Design and experiment of soil-covering and soil-compacting device with cone-shaped structure of wheel

Abstract: The soil-covering and press wheel are the main parts of the corn planter, and their performances are directly related to the growth and the output of the corn. The device with the functions of soil covering and soil compaction can improve the soil moisture content after planting and simplify the structure of machine. The squeeze-type coverer is a typical device with the functions of soil covering and soil compaction. But due to that the contact area is too small to bring the poor stability of soil-covering and soil-compacting during work process, the squeeze-type coverer is often used on no-till planter. A new type of soil-covering and soil-compacting device for corn planter was designed in this paper. The device was composed of 2 soil-covering-pressing wheels with cone-shaped structure, and realized the functions of soil-covering and soil-compacting depending on the extrusion force of soil produced by soil-covering-pressing wheel during planting. The main structure parameters of the soil-covering and soil-compacting device were determined through theoretical analysis and experiment of double-disk opener, which were mean diameter of 350 mm, width of the horizontal part of single soil-covering-pressing wheel of 20 mm, width of the inclined surface of single cover-press wheel of 70 mm, and the value range of horizontal interval of left and right soil-covering-pressing wheel of less than 29 mm. The leaning angle of soil-covering-pressing wheel was determined through theoretical analysis of soil-covering process based on the shape of soil furrows, which meant the leaning angle was about less than 20°. Based on the agronomic requirement of soil-compacting, the range of external load was about 609-790 N. Through analyzing, it was found that the external load, the horizontal interval between left and right soil-covering-pressing wheel and the leaning angle were the main influencing factors on the functions of soil-covering and soil-compacting of the device. Taking the 3 indices as the experimental factors using Design-Expert software, the Box-Benhnken experiments of 3 factors and 3 levels were conducted, and the results showed that the order of the influence of the factors on the soil compactness in the top 5 cm soil layer of the seed furrow from high to low was the external load, the horizontal interval between left and right soil-covering-pressing wheel and the leaning angle. The order of the influence of the factors on thickness of covering soil was the leaning angle, the load and the horizontal interval between left and right soil-covering-pressing wheel. The optimal parameter combination of the device was the external load of 900 N, the horizontal interval between left and right soil-covering-pressing wheel of 13 mm and the leaning angle of 16°. Verification testing indicated that the soil compactness in the top 5 cm soil layer of the seed furrow was (43.8±1.9) kPa, the coefficient of variation was 4.3%, and the thickness of covering soil was (32.9±2.3) mm with the coefficient of variation of 6.9%. The soil-covering and soil-compacting device designed in this paper has good performance of soil-covering, soil-compacting and working stability. This study can provide a reference for the design of planters.