Side Delivery Rake with Rotatable Windrowing Assemblies
Find Innovative SolutionsGenerate Solutions
Solution Overview
Problem
Side delivery rakes face a disadvantageous size ratio between their working and road transport configurations, often requiring special transport arrangements or oversized equipment, leading to increased costs and inefficiencies due to longer work times and distances.
Innovation Solution
A side delivery rake design featuring a frame with a longitudinal bar, bridge structure, and adjustable windrowing assemblies that can be rotated between working and transport positions, allowing for compact road transport while maintaining a wide working opening, utilizing a three-point linkage and hydraulic units to manage the assemblies' positions.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Productivity
If a side delivery rake is designed with a large working opening to process a given area efficiently, then productivity is improved, but the device size in road transport configuration increases requiring special transport arrangements
Solution Approach 1:
The windrowing assemblies are designed to be rotatable between a lowered working position and a lifted transport position. This dynamic reconfiguration allows the rake to maintain a large working opening for high productivity while reducing its overall length for road transport, eliminating the need for special transport arrangements
Solution Approach 2:
The windrowing assemblies are arranged in a plane that can be rotated relative to the longitudinal bar. By rotating this plane, the effective length of the device in the longitudinal direction changes, allowing the same structure to provide both a large working opening and a compact transport configuration
2Ease of operation
If the side delivery rake is designed with a compact size for road transport, then ease of transport is improved, but the working opening size decreases requiring greater number of rows to be processed
Solution Approach 1:
The rotatable windrowing assemblies enable the rake to switch between a compact transport configuration for easy road transport and a fully extended working configuration for high productivity, allowing optimal performance in both operational modes without compromise
3Adaptability or versatility
If larger than necessary transport means are used to accommodate the rake in working configuration, then adaptability is improved, but cost and energy consumption increase
Solution Approach 1:
By enabling the windrowing assemblies to be rotated into a compact transport position, the rake can be transported on standard-sized vehicles without requiring oversized transport means, thereby reducing fuel consumption and transport costs while maintaining the capability to process large areas efficiently
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
Enables efficient hay collection and transport with reduced road encumbrance, compliance with size regulations, and lower fuel consumption, while maintaining effective forage handling and aeration, thus optimizing operational efficiency and cost-effectiveness.
Implementation Method 1
hydraulic units (35) to rotate the windrowing assemblies (4, 5) between a working position, in which the windrowing assemblies are lowered, and a transport position, in which the windrowing assemblies are raised
Data Source
Figure 1
Figure 2~3
Figure 4~6
AI summary
A side delivery rake for side windrows comprising a frame (2), connectable to a tractor (43) for being moved along a traveling direction (D), a first windrowing assembly (4) and a second windrowing assembly (5), of a comb-like type, carried by the frame (2) and angularly rotatable with respect to the frame (2) between respective working and transport positions, in which the first windrowing assembly (4) and the second windrowing assembly (5) are respectively lowered and lifted. The side delivery rake is equipped with a linkage (8), configured to be connected to the front of a tractor (43) in a first configuration and to a rear of the tractor (43) in a second configuration, so that the frame (2) is pushed by tractor (43) in the first configuration and carried in the second configuration. In addition, the first windrowing assembly (4) has a first portion, arranged between the second windrowing assembly (5) and the linkage (8), and a second portion that projects from the linkage (8) in a traveling direction (D) on the side of the tractor (43).