JP2017085988A - Seedling transplanting device, seedbed piece gripping mechanism and gripping member - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a seedling transplanting device which can satisfactorily separate a seedbed piece as a separation object from a seedbed and which can transplant the seedbed piece separated such a way, to others, to provide a seedbed piece gripping mechanism provided in the device, and to provide a gripping member provided in the mechanism.SOLUTION: A seedbed piece gripping mechanism 14 provided in a seedling transplanting device 11 which separates a seedbed piece 17, a part of a seedbed 15, from the seedbed 15 to transplant into a planting panel 18 has a plurality of gripping members 20 which is capable of gripping a seedbed piece 17. The seedbed piece 17 can be separated from the seedbed 15 by transferring in the condition of gripping the seedbed piece 17 with the gripping member 20. A convex curved surface portion 40 is provided at the tip of the gripping member 20.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 18

Description

  The present invention relates to a seedling transplanting device, a seedbed piece gripping mechanism provided in the device, and a gripping member provided in the mechanism.

  Conventionally, for example, an automatic planting apparatus (hereinafter referred to as “seedling transplanting apparatus”) described in Patent Document 1 is known. This seedling transplanting device is configured to support a nursery bed made of a urethane mat so as to be horizontally movable, and to support a fixed planting panel so as to be horizontally movable at a position below the nursery bed, and includes a transfer opening / closing pinch and an insertion opening / closing pinch After separating the seedbed piece with the seedling from the seedbed using the nursery piece holding mechanism, the seedbed piece is transplanted into the hole formed in the planting panel.

  In other words, a nursery bed made of urethane mat has a structure in which a large number of nursery pieces intermittently connected by a grid-like vertical cut and a horizontal cut are connected in a matrix, and when separating the nursery pieces, The tips of a pair of both-side pinching pieces (gripping members) constituting the transfer opening / closing pinching tool are inserted from above into vertical cuts along both side surfaces of the seedbed piece to be separated. Next, the transfer opening / closing pinch clamps (grabs) the seedbed piece to be separated by the both-side pinching pieces and moves in the horizontal direction, whereby the pinched seedbed piece is cut off from the seedbed and separated.

JP 2000-4699 A

  By the way, the both-side pinching pieces, which are gripping members for gripping the seedbed pieces in the above-mentioned seedbed piece gripping mechanism, are straight bar-like members provided so as to be openable and closable, and no technical features are found at the tip portions thereof. That is, the both-side sandwiching piece having a straight bar shape is a bar whose cross-sectional shape is substantially the same from the proximal end to the distal end in the length direction, and the distal end is an end surface orthogonal to the length direction.

  Therefore, when trying to insert the tip of the both-side sandwich piece from above into the longitudinal cut along both sides of the seedbed piece to be separated, the both-side sandwich piece at a position displaced laterally from the longitudinal cut on the surface of the seedbed piece When the tip of the sword was brought into contact, the edge part of the tip was caught on the surface of the seedbed piece, and it was impossible to insert the both-side nip pieces into the longitudinal cut line. As a result, since the seedbed pieces to be separated cannot be gripped by the both-side pinching pieces of the transfer opening / closing clip tool, there is a problem that the seedbed pieces cannot be separated from the seedbed and transplanted to the fixed planting panel.

  The present invention has been made in view of such circumstances, and its purpose is to be able to satisfactorily separate the seedbed piece to be separated from the seedbed and to transplant the seedbed piece thus separated to another. An object of the present invention is to provide a seedling transplanting device, a seedbed piece gripping mechanism provided in the device, and a gripping member provided in the mechanism.

Hereinafter, means for solving the above-described problems and the effects thereof will be described.
A nursery piece gripping mechanism that solves the above problems is a nursery piece gripping mechanism provided in a seedling transplanting device that separates a seedbed piece that is a part of a seedbed from the seedbed and transplants the seedbed piece to another, and is capable of gripping the seedbed piece. It has a plurality of gripping members, and the seedbed piece can be separated from the seedbed by moving in a state where the seedbed piece is gripped by the gripping member, and a convex curved surface portion is provided at the tip of the gripping member. Yes.

  For example, in a case where a seedbed piece intermittently connected by a plurality of cuts is gripped by a plurality of gripping members of a seedbed piece gripping mechanism and separated from the seedbed in an elastically deformable seedbed made of urethane or the like, the plurality of gripping members are It is made into the open state, and the front-end | tip of a holding member is inserted into the notch along the side surface of the seedbed piece used as separation object. At this time, even if the tip of the gripping member comes into contact with a position displaced laterally from the cut on the surface of the seedbed piece, according to the above configuration, the convex surface portion is provided at the tip of the gripping member. Therefore, the possibility that the tip of the gripping member is caught on the surface of the seedbed piece is low. Therefore, when the nursery piece gripping mechanism is moved in such a direction that the convex curved surface portion at the tip of the gripping member bites into the surface of the seedbed piece, the gripping member is moved while the convex curved portion at the tip elastically deforms the seedbed piece. It slides on the surface to reach the inside of the cut, and finally is inserted into the cut. Then, if the plurality of gripping members are closed from the state, the seedbed piece gripping mechanism can grip the seedbed pieces by the gripping member. Therefore, the seedbed piece to be separated can be satisfactorily separated from the seedbed, and the seedbed piece thus separated can be transplanted elsewhere.

  In the seedbed piece gripping mechanism, the gripping member is at least a pair of gripping members that can be gripped by sandwiching the seedbed piece from both sides, and close to the tip on the side facing the counterpart gripping member that makes a pair, It is preferable to have a curved surface region that extends from the apex of the convex curved surface portion to the base end side.

  According to this configuration, the pair of gripping members are closed because the curved region continuous from the apex of the convex curved surface portion to the base end side slides on the surface of the seedbed piece when closing the seedbed piece from both sides. It is possible to reduce the possibility that the tip of the gripping member is caught by the seedbed piece that is elastically deformed during the operation.

  In the seedbed piece gripping mechanism, when the gripping member sandwiches the seedbed piece between a pair of gripping members in a portion that is closer to the base end side than the curved surface region on the side facing the paired gripping member It is preferable to have a contact portion that is in pressure contact with the nursery piece.

According to this configuration, when the seedbed piece is sandwiched between the paired gripping members, the seedbed piece is pressed against each other by the contact portions, so that the seedbed piece can be firmly held.
In the nursery piece gripping mechanism, it is preferable that the contact portion is capable of surface contact with the nursery piece when the nursery piece is sandwiched.

According to this configuration, since the seedbed piece is gripped by the contact portion that makes surface contact instead of the contact portion that makes point contact with the seedbed piece, the seedbed piece can be gripped in a more stable state.
In the nursery piece gripping mechanism, it is preferable that the contact portion can contact the nursery piece at a plurality of locations when the nursery piece is sandwiched.

According to this configuration, since the seedbed piece is gripped not by the contact portion that contacts the seedbed piece at a single point but by the contact portions that contact at a plurality of locations, the seedbed piece can be gripped in a more stable state.
The gripping member that solves the above problem is a gripping member of a seedbed piece gripping mechanism provided in a seedling transplanting device that separates a seedbed piece that is a part of the seedbed from the seedbed and transplants it to the other seedbed, Is provided with a convex curved surface portion, and is configured to be capable of gripping the seedbed piece by a plurality of gripping members.

According to this structure, the same effect as the case of the said seedbed piece holding | grip mechanism can be enjoyed in a holding member.
Further, a seedling transplanting apparatus that solves the above problems includes a seedbed support part that supports a seedbed, a fixed planting panel support part that supports a fixed planting panel, and a seedbed piece gripping mechanism configured as described above, and The seedbed piece separated from the seedbed supported by the seedbed support part can be transplanted to the fixed planting panel supported by the fixed planting panel support part.

  According to this configuration, the seedling transplanting device can enjoy the same effects as those of the seedbed piece gripping mechanism.

The front view which shows schematic structure of one Embodiment of a seedling transplanting apparatus. The block diagram which shows the control structure of a seedling transplanting apparatus. The perspective view which shows a nursery typically. The top view which expands and shows a part of nursery bed. The perspective view of a seedbed support panel. The perspective view of a fixed planting panel. The perspective view of the seedbed piece holding | grip mechanism in the state which the holding member which makes a pair closed. The perspective view of the seedbed piece holding | grip mechanism in the state in which the holding member which makes a pair was open. It is a figure which shows a holding member, (a) is a perspective view, (b) is a front view, (c) is a top view, (d) is a bottom view, (e) is a right side view, (f) is a left side view. , (G) is a rear view. The front view which shows the state which the seedbed piece holding mechanism raised from the state of FIG. The front view which shows the state which the seedbed piece holding mechanism opened and operated from the state of FIG. The principal part expanded sectional view when the seedbed piece holding | grip mechanism rises further from the state of FIG. The principal part expanded sectional view when the seedbed piece holding | grip mechanism rises further from the state of FIG. The principal part expanded sectional view when the seedbed piece holding | grip mechanism rises further from the state of FIG. The principal part expanded sectional view when the seedbed piece holding | grip mechanism closes from the state of FIG. The principal part expanded sectional view which showed the state of FIG. 15 in the cross section from another direction. The front view which shows the state which the seedbed piece holding | grip holding mechanism fell from the state of FIG. The front view which shows the state which the seedbed piece holding | grip holding mechanism further lowered | hung from the state of FIG. The principal part expanded sectional view when the holding member of a comparative example contacts and shifts to a nursery. The principal part expanded sectional view when a holding member raises further from the state of FIG. The principal part expanded sectional view when the holding member of embodiment is displaced and contact | abutted to the nursery. The principal part expanded sectional view when a holding member raises further from the state of FIG. FIGS. 5A and 5B are diagrams showing a gripping member of a modified example, where FIG. 5A is a perspective view, FIG. 5B is a front view, FIG. 5C is a plan view, FIG. FIG. 8F is a diagram in which the paired gripping members are opened. FIGS. 5A and 5B are diagrams showing a gripping member of a modified example, where FIG. 5A is a perspective view, FIG. 5B is a front view, FIG. 5C is a plan view, FIG. FIG. 8F is a diagram in which the paired gripping members are opened. FIGS. 5A and 5B are diagrams showing a gripping member of a modified example, where FIG. 5A is a perspective view, FIG. 5B is a front view, FIG. 5C is a plan view, FIG. FIG. 8F is a diagram in which the paired gripping members are opened. It is a figure which shows the holding member of a modification, (a) is a perspective view, (b) is a front view, (c) is a top view, (d) is a bottom view, (e) is a right side view, (f) is a side view Left side view, (g) is a rear view.

Hereinafter, an embodiment of a seedling transplanting apparatus will be described with reference to the drawings together with a seedbed piece gripping mechanism and a gripping member included in the mechanism.
As shown in FIG. 1, the seedling transplanting apparatus 11 of the present embodiment includes a seedbed support part 12, a fixed planting panel support part 13, and a seedbed piece gripping mechanism 14. The nursery bed support unit 12 and the fixed planting panel support unit 13 are respectively configured by a conveyor mechanism or a chain mechanism that can move along at least one of the width direction (X direction) and the depth direction (Y direction) of the seedling transplanting device 11. A fixed planting panel support portion 13 is provided at a position below the nursery bed support portion 12. Then, a mat-like seed bed 15 on which the seedling N is planted is supported on the seed bed support section 12 via a seed bed support panel 16, and on the fixed plant panel support section 13 from the seed bed 15 by a seed bed piece gripping mechanism 14. A fixed planting panel 18 to which the separated seedbed piece 17 is transplanted is supported. Note that the nursery bed 15 may be directly supported on the nursery bed support portion 12 without using the nursery bed support panel 16.

  The seedbed piece gripping mechanism 14 includes a base portion 19 and a plurality of gripping members 20 provided in pairs (in the present embodiment, a pair) on the upper end of the base portion 19. In the present embodiment, a gripping member 20 that is paired with the upper end portion of the base portion 19 is provided so as to be capable of opening and closing. Then, by opening and closing the pair of gripping members 20 on both the left and right sides of the seedbed piece 17 so as to face each other, it is possible to grip the seedbed piece 17 with the gripping members 20 from both sides. ing.

  And on the base end side of the base body part 19, the base body part 19 is at least in the height direction (Z direction) among the width direction (X direction), the depth direction (Y direction) and the height direction (Z direction) of the seedling transplanting device 11. A gripping mechanism support portion 21 is provided that is movably supported in the direction). In this case, the gripping mechanism support portion 21 includes an elevating mechanism 21a that raises and lowers the base portion 19 along the Z direction, a slide mechanism 21b that guides the base portion 19 movably along the X direction and the Y direction, and the like. Consists of.

  The nursery bed support section 12 and the fixed planting panel support section 13 are arranged in a planting hole 22 of the planting panel 18 that is separated from the nursery bed piece 17 which is a part of the nursery bed 15 supported by the nursery bed support section 12 by the nursery piece gripping mechanism 14. When being transplanted to, the hole 22 and the seedbed piece 17 to be separated are moved along at least one of the X direction and the Y direction so as to be aligned in the Z direction. That is, the planting hole 22 is aligned at a position directly below the seedbed piece 17 to be separated.

  In this case, the gripping mechanism support unit 21 is positioned so that the gripping member 20 of the seedbed piece gripping mechanism 14 is aligned with a position directly below the hole 22 of the fixed planting panel 18 into which the separated seedbed piece 17 is transplanted. The base 19 of the seedbed piece gripping mechanism 14 is moved. Alternatively, the nursery bed support unit 12 and the fixed planting are arranged so that the planting hole 22 of the planting panel 18 and the seed bed piece 17 to be separated are aligned with a position directly above the gripping member 20 of the seedbed piece gripping mechanism 14. The panel support part 13 moves along at least one direction of the X direction and the Y direction. In this case, the movement control of the seedbed support section 12, the planting panel support section 13, and the gripping mechanism support section 21 is performed by the control device 23 provided in the seedling transplanting apparatus 11.

  As shown in FIG. 2, the control device 23 includes a CPU 24 having a logical operation function as a central processing unit, a ROM 25 that stores predetermined information in a readable manner, and a RAM 26 that stores various information in a readable and writable manner. Configured as a digital computer. When various types of information are input via an interface (not shown), the CPU 24 performs various logical operations required for controlling the operation state of the seedling transplanting apparatus 11 and various types of logical operations used in the logical operations. Read and write information. The ROM 25 stores a program used for controlling the operation state of the entire seedling transplanting apparatus 11. The RAM 26 appropriately stores various information contents that are used and rewritten in the logical operation by the CPU 24 during operation of the seedling transplanting device 11.

  Further, an input side interface (not shown) of the control device 23 is connected to a PC 27 which is a kind of external terminal and an operation panel 28 used when various information is manually input to the control device 23. . On the other hand, the output side interface (not shown) of the control device 23 includes a first horizontal movement drive unit 29, a second horizontal movement drive unit 30, a third horizontal movement drive unit 31, a vertical movement drive unit 32, and an arm opening / closing drive unit. 33 is connected.

  The first horizontal movement drive unit 29 controls the movement of the nursery bed support unit 12 in the horizontal direction (X direction, Y direction) based on a control signal from the CPU 24. The second horizontal movement drive unit 30 controls the movement of the planting panel support unit 13 in the horizontal direction (X direction, Y direction) based on a control signal from the CPU 24. The third horizontal movement drive unit 31 controls the movement of the slide mechanism 21 b in the horizontal direction (X direction, Y direction) in the gripping mechanism support unit 21 based on a control signal from the CPU 24. The vertical movement drive unit 32 controls the vertical movement (Z direction) of the lifting mechanism 21 a in the gripping mechanism support unit 21 based on a control signal from the CPU 24. The arm opening / closing drive unit 33 controls the opening / closing operation of the arm 19a to which the pair of gripping members 20 are attached in the nursery piece gripping mechanism 14 based on a control signal from the CPU 24.

  As shown in FIGS. 3 and 4, the nursery bed 15 is an elastically deformable rectangular mat body made of foamed resin such as urethane, for example, and has a large number of cuts 34 extending along the XZ plane and the YZ plane. It is formed so as to form a lattice shape when viewed. The seedbed 15 is divided into a large number of seedbed pieces 17 having a substantially cubic shape by grid-like cuts 34. By the way, in this embodiment, the grid-like cuts 34 are formed in the seedbed 15 so that the seedbed pieces 17 are arranged in a matrix in which eight seedling pieces 17 are arranged in the width direction (X direction) and the depth direction (Y direction), respectively. Yes.

  The seedbed piece 17 divided into a matrix by the cut line 34 is a connecting portion in which a substantially central portion of a side that becomes a boundary with another seedbed piece 17 adjacent in plan view is partially connected to the other seedbed piece 17. 35. Therefore, many seedbed pieces 17 constituting the seedbed 15 are intermittently connected to other seedbed pieces 17 adjacent to each other in the X direction and the Y direction by alternately connecting the cuts 34 and the connecting portions 35 in the X direction and the Y direction. It is connected to. A concave portion 36 having a circular shape in plan view is formed at a substantially central position on the upper surface of the seedbed piece 17, and a plant seedling N is planted in the concave portion 36.

  As shown in FIG. 5, the seedbed support panel 16 is a plate having a square shape in plan view, and a plurality (eight in the present embodiment) of long holes 37 along the width direction (X direction) are parallel to each other. It is formed so as to penetrate. The long hole 37 has a width of one of the two long hole edges along the longitudinal direction (in this case, the X direction) (the right hole edge on the back side in the depth direction (Y direction) in FIG. 5). It is formed in the hole edge extended linearly along a direction (X direction). On the other hand, from the other hole edge (the left hole edge on the near side in the depth direction (Y direction in FIG. 5)), a plurality (seven in this embodiment) of protrusions 38 having a substantially triangular plate shape are formed. It protrudes toward one hole edge on the back side.

  Each protrusion 38 protrudes at an interval corresponding to the dimension in the width direction (X direction) of the seedbed piece 17. The nursery piece 17 of the nursery 15 supported on the nursery support panel 16 has two corners adjacent to each other in the depth direction (Y direction) in the depth direction (Y direction) in the width direction (X direction). The two corners on the back side in the depth direction (Y direction) are supported on the top surface near the hole edge extending linearly on the back side of the long hole 37. In addition, a space area between adjacent protrusions 38 in the long hole 37 is a passing area 39 through which the seedbed piece 17 passes when the seedbed piece 17 is transplanted from the seedbed 15 to the fixed planting panel 18. .

  As shown in FIG. 6, the fixed planting panel 18 has a square shape whose plan view shape is slightly larger than the nursery bed support panel 16, and the thickness dimension corresponds to the height direction (Z direction) dimension of the nursery bed piece 17. A plate 22 having a large thickness is formed, and fixed planting holes 22 are formed through a plurality of locations (64 locations in the present embodiment). The hole 22 is a hole having a circular shape in plan view, and a circle along the inner peripheral surface of the hole 22 is a square shape that is the shape of one surface (for example, the bottom surface) of the seedbed piece 17 having a substantially cubic shape. Corresponds to the inscribed circle. Therefore, when the seedbed piece 17 is inserted into the hole 22, the seedbed piece 17 is held in the hole 22 by elastically deforming the four corner portions in plan view and press-contacting the inner peripheral surface of the hole 22. . Incidentally, in the present embodiment, the hole rows in which the eight holes 22 are arranged in the width direction (X direction) are formed so as to form a row arrangement in which eight rows are arranged in the depth direction (Y direction).

  As shown in FIGS. 7 and 8, the nursery piece gripping mechanism 14 is provided with a pair of arms 19a (a pair in this embodiment) that can be opened and closed on the upper portion of the base portion 19, and at the tip of the arm 19a. An attachment / detachment portion 19b is provided that allows the base end portion of the grip member 20 having a long bar shape to be attached / detached. Therefore, the holding member 20 is attached to and detached from the attaching / detaching portion 19b of the base portion 19 so that the old and new holding members 20 can be exchanged as necessary. The nursery piece gripping mechanism 14 controls the opening / closing mode of the pair of gripping members 20 between the closed state shown in FIG. 7 and the open state shown in FIG. 8 by driving the arm opening / closing drive unit 33 shown in FIG. Is done.

The gripping member 20 in the present embodiment has technical characteristics particularly in the shape of the tip. Hereinafter, focusing on the technical features of the gripping member 20, the specific configuration will be described.
As shown in FIGS. 9A to 9G, the gripping member 20 of the present embodiment has a convex curved surface portion 40 at the tip which is one end in the length direction (the upper end in FIG. 9A). Yes. The tip of the gripping member 20 is formed in a bowl shape toward the side facing the counterpart gripping member 20 that makes a pair, and the tip that is the upper end of the bowl-shaped portion is a convex curved surface part 40 that forms an arcuate surface shape. Is formed.

  In addition, each gripping member 20 is positioned from the apex 41 of the convex curved surface portion 40 toward the tip (upper end) on the side (for example, the left side in FIG. 9 (e)) facing the counterpart gripping member 20 that makes a pair. It has a curved region 42 that is smoothly connected to the base end side. The convex curved surface portion 40 is a curved surface in which the portion near the distal end of the gripping member 20 that is not opposed to the counterpart gripping member 20 that is paired with the convex curved surface portion 40 smoothly continues from the vertex 41 of the convex curved surface portion 40 to the proximal end side. Formed in the region.

  Further, when the gripping member 20 sandwiches the seedbed piece 17 between the paired gripping members 20 in a portion that is closer to the base end side than the curved surface region 42 on the side facing the paired counterpart gripping member 20. A contact portion 43 that is in pressure contact with the seedbed piece 17 is provided. The contact portion 43 has a planar shape that can come into surface contact with the nursery piece 17 when the nursery piece 17 is sandwiched between the gripping members 20 that form a pair. As shown in FIG. When the gripping members 20 that are paired at 14 are closed, the planar contact portions 43 are in surface contact with each other.

  Therefore, next, regarding the operation of the seedling transplanting device 11, the seedbed piece gripping mechanism 14, and the gripping member 20 configured as described above, the seedbed piece 17 is separated from the seedbed 15 by the seedbed piece gripping mechanism 14 and transplanted to the fixed planting panel 18. The following description will be focused on the effect of the case.

  Now, when separating the seedbed piece 17 from the seedbed 15 and transplanting it to the fixed planting panel 18, first, the seedbed piece 17 to be transplanted (that is, the separation target) is specified, and the seedbed piece 17 is located immediately below the seedbed piece 17. A hole 22 to be a transplant destination is positioned in the fixed planting panel 18. Similarly, the tip of the gripping member 20 in the seedbed piece gripping mechanism 14 is positioned at a position directly below the hole 22. In this case, in the seedling transplanting device 11, the first horizontal movement driving unit 29, the second horizontal movement driving unit 30, and the third horizontal movement driving unit 31 are driven by the control of the control device 23, and the seedbed support unit 12 and the fixed planting panel support are driven. The slide mechanism 21b in the part 13 and the gripping mechanism support part 21 moves in the horizontal direction.

  For example, in the state of FIG. 1, among the eight seedbed pieces 17 arranged in the depth direction (Y direction) in the depth direction (Y direction) and along the width direction (X direction), the fourth seedbed piece 17 from the left side is fixedly planted. The initial state in the case of transplanting to the 4th hole 22 from the left side among the 8 holes 22 arranged along the width direction (X direction) in the panel 18 is illustrated. In the initial state, the gripping member 20 forming a pair of the seedbed piece gripping mechanism 14 is in a closed state (see FIG. 1).

Hereinafter, the transplantation procedure from this initial state will be described.
First, as shown in FIG. 10, the nursery piece gripping mechanism 14 rises from the state shown in FIG. 1 while keeping the gripping member 20 in the closed state. That is, the vertical movement drive unit 32 is driven by the control of the control device 23, and the base 19 of the seedbed piece gripping mechanism 14 is raised. Then, the gripping member 20 in the closed state of the seedbed piece gripping mechanism 14 passes through the hole 22 of the fixed planting panel 18 from below to above, and the tip of the gripping member 20 is directly below the seedbed support panel 16 that supports the seedbed 15. To the position.

  Then, as shown in FIG. 11, the nursery piece gripping mechanism 14 opens the gripping member 20 in the closed state. That is, the arm opening / closing drive unit 33 is driven by the control of the control device 23, and the gripping member 20 that makes a pair in the seedbed piece gripping mechanism 14 changes the opening / closing mode from the closed state shown in FIG. 10 to the open state shown in FIG. . The paired gripping members 20 are set such that the distance between the tips of the gripping members 20 when the gripping members 20 are in an open state is substantially equal to the widthwise direction (X direction) dimension of the seedbed piece 17. . Then, the vertical movement drive unit 32 is driven by the control of the control device 23 from the state shown in FIG. 11, and the seedbed piece gripping mechanism 14 is further raised while the gripping member 20 is maintained in the open state.

  Then, as shown in FIG. 12, the tip of the gripping member 20 enters the elongated hole 37 of the seedbed support panel 16 from below, and the convex curved surface portion 40 provided at the tip contacts the bottom surface of the seedbed 15. In a normal case, the convex curved surface portion 40 of the gripping member 20 abuts on a position where cuts 34 are formed along both side surfaces of the seedbed piece 17 to be separated on the bottom surface of the seedbed 15. Then, from the contact state shown in FIG. 12, the vertical movement drive unit 32 is driven by the control of the control device 23, and the nursery piece gripping mechanism 14 further moves up while maintaining the gripping member 20 in the open state.

  Then, as shown in FIG. 13, the convex curved surface portion 40 provided at the tip of the gripping member 20 moves in a direction to bite into the surface (in this case, the bottom surface) of the seedbed piece 17, and both side surfaces of the seedbed piece 17 to be separated The cut line 34 is pushed and expanded while elastically deforming the seedbed piece 17 into the cut line 34 extending along the line. At this time, since the gripping member 20 is the convex curved surface portion 40 having a smooth tip, the gripping member 20 is unlikely to be caught on the inner surface of the cut 34 of the seedbed piece 17 or the like.

  Then, as shown in FIG. 14, when the tip of the gripping member 20 rises to a height near the bottom of the concave portion 36 of the seedbed piece 17, the raising operation of the seedbed piece gripping mechanism 14 is stopped at that height position. Then, in the seedbed piece gripping mechanism 14, the arm opening / closing drive unit 33 is driven under the control of the control device 23, and the paired gripping members 20 are closed. At this time, the gripping member 20 has a curved surface region 42 that extends from the apex 41 of the convex curved surface portion 40 to the base end side to slide on the surface of the seedbed piece 17, so that the tip of the gripping member 20 is elastic during the closing operation. The possibility of being caught by the deformed nursery piece 17 is also reduced.

  Then, as shown in FIG. 15, the seedbed piece 17 is gripped in a state of being sandwiched from both sides by the gripping member 20 that forms a pair of the seedbed piece gripping mechanism 14 when the gripping member 20 is in a closed state. At this time, the gripping member 20 which makes a pair press-contacts the seedbed piece 17 from both sides with the mutual contact parts 43. In addition, in that case, the gripping member 20 grips the seedbed piece 17 that has been elastically deformed in a surface contact state rather than a point contact with the seedbed piece 17.

  In this case, as shown in FIG. 16, the pair of gripping members 20 grips the seedbed piece 17 from both sides at a position biased laterally from the center portion of the seedbed piece 17. Therefore, as shown in FIG. 16, the possibility that the root Ne extending downward from the seedling N planted in the concave portion 36 in the center of the seedbed piece 17 is compressed by the gripping member 20 that performs the closing operation is low.

  Then, as shown in FIG. 17, the seedbed piece gripping mechanism 14 descends while holding the seedbed piece 17 with the holding member 20, and when the seedbed piece 17 reaches the inside of the hole 22 of the planting panel 18, The lowering operation is stopped at that position, and then the gripping member 20 in the closed state is opened. As the seedbed piece gripping mechanism 14 that holds the seedbed piece 17 moves downward, the gripped seedbed piece 17 is pulled downward, and the connecting portion 35 is cut off and separated from the other adjacent seedbed pieces 17. At this time, for example, when the gripping member 20 descends in a state where only a part of the bottom surface of the seedbed piece 17 is gripped from below, only the gripped part is shredded and the seedbed to be transplanted (separated) Although the piece 17 may remain on the seedbed support panel 16, in this embodiment, since the paired holding members 20 hold the seedbed piece 17 from both sides, there is no such a possibility.

  In this case, the descending and stopping operations of the nursery piece gripping mechanism 14 and the opening operation of the gripping member 20 are performed based on the control of the control device 23. And, by changing the open / close mode from the closed state to the open state of the gripping member 20, the seedbed piece 17 that has been elastically deformed by compressing the gripped part until then, the part is elastically restored and expanded, The four corner portions are in pressure contact with the inner peripheral surface of the hole 22.

  Then, as shown in FIG. 18, the seedbed piece gripping mechanism 14 descends while gripping the gripping member 20 in an open state, and when the tip of the gripping member 20 has come out downward from the hole 22 of the planting panel 18, The descending operation is stopped. Note that the seedbed piece 17 left in the hole 22 after being released from the gripping state by the gripping member 20 is dropped downward because its four corners are frictionally locked to the inner peripheral surface of the hole 22. Without being held in the hole 22. Then, when the gripping member 20 is closed based on the control of the control device 23 from that state, the seedbed piece gripping mechanism 14 returns to the initial state shown in FIG. 1, thereby completing the transplantation of the seedling N in the seedling transplanting device 11. .

  By the way, when the seedbed piece gripping mechanism 14 is raised in order to grip the seedbed piece 17 to be separated by the gripping member 20, the tip of the gripping member 20 is positioned laterally from the place where the cut 34 of the seedbed 15 is formed. There may be cases where they come out of contact with each other. In such a case, if the convex curved surface portion 40 is not provided at the tip portion of the gripping member 20, the following problem occurs.

  That is, when there is no convex curved surface portion 40 at the tip and the tip is formed on an end surface orthogonal to the length direction as in the gripping member 120 of the comparative example shown in FIGS. The edge portion 121 formed by intersecting the side surface along the length direction first comes into contact with the bottom surface of the seedbed 15 (the seedbed piece 17). Even if the nursery piece gripping mechanism 14 is raised from this state, the grip member 120 causes the edge portion 121 to be caught on the surface of the seedbed piece 17 and bites into the surface of the seedbed piece 17 to elastically deform the seedbed piece 17. Only the cut 34 of the nursery bed 15 is not reached.

  On the other hand, as shown in FIGS. 21 and 22, in the case of the gripping member 20 of this embodiment, the convex curved surface portion 40 at the tip first comes into contact with the bottom surface of the seedbed 15 (the seedbed piece 17). When the nursery piece gripping mechanism 14 is raised from this state, the convex curved surface portion 40 slides without being caught on the surface of the nursery piece 17 while elastically deforming the nursery piece 17. Further, when the seedbed piece gripping mechanism 14 is raised in the direction in which the convex curved portion 40 at the tip of the gripping member 20 bites into the surface of the seedbed piece 17, the convex curved portion 40 at the tip of the gripping member 20 is elastically deformed. The surface is slid to reach the inside of the cut 34, and finally inserted into the cut 34. Therefore, unlike the gripping member 120 of the comparative example, the seedbed piece 17 can be gripped satisfactorily.

According to said embodiment, the following effects can be acquired.
(1) A position in which the paired gripping members 20 are in an open state, and their tips are displaced laterally from the cut 34 when they are inserted into the cut 34 along both side surfaces of the seedbed piece 17 to be separated. Even if it contacts, the tip of the convex curved surface portion 40 is unlikely to get caught on the surface of the seedbed piece 17. Therefore, the tip of the gripping member 20 can be inserted into the cut line 34 by moving the seedbed piece gripping mechanism 14 in the direction in which the convex curved surface portion 40 bites into the surface of the seedbed piece 17 from that state, and the gripping member 20 from that state. Can be gripped in a state of sandwiching the seedbed piece 17 from both sides. Therefore, the seedbed piece 17 to be separated can be satisfactorily separated from the seedbed 15, and the seedbed piece 17 thus separated can be transplanted to the fixed planting panel 18.

  (2) When the gripping members 20 making a pair are operated to close the nursery piece 17 from both sides, the curved surface region 42 extending from the apex 41 of the convex curved surface portion 40 to the base end side slides on the surface of the nursery piece 17. Since the tip of the gripping member 20 is prevented from being caught by the elastically deformed seedbed piece 17 during the closing operation, the seedbed piece 17 can be gripped satisfactorily.

(3) Since the seedbed piece 17 is pressed between the contact portions 43 when the nursery piece 17 is sandwiched between the gripping members 20 that make a pair, the seedbed piece 17 can be firmly held.
(4) Since the contact portion 43 has a configuration in which the contact portion 43 is not in point contact with the seedbed piece 17 but in surface contact, the nursery piece 17 can be held in a wider area and can be held in a more stable state. .

  (5) In the seedbed support panel 16, the passing region 39 through which the seedbed piece 17 passes when the seedbed piece 17 is transplanted is divided by a plurality of protrusions 38 on the near side in the depth direction (Y direction). Since the adjacent passing regions 39 are connected by the long holes 37, even the gripping member 20 in an open state can be passed, and the seedbed piece 17 can be gripped by being sandwiched from both sides.

(6) Since the grasping member 20 is detachable in the seedbed piece grasping mechanism 14, the old and new grasping members 20 can be exchanged as necessary.
In addition, you may change said embodiment as follows.

  In the above-described embodiment, the gripping member 20 may be the gripping member 20 of each modification shown in FIGS. In addition, the grip member 20 of each modification differs in the structure of a part of front-end | tip part from the grip member 20 of embodiment shown in FIG. 9, and the structure of another part is substantially the same. Therefore, in the following, differences from the gripping member 20 of the embodiment shown in FIG. 9 will be mainly described, and the same components will be denoted by the same reference numerals and redundant description will be omitted.

  First, the gripping member 20 of the modified example of FIGS. 23A to 23F is a convex curved surface portion 40 having a hemispherical tip, and a side surface portion that is continuous from the convex curved surface portion 40 to the proximal end side. Is the contact portion 43. Therefore, even such a convex curved surface portion 40 is suppressed from being caught on the surface of the seedbed piece 17, and even the contact portions 43 can hold and hold the seedbed piece 17 from both sides, so (1) to (1) in the above embodiment. The same effect as (3) can be enjoyed.

  Next, the gripping member 20 of the modified example of FIGS. 24A to 24F has a tip that is a convex curved surface portion 40 made of a sphere, and the sphere has a peripheral surface closer to the base end than the apex 41. A part is a contact portion 43. Therefore, even the convex curved surface portion 40 of such a sphere is restrained from being caught on the surface of the seedbed piece 17, and even the contact portions 43 can hold and hold the seedbed piece 17 from both sides. ) To (3) can be enjoyed.

  Next, the gripping member 20 of the modified example of FIGS. 25 (a) to 25 (f) has a tip that is a convex curved surface portion 40 of a sphere on the tip of two spheres. A part of the peripheral surface facing the gripping member 20 is a contact portion 43. Therefore, even the convex curved surface portion 40 of such a sphere is restrained from being caught on the surface of the seedbed piece 17, and even the contact portions 43 can hold and hold the seedbed piece 17 from both sides. ) To (3) can be enjoyed. Moreover, since the seedbed piece 17 is gripped by the two contact portions 43 each of which has the seedbed piece 17 in the two spheres, the seedbed piece 17 can be gripped in a stable state.

  Next, the gripping member 20 of the modified example of FIG. 26A to FIG. 26G is the same as the convex curved portion 40 in the embodiment, but the contact portion 43 that is in surface contact with the seedbed piece 17 is provided. It is formed at a plurality of locations (six locations in FIG. 26) on the side facing the paired counterpart gripping member 20. Therefore, in the case of the convex curved surface part 40, it is suppressed that it is caught on the surface of the seedbed piece 17, and since such a contact part 43 can also hold | grip the seedbed piece 17 from both sides, it can hold | grip. The same effect as (4) can be enjoyed. Moreover, since the seedbed piece 17 is gripped not by the contact portion 43 that contacts the seedbed piece 17 at a single point but by the contact portions 43 that contact at a plurality of locations, the seedbed piece 17 can be gripped in a more stable state.

  A configuration in which the seedbed piece gripping mechanism 14 is used only to separate the seedbed piece 17 from the seedbed 15 instead of transplanting the seedbed piece 17 separated from the seedbed 15 into the hole 22 of the fixed planting panel 18 may be adopted.

  The fixed planting panel support unit 13 is disposed above the seedbed support unit 12, and the seedbed piece 17 separated from the seedbed 15 by the seedbed piece gripping mechanism 14 is inserted into the hole 22 of the fixed planting panel 18 positioned above from the lower side and transplanted. It may be configured to.

In the nursery piece gripping mechanism 14, the gripping member 20 may be configured not to be detachable as long as the gripping member 20 is configured to be freely opened and closed on the upper portion of the base portion 19.
-When providing the contact part 43 of the holding member 20 in multiple places, you may provide in multiple places (for example, 2 places, 7 places, etc.) other than 6 places in the modification of FIG.

  The convex curved surface portion 40 at the tip of the gripping member 20 is a convex curved surface portion that is smoothly formed by chamfering the edge portion of the end surface perpendicular to the length direction at the tip of the gripping member 20 into a large round shape. Also good.

  The gripping members 20 that make a pair in the seedbed piece gripping mechanism 14 are not limited to a pair, and may be a plurality of pairs of gripping members 20 such as two pairs or three pairs. Further, the gripping member 20 is not limited to a pair, and may be configured by a plurality of odd number of gripping members 20 such as three gripping members 20 surrounding and gripping the seedbed piece 17 from three directions.

  DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 11 ... Seedling transplanting device, 12 ... Nursery bed support part, 13 ... Fixed planting panel support part, 14 ... Nursery bed piece holding mechanism, 15 ... Nursery bed, 17 ... Nursery bed piece, 18 ... Fixed planting panel, 20 ... Holding member, 40 ... Convex curved surface part , 41 ... vertex, 42 ... curved surface area, 43 ... contact portion.

Claims (7)

  A seedbed piece gripping mechanism provided in a seedling transplanting device that separates a seedbed piece that is a part of a seedbed from the seedbed and transplants the seedbed piece, and has a plurality of gripping members capable of gripping the seedbed piece, and the gripping member The seedbed piece gripping mechanism is characterized in that the seedbed piece can be separated from the seedbed by moving in a state of gripping the seedbed piece, and a convex curved surface portion is provided at the tip of the gripping member.   The gripping members are at least a pair of gripping members that can be gripped by sandwiching the nursery piece from both sides, and are based on the apex of the convex curved surface portion near the tip of the side facing the paired counterpart gripping member. The nursery piece gripping mechanism according to claim 1, further comprising a curved region that extends to an end side.   The gripping member is in contact with the seedbed piece when the pair of gripping members sandwich the seedbed piece between the paired gripping members on the side facing the paired gripping member and closer to the base end side than the curved surface region. The nursery piece gripping mechanism according to claim 2, further comprising a portion.   The said contact part is surface contactable with respect to the said seed bed piece when the said seed bed piece is pinched | interposed, The seed bed piece holding | grip mechanism of Claim 3 characterized by the above-mentioned.   The said contact part can contact the said nursery piece in multiple places when the said nursery piece is pinched | interposed, The nursery piece gripping mechanism of Claim 3 characterized by the above-mentioned.   A gripping member of a seedbed piece gripping mechanism provided in a seedling transplanting device that separates a seedbed piece that is a part of the seedbed from the seedbed and transplants the seedbed, and has a convex curved surface at the tip thereof, and a plurality of gripping members A gripping member configured to be able to grip the seedbed piece by a member. A nursery support part for supporting the nursery;
A fixed planting panel support for supporting the fixed planting panel;
A nursery piece gripping mechanism according to any one of claims 1 to 5, and
The seedling transplanting apparatus, wherein the seedbed piece separated from the seedbed supported by the seedbed support part by the seedbed piece holding mechanism can be transplanted to the fixed planting panel supported by the fixed planting panel support part.