Motor-Driven Insertion Aids for Flexible Growth Support Guidance
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing devices for removing plant parts from elongate, tension-stable, limp growth aids face challenges such as irregular growth patterns, entanglement, and manual complexity, leading to errors and interruptions in the workflow due to malfunctions and damage to the growth aid.
Innovation Solution
A device with at least two motor-driven insertion aids arranged in front of a plant guide unit, which guides the growth aid through a detachment unit, limiting lateral slipping and preventing collisions with detachment elements, ensuring continuous and reliable feeding of plant parts and preventing damage to the growth aid.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Adaptability or versatility
If manual removal of plant parts is used, then flexibility and adaptability to irregular growth patterns are maintained, but labor intensity and time consumption increase significantly
Solution Approach 1:
The device enables self-service operation by automatically guiding the growth aid through the detachment unit and removing plant parts without requiring manual intervention for each individual plant part, thus reducing labor intensity while maintaining adaptability to irregular growth patterns
Solution Approach 2:
The device incorporates movable and adjustable components that allow it to adapt dynamically to irregular growth patterns of different plants, while the automated operation significantly reduces the time required compared to manual removal
2Device complexity
If a single motor-driven insertion aid is used, then device complexity is reduced, but reliability and continuous operation are compromised due to lateral slipping and collisions
Solution Approach 1:
The insertion aid function is segmented into multiple independent motor-driven units that work together, with each unit handling specific aspects of guiding the growth aid, thereby improving reliability through functional distribution and reducing the impact of individual component failures
Solution Approach 2:
The device incorporates protective elements and guiding structures that prevent lateral slipping and collisions before they can cause damage or interruptions, ensuring continuous operation by anticipating and preventing potential failures
3Ease of operation
If the growth aid is allowed to move freely during processing, then ease of operation is improved, but damage to the growth aid increases due to collisions with detachment elements
Solution Approach 1:
Guiding elements and protective structures act as intermediaries between the growth aid and detachment elements, allowing the growth aid to move freely during processing while preventing direct contact and potential damage from collisions with detachment elements
4Productivity
If plant parts are removed without pre-compression and alignment, then processing speed is maintained, but completeness of removal decreases due to entanglement and stable connections
Solution Approach 1:
The device incorporates pre-compression and alignment mechanisms that prepare plant parts for removal before they reach the detachment unit, breaking entanglement and destabilizing connections in advance to ensure complete and reliable removal without sacrificing processing speed
Data Source
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AI summary
Device (1) for removing plant parts from at least one elongated, tensile-resistant, flexible growth support (2) during movement of the device along the growth support, wherein the growth support passes through the device, in particular for removing vine shoots from at least one trellis wire, comprising: - a growth support guide (3) for guiding the growth support during movement of the device along the growth support, - a release unit (4) and - a plant guidance unit (7) for compressing and/or feeding the plant parts adhering to the growth support to the release unit, which release unit comprises at least one release element (4a, 4b, 4c, 4d), which release element is movably arranged on the device such that, during operation, plant parts can be at least partially detached from the growth support by movement of the release element.The plant guidance unit is arranged in the direction of travel of the growth aid, upstream of the removal unit and upstream of the growth aid guide. Crucially, the device comprises at least two motor-driven insertion aids (12, 13, 12', 13') arranged upstream of the plant guidance unit in the direction of travel of the growth aid. The insertion aids are arranged and designed to interact with the plant guidance unit such that, when the device is used, the growth aid passes between the two insertion aids, thus limiting the insertion area of the growth aid and plant into the plant guidance unit at least horizontally to the right and left. The invention further relates to a method for removing plant parts from at least one elongated, tensile-resistant, flexible growth aid by means of a device during movement of the device along the growth aid.