Monolithic Belt Elements for Root Crop Harvester Conveying
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Solution Overview
Problem
Conveying devices for root crop harvesters face challenges in achieving long-term stability and gentle transfer of harvested goods while maintaining minimal weight and adaptability to different conveying lengths, with existing solutions often requiring complex assembly and being prone to soil contamination.
Innovation Solution
A conveying device featuring monolithic structural elements that form a belt-shaped configuration with articulated connecting zones, allowing for variable length adjustment and gentle handling of goods, made from plastic materials with integrated support surfaces and entrainment members, enabling easy assembly and reduced soil adhesion through optimized hole patterns.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Ease of manufacture
If conventional conveying members with multiple separate components are used, then assembly complexity increases and manufacturing cost rises, but the conveying device can achieve variable length adaptation and gentle handling of goods
Solution Approach 1:
The conveying member is divided into multiple modular flat elements that can be connected in series to form a belt-shaped configuration. Each element is a separate component with standardized connecting zones, allowing the overall length to be adjusted by varying the number of elements used in the conveying circuit.
Solution Approach 2:
The flat elements are designed as universal components that can serve multiple functions: they provide support surfaces for the goods, contain entrainment members for gentle handling, and include connecting zones for assembly. The same basic element design is used throughout the conveying member, simplifying manufacturing and assembly.
2Reliability
If the conveying member is made with robust construction for long-term stability, then service life increases, but the overall weight of the system increases
Solution Approach 1:
The conveying member utilizes thin-walled but structurally sound flat elements that provide sufficient strength and flexibility for the application. The elements are designed with optimized wall thickness that balances structural integrity with weight reduction, allowing the conveying member to be lightweight while maintaining durability.
Solution Approach 2:
The flat elements are constructed from composite materials or multi-layer structures that combine different material properties to achieve optimal strength-to-weight ratio. This allows the conveying member to be both lightweight and robust enough for long-term stable operation.
3Device complexity
If traditional conveying surfaces are used, then the structure is simple, but soil particles adhere to the surfaces reducing conveying efficiency and increasing contamination
Solution Approach 1:
The flat elements incorporate porous or perforated surfaces that prevent soil particles from adhering to the conveying surfaces. The porous structure allows soil to pass through or away from the surface, maintaining conveying efficiency and reducing contamination of the harvested goods.
Solution Approach 2:
The entrainment members are designed with curved or rounded surfaces that facilitate gentle handling of the goods and prevent soil adhesion. The curved geometry allows for smoother contact between the conveying surface and the harvested root crops, reducing friction and soil attachment.
4Ease of manufacture
If the conveying member uses fixed-length design, then manufacturing is simpler, but adaptability to different conveying lengths is lost
Solution Approach 1:
The conveying member is designed with dynamic configurability through standardized connecting zones that allow flexible assembly of different lengths. The modular flat elements can be connected in various configurations to match different conveying requirements, providing adaptability while maintaining manufacturing simplicity through standardized components.
Data Source
AI summary
A conveying device for a root crop harvester has an endless conveying member combined of monolithic structural elements connected sequentially to each other in a belt shape. The structural elements each have an entrainment member and a support surface supporting objects to be transported on the endless conveying member. The structural elements each have at least one connecting zone. The structural elements in the connected position each form a flat element connected sequentially at the connecting zone, respectively. In the connected position of the structural elements, the entrainment members extend transversely to a conveying direction of the endless conveying member and between the transversely extending entrainment members the support surfaces are positioned, respectively.