Airflow Wing Side Discharge Windrower
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing windrower machines face challenges in efficiently delivering stover to the end of the machine without clogging, mechanical damage, and high maintenance costs, particularly in side discharge designs.
Innovation Solution
A windrower with a shredder and a deployable wing that uses airflow to direct stover particulate into a side row, featuring a baffle system to redirect airflow and material, reducing scattering and facilitating efficient side discharge.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Productivity
If mechanical means (auger, drag chain, or belt conveyor) are used to deliver stover to the end of the machine, then stover delivery to the end is achieved, but the machine is prone to clogging, mechanical damage, and high maintenance costs
Solution Approach 1:
The patent replaces mechanical delivery systems (augers, drag chains, belt conveyors) with an airflow-based pneumatic system. The shredder housing includes a plenum chamber that uses airflow generated by the rotating shredder blades to convey stover through a trough to the discharge end, eliminating mechanical moving parts that cause clogging and maintenance issues
Solution Approach 2:
The invention employs pneumatic principles by using the airflow field created by the shredder blades to transport stover material. The plenum chamber captures and directs this airflow to move stover along the trough to the discharge end, replacing mechanical conveyance with aerodynamic forces
2Ease of operation
If air deflector panels are used to deflect stover to the center, then stover is thrown to the center, but the system cannot effectively deliver stover to the end of the machine
Solution Approach 1:
The patent extends the airflow path from simple lateral deflection to three-dimensional conveyance. The plenum chamber and trough configuration create a longitudinal airflow component that transports stover to the discharge end, adding a third dimension to the material flow path beyond simple side-to-side deflection
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
The solution effectively reduces maintenance costs, minimizes clogging, and ensures efficient deposition of stover into organized rows, enhancing operational efficiency and reducing downtime.
Implementation Method 1
As the knives spin, they process the stover by chopping it into a fine particulate. The spinning of the knives also creates an airflow such that the air, and stover particulate entrained therein, exits the discharge opening.
Implementation Method 2
The wing, when in the wing's deployed position, is adapted to direct the airflow and the entrained stover to one side of the machine where the processed stover is deposited in a row on the ground.
Data Source
AI summary
Lower repair costs and more reliable operation are achieved by eliminating certain moving parts of a windrower and providing the windrower with a wing having at least one channel to redirect to one end of a machine stover entrained in an airflow ejected out the rear of a shredder.