JUSTIFICATION OF CONSTRUCTIVE-TECHNOLOGICAL PARAMETERS OF THE POTATO HARVESTING MACHINE

For Ukraine's successful entry into Western markets, it is necessary to ensure the competitiveness of its own products, which is achieved through comprehensive mechanization of technological processes, reducing labor costs, increasing yields and quality of products. Accordingly, the aim of the study was to conduct a comparative analysis of structural and technological schemes of potato harvesters identified the most appropriate direction to improve existing and create new designs of potato harvesters, undermining working bodies and separators and substantiation of structural and technological parameters. The research was carried out by technological and structural analysis of technologies and machines for harvesting potatoes. In the process of research methods of comparison and mathematical modeling of technological processes were used. The information base of the research was the work of Ukrainian and foreign scientists on technologies and machines for potato harvesting. Based on a comparative analysis of technologies and machines for harvesting potatoes revealed the main processes affecting the agronomic performance of harvesting equipment, as well as the principles of influence of different separators on the potato heap showed that they use inefficient types of deformation, namely: impact and compression. Instead, studies suggest that tensile and shear deformations are much more effective, which are not realized in the current designs of the separators, or are only partially realized. On the basis of complex researches the technological scheme of the potato digger which working bodies (a ploughshare-shelf digger and a drum separator interact with a potato heap through deformations of a tension and shift that allows to separate effectively soil in various conditions of harvesting of tubers and other constructive and kinematic parameters is offered. potato harvester.