Low Profile Pivoting Sickle Drive for Header Integration
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing agricultural cutting machines face challenges with side-mounted sickle drives that disrupt plant material flow, generate high vibrations, and require significant structural support, leading to increased weight, cost, and complexity.
Innovation Solution
A low-profile pivoting sickle drive mechanism is integrated into or below the header's floor, featuring a tapered enclosure design with a central location, using a disk-shaped input element and eccentric elements to drive knife assemblies in a reciprocating motion, minimizing interference with plant material flow and reducing structural requirements.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Power
If side-mounted sickle drives are used, then the knife assembly can be driven reciprocatingly, but the header requires significant frame structure to support the drive and withstand forces and vibrations
Solution Approach 1:
The drive mechanism is moved from a side-mounted position to a location beneath the header floor, utilizing the vertical dimension and under-floor space. This repositioning eliminates the need for significant side frame structure while maintaining driving capability, as the drive operates from a location that does not compromise structural integrity.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent uses two identical drive mechanisms positioned symmetrically beneath the header floor on opposite sides. These drives are timed to operate in opposition, creating balanced forces that cancel vibrations and reduce the structural support requirements compared to a single side-mounted drive.
2Power
If side-mounted drives are used, then the knife assembly can be driven, but the end structure or crop divider must be relatively wide to accommodate the drive and direct adjacent standing crops, increasing the possibility of pushing down crops
Solution Approach 1:
The drive mechanism is relocated from the side/end of the header to a position beneath the header floor. This allows the end structure and crop dividers to be made narrower since they no longer need to accommodate the drive mechanism, thereby reducing the risk of pushing down adjacent standing crops during operation.
3Object-generated harmful factors
If two drives are located on opposite sides of the header, then the forces and vibrations can be canceled, but long mechanical drive lines are required to connect the drives, adding weight, cost and complexity
Solution Approach 1:
The two drive mechanisms are positioned close together beneath the header floor and are driven by a single power source through a common drive line. This merging of the drive locations eliminates the need for long mechanical connections between separate drives, reducing weight, cost, and complexity while maintaining the vibration-canceling effect through proper timing of the opposed drives.
4Productivity
If the drive is located in or below the header floor, then plant material flow is uninterrupted, but the drive mechanism must have a low profile to fit in the limited space
Solution Approach 1:
The drive mechanism is positioned beneath the header floor, utilizing the vertical space below the floor level. This allows the drive to have a low profile in the horizontal dimension while still accommodating all necessary components, ensuring uninterrupted plant material flow over the header floor.
Solution Approach 2:
The drive mechanism components are arranged in a nested or compact configuration beneath the header floor, with the eccentric drive, drive arm, and knife arm integrated in a space-efficient manner. This nesting allows the drive to fit within the limited under-floor space while maintaining full functionality.
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
This configuration reduces vibration, fatigue, and structural stress, allowing for a lighter header structure, easier maneuverability, and uninterrupted plant material flow while canceling external forces and vibrations through opposing drive mechanisms.
Implementation Method 1
A first eccentric element is connected to the first input element for rotation eccentrically about the first rotational axis
Implementation Method 2
The second end pivotally connects to a first pivot element disposed beside the first input element. The first pivot element is supported for rotation about a generally upstanding first pivotal axis
Data Source
AI summary
The pivoting action sickle drive has a low profile allowing incorporation in or below a floor of a header of a plant cutting machine to allow passage of cut plant material thereabout. The drive includes a substantially flat rotatable input element, and a drive arm connected eccentric thereto for eccentric rotation along an epicyclical path. The arm extends to a connection with a pivot arm of a pivot element that connects to a knife arm that drives a sickle knife assembly, such that the pivot element, knife arm and knife assembly will be reciprocatingly driven by the eccentric rotation of the drive arm. A second drive can oppositely drive a second sickle knife assembly, such that opposite forces generated by the drives will cancel. The drives can be packaged in a forwardly tapered or curved enclosure, and the pivot elements can be correspondingly shaped to streamline the drives.