Pivotable Crop Divider With Mechanical Link
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing crop dividers for agricultural harvesting heads are prone to damage when encountering changing ground contours, as their points can stick into the ground and become damaged during operation.
Innovation Solution
The design features a crop divider system with a forward portion that is pivotally coupled to a ground engaging arm, allowing it to maintain a minimum positive gap with the ground through a mechanical link, preventing burial and ensuring consistent operation across varying ground conditions.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If the crop divider points are positioned close to the ground to effectively separate crop, then the crop separation effectiveness is improved, but the dividers become susceptible to damage from sticking into the ground
Solution Approach 1:
The crop divider is designed with a pivotable connection to the ground engaging arm, allowing it to dynamically adjust its position and orientation in response to ground contour changes. This dynamic capability enables the divider to maintain close ground contact for effective crop separation while automatically lifting or rotating away when encountering obstacles, preventing damage to the divider points.
2Manufacturing precision
If the crop divider maintains close ground contact for effective crop separation, then harvesting precision is improved, but the divider is more likely to be damaged by ground irregularities
Solution Approach 1:
The mechanical link is configured to provide preliminary anti-action by creating a geometric constraint that prevents the crop divider from penetrating too deeply into the ground. When the ground engaging arm encounters an obstacle, the mechanical link's pivot geometry automatically generates a lifting moment on the crop divider before significant ground penetration can occur, counteracting the harmful effect of ground irregularities.
3Strength
If the forward portion is allowed to pivot independently to avoid ground damage, then divider protection is improved, but the structural complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The invention merges the ground engaging function and the crop divider support function into a single integrated mechanical link assembly. The mechanical link serves dual purposes: it supports the crop divider while simultaneously providing the pivot mechanism for independent motion. This consolidation achieves divider protection through independent pivoting without adding significant structural complexity, as the same components perform multiple functions.
Data Source
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AI summary
A crop divider (110, 112) for an agricultural harvesting head (100) is pivotally coupled to a ground engaging arm (136) that is pivotally coupled to a frame (102) of the agricultural harvesting head (100). A mechanical link (154) is also coupled to both the crop divider (110, 112) and to the frame (102) to support the crop divider (110, 112) as the ground engaging arm (136) pivots up and down.