Pivotable Support Arms for Agricultural Machine Width Adjustment
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Solution Overview
Problem
Conventional trailed agricultural machines face challenges in efficiently adjusting between wide working widths for mowing and narrow transport widths, often resulting in complex, heavy mechanisms that compromise stability during transportation.
Innovation Solution
A support carriage with pivotable support arms and wheels that adjust between working and transport configurations, allowing for a wide working width and narrow transport width, while maintaining stability and simplicity, by using actuators to control the position of the support arms and cross-member relative to the drawbar.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Productivity
If the cutter bar is made wide to increase working width, then mowing efficiency is improved, but transport width increases making it difficult to pass through gates and on roads
Solution Approach 1:
The support carriage employs pivotable support arms that can dynamically change position between working and transport configurations. During working operation, the support arms extend outward to provide stable support for the wide cutter bar. During transport, the support arms pivot inward to reduce the overall width, enabling the mower to pass through gates and on roads while maintaining structural integrity
Solution Approach 2:
The support carriage is divided into independent pivotable support arms that can be individually adjusted. Each support arm is connected to the cross-member through a pivot joint, allowing independent movement between working and transport positions. This segmentation enables flexible configuration changes without requiring movement of the entire mower structure
2Length of moving object
If additional wheels and support structures are added to reduce transport width, then transport width is reduced, but device complexity and weight increase
Solution Approach 1:
The pivotable support arms serve multiple functions: they provide structural support during working operation, enable width reduction during transport, and maintain stability in both configurations. This multi-functionality eliminates the need for separate dedicated transport wheels or additional support mechanisms, reducing overall device complexity while achieving narrow transport width
Solution Approach 2:
The support function and width-adjustment function are merged into a single mechanism. The same pivotable support arms that provide structural support during mowing operation also serve to reduce transport width when pivoted inward. This consolidation eliminates redundant components and simplifies the overall mechanism
3Device complexity
If support wheels are positioned on the same side during transport, then mechanism is simplified, but stability during transportation deteriorates
Solution Approach 1:
The support arms are positioned asymmetrically relative to the cross-member, with each arm connected at different locations. This asymmetric arrangement allows the support arms to extend outward on opposite sides when in the working position, providing stable triangular support geometry during transport while maintaining structural simplicity
Data Source
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AI summary
A support carriage (6) for an agricultural machine (4) that is configured to be towed behind a tractor is adjustable between a working configuration in which the agricultural machine has a working width W and a transport configuration in which the agricultural machine has a transport width T that is less than the working width W. The support carriage (6) includes a drawbar (8) and a cross-member (10) that is attached to the drawbar and is pivotable relative thereto between a working configuration and a transport configuration. A first support wheel (22) is mounted on a first support arm (20) that is pivotably attached to the cross-member (10) for rotation about a first pivot axis (28), and a second support wheel (26) is mounted on a second support arm (24) that is pivotably attached to the cross-member for rotation about a second pivot axis (34). The first support arm (20) is pivotable through an angle X between a working position and a transport position, and the second support arm (24) is pivotable through an angle Y between a working position and a transport position where Y is substantially equal to X + 180°.