Bin Sweep Pivots With Ball And Socket Joints
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing bin sweep technologies face challenges in accommodating irregular bin floor contours due to simple pinned pivots that can bind and fail to precisely match floor heights, especially in larger bins with uneven surfaces.
Innovation Solution
A bin sweep pivot system featuring a shaft with a slidable ring and pivotable collar allowing four degrees of freedom, enabling the sweep to rotate, translate, and tilt to conform to uneven bin floors, with adjustable pivotability and a design that prevents horizontal pivoting between sections.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Adaptability or versatility
If simple pinned pivots are used to allow sweep sections to pivot vertically, then the sweep can accommodate some height variability, but the pivots may bind as the sweep is driven about the bin floor and cannot precisely match floor contours
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies the dynamics principle by making the pivot system movable and adjustable rather than fixed. The collar is configured to pivot about the ring in multiple directions (at least two directions including vertical and horizontal components), allowing the sweep sections to dynamically adapt to floor contours. The ring can slide along the shaft while the collar pivots about the ring, creating a multi-degree-of-freedom joint that prevents binding by accommodating both vertical height variations and horizontal misalignments.
2Device complexity
If simple pinned pivots are used to reduce device complexity, then the structure is simpler, but the sweep sections cannot precisely follow floor contours
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies the dimensionality change principle by adding rotational degrees of freedom to the pivot joint. Instead of a simple single-axis pin pivot, the collar pivots about the ring in multiple directions (at least two directions), adding horizontal and diagonal pivot capabilities to the traditional vertical pivot. This multi-dimensional movement capability allows the sweep sections to precisely follow complex floor contours while maintaining a relatively simple overall structure.
3Productivity
If adjacent sweep sections are driven forwardly into the grain, then the sweep can move across the bin floor, but the pinned sections may bind and fail to maintain proper alignment
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies the parameter changes principle by allowing the pivot joint parameters (rotation angle, pivot direction, position along the shaft) to change dynamically during operation. As the sweep is driven across the bin floor and encounters varying floor conditions, the collar can pivot about the ring in multiple directions and the ring can slide along the shaft, adjusting the geometric parameters of the joint to maintain smooth operation and prevent binding while the sweep sections move through the grain.
Data Source
AI summary
Pivot structures for use on bin sweeps, for example at the inner end of a bin sweep or along the length of a bin sweep, include a ball and socket. The socket is preferably defined by a collar having opposing open ends through which a shaft extends, with the shaft also extending through the ball such that the ball can slide on the shaft. The collar/socket is then affixed to a section of a sweep, and the shaft is affixed to an adjacent section, or is alternatively defined by a central stanchion within the bin. The pivot allows the sweep section to move in up to four degrees of freedom with respect to the adjacent section, or with respect to the central stanchion.