Riding Mower Cutting Guide Device for Overlap Marking
Find Innovative SolutionsGenerate Solutions
Solution Overview
Problem
Riding mowers face inefficiencies in grass cutting due to large cutting overlap, leading to reduced working width or leftover grass, and require skilled maneuvering to maintain aesthetic quality, especially when cutting near curved paths or uncut areas adjacent to cut areas.
Innovation Solution
A cutting guide device is integrated into the mower to create a visible overlap mark on the ground surface forward of the front wheels, closer to the grass than the vehicle body frame, using mechanical, optical, or fluid spray assemblies, allowing drivers to accurately estimate and maintain the cutting overlap line, reducing leftover grass and improving straight traveling performance.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If a large cutting overlap is used to avoid cutting leftover, then the reliability of cutting completeness is improved, but the productivity decreases due to reduced effective working width
Solution Approach 1:
The cutting guide device provides real-time visual feedback to the driver through overlap marks and traveling line marks on the ground. This feedback enables the driver to adjust the mower's position and cutting overlap dynamically, achieving complete cutting coverage while optimizing the overlap width to maintain high productivity.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent replaces reliance on driver skill and experience with an optical guidance system consisting of guides mounted on the mower and corresponding marks on the ground. This substitution transforms the manual estimation process into a visual alignment task, enabling precise cutting overlap control without requiring extensive driver training.
2Manufacturing precision
If the driver maneuvers with minimal deviation from the target straight traveling line to improve aesthetic quality, then the manufacturing precision of cutting trace is improved, but the ease of operation decreases due to increased maneuvering difficulty
Solution Approach 1:
The cutting guide device introduces intermediary visual elements (traveling line marks and overlap marks) that serve as mediators between the driver and the cutting path. These marks provide continuous visual guidance, enabling the driver to maintain straight traveling and aesthetic cutting traces without requiring intense concentration or advanced maneuvering skills.
Solution Approach 2:
The guide system prepares the cutting path in advance by projecting traveling line marks and overlap marks onto the ground before the mower reaches them. This preliminary visual information allows the driver to anticipate and adjust the mower's position proactively, maintaining straight traveling and high cutting precision with minimal effort.
3Measurement precision
If corner poles are mounted rearwardly of the front wheels to indicate grass cutting borderline, then the measurement precision of cutting path is improved, but the ease of operation worsens due to increased estimation difficulty on grass surfaces
Solution Approach 1:
The patent transitions from vertical corner poles to horizontal overlap marks projected onto the ground plane. This dimensional change places the reference marks at the same level as the grass surface being cut, eliminating the need for drivers to estimate distances and angles between vertical poles and the ground, thereby simplifying operation while maintaining precision.
Solution Approach 2:
The cutting guide device creates visual copies of the desired cutting path and overlap lines directly on the ground surface through projected marks. These marks serve as direct visual replicas of the target cutting trajectory, allowing drivers to follow the marks without performing mental calculations or estimations, thus improving both precision and ease of operation.
Data Source
AI summary
A riding mower includes front wheels and rear wheels that support a vehicle body frame on the ground surface, a driver's seat disposed upwardly of the vehicle body frame, a mower deck disposed downwardly of the vehicle body frame and a cutting guide device configured to create an overlap mark that hints a cutting overlap line at a position forwardly of the front wheels and the mower deck and closer to the ground surface than the vehicle body frame.