Original Article

Design and experimental verification of the picking cam mechanism for safflower filaments

¹ School of Mechatronic Engineering, Xi’an Technological University, Xi’an 710021, China
² School of Mechatronic Engineering, Xinjiang Institute of Technology, Aksu 843000, China

^* e-mail: weifeng20008@163.com

Received: 25 April 2024
Accepted: 17 November 2024

Abstract

A picking head for automated harvesting of safflower filaments is designed to address the low manual harvesting efficiency and scarce automatic harvesting machinery. Based on the cluster growth characteristics of safflower filaments and the requirements for filament harvesting, the key structures and parameter ranges of the “∞”-shaped cam and cutting tools are established. Using ANSYS/LS-DYNA simulation analysis, the effects of the blade edge angle, cutting inclination, and cutting speed on the mechanical properties during filament cutting are explored. After that, a safflower filament picking head cutting test bench is built. Using the Central Composite Design method, a regression model between different test factors and indicators is established, and the response surface analysis and parameter optimization are performed for the interacting factors. The optimal parameters are a cam rotational speed of 32.6 r/min, a blade edge angle of 22.5°, and a cutting inclination of 19.6°. Five repeated bench tests are conducted using these parameters for verification. The experiments show that the average success rate of cutting filaments is 90.5%, and the error between the experimental and theoretical optimal values does not exceed 2.5%. The optimization model is reasonable and feasible, meeting the design requirements of the cutting of the safflower filament picking head. The results can provide a reference for the design and development of automated safflower harvesting devices.