Abstract:Aiming to address the issues of low operational success rate, high ginger tuber damage rate, and frequent clogging at the gathering and cutting points in the clamping conveying devices of existing ginger combine harvesters, an adaptive flexible clamping conveying device was designed. Using Anqiu organic ginger as the research subject, the mechanical parameters of the ginger stems were firstly determined through physical property tests. A stem rheological model was constructed based on the Burgers viscoelastic model, and creep curves under different loads and at different stem locations were fitted, clarifying the intrinsic relationships among clamping force, conveyance loss, and ginger tuber damage. Design?Expert software was employed for experimental design and data analysis of key operational parameters (elastic coefficient of the floating spring support, inclination angle of the conveying device, chain speed). The response surface methodology was used to reveal the influence patterns of various factors and their interactions on harvesting success rate and damage rate. Combined with ginger cultivation agronomy, the key components of the device were structurally optimized. Field validation test results showed that when the elastic coefficient of the floating spring support was 9.08 N/mm, the inclination angle was 29.95°, and the chain speed was 200.5 mm/s, the device achieved a harvesting success rate of 94.80% and a ginger tuber damage rate of 4.9%. The optimized parameter combination was highly consistent with the regression model predictions, significantly improving the reliability and operational quality of the clamping and conveying process. The research result can provide a theoretical basis and practical reference for the design and optimization of key components in ginger combine harvesters.