Mower Blade Housing Corner Segmentation for Die Cost Reduction
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Solution Overview
Problem
The existing mower apparatus requires extensive man-hours and effort for welding and processing, making mass production costly and inefficient due to the need for high-cost manufacturing dies and complex welding of curved plate materials in forming blade housings.
Innovation Solution
The mower apparatus employs a blade housing structure formed using divided corner members that can be easily assembled with forming dies, reducing the need for extensive welding and allowing for a more efficient use of forming dies, with a curved face formed by connecting end portions of these members, thereby simplifying processing and reducing manufacturing costs.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Manufacturing precision
If the entire blade housing is processed by press forming using a single forming die, then manufacturing precision and structural integrity are improved, but the cost of manufacturing the forming die becomes very high
Solution Approach 1:
The blade housing is divided into multiple sections: a main body portion and multiple corner portions. Each corner portion is further divided into a first corner member and a second corner member. This segmentation allows each component to be formed using smaller, less expensive forming dies while maintaining overall structural integrity through welding connections.
2Ease of manufacture
If welding is used to fix curved plate material to the corner portion, then manufacturing cost is reduced compared to press forming, but a large number of man-hours and extensive welding processing are required
Solution Approach 1:
The corner members are pre-formed with curved face portions integrated into their structures before assembly. This preliminary formation of curved surfaces eliminates the need for extensive on-site welding and processing during final assembly, reducing both labor hours and processing time while maintaining cost-effectiveness.
3Shape
If the blade housing is assembled by joining top plate portion and side plate portion with curved plate material, then the curved face is achieved, but the processing complexity and effort are increased
Solution Approach 1:
The curved face portion is merged into the corner members themselves rather than being a separate component. Each corner member is formed as an integrated unit with the curved face already incorporated, eliminating the need for separate joining operations and reducing processing complexity.
Data Source
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AI summary
A blade housing (40) wherein an upper corner portion (45), corresponding to a portion at which a deck upper face (43) and an outer-circumferential wall face (44) of the blade housing (40) are connected to each other, is constituted by a combination of divided corner members (45Ra, 45Rb, 45Rc, 45La, 45Lb, 45Lc) that are divided at a plurality of portions in a direction in which the rotary blades (41) rotate, and a curved face portion (45a) that curves toward rotation centers of the rotary blades (41) relative to the outer-circumferential wall face (44) the closer the curved face portion (45a) is to the deck upper face (43), is formed in each of the divided corner members (45Ra, 45Rb, 45Rc, 45La, 45Lb, 45Lc).