Three-Section Concave Adjustment for Combine Grain Separation

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Solution Overview

Problem

Agricultural combines face challenges in efficiently separating grain from crop material, with rasp bars often causing damage due to prolonged exposure and deflection of larger portions, leading to increased risk of grain damage and cobs breaking.

Innovation Solution

A rotor and cage assembly with adjustable concave inserts and grates, featuring interlacing and overlapping fingers that move closer or farther apart to adjust to different grain types and conditions, allowing for synchronized rotation and adjustment of the concave and grate assemblies to optimize grain separation.

Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles

VSEngineering Contradiction Analysis

1Productivity

If rasp bars are used to thresh crop material, then grain separation is achieved, but grain damage and cob breaking increase due to prolonged exposure

Engineering Contradiction:

Improvegrain separation efficiencyVSAvoidgrain damage

Core Design Contradiction:

ProductivityVSObject-affected harmful factors

Solution Approach 1:

The concave is divided into three separate adjustable sections that can be independently positioned. This segmentation allows the concave to be moved closer to the rotor to reduce the threshing path length, thereby minimizing grain exposure to rasp bars and reducing grain damage while maintaining separation efficiency.

Inventive Principle:

Principle #1Segmentation

Solution Approach 2:

The concave sections are made adjustable and movable relative to the rotor through a control system. This dynamic capability allows the operator to optimize the clearance between the concave and rotor based on crop conditions, enabling shorter threshing paths when needed to reduce grain damage.

Inventive Principle:

Principle #15Dynamics

2Productivity

If the concave is positioned farther from the rotor, then grain has more space to fall through openings, but threshing efficiency decreases

Engineering Contradiction:

Improvethreshing efficiencyVSAvoidgrain damage risk

Core Design Contradiction:

ProductivityVSObject-affected harmful factors

Solution Approach 1:

The concave assembly includes three adjustable sections that can be independently positioned at different distances from the rotor. This allows dynamic optimization of the balance between threshing efficiency (requiring closer positioning) and grain damage reduction (benefiting from shorter exposure time).

Inventive Principle:

Principle #15Dynamics

Solution Approach 2:

Different sections of the concave can be positioned at different clearances from the rotor, allowing local optimization of threshing conditions in different zones while minimizing overall grain damage.

Inventive Principle:

Principle #3Local quality

3Adaptability or versatility

If larger portions like ears of corn deflect off rasp bars, then grain remains in the threshing system longer, but this increases grain damage and cob breaking

Engineering Contradiction:

Improvehandling different crop typesVSAvoidcob breaking

Core Design Contradiction:

Adaptability or versatilityVSObject-affected harmful factors

Solution Approach 1:

The adjustable concave sections can be positioned to create optimal flow paths for different crop types. By moving the concave closer to the rotor, the system reduces the likelihood of deflection and prolonging of material in the threshing zone, thereby reducing cob breaking while maintaining adaptability to different crops.

Inventive Principle:

Principle #15Dynamics

4Strength

If the number and size of openings in the concave are limited, then structural integrity is maintained, but some grain travels over additional rasp bars before falling through

Engineering Contradiction:

Improveconcave structural integrityVSAvoidgrain damage from prolonged threshing

Core Design Contradiction:

StrengthVSObject-affected harmful factors

Solution Approach 1:

Dividing the concave into three adjustable sections allows the structure to maintain integrity with limited openings in each section while collectively providing sufficient opening area. The segmented design enables the concave to be positioned closer to the rotor, reducing grain travel distance over rasp bars.

Inventive Principle:

Principle #1Segmentation

Solution Approach 2:

The adjustable positioning of concave sections allows optimization of the balance between maintaining structural integrity and reducing grain exposure to rasp bars by controlling the clearance and threshing path length.

Inventive Principle:

Principle #15Dynamics

Data Source

PatentUS9820442B2Three-section concave and adjustment mechanism for an agricultural harvesting combine

Publication Date: 2017.11.21 TRIBINE IND LLC

AI summary

A rotor and cage assembly includes a skeleton of curved spaced-apart side members affixed to laterally extending upper and lower spaced-apart members therebetween and surrounding the rotor. One of the curved spaced-apartside members is terminated with curved fingers. Three concave inserts insert laterally into the skeleton spanning 270° around the rotor. One of the concave inserts carries straight fingers that interlace between the skeleton side member curved fingers. A control assembly of plates having arcuate slots placed at 3 of the pivots of the skeleton assembly, control bars connected to the skeleton pivots, and an actuator connect to the control bars at one end effect arcuate rotation of the control bars resulting in the synchronized rotation of the arcuate slotted plates so that the interlaced straight fingers move closer together or farther apart with the fixed skeleton assembly curved fingers for different types of grain.