JP2000106774A - Harvesting device - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a harvesting device not using human hands, capable of automatically conveying a cultivating bar to a harvesting working stand, fixing and drawing out a plate, and harvesting crops. SOLUTION: This harvesting device is provided by conveying a cultivating bar 1 loaded with a crop in its harvesting period to a prescribed position with a transporting conveyer 2, then holding the edge of a plate 4 with a drawing out chuck 5 supported by a belt 6 for drawing it to left side, and at this time, actuating a conveyer 11, a root gripping conveyer 12 and a cutter blade 13 and cutting the roots of crops conveyed successively with the cutter blade 13. The crops of which roots are cut, are transferred successively to a crop- transporting conveyer 21, and conveyed to another treatment position e.g. a packaging position. On the one hand, the drawing out chuck 5 is progressed to further left through the inside of an empty cultivating bar 32 waiting on an empty cultivating bar-transporting conveyer 31, while holding the plate 4. As a result, the plate 4 is automatically housed in a prescribed position in the empty cultivating bar 32.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

The present invention relates to a harvesting device,
In particular, the present invention relates to a harvesting device in hydroponic cultivation capable of automatically harvesting a crop cultivated in a cultivation bar that performs cultivation while holding a culture medium.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art The structure of a conventional harvesting apparatus using a cultivation bar system will be described with reference to FIG. When it is time to grow and harvest the crop in a location not shown, the cultivation bars 51 holding the crop in a row are carried and fixed on the harvesting worktable 52 by hand. Next, a plate 53 which is detachably held in the cultivation bar 51 and holds a culture medium is provided.
Is extracted from the cultivation bar 51 together with the crop by the plate extracting device 54. The plate extracting device 54 includes:
A belt and a winding device for winding the belt; a locking device attached to the end of the belt is locked to a locking portion provided at an end of the plate 53; By operating the apparatus manually or electrically, the plate 53 can be
Can be extracted from

When the plate 53 is pulled out from the cultivation bar 51 by the plate pulling device 54, the plate 53 is pulled out.
The crop grown above is transported to a cutting blade 55 provided between the cultivation bar 51 and the plate pulling device 54. Since the cutting blade 55 is arranged at a position for cutting the root of the crop, when the crop is conveyed together with the plate 53, the cutting blade successively cuts the root of the crop. The crops whose roots have been cut are manually transferred to a conveyor device (not shown), and further conveyed to a packaging processing unit.

[0004] When the harvesting of the crop of one cultivation bar is completed, the cultivation bar 51 and the pulled-out plate 53 are manually removed from the harvesting work table 52 and the plate pulling-out device 54, respectively. The cultivation bar is manually held and fixed on the harvesting worktable 52, and the same operation as described above is repeated.

[0005]

However, in the above-mentioned conventional harvesting apparatus, since the cultivation bar 51 is manually carried on the harvesting worktable 52, the working efficiency is poor and the burden on the worker is large. There was a problem. Also,
When the size of the cultivation bar 51 is increased and the crop is increased, the weight of the two is increased, and there is a problem that it is difficult to carry the cultivation bar 31 on the harvesting worktable 52 by manual operation. Furthermore, these problems make it difficult to increase the number of cultivation bars and increase the yield of crops.

[0006] An object of the present invention is to eliminate the above-mentioned problems of the conventional apparatus, automatically transport and fix the cultivation bar to the harvesting work table without using humans, and pull out the plate.
An object of the present invention is to provide a harvesting device capable of harvesting a crop.

[0007]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION In order to achieve the above object, the present invention provides a harvesting apparatus for harvesting a crop grown by hydroponics, wherein the plate in which the crops are grown in a row is detachably supported. Conveyor means for holding a cultivation bar at a predetermined position, plate extracting means for extracting the plate from the cultivation bar, and root cutting means for cutting the roots of the crop mounted on the extracted plate. There is a first feature.

[0008] A second feature is that a root holding means for holding a root of a crop mounted on the pulled-out plate is provided. And a second conveyor means on which an empty cultivation bar from which the plate has been extracted is placed. The plate extracted by the plate extraction means is inserted into the empty cultivation bar during the extraction process. There is a third feature in that the cultivation bar from which the plate has been pulled out is transferred from the first conveyor means to the second conveyor means.

According to the first aspect of the present invention, it is possible to continuously harvest crops, and according to the second aspect, it is possible to accurately perform root cutting of crops. Also,
According to the third and fourth features, it is possible to automatically pull out the plate from the cultivation bar, transport the empty cultivation bar from which the plate has been pulled out, and insert the plate into the empty cultivation bar. .

[0010]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS The present invention will be described below in detail with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is a schematic side view of an embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 2 is a top view thereof. When the crop grows in the culture medium in the cultivation bar 1 and the harvest time comes, the cultivation bar 1 is sent to the harvesting device by the transport conveyor 2. When the cultivation bar 1 comes to a predetermined position, the transport conveyor 2 stops, and the cultivation bar fixing cylinder 3 operates to hold the cultivation bar 1 from both sides. Thereby, the cultivation bar 1 is fixed to the cultivation bar fixing cylinder 3.

In front of the cultivation bar 1 in the longitudinal direction, there are provided a plate extracting device for extracting the plate 4 slidably inserted into the cultivation bar 1 from the cultivation bar 1 and a crop root cutting device. Have been. The plate pulling device includes a pulling chuck 5 having a gripper at a lower end of a vertically extending shaft for gripping an end of the plate 4, and a belt 6 connected to the upper end of the pulling chuck 5 and having the other end reciprocating.
And a horizontal shaft 7 coupled to the horizontal shaft 7. When the cultivation bar 1 is fixed to the cultivation bar fixing cylinder 3, the extraction chuck 5 is carried toward the cultivation bar 1 by the belt 6 and grips the end of the plate 5. Thereafter, the pulling chuck 5 is moved by the belt 6 to the left in the figure. Then, the plate 4 is pulled out from the cultivation bar 1 as shown in a state where the grown vegetables are put on the plate 4. Incidentally, reference numeral 6a in FIG.

Next, the crop root cutting device comprises a crop conveying conveyor 11 for conveying the crops from which the roots have been cut, and a root holding conveyor 12 held by the pulled-out plate 4.
And a cutter blade 13 provided on the root holding conveyor 12 at a position corresponding to the root of the crop.

The crop conveyor 11 comprises at least two belts 11a and 11b opposed to each other with a space larger than the width of the plate 4. 11c and 11d are motors for driving the belts 11a and 11b.

As shown in FIG. 2, the root holding conveyor 12 is composed of two belts 12a and 12b facing each other and rotating in the directions of arrows a and b.
The roots of the crop are gripped at the opposing positions of 2a and 12b.
The cutter blade 13 is composed of two disk-shaped blades 13a and 13b that rotate in opposite directions. The belts 12a and 12b and the disc-shaped blades 13a and 13b
As will be apparent from the following description, the blades can be moved in directions away from each other by operating the cutter blade unit moving cylinder 14. Note that 15
Is a root holding conveyor drive motor for driving the root holding conveyor 12, and 16 is a cutter blade motor for driving the cutter blade 13.

A crop conveyor 21 is provided in front of the crop conveyor 11 so as to convey the root-cut crops to another processing position, for example, a packaging processing unit. The harvest conveyor 21 is composed of two belts 21a and 21b having a space in the center. The space is formed to be at least larger than the width of the cultivation bar 1 in the short direction.

An empty cultivation bar conveyor 31 is provided further from the central part of the length of the harvest conveyor 21 in the longitudinal direction of the plate 4 in the traveling direction of the plate 4. The empty cultivation bar 3 from which the plate 4 has been removed is placed on the empty cultivation bar transport conveyor 31.
As described later, the cultivation bar fixing cylinder 33 is transferred from the cultivation bar transport conveyor 2 and reaches a predetermined position.
Operates and is temporarily fixed. When the plate 4 is inserted into the empty cultivation bar 32 in the fixed state, the cultivation bar fixing cylinder 33 releases the fixing.
As a result, the cultivation bar 32 is automatically transported by the empty cultivation bar transport conveyor 31 to the next processing position, which is the planting position of the culture medium.

Here, the configuration of the cultivation bar 1 and the plate 4 will be described with reference to FIG. 3 and FIG. FIG.
Is a perspective view of the cultivation bar 1, and FIG. 4 is a sectional view taken along line AA 'of FIG. As shown, the cultivation bar 1 has a plate supporting portion 1a at an upper portion thereof and a medium supporting protrusion 1b at a central portion of a bottom surface thereof. On the other hand, the plate 4 has a grip portion 4a gripped by the pull-out chuck 5 formed at one end thereof, and a medium accommodation hole 4b accommodating the medium 41. A plurality of the medium receiving holes 4b are provided on the plate 4 at substantially equal intervals. Reference numeral 42 in FIG. 4 indicates a crop grown on the medium 41.

Next, a specific example of the crop root cutting apparatus will be described with reference to FIGS. FIG. 5 is a sectional view taken along the line BB ′ of FIG. In these drawings, the same reference numerals as those in FIG. 2 indicate the same or equivalent components.

As shown in FIG. 5, the cutter blade 13
a, Root gripping conveyor 12a and cutter blade motor 16a
Forms one cutter blade unit, and the cutter blade 13b,
The root holding conveyor 12b and the cutter blade motor 16b constitute the other cutter blade unit. The two cutter blade units are configured to be able to contact and separate by the action of the cutter blade unit driving cylinders 14a and 14b. FIG. 5 shows a state in which the two cutter blade units are approached, and FIG. 6 shows a state in which the two cutter blade units are separated. The separation width in FIG. 6 is configured to be larger than the width of the cultivation bar 1 in the short direction.

Next, the operation of this embodiment will be described with reference to FIGS.
This will be described with reference to FIGS. 7, 8, 9, and 10. FIG. 7 and 8 show a side view and a top view when the pulling chuck 5 is further moved to the left from the state of FIG. 1, and FIGS. 9 and 10 show the cultivation bar emptied. The side view and the top view at the time of moving 1 from the cultivation bar conveyance conveyor 2 to the empty cultivation bar conveyance conveyor 31 are shown. 7 to 10
1 and 2 indicate the same or equivalent.

First, as shown in FIG. 1 and FIG. 2, when the cultivation bar 1 on which the crops in the harvesting season have been loaded is transported to a predetermined position by the conveyor 2, the cultivation bar fixing cylinder is set. 3 operates to fix the cultivation bar 1. Next, the pull-out chuck 5 supported by the belt 6 is carried to the position of the grip 4a (see FIG. 3) of the plate 4, and grips one end of the plate 4. Next, the belt 6
Is driven clockwise to move the extraction chuck 5 to the left, and the crop transport conveyor 11, the root holding conveyor 12, and the cutter blade 13 operate. Then, the crop held on the plate 4 is sequentially conveyed from the cultivation bar 1 to the root holding conveyor 12 and the cutter blade 13, and the root is held by the root holding conveyor 12 by the cutter blade 13. The root is cut off.

When the above operation is further advanced, as shown in FIG. 7, the crops whose roots have been cut are sequentially transferred to the harvesting / conveying conveyor 21 and conveyed to another processing position, for example, a packaging position. On the other hand, the extraction chuck 5 is further advanced to the left while holding the plate 4 through the empty cultivation bar 32 waiting on the empty cultivation bar transport conveyor 31. At this time, the plate 4 moves on the plate supporting portion 1a of the empty cultivation bar 32 (see FIG. 3).

When this operation is further advanced, the plate 4 is further pulled out from the cultivation bar 1, and the crops are conveyed one after another on the harvest conveyance conveyor 21. By changing the transport speed of the crop transport conveyor 11 and the harvest transport conveyor 21, the transport interval of the harvested crop can be changed,
For example, it is possible to easily perform a packaging process, which is a subsequent process of the harvesting and conveying conveyor 21, for example. Further, the plate 4 is inserted deeply into the empty cultivation bar 32.

In this way, the last crop is cut off, and after a while, the plate 4 is inserted into the empty cultivation bar 32 at a fixed position. At this time, since the pulling chuck 5 releases the grip of the plate 4, the plate 4 is set at a fixed position in the empty cultivation bar 32. After releasing one end of the plate 4, the pulling chuck 5 starts to return to the original position. Further, the fixing of the empty cultivation bar 32 is released, and the empty cultivation bar transport conveyor 31 starts to rotate counterclockwise. Therefore, the empty cultivation bar 32 is transported to the left.

After or after the above operation, the root gripping conveyor 1 is operated by the action of the cutter blade unit driving cylinders 14a and 14b described with reference to FIGS.
The 2a, 12b and the cutter blades 13a, 13b are moved in a direction away from each other. By this movement, the root holding conveyors 12a and 12b and the cutter blades 13a and 13b are retracted below the crop transport conveyors 11a and 11b. Further, the cultivation bar fixing cylinder 3 releases the fixation of the cultivation bar 1, and the conveyor 2 starts rotating counterclockwise. For this reason, the cultivation bar 1 from which the plate 4 is pulled out is the root holding conveyor 12a retracted below the crop transport conveyors 11a and 11b, and the cutter blade 13a.
And between the root holding conveyor 12b and the cutter blade 13b, and are transported onto the empty cultivation bar transport conveyor 31.

The cultivation bar 1 is an empty cultivation bar conveyor 3
When the empty cultivation bar transport conveyor 31 is conveyed to the predetermined position on the empty cultivation bar transport conveyor 31, the drive of the empty cultivation bar transport conveyor 31 is stopped, and the cultivation bar fixing cylinder 33 is operated. Fixed. At this time, the cultivation bar 1 on which the next crop to be harvested is loaded is sent to the harvesting device by the conveyor 2. When the cultivation bar 1 comes to a predetermined position, the conveyor 2 stops and the cultivation bar fixing cylinder 3 operates to hold the cultivation bar 1 from both sides.

With the above, one cycle of the operation of the harvesting device is completed, and the operation of the next cycle is started. As mentioned above,
According to the present embodiment, the harvesting device can be automatically operated without manual intervention.

[0028]

As is apparent from the above description, according to the present invention, a cultivation bar having plates on which crops are grown in a row is automatically conveyed to a predetermined position by a conveyor device. Since the plate can be automatically pulled out and the root of the crop can be automatically cut,
There is an effect that crops can be harvested without human intervention.

Further, the root cutting is performed while holding the root, so that the root can be cut cleanly and reliably.
In addition, there is an effect that the pulling out of the plate from the cultivation bar, the conveyance of the cultivation bar emptied by the pulling to a predetermined position, and the insertion of the plate into the empty cultivation bar can be performed automatically.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a side view of an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a top view of FIG.

FIG. 3 is a perspective view of an example of a cultivation bar.

FIG. 4 is a sectional view taken along line AA ′ of FIG. 3;

FIG. 5 is a cross-sectional view of the crop root cutting device (BB in FIG. 1);
FIG.

FIG. 6 is a diagram showing one operation mode of FIG. 5;

FIG. 7 is a side view illustrating the operation of the embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 8 is a top view of FIG. 7;

FIG. 9 is a side view illustrating the operation of the embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 10 is a top view of FIG. 9;

FIG. 11 is an explanatory diagram of a conventional device.

[Explanation of symbols]

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 ... Cultivation bar, 2 ... Conveyor conveyor, 3 ... Cultivation bar fixing cylinder, 4 ... Plate, 5 ... Extraction chuck, 6 ... Belt, 7 ... Horizontal shaft, 11 ... Crop conveyance conveyor, 12
... Root grasping conveyor, 13 ... Cutter blade, 14 ... Unit moving cylinder, 15 ... Root grasping conveyor drive motor, 16
... Cutter blade motor, 21 ... Harvesting conveyor, 31 ... Empty cultivation bar conveyor, 32 ... Empty cultivation bar 32.

 ──────────────────────────────────────────────────続 き Continued on the front page (72) Inventor Mitsuhisa Nakahara 1-1-10 Takagise Higashi, Saga City, Saga Prefecture Inside Kyushu Electric Power Company (72) Inventor Takashi I. 4--19 Shimizu Minami-ku, Fukuoka City, Fukuoka Prefecture No. 18 Kyushu Electric Manufacturing Co., Ltd. (72) Inventor Yoshihiro Ikeda 4-19-18 Shimizu Minami-ku, Fukuoka City, Fukuoka Prefecture

Claims (8)

[Claims] 1. A harvesting device for harvesting crops grown by hydroponics, comprising: a conveyor means for holding a cultivation bar at a predetermined position for supporting a plate on which the crops are grown in a row and detachably; A harvesting apparatus comprising: plate extracting means for extracting the plate; and root cutting means for cutting the root of the crop mounted on the extracted plate, so that the crop can be continuously harvested. . 2. The harvesting device according to claim 1, further comprising a root holding means for holding a root of a crop mounted on the extracted plate, wherein the root cutting means has a root held by the root holding means. A harvesting device characterized in that the harvester is cut. 3. The harvesting device according to claim 2, wherein said root holding means is a pair of belt conveyors arranged close to each other. 4. The harvesting device according to claim 1, wherein said root cutting means is formed by a pair of blades. 5. The harvesting device according to claim 3, wherein the pair of belt conveyors and blades are movable in a direction perpendicular to a direction in which the plate is pulled out. 6. The harvesting apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising a transporting means for transporting the crops whose roots have been cut, wherein the transporting means is divided into a plurality of parts, and the transporting speed of each transporting means is changed. A harvesting device characterized by the following. 7. A harvesting device for harvesting crops grown by hydroponics, comprising: a first conveyor means for holding a cultivation bar at a predetermined position for supporting a plate on which the crops are grown in a row so that the plates can be inserted and removed; A plate extracting means for extracting the plate from the cultivation bar, and a second cultivation bar on which an empty cultivation bar from which the plate has been extracted is placed.
A harvesting device, comprising: a conveyor drawn out by the plate pulling-out means, wherein the plate pulled out by the plate pulling-out means is inserted into the empty cultivation bar in the drawing-out process. 8. The harvesting apparatus according to claim 7, wherein the cultivation bar from which the plate has been pulled is transferred from the first conveyor means to the second conveyor means.