Abstract:
This study aimed to address the insufficient basis for structural design and parameter optimization of the seed-receiving mechanism in belt-type seed guiding devices under high-frequency seed-metering conditions. A seed-receiving mechanism based on flexible opposed rotary-clamping finger wheels was designed. The rotary-clamping seed-receiving process was analyzed in terms of seed movement with and separation from the seed-metering disc, rotary-clamping acceleration, and seed-cavity entry velocity matching. Operating speed determined the velocity required for seed-cavity entry, whereas target seed spacing determined the theoretical seed-cavity interval count; together, they governed seed-metering frequency and affected the available rotary-clamping time. Surface texture affected rotary-clamping acceleration by altering interfacial friction, whereas hardness affected it by altering both interfacial friction and elastic deformation. The basic dimensions, finger numbers, and arc parameters of the main and secondary finger wheels were determined using the equivalent seed circle model and geometric constraints. Finger-wheel thickness was determined according to the mean seed length. Force analysis of the surface texture was then conducted to select a transverse texture that suppressed the axial component of the texture force during rotary clamping. A full-factorial experiment was conducted with four factors, including operating speed, target seed spacing, finger wheel surface texture, and finger wheel hardness. Seed-cavity interval counts were obtained from the high-speed videos, and analysis of variance (ANOVA) was applied to evaluate the effects and significance of each factor on the qualified index and coefficient of variation of seed-cavity interval count. A seed spacing performance validation experiment was further carried out under the optimal parameter combination to verify the final seed spacing consistency of the belt-type seed guiding device. The ANOVA results showed that operating speed, target seed spacing, finger wheel surface texture, and finger wheel hardness all had highly significant effects on the qualified index of seed-cavity interval count and the coefficient of variation of seed-cavity interval count (
P<0.01). The order of factors affecting the qualified index was target seed spacing, operating speed, finger wheel hardness, and finger wheel surface texture, while the order of factors affecting the coefficient of variation was finger wheel surface texture, finger wheel hardness, target seed spacing, and operating speed. The interaction between finger wheel surface texture and hardness had a highly significant effect on both evaluation indexes (
P<0.01). The optimal combination was transverse texture and a hardness of 60 HA. Across operating speeds of 6–15 km/h and target seed spacings of 150–250 mm, the optimal combination yielded an average qualified index of seed-cavity interval count of 94.54% and an average coefficient of variation of 14.40%. Compared with non-textured finger wheels at 60 HA, transverse-textured finger wheels increased the qualified index by an average of 1.18 percentage points and reduced the coefficient of variation by an average of 1.19 percentage points. Under the high-frequency seed-metering conditions of operating speeds of 12–15 km/h and target seed spacings of 150–200 mm, the corresponding improvement and reduction were 2.37 and 0.82 percentage points, respectively. After the optimal parameter combination was determined from the seed-cavity interval count evaluation indexes, the belt-type seed guiding device was further tested using actual seed spacing as the evaluation object. The validation results showed that, under the combination of transverse texture and 60 HA hardness, over the aforementioned full operating range, the qualified index of seed spacing ranged from 92.39% to 99.33%, and the coefficient of variation of seed spacing ranged from 15.50% to 19.28%. The optimized seed-receiving mechanism maintained stable seed spacing performance under the tested operating speeds and target seed spacings, confirming the applicability of the transverse-textured finger wheels with a hardness of 60 HA to the tested belt-type corn seed guiding device and operating range. This study provides a basis for the structural design and parameter optimization of seed-receiving mechanisms for high-speed belt-type corn seed guiding devices.