Abstract
Bio-diesel applications seem to be extended due to bio-diesel policies and changes of agricultural environment. This study was conducted to develop a rapeseed reaping equipment attachable to the conventional combine. This paper was intended to report concept design, process and manufacturing of the prototype rapeseed reaping equipment. For concept design, physical properties of "SUNMANG", which is a typical rapeseed as bio-diesel materials, were considered. The designed prototype rapeseed reaping equipment consisted of wide-width plates, finger type knifes, side cutter knifes and drive equipments. The wide-width plate is 2.1 m wide, 0.7 m long, and 0.002 m thick. The finger type cutter knifes have 14.5 fingers, 30 knifes, and the specification was 7.6 cm of pitch, 8.3 cm of length and $21^{\circ}$ of cutting angle. The side cutter knifes consisted of a hydraulic pump, a hydraulic motor, a flow control and a relief valve, a hydraulic hose, a driving equipment and a reciprocating cutter knife. The 18 reciprocating cutter knifes were 137 cm long and knife pitch, knife length and cutting angle were 7.7 cm, 10.5 cm, and $18^{\circ}$. Prototype weight of the rapeseed reaping equipment was heavier by 272 kg when compared with the manual reaping equipments. Load distributions of left and right side showed 50% and 49%, and those of front and rear side showed 64% and 36%. Static turn-over angles in left and right of the prototype were $38.1^{\circ}$ and $38.7^{\circ}$, respectively. The designed prototype rapeseed reaping equipment was properly mounted at the front of a conventional combine.
