Hand Cultivator Spiral Teeth Segmentation
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing hand cultivators face issues such as the need to press with the foot to deepen into the soil, premature soil eruption leading to repeated cultivation and increased muscle fatigue due to insufficient soil coverage, and high soil resistance when using spiral or curved teeth designs.
Innovation Solution
The cultivator features an operating element with distributed spiral teeth forming an open circular profile, connected in the shape of a regular polygon, with a sharpening angle of 20°-40°, tilt angle of 25°-45°, and a range of 40°-120° rotation for full penetration, allowing efficient soil penetration and reduced muscle effort.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Ease of manufacture
If the cultivator uses a simple design with spiral teeth forming a closed profile, then the manufacturing is more technological and assembly is mobile, but the tool requires pressing with the foot to deepen into the soil
Solution Approach 1:
The operating element is divided into multiple individual spiral teeth (3-12 teeth) distributed along the circumference, each capable of independent penetration. This segmentation allows the teeth to penetrate soil sequentially rather than as a closed profile, reducing the force needed to deepen the tool while maintaining manufacturing simplicity.
Solution Approach 2:
The teeth are arranged in a distributed circular pattern rather than a closed spiral profile, transitioning from a two-dimensional closed loop to a three-dimensional distributed arrangement. This allows the teeth to engage soil at different depths and angles simultaneously, reducing resistance during deepening.
2Ease of operation
If the cultivator uses curved pointed teeth connected in a contour frame, then penetration into soil is easier and muscle fatigue is reduced, but soil erupts prematurely when removed requiring repeated cultivation
Solution Approach 1:
The contour frame is segmented into multiple distributed spiral teeth around the circumference. This segmentation increases the total soil coverage area while maintaining easy penetration characteristics, preventing premature soil eruption by ensuring complete coverage across the operating width.
Solution Approach 2:
The tooth geometry parameters are optimized with specific tilt angles (25°-45° to horizon) and sharpening angles (20°-40°), combined with distributed circular arrangement. These parameter changes maintain penetration ease while expanding soil coverage to prevent premature eruption.
3Productivity
If the cultivator uses paired spiral teeth of different radii, then roots are cut and cling to teeth for easy removal, but high soil resistance is encountered when deepening
Solution Approach 1:
Spiral teeth of different radii and directions are distributed around the circumference, creating asymmetric tooth configurations. This asymmetry maintains the root-cutting and clinging effect for easy removal while the distributed arrangement reduces overall soil resistance by spreading the penetration force across multiple points.
Solution Approach 2:
Instead of using only paired spiral teeth, the design employs multiple distributed teeth (3-12) around the full circumference. This excessive distribution ensures complete soil coverage and reduces resistance by dividing the penetration task across many teeth rather than relying on a few large paired teeth.
4Reliability
If the cultivator uses distributed spiral teeth forming an open circular profile, then soil coverage is improved, but the complexity of tooth arrangement increases
Solution Approach 1:
The distributed circular tooth arrangement serves multiple functions simultaneously: it provides complete soil coverage, maintains simple manufacturing processes, and ensures mobile assembly. The regular polygon connection pattern at the upper part of teeth creates a universal structure that achieves reliability without excessive complexity.
Data Source
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AI summary
The invention relates to agricultural manual implements with teeth, particularly to operating elements of hand cultivators. The operating element 2 of the cultivator 1 contains distributed spiral teeth 3, forming an open circular profile 4 in the plan. The spiral teeth 3 are connected in the upper part to each other in the shape of a regular polygon 5, while the pointed part 6 of the spiral tooth 3 smoothly passes into its remaining cylindrical part 7. The tilt angle of the spiral teeth 3 to the horizon is β = 25-45°, the sharpening angle of the teeth is α = 20-40°, the angle of rotation of the full penetration of the tooth 3 is γ = 40-120°, and the thickness of the cutting edge 7 of the spiral tooth 3 is h = 1-3 mm. The invention allows to reduce the fatigue of human muscles during loosening due to easy penetration of the operating element 2 of the cultivator 1 into the soil when it is installed on the soil at the angle δ = 60-90° to the horizon while minimizing premature soil subsidence, eliminating the need to repeat cultivation of the same plot.