Sliding Spreader Arm with Rotatable Outlets for Variable Width
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing agricultural devices for spreading pumpable media, such as manure or crop protection products, have limited reach and structural complexity, which restricts their working width and stability, making them inefficient and prone to damage.
Innovation Solution
The design features rotatable medium outlets on spreader arm portions that can pivot away from each other, allowing for a more balanced and compact structure, enabling adjustable working width and reduced load on the arms, along with slidable portions that eliminate the need for hinges and allow for continuous variable adjustment.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Productivity
If the spreader arm is extended to increase working width, then the treatment efficiency is improved, but the structural stability deteriorates due to heavy loads from pumpable medium and ground irregularities
Solution Approach 1:
The spreader arm is divided into multiple sections that can slide relative to each other along the longitudinal axis. This segmentation allows the arm to achieve greater working width when extended while maintaining structural stability through the distributed load-bearing capacity of multiple sections. The modular design reduces the stress concentration that would occur in a single continuous arm structure.
Solution Approach 2:
The spreader arm incorporates dynamic sliding mechanisms that allow the sections to adjust their positions relative to each other. This dynamic capability enables the arm to adapt to varying load conditions and ground irregularities, maintaining stability while achieving extended working width when needed. The sliding sections can be repositioned to optimize structural rigidity based on operational requirements.
2Device complexity
If the spreader arm structure is simplified to reduce complexity, then the manufacturing cost is reduced, but the maximum reach is limited
Solution Approach 1:
By segmenting the spreader arm into sliding sections, the design achieves extended reach without requiring a completely complex articulated structure. Each section is relatively simple in design, but their combined sliding action enables greater maximum reach than a single simplified structure could provide.
Solution Approach 2:
The invention replaces traditional hinge-based mechanical joints with a sliding mechanism. This substitution simplifies the mechanical system by eliminating complex hinge structures while maintaining the capability for extended reach through the linear sliding motion of the sections along the longitudinal axis.
3Strength
If the medium outlets are fixed in position, then the structural rigidity is improved, but the adaptability to different operating conditions deteriorates
Solution Approach 1:
The medium outlets are integrated with the sliding sections, allowing them to change position dynamically as the sections slide relative to each other. This dynamic positioning capability provides adaptability to different operating conditions while maintaining structural rigidity when the sections are locked in position during operation.
Solution Approach 2:
The sliding mechanism serves multiple functions: it enables the medium outlets to adapt to different operating conditions by changing position, while also providing structural rigidity when locked. This multi-functionality allows a single mechanism to address both rigidity and adaptability requirements without requiring separate systems.
Data Source
Figure 1A~1B
Figure 1C
Figure 1D
AI summary
The invention relates to an agricultural device for spreading a pumpable medium, comprising a supporting frame which is couplable to a vehicle and at least one first spreader arm provided with pumpable medium outlets. The spreader arm can be folded out to a position transversely to the direction of travel of the vehicle. The spreader arm comprises at least two portions which are slidable in the longitudinal direction with respect to each other, which spreader arm portions are each provided with medium outlets and are displaceable between two positions in which the spreader arm portions more or less overlap one another. The medium outlets are rotatable about the longitudinal axis in directions which are turned away from each other. The invention furthermore relates to a method for adjusting a working width of an agricultural device according to the invention which is displaceable by a vehicle.