Design and experiment of vertical circular separating and conveying device for potato combine harvester

To solve the problems of the separating and conveying device for the potato combine harvester, such as poor separation and inflexibility of manipulation, a vertical circular separating and conveying device was designed. The structure and working parameters of key components of the separating and conveying device were determined by research analysis. Quadratic general rotation-combination experiments were carried out with the moving forward speed, the linear speed of the transverse transfer belt and the rotational speed of the circular orbit as experimental factors, damage rate and impurity rate as experimental index. The mathematical model of the relationship between the experimental factors and the experimental index were established and the parameters were optimized using DPS (data processing system) and Matlab (matrix laboratory) software. The results showed that the influences on the damage rate of the respective factors decrease in the order as below, the rotational speed of the circular orbit, the linear speed of the transverse transfer belt and the moving forward speed, the influences on the impurity rate of the respective factors decrease in the order as below, the rotational speed of the circular orbit, the moving forward speed and the linear speed of the transverse transfer belt. And the moving forward speed of 1.1 m/s, the linear speed of the transverse transfer belt of 1.5 m/s and the rotational speed of the circular orbit of 7 r/min were the best combination factors, which leaded to the damage rate of 1.28%, the impurity rate of 2.41%. Verification experiment results showed that the average damage rate of 1.46% and the average impurity rate of 2.57%, under the condition of optimal parameters, the theoretical value is similar to the test value, and its meet the relevant requirements of the potato combine harvest. This research can provide a technical basis and reference for the development of a new separating and conveying device and potato combine harvester. © 2018, Editorial Department of the Transactions of the Chinese Society of Agricultural Engineering. All right reserved.