Seeding Machine Joint Bearing Assembly for Low-Wear Precision
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Solution Overview
Problem
Conventional seeding machines experience wear and reduced precision due to friction at joint points, leading to premature failure and the need for frequent maintenance, as they use coaxial hubs that cause friction during sowing body movement.
Innovation Solution
A joint system with a single-piece axis that combines a bearing and a pivot axis, featuring a threaded section for an adjustment nut and a hexagonal housing for tool insertion, eliminating play and providing stability, and includes a mechanical seal to protect against contamination.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Ease of operation
If coaxial hubs are used at joint points, then the structure allows movement and assembly, but friction occurs during sowing body movement causing wear and reduced precision
Solution Approach 1:
The patent replaces the traditional coaxial hub mechanical system with a bearing-based joint system. The bearing eliminates direct frictional contact between moving parts while maintaining the necessary rotational movement capability. This substitution of the mechanical connection method resolves the contradiction by allowing smooth operation without the wear and precision loss caused by friction in coaxial hubs.
2Ease of manufacture
If traditional coaxial hubs with frictional contact are used, then assembly is simple, but wear occurs over time requiring periodic maintenance
Solution Approach 1:
The bearing-based joint system replaces the friction-prone coaxial hub assembly, maintaining ease of installation while dramatically extending the service life. The bearing's rolling element mechanism eliminates the wear that limited the duration of action in traditional hubs, resolving the contradiction between simple assembly and long useful life.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent changes the fundamental parameter of contact type from sliding friction to rolling contact. This parameter change transforms the wear characteristics, allowing the joint to maintain its functional properties over a much longer period while remaining as easy to assemble as the traditional system.
3Adaptability or versatility
If external hubs with internal hubs are used, then assembly is possible, but friction during movement reduces precision and affects integral operation
Solution Approach 1:
The bearing joint system replaces the multi-component hub assembly (external hub with internal hub), maintaining the adaptability and assembly flexibility needed for the deformable parallelogram structure. However, it eliminates the frictional contact between hubs that degraded assembly precision, thereby resolving the contradiction between assembly flexibility and precision.
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 enhances the stability and robustness of the sowing body assembly, reducing wear and extending the useful life of the seeding machine by eliminating friction-related issues and maintaining alignment, even if the adjustment nut loses tension.
Implementation Method 1
a rolling element (15) arranged between a lateral arm (10) and a mounting axis (E)
Implementation Method 2
a mechanical seal (21) arranged on the mounting axis (E)
Data Source
AI summary
It is a system suitable for being incorporated into the joint points of the mounting structure that links the horizontal crossbar of the chassis of the seeding machine, with each of the sowing bodies that it incorporates, where said mounting structure comprises two deformable parallelograms that are made up of pairs of lateral arms which extend between the pair of vertical bars fixed to said horizontal crossbar of the seeder chassis, and corresponding vertical bars that make up each sowing body. It comprises a rolling element which defines an upper bearing track on whose external face a lateral arm rests, and a lower bearing track linked to a transverse mounting axis. It comprises a single piece made up of an axis that, at one end, configures the bearing, and at its other end, defines a threaded section for the incorporation of the corresponding adjustment nut. On the end opposite to the threaded section of the transverse axis, a central housing, preferably hexagonal, that receives a manually operated key is defined. On the external face of the transverse axis, opposite to the threaded section, the seat for an annular seal gasket is defined. The lateral arms may extend supported on the external faces of the vertical uprights or on the internal faces of the vertical uprights. The bearing is a bearing selected from the group consisting of deep groove ball bearings, angular contact bearings, cylindrical roller bearings, needle roller bearings, spherical rollers. The bearing is contemplated as having a lower ring that abuts on the upright of the joint, while its upper ring abuts on the lateral arm of the joint.