Pivoting Steered Gearboxes for Pivoting Tongue Mowers
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Solution Overview
Problem
Swing-tongue harvesters face challenges in delivering driving power from a tractor to their operating components due to the pivoting tongue's sharp angular positions, which can disrupt the power transmission system.
Innovation Solution
The design incorporates a system of pivoting steered gearboxes, including a front swivel gearbox and a rear gearbox, connected by a telescoping driveline with U-joints, which allows for angular adjustments while maintaining power transmission efficiency by minimizing u-joint angles and using telescoping steering cylinders to safeguard the drivetrain.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Adaptability or versatility
If a pivoting tongue is used to position the mower laterally, then maneuverability and lateral positioning capability are improved, but power transmission reliability deteriorates due to sharp angular positions disrupting the power transmission system
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies dynamics by making the gearbox housing itself pivotable rather than fixed. The rear gearbox housing can pivot about the axis of its output shaft, and the front gearbox is pivotally attached to the tongue. This dynamic capability allows the power transmission system to adapt to the sharp angular positions created by lateral tongue movement, maintaining reliable power transmission while preserving the maneuverability benefits of the pivoting tongue configuration
Solution Approach 2:
The patent changes the operational parameters of the power transmission system by allowing the gearbox housings to pivot through various angles. This parameter change enables the system to accommodate the varying angular positions of the tongue during lateral movement, ensuring that power transmission remains reliable across the full range of motion without disruption
2Ease of operation
If the tongue is shifted between sharp angular positions for maneuvering, then ease of operation is improved, but the complexity of the power transmission system increases due to the need for telescoping drivelines and pivoting gearboxes
Solution Approach 1:
The patent merges multiple functions into the gearbox assemblies. The front gearbox serves both as a power transmission device and as a pivotally attached mounting that accommodates tongue movement. The rear gearbox combines power transmission with the ability to pivot about its output shaft axis. This merging reduces the need for separate complex accommodation mechanisms while maintaining ease of operation
Solution Approach 2:
The patent introduces dynamic pivoting capability to the gearbox housings, allowing them to adapt automatically to the tongue's angular positions. This dynamic feature simplifies the overall system by eliminating the need for complex rigid linkage mechanisms or multiple adjustment devices, as the pivoting gearboxes self-accommodate to maintain power transmission during maneuvering operations
3Adaptability or versatility
If telescoping drivelines with U-joints are used to connect pivoting gearboxes, then adaptability to angular positions is improved, but the risk of drivetrain damage increases due to potential misalignment and stress
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies dynamics by making the gearbox housings themselves pivotable rather than fixed. The rear gearbox housing can pivot about the axis of its output shaft, and the front gearbox is pivotally attached to the tongue. This dynamic capability allows the power transmission system to adapt to the sharp angular positions created by lateral tongue movement, maintaining reliable power transmission while preserving the maneuverability benefits of the pivoting tongue configuration
Solution Approach 2:
The patent uses the pivoting gearbox housings as intermediary elements between the fixed PTO shaft and the moving cutting components. These intermediary pivoting gearboxes absorb and accommodate the angular misalignments and stresses that would otherwise be transmitted directly through the driveline to the U-joints and drivetrain components, thereby reducing the risk of drivetrain damage while maintaining adaptability
Data Source
AI summary
A mower is suspended from a frame and includes a header with a cutter. A tongue is pivotally connected to the mower frame and is moveable with respect to the frame by a hydraulic cylinder. At the front of the tongue is a front gearbox rigidly attached to the tongue. The front gearbox transmits rotary power from the power take off of the tractor to a rear gearbox pivotally attached the header and from the rear gearbox rotary power is passed on ultimately to the rotary cutting units. Pivoting of the rear gearbox is controlled by a steering connection operatively attached between the front and rear gearboxes.