Design and Simulation Analysis of a Reverse Flexible Harvesting Device for Fresh Corn

Hongmei Zhang, Bo Chen, Zhijie Li, Chenhui Zhu, E Jin and Zhe Qu ()
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Hongmei Zhang: College of Mechanical and Electrical Engineering, Henan Agricultural University, Zhengzhou 450002, China
Bo Chen: College of Mechanical and Electrical Engineering, Henan Agricultural University, Zhengzhou 450002, China
Zhijie Li: College of Mechanical and Electrical Engineering, Henan Agricultural University, Zhengzhou 450002, China
Chenhui Zhu: College of Mechanical and Electrical Engineering, Henan Agricultural University, Zhengzhou 450002, China
E Jin: College of Mechanical and Electrical Engineering, Henan Agricultural University, Zhengzhou 450002, China
Zhe Qu: College of Mechanical and Electrical Engineering, Henan Agricultural University, Zhengzhou 450002, China

Agriculture, 2022, vol. 12, issue 11, 1-13

Abstract: Aiming at the problem of grain breakage during the harvesting of fresh corn, this paper theoretically analyzes the collision process between the ear picking device and the corn ear, and a flexible ear picking structure composed of flexible materials and buffer springs is determined. Combined with a new harvesting method that reverses the growth direction from top to bottom, a reverse flexible ear plucking device for fresh corn was designed. We used the ADAMS software to simulate the ear picking process of fresh corn, analyze the contact force between the rigid structure and flexible buffer structure under different picking claw speeds and stalk feeding speeds, and obtain the optimal parameter combination: the picking claw speed was 2 m/s, and the stalk feeding speed was 1 m/s. On the basis of the simulation, a reverse flexible fresh corn harvesting bench was built, and the optimal operating parameters were obtained from the test: the speed of ear picking claws was 2.11 m/s; the number of ear picking claws was four; the thickness of the flexible body was 4.52 mm; the stem feeding speed was 1.04 m/s; the corresponding grain breakage rate was 0.128%, which was far lower than the national standard (0.5%); and the ear impurity content was 0.3%, which was far lower than the national standard (2%). The results are consistent with the simulation results, proving that the model is reliable. This research achieved the harvest of fresh corn ears with a low grain damage rate, verified the possibility of reverse flexible ear picking, and provided a reference for the research and development of low-damage fresh corn harvesting machines.

Keywords: fresh corn; reverse direction; flexible ear picking; ADAMS simulation (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: Q1 Q10 Q11 Q12 Q13 Q14 Q15 Q16 Q17 Q18 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2022
References: View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (2)

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