Reversible Feed Wheel Hub Design for Wear Distribution
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing feed wheels for wood handling units in forestry machines have a limited service life due to concentrated wear from trees of uniform diameter, and reversible designs are limited by the need for a specific actuator size, restricting their versatility across different harvester units.
Innovation Solution
A reversible feed wheel with a hub part featuring multiple fixing flanges allows for adjustable diameter and width, enabling mounting on various actuators using an auxiliary hub, which maintains the axial symmetry plane's location regardless of orientation, thus extending the service life and increasing compatibility with different harvester units.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Duration of action of moving object
If the feed wheel is designed as reversible to extend service life, then the service life is improved, but the actuator must be fitted inside the wheel part which limits the diameter and reduces versatility
Solution Approach 1:
The feed wheel is divided into a wheel part and a separate hub part that can be detached and repositioned. The hub part contains the fixing flange that mounts to the actuator, while the wheel part contains the gripping surface. This segmentation allows the hub part to be removed and reattached at different positions on the wheel part, enabling reversibility without requiring the actuator to fit inside the wheel part.
Solution Approach 2:
The hub part is positioned inside the hollow wheel part, creating a nested structure. The hub part can be removed from and reinserted into the wheel part at different orientations, allowing the feed wheel to be reversed while maintaining a compact configuration that does not require the actuator to be inside the wheel part.
2Duration of action of moving object
If the feed wheel diameter is increased to provide more gripping surface area, then the service life is improved through better wear distribution, but the inner diameter must be larger which prevents reversible design
Solution Approach 1:
By separating the hub part from the wheel part, the design allows the wheel part to have a larger outer diameter for more gripping surface area while the inner diameter constraint is resolved by the removable hub part that can be repositioned.
Solution Approach 2:
The solution moves the constraint resolution to a different dimension by using the axial direction for hub part repositioning rather than being constrained by the radial dimension (inner diameter). The hub part can be positioned at different axial locations on the wheel part, allowing reversibility without increasing the inner diameter.
3Device complexity
If the feed wheel is made non-reversible to simplify design, then the device complexity is reduced, but the service life becomes shorter due to concentrated wear
Solution Approach 1:
The segmentation into removable hub part and wheel part creates a simple reversible mechanism. The hub part with fixing flange can be easily detached and reattached to reverse the feed wheel, providing wear distribution benefits without significant increase in design complexity.
Solution Approach 2:
The feed wheel can be reversed by removing the hub part and reattaching it with the opposite orientation, allowing the previously worn gripping surface to be replaced by an unworn surface, thereby extending service life while maintaining relatively simple design.
Data Source
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AI summary
The invention relates to a feed wheel (10) for a wood handling unit (50), comprising a hollow cylindrical wheel part (12) and a hub part (14). In the feed wheel according to the invention, the hub part (14) comprises at least two fixing flanges (16, 18) fixed inside the wheel part (12), at least partly spaced from each other. The invention also relates to a feed wheel assembly (40).