Variable Radius Cam for Windrow Merger Tine Speed Control
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Solution Overview
Problem
Windrow mergers face challenges in efficiently picking up and spreading materials, particularly wet or heavier crops, due to tine speed issues, leading to clumping and potential damage, which affects capacity and nutritional value.
Innovation Solution
A windrow merger apparatus with cams that adjust tine speed during rotation, slowing down at pickup and speeding up at release, combined with a downward angled conveyor belt, to ensure gentle material handling and even distribution.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If the speed of the tines at the top of rotation is increased to propel wet or heavier material rearward, then the material can be reliably propelled onto the conveyor belt, but the material tends to be propelled forward at the point of engagement, making it more difficult to pick up and potentially damaging the material
Solution Approach 1:
The cam mechanism transforms uniform rotational motion of the pickup assembly into variable linear motion of the tines. The cam profile is designed with varying radius distances from the rotation axis, causing the tines to move slower during material engagement and faster during material release, dynamically adapting the tine speed to the operational requirements at different phases of the pickup cycle
Solution Approach 2:
Different sections of the cam profile provide different motion characteristics to the tines at different locations in the rotation cycle. The cam has a first section with a first radius distance for gentle pickup and a second section with a second radius distance for rapid propulsion, allowing each phase of tine operation to have optimized local motion properties
2Productivity
If the speed of the tines is increased to pick up and propel wet or heavier material, then the material can be lifted from the ground, but the material tends to be propelled forward, making it more difficult to pick up and reducing capacity
Solution Approach 1:
The cam mechanism enables the tines to operate at different speeds during different phases of the pickup cycle. During material engagement, the tines move at a slower speed controlled by the cam profile, making it easier to pick up material without excessive forward propulsion. This dynamic speed variation allows the system to maintain high capacity while improving pickup ease
3Ease of operation
If the speed of the tines is decreased to avoid propelling material forward, then material pickup is easier, but the material may simply fall off the tine or only be propelled to the front portion of the belt, causing clumping
Solution Approach 1:
The cam mechanism provides dynamic speed control where the tines move slowly during engagement for easy pickup, then accelerate rapidly as they approach the top of rotation. This ensures material is gently picked up without forward propulsion, then reliably propelled rearward onto the conveyor belt with sufficient force to distribute it evenly and prevent clumping
Solution Approach 2:
The cam mechanism creates a periodic variation in tine speed during each rotation cycle. The tines undergo repeated cycles of slow engagement, rapid acceleration, material release, and deceleration, providing consistent periodic action that ensures reliable material pickup and distribution with each rotation
Data Source
AI summary
A windrow merger includes heads having cams that control the speed of the tines. The cam is configured with a section that slows the speed of the tines while passing a lower front portion of the path of rotation to lift material from the ground at lower speeds and therefore handles the material more gently at the point of pickup. The cam is configured to accelerate the tines at the point where the lifted material is propelled rearward from the pickup assembly. The merger heads also include a widened conveyor that is configured with an upper surface extending rearward and slightly downward to further evenly distribute material across the width of the conveyor. The heads are supported on skids that have a linkage connecting the skids at each end of the head with one of the skids having a mechanism that acts as a master to control the slave of the linked opposite skid.