JP2001069852A - Seedling-pruning unit - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a seedling-pruning unit capable of performing pruning work mechanically, making the work sure, and improved in accuracy of the work. SOLUTION: This seedling-pruning unit comprises a seedling container- transporting platform (2) for transporting seedling containers (1) and a cutting frame (11) which has a cutting blade (14) and a rotating brush (25), and is further equipped with pairs of vertical rack boards (39) of which the each pair comprises a left-hand rack board and a right-hand rack board on both the front and back sides so as to be movable in a vertical direction, wherein pinion gears (40) of which the each meshes with each of the rack board (39) are rotated by bevel gears (42, 43) which are driven by a single handle (45) so that the rack boards (39) mover vertically to control the height of the cutting frame (11).

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

The present invention relates to a seedling pruning apparatus for verbena, petunia, azalea and the like.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally known Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. Hei 10-309127 discloses a seedling raising container transfer table having a transfer means for transferring a seedling raising container in which seedlings are raised to such an extent that several leaves are produced, from a starting end to an end. There is described a seedling pruning device comprising a cutting blade provided at a position above the seedling raising container transfer stand where the seedling can be cut.

[0003]

However, the above-mentioned known example has a problem that it cannot be reliably cut because it has a configuration in which only a cutting blade is provided. That is, since the seedlings escape when hitting the cutting blade, the reliability decreases, and in particular, in the case of seedlings having creeping properties such as verbena or petunia, etc., since they grow randomly in all directions in the seedling container, There is a problem that if the sheet passes below the cutting blade as it is, not only the tip but also the middle part is cut. Further, a configuration in which the cutting blade is moved up and down is disclosed, but the structure is complicated. The present invention enables various pruning operations.

[0004]

The object of the present invention is to mechanize the pruning operation, to ensure the operation, and to improve the operation accuracy.

[0005]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION According to the present invention, there is provided a nursery container transfer system comprising a transfer belt 4 for transferring a seedling container 1 from which a few leaves have been formed and seedlings A have been raised to such an extent that pruning is required. The table 2, a circular cutting blade 14 having a vertical axis, which is provided at a position above the seedling A being transferred, and an arc shape corresponding to the tip movement trajectory of the cutting blade 14 on the front side in the transfer direction of the cutting blade 14. A cutting section 10 having a rotating brush 25 provided thereon. The cutting section 10 attaches the cutting blade 14, the cutting motor 12, the rotating brush 25 and the brush motor 28 to the cutting section frame 11, and A pair of left and right rack plates 39 having upper and lower rack grooves 38 are arranged in front and rear on 11, and a pinion gear 40 is meshed with the rack grooves 38 of each rack plate 39. Respectively fixed to the mounting shaft 41 in the lateral direction that JikuSo the frame 37, the bevel gear 4 of the mounting shaft 41
The bevel gear 43 of the handle shaft 44 of the handle 45 is meshed with the handle 2, and each bevel gear 43 is rotated by one handle 45 so as to move up and down. The present invention relates to the cutting unit frame 11.
Is a seedling pruning device formed into a rectangular frame shape in plan view by at least the front and rear plates 35 and the left and right plates 36.
The present invention relates to a seedling raising container transfer table 2 having a transfer belt 4 for transferring a seedling raising container 1 in which several leaves are generated and a seedling A is raised to a necessary degree, from a start end to a terminal end; A cutting section having a circular cutting blade 14 provided in a position above the vertical axis A and a rotating brush 25 provided in an arc shape corresponding to the tip movement locus of the cutting blade 14 on the front side in the transport direction of the cutting blade 14. The transfer belt 4 is provided with a front roller 53 and a rear roller 54 mounted on the transfer table frame 22 and is wrapped around the front roller 53 and the rear roller 54 to form a front roller 53 and a rear roller. A seedling pruning device is provided in which a pair of left and right guide rollers 55 pressing downward on the left and right sides of the transfer belt 4 abut on the upper surface of the lower belt of the transfer belt 4 at a position intermediate with the transfer belt 54.

[0006]

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS An embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. Reference numeral 1 denotes a cell tray having a large number of pots connected in series or a plastic pot called a plastic pot placed vertically and horizontally on a mounting frame. A seedling container made of a synthetic resin in a drawer shape in which an upright wall is provided around a bottom plate and an upper surface is opened, and a cultivation soil selected and configured as appropriate is supplied to the seedling raising container 1. The seedlings A are seeded and sprouted to produce seedlings A. A few leaves are formed, and the seedlings are grown to an appropriate state of a pinch operation for cutting the tips, and the tips of the seedlings A are cut. The pinch operation is a kind of pruning operation in which the tip of the seedling A is cut to increase the number of subsequent budding.

[0007] Numeral 2 is a seedling container transfer table for horizontally feeding the seedling container 1 that has grown to the seedling A, provided with a transfer belt 4 and mounted on the floor by supporting legs 5 provided at desired positions. A cutting unit 10 is provided on the nursery container transfer table 2. Reference numeral 11 denotes a cutting section frame of the cutting section 10. A cutting motor 12 is provided at the center of the cutting section frame 11.
The cutting blade 14 is attached to the lower end of the vertical output shaft 13. The cutting blade 14 is formed in a thin disk shape using a rust-free member such as stainless steel, and fixes the central portion thereof. The cutting blades 14 are arranged at predetermined intervals above the moving seedling raising container 1, and the cutting trajectory of the seedling A in the seedling raising container 1 is linear when viewed from above in relation to the width of the seedling raising container 1. To a diameter close to The cutting blade 14 is inclined so that the rear side in the transfer direction of the seedling raising container 1 is lower and the front side is higher, so that the tip of the seedling A can be cut.

On the upper surface of the cutting blade 14, the cutting blade 1
There is provided a guide body 15 for guiding the cutting waste cut by 4 to the side. The guide body 15 is provided on the rear side of the output shaft 13 so as to intersect with the transfer direction of the seedling raising container 1, and is provided at the front side as it is connected to the abutment section 16 and reaches the side. The portion 17 is formed. On the diagonally rear side at a predetermined distance from the abutting part 16, there is provided the other-side guide body 19 that forms an extraction passage 18 in a pair with the diagonal part 17. The removal passage 18 extends laterally from the cutting blade 14, and a recovery frame 20 is provided at the end of the removal passage 18. The lower surface of the collection frame 20 is opened, and the lower end of the collection frame 20 is connected to the upper end of a cylindrical member 21 formed of a flexible member such as vinyl.
Placing a collecting basket or the like below the bottom 1 is preferable because cutting waste can be collected. In this case, since the cutting blade 14 is considerably larger than the lateral width of the seedling raising container 1, the diameter thereof is larger than the horizontal width of the transfer frame 22 of the seedling raising container transfer stand 2. 20 is a transfer frame 22
And does not interfere with the transfer of the seedling raising container 1.

A rotating brush 25 is provided on the rear side (front side) of the cutting blade 14. The rotary brush 25 is provided along the rear outer peripheral edge of the cutting blade 14 by bending it into an arc in plan view. That is, a brush 27 is implanted radially in the bendable flexible shaft member 26, and the rotation of the brush motor 28 is directly or indirectly input to one end of the flexible shaft member 26, and the other end of the flexible shaft member 26 is Is attached to the bearing 29 and is driven to rotate forward on the contact surface (lower surface) with the seedling A. Brush motor 28 and bearing 2
9 is provided on the cutting portion frame 11 and is attached to the cutting blade 14 so that the position thereof can be adjusted in the front-rear direction and the vertical direction. That is, a pair of mounting plates 30 are mounted on the cutting portion frame 11 so as to be position-adjustable in one of the front and rear and up and down directions.
8 and the bearing 29 may be mounted on the other side in the front-back or up-down direction so as to be freely adjustable.
The mounting mechanism for adjusting the position of the bearing 29 and the bearing 29 is optional.

The rotating brush 25 aligns the seedlings A randomly extending in all directions in the seedling growing container 1 toward the cutting blade 14, and in particular, verbena (VERBEN).
In the case of seedling A having creeping properties, such as A) and petunia, it is expected that the seedling A can be erected and cut off only its tip. The cutting motor 12 and the brush motor 28 are variable speed motors, and the rotational speed can be freely adjusted to improve the accuracy of the cutting operation. However, the cutting motor cutting motor 12 and the brush motor 28 are If the rotation speed is constant and the transfer speed of the seedling raising container 1 is variable, only one variable speed motor is required, and the cost is reduced. Thus, the cutting section frame 11 is formed into a rectangular frame shape in plan view by at least the front and rear plates 35 and the left and right plates 36, and the cutting motor 12, the rotating brush 25 and the brush motor 28 are attached to the cutting section frame 11, Cutting section frame 11
Is mounted on a mounting frame 37 provided on the seedling raising container transfer table 2 so as to be vertically adjustable.

A pair of left and right rack plates 39 having upper and lower rack grooves 38 are fixed to the cutting frame 11, and a pinion gear 40 is engaged with each of the rack grooves 38.
The pinion gear 40 is fixed to a mounting shaft 41 in the left-right direction, and the mounting shaft 41 is mounted on the pair of front and rear mounting frames 37 at both ends. A bevel gear 42 is fixed to one of the left and right of each of the mounting shafts 41, a bevel gear 43 is engaged with each bevel gear 42, and the bevel gear 43 is
4 and a handle 45 is fixed to one of the front and rear sides of the handle shaft 44. A vertical guide hole 46 is formed in the rack plate 39, a left and right mounting shaft 47 is passed through the left and right guide holes 46, and a screw is provided at one end of the mounting shaft 47 where the handle 45 is provided. Forming a groove 48,
A screw hole (not shown) of the dial 49 is screwed into the screw groove 48, the other end side is protruded sideward from the mounting frame 37, and the contact body 50 is fixed to the protruding portion by welding or the like. The contact body 50 is attached to the attachment frame 37 by pins 51. Therefore, when the dial 49 is turned in the tightening direction, the mounting shaft 47 is pulled by the action of the screw hole and the screw groove 48 of the dial 49, and the mounting shaft 47 pulls the contact body 50 and the dial 49 and the contact body 50 To fix the cutting portion frame 11 to the mounting frame 37 at its height position. On the other hand, when the dial 49 is loosened, the handle 45 is turned to move the cutting portion frame 11 up and down by the action of the pinion gear 40 and the rack groove 38.

A cylindrical member 52 is fitted around the outer periphery of the mounting shaft 47 between the left and right rack plates 39,
The gap between the left and right rack plates 39 when tightening is maintained at a predetermined interval. Thus, the transfer belt 4 has a front roller 53 and a rear roller 54 mounted on the transfer table frame 22, and is wrapped around the front roller 53 and the rear roller 54. A guide roller 55 is brought into contact with the upper surface of the lower belt of the transfer belt 4 at an intermediate position between the front roller 53 and the rear roller 54. A pair of guide rollers 55 is provided on the left and right sides so as to push down the left and right sides of the transfer belt 4 and raise the center side. 56 is the transfer belt 4
A scraper 57 for removing foreign matter, which is in contact with the inner surface of the container, is a guide for transferring the seedling raising container 1.

[0013]

Next, the operation will be described. With the above configuration, several leaves are formed at the starting end of the nursery container transfer table 2 to about 5 to 25 cm.
When the seedling container 1 in which the seedlings A are raised to a predetermined size to be pruned is supplied, the seedlings A are transferred by the transfer belt 4 of the seedling transfer container transfer stand 2 and the tip (upper end) of the seedlings A of the seedling container 1 is rotated by a cutting blade. The seedlings A in the seedling raising container 1 are cut and transferred as they are, and are taken out as they are. When the seedlings are raised again, the tips are cut off, so that a large number of buds appear and the number of flowers increases, thereby improving the commercial value. In this case, a rotating brush 25 for driving rotation is provided on the rear side (front side) of the cutting blade 14, and the rotating brush 25 rotates forward on the contact surface (lower surface) with the seedling A, so that the seedling A is cut. It is scraped toward the blade 14. Therefore, the seedling A is cut by the cutting blade 14 before the seedling A escapes by the rotating brush 25.

Particularly, in the case of the seedling A having creeping properties, such as verbena or petunia, etc., it extends randomly in all directions in the seedling growing container 1. Not only that, but also the middle part is cut, but since the rotating brush 25 is rotated and scraped in front of the cutting blade 14, the seedling A is erected, and
Since the tips are aligned toward the cutting blade 14, the cutting is surely performed. Thus, the cutting blade 14 is formed in a thin disk shape and has a diameter such that the cutting trajectory is as linear as possible when viewed from above, and the rotating brush 25 applies a brush 27 to the bendable flexible shaft member 26 in a radial direction. The rotating brush 25 can be arranged in a plane shape corresponding to the circular cutting trajectory of the cutting blade 14, and any seedling A in the seedling raising container 1 can be formed on the cutting blade 14 by the rotating brush 25. It is scraped toward and can be cut reliably. In this case, since the rotating brush 25 is attached to the cutting blade 14 so that the position thereof can be adjusted in the front-rear direction and the vertical direction, the positional relationship with the cutting blade 14 is adjusted according to the height of the seedling A and the degree of crawling. For example, when the degree of crawling is high, the rotating brush 25 can be slightly lowered and separated from the cutting blade 14 to be able to rake while standing up.

The cutting waste cut by the cutting blade 14 rides on the cutting blade 14, is guided by the guide body 15 and the other-side guide body 19, passes through the take-out passage 18, and recovers the end of the take-out passage 18. Collected in the frame 20. The cutting frame 12, the cutting motor 12, the rotating brush 25, and the brush motor 28 are attached to the cutting frame 11. The cutting frame 11 has a pair of left and right rack plates 39 arranged side by side. Upper and lower rack grooves 38 are provided on the front and rear edges, and the pinion gears 40 are engaged with the respective rack grooves 38. Therefore, when the respective pinion gears 40 are turned, the cutting section frame 11 moves up and down with respect to the mounting frame 37, and the cutting is performed. The height position of the blade 14 and the rotating brush 25 can be adjusted to a desired height, and even the seedling raising containers 1 having different heights or the seedlings A having different growth degrees can be used.
In this case, the pinion gear 40 is attached to the mounting shaft 4 in the left-right direction.
1, the mounting shaft 41 is mounted on the mounting frame 37 at both ends, and a bevel gear 42 is fixed to one of the right and left of each mounting shaft 41, and a bevel gear 43 is engaged with each bevel gear 42, Reference numeral 43 is fixed to the handle shaft 44, and the handle 45 is fixed to one of the front and rear sides of the handle shaft 44. When the handle 45 is turned to rotate the handle shaft 44, the handle 43 is arranged in front of and behind the handle shaft 44. The bevel gears 43 rotate the bevel gears 42, respectively, and the bevel gears 42 rotate the mounting shafts 41 arranged side by side at once, so that the cutting section frame 11 simply rotates the handle 45, and the front, rear, left and right sides of the cutting section frame 11 are rotated. Raise and lower the whole part evenly.

A vertical guide hole 46 is formed in the rack plate 39, and a left and right mounting shaft 47 is passed through the left and right guide holes 46.
A thread groove 48 is formed on one end side where the screw groove 5 is provided.
A screw hole (not shown) of the dial 49 is screwed into the fitting frame 37, the other end of the dial 49 projects laterally from the mounting frame 37, and the contact body 50 is fixed to the projecting portion by welding or the like. When the dial 49 is turned in the tightening direction, the mounting shaft 47 pulls the contact body 50 by the action of the screw groove 48 of the mounting shaft 47 and the screw hole of the dial 49, and the cut portion frame 11 is dialed at its height position. 49 and the abutment body 50, and is fixed to the mounting frame 37 at the height position.
When the dial 49 is loosened, the handle 45 is turned to move the cutting portion frame 11 up and down by the action of the pinion gear 40 and the rack groove 38. Further, since the abutment body 50 is attached to the attachment frame 37 by the pins 51, when the dial 49 is turned, the attachment shaft 47 does not rotate together with the dial 49, and the dial 49 securely moves the attachment shaft 47 in the axial direction. To fix and release the cutting section frame 11.

Thus, the transfer belt 4 is provided with the front roller 53 and the rear roller 54 mounted on the transfer table frame 22 and wrapped around the front roller 53 and the rear roller 54. A pair of left and right guide rollers 55 pressing downward on the left and right sides of the transfer belt 4 abut on the upper surface of the lower belt of the transfer belt 4 at an intermediate position with the side roller 54, so that the lower side moves. The upper surface of the transfer belt 4 is in sliding contact with the foreign matter removing scraper 56 to remove foreign matter,
Next, the moving transport belt 4 is deformed so that the center side is higher and the left and right sides are lower toward the guide roller 55, so that even if foreign matter such as cutting chips is placed on the upper surface of the transport belt 4, the transport belt 4 is applied to the front roller 53. There is no foreign matter on the transfer belt 4 after falling due to the inclination. Therefore, the transfer belt 4 moves and rotates smoothly, and the transfer of the seedling raising container 1 can be reliably performed.

[0018]

According to the present invention, a seedling raising container transfer table 2 having a transfer belt 4 for transferring a seedling raising container 1 in which several leaves are generated and seedlings A are raised to a necessary degree from the start end to the end end, A circular cutting blade 14 with a vertical axis rotating provided at a position above the seedling A in the middle and a rotating brush 25 provided in an arc shape corresponding to the tip movement locus of the cutting blade 14 on the front side in the transfer direction of the cutting blade 14. Having a cutting portion 10
Are the cutting blade 14, the cutting motor 12, the rotating brush 2
5 and the brush motor 28 are attached to the cutting frame 11, and a pair of left and right rack plates 39 having upper and lower rack grooves 38 are arranged in front and rear of the cutting frame 11. Engages with a pinion gear 40, and the pinion gear 40 is fixed to each of left and right mounting shafts 41 mounted on a mounting frame 37 of the seedling raising container transfer stand 2. Since the bevel gears 43 are configured to mesh with each other and each bevel gear 43 is rotated by one handle 45 so as to move up and down, the height of the cutting portion 10 can be adjusted with a simple configuration. In the present invention, since the cutting portion frame 11 is a seedling pruning device formed into a rectangular frame shape in plan view by at least the front and rear plates 35 and the left and right plates 36, the configuration of the cutting portion frame 11 is simplified, and the cost is reduced. make low. The present invention relates to a seedling raising container transfer table 2 having a transfer belt 4 for transferring a seedling raising container 1 in which several leaves are generated and a seedling A is raised to a necessary degree, from a start end to a terminal end; A cutting section having a circular cutting blade 14 provided in a position above the vertical axis A and a rotating brush 25 provided in an arc shape corresponding to the tip movement locus of the cutting blade 14 on the front side in the transport direction of the cutting blade 14. The transfer belt 4 is provided with a front roller 53 and a rear roller 54 mounted on the transfer table frame 22 and is wrapped around the front roller 53 and the rear roller 54 to form a front roller 53 and a rear roller. The transfer belt 4 is a seedling pruning device in which a pair of left and right guide rollers 55 pressing downward on the left and right sides of the transfer belt 4 are in contact with the upper surface of the lower belt of the transfer belt 4 at an intermediate position with the transfer belt 54. Transfer belt 4 moving below , Modified as high lateral side center side becomes lower toward the guide roller 55, the transfer foreign matter such as swarf belt 4
Even if it is placed on the upper surface of, it is dropped by the inclination before reaching the front roller 53, so that the transfer belt 4 smoothly moves and rotates, and the transfer of the seedling raising container 1 can be surely performed.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a side view.

FIG. 2 is a plan view.

FIG. 3 is a front view.

FIG. 4 is an enlarged side view.

FIG. 5 is an enlarged plan view.

FIG. 6 is a partial cross-sectional plan view of a vertical adjustment mechanism and a side view of a contact body.

[Explanation of symbols]

1 ... seedling raising container, 2 ... seedling raising container transfer stand, 4 ... transfer belt,
5 ... support leg, 10 ... cutting part, 11 ... cutting part frame, 12
... Cutting motor, 13 ... Output shaft, 14 ... Cutting blade, 15 ...
Guide body, 16 ... abutting part, 17 ... oblique part, 18 ... take-out passage, 19 ... other side guide body, 20 ... collection frame, 21 ... cylinder member, 22 ... transfer frame, 25 ... rotating brush, 26 ...
Flexible shaft member, 27 brush, 28 motor for brush, 29 bearing, 30 mounting plate, 35 front and rear plate, 36
... left and right plates, 37 ... mounting frame, 38 ... rack groove, 39
... Rack plate, 40 ... Pinion gear, 41 ... Mounting shaft, 42
... bevel gear, 43 ... bevel gear, 44 ... handle shaft,
45: Handle, 46: Guide hole, 47: Mounting shaft, 48
... Screw groove, 49 ... Dial, 50 ... Contact body, 51 ... Pin, 52 ... Cylinder member, 53 ... Front roller, 54 ... Rear roller, 55 ... Guide roller, 56 ... Scraper for removing foreign matter,
57 ... Transportation guide.

Claims (3)

[Claims] 1. A seedling container transfer table 2 having a transfer belt 4 for transferring a seedling container 1 in which several leaves are generated and seedlings A are raised to a necessary degree, from a starting end to a terminating end. Vertically rotating circular cutting blade 14 provided above seedling A
And the cutting blade 14
Rotating brush 2 provided in an arc shape corresponding to the tip movement locus
The cutting unit 10 has the cutting blade 14, the cutting motor 12, the rotating brush 25, and the brush motor 28 attached to the cutting unit frame 11,
A pair of left and right rack plates 39 having upper and lower rack grooves 38 are arranged side by side in the front and rear on the cutting portion frame 11.
9, a pinion gear 40 is engaged with the rack groove 38,
The pinion gears 40 are respectively fixed to the left and right mounting shafts 41 mounted on the mounting frame 37 of the nursery container transfer stand 2,
A seedling pruning device in which a bevel gear 43 of a handle shaft 44 of a handle 45 is engaged with a bevel gear 42 of each mounting shaft 41, and each bevel gear 43 is rotated by one handle 45 to move up and down. 2. The seedling pruning device according to claim 1, wherein the cutting portion frame 11 is formed in a rectangular frame shape in plan view by at least front and rear plates 35 and left and right plates 36. 3. A seedling container transfer table 2 having a transfer belt 4 for transferring a seedling container 1 from which the seedlings A have been raised to a necessary degree after several leaves have been generated and the seedlings A have been pruned, to a necessary degree. Vertically rotating circular cutting blade 14 provided above seedling A
And the cutting blade 14
Rotating brush 2 provided in an arc shape corresponding to the tip movement locus
And a cutting section 10 having
Is provided with a front roller 53 and a rear roller 54 mounted on the transfer table frame 22, and the front roller 53 and the rear roller 54
And a pair of right and left guide rollers 5 on the upper surface of the lower belt of the transfer belt 4 at an intermediate position between the front roller 53 and the rear roller 54.
5 is a seedling pruning device in contact with 5.