Low-Profile Sweeper with Hydraulic Brush Adjustment
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Solution Overview
Problem
Conventional sweepers with gutter broom configurations are ineffective for low-overhead clearance applications, such as nut harvesting, especially when operating close to trees and obstructions, due to their design which fails to maintain contact with the ground surface and create dead spaces between brushes.
Innovation Solution
A low-profile sweeper employing a plurality of radially oriented rotary brushes mounted on a brush armature, with a steerable drive and hydraulic actuation, utilizing a polypropylene wafer bristle set that maintains constant contact with the ground surface and prevents material accumulation between brushes, allowing efficient sweeping of nuts into a windrow.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Ease of operation
If conventional gutter broom configurations are used, then the sweeper can operate in standard conditions, but it fails to maintain contact with the ground surface and creates dead spaces between brushes in low-overhead clearance applications
Solution Approach 1:
The brush assembly is made dynamically adjustable through hydraulic actuators that allow the brush axis to tilt and the brush position to adjust vertically and horizontally. This enables the brush to maintain contact with the ground surface in low-overhead clearance applications while eliminating dead spaces between brushes, resolving the contradiction between operational ease in standard conditions and adaptability to restricted spaces.
2Productivity
If brushes are positioned close together to eliminate dead spaces, then material pickup efficiency improves, but the risk of brush interference and mechanical conflict increases
Solution Approach 1:
The system uses hydraulic actuators to dynamically adjust the position and orientation of each brush assembly. This allows brushes to be positioned close together for improved material pickup efficiency while maintaining the ability to adjust their positions to prevent interference and mechanical conflict, thus preserving operational reliability.
Solution Approach 2:
The brush assembly parameters (position, orientation, tilt angle) are made changeable through hydraulic control systems. This enables the brushes to operate in close proximity for better material pickup while dynamically adjusting parameters to avoid interference, resolving the contradiction between productivity and reliability.
3Length of stationary object
If a low-profile design is implemented to operate under trees, then overhead clearance is reduced, but the ability to maintain constant brush contact with the ground surface deteriorates
Solution Approach 1:
The brush assembly incorporates hydraulic actuators that enable dynamic adjustment of brush position and tilt angle. This allows the sweeper to maintain a low-profile design for operating under trees while the brushes can dynamically adjust to maintain constant contact with the ground surface, resolving the contradiction between reduced overhead clearance and contact maintenance capability.
Data Source
AI summary
A low-profile sweeper that employs rotary brushes. The low-profile sweeper is especially suited for low overhead clearance applications, as typically found in nut harvesting. The low-profile sweeper has an armature for locating one or more brushes in an array, or attached to a conventional agricultural sweeper. The armature attaches to a chassis or frame of a steerable drive. When used in a parallel oriented array, the brushes rotate in the same, common direction and in substantially the same, common plane of rotation, slightly skewed to avoid contact between the brushes. The bristles of the radial brushes are emanate fro a central hub and are approximately parallel to the plane of rotation. A fan can be utilized to aid the pick-up action of the brushes. The fan is preferably mounted to direct an airstream to the area to be swept. Also, a spray-bar can be attached to the armature or alternatively to the chassis, to aid in dust abatement.