Flexible Debris Chute Directing Vegetation Waste
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Solution Overview
Problem
The removal of vegetation debris from elevated areas often results in unintended landing locations, posing risks to people, vehicles, and property due to the natural sailing tendency of debris, and requires significant time for collection and disposal.
Innovation Solution
A flexible debris removal chute with a mouth, body, and exit, typically made of collapsible materials like rip-stop nylon, which can be secured to a tree and allows debris to fall through, directing it to a controlled exit point on the ground or other designated locations.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Productivity
If debris is removed from elevated portions of vegetation by aiming and releasing, then debris removal is simple and quick, but debris lands in unintended areas causing safety risks and requiring significant collection time
Solution Approach 1:
A flexible chute is introduced as an intermediary device between the elevated vegetation and the ground. The chute is secured to the tree at the desired drop location and extends downward to guide debris along a controlled path, ensuring it lands only in the intended target area rather than scattering unpredictably
Solution Approach 2:
The harmful scattering effect is extracted and eliminated by confining debris within the chute structure. The chute walls prevent debris from deviating from the intended path, removing the unpredictable sailing behavior that causes safety risks and collection difficulties
2Loss of time
If debris is dropped from height without direction, then debris removal is fast, but debris scatters over large areas requiring significant time to gather and dispose
Solution Approach 1:
The chute serves as a mediating structure that channels all debris through a single controlled exit point. This concentration effect means all debris, regardless of where it falls within the chute, accumulates in one predictable location rather than scattering, dramatically reducing collection time and effort
Solution Approach 2:
The chute transforms the three-dimensional scattering pattern of falling debris into a one-dimensional linear path. By confining debris movement within the chute's longitudinal axis, the system converts unpredictable radial dispersion into controlled linear flow, ensuring all debris converges at the exit point
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 chute effectively collects and directs debris away from undesired areas, reducing the risk of damage and streamlining cleanup by concentrating debris in a single location, enhancing safety and efficiency during vegetation trimming.
Implementation Method 1
Gravity allows the body and exit portions to fall to towards the ground
Data Source
AI summary
Devices, systems and methods for debris removal are provided comprising a flexible chute having a mouth, a body, and an exit. The flexible material can be collapsible. The flexible material is rip-stop nylon. When the chute is used, a user can take the chute in a collapsed form and scale a tree for pruning. Upon reaching a top area of the tree, the user secures the chute to the tree and allows the body and exit portions to deploy by releasing those sections. Gravity allows the body and exit portions to fall to towards the ground. As debris is removed from the tree, it is placed into the mouth and passes through the body and out exit. If desired the exit can be placed in other desired locations such as proximate to a wood chipping device for shredding debris or proximate to a truck bed, dump box or trailer for catching the debris as it exits the chute. Thus, the chute can safely collect, control and direct debris generated from pruning vegetation.