Digging Plough Safety Device for Buried Obstacle Impact

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Solution Overview

Problem

Deep digging ploughs face significant risks of structural overload and damage from buried obstacles, as existing safety bolts do not adequately protect the working bodies from violent impacts, leading to breakages and interruptions in operation.

Innovation Solution

A safety device that uses a connecting rod and levers to prevent collision between working bodies by moving the upper body away from the trajectory of the lower body after a safety bolt yields, thereby avoiding mutual impact and damage.

Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles

VSEngineering Contradiction Analysis

1Productivity

If the plough is equipped with big-sized working bodies to efficiently overturn clods, then the working efficiency is improved, but the risk of collision between working bodies upon safety bolt failure increases

Engineering Contradiction:
Improveworking efficiencyVSAvoidcollision risk between working bodies
Core Design Contradiction:
ProductivityVSReliability

Solution Approach 1:

The patent introduces a longitudinal dimension to the safety device structure, with the connecting rod extending along the longitudinal axis of the plough. This spatial arrangement ensures that when one working body rotates upward upon safety bolt failure, the other working body is positioned away in the longitudinal direction, preventing collision while maintaining big-sized working bodies for efficient clod overturning

Inventive Principle:
Principle #17Another dimension (Dimensionality change)

2Reliability

If the rotating structure moves the working body upwards in passive phase to avoid collision, then the collision risk is reduced, but the weight and barycenter height increase

Engineering Contradiction:
Improvecollision protectionVSAvoidmachine weight and barycenter
Core Design Contradiction:
ReliabilityVSWeight of moving object

Solution Approach 1:

The patent extracts the collision protection function from the main rotating structure and implements it through a separate, lightweight safety device consisting of safety bolts and a connecting rod. This allows the main structure to maintain its original weight and barycenter characteristics while the safety device provides collision protection through a different mechanism (longitudinal spacing rather than vertical positioning)

Inventive Principle:
Principle #2Taking out (Extraction)

Solution Approach 2:

The safety bolts are designed as sacrificial, disposable components that break upon obstacle impact to activate the safety mechanism. This allows the use of simple, lightweight materials for the safety device rather than requiring heavy-duty permanent structural modifications to the main plough assembly

Inventive Principle:
Principle #27Cheap short-living objects (Disposable)

3Strength

If the safety bolt is used to protect the carrier structure, then the structure is safeguarded, but the working bodies are subjected to violent impacts causing breakages

Engineering Contradiction:
Improvecarrier structure protectionVSAvoidimpact on working bodies
Core Design Contradiction:
StrengthVSObject-affected harmful factors

Solution Approach 1:

The connecting rod acts as an intermediary element that transmits the rotational movement from one working body to the other through the safety bolt connection. When the safety bolt breaks, the connecting rod mediates the energy transfer and positioning, causing the passive working body to move away and preventing direct impact on the active working body

Inventive Principle:
Principle #24Intermediary (Mediator)

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 safety device effectively reduces damage from impacts by preventing collisions between working bodies, allowing for quick recovery and continued operation after replacing the sheared safety bolt, while maintaining stability and drivability.

Implementation Method 1

said safety device (3) comprises a connecting rod (10) which connects said first lower lever (12) with said second upper lever (13)

Methodology Applied
Scientific EffectLever mechanism: Lever

Implementation Method 2

said safety device (3) comprises a first lever (12) and a second lever (13), which are mutually connected by said connecting rod (10)

Methodology Applied
Scientific EffectMechanical linkage: Four-Bar Linkage

Data Source

PatentEP3820266B1Digging plough
Publication Date: 2023.07.26 MORO ARATRI
  • EP3820266B1 patent drawingFigure 1
  • EP3820266B1 patent drawingFigure 2
  • EP3820266B1 patent drawingFigure 3

AI summary

A digging plough (1) is described, comprising a first and a second working body (4, 5), assembled in order to alternately work on a furrow dig by the plough (1), which is equipped with first means adapted to avoid damages to the structures in case of impact of the working bodies (4, 5) against an obstacle buried in the ground, and with second means (3, 3a) adapted to keep the working body placed above far from the trajectory of the working body which at that time is in working phase when, due to the effect of an impact against the buried obstacle, the working body which is in working phase rotates upwards, wherein the second means move away the working body placed above from the trajectory of the working body which at that time is in its working phase, comprising a safety device (3) adapted to generate a coordinate movement of the working bodies (4, 5).