Substantiation of parameters of unbalanced vibration exciter of berry harvester

The paper presents analysis of design of a vibration exciter of berry harvester, and dwells on substantiation of the main parameters of a two-shaft unbalanced exciter drive mechanism. As a result of theoretical studies, the type and design and technological layout is substantiated for a two-shaft vibration exciter with two unbalance unit rigidly connected to each other and rotating in the same direction with a displacement of 180°. Analysis of such a vibration exciter functioning made it possible to determine the rational values of the weights’ mass mа = 4.0 kg and the arms’ length r = 0.02 m, providing vibrations with an amplitude of A = 23…27 mm in the frequency range of oscillations of 8…20 Hz, which corresponds to agricultural and technical requirements for harvesting a wide range of berry crops. The results of the research were used for designing a trailed berry harvester TBH, created by Scientific and Practical Center of the National Academy of Sciences of Belarus for Agriculture Mechanization. It ensures high-quality harvesting with minimal damage to berries and shrubs of chokeberry, currant, gooseberry, dog rose and raspberry, that was determined by acceptance tests.