Dual Purpose Conveyor for Combine Harvesters
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Solution Overview
Problem
As combine harvesters increase in size and operating speed, the forces exerted on crop material during harvesting lead to damage, reducing effective yield, and efforts to lower component speeds negatively impact output rates.
Innovation Solution
A crop material conveyor system with a housing having various shapes, utilizing an endless conveyor loop with linear travel regions and sprockets to minimize handling and reduce the number of conveying components, allowing for efficient transfer between the cleaning system and either the grain tank or unloader without entering the grain tank, thereby reducing damage.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Productivity
If combine harvesters increase in size and operating speed to increase output rate, then productivity increases, but crop material damage increases due to greater forces exerted on the material
Solution Approach 1:
The conveyor system is divided into multiple independent sections (first conveyor section, second conveyor section, third conveyor section) that can operate independently. This segmentation allows the crop material to be handled by dedicated conveyor sections rather than being repeatedly loaded and unloaded between different conveying components, reducing damage while maintaining high throughput capacity
Solution Approach 2:
The second conveyor section acts as an intermediary between the first and third conveyor sections, providing a direct transfer path for crop material from the cleaning system to the grain tank or unloader. This intermediary conveyor eliminates the need for crop material to enter and exit the grain tank multiple times, reducing handling damage while maintaining efficient material flow
2Object-affected harmful factors
If the number of conveying components is reduced to minimize handling, then crop material damage decreases, but the complexity of the conveyor system design increases
Solution Approach 1:
The second conveyor section is designed with dual functionality: it can transfer crop material directly to the unloader for immediate discharge, or transfer material to the grain tank for storage. This multi-functional design consolidates what would otherwise require separate conveying paths and components, reducing the overall number of conveying elements needed while maintaining system flexibility
Solution Approach 2:
The conveyor sections are merged into an integrated system where the first, second, and third conveyor sections work together as a unified material handling pathway. This merging eliminates redundant transfer points and intermediate handling stages, reducing crop material damage while the modular construction maintains manageable system complexity
Data Source
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AI summary
An agricultural vehicle includes: a chassis; at least one cleaning sieve carried by the chassis; a grain tank carried by the chassis; an unloader carried by the chassis and configured to unload crop material; and a crop material conveyor carried by the chassis and including a housing having a sieve inlet under the at least one cleaning sieve, a tank outlet coupled to the grain tank, an unloader outlet coupled to the unloader, and an endless conveyor within the housing, the crop material conveyor being configured to switch between a tank feed mode where crop material is conveyed by the endless conveyor out the tank outlet and an unload mode where crop material is conveyed by the endless conveyor out the unloader outlet.