Adjustable Cutting Tool for Trench Cutter Soil Clearance
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Solution Overview
Problem
Trench cutters with milling wheels on bearing plates struggle to effectively remove soil material below and to the side of the plates due to late folding of hinged teeth, leading to reduced clearance, increased wear, and poorer controllability, and are prone to mechanical failure from high loads.
Innovation Solution
The trench cutter features adjustable cutting tools with a base body and integral guide element that automatically moves between folded-in and folded-out positions based on the milling wheel's angle of rotation, eliminating the need for separate sensing fingers, enhancing the tool's durability and allowing earlier engagement with soil material for effective removal.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Productivity
If hinged teeth with separate sensing fingers are used to remove soil material below and to the side of the bearing plate, then the soil material can be removed, but the hinged tooth remains in contact with the bearing plate for longer, causing late folding and insufficient clearing of side material
Solution Approach 1:
The sensing function is separated from the hinged tooth structure by using the bearing plate's own geometry (control surface) to guide the folding action, eliminating the need for separate sensing fingers that extend the contact duration
Solution Approach 2:
The bearing plate's control surface automatically guides the hinged tooth's folding motion through the guide element, using the system's own structural features rather than external sensing components
2Ease of operation
If sensing fingers are mounted on the base body of the hinged tooth, then the hinged tooth can be guided to fold in position, but the mechanical loads cause the sensing fingers to break off during operation
Solution Approach 1:
The sensing function is extracted from the hinged tooth's base body and transferred to the bearing plate's control surface, eliminating the fragile sensing fingers that are prone to breaking under mechanical loads
Solution Approach 2:
The bearing plate's control surface is designed beforehand to guide the hinged tooth's folding motion, preventing the sensing fingers from being subjected to excessive mechanical loads that would cause them to break
3Device complexity
If hinged teeth fold into position only when the rear sensing finger leaves the bearing plate, then the sensing mechanism works, but soil material on the side of the bearing plate is not sufficiently cleared away
Solution Approach 1:
The guide element on the hinged tooth is positioned to engage the control surface earlier in the rotation cycle, causing the hinged tooth to fold into position before the rear sensing finger would leave the bearing plate, thereby enabling earlier and more effective clearing of side material
Data Source
AI summary
The disclosure relates to a trench cutter with at least one milling wheel that is rotatably mounted on a bearing plate and has at least one adjustable cutting tool for crushing soil material, wherein the adjustable cutting tool comprises a base body that is movably mounted on the milling wheel and interacts with the bearing plate in such a way that the adjustable cutting tool moves automatically between a folded-in position and a folded-out position as a function of the angle of rotation when the milling wheel is rotated. The adjustable cutting tool can be moved from the folded-out position into the folded-in position via a first guide element that contacts the bearing plate. According to the disclosure, the first guide element is formed integrally with the base body and projects from the base body in the direction of the bearing plate on a side facing the bearing plate.