Converging Drum Stripper Element for Crop Flow Management
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Solution Overview
Problem
Wide crop and forage mowing machines face challenges in converging cut material effectively, leading to blockages and plugging issues due to trapped crop under converging drums, and inadequate prevention of crop build-up and hairpinning, especially in challenging processing operations.
Innovation Solution
An improved crop and forage material converging arrangement featuring a suspended converging drum with a stripper element that rotates about an upright axis, positioned to strip cut material from adjacent drums and guide it towards the discharge zone, preventing blockages and ensuring smooth material flow.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Productivity
If suspended converging drums are used to converge crop, then crop convergence to discharge zone is improved, but crop can get trapped under the drums causing plugging
Solution Approach 1:
A stationary stripper element is introduced as an intermediary component between the converging drum and the discharge zone. This stripper element acts as a mediator that prevents crop from becoming trapped under the drum by actively stripping and redirecting the crop flow, thus resolving the plugging issue while maintaining the drum's convergence function
Solution Approach 2:
The converging system is segmented into distinct functional zones: the converging drum handles material convergence while the separate stripper element handles material release and redirection. This segmentation allows each component to perform its specific function without interfering with the other, preventing crop entrapment
2Object-affected harmful factors
If ejector plate is mounted to cutter bar, then some crop build-up is mitigated, but crop build-up and hairpinning are not adequately prevented
Solution Approach 1:
The stripper element serves as an intermediary between the cutter bar and discharge zone, providing enhanced crop flow management. Unlike the ejector plate that only addresses surface build-up, the stripper element actively manages the entire crop path, preventing both build-up and hairpinning by redirecting crop flow
Solution Approach 2:
The stripper element extends in a direction perpendicular to the cutter bar, creating a new dimensional pathway for crop flow. This additional dimension allows crop to be redirected around potential blockage points, effectively preventing hairpinning and ensuring continuous flow to the discharge zone
Data Source
AI summary
A mowing implement includes an improved crop and forage material converging arrangement for a wide mowing implement equipped with a rotary cutter bar and powered converging drums. One or more stripper elements are mounted for rotation with one or more converging drums so as to limit the tendency for cut material to wrap around the converging drums, and to more consistently transfer the cut material to the material discharge zone. Each stripper element can be located and dimensioned to sweep a path a near an adjacent converging drum and pass in close proximity to an auger of the mowing implement to effectively guide and converge material. Each stripper elements can be an oblong plate configured and arranged to strip cut material from an adjacent converging drum and deflect the stripped material towards a material discharge zone of the implement.