Windfall Collection Cart with Segmented Guide Grate for Debris Separation
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing methods for collecting fallen fruit from the ground often contaminate the fruit with foreign bodies like grass, leaves, and branches, and struggle to separate larger foreign objects effectively, leading to blockages and inefficient collection.
Innovation Solution
The method involves throwing fallen fruit through a gap into a collecting basket after a guide grate, allowing foreign bodies to fall down while the fruit travels in free flight, passing through a scraper device to remove adhering debris without impacting its trajectory, and using a driven pick-up roller for efficient fruit acceleration.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Productivity
If a guide grate with small pitch is used to collect small pieces of fallen fruit, then the collection capability for small fruit is improved, but foreign objects such as leaves and branches cannot be separated effectively
Solution Approach 1:
The guide grate is divided into multiple sections with different pitch dimensions. The first section has a smaller pitch for collecting small fruit pieces, while the second section has a larger pitch that allows foreign objects like leaves and branches to fall through, achieving separation functionality.
Solution Approach 2:
The solution adds a dimensional aspect to the guide grate by creating a multi-section structure with varying pitch characteristics. This transforms a single-function component into a multi-functional one that handles both collection and separation in different spatial zones.
2Object-affected harmful factors
If foreign objects are separated using a brush or comb structure, then foreign matter retention is improved, but blockages occur when large amounts of foreign matter are present
Solution Approach 1:
Instead of retaining foreign matter on a brush or comb structure, the invention extracts and removes foreign objects by allowing them to fall through the larger pitch sections of the guide grate. This prevents accumulation and blockages while maintaining separation effectiveness.
Solution Approach 2:
The presence of large amounts of foreign matter, which would normally cause blockages, is converted into a beneficial separation mechanism. The foreign objects naturally fall through the larger pitch sections, using their own weight and the grate structure to achieve separation without causing obstruction.
3Object-affected harmful factors
If a scraper device is used to remove foreign bodies, then foreign object separation is improved, but the trajectory of fallen fruit is overly influenced
Solution Approach 1:
Different sections of the guide grate have different pitch qualities tailored to specific functions. The first section has small pitch for gentle collection of fruit, while the second section has large pitch for foreign object removal, allowing each zone to perform its function without interfering with the other.
Solution Approach 2:
The guide grate sections are arranged to maintain similar elevation levels, allowing fallen fruit to transition smoothly between collection and separation zones without significant changes in trajectory or requiring additional energy input.
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
This approach ensures the gentle and efficient collection of fruit while effectively separating foreign bodies, preventing blockages and maintaining ease of use, even when dealing with large amounts of debris.
Implementation Method 1
Thanks to its inertia, the fallen fruit essentially rolls backward and upward without any additional drive
Implementation Method 2
Thanks to its inertia, the fallen fruit essentially rolls backward and upward without any additional drive
Data Source
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AI summary
The invention relates to a method for gathering windfalls and similar agricultural products from the ground using a collection cart (1), in which method the collection cart (1) is moved over the ground in a travel direction, wherein the windfalls are accelerated counter to the travel direction by a pick-up roller (4) and are conveyed onto a carrying grating (16), and finally guided from the carrying grating (16) into a collection basket (15). This results in increased cleanliness of the collected items since, upstream of the collection basket (15), the windfalls are projected through a removal device (14) in order to separate foreign bodies. The invention also relates to a device for carrying out the method.