Ergonomics in developing hand operated maize Dehusker-Sheller for farm women

摘要

A hand operated maize dehusker-sheller to be operated by farm women was designed and developed to dehusk and shell the maize cobs using ergonomics (anthropometric, strength and physiological workload). Axial-flow maize dehusker-sheller with 540 mm cylinder length and 380 mm diameter required 3.03 N-m torque on cylinder shaft while operating at 5.6 m s~(-1) peripheral speed and 100 kg h~(-1) feed rate by feeding cob one by one. This torque was 30% of isometric torque obtained at front position of handle (greatest distance) with lowest crank length. The heart rate of subject while operating the maize dehusker-sheller at 54 rpm (5.6 m s~(-1)) was 142 beats min~(-1). The output of 60 kg h~(-1) was obtained at the feed rate of 80 kg h~(-1). Two subjects can operate the machine for an hour with a rest pause of 15 min by swapping the operation.