# Design and Experiment of Grain Litter for Sorghum Harvester
## 2. Sorghum Harvesting and Cutting Table and Working Principle  
Aiming at the problems of high stalk, long leaf, and droopy ear of sorghum, which affect the reliability of sorghum mechanized harvest, on the basis of the existing research on sorghum harvesting and cutting tables, we developed a new type of sorghum harvesting and cutting platform in conjunction with Bin Zhou Wan long Agricultural Machinery Manufacturing Co., LTD., (Binzhou, China), as shown in Figure 1. It is mainly composed of dividers (1); gripper conveyor chain (2); cutter (3); transverse conveyor (4); barrier net (5); frame (6); grain lifter (7); power input system (8). This paper mainly carries out the research on the grain lifter.  
When working, the sorghum cutting table is connected to the front of the harvester. As shown in Figure 1, as the harvester moves forward, the sorghum located in front of the cutting table is divided into two parts, inside and outside, under the action of the grain lifters (7) on both sides of the cutting table. The sorghum in the cut width is transferred to the gripper conveyor chain (2) by the divider (1); when the sorghum plant is transported to the position of the reciprocating cutter (3) located below the gripper conveyor chain (2), it is cut by the reciprocating cutter (3). The subsequently cut plants are sent to the transverse conveyor (4) by inertia and the push action of subsequent plants. When the sorghum in the cut area appears to be lodging, the grain lifter (7) and the divider (1) are inserted from the lower part of the sorghum plant so that the lower part of the sorghum is gripped by the gripper conveyor chain (2) to the cutter (3) transport, the upper part lies on  
Figure 1. Structural diagram of sorghum harvesting header. 1. dividers. 2. gripper conveyor chain. 3. cutter. 4. transverse conveyor. 5. barrier net. 6. frame. 7. grain lifter. 8. power input system.  
the surface of the grain lifter (7), it is gradually pushed backward by the helical blade at the front of the grain lifter (7), the loss increase caused by the dragging of the fallen plants in the process of sorghum clamping transportation is avoided, and the accumulation and blockage of the fallen plants in the cutting table is also prevented. When the upper part of the plant (including the ear) moves to the rear of the grain support, the ear of sorghum waits at the mouth of the row until the lower part is grabbed by the transverse conveyor (4), then the upper part is dragged away from the mouth of the row, so as to avoid the grain loss caused by the ear slipping at the corner of the grain support and the barrier net (5); if the upper part of the plant falls to the end of the grain lifter (7) due to other accidental factors, in order to avoid the loss of grain loss caused by the pulling of sorghum ears in this position, a reverse spiral blade is provided at the end of the grain lifter (7), which can reverse transport the upper part of the sorghum plant to the discharge port to reduce the loss of grain shedding in the sorghum ear. Sorghum located outside the cutting width, if its stalk does not have skew or lodging, it is directly moved by the grain lifter (7) to the outside to realize the separation of sorghum inside and outside the cutting width and ensure the reliable work of the sorghum cutting table; if the stalk is skewed or even collapsed, the plants will be transported upward and backward along the grain lifter (7) while separating, it can be discharged from the head of the row in an almost upright state, which effectively reduces the dragging loss of external sorghum and the influence of falling plants on the reliability of the cutting table.