Harvester Header Assembly for Irregular Crop Planting
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Solution Overview
Problem
Sugarcane and sweet sorghum harvesting machines are inflexible and inefficient when dealing with crops planted without regular spacing, leading to biomass loss and the need for multiple machines or frequent alterations for crop alternation due to seasonal or market factors.
Innovation Solution
A header assembly for harvesting machines featuring row dividers, rollers with multiple projections, base cutting discs, and conveyor rollers, allowing for the harvesting of crops with varying planting spacings and patterns, including random planting, without the need for machine disassembly or replacement.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Productivity
If sugarcane harvesting machines use a fixed opening configuration for regular planting rows, then harvesting efficiency for regularly spaced crops is improved, but the machine cannot harvest crops planted without specific planting patterns
Solution Approach 1:
The header incorporates adjustable row dividers and conveyor rollers that can be repositioned along the header structure, allowing the opening configuration to be dynamically adjusted. This enables the machine to adapt to both regularly spaced planting rows and irregular planting patterns while maintaining harvesting efficiency
Solution Approach 2:
The header is divided into modular components including separate row dividers, conveyor rollers, and cutting mechanisms that can be independently adjusted or reconfigured. This segmentation allows flexible adaptation to different planting patterns without requiring complete machine replacement
2Adaptability or versatility
If forage harvesters are used to harvest crops planted without rows, then adaptability to different planting patterns is improved, but biomass loss increases due to immediate chopping
Solution Approach 1:
The header uses adjustable conveyor rollers and row dividers that can be reconfigured for irregular planting patterns, providing the adaptability of forage harvesters while maintaining the cutting-on-demand mechanism of sugarcane harvesters that prevents premature chopping and biomass loss
Solution Approach 2:
The header design combines features of both sugarcane harvesters and forage harvesters, enabling it to handle both regularly spaced and randomly planted crops while preserving biomass by avoiding immediate chopping, thus serving multiple harvesting functions
3Adaptability or versatility
If multiple machines or frequent machine alterations are used to handle different crops and planting patterns, then versatility for different crop types is improved, but device complexity and operational time increase
Solution Approach 1:
The header is designed as a universal attachment that can handle both regularly spaced and randomly planted crops, eliminating the need for separate sugarcane harvesters and forage harvesters. The adjustable components allow a single machine to perform multiple harvesting functions
Solution Approach 2:
The header incorporates easily adjustable row dividers and conveyor rollers that can be reconfigured in the field without complex disassembly or specialized tools, reducing operational time and simplifying the process of adapting to different crop types and planting patterns
Data Source
AI summary
A header for a harvesting machine. The header includes at least two row dividers spaced from one another in a transversal direction and at a predetermined distance, at least one roller, a driving for driving the roller comprising multiple projections, at least two base cutting discs, a driver for driving the at least two base cutting discs, one roller positioned behind the at least two base cutting discs to raise the cut plants, and at least one conveyor roller positioned above the said roller to raise plants, to transport the cut plants to the inside of a harvesting machine. The at least one roller includes multiple projections to collect and direct the plants downwards and towards the opening. The foregoing elements form an assembly mounted on a structure that may be connected to a harvesting machine.