Installation of a spindle surface cleaner of cotton-picking machines to prevent greening

Abstract The primary drawback of vertical-spindle cotton-picking machines is considered to be the lower completeness of crop collection in the hopper, which primarily occurs due to the rapid greening of spindle surfaces. On these machines, brush strippers are installed to clean the spindles from greening, which simultaneously remove the cotton windings from the spindles. Attempts by designers to install special devices on machines for cleaning the spindle surfaces from greening have not yielded positive results. Consequently, a significant portion of operational time is spent on washing the spindles. The authors have developed a design for brush spindle cleaners, the installation of which does not require modifications to the existing design of the harvesting apparatus. Calculations indicate that the installation of the proposed cleaner will enable effective cleaning of the spindle surface, thereby enhancing the completeness of collection by the vertical spindle.