Rotating Tine Guide for Agricultural Pickup Deflection
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing agricultural pickup units face issues with tine deflection and crossover, leading to damage and reduced performance due to insufficient support when tines are outside of their intended slots during rotation.
Innovation Solution
A tine guide with guide slots that rotate with the tines, providing additional support by allowing tines to be positioned outside of the pickup band assembly's slots, reducing deflection and crossover risks, and incorporating a cam system to pivot tines into and out of guide slots for optimal support throughout the rotation path.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Ease of operation
If flexible tines are used to feed crop material, then the pickup can gather and convey crop material effectively, but the tines deflect excessively and cross over into each other's path, causing damage and reducing reliability
Solution Approach 1:
A guide slot is introduced as an intermediary element between the tine and the pickup band assembly. The guide slot rotates with the tine carrier and provides a physical constraint that prevents the tine from deflecting excessively and crossing over into other tines' paths, while still allowing the tine to perform its crop gathering function effectively
Solution Approach 2:
The guide slot is designed to rotate simultaneously with the tine carrier, maintaining dynamic alignment with the tine throughout its rotation. This dynamic configuration ensures that the guide slot continuously provides support to the tine at the appropriate position, preventing deflection without interfering with the tine's operational movement
2Stability of the object's composition
If the tine is supported within the pickup band assembly slots, then the tine deflection is controlled, but the tine cannot be positioned outside the slots for optimal support throughout the rotation path
Solution Approach 1:
The support system is segmented into two distinct components: the pickup band assembly slots that provide support when the tine is in certain positions, and the separate guide slot that provides support when the tine is outside the pickup band assembly slots. This segmentation allows each component to perform its specific support function at the appropriate position in the rotation cycle
Solution Approach 2:
The guide slot adds a new dimension to the support system by providing guidance in a different spatial plane than the pickup band assembly slots. The guide slot rotates with the tine carrier and provides support outside the radial plane of the pickup band assembly, creating comprehensive multi-dimensional support throughout the tine's rotation path
Data Source
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AI summary
A pickup (12) for an agricultural vehicle (10) includes: a rotatable tine carrier (210); a plurality of tines (16A, 16B) rotatably carried by the tine carrier (210) through a rotation path (RP); and a pickup band assembly (220) including a plurality of tine slots (221) in which the tines (16A, 16B) are disposed in a position in the rotation path (RP). A tine guide (230) is provided that includes at least one guide slot (231). The tine guide (230) is rotatable with at least one of the tines (16A, 16B) such that the at least one tine (16A, 16B) is disposed in the at least one guide slot (231) in a position in the rotation path (RP) in which the at least one tine (16A, 16B) is outside any of the tine slots (221) of the pickup band assembly (220).