Seed Drill Toolholder Bar Translation and Folding Mechanism
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Solution Overview
Problem
Traditional auto trailer seed drills face issues during transport, with large working width machines extending excessively in length, posing safety risks on roads, and weight imbalances at the drawbar attachment point leading to potential breakage, which is partially mitigated by adding support wheels but introduces additional challenges like cost and trajectory maintenance issues.
Innovation Solution
A translation mechanism is incorporated to shift the gravitational center opposite to the drawbar attachment point, reducing weight and length during transport, using a toolholder bar system with a central piece coupled to the chassis and side pieces that pivot horizontally, and a lift tower with hydraulic cylinders to move the toolholder bar from working to transport position, balancing weight and minimizing length.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Area of stationary object
If the toolholder bar is extended to achieve large working width, then the seeding capacity is improved, but the transport length becomes excessively long causing safety risks on roads
Solution Approach 1:
The toolholder bar is divided into a central piece coupled to the chassis and two side pieces that can pivot independently. This segmentation allows the side pieces to be folded parallel to the longitudinal axis of the chassis during transport, significantly reducing the overall transport length while maintaining the full working width capability during seeding operations.
2Area of stationary object
If the toolholder bar is designed for large working width, then the seeding capacity is improved, but the weight at the drawbar attachment point increases causing high risk of breakage
Solution Approach 1:
A translation mechanism is incorporated to shift the gravitational center of the seed drill in the direction opposite to the drawbar attachment point. This counterbalancing action reduces the weight concentration at the drawbar attachment point to values compatible with safety indexes of tractor drawbars, preventing breakage risks while maintaining large working width capability.
3Reliability
If support wheels are added to mitigate weight imbalance, then the drawbar breakage risk is reduced, but the device complexity and cost increase
Solution Approach 1:
The translation mechanism extracts and redistributes the gravitational force along the longitudinal axis, removing the need for additional support wheels near the drawbar attachment point. This eliminates the complexity and cost associated with support wheels while maintaining reliability by properly balancing the weight distribution through gravitational center translation.
4Reliability
If support wheels are added to mitigate weight imbalance, then the drawbar breakage risk is reduced, but the ease of operation deteriorates due to trajectory maintenance difficulties
Solution Approach 1:
By removing the support wheels through the translation mechanism solution, the ease of operation is improved as the machine no longer experiences interference with trajectory maintenance. The gravitational center translation provides smooth weight distribution without the mechanical interference that support wheels would cause during field operations.
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
This solution significantly reduces transport length and accident risks, aligns with traffic safety regulations, and minimizes drawbar breakage risks by balancing weight distribution, ensuring safe and efficient transportation.
Implementation Method 1
a cart coupled by means of guide plates to a lift tower along which the bar moves vertically, both up and down, by triggering a hydraulic cylinder
Implementation Method 2
by means of another hydraulic cylinder, the rotation of the toolholder bar is activated with respect to a vertical axis to place it either in working position or in transport position
Implementation Method 3
A translation mechanism has been incorporated to the seed drill, for the purpose of shifting the gravitational center in the direction opposite to the aforementioned attachment point
Data Source
AI summary
Arrangement for positioning mechanisms of seed drill machines for transport, preferably of the “auto trailer” type, including at least one toolholder bar, with their respective sowing units, divided into a central piece coupled to the structure of the chassis, and two side pieces, one at each side of the central piece, which pivot in a horizontal plane for being folded, with the corresponding sowing units, from the working position of the seed drill to the transport position parallel to the longitudinal axis of the chassis. The toolholder bar is mounted on a cart attached by guide plates to a lift tower and moves both up and down along lift tower by triggering hydraulic cylinders. The lift tower is coupled to mobility device, with the toolholder bars and sowing units, from the working position to the transport position of the seed drill, and vice versa. The transport position is defined in a section of the drawbar next to the attachment end of a transportation tractor of the machine.