JP2023176967A - Obstacle sensing device for work vehicle - Google Patents

Abstract

To simply check in advance of the start of a work if mud is stuck to a sensor irradiation surface of an obstacle sensing device for monitoring an obstacle and an obstacle detection cannot be executed.SOLUTION: An obstacle sensing device for a work vehicle is characterized in that the work vehicle provided with an obstacle sensor 15 for detecting an obstacle by irradiating the surroundings of a travel vehicle body 2 is provided with a sensor cover 16 for covering an irradiation surface of the obstacle sensor 15, in an openable and closable manner, and an indicator 17 for checking the normal actuation of the obstacle sensor 15 by closing of the sensor cover 16 is provided near a maneuvering seat 22.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 3

Description

The present invention relates to an obstacle sensing device for a work vehicle such as an agricultural machine that travels in a field to perform agricultural work.

Patent Document 1 describes a robot riding rice transplanter, which recognizes the position of the machine in a topographical field and performs rice transplanting work automatically.

Japanese Patent Application Publication No. 2019-154394

Since the above-mentioned robot riding rice transplanter runs automatically, if there is an obstacle in the field, it must stop running before the machine hits the obstacle. For this purpose, obstacle sensing devices such as sonar sensors that monitor the surroundings of the aircraft are installed to enable autonomous driving. However, especially in fields, mud adheres to the irradiation surface of the sensor, making it impossible to detect obstacles. Before starting work, you must take sufficient care to ensure that the machine is not damaged.

An object of the present invention is to make it possible to easily check before starting work whether mud has adhered to the sensor irradiation surface of an obstacle sensing device that monitors obstacles, making it impossible to detect obstacles. It is.

The above problems of the present invention are solved by the following technical means.

The invention according to claim 1 is a work vehicle provided with an obstacle sensor 15 that detects obstacles by illuminating the surrounding area of a traveling vehicle body 2, and a sensor cover 16 that covers the irradiated surface of the obstacle sensor 15 is provided so as to be openable and closable. An obstacle sensing device for a working vehicle is characterized in that an indicator 17 for confirming the normal operation of the obstacle sensor 15 when the sensor cover 16 is closed is provided near the operator's seat 22.

The invention according to claim 2 is the obstacle sensing device for a working vehicle according to claim 1, characterized in that when the working vehicle is started, the indicator 17 is turned on or off to notify the normal operation of the obstacle sensor 15. .

In the invention of claim 3, a plurality of obstacle sensors 15 are provided for monitoring the surroundings of the traveling vehicle body 2, and a sensor activation operating tool for opening and closing sensor covers 16 of the obstacle sensors 15 at once is provided near the pilot seat 22. An obstacle sensing device for a working vehicle according to claim 1, characterized in that:

A fourth aspect of the present invention provides the obstacle sensing device for a work vehicle according to the third aspect, wherein the indicator 17 is provided with an indicator light corresponding to each of the plurality of obstacle sensors 15.

The invention according to claim 5 is characterized in that the work vehicle automatically travels and notifies the mobile communication device 25 of the worker of the normal operation of the obstacle sensor 15. It shall be a device.

In the invention of claim 1, the obstacle sensor 15 provided on the traveling vehicle body 2 has its irradiation surface facing outward, so it may get dirty, but by closing the sensor cover 16 that covers the irradiation surface, dirt etc. can be removed. To prevent faulty detection of obstacles due to adhesion, an indicator 17 is provided near the pilot seat 22, and by closing the sensor cover 16, the obstacle sensor 15 detects the sensor cover 16 and displays on the indicator 17 that it is normal. The worker sitting on the control seat 22 can run the work vehicle and perform work with peace of mind.

According to the invention of claim 2, when the work vehicle is started, the indicator 17 displays that the obstacle sensor 15 is operating normally, so that the work vehicle can immediately start traveling.

According to the third aspect of the present invention, the operator sitting on the pilot seat 22 can operate the sensor activation operating tool to open the sensor cover 16 and activate the plurality of obstacle sensors 15.

In the invention of claim 4, by looking at the plurality of indicator lights displayed on the indicator 17, it can be confirmed that all the obstacle sensors 15 are operating normally.

In the invention of claim 5, a worker who remotely manages the automatically traveling work vehicle can confirm the operation by checking the normal display of the obstacle sensor 15, which is notified and displayed on the mobile communication device 25.

1 is a right side view of a rice transplanter shown as a working vehicle according to an embodiment of the present invention. 1 is a plan view of a rice transplanter according to an embodiment of the present invention. It is an automatic control block diagram of a rice transplanter of an embodiment in the present invention. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS It is a front enlarged side view of the rice transplanter of embodiment in this invention. It is a front enlarged side view of the rice transplanter of another Example of embodiment in this invention.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS A robotic riding rice transplanter for planting eight rows according to an embodiment of the working vehicle of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. In the description of the embodiments, the left and right directions in the forward direction of the aircraft body are referred to as left and right, respectively, the forward direction is referred to as forward, and the reverse direction is referred to as rear, but this is not intended to limit the configuration of the present invention.

1 and 2 are a left side view and a plan view of a robot riding rice transplanter according to this embodiment.

As shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, the robot riding rice transplanter 1 of the present embodiment has a planting device 50 mounted on the rear side of the traveling vehicle body 2 so as to be able to rise and fall via an elevating link device 30, and A hopper 3a of the fertilization device 3 is provided at the rear upper side of the fertilizer 3. The elevating link device 30 is a parallel link including an upper link arm 31 and a lower link arm 32.

Further, below the planting device 50, the fertilizer supplied from the fertilization hose (not shown) of the fertilization device 3 is introduced into a trench formed in the field by a trenching section (not shown), and then covered with soil. 90 (see FIG. 3). Further, the soil covering plate drive device 91 provided in the soil covering section 90 is configured to operate the soil covering plate (not shown) of the soil covering section 90 in response to a command from the control section 400, thereby increasing the amount of soil covered. The configuration is changeable.

The traveling vehicle body 2 is a four-wheel drive vehicle including a pair of left and right front wheels 4, 4 and a pair of left and right rear wheels 5, 5, which are drive wheels.

Moreover, the robot riding rice transplanter 1 of this embodiment is equipped with a pH measuring device 80 (see FIG. 3) that measures the hydrogen ion index (pH value) of the field. Specifically, the electrode sensors of the pH measuring device 80 are arranged to face the rim portions of the pair of left and right front wheels 4 of the robot riding rice transplanter 1 .

During the fertilization work of the robot riding rice transplanter 1 of the present embodiment, the control unit 400 (see FIG. 3) determines, based on the measurement result of the pH value (hydrogen ion index) of the field by the pH measuring device 80 (see FIG. 3), If it is determined that the pH value at a certain measurement position in the field is equal to or higher than a predetermined threshold, it is determined that the measurement position is a place with a high reduction effect (that is, poor drainage), and the soil covering plate drive device In this configuration, a command is issued to 91 to operate the soil covering plate and change the amount of soil covering to be less than a predetermined standard. Thereby, it is possible to improve the drainage performance of the measurement position where the reducing action is determined to be high, promote oxidation, and improve the soil quality.

Further, a front end portion of a vehicle body main frame 7 is fixed to the back surface of the transmission case 6, and on the other hand, left and right end portions of the rear end of the vehicle body main frame 7 rotatably support an elevating link device 30. A pair of link support stays 10 are fixed.

The engine 20 is mounted on the vehicle main frame 7, and the rotational power of the engine 20 is transmitted to the transmission case 6 via a belt transmission 12 and an HST (hydrostatic continuously variable transmission) 13. The rotational power transmitted to the transmission case 6 is shifted by a transmission mechanism (auxiliary transmission, etc.) within the transmission case 6, and then separated into traveling power and externally extracted power. The running power drives the front wheels 4, 4 and the left and right rear wheels 5, 5.

Further, the external power taken out from the transmission case 6 is transmitted to the planting device 50 by the planting transmission shaft 21 via a planting clutch (not shown).

Further, as shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, the planting device 50 includes a first seedling planting section 55a, a second seedling planting section 55b, a third seedling planting section 55c, and a fourth seedling planting section 55d. Further, in each seedling planting part, two planting tools 51 having claws for planting seedlings are rotatably provided on both the left and right sides, so that a total of eight seedlings can be planted in the field. be.

Further, as shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, floats 53 are provided at the lower part of the planting device 50 at the center position and at both left and right sides. These floats 53 slide on the muddy surface of the field while leveling the ground, and seedlings are planted in the field by the planting tool 51 on the leveled ground.

In addition, a rotor 41 arranged in a substantially gate shape in a plan view is placed at the bottom of the planting device 50, and is rotated via a universal joint 40a by power taken out from the left rear wheel gear case 18L. A leveling rotor 40 for leveling the surface is provided.

In addition, the soil leveling rotor 40 is attached to the planting device 50 so that it can be raised and lowered by the operation of a lifting motor (not shown), and the rotation of the rotor 41 is controlled by a switch provided in the left rear wheel gear case 18L. This is performed by turning on and off a predetermined clutch (not shown).

Further, a control handle 24 is provided in front of the control seat 22. A ground leveling rotor on/off switch 42 (see FIG. 3) for turning on and off the ground leveling rotor 40 is provided on the right or left side of the operating handle 24. When the grading rotor on/off switch 42 is turned on, the grading rotor 40 descends to the field and the rotor 41 starts rotating in response to a command from a control unit 400 (see FIG. 3), which will be described later. be. Furthermore, when the soil leveling rotor on/off switch 42 is operated to "off", the soil leveling rotor 40 rises from the field surface and the rotor 41 stops rotating in response to a command from the control unit 400 (see FIG. 3), which will be described later. It is the composition.

In addition, on the right or left side of the control handle 24, there is an HST control lever (not shown) for switching the traveling vehicle body 2 between forward travel and backward travel and setting the traveling speed, etc. Various levers, such as a planting work lever 14 (see FIG. 2) for operating the cut-off operation, are provided.

In addition, in the robot riding rice transplanter 1 of the present embodiment, when the traveling vehicle body 2 turns or runs backwards, the lifting link device 30 rises in conjunction with these operations, thereby raising the planting device. 50 is raised and the planting operation is stopped.

Further, below the control handle 24, there are various operation buttons (not shown), an automatic operation mode on/off switch 61 (see FIG. 3) for turning on and off the automatic operation mode (described later), and various meters and display sections. A meter panel 60 (see FIG. 2) is provided.

Further, as shown in FIG. 3, the robot riding rice transplanter 1 of the present embodiment includes a transmitting/receiving device 70, an automatic steering device 200, a position information acquisition device 300, and various other sensors. These are electrically connected to a control section 400 (see FIG. 3), which will be described later.

FIG. 3 is a block diagram showing the connection relationship between the control unit 400 and various devices, various sensors, etc. in the robot riding rice transplanter 1.

The transmitting/receiving device 70 is connected to a remote control device 71 carried by a worker who is in the field ridge and is monitoring the automatic planting work by the unmanned robot riding rice transplanter 1, if necessary. (FIG. 3) is used to transmit and receive signals when remotely controlling the robot riding rice transplanter 1.

The automatic steering device 200 is configured to automatically operate the steering wheel 24 to maintain the traveling vehicle body 2 in a straight direction or to turn the vehicle body 2 .

That is, the automatic steering device 200 includes a steering motor 210 that rotates the steering wheel 24 by automatically applying an arbitrary rotational force to the steering wheel 24, and a steering wheel that detects the rotation angle (steering wheel turning angle) of the steering wheel 24. It has a potentiometer 220.

Furthermore, the position information acquisition device 300 is configured to acquire position information (i.e., coordinate information) of the robot riding rice transplanter 1 on the earth based on GNSS (Global Navigation Satellite System), and receives signals from artificial satellites. The configuration includes a receiving antenna 310 for receiving at predetermined intervals, and the position information acquired by the position information acquisition device 300 is sent to the control unit 400.

The positional information sent to the control unit 400, the field shape information obtained based on the positional information, which will be described later, and the target traveling route that the robot riding rice transplanter 1 should travel during automatic planting work in the field. The position information (position coordinates) and the like are configured to be recordable in the memory unit 410 (see FIG. 3). In addition, the shape information of the field, the position information of the target travel route, etc. are calculated by the calculation unit 420, which will be described later.

Further, as shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, the receiving antenna 310 is fixed to the center of the upper surface of a gate-shaped antenna fixing member 320 when viewed from the front, and the left and right lower ends 321L, 321R of the antenna fixing member 320 are It is fixed to both left and right sides of the front end of the floor step 23.

In addition, obstacle sensors 15 as obstacle detection sensors are provided at the front, rear, left and right corners of the traveling vehicle body 2, and sensor covers 16 are provided to open and close each irradiation surface. If the obstacle sensor 15 detects the sensor cover 16 and is operating normally, it is individually displayed on the indicator 17, and the remote control device 71 is notified of normal operation by lighting a lamp, vibration, or screen display.

FIG. 4 is an enlarged side view showing the front part of the traveling vehicle body 2, in which an obstacle sensor 15 consisting of a sonar sensor is provided at the front end of the traveling vehicle body 2 toward the front, and a sensor cover whose upper end is pivoted on the front side of the irradiation surface. 16 is provided and connected by a rod 27 to a sensor activation operating tool (not shown) provided near the control handle 24, so that the sensor cover 16 can be rotated up and down to open and close the irradiation surface. The obstacle sensors 15 are provided at the rear end of the traveling vehicle body 2 and at the left, right, front and rear corners, and are connected to each sensor cover 16 with a rod 27 or a wire cable using the sensor activation operating tool so that they can be opened and closed all at once. ing. Further, the sensor cover 16 may be held open or closed by a spring, or may be opened and closed by an electric motor driven by a switch provided near the pilot seat 22.

FIG. 5 shows another embodiment of mounting the obstacle sensor 15, in which a sensor box 26 in which the obstacle sensor 15 is housed is provided at the front of the vehicle body 2 in front of the handle cover 11, and the sensor cover 16 on the front side is provided. It is connected to the sensor activation operating tool with a wire so that it can be opened and closed.

The normal operation of the obstacle sensor 15 may be notified to the portable communication device 25 carried by the worker.

2 Traveling vehicle body 15 Obstacle sensor 16 Sensor cover 17 Indicator 22 Control seat 25 Mobile communication device

Claims (5)

A work vehicle is equipped with an obstacle sensor (15) that detects obstacles by illuminating the surrounding area of the vehicle body (2), and a sensor cover (16) that covers the irradiation surface of the obstacle sensor (15) can be opened and closed. An obstacle sensing device for a work vehicle, characterized in that an indicator (17) is provided near a pilot seat (22) to confirm the normal operation of an obstacle sensor (15) when a sensor cover (16) is closed. 2. The obstacle sensing device for a working vehicle according to claim 1, wherein an indicator (17) is turned on or off when the working vehicle is started to notify that the obstacle sensor (15) is operating normally. A plurality of obstacle sensors (15) are provided to monitor the surroundings of the traveling vehicle body (2), and a sensor activation operating tool that opens and closes the sensor covers (16) of the obstacle sensors (15) all at once is installed near the driver's seat (22). 2. The obstacle sensing device for a working vehicle according to claim 1, wherein the obstacle sensing device is provided in a vehicle. The obstacle sensing device for a work vehicle according to claim 3, wherein the indicator (17) is provided with an indicator light corresponding to each of the plurality of obstacle sensors (15). The obstacle sensing device for a working vehicle according to claim 1, wherein the working vehicle automatically travels and notifies a portable communication device (25) carried by the worker of the normal operation of the obstacle sensor (15).