Vibration analysis and parameter optimization of seedling pushing device of transplanting mechanism with planetary elliptic gears

The vibration induced by the seedling pushing device in the transplanting mechanism gravely undermines the transplanting performance. In this study, the structure and working process of the transplanting mechanism were analyzed. Then, an orthogonal test design for optimizing the vibration performance of the transplanting mechanism was applied to determine the optimum operating speed, counterweight mass, and spring stiffness. The parameter optimization results were finally verified by planting quality simulation and bench test. The result shows that when the operating speed was 250.0 r/min, the counterweight mass was 0.9 kg, and the spring stiffness was 140.0 N/m, the mechanism's working performance and planting effect were the best. According to the analysis of data collected by the sensor, the maximum stress value was 6.05 MPa (reduced by 18.8%), the perpendicularity was 93.58% (increased by 6.0%), and the coefficient of speed fluctuation was 3.16 (diminished by 28.7%), which effectively reduces the force of the transplanting mechanism on the seedlings and improves the quality of operation.