ITMN20100024A1 - SINGLE-SIDED BILATERAL MULTIFUNCTION TOOL FOR CURING AND / OR FACING INTERVENTIONS OF THE BEDS IN PARTICULAR OF VINEYARDS WITH SHOULDER PLAIN AND HILLS - Google Patents

Description

PATENT HOLDERS

TITLE

Bilateral single-sided multifunctional tool for defoliation of foliage, in particular of espalier vineyards.

DESCRIPTION OF THE INDUSTRIAL INVENTION

[001] The invention proposed as better described in the preamble of claim n ° 1 consists of a multi-layable bilateral platform comprising two units suitable for bifilar-single-sided defoliation by aspiration and tearing of the foliage, of the canopy of two rows of vineyards driven in espalier in lowland and hilly plants, each protected by a vertical shield which is brought close to the canopy, and preceded when necessary by a device suitable for simultaneous topping, at predefined heights (fig. 1).

[002] The defoliator device is supported and managed (positioned) by a support structure (platform) to widen and articulate them, also known per se, applied anteriorly / posteriorly to the lifting of a motorized vehicle that runs along the inter-rows also crossing and intervening on opposing faces or on geographically monoriented faces.

Currently, various equipment based on the depression to recall the foliage are known: unilateral tilting alternatively to the right and left for interventions on a preferred side, or bilateral, equipped with coaxial knives to the depressor (aspirator), or tools equipped with pairs of motorized vertical rollers they too are subjected to depression suitable for attracting and tearing the foliage. These different equipment are specialized by type of intervention: early to favor pollination, intermediate to the production cycle for aeration and maturation, delayed to facilitate harvesting. Other tools foresee, crossing the row, a fan-blower on one side of the crown and cut and suction knives of the leaves on the other side; another (see French patent no.

0204438) foresees a pair of double opposing heads, mounted on the bilateral platform of a means overriding a row, suitable for operating on two rows by intervening on specular faces (Dx and Sx) or on homologous lees (Dx-Dx; Sx-Sx) using in any case, always 50% of the publications.

The proposed invention contains several innovative features:

[003] can intervene on the contiguous rows or by crossing one of them perform the only action of defoliation of the foliage or Î "together of topping + defoliation as the topping units placed in front of the defoliators are removable, applicable according to convenience so as to satisfy the characteristics of the plant and the varying needs in the vegetative and productive phases to favor: flowering-fruit set, internal aeration of the foliage, ripening and / or harvesting of the bunches. Left) or on one side only, ie on homologous faces (eg Dx / Dx) to ventilate the shaded sides.

[004] Another fundamental characteristic of the invention provides that the defoliator shield includes a central part accessible from the outside which allows the rapid replacement of different elements such as protection grids of the depressors or a set of rollers suitable for tearing the leaves according to use.

[005] The support and management platform of the units, which is also known (see R. 1), provides for basic adjustments controlled by the operator referring to the geometric characteristics of the vineyard and the operation of the invention, that is: the working height, achievable, working width determined by the pair of parallel and opposite hydraulic jacks, transverse inclinations, but also temporary variations in width when exceeding predetermined tolerances on the basic positions which, according to the chosen set-up (Table III), they are controlled by the operator or are automated by sensors (mechanical, laser, ultrasound, optical, ...), programmable electronic control unit or by PLC, activated by hydraulic jacks and / or electromechanical groups, in order to: avoid lateral obstacles , deviations of the guide, presence / absence of foliage (eg entry and exit from the rows) or to adapt to asymmetry of foliage /.

[006] Each defoliator device is substantially constituted by a frame supported directly or indirectly - that is with the interposition of joints and arms - by the jacks of the platform that supports the motorized vacuum pump (aspirator) contained in a hood open at the bottom for the discharge of the foliage and from an external vertical shield, on which the foliage crawls in advance.

[007] The crown trimmer device (bar and motor) is placed in front of the shield and independently motorized, mounted on the same support (frame) as the leaf remover and can be positioned on transverse slides, so as to be able to assume more positions with respect to the vertical shield of the subsequent defoliator unit, to adapt in the preliminary phase to operational needs; it can be easily removed by loosening the stop bolts, disconnecting the quick couplings of the supply pipes and removing the assembly from the slides.

[008] The shield / crown distance is referred by the sensors to that of the stems which have certain and better measurable positions than those of the crowns. It is subject to temporary changes (see 005), the reset can be controlled visually by the operator in the case of the implement mounted on the front lift of the tractor, while in the most effective outfitting on the platform with automatic repositioning the application is posterior with the sensors placed in front of it.

[009] The automated version of the implement provides for several configurations such as: differential sensors of distance from the trees in at least two positions suitable for detecting inclinations between the travel plane of the vehicle and direction of travel all connected with PLC or programmable electronic control unit which control actuators such as hydraulic jacks or electromechanical groups, operation of the operating units, the inversion of the geographical orientation, realizing the correct defoliation.

[010] The right and left (specular) defoliating units have the same fastenings to the frame and connections so that by replacing a unit both the specular and the monoriented defoliation can be carried out, intervening on asymmetrical foliage with respect to the trees and providing in the second case to automatically exchange the right / left positions of the unit support arms.

[011] The elements of the defoliator unit external to the shield are contained by a unified frame applied with screws and / or snap devices in a niche obtained in the shield allowing easy replacement and different types of: grids for sliding / capturing the foliage according to the grape variety and the phenological phase; for early interventions (e.g. at pollination), the replacement of the grid with a tear-off device consisting of a pair of vertical rollers, the first motorized, the other duct is counter-rotating or by a perforated plate followed by a roller motorized with vertical ribs in any case suitable for tearing the leaves, contained in the frame and kept in depression by the rear fan in order to recall the leaves and facilitate the tearing.

[012] The motors of the pumps are hydraulic or electric with variable speed to be adapted to the various working conditions and are preferably also reversible to expel, by reversing the flow, any obstructions of foliage.

[013] AHâ € ™ of the defoliator units, placed between the orifice of the shield and the depressor unit there is a shaped conveyor duct and differently in depth according to the application of sliding grids or tear-off rollers to always guarantee the € ™ aerodynamic efficiency of the exhaust flow.

[014] In the case of foliage with abundant hanging shoots, the defoliators foresee the trimmers preceded by shaped static guides or â € œmotorized wheelsâ € according to already known solutions, however able to raise the shoots and direct them towards the topping machine that cuts them making the stems more easily perceived by the distance sensors in subsequent interventions.

[015] In the case of tall rows and with fruiting distributed at various heights, two defoliation depressors are provided in each shield (fig.

9) superimposed, with outlets staggered with respect to the vertical, to facilitate the evacuation of the foliage.

[016] In the setting up for single-oriented interventions (eg only north or east sides to be ventilated) the defoliator units are straddling, the same (both right or both left), rotating on vertical axes, in the inversion of the direction of travel and they rotate 180 ° by the action of a hydraulic jack on a rack which acts on a sprocket of the support rod (see figs. 7, 8).

[017] A safety for people is envisaged as Î "power supply and therefore the rotation of the motors (hydraulic or electric) of the trimmers and of the depressor is allowed by a solenoid valve connected to a transmission shaft only when the vehicle is moving forward, with the exclusion of of the solenoid valve with a â € œtestâ € command in which the motors run when the vehicle is stationary.

In order to make experts understand the above, figures 1 to 9 of the two attached tables illustrate the main characteristics of the invention with the exception of the support platform and the automation elements which are shown in Tab. € ™ analysis of the situations that may be encountered connected with sensors - commands - implementing dynamic repositioning without developing them as they do not directly determine the mechanics of the invention or are known because they are described in other patents. Fig. 1 presents a simplified example of the implement applied to the front lifting 1 of the tractor 2 (partially visible) with the platform comprising the two parallel and opposite jacks 3 and 4 for supporting and managing the units guided in suitable sliding skids and ending with plates of head as 11 and joints as 12 for joining the frame 13 of the operating unit that allow transversal displacements and transverse inclinations of the operating units, the underlying shoe 13, 13â € ™ for resting the tool on the ground at rest; the vertical shield 5 on the left with the front 5 'and rear 5' flaps folded inwards to let the foliage flow, the foliage extractor 6 followed by the removable hood 8 on the right which conveys the flow towards the ground , the engine 7 outside the bonnet, the removable front topping bar 9 (here of the blade type with reciprocating motion) driven by its own engine 10 and fixed to the frame by means of a transversal slide 14, 14â € ™ which allows more positioning with respect to the flap of the shield. In the left shield the lowered area 15 is highlighted, which surrounds the intake opening with the poppette for fixing the conveyor and the external elements. Fig. 2 shows the left shield 16 with highlighted the protection grille 17 housed and fixed in the above-described lowered area with a series of horizontal guides 18 on which the thinner foliage runs in the final part 19 to facilitate folding and the detachment of the leaves by suction, and / or by cutting from the coaxial blades in front of the blades; the fixed but replaceable vertical blade 20 behind it, which facilitates detachment. In fig. 3 we see housed in the shield 21, as an alternative to the grille, the support plate 24 of a `` motorized tear-off unit '' here made up of vertical rollers 22 and 23 parallel, side by side and counter-rotating, one of which is motorized, equipped with grooves or perforated, with part of the external surface subject to the suction of the depressor, suitable for tearing the leaves; the second roller free in contact with the first preferably made of elastomer; preceded by the perforated plate 24 and contained in the frame fixed in the lowered area of the shield, while the motor 25 which is subsequently fixed from under the shield. In fig.

4 shows an example of the foliage conveyor 26, which can also be inserted from the ', suitably interposed between the grille / roller unit and the aspirator to facilitate the efficiency of the suction. In fig. 5 you can see from the rear and schematized the implement, here mounted on the rear of the tractor 27, in an isoipse hilly system, you can see: the two units 28, 28 ', the platform 29 applied to the lifting, the tilting joints with worm screw mechanisms such as 30 driven by electric motors that support the operating units, vacuum pumps driven by motors 31 and 3 Î “; the evacuator hoods, the one on the right sectioned to display the already mentioned joint 30. Fig. 6 shows the single-oriented bifilar defoliation scheme (eg to the North) in which the operating units 32 and 32â € ™ supported by the platform 33 mounted on the overpassing frame 34 of the rear lift, intervene on homologous sides of the rows, alternately climbing over one of them. The fìg. 7 schematizes in plan how the defoliator units 35 (Dx) and 36 (Sx) are arranged on the outward journey, both operating on the north sides of the crowns of rows A and B and on the return always on the north sides of rows C and D after a 180 ° rotation of both units at the exit of the vineyard as well as the transversal displacement of the two arms of the platform 35 in 35 'and 36 and in 36'. The fìg. 8 shows the mechanism that controls the rotation of the units for monoriented defoliation: the high bilateral platform 38 applied to a linear lift 39, the right transverse support arm 42 managed by the jack 41 of the defoliator unit 40, which supports the unit holder rod 43 which, upon inversion of the direction of travel of the vehicle, is made to rotate 180 ° by the jack 44 through a rack bar which engages in a toothed sprocket integral with the rotating rod 43 both contained in the casing box 45. At the rear of the shield the detached foliage discharge hood 46 and the depressor motor 47 can be seen. The fìg. 9 shows schematically the shield 48 of a defoliator for tall foliage characterized by including in the shield: two overlapping defoliator devices: you can see the protection grids 49 and 50 always inserted from the outside characterized by grids with continuous guides as a consequence of the inversion the sense of creeping of the foliage; each depressor is behind the shield with separate discharges of the detached foliage to avoid flooding. The double topping devices placed in front of the shield are not shown in the case of monoriented defoliation which involves the rotation of the unit by 180 ° at each reversal of direction.

The above described and illustrated must be considered indicative and not limitative of the peculiarities of the

Claims (10)

CLAIMS 1) Agricultural tool suitable for the bifilar-single-sided defoliation of the foliage of vineyards in the plains and hills raised in espalier, consisting of several motorized modular operating units applied to a support and management structure in space (platform) also known (as our Patent Applications ITMN2010A000001, MN2010A00003, MN2010A000020 already submitted to a Research report and related request for rectification, with EPO extension requests n ° 1 1150 127 and n ° 1 1184 993.1) mounted overriding the rows on the front / rear low or high lift of a vehicle that travels an inter-row, or more adjacent rows in the case of dense and low plants, since the aforementioned modular units consist of devices suitable for: shredding and tearing leaves, shoots and female leaves from the foliage, sucking them through a depressor inserted in the orifice of a vertical shield and to unload them in the inter-row, characterized by the possibility for the operative units to intervene and on the opposite lees (Dx / Sx) of two rows (figs. 1, 5) or on two homologous faces of the crowns (Sx / Sx; Dx / Dx) in this case crossing at least one row (fig. 6); the support platform being adaptable to the geometric characteristics of the vineyard, such as inter-row width, thickness of the canopy, transverse inclinations and asymmetries of the canopy by positioning the units prior to the intervention by means of hydraulic actuators with jacks and / or electromechanisms controlled by the operator, but also suitable for automatically making temporary changes depending on the platform set-ups regarding sensors, programmable electronic control unit or PLC, electro-hydraulic control unit for positioning and operating actuators as reported in the aforementioned patents, in order to achieve the best efficiency and productivity. 2) Operating unit (Dx and / or Sx) for the tool as R.1 characterized by flexibility of use as it consists of individually motorized devices arranged in operational succession: the first, complementary, consists of a lateral vertical trimming machine also known per se (toothed blade or double blade with reciprocating motion, or bar with series of rotating - counter-rotating knives) characterized by being quickly removable by extracting it from the structure of the unit when not necessary, the second consisting of the actual defoliator comprising at least one vertical shield with the front and rear flaps somewhat folded inwards, which in use is placed on the crown and contains an axial fan with blades, preceded by coaxial rotating knives, housed in a central opening. € ™ together being protected by a grid fixed by the f on which the foliage crawls and is sucked-removed, or constituted by a coppi vertical counter-rotating motorized rollers, with the motor inserted from above / below the shield after the rollers have been housed and put in communication with the rear aspirator, with also known solutions but in the invention characterized by being inserted in place of the grid according to the characteristics of the vine and the phenological phases (pollination / maturation / harvesting) are both devices which, in any case, are able to defoliate the foliage and unload the foliage in the interleaf, orienting it. 3) Right and left operating units (specular) such as R. 1, 2 suitable for opposing interventions on the crowns of contiguous rows, characterized by the possibility of being applied, supported and managed in width directly by the opposing jacks of the low mounted platform (fig. 1 ) and also inclinable transversely by means of joints controlled by jacks or known electromechanical mechanisms (fig. 5), especially in isoipse hilly systems. 4) Operating units such as R. 1, 2 with alternative solution to R. 3 as they are the same (Dx-Dx ο Sx-Sx) rather than specular, suitable for monoriented interventions, hung by means of vertical rods to the arms of the platform placed at the top , each unit straddling the right / left alternatively the crown of a row, both characterized by being rotatable according to a vertical axis of 180 °, each consisting of symmetrical components with respect to the axis of rotation such as: the shape of the shield, the grid or the tear-off rollers and any topping bars which in this case are two, in any case removable, placed in front of the folded edges of the shield designed to intervene both on the same side of the foliage (fig. 6) to ventilate them avoiding burns on the sunny side to the bunches. 5) Operating units as in R. 1, 2, 4 characterized by being able to rotate 180 ° upon reversal of the vehicle's direction of travel by means of hydraulic jacks on a rack-and-pinion rod that engages in a rotating sprocket which in turn supports and directs the unity with its components (fig. 8). 6) Defoliation device characterized by the fact that the axial leaves aspirator, driven by an external rear hydraulic or electric motor, conveys the torn foliage into the inter-row by means of a flow conveyor and a removable hood designed to improve the efficiency and directing the flow. 7) Defoliation device characterized by a lowered area of the vertical shield around the suction orifice suitable for housing and easy fixing from the outside of the various components such as: the internal conveyor position them in depth, the external protection grids suitable for the specific intervention or, after the conveyor has been retracted, the comedians with the tear-off roller group for early interventions. 8) Removable canopy topping device (s) prior to defoliation, each driven by a hydraulic or electric motor mounted on a horizontal cross slide integral with the frame of the defoliator unit, in front of the shield, (fig. 1) adapted to be positioned with respect to it and fixed in relation to the conditions of the canopy and to be removed when not necessary, after disconnecting the quick feeding couplings. 9) Tool set up for single-oriented defoliation, therefore with the units hanging from rotating rods (see R. 1, 4; figs. 6, 7, 8) characterized by the fact that the reversal of the vehicle is perceived by a sensor mechanical, electrical or electromagnetic, also known, connected to the steering of the vehicle which, when turning on the exits from the system, by means of the platform's programmable electronic control unit: activates / deactivates the operating devices present in that set-up, activates the jacks with the racks that make both units rotate by 180 °, reposition the right and left arms of the platform appropriately sequentially, freeing the operator from these tasks. 10) Bifilar defoliator tool in single-sided version as per the preceding claims characterized by including similarly to R. 9 safety devices also known, such as solenoid valves which allow the powering of the motors of the operating units, therefore their operation, only: when the means advances as it obtains the consent from a transmission component connected to the forward motion, or with the control in the `` test '' position from a standstill, i.e. with the gearbox in neutral and with the operator seated (electric sensor on the seat ) for the purpose of active protection of persons. Table III AUTOMATISMS IN VITICULTURE: links between considered situations / sensors / actuators Situations A) absence / presence of the crown C) crown x defense / fertilization conditions M) Single-oriented interventions (e.g. North side defogl) S) Accident prevention safety devices 0) Obstacles in the interflla [signal / stop] 1) Slope of the land H) Working height [manual only] L) Inter-row width / s of intervention S) Crown thickness [manual only] T) Transversal inclination of drums K) Crown / stem asymmetries: inversion of the direction of travel SENSORS ACTUATORS (P = position; F = operation) 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 1 VIEW of the operator Manual controls jacks and / or X or signaling electromechanical sensors X X (X) (X) X - (X) (X s. Automatic L) Laser later. (single / double) Jacks or electromech. platform P T) Laser later. differ. Jacks or electromech. joints P 1) Jacks on lifting inclinometers - P P transverse / longitudinal parallelogram; electromech. A) Camera Solenoid valves feed. air and liquids F (simpl / tridlm) timer programm. PLC K) Steering contact progr jacks / electromech. P. repositioning GEOM D <I> BASE POS <I> Z <I> ON .. id rotation 180 ° uni <(I) tll> operating tà H <L> S o <,,>. P Jacks programmed for FST crown <I> â – ¡<I> ROOM FROM <I> U <â– â–> Martin, in opposition to P shoot remover RASVERSAL <I I> NCL <I> NAZ T. C) optical Variation of product quantity dispensed A DRUM <I> CH <I> OM = (F) Rotation only if it advances; only with S) Mechanics NAZ <L> NGO <I> TUD <I> NCL <I> .. command entered <hi> GROUND <(> R <itt)> noo c-D) Electric Unit holder rods inclination AZ TRANSVERSE <LI I> NC <LI> N. Z) Company maps of fetility, Dosage variation (SOIL change <(ii)> s or <p> if diseases, grassing + speed progression, opening regulation) ZA PRESENCE </> ASSEN CH <I> OMA AS <I> MMETR <I> E MA <F> UST <I> CH <I> O -à € BNAMENT <I> A <I> T WITH AB <I> RE D <I> VERSE AS <I> MMET <I I> NTERVENT <I> ENTAT <I> MONOR <I à €> SCARS <I> T CH <I> OMA