Fixed Finger Pickup Wheel for Plant Stalk Windrows
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Solution Overview
Problem
Traditional windrow collection devices for plant stems are complex, costly to maintain, and noisy due to their intricate mechanisms and relative movement of parts, which are not suitable for collecting flax or hemp windrows effectively.
Innovation Solution
A collection device with a fixed pickup wheel having radially extending fingers, where the fingers are stationary relative to the central part, and a casing design that allows fingers to project below the lower edge for picking up windrows and retract into the casing above the horizontal plane, eliminating the need for wearing parts and reducing noise and maintenance complexity.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If traditional pickup fingers are pivotally mounted on an eccentric body to enable deployment and retraction, then the collection device can effectively pick up and transfer stems, but the arrangement becomes complex and requires periodic maintenance of wearing parts
Solution Approach 1:
The invention extracts and eliminates the wearing parts (plates and pins) from the traditional pivotal mounting system. By fixing the fingers directly to the pickup wheel body, the design removes the intermediate components that cause complexity and maintenance requirements, while preserving the functional capability of finger deployment and retraction through the eccentric rotation of the entire pickup wheel assembly
Solution Approach 2:
The invention merges the finger mounting function directly into the pickup wheel body structure. Instead of separate pivotal mounting components, the fingers are fixedly attached to the rotating body itself, combining what were previously separate elements (fingers, mounting plates, pins) into an integrated structure that reduces complexity
2Ease of operation
If traditional pickup devices use relative movement between fingers and external member, then the fingers can deploy and retract, but the device generates noise during operation
Solution Approach 1:
Instead of having the fingers move relative to the pickup wheel body (traditional approach), the invention inverts the approach by having the entire pickup wheel body rotate eccentrically while the fingers remain fixed to it. This eliminates the relative movement between fingers and body that generates noise, while still achieving the necessary deployment and retraction motion through the eccentric rotation path
3Reliability
If wearing parts are used to prevent finger contact with the external member, then damage to the external member is prevented, but the maintenance time and cost increase
Solution Approach 1:
The invention completely removes the wearing parts (plates and pins) from the design by eliminating the pivotal mounting system. The fingers are fixed directly to the pickup wheel body, which prevents them from contacting and damaging the external member casing. This extraction of unnecessary components eliminates the maintenance burden of replacing wearing parts while maintaining protective function
Data Source
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AI summary
The invention relates to a collection device (16) for collecting windrows (N) of plant stems (T) comprising: • a first collection wheel (50) having a central part (52) and collection fingers (54) which are fixed relative to the central part; • a first housing (58) in which the first collection wheel (50) is housed and comprising a lower end (60), an upper edge (62) and a lower edge (64).The invention is characterized by the fact that the distance (d1) between the axis of rotation (B1) and the upper edge is greater than the radius (R) of the first pickup wheel, while the distance (d2) between the axis of rotation (B1) and the lower end (60) is less than the radius (R) of the pickup wheel so that, in use, some of the pickup fingers protrude beyond the lower edge (64) of the first housing to pick up the swaths, while some of the pickup fingers located above a horizontal plane (P) passing through the axis of rotation are retracted into the first housing below the upper edge.