Design and Experimental Research on Seedling Pick-Up Mechanism of Planetary Gear Train with Combined Non-circular Gear Transmission

Currently, transplanting mechanisms for dryland plug seedlings in China are mainly semiautomatic and have low efficiency. The rotary seedling pick-up mechanism with a planetary gear train for non-uniform intermittent transmission, and a concave and convex locking arc device, has a large rigid impact. To solve these problems, according to the design requirements for a dryland plug seedling transplanting mechanism, a rotary seedling pick-up mechanism of a planetary gear train with combined non-circular gear transmission of incomplete eccentric circular and noncircular gears was proposed. This has the characteristics of two-times greater fluctuation of the transmission ratio in a cycle, and can achieve a non-uniform continuous drive. Through analysis of the working principle of the seedling pick-up mechanism, its kinematics model was established. The human–computer interaction optimization method and self-developed computer-aided analysis and optimization software were used to obtain a set of parameters that satisfy the operation requirements of the seedling pick-up mechanism. According to the optimized parameters, the structure of the seedling pick-up mechanism was designed, a virtual prototype of the mechanism was created, and a physical prototype was manufactured. A virtual motion simulation of the mechanism was performed, high-speed photographic kinematics tests were conducted, and the kinematic properties of the physical prototype were investigated, whereby the correctness of the theoretical model and the optimized design of the mechanism were verified. Further, laboratory seedling pick-up tests were conducted. The success ratio of seedling pick-up was 93.8% when the seedling pick-up efficiency of the mechanism was 60 plants per minute per row, indicating that the mechanism has a high efficiency and success ratio for seedling pick-up and can be applied to a dryland plug seedling transplanter.

Kinematic Modeling and Characteristic Analysis of Eccentric Conjugate Non-circular Gear & Crank-Rocker & Gears Train Weft Insertion Mechanism

A novel weft insertion mechanism named eccentric conjugate non-circular gear & crank-rocker & gears train weft insertion mechanism was proposed in order to better meet the requirements of rapier loom's weft insertion mechanism as well as reduce the manufacturing difficulty. Meanwhile, based on the working principle of this mechanism, kinematical mathematic models of this mechanism were established and an aided analysis and simulation software was compiled. The influences of eccentricity ratio, deformation coefficient, and other important parameters on the kinematics characteristics of this mechanism were analyzed by using the software. A group of preferable parameters which could meet the requirements of weft insertion technology were obtained by means of human-computer interactive optimization method. The maximum velocity, maximum acceleration, and variation of acceleration of this mechanism are smaller than those of the conjugate cam weft insertion mechanism applied on TT96 rapier loom under the conditions of the same unilateral total stroke of rapier head and the same rotary speed of loom spindle; meanwhile the other demands of weaving technology can be met by this novel weft insertion mechanism.

Design and Experiment of Non-circular Combined Gear Train Beating-up Mechanism

The most important performance of a beating-up mechanism is that the dwelling time of the sley must ensure the completion of the weft insertion. To meet this requirement, a new non-circular combined gear train beating-up mechanism which is composed of two-stage planetary gear trains is proposed. The first-stage is a Fourier planetary gear train and the second-stage is a non-circular planetary gear train. For designing of this new mechanism, the ideal kinematic equations of the sley are constructed first. Then the kinematic model of the first-stage Fourier planetary gear train is established and the reverse solution for the pitch curves of the second-stage non-circular gears is deduced. With a computer-aided design program, the influences of several important parameters on the pitch curves of the second-stage non-circular gears are analyzed, and a set of preferable structural parameters are obtained. Finally, a test bed of this mechanism is developed and the experimental results show that this new beating-up mechanism can achieve the designed dwelling time, namely it can meet the requirements of beating-up process.

Calculating method of contact stress for non-circular gears

According to Hertz theory, the difference of contact stress for non-circular gears and equivalent gears is compared in the paper, a calculating method of contact stress for non-circular gears by using equivalent gears is researched, and computing formulas of power and rotation speed for equivalent gears are deduced. A numerical simulation of contact stress for non-circular gears has also been conducted based on the finite element method. By the comparison of fitting curves, the feasibility of using equivalent gears instead of non-circular gears to calculate the contact stress is testified.

Research on Design Method of Non-Circular Gear Pair with Double Generating Angles

In order to enhance the bearing capacity of non-circular gear pair, the non-circular gear pair with double generating angles is proposed based on the design idea of unsymmetrical gear with double pressure angles. The tooth profile is designed by generating cutting theory, the pure rolling mathematic model that the center line of unsymmetrical rack roll along non-circular pitch curve is built, the digital model of non-circular gear with double generating angles is created through the second development method of CAD software, and then the drive characteristic and tooth strength are analyzed. The results show that the design method for double generating angles non-circular gear proposed in this paper is feasible, which is significant to improve the bearing capacity of non-circular gear pair.

Automatic Scallion Seedling Feeding Mechanism with an Asymmetrical High-order Transmission Gear Train

The current automatic scallion-transplanting machine is a complicated mechanism composed of two linkage mechanisms and two band carriers.It delivers seedlings ine ciently because of the movement limitations of the linkage mechanism.This paper proposes a new high-order non-circular gear train for an automatic scallion-seedling feeding mechanism.The proposed gear train has an asymmetrical transmission ratio;i.e.,its transmission ratio varies.This allows the mechanism’s execution component to move in a long displacement and rotate in a large rotation angle.The long displacement enables the execution component to reach the designed working position,and the large rotation angle allows it to feed a scallion in the required pose.A mathematical model for calculating the asymmetrical transmission ratio was established according to the closure requirements and the full-cycle motion of the driven gear pitch curve.Then,the parameter-design model of the new seedling-feeding mechanism was established,based on precise pose points and trajectory-shape control points.Moreover,an aided-design program was developed to obtain the parameter-solution domain of the scallion-seedling feeding mechanism.The mechanism parameters,which met the seedling-feeding function,were optimized to determine the transmission ratio,using a program and a kinematic simulation.Finally,a prototype of the mechanism was produced,and a seedling-feeding experiment was carried out.One-thousand seedlings were tested at a rate of 100 seedlings per minute,and the statistical success rate was 93.4%.Thus,the automatic scallion-seedling feeding mechanism significantly improves the e ciency of automatically transplanting scallions.

Research on stepless transmission utilizing noncircular gears

In view of the lack of systemic analysis for stepless transmission using noncircular gears, two basic noncircular gear units, an addition unit adopting differential mechanism and a multiplication unit applying a fixed gear train, are proposed. Then, the design methods of the noncircular gear pair of each unit, transmission ratio relationship, rotation angle relationship and key parameters with specific physical meanings are studied. The adjusting properties, composing strategy and varying range of transmission ratio etc. are investigated in detail for each unit. Following this, several examples of using a noncircular gear pair in the units and their manipulation technique are introduced.

Reverse design and tests of vegetable plug seedling pick-up mechanism of planetary gear train with non-circular gears

In the previous research,the seedling pick-up mechanism of the planetary gear train with incomplete eccentric circular gear and non-circular gears for vegetable plug seedlings still has two shortcomings.One is that not enough seedling pick-up depth leads to a low success ratio of seedling pick-up at high rotation speeds,the other is that the smaller seedling pushing angle results in poor seedling pushing effect.Therefore,the reverse design of the seedling pick-up mechanism based on its motion trajectory was carried out.The local trajectory of seedling pick-up and seedling pushing sections was adjusted to obtain the theoretical motion trajectory of the seedling pick-up mechanism.The cubic non-uniform B-spline curve was used to fit the adjusted trajectory.A novel seedling pick-up mechanism of the planetary gear train with non-circular gears was proposed,including three combined non-circular gears,four non-circular gears,one planetary carrier,and two seedling pick-up arms.The reverse design model of the mechanism was established.The analysis and design software of the mechanism was developed to obtain the mechanism parameters meeting design requirements.The virtual prototype of the mechanism was established and its physical prototype was manufactured.Through the virtual motion simulation and high-speed photographic kinematics bench tests of the mechanism,the kinematic model and results of reverse design of the mechanism were verified,with the kinematic performances of the mechanism prototype studied.The seedling pick-up tests of the mechanism were conducted in the laboratory.The success ratios of seedling pick-up were 94.2%,95.6% and 90.2% while the seedling pick-up efficiencies of the mechanism were 60,80 and 100 plants per minute per row,respectively.Besides,the seedling pushing effect was improved mush because of the greater seedling pushing angle.The seedling pick-up mechanism through revise design is of high value to be applied in the practical vegetable plug seedling transplanters.

Optimization design and test of rice plug seedling transplanting mechanism of planetary gear train with incomplete eccentric circular gear and non-circular gears

In order to solve the problem of the high-speed mechanized transplanting of rice plug seedlings,the design requirements of transplanting mechanism for rice plug seedlings were analyzed and a kind of rice plug seedling transplanting mechanism of planetary gear train based on the drive with incomplete eccentric circular gear and non-circular gears was designed innovatively.The laboratory kinematics was examined.The working principle of the transplanting mechanism for rice plug seedlings was studied,kinematics analysis of the transplanting mechanism was carried out and its kinematic model was set up.A human-computer interaction optimization method was used to optimize the parameters of the transplanting mechanism.The computer aided analysis and optimization software of the transplanting mechanism based on Visual Basic 6.0 was developed.Through analyzing the influence of design variables on the optimization objectives of the transplanting mechanism,a set of parameters of the transplanting mechanism which meet the requirements of transplanting trajectory and posture for transplanting rice seedlings were obtained by means of human-computer interaction.The structure of the transplanting mechanism was designed according to this set of parameters,and its virtual prototype and physical prototype were set up and manufactured,respectively.The kinematic simulation test and high-speed photography kinematic test of the transplanting mechanism were conducted to obtain its kinematic performances,such as transplanting trajectory and posture.The results of bench test,simulation analysis and theoretical analysis were almost in agreement,which verified the correctness of the theoretical model and design results of the transplanting mechanism,indicating that the optimized transplanting mechanism can satisfy the requirements of transplanting rice seedlings and be applied in the rice plug seedling transplanter.

Method for generating non-circular gear with addendum modification and its application in transplanting mechanism

With a focus on the design of tooth profiles of non-circular gears with addendum modifications that conform to the given complex transmission ratio curves and based on a series of discrete point sets on the pitch curves,the criteria for tooth profile distortion and undercut in non-circular gears were proposed.With the constraint of no tooth profile distortion and undercut,the addendum modification coefficient was introduced into the calculation of the distorted and undercut segments of the tooth profile of a non-circular gear,and the addendum modification coefficient of each contact point of the non-circular gear was obtained.Based on the generating principle for gear shaping with gear cutters,a theoretical model for calculating the tooth profile of non-circular gears with addendum modification was derived.The cutting and radial feeding motions of the pinion cutter were ignored,and only the meshing motion was considered.The involute tooth profiles of the pinion cutter enveloped the tooth profile of the non-circular gear.3D automatic non-circular gear model generation software was developed,which was a secondary development product of the software UG.A non-circular gear in a rice potted seedling transplanting mechanism was designed,and the transplanter was developed and tested.The test results showed that the designed tooth profile of non-circular gear achieved the variable transmission ratios required by the transplanting mechanism.When the transplanting efficiencies were 140 plants/min,160 plants/min and 180 plants/min,the transplanter completed the rice potted seedling transplanting operation with high quality.

Design of clamping-pot-type planetary gear train transplanting mechanism for rice wide-narrow-row planting

To design a clamping-pot-type wide-narrow-row pot seedling transplanting(WPST)mechanism with desired spatial beak-shaped trajectory and working posture,a new design method of planetary gear train transplanting mechanism(PGTM)with non-circular gears based on several key spatial poses(position and posture)was proposed.The PGTM was simplified to a spatial open-loop chain with two-revolute(2R)joints.The geometric constraint equations containing only the structural parameters of the chain were then established on the basis of the three key spatial poses,and the homotopy algorithm was used to obtain all the required parameters of the mechanism.In accordance with the parameters obtained,the relative angular displacement relation between the planet carrier and the transplanting arm was optimized,the trajectory of the mechanism was replayed,and the total transmission ratio was determined.The degree of freedom of the spatial 2R mechanism was reduced by attaching to the unequal gear pair,and the transmission ratio was distributed in accordance with the gear type to realize the design of a non-circular gear pitch curve.Lastly,a clamping-pot-type PGTM for rice WPST driven by the combination of planar non-circular and non-conical gears was designed,and virtual simulation and prototype test were conducted.Results showed that the simulation and prototype test trajectories were consistent with the desired trajectory.Under the operating speeds of 50 r/min and 90 r/min,the success rates of seedling picking were 95.32%and 90.15%,respectively,which verified the feasibility of the theoretical method.This method could provide a reference for the design of a spatial PGTM with nonuniform transmission.

Design and experiment of double planet carrier planetary gear flower transplanting mechanism

At present,there is a lack of miniaturized and highly reliable plug seedling transplanting mechanism in flowerpots planting operation,in order to meet the needs of large displacement and high vertical uprightness for flower transplanting,the paper combined the transmission characteristics of the non-circular gear planetary gear train with the swing flexibility of the cam gear and proposed a double planet carrier planetary gear transplanting mechanism.The linkage of the mechanism performs variable speed rotation relative to the first planet carrier,the linkage serves as the second planet carrier,and the transplanting arm performs variable speed swing relative to the linkage.A mathematical model of a single planetary carrier mechanism was first established using the method of open linkage group solution domain synthesis,then established the kinematic equations of the second planet carrier and the transplanting arm.The two parts are combined to form the mathematical solution model of the proposed mechanism.The initial trajectory was planned according to the trajectory requirements of seedlings planting operation,the non-circular gear pitch curve in the first planet carrier was obtained and the length of the first planet carrier is 120 mm.Then using the key points’angular deviation between the initial trajectory and the improved trajectory to obtain the cam parameters which driving the transplant arm,consequently determined the length of the second planet carrier is 69.25 mm and the length of the transplant arm is 112.4 mm.Finally,the prototype of the mechanism was manufactured,and the test verified the correctness of the design method of the double planet carrier planetary gear flower potting transplanting mechanism.The transplanting success rate of this mechanism reached 94.43%,and the plug seedlings planted in flowerpots had high uprightness.This research can provide a reference for the automatic development of research on flower transplanting machines.

Kinematic synthesis and simulation of a vegetable pot seedling transplanting mechanism with four exact task poses

To obtain a picking and planting integrated transplanting mechanism(PITM)with ideal trajectory shape,reasonable operating attitude,and compact structure for vegetable pot seedling transplanting,a symmetrical structural PITM composed of two planetary carriers and driven by a cam-noncircular gear combination mechanism was proposed in this paper.In accordance with the requirements of transplanting agronomy,the shape of the motion trajectory and the attitude of the end tip of the clamping claw at several specific positions(the starting and end points of picking seedling,the starting point of pushing seedling,and a special point on the return segment)were planned.To make the clamping claws of PITM pass through a set of prescribed positions,the mechanism was simplified to an open-chain 3R mechanism.An accurate four-position-based method for solving the open-chain mechanism model was adopted to obtain the curves of its fixed hinge point(central point)and dynamic hinge point(circle point).The ratio of adjacent bars’lengths was analyzed to determine the feasible interval of the central and circle point curves and the reasonable link length.A desired closed transplanting trajectory that goes through the given points and the corresponding transmission ratio model of the open-chain mechanism was established.After the transmission ratio of each stage of gear and cam pairs was calculated and distributed,the prototype of PITM was designed and manufactured.Lastly,the effectiveness and feasibility of the design were verified through a preliminary experiment of the prototype.