Design and Development of Manual Operated Sugarcane Bud Chipping Machine

Abstract

Sugarcane is a primary crop in many parts of India. The seed or bud of the sugarcane is a part of the plant itself. Due to complicated and expensive tools, separating bud from plant is a difficult process. Use of plant for its raw materials and products leads to loss of buds whereas planting buds with the plant leads to loss of plant products. Current machines used for sugarcane bud cutting require skill and training but are also unsafe. The risk of injury is also high. Thus, there is a need for development of bud chipping machine which satisfies the above criterion. Research was done by conducting literature survey, patent search and market survey. Different concepts were generated, developed and analysed. A foot operated machine which requires less effort than hand operating machine was adopted. Whitworth quick return mechanism is used because it gives constant velocity throughout the cutting stroke and return stroke is quicker than cutting stroke thus increasing productivity and reducing idle time. Designing and modelling of machine is carried out by considering aspects of design and human ergonomics. Hence, simple and effective machine is designed which can be used to cut sugarcane buds without much effort, reduced loss of plant product, reduced muscular problems and can be safely operated.