Detachable Crop Lifter Profile for Stone Damage Reduction
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing crop lifters for harvesting machines are prone to damage from stones and require costly replacement, with frequent failures and high maintenance costs due to their design limitations.
Innovation Solution
A lifter system with a detachable and adjustable lifter profile that can be connected to a profile carrier in multiple discrete positions, featuring a form-fitting connection and elastic deformation capabilities to minimize damage from obstacles, allowing for precise height adjustment and easy replacement of individual components.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Strength
If the crop lifter is designed as a continuous U-shaped profile part with progressively shortening legs, then the structural integrity is maintained, but the replacement cost and maintenance effort increase significantly when damage occurs
Solution Approach 1:
The crop lifter is divided into modular components: a support rail and detachable lifter profiles. The lifter profiles can be individually replaced without replacing the entire structure, significantly reducing maintenance costs and effort while maintaining structural integrity through the connection system.
2Ease of repair
If the lifter profile is made detachable and replaceable, then maintenance cost is reduced, but the connection system becomes more complex
Solution Approach 1:
The connection system allows the lifter profile to be dynamically adjusted in multiple discrete positions along the support rail. This dynamic positioning capability provides flexibility in adaptation while using a standardized connection interface that simplifies the overall system despite the adjustability feature.
3Device complexity
If the lifter profile is fixed at a single height position, then the connection is simple, but the adaptability to different crop types and ground conditions is limited
Solution Approach 1:
The lifter profile can be positioned at multiple discrete heights along the support rail, allowing dynamic adjustment to suit different crop types and ground conditions. This provides versatility while maintaining a relatively simple connection system that enables easy repositioning without complex mechanisms.
4Manufacturing precision
If the leading tip of the lifter protrudes far to guide directly on the field surface, then crop handling precision is improved, but the frequency of damage from stones increases
Solution Approach 1:
The system allows dynamic adjustment of the lifter profile's position and angle relative to the support rail. This enables optimization of the leading tip's proximity to the ground for precise crop handling while the ability to reposition can mitigate damage frequency by adjusting to varying ground conditions and stone distributions.
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 system reduces maintenance costs and frequency of failures by enabling quick and easy replacement of damaged parts, minimizing damage from stones through elastic deformation, and allowing precise adjustment for different crop types, thus enhancing operational efficiency and reducing fruit loss during harvesting.
Implementation Method 1
minimizing damage from stones through elastic deformation
Data Source
Figure 1
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AI summary
The lifter has a support rail (5) fastened to a mower mechanism and comprising a profile carrier (7), and a lifter profile (8) detachably fastened to the profile carrier in positions formed at a distance to each other in a longitudinal direction (L) of the lifter profile. The lifter profile has a connection area (6) that is extended in the longitudinal direction. The profile carrier is rotatably movable over a rotational axis that is aligned transverse to a working direction. A recess (2) is formed between an end (4) of the lifter profile and the connection area.