JP2021058147A - Reaper - Google Patents

Abstract

To provide a reaper capable of executing efficient reaping by reaping a plurality of plant bodies held by a holding material by once operation.SOLUTION: A reaper 1 for reaping plant bodies P held by a cultivation panel 30, comprises a frame 7 for fixing the cultivation panel 30 at a prescribed position, and a cutting blade 120 capable of cutting the plurality of plant bodies P held by the cultivation panel 30 at a time at a prescribed position. The cutting blade 120 can move close to plant bodies root parts R being roots of the plant bodies P extending from the cultivation panel 30, and the cutting blade 120 passes through and cuts the respective plant bodies root parts R of the plurality of plant bodes P so as to reap the plurality of plant bodies P at a time from the cultivation panel 30.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 2

Description

The present invention relates to a reaping device.

In recent years, plant factories that grow plants in a controlled environment such as indoors have been developed, and safe and stable food supply and environmental conservation are expected. Further development and improvement are expected for various devices used in plant factories.

Generally, in a plant factory, seedlings are transplanted to a holding material such as a cultivation panel, and harvesting is performed by cutting the harvest obtained by growing the seedlings from the holding material. Since this cutting work is a heavy burden, a technique for labor saving has been proposed.

Patent Document 1 discloses a harvester that functionally harvests plants. The harvester transports a reversing transport rail that supports the plant holding cartridge that holds the plant to be cultivated and guides the plant holding cartridge to be substantially inverted in the vertical arrangement, and a plant holding cartridge that is supported by the reversing transport rail. It has a configured transport portion and a cut portion configured to cut a portion below the plant holding cartridge of a plant in a state in which the vertical arrangement is substantially inverted. The reversing transport rail has a folded-back portion having a shape of being folded back in a substantially arc shape downward, and the transport portion has a locking portion that can be locked to the plant holding cartridge on the outer peripheral portion around the axis thereof.

Patent Document 2 discloses a peduncle removing device that easily cuts and removes a peduncle in the vicinity of a fruit (vine). The fruit stalk removing device is a cutting mechanism having a pair of fingers for cutting the strawberry stalk, and between the strawberry and the pair of fingers with the strawberry positioned so that the fruit stalk is positioned between the pair of fingers. A first photoelectric sensor that detects contact between the strawberry and the cover by the cover that prevents the strawberry from entering between the pair of fingers and the relative movement of the strawberry and the cover in the approaching direction. And a control device that cuts the fruit stalk by the cutting mechanism based on the detection result by the first photoelectric sensor.

Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 2016-021944 Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 2013-176328

The above-mentioned harvesting apparatus is generally complicated in structure and operation, and may lead to an increase in the manufacturing cost of the apparatus and the growing cost of plants. In particular, the harvester of Patent Document 1 has a complicated structure and operation of the apparatus, and requires a large space for installation. Further, the peduncle removing device of Patent Document 2 is a device exclusively used for removing peduncles, and is not necessarily suitable for the work of removing the harvested material from the holding material, and a plurality of harvested products can be removed at one time. Since it is also difficult to obtain, it may be difficult to obtain an improvement in work efficiency.

The present invention relates to a technique that can contribute to efficient harvesting of plants while having a simple structure.

One aspect of the present invention is a cutting device for cutting a plant held by a holding material, wherein a fixing member for fixing the holding material at a predetermined position and a plurality of plants held by the holding material are used. A cutting blade capable of cutting at a predetermined position at a time is provided, and the cutting blade is accessible to a plant root portion which is a root of a plant extending from the holding material, and the cutting blade has a plurality of cutting blades. By cutting through the root of each plant, a plurality of plants can be cut from the holding material at one time.

In one aspect of the present invention, the cutting blade is arranged on a plane parallel to the holding material, and a plurality of rotary blades that can rotate along the parallel plane and a plurality of rotary blades that are connected to each other are connected. By moving the connecting portion including the portion, each of the plurality of rotary blade portions passes through each of the plant root portions and cuts the plant root portion.

In one aspect of the present invention, the cutting blade cover is further provided with a cutting blade cover attached to the fixing member and covering the rotary blade portion and the connecting portion, and the cutting blade cover is provided with a plurality of guide slots.
When moving the holding material to the predetermined position, the main part of the plant moves outside the cutting blade cover, and each of the roots of the plant can be guided along the guide slot. ..

In one aspect of the present invention, a part of the connecting portion protrudes from the cutting blade cover, and a person can grasp the protruding portion of the connecting portion, and the connecting portion is taken in and out of the cutting blade cover. A movable handle is provided for this purpose.

In one aspect of the present invention, the cutting blade is an endless belt-shaped blade hung around a predetermined rotating body, and the endless belt-shaped blade is driven along an arrangement direction of a plurality of plants. The endless belt-shaped blade moves relative to the holding material along a direction perpendicular to the driving direction of the endless belt-shaped blade, so that the endless belt-shaped blade passes through a plurality of plant roots and passes through the plant roots. Disconnect.

In one aspect of the present invention, a driving device for driving the predetermined rotating body is further provided.

According to the present invention, it is possible to mow a plurality of plants whose cutting blade is held by the holding material in one operation, and it is possible to mow efficiently.

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of an embodiment of a cutting device according to the present invention. FIG. 2 is a perspective view of the cutting device shown in FIG. 1 in a used state. FIG. 3 is an enlarged front view of a portion of the cutting device in the cutting device. FIG. 4 is a view showing a grip portion of the cutting device, (a) a front view of the grip portion, and (b) a side view of the grip portion. FIG. 5 is a diagram showing a first step of cutting. FIG. 6 is a diagram showing a second step of cutting. FIG. 7 is a diagram showing a third step of cutting. FIG. 8 is a diagram showing a fourth step of cutting. FIG. 9 is a diagram showing a fifth step of cutting. FIG. 10 is a perspective view of a cutting device including the cutting device of another embodiment. FIG. 11 is an enlarged perspective view of a portion of the cutting device of the cutting device shown in FIG. FIG. 12 is a top view of the cutting device shown in FIGS. 10 and 11.

Hereinafter, specific embodiments of the reaping apparatus of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 1 shows a perspective view of an embodiment of a cutting device according to the present invention. FIG. 2 shows a perspective view of the cutting device shown in FIG. 1 in a used state. The cutting device 1 of the present embodiment is a device for finally harvesting a plant harvested in, for example, a plant factory.

In order to grow a plant in a facility such as a plant factory where the environment is controlled, generally, the seedling of the plant is transplanted to a holding material such as a cultivation panel and grown. Harvesting is carried out by removing the plants that have been grown to a harvestable state from the holding material. This removal work is a burdensome work, but the cutting device 1 is a device that can significantly reduce the labor of the work.

The cutting device 1 of the embodiment includes a pedestal 3, a support member 5, a frame 7, wheels 9, a support plate 10, and a cutting device 100. The pedestal 3 forms the bottom plate of the cutting device 1, and a frame 2 constituting the entire skeleton is attached to the pedestal 3 via a support member 5 having a substantially triangular shape. The wheels 9 are attached to the lower surface of the pedestal 3 to facilitate the movement of the cutting device 1. The support plate 10 is a flat plate attached to the frame 2 in a movable state, and is a plate that supports a cultivation panel described later. The cutting device 100 is a box-shaped member provided at a substantially central position in the height direction of the frame 2, and forms a main part of the cutting device 1. Details of the cutting device 100 will be described later. The illustrated mode of the cutting device 1 is merely an example, and the present invention is not limited to such a mode.

FIG. 1 shows a basic configuration of the cutting device 1 in an unused state, and FIG. 2 shows a configuration in an actual used state. The plant body (plant, harvested product) P is grown from the cultivation hole 32 provided in the cultivation panel 30. The cultivation panel 30 has a plurality of attachment needles 31 on the back side, and the cultivation panel 30 is integrated with the support plate 10 by inserting the attachment needles 31 into the support plate 10. The support plate 10 can be moved in the vertical direction along the frame 7 and can be fixed at a predetermined position. The frame 7 is a fixing member for fixing the cultivation panel 30 at a predetermined position via the support plate 10. Also plays a role as. Further, the harvest box 50 is arranged on the pedestal 3, and the plant P harvested in the cutting step described later falls into the harvest box 50. In addition, "plant body P" in this specification does not only mean a plant or a harvested product, but also refers to a unit of one mass (for example, a ball of lettuce) grown from a specific position on the cultivation panel 30. ..

FIG. 3 is an enlarged view showing a portion of the cutting device 100 in the cutting device 1. The cutting device 100 includes a cutting blade cover 110 attached to the frame 7 and a cutting blade 120 covered with the cutting blade cover 110. In this figure, with an emphasis on legibility, the outer cutting blade cover 110 when viewed from the front of the figure is shown by a chain double-dashed line, and the inner cutting blade 120 is shown by a solid line. The method of this illustration is the same in FIGS. 5 to 9.

In the present embodiment, the cutting blade cover 110 is formed by bending a metal plate material. The cutting blade cover 110 is attached to the frame 7 which is a fixing member and covers the cutting blade 120. Further, the cutting blade cover 110 is formed with a plurality of guide slots 113 extending in the vertical direction. The plurality of guide slots 113 are provided at positions corresponding to each of the plant bodies P of the cultivation panel 30 as described later, and guide the plant body P when the cultivation panel 30 moves downward. Is possible.

In the present embodiment, the cutting blade 120 covered with the cutting blade cover can be moved by a human hand. The cutting blade 120 includes a plurality of rotary blade portions 124 (four in this example) connected by the connecting portion 126. The number of rotary blade portions 124 corresponds to the number of plant bodies P (4 in this example) arranged in the lateral direction of the cultivation panel 30. The rotary blade portion 124 is rotatably attached to the tip of each of the plurality of extending portions 122 extending upward from the connecting portion 126 by a rotating pin 123. The rotary blade portion 124 is a circular blade that is arranged on a plane parallel to the cultivation panel 30 that is a holding material and can rotate along the parallel plane. By moving the connecting portion 126 by hand, the rotary blade portion 124 can separate the plant body P from the cultivation panel 30.

FIG. 4 is a diagram showing a grip portion of the cutting device 100. The grip portion is composed of a fixed handle 112 provided on the cutting blade cover 110 and a movable handle 121 provided at the tip of the connecting portion 126 of the cutting blade 120. A part of the connecting portion 126 protrudes from the opening 110a (see FIGS. 1 and 2) of the cutting blade cover 110, and a movable handle 121 is provided at the protruding portion of the connecting portion 126. The movable handle 121 can be gripped by a person, and the person (operator) who operates the cutting device 1 holds the fixed handle 112 to fix the cutting device 1, and holds the movable handle 121 to move the cutting blade 120 left and right. Can be moved horizontally. As a result, the connecting portion 126 can be taken in and out from the cutting blade cover 110.

5 to 9 show a series of cutting steps for cutting the plant body P by the cutting device 1 of the embodiment. FIG. 5 shows the first step of cutting. The first step, which should be called a preparatory step, is a step in which the operator attaches the cultivation panel 30 to the support plate 10 away from the cutting device 100. The cultivation panel 30 is located at a position away from the cutting device 100 (in this example, a position above the cutting device).

FIG. 6 shows the second step of cutting. When the cultivation panel 30 is pushed downward by an operator or the like from the state of FIG. 5 (direction of arrow A in FIG. 5), the cultivation panel 30 moves along the frame 7 together with the support plate 10. Here, the plant body P extends from the cultivation panel 30, and its root, which is a connection portion with the cultivation panel 30, is defined as the plant body root portion R, but the cutting blade cover 110 has a plant root portion. A plurality of guide slots 113 are formed at positions corresponding to R. Therefore, when the cultivation panel 30 moves to a predetermined position where the cutting device 100 is fixed, the main part of the plant P (the part above the root portion R of the plant) is outside the cutting blade cover 110. In the figure, the front side is moved. In this figure, with an emphasis on visibility, the lower two-tiered plant P is shown by a two-dot chain line, but it is actually in front of the cutting blade cover 110. On the other hand, the plant root portion R moves inside the cutting blade cover 110 while being guided by the guide slot 113. As a result, each of the plurality of rotary blade portions 124 is arranged adjacent to the plant body root portion R of the corresponding plant body P.

FIG. 7 shows the third step of cutting. From the state of FIG. 6, the operator holds the fixed handle 112 with one hand to fix the cutting device 1 and the cutting device 100, and holds the movable handle 121 with the other hand to move the cutting blade 120 in the horizontal direction. (Direction of arrow B in FIG. 6), the cutting blade 120 is pulled out from the cutting blade cover 110. In this way, the cutting blade 120, particularly the connecting portion 125, moves, and along with this movement, each of the plurality of rotary blade portions 124 passes through each of the plant root portions R and cuts the plant root portion R. In this way, the plant P at the bottom is cut and falls into the harvest box 50.

FIG. 8 shows the fourth step of cutting. From the state of FIG. 7, the operator holds the fixed handle 112 with one hand to fix the cutting device 1 and the cutting device 100, and holds the movable handle 121 with the other hand to move the cutting blade 120 in the horizontal direction. (Direction of arrow C in FIG. 7), the cutting blade 120 is pushed back to the cutting blade cover 110. In this way, the cutting blade 120 returns to the position shown in FIGS. 5 and 6.

FIG. 9 shows the fifth step of cutting. When the cultivation panel 30 is pushed downward by an operator or the like from the state shown in FIG. 8 (in the direction of arrow D in FIG. 8), the cultivation panel 30 moves along the frame 7 together with the support plate 10, and is shown in FIG. It will be in the same state as shown in. After that, the steps from the first step onward can be repeated, and the plant P can be efficiently cut from the cultivation panel 30.

In the present embodiment, the lengths of the adjacent extension portions 122 are different, and the positions of the adjacent rotary blade portions 124 in the height direction are different. This form is derived from the fact that the adjacent plant bodies P are misaligned in the cultivation panel 30, but this is not an essential configuration.

In the present embodiment, the frame 7 serves as a fixing member for fixing the cultivation panel 30 and the cutting device 100, which are holding materials, at a predetermined position, and also plays a role of guiding the cultivation panel 30 to a predetermined position. In order to satisfy such a function, the frame 7 is not essential, and the cultivation panel 30 may be moved and fixed by other members.

Further, although the cutting blade 120 is manually moved in the present embodiment, it may be moved by using a moving device such as a motor. The vertical movement of the cultivation panel 30 can also be performed by using a moving device instead of a human hand. Further, the form of the cutting blade 120 is not particularly limited, but when a member for cutting one plant body P is provided like the rotary blade portion 124, it is possible to efficiently cut a plurality of plant bodies P with one operation. It is desirable to have a proper configuration. Although the cutting blade cover 110 is not an essential configuration, safety can be enhanced by covering the cutting blade 120, particularly the rotary blade portion 124.

10 to 12 show a cutting device 1 provided with a cutting device 200 of another embodiment. Unlike the cutting device 100 of FIGS. 1 to 9, the cutting device 200 of the present embodiment uses an endless belt-shaped blade as the cutting blade.

That is, the cutting device 200 includes a frame body 210, a set of rotating bodies 221 and an endless belt-shaped blade 225, and a driving device 215. The frame body 210 has a rectangular shape in a plan view, and can be moved in the vertical direction along the frame 7 by the action of a moving device (not shown) (arrow E in FIG. 10) and can be fixed at a predetermined position. The rotating body 221 is a rotatable circular plate around which an endless belt-shaped blade 225 is hung. The drive device 215 is composed of a general motor or the like and drives the rotating body 221.

That is, in the present embodiment, the cutting blade is an endless belt-shaped blade 225 hung around the rotating body 221, and the driving device 215 rotationally drives one of the set of rotating bodies 221 to rotate the endless belt. The blade 225 is driven along the arrangement direction of the plurality of plant bodies P (direction is arrow F or arrow G in FIG. 10). Then, the endless belt-shaped blade 225 is moved so as to pass through the plurality of plant root portions R along the direction perpendicular to the driving direction of the endless belt-shaped blade 225 to cut the plant root portion R.

In the present embodiment, the cutting device 200 can be moved along the frame 7, but the cutting device 200 is fixed at a predetermined position of the frame 7, and the cultivation panel 30 is moved to the frame 7 by a human hand or a moving device. It may be moved up and down along the line. That is, the endless belt-shaped blade 225 passes through the plurality of plant roots R by moving relative to the cultivation panel 30 along the direction perpendicular to the driving direction of the endless belt-shaped blade 225, and the plant The body root portion R may be cut.

The harvesting device 1 of the present invention has a simple structure and does not require a large space, but the action of the cutting blade can significantly reduce human labor, and the plant can be harvested efficiently at low cost. It becomes possible to harvest. The target plant is not particularly limited, and root vegetables, leaf stem vegetables, fruit vegetables, fruit vegetables and the like are targeted, and fruits are also included without being limited to so-called vegetables.

The present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiment, and can be appropriately modified, improved, and the like. In addition, the material, shape, size, numerical value, form, number, arrangement location, etc. of each component in the above-described embodiment are arbitrary and are not limited as long as the present invention can be achieved.

According to the present invention, it is possible to mow a plurality of plants whose cutting blade is held by the holding material in one operation, and it is possible to mow efficiently, so that the use of the mowing device is promoted.

1 Mowing device 3 Pedestal 5 Support member 7 Frame (fixing member)
9 Wheel 10 Support plate 30 Cultivation panel (holding material)
31 Mounting needle 32 Cultivation hole 50 Harvesting box 100 Cutting device 110 Cutting blade cover 112 Fixed handle 113 Guide slot 120 Cutting blade 121 Movable handle 122 Extension 123 Rotating pin 124 Rotating blade 126 Connecting part 200 Cutting device 210 Frame 215 Drive 221 Rotating body 225 Endless belt-shaped blade (cutting blade)
P Plants (plants, harvests)
R Plant root

Claims (6)

It is a cutting device that cuts the plants held by the holding material.
A fixing member that fixes the holding material in place,
A cutting blade capable of cutting a plurality of plants held by the holding material at a time at the predetermined position is provided.
The cutting blade can approach the root of the plant, which is the root of the plant extending from the holding material.
A cutting device capable of cutting a plurality of plants from the holding material at a time by cutting the cutting blade through the roots of the plants of each of the plurality of plants. The cutting device according to claim 1.
The cutting blade is arranged on a surface parallel to the holding material, and has a plurality of rotary blade portions that can rotate along the parallel surface.
Including a connecting portion for connecting a plurality of rotary blade portions,
By moving the connecting portion, each of the plurality of rotary blade portions passes through each of the plant root portions and cuts the plant root portion.
Cutting device. The cutting device according to claim 2.
A cutting blade cover that is attached to the fixing member and covers the rotary blade portion and the connecting portion is further provided.
The cutting blade cover is provided with a plurality of guide slots.
When moving the holding material to the predetermined position, the main part of the plant moves outside the cutting blade cover, and each of the roots of the plant can be guided along the guide slot. ,
Cutting device. The cutting device according to claim 3.
A part of the connecting portion protrudes from the cutting blade cover, and the protruding portion of the connecting portion is provided with a movable handle that can be grasped by a person and for moving the connecting portion in and out of the cutting blade cover. Be,
Cutting device. The cutting device according to claim 1.
The cutting blade is an endless belt-shaped blade that is hung around a predetermined rotating body, and the endless belt-shaped blade is driven along an arrangement direction of a plurality of plants.
The endless belt-shaped blade moves relative to the holding material along a direction perpendicular to the driving direction of the endless belt-shaped blade to pass through a plurality of plant roots, and the plant root portion. Disconnect,
Cutting device. The cutting device according to claim 5.
A drive device for driving the predetermined rotating body is further provided.
Cutting device.

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