Hinged Row Crop Harvesting Head Terrain Adaptation
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Solution Overview
Problem
Larger row crop harvesting heads struggle to accurately follow undulating terrain, leading to crop fouling and damage due to their inability to conform to varying field surfaces.
Innovation Solution
A hinged row crop harvesting head with pivotally coupled frame sections and intersecting driveshafts, featuring a universal joint and flexible auger troughs, allows for vertical movement and efficient crop conveyance across the entire width, enabling better terrain adaptation and reduced crop damage.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Productivity
If the harvesting head width is increased to improve harvesting efficiency, then productivity increases, but the ability to follow undulating terrain deteriorates
Solution Approach 1:
The harvesting head is divided into multiple frame sections (first frame section, second frame section, third frame section) that can independently pivot relative to each other. This segmentation allows each section to adapt to terrain variations while maintaining an overall wide harvesting width, thus preserving both productivity and terrain following ability.
Solution Approach 2:
The frame sections are made dynamically movable through hinge connections that permit relative pivoting motion. This dynamic configuration enables the harvesting head to continuously adapt its shape to undulating terrain surfaces, preventing crop fouling and damage while maintaining wide working width for high productivity.
2Productivity
If the harvesting head width is increased to improve productivity, then more crop rows can be harvested simultaneously, but crop fouling and damage increase due to inability to conform to terrain
Solution Approach 1:
By dividing the wide harvesting head into multiple independently pivoting frame sections, each section can conform to local terrain conditions, preventing crop fouling and damage while maintaining the overall wide width necessary for high harvesting capacity.
Solution Approach 2:
The relative positions and orientations of the frame sections are dynamically changed through pivoting motion, allowing the harvesting head to adapt its configuration to terrain variations. This parameter change enables wide working width for high productivity while preventing crop damage through local adaptation.
3Device complexity
If rigid frame sections are used to simplify structure, then device complexity decreases, but terrain following ability deteriorates
Solution Approach 1:
The frame is segmented into multiple sections connected by hinges, creating a relatively simple articulated structure that achieves terrain following ability through modular design rather than complex rigid mechanisms.
Solution Approach 2:
By introducing controlled dynamic pivoting joints between frame sections, the structure achieves terrain adaptability through simple rotational movements rather than complex mechanisms, maintaining relatively low device complexity while improving terrain conformance.
Data Source
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AI summary
A hinged row crop harvesting head (100) has two frame sections (110, 112, 114) coupled together with at least one hinge (186, 188) that permits the two frame sections (110, 112, 114) to pivot with respect to each other as the hinged row crop harvesting head (100) travels through a field harvesting crops.