DESIGN AND EXPERIMENT OF GUIDANCE CAM OF AIR SUCTION GARLIC CLOVE DIRECTIONAL METERING DEVICE

To enhance the upright orientation rate of garlic clove bud tips, an air-suction garlic clove directional metering device with a guiding cam was developed. Key parameters influencing garlic clove discharge performance were determined through mechanical analysis. After optimization, the guiding cam's thickness (D) was set at 4 mm, with the lead-in and the seeding section tilt angles(αt,β) of 5° and 15°, respectively. Comparative tests were conducted using optimal parameters, focusing on seed discharge disc rotational speed(n) and negative pressure(P) as main variables, with the upright rate of seeds in the receiving hopper serving as the evaluation index. Under conditions of -11.5 kPa negative pressure and 7 rad/s rotational speed, the upright rate reached 97.2%. Results demonstrated that the addition of guiding cams significantly improved the upright rate, increasing it by over 10% compared to directional metering devices without guiding cams.