Compressed Gas Defoliation Device with Rotating Nozzle and Sealing Ring
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing compressed gas defoliating devices often damage desired shoots and fruits due to rotating external surfaces and allow plant residues to enter the device, disrupting operation.
Innovation Solution
A compressed gas defoliating device with a rotating nozzle arrangement and a concentrically rotating ring disk that covers circular opening slots, preventing foreign bodies from entering and minimizing contact with fruits, combined with a modular design for easy maintenance and noise reduction.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Productivity
If rotating external surfaces or components are used in the defoliation device, then the defoliation function is achieved, but damage to desired shoots, berries or fruits occurs
Solution Approach 1:
The harmful rotating external surfaces are extracted and replaced by internal rotating nozzles that direct compressed gas jets through opening slots in the housing. The active defoliation components are moved inside the housing rather than remaining as external rotating surfaces, eliminating contact damage while preserving the defoliation function.
2Productivity
If open slots are provided in the housing for rotating jets, then compressed gas can exit to defoliate plants, but foreign bodies, leaf parts or plant residues can penetrate through the slots into the device
Solution Approach 1:
A flexible seal element is introduced between the rotating nozzle and the housing to prevent plant residues from entering through the opening slots. The seal element flexes to accommodate rotation while maintaining the barrier function, allowing gas passage while blocking solid particles.
3Ease of operation
If rotating nozzles are exposed externally, then defoliation operation is enabled, but contact with rotating parts causes operational disruptions
Solution Approach 1:
The rotating nozzles are nested inside the housing, with the active defoliation function contained within the protected internal structure. The opening slots provide gas passage while the housing and seal elements create a protective envelope that prevents plant residues from reaching the rotating components.
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
The solution effectively minimizes damage to shoots and fruits while preventing plant residues from entering the device, ensuring efficient defoliation with reduced noise and simplified maintenance.
Implementation Method 1
each with one or more outlet nozzles (13 to 16) for compressed gas, which outlet nozzles (13 to 16) each produce a compressed gas jet which rotates concentrically to the respective central axis (11)
Implementation Method 2
the jets of compressed gas preferably being moved in a plane normal to the direction of the jet
Data Source
Figure 1
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AI summary
A pressurized gas defoliation device with at least one nozzle assembly rotatably driven in a housing, wherein the nozzle assembly is part of a pressurized gas piping system rotating about an associated central axis, each with a central pressurized gas supply, wherein one or more discharge nozzles for pressurized gas are provided at one or more circumferential positions of the pressurized gas piping system, and the discharge nozzles each generate a pressurized gas jet rotating concentrically to the respective central axis, parallel or at an acute angle to the normal of the plane of rotation, wherein the housing has one or more discharge openings designed as annular opening slots for the rotating pressurized gas jets, and the diameter of the respective opening slots corresponds to the circular path on which the respective associated discharge nozzles rotate.wherein each rotating nozzle arrangement is associated with at least one annular disk rotating concentrically within the housing at the same angular velocity as the nozzle arrangement, which covers the respective opening slot on the inside and in turn has openings for the pressurized gas jets exiting from the respective outlet nozzles.