Reel Lock Mechanism
Loading...
Date
2018-12-05
Authors
Murray, James
Dubois, Philippe
Bhasker, Rakshit
Lu, Tian
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
Abstract
MacDon Industries Ltd. tasked the team with a project to improve their design for the reel locking mechanism used on their flex draper combine headers. The current design suffers from inconsistent manufacturing, difficulties in engaging the lock, and difficulties in determining the lock’s state. In order to determine what needs to be done, they described their requirements as the lock being easy to use and manufacture, safe and a low cost. They wanted the lock’s state to be easily determined, and for the lock to not interfere with other systems.
Through a series of brainstorming sessions, numerous design concepts were generated, which were examined and screened against one another. Many designs were rejected and many were combined to form the design we fully analyzed.
The final design consists of two locker arms made out of 3/8-inch steel plate on each side of the reel arm. A one-inch pin connects the two arms at their base through a hole in the reel arm support, and another one-inch pin is welded to the reel arm. When the lock is in its engaged state, the pin welded to the reel arm fits into grooves in the locker arms, which holds it up in place. The locker arms pivot with the one-inch base pin, and are controlled with a control rod and linkage system.
The control rod is a long rod similar to the design currently in use by MacDon, however it is straighter and simpler to manufacture. It allows the operator to move the locker arms in place through the linkage using simple mechanics. There are features in place to prevent the locker arms from being engaged without the header being raised to its highest position, and there are also features to prevent the accidental disengagement of the lock mechanism.
The control rod handle sits in a groove on a plate welded to the header, and the operator must apply 7 lbf to move the handle into a separate groove on this plate. There can be no mistaking whether or not the lock is engaged, since an unreasonable amount of force would be...