating at a location on the bale tag (300, 500, 602, 702, 802) an identification indicia that corresponds to the bale tag (300, 500, 602, 702, 802); orienting the first end (302, 506) of the bale tag (300, 500, 602, 702, 802) relative to the twine (502, 606, 704, 804) such that the first end (302, 506) of the bale tag (300, 500, 602, 702, 802) is to be passed through a twine tensioner during the baling process before the second end (304, 508); coupling the bale tag (300, 500, 602, 702, 802) to the twine (502, 606, 704, 804) before executing the baling process; forming the baled crop during execution of the baling process; and assembling the bale tag (300, 500, 602, 702, 802) and twine assembly to the baled crop.