Combine Harvester Seed Destructor With Adjustable Residue Discharge
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing combine harvesters spread weed seeds back onto the field, leading to herbicide-resistant weeds and inefficiencies, and existing seed destruction systems are complex, prone to damage, and ineffective against foreign objects.
Innovation Solution
A weed seed destructor apparatus mounted on a combine harvester, featuring rotors and stators that impact and rebound weed seeds multiple times, with adjustable settings to optimize destruction, and removable parts to handle foreign objects.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If a cage mill with multiple rotating rings and blades is used to destroy weed seeds, then seed destruction effectiveness is improved, but device complexity increases and reliability decreases due to vulnerability to rocks and hard materials
Solution Approach 1:
The device is divided into separate functional components: a rotor with impact members for seed destruction and a stationary ring for structural support. This segmentation allows the rotor to be easily removed and replaced if damaged by rocks, while the stationary ring remains intact, resolving the complexity and reliability contradiction.
Solution Approach 2:
The rotor is designed to rotate at high speeds with impact members that dynamically engage with weed seeds passing through the device. This dynamic operation enables effective seed destruction while the rotating motion naturally protects the stationary ring from direct impact by rocks and hard materials.
2Productivity
If the cage mill runs at very high rotational speed to achieve seed breakdown, then seed destruction effectiveness is improved, but manufacturing precision requirements increase
Solution Approach 1:
The device allows adjustment of rotational speed parameters to optimize seed destruction effectiveness. The rotor speed can be varied depending on seed type and moisture content, providing flexibility without requiring extremely precise manufacturing tolerances for a fixed high-speed operation.
3Reliability
If a permanently fixed grinder is used to process all weed seeds, then seed destruction coverage is improved, but adaptability decreases and damage from foreign objects increases
Solution Approach 1:
The rotor component is designed to be easily removed and replaced. When rocks or hard materials damage the impact members, only the rotor needs to be replaced rather than the entire device, maintaining processing coverage while improving adaptability to different operating conditions.
Solution Approach 2:
Instead of having a fixed stationary grinding mechanism, the invention uses a rotating rotor that actively engages passing material. This inversion allows the system to handle varying material types more effectively while protecting the stationary structural components from damage.
4Reliability
If multiple impacts at high speed are applied to weed seeds, then seed devitalization is improved, but energy consumption increases
Solution Approach 1:
The device applies multiple impacts to weed seeds as they pass through the rotor-stator gap, ensuring sufficient devitalization. The number of impacts exceeds the minimum required to account for variations in seed hardness and moisture content, achieving reliable destruction without excessive energy waste.
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
Effectively devitalizes weed seeds, reducing herbicide use and preventing weed growth, while being robust against debris and allowing flexible discharge options for residue distribution.
Implementation Method 1
the seeds are accelerated outwardly by escaping centrifugally from the rotating blades into the surrounding stationary blades of the outer rings where a series of impacts occur
Implementation Method 2
the weed seeds impact on said one or more stator surfaces and do not pass through the stator along said direction but instead are rebounded therefrom back toward the rotor; the rotor and stator being arranged such that the weed seeds rebound back and forth between the rotor and the stator to provide a plurality of impacts on the accelerated feed material to destroy at least some of the weed seeds
Data Source
AI summary
Weed seeds are destroyed in the chaff from a combine harvester by repeated high speed impacts caused by a rotor mounted in one of a pair of side by side housings which accelerate the discarded seeds in a direction centrifugally away from the rotor onto a stator including angularly adjustable stator surfaces around the axis. Thus the discarded seeds rebound back and forth between the rotor and the stator to provide a plurality of impacts. The seeds are carried axially of the rotor by a controlled airstream so that they move to an axial discharge location where a discharge fan is mounted. The angle of the discharge around the rotor axis can be changed to direct the seeds to the side of the combine away from a straw chopper, towards the guide fins of the tailboard of the chopper, or into the housing of the straw chopper.