Harvester Hold-Down Device for Continuous Crop Flow
Find Innovative SolutionsGenerate Solutions
Solution Overview
Problem
Existing harvesting machines face crop losses and inefficiencies in crop supply between the pick-up and bale chamber due to crop accumulation and pressure issues with existing hold-down devices.
Innovation Solution
A hold-down device system with a closed or substantially closed surface to prevent crop pushing and featuring overlapping hold-down devices with adjustable tines or rods, and a downstream hold-down device that acts as a path limiter, ensuring continuous crop flow and reduced friction, with optional roller crop press for enhanced pick-up speed.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Ease of operation
If a guide plate is provided above the pick-up and overhead conveyor, then the crop flow is guided, but crumbling crops accumulate on the guide plates and soil the roads
Solution Approach 1:
The harmful function of crop accumulation on guide plates is eliminated by removing the guide plates entirely and replacing them with a hold-down device that presses crops onto the conveyance surface, preventing crumbs from detaching and soilling roads while maintaining crop flow guidance
Solution Approach 2:
The pressure that previously caused crops to detach and accumulate on guide plates is converted into a beneficial holding function, where the hold-down device uses controlled pressure to secure crops to the conveyance surface, preventing detachment while maintaining flow
2Productivity
If the hold-down device is designed with open spaces between tines, then crop flow is maintained, but thick crop streams press through the spaces and accumulate undesirably
Solution Approach 1:
The hold-down device transitions from uniform open-tine construction to a differentiated design where the downstream hold-down has a closed or substantially closed surface that prevents crop passage, while the upstream hold-down maintains open spaces for crop flow, creating local functional differences to simultaneously ensure continuous flow and prevent accumulation
Solution Approach 2:
The hold-down system is divided into two functional segments: an upstream hold-down with open spaces for maintaining crop flow, and a downstream hold-down with a closed surface for preventing crop passage, allowing each segment to optimize for its specific function
3Reliability
If the downstream hold-down extends into the bale chamber, then crop containment is improved, but the spatial conditions for feeding crops become difficult to maintain
Solution Approach 1:
The downstream hold-down is positioned in the vertical dimension above the conveyance surface rather than extending horizontally into the bale chamber, maintaining crop containment through vertical pressure while preserving horizontal spatial access for feeding operations
Data Source
Figure 1
Figure 2
AI summary
The device (24) has upstream and downstream down holders (42, 44) arranged in a crop flow and partially overlapping each other, where the downstream down holder is laminarly formed. The upstream down holder is provided with openings (60), and the downstream down holder is provided with a carrier (40) of the upstream down holder and acts as a path delimiter of the upstream down holder. A roller down holder (46) is connected upstream to the upstream down holder, and the downstream down holder extends above an overhead conveyor. An independent claim is also included for a harvesting machine comprising a hold-down device.