Expandable Grain Tank Walls for Harvester Storage Capacity
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Solution Overview
Problem
Current grain tanks in agricultural harvesters have limited storage capacity during harvesting, which restricts their efficiency and requires larger tank sizes, making them less efficient for both harvesting and transportation.
Innovation Solution
The grain tank design features expandable and contractible upstanding walls and floor, allowing increased storage capacity during harvesting while reducing overall size for transportation, accommodating single or dual unloading augers.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Quantity of substance
If the grain tank size is increased to provide larger storage capacity during harvesting, then the storage capacity is improved, but the tank size becomes excessively large for transportation and road travel
Solution Approach 1:
The grain tank employs movable upstanding walls that can transition between extended and retracted positions. During harvesting operations, the walls extend outward to maximize grain storage capacity. During transportation, the walls are retracted to minimize the tank's overall volume and meet road width requirements. This dynamic adjustment mechanism allows the same tank to optimize its volume for two contrasting operational modes.
2Quantity of substance
If a static large grain tank is used to ensure sufficient storage capacity, then the storage capacity is maintained, but the tank cannot be efficiently transported on roads due to excessive width
Solution Approach 1:
The grain tank is divided into a central fixed structure and multiple movable upstanding walls. The fixed central portion maintains the tank's structural integrity and basic shape, while the segmented movable walls can independently extend or retract. This segmentation allows the tank to achieve large storage capacity when walls are extended during harvesting, yet contract to a compact width during transportation by retracting the movable wall segments.
3Quantity of substance
If the grain tank uses fixed walls to maintain structural simplicity, then the device complexity is reduced, but the storage capacity cannot be increased during harvesting operations
Solution Approach 1:
The upstanding walls of the grain tank are designed as flexible, movable structures rather than rigid fixed walls. These flexible walls can be extended outward during harvesting to increase storage capacity and retracted during transportation. The flexibility of these wall structures allows for significant capacity adjustment while maintaining relative structural simplicity through the use of movable partitions rather than complex mechanical systems.
Data Source
Figure 1
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AI summary
A grain tank (28, 110) for an agricultural harvester (10) includes a floor (70), a plurality of upstanding walls (72, 74, 76, 78), and an unloading conveyance (30, 112). The floor (70) has a plurality of side edges (80). Each wall (72, 74, 76, 78) has a lower edge (82) positioned along a corresponding side edge (80) of the floor (70). The unloading conveyance (30, 112) has an inlet (84) in communication with an interior of the grain tank (28) adjacent to the floor (70). The grain tank (28) is characterized in that at least one of the walls (72, 74, 76, 78) is movable relative to the floor (70) between an expanded harvest position and a folded transport position.