Bi-fold Tool Bar Linkage for Farm Implement Wing Folding
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Solution Overview
Problem
Farm implements with extended wings face challenges in navigating and storing due to increased length and weight caused by fixed or telescoping tow bars, requiring more powerful machinery and larger tires for transportation.
Innovation Solution
A folding bar linkage system that rotates the wings into a stowed position, eliminating the need for an elongated track and using a fixed length control bar to manage the folding and unfolding of the bar linkage, reducing overall weight and length, and coordinating the opening of opposing wings to share load requirements.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Force
If a fixed length tow bar is used to support extended wings, then the wings can be supported during operation, but the main carrier length increases requiring more powerful machinery and larger tires
Solution Approach 1:
The tow bar is divided into a fixed length control bar and a telescoping bar that can extend and retract. The control bar remains attached to the main carrier while the telescoping bar extends to support the wing during operation and retracts when the wing is folded, thus supporting the wing without permanently increasing the main carrier length
Solution Approach 2:
The tow bar system transitions from a static fixed length configuration to a dynamic telescoping configuration that adapts its length based on operational requirements. The telescoping bar extends when the wing is deployed and retracts when folded, allowing the system to have both long and short effective lengths as needed
2Length of moving object
If a telescoping tow bar is used to reduce main carrier length, then the overall length is reduced, but the weight increases due to mechanical or hydraulic equipment
Solution Approach 1:
The telescoping mechanism is separated into a control bar portion and a telescoping bar portion. The control bar remains fixed and lightweight while the telescoping bar provides the extension capability, distributing the weight and complexity away from the main carrier
Solution Approach 2:
The control bar acts as an intermediary element that connects the main carrier to the telescoping bar. This intermediary allows the telescoping function to be achieved without directly attaching heavy mechanical or hydraulic equipment to the main carrier, thereby reducing the overall weight impact on the main structure
3Device complexity
If an elongated track is used to receive excess length of fixed bar linkage, then the folding mechanism can be simplified, but the device complexity and weight increase
Solution Approach 1:
The telescoping bar is extracted as a separate component from the main carrier structure. Instead of incorporating the telescoping mechanism into the main carrier (which would require an elongated track), the telescoping bar is a distinct element that extends and retracts independently, eliminating the need for a heavy elongated track structure
Data Source
AI summary
A farm implement having rotatable wings rotatably connected to a main carrier and also having a folding bar linkage, which folds as the corresponding wing is rotated into a stowed position and extends as the wing rotates into a deployed position. A fixed length control bar rotatably linking a tow bar of the folding bar linkage to the main carrier controls the folding and unfolding of the bar linkage as the wing rotates between the deployed and stowed positions.