Hard Line Mounting Block for Agricultural Frames
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Solution Overview
Problem
Self-propelled agricultural product applicators face challenges in securing hard lines to their frames due to high vibration, corrosive environments, and aesthetic concerns, leading to wear, corrosion, and difficulty in cleaning.
Innovation Solution
A mounting arrangement featuring a base block with parallel slots and a mating retainer plate that secures hard lines in a spaced-apart array, preventing rubbing and facilitating cleaning, using a base block and retainer plate configuration that aligns and secures hard lines in a face-to-face manner.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If hard lines are individually secured to the frame using commercially available hose and pipe clamps, then the hard lines are supported along their lengths, but the hard lines become bundled together in a manner that is not aesthetically pleasing and conducive to wear and corrosion
Solution Approach 1:
The mounting arrangement segments the hard lines by providing individual slots for each hard line, preventing them from being bundled together. Each slot is positioned to maintain spacing between adjacent hard lines, allowing them to be secured to the frame without contact with other lines or the frame surface, thereby eliminating the harmful bundling effect while maintaining individual support.
2Ease of operation
If hard lines are bundled together with clamps or tie straps, then the hard lines are secured to the frame, but they become difficult to keep clean and prone to collecting dirt and corrosive chemicals
Solution Approach 1:
The mounting arrangement provides individual slots for each hard line rather than bundling them together. This segmentation allows each hard line to be accessed independently for cleaning purposes, eliminating the difficulty of maintaining clean bundled lines while still providing secure mounting to the frame.
3Device complexity
If hard lines are secured in close proximity to the frame, then the number of mounting points is reduced, but the hard lines become visible and aesthetically displeasing on elevated chassis
Solution Approach 1:
The mounting arrangement addresses the aesthetic concern by positioning slots at different lateral distances from the frame rather than simply reducing the number of mounting points. This dimensional approach allows hard lines to be mounted securely while maintaining spacing and visibility management, satisfying both structural and aesthetic requirements for elevated chassis applications.
4Object-affected harmful factors
If hard lines are mounted in a spaced-apart array, then wear and corrosion are prevented, but the complexity of the mounting arrangement increases
Solution Approach 1:
The mounting arrangement combines multiple functions into a single integrated structure: the block provides both the mounting surface for the frame and the slots for securing hard lines. By merging the support function and the spacing function into one component, the arrangement prevents wear and corrosion through spaced-apart mounting without significantly increasing overall complexity.
Data Source
AI summary
An apparatus and method utilize a mounting arrangement having a base block and a mating retainer plate for securing a plurality of hard lines to a vehicle chassis in a spaced apart array. The base block includes several parallel slots having depressions for receiving pairs of hard lines and supporting them in a spaced relationship, prior to installation of the retainer plate. Once the hard lines are all positioned within the depressions in the slots of the base block, the retainer plate is secured to the base block in a face-to-face manner to the base block, to thereby secure the hard lines in the depressions of the slots in the spaced apart array of hard lines.