Discussion on the Design of Spring Hinge Applied to Centrifugal Drum Stripping Mechanism_Hinge Knowl1

Expanding on the existing article, it is evident that the workload of sugarcane harvesting accounts for a significant portion of the overall sugarcane planting process. Moreover, the time taken for leaf stripping during the harvesting phase makes up a substantial portion of the harvesting process. Mechanization plays a vital role in ensuring efficient and effective sugarcane planting, management, and harvesting, and several countries such as the United States, Brazil, Cuba, and Australia have successfully achieved mechanization in these processes.

In these countries, sugarcane planting is predominantly carried out on a large-scale contiguous basis, enabling the entire process to be mechanized from planting to harvesting. High-powered combine harvesters are commonly used for sugarcane harvesting, making the process highly efficient. Prior to harvesting, the sugarcane stems and leaves are burned using fire, after which they are cut into cane segments by the combine harvester. The axial flow exhaust fan on the harvester is then used to remove the remaining wrapped leaves. However, it is important to note that most of the sugarcane areas in countries like China, Japan, India, Thailand, and the Philippines are located in hilly regions with small plots, making large-scale combine harvesters unsuitable for the terrain and irregular planting patterns.

To suit the needs of these countries, a small segmented harvesting system has been promoted, consisting of a sugarcane harvester, sugarcane leaf stripper, and transport machinery. Sugarcane leaf stripping can be achieved either through an independent sugarcane leaf stripper or by installing a leaf stripping mechanism on a full-bar sugarcane harvester. The peeling mechanism plays a pivotal role in the sugarcane leaf stripping machine, and China has made significant progress in the research and development of sugarcane harvesting machinery, including the leaf peeling machine.

Various advanced models from countries like Japan and Australia have been introduced, and a batch of leaf strippers with similar technical indicators has been successfully developed. However, there are still some challenges that need to be addressed. For instance, the leaf stripping effect is not satisfactory, and key technical indicators such as impurity content, skin damage rate, breakage rate, leaf stripping element life, and machine adaptability do not meet market requirements. In particular, the short life span of the leaf stripping element and high impurity content are two significant technical issues that have not been fundamentally solved, hindering the widespread use of sugarcane leaf strippers.

Hence, it is crucial to strengthen research and development in sugarcane leaf stripping mechanisms to improve the mechanized operations in China's sugarcane planting industry. Currently, most domestic leaf stripping mechanisms utilize a centrifugal drum type leaf stripping mechanism comprising a feeding wheel, stripping roller, and stripping elements. However, this mechanism has several problems.

Firstly, the leaf stripping effect is not ideal. Instead of peeling off the sugarcane stems and leaves, the centrifugal drum type leaf stripping mechanism relies on repeated blows, friction, and dragging by the leaf stripping elements to remove the sugarcane leaves. This often results in the peeling process being incomplete, leading to a higher rate of impurities and skin damage.

Secondly, the leaf stripping elements have a short service life. The elements are subjected to strong impacts and friction during operation, causing fatigue, wear, and, in some cases, fracture. This is a major concern as it affects the efficiency and overall productivity of the sugarcane leaf stripping machine.

Thirdly, the maintenance of leaf stripping elements is inconvenient. Due to the design of most domestic leaf strippers, the leaf stripping elements are installed in a relatively small, sealed space with limited accessibility. This makes maintenance and replacement of the elements a cumbersome process.

Lastly, the adaptive ability of the leaf stripping mechanism is poor. The centrifugal drum type leaf stripping mechanisms have a fixed structure, making it difficult to automatically adapt to sugarcane stripping with different diameters and curvatures. This leads to a high breakage rate of the sugarcane and decreases the overall efficiency of the leaf stripping machine.

To address these issues, the design of a Spring Hinge Adaptive Leaf Stripping Mechanism is proposed. It includes a tail leaf cutting and peeling mechanism, as well as a main leaf stripping mechanism. The tail leaf cutting and peeling mechanism is responsible for cutting off the tail of the sugarcane and peeling off the young leaves to prepare for the sugarcane stem and leaf peeling. It comprises a tail cutting saw blade, tail cutting knife barrel, tail leaf peeling knife installation rod, and tail leaf peeling knife.

The tail cutting knife barrel is driven by a prime mover through a transmission mechanism. It rotates at a high speed, allowing the tail leaf peeling knife to cut and remove the tender leaves at the tail of the sugarcane. The tail leaf peeling knife installation rod is designed as a spring hinge mechanism, ensuring it can automatically adapt to changes in sugarcane diameter.

The main leaf stripping mechanism consists of feeding wheels, leaf stripping knives, a spring hinge mechanism, and other components. The leaf stripping knives are connected to a fixed frame through hinges and are pressed against the sugarcane surface by springs. The leaf stripping knives can rotate around the hinge to adapt to changes in sugarcane diameter.

The design also incorporates adjustable front and rear upper feeding wheels to accommodate sugarcane with different diameters. The installation position of the front feeding wheel can be adjusted to suit sugarcane with varying curvatures, preventing excessive bending and reducing the breakage rate.

The analysis of the leaf stripping effect using this proposed mechanism shows positive results. The four leaf stripping knives effectively peel the sugarcane stems and leaves without leaving any blind areas. The spring preload on the leaf stripping knives ensures minimal damage to the sugarcane skin, addressing the high impurity and skin damage rates associated with the centrifugal drum type leaf stripping mechanism.

Furthermore, the mechanism demonstrates a strong self-adaptive ability. The spring hinge mechanism in both the tail leaf cutting and stripping mechanism and the main