Crop Collecting Assembly with Adjustable Bridging Element
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing crop collecting assemblies require windrows to maintain a fixed distance from each other, limiting their adaptability and efficiency in harvesting, especially when windrow distances vary across fields.
Innovation Solution
A crop collecting assembly with multiple movable units and a bridging element that can adjust in length and position to accommodate varying windrow distances, allowing for flexible operation and transport, featuring telescopic designs, pivot mechanisms, and sensor-controlled operations to ensure efficient crop collection and transport.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Adaptability or versatility
If a fixed crop collecting assembly is used, then the structure is simple and stable, but it cannot adapt to varying windrow distances
Solution Approach 1:
The crop collecting assembly incorporates movable collecting units that can adjust their lateral position dynamically. The outer collecting units are connected to the central unit via telescopic arms or scissor mechanisms, allowing the structure to expand and contract laterally to match varying windrow distances while maintaining operational simplicity through controlled mechanical motion.
Solution Approach 2:
The outer collecting units can be positioned inside or alongside the central collecting unit when not in use, similar to nested dolls. This nesting capability allows the assembly to maintain a compact form during transport while expanding to cover wider windrow distances during operation, effectively resolving the contradiction between adaptability and structural complexity.
2Area of stationary object
If multiple fixed collecting units are used, then coverage width is increased, but transport dimensions become too large
Solution Approach 1:
The collecting units are designed with dynamic positioning capabilities through telescopic arms and pivot mechanisms. During harvesting operations, the units extend laterally to maximize coverage width. During transport, the same units retract or fold inward, reducing the overall volume and dimensions to fit standard transportation constraints, thus resolving the contradiction between coverage area and transport volume.
Solution Approach 2:
The crop collecting assembly is divided into modular collecting units (central unit and outer units) that can independently adjust their positions. This segmentation allows the outer units to be deployed only when needed for wider coverage and retracted during transport, enabling the system to achieve large coverage width during operation while maintaining compact transport dimensions.
3Adaptability or versatility
If outer collecting units are fixed in position, then structural stability is maintained, but they cannot follow ground contour variations
Solution Approach 1:
The outer collecting units are mounted on pivot mechanisms that allow them to tilt or rotate about horizontal axes. This dynamic capability enables the units to follow ground contour variations and adapt to uneven terrain. The pivot points are designed with sufficient structural support and damping to maintain overall structural stability while allowing necessary movements, thus resolving the contradiction between adaptability to ground contour and structural stability.
Data Source
AI summary
A crop collecting assembly includes a first collecting unit located between a pair of further collecting units. All of the units operate to gather crop from the ground and feed it to the rear where it may fall to the ground or enter a harvesting machine, such as a self-propelled baler, for further processing. At least one of the further collecting units is adjustable laterally so as to be spaced from the first collecting unit, and a crop-transferring bridging element is provided in the space between the two units for receiving crop from the further collecting unit and delivering the received crop to the first collecting unit.