Draper Canvas Seal for Crop Headers
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing crop headers face challenges in maintaining an effective seal between the draper canvas and the cutter bar, leading to material build-up and potential damage, particularly due to misalignment and sagging of the draper.
Innovation Solution
A sealing member comprising a flexible strip with a bracket that clamps onto the cutter bar, featuring a curved shape under loading forces to maintain contact with the draper canvas, preventing sagging and material accumulation, and utilizing a metal bracket to pinch the strip onto the support wall for secure engagement.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If a conventional rigid seal is used between the cutter bar and draper canvas, then sealing effectiveness is improved, but adaptability to misalignment and sagging deteriorates
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies a flexible seal member comprising a biasing element and a sealing element that can deflect and conform to misalignments between the cutter bar and draper canvas. The flexible strip with curved cross-section maintains continuous contact despite relative movement or sagging, resolving the contradiction between rigid sealing effectiveness and adaptability to misalignment.
2Reliability
If the seal is made rigid to maintain contact, then sealing is improved, but tolerance for sagging deteriorates
Solution Approach 1:
The seal member is designed with dynamic characteristics, allowing it to deflect and adapt to sagging of the draper canvas while maintaining sealing contact. The biasing element provides continuous force to keep the sealing surface engaged, enabling the system to tolerate sagging without compromising sealing continuity.
3Ease of manufacture
If a simple flat strip seal is used, then manufacturing is simplified, but sealing effectiveness under varying conditions deteriorates
Solution Approach 1:
The seal member features a curved cross-section that conform s to the interface between the cutter bar and draper canvas. This curvature improves sealing effectiveness by distributing contact pressure and accommodating surface irregularities, while the overall structure remains a simple extruded or molded profile that is relatively easy to manufacture.
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 provides an improved seal between the draper canvas and the cutter bar, preventing material build-up and damage, while allowing for flexible movement and maintaining contact even under varying conditions, enhancing the operational efficiency and wear life of the header.
Implementation Method 1
the strip, when free from loading forces, is curved around one or more longitudinal axis, and wherein the strip maintains a convex curve between the first edge portion and the second edge portion when under loading forces
Data Source
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AI summary
A crop harvesting header with a cutter bar and a draper assembly has a draper which includes a front edge of the upper run of the draper arranged at a position adjacent to but spaced from the cutter bar and there is provided a sealing member extending along the cutter bar. The sealing member is includes a bracket and a strip of flexible material where the bracket does not include any rearwardly extending biasing portion and the strip, when free from loading forces, contains a distortion from a flat form so that the second edge portion is distorted from a plane of the first edge portion in a direction toward the edge portion of the upper run.