Roller Safety Clutch for PTO Overload Disconnection
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Solution Overview
Problem
Agricultural vehicles face downtime and safety risks due to shear pin breakages, which require time-consuming and hazardous replacement, and modern hay balers lack effective mechanisms to dissipate energy quickly during collisions, making traditional shear pins inefficient and unsafe.
Innovation Solution
A safety clutch system with a roller and biasing unit that moves between seated and unseated positions in response to torque overload or override input, disconnecting the power take-off from operational components, reducing downtime and safety risks without the need for traditional shear pins.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If traditional shear pins are used to protect equipment from overload damage, then equipment protection is improved, but operational downtime increases due to time-consuming and hazardous replacement procedures
Solution Approach 1:
The safety clutch system automatically detects torque overload conditions and actuates the roller to disengage from the driven rotational element's recess, providing self-protecting functionality without requiring operator intervention. The system serves itself by monitoring its own operational state and taking corrective action when thresholds are exceeded.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent replaces the traditional mechanical shear pin system with an electro-mechanical safety clutch system that uses an actuator (electrical, hydraulic, or pneumatic) to control the engagement and disengagement of the roller, substituting a simple mechanical sacrificial component with a controllable mechanical system.
2Reliability
If shear pins are used as sacrificial protective components, then equipment damage is prevented, but operational safety deteriorates due to hazardous replacement processes in difficult-to-access positions
Solution Approach 1:
The safety clutch system automatically detects torque overload conditions and actuates the roller to disengage from the driven rotational element's recess, providing self-protecting functionality without requiring operator intervention. The system serves itself by monitoring its own operational state and taking corrective action when thresholds are exceeded.
Solution Approach 2:
The actuator serves as an intermediary between the control system and the mechanical components, allowing remote or automated actuation of the roller disengagement without requiring direct operator contact with hazardous rotating machinery parts.
3Reliability
If plunger stops are used to prevent collisions between needles and plunger, then component protection is improved, but energy dissipation requirements increase massively due to increasing driveline inertia
Solution Approach 1:
The safety clutch system segments the power transmission path by introducing a controllable disengagement point between the driving rotational element and driven rotational element, allowing the system to isolate and protect specific components without requiring the entire drivetrain to absorb the collision energy.
Solution Approach 2:
The safety clutch can be actuated in advance of a potential collision event to disengage the roller from the driven rotational element's recess, preventing the collision from occurring in the first place rather than relying on passive energy absorption after the fact.
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
The safety clutch system quickly breaks the mechanical link between the power take-off and operational components, reducing downtime and safety risks, allowing for controlled disconnection and reconnection, thus improving operational efficiency and safety in agricultural vehicles.
Implementation Method 1
a biasing unit configured to urge the roller into the recess with a biasing force
Implementation Method 2
the roller is configured to move between: a first position in which the roller is seated in the recess of the driven rotational element to drive the driven rotational element to rotate
Data Source
Figure 1
Figure 2
Figure 3A~3B
AI summary
There is provided a safety clutch (100) for an agricultural vehicle (250). The safety clutch includes a driven rotational element (102) comprising a recess (104); a roller (110) configured to be received in the recess (104). The roller (110) is configured to move between positions depending on the relative torque between the roller (110) and the driven rotational element (102) such that the roller (110) either drives rotation of the driven rotational element (102) or does not. An actuator (116) is also provided to move the position of the roller (110).