Windrower Rotor Adjustment System for Terrain Following and Transport Safety
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Solution Overview
Problem
Current windrower systems lack adjustable and controlled rotor movement, leading to significant mechanical stresses and safety risks during operation and transport, as they cannot effectively block or dampen deflections outside the working position, potentially causing damage or accidents.
Innovation Solution
A hydraulic cylinder-based adjustment system that limits rotor movements in the working position and blocks them in other positions, using a connecting device movable by the hydraulic cylinder to synchronize with the folding cylinder of the rotor arm, allowing for precise control and safety during operation and transport.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Adaptability or versatility
If the rotor is allowed to move freely to follow ground contours, then the machine can adapt to uneven terrain, but significant mechanical stresses occur and the rotor may hit the frame during transport
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies a dynamic control system that changes the rotor's degree of freedom based on operational mode. During work, the rotor can move to follow ground contours; during transport, the movement is blocked. This is achieved through a hydraulic cylinder system that can be controlled to lock or unlock the rotor position, transforming the system from statically fixed to dynamically adjustable, thus resolving the contradiction between adaptability and safety.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent changes the physical state of the rotor support system between two states: a locked state during transport and an unlocked state during operation. This parameter change (from fixed to movable) is controlled by the hydraulic cylinder system, allowing the same mechanism to serve both safety and adaptability requirements under different operating conditions.
2Adaptability or versatility
If the rotor has latitude of movement to follow ground contours, then the machine can work on sloping or uneven ground, but the articulation is subjected to significant stresses
Solution Approach 1:
The patent introduces a hydraulic cylinder system to control the rotor's movement. The hydraulic system provides controlled damping and force management, allowing the rotor to follow ground contours while the hydraulic fluid absorbs and regulates the stresses, preventing excessive mechanical loads on the articulation points during operation.
3Reliability
If the rotor is blocked in non-working positions, then safety during transport is improved, but the system complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The hydraulic cylinder system serves multiple functions: it controls the rotor position during operation, blocks the rotor during transport, and can be synchronized with the folding cylinder. This multi-functionality reduces the need for separate blocking mechanisms, thereby limiting the increase in system complexity while achieving comprehensive safety control.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent combines the blocking function with the existing hydraulic control system of the windrower. The same hydraulic infrastructure and control mechanisms used for other functions are integrated to control rotor movement, reducing the need for entirely separate systems and minimizing the increase in overall device complexity.
4Ease of operation
If a hydraulic cylinder system is used to control rotor movement, then precise control and damping are achieved, but the device complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The hydraulic cylinder system utilizes the existing hydraulic power supply and control infrastructure of the windrower. The system is integrated with the machine's existing hydraulic circuitry, allowing it to benefit from the already-present fluid power source and control mechanisms, thereby reducing the need for separate dedicated systems and limiting the net increase in complexity.
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 controls and damps rotor deflections during operation, reduces mechanical stresses, ensures safety during transport by blocking untimely movements, and simplifies obstacle passage with synchronized commands, avoiding accidents and errors.
Implementation Method 1
a control means comprising at least one hydraulic cylinder
Implementation Method 2
The advantages of the device according to the invention are multiple: the deflections of the rotor in operation are controlled, and damped to a certain extent, by the hydraulic cylinder(s)
Data Source
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AI summary
A haymaking machine, or a windrower, including a support structure including a main beam on which is articulated at least one lateral arm supporting at least one windrowing rotor. The rotor is connected to a support device forming an interface with a support mounted on the lateral arm. The support device makes it possible for the rotor to displace to follow movements of the terrain when the machine is in operation and is in a work position. The support device includes an adjustment system allowing to limit movements of the rotor in the work position and to block movements of the rotor in other positions, and the adjustment system allowing to limit the movements of the rotor includes a control including a hydraulic jack.