Reinforced Plastic Trellis Post for Vineyard Harvesting
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Solution Overview
Problem
Trellis posts in vineyards need to be resilient to mechanical impacts from machine harvesting while maintaining flexibility to avoid damage from vines and effective ground penetration.
Innovation Solution
A moulded plastic tubular trellis post with internal reinforcement, featuring spaced slots for wires, a wooden stake, and a foamed plastics or cement filling, along with a ground-engaging spike made from durable materials like HPDE, providing structural strength and flexibility.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Strength
If the trellis post is made from moulded plastic only, then it maintains flexibility to avoid damage from vines, but it lacks sufficient structural strength to resist mechanical impacts from machine harvesting
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies composite materials by combining moulded plastic with internal reinforcement elements (metal or wooden stakes) and filling materials (foam, concrete, or mortar). This creates a hybrid structure where the plastic provides flexibility and corrosion resistance, while the internal reinforcements provide structural strength to withstand machine harvesting impacts, directly resolving the contradiction between strength and simplicity.
2Strength
If the trellis post is reinforced with internal materials, then it gains structural strength, but it becomes more complex to manufacture
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies preliminary action by pre-manufacturing the plastic tubular elements with integrated flanges and slot patterns, then subsequently adding internal reinforcements and filling materials. This staged approach allows each component to be optimized separately before assembly, making the overall manufacturing process more manageable despite the composite nature of the final product.
3Strength
If the post is made rigid to resist machine harvesting, then it withstands mechanical stress, but it becomes more susceptible to damage from vines and ground penetration issues arise
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies local quality by providing different mechanical properties in different parts of the post. The plastic exterior maintains flexibility for vine interaction and ground penetration, while the internal metal or wooden stakes provide localized rigid reinforcement at critical stress points to resist machine harvesting impacts, thus resolving the contradiction between overall rigidity and localized flexibility.
Data Source
AI summary
A trellis post comprises a moulded plastic tubular element defining a central post, the central post providing an interior and defining two flanges extending from opposed sides of the central post. The flanges extend along the length of the tubular element and define a series of spaced apart slots for receiving wires. The trellis post defines a ground engaging spike at one end. The moulded plastic tubular element is reinforced with an internal stake extending through the interior of the post and a supporting/filling material is located between the stake and the interior of the central post. The filling material may be a foamed plastics material, mortar, concrete, and Portland cement.