Seed Dosing Device Axial Feeding and Radius Reduction
Find Innovative SolutionsGenerate Solutions
Solution Overview
Problem
Existing dosing devices for granular materials, such as seeds, particularly for cereals like wheat, rye, barley, oats, and rapeseed, often damage the grains due to high rotational speeds and radial feeding methods, which are not suitable for gentle treatment.
Innovation Solution
A dosing device with a pre-dosing unit that introduces granular material axially into the housing, eliminating the need for concentrically arranged carriers, reducing the conveyor's radius and peripheral speed, and featuring a centering slide to guide grains along a circular path for gentle handling and separation.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Speed
If granular material is fed tangentially to the conveying device, then the granules are already conveyed at a certain speed, but this leads to collision with the rapidly rotating conveying unit causing granule damage
Solution Approach 1:
The pre-dosing unit performs preliminary action by gradually accelerating granular material along a conical surface before it enters the conveying device. This preliminary acceleration prepares the granules for the rotational speed of the conveying unit, preventing sudden collisions and damage when the material is fed to the conveying device.
2Object-affected harmful factors
If concentrically arranged carriers are used to radially transfer granules to the conveying unit, then granule damage is prevented during acceleration, but the guide path radius increases leading to higher rotational speeds and increased granule damage after discharge
Solution Approach 1:
The invention extracts and eliminates the concentrically arranged carriers from the system. Instead of using multiple carriers at different radii to gradually accelerate granules, the pre-dosing unit with its conical surface performs the acceleration function in a single integrated structure, allowing the conveying device to operate at a smaller radius and lower speed.
3Manufacturing precision
If the conveying device operates at higher rotational speeds to maintain granule placement distance, then delivery precision is maintained, but granule damage increases especially after discharge
Solution Approach 1:
The invention changes the operational parameters by reducing the conveying device's rotational speed through decreasing the guide path radius. The pre-dosing unit compensates for this speed reduction by performing preliminary acceleration, allowing the system to maintain granule placement precision while operating at lower, gentler speeds that reduce granule damage.
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 solution allows for gentler treatment of granular materials by reducing the rotational speed and avoiding high-speed impacts, effectively singulating and delivering seeds at lower speeds, thereby minimizing damage and ensuring precise delivery.
Implementation Method 1
The feed direction of the granular material from the pre-dosing unit to the conveying device has an axial component relative to the axis of rotation of the conveying device, caused by the cylindrical surface of the pre-dosing unit widening towards the housing
Data Source
Figure 1
Figure 2
AI summary
The invention comprises a metering device for granular material, in particular seeds, wherein the metering device comprises a conveying unit (9) rotatably mounted in a housing (1), which interacts with a housing wall or a guide element in such a way that granular material can be conveyed from a receiving area (14) to a dispensing area, wherein the metering device comprises a pre-metering unit (3) which opens into the housing (1) via a side wall (4) of the housing (1) and does not include a screw conveyor or an internal thread, and wherein the pre-metering unit (3) comprises a cylindrical surface (13) that widens towards the housing (1); wherein granular material can be introduced into the housing (1) with the pre-metering unit (3);and wherein the feed direction of the granular material from the pre-dosing unit (3) to the conveying device (9) has an axial component with respect to the axis of rotation of the conveying device (9) caused by the outer surface (13) of the pre-dosing unit (3) which widens in the direction of the housing.