Rear Cutting Unit Width for Reel Mower Swath Continuity
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Solution Overview
Problem
Reel gang mowers experience uncut strips of grass in the cut swath during turns and sidehill mowing due to loss of overlap between front and rear cutting units, leading to unsatisfactory cutting performance and appearance.
Innovation Solution
The use of rear cutting units with a wider cutting width than front units, positioned to maintain positive overlap and cover gaps between front units, ensuring an unbroken cut swath even during turns and sidehill mowing.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If rear cutting units have the same width as front cutting units, then the mower structure is simple and manufacturing is easy, but gaps appear between cutting units during turns and sidehill mowing, leaving uncut strips of grass
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies local quality by making the rear cutting units wider than the front cutting units. Specifically, each rear cutting unit has a cutting width that exceeds the gap width between adjacent front cutting units by a predetermined amount (e.g., 6 inches), creating localized overlap zones that ensure continuous grass coverage during turns and sidehill mowing operations.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent changes the width parameter of the rear cutting units relative to the front cutting units. Instead of using identical widths, the rear units are designed with increased width to provide sufficient overlap coverage, transforming the geometric parameter to solve the coverage problem during dynamic mowing conditions.
2Reliability
If rear cutting units are wider than front cutting units, then overlap is maintained during turns and sidehill mowing eliminating uncut strips, but the mower structure becomes more complex
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies local quality by making the rear cutting units wider than the front cutting units. Specifically, each rear cutting unit has a cutting width that exceeds the gap width between adjacent front cutting units by a predetermined amount (e.g., 6 inches), creating localized overlap zones that ensure continuous grass coverage during turns and sidehill mowing operations.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent changes the width parameter of the rear cutting units relative to the front cutting units. Instead of using identical widths, the rear units are designed with increased width to provide sufficient overlap coverage, transforming the geometric parameter to solve the coverage problem during dynamic mowing conditions.
3Productivity
If overlap between front and rear cutting units is minimized, then mower productivity increases and swath width increases, but gaps appear during turns and sidehill mowing leaving uncut strips of grass
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies local quality by making the rear cutting units wider than the front cutting units. Specifically, each rear cutting unit has a cutting width that exceeds the gap width between adjacent front cutting units by a predetermined amount (e.g., 6 inches), creating localized overlap zones that ensure continuous grass coverage during turns and sidehill mowing operations.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent changes the width parameter of the rear cutting units relative to the front cutting units. Instead of using identical widths, the rear units are designed with increased width to provide sufficient overlap coverage, transforming the geometric parameter to solve the coverage problem during dynamic mowing conditions.
Data Source
AI summary
A reel gang mower has a plurality of front reel cutting units and at least trailing one rear reel cutting unit. Each rear reel cutting unit is centered on a gap between a pair of adjacent front cutting units to cover the gap. Each rear reel cutting unit has a cutting width that is wider than a common cutting width of the front reel cutting units by an amount which is sufficient to maintain positive overlap between the front and rear reel cutting units while mowing when turning or in sidehill mowing such that substantially no uncut strips of grass are left in a cut grass swath provided by the mower.