JP2024058694A - Harvesting system and separation device used therein - Google Patents

Abstract

[Problem] To improve the efficiency of stem and leaf removal during harvesting. [Solution] A conveying device 30 is positioned above a separating device 40, thereby preventing the stems and leaves from straddling each other. Stems and leaves are removed by a pair of removing rolls 43. The pair of removing rolls 43 is made up of two rolls 43a and 43b. The two rolls 43a and 43b are adjacent to each other. The rotation directions of the rolls 43a and 43b are different from each other. That is, the roll 43a rotates in the direction R1. On the other hand, the roll 43b rotates in the direction R2. This removes the stems and leaves. [Selected Figure] Figure 4

Description

The present invention relates to a harvesting system and a separation device used therein.

What has traditionally been required in agriculture is labor-saving. This is because in Japan,
This is because the number of people working in agriculture has decreased significantly and the agricultural workforce is aging. In other words, there is an urgent need to reduce the labor required for agricultural work.

In order to reduce the labor required for agricultural work, various agricultural machines have been developed. In particular, various harvesting machines have been developed to reduce the labor required for harvesting work. Specifically, the following are some of them:

Patent Document 1 discloses a harvester for head vegetables (such as cabbage, lettuce, and Chinese cabbage). The harvester is made up of a traveling body, a harvesting unit, and a preparation and transport unit. Head vegetables are pulled out and transported by the harvesting unit. The pulled head vegetables are transported and sorted by the preparation and transport unit.

Patent Document 2 discloses a harvester that picks up crops (such as onions and garlic). This harvester is made up of a machine frame, a retraction device, a pick-up and transport device, and a crop storage section. The crop is pushed up by the retraction device, and the pick-up and transport device is in the pushing direction. The crop is transported by the pick-up and transport device, and the crop storage section is in the transport direction. The crop storage section rises and falls.

Patent Document 3 discloses a harvesting device for agricultural products (e.g., pumpkins, etc.).
This harvesting device is made up of a traveling machine body and a pickup means. The crops are picked up by the pickup means, and the front end of the pickup means swings up and down.

Patent Application No. 2014-18084 Patent Application No. 2017-175997 Patent Application No. 2022-51493

The problem that this invention aims to solve is to improve the efficiency of stem and leaf removal during harvesting.

<Harvesting system> In order to solve the problem, the harvesting system is composed of a traveling device,
The present invention relates to a conveying device and a separating device. The conveying device has a tip and an end. The conveying device is provided on the running device. The conveying device conveys fruits and stems and leaves, and the conveying direction is from the tip to the end. The separating device has an upper end and a lower end. The upper end is provided below the end.
In the separation device, it is the stems and leaves that are removed and the fruits that are conveyed.

<Separation device> The separation device is composed of a removal roll pair and a transport roll pair. The removal roll pair removes the stems and leaves. The transport roll pair is provided downstream of the removal roll pair. The transport roll transports the fruit.

This invention makes the removal of stems and leaves during harvesting more efficient.

FIG. 1 is an overall configuration (side view) of one embodiment of a harvesting system. FIG. 1 is an overall configuration (top view) of one embodiment of a harvesting system. This shows the main components of the retraction device. 1 shows the positional relationship between a conveying device and a separating device. 1 shows the main configuration of a separation device. This shows the main components of the discharge device.

Harvesting system: A harvesting system is a combination of multiple devices that harvests creeping plants. The fruits or stems of creeping plants lie on the ground. Examples of creeping plants include pumpkins, carrots, watermelons, tomatoes, potatoes, etc.

Fig. 1 shows the overall configuration (side view) of one embodiment of the harvesting system. Specifically, the harvesting system 1 includes a traveling device 10, a drawing device 20, a conveying device 30, a separating device 40, a discharging device 50, a storage device 60, and a storage platform 70. In the following description, front, rear, top, and bottom are defined as shown in Fig. 1.

Fig. 2 shows the overall configuration (top view) of one embodiment of the harvesting system. Agricultural products are transported from front to back (hereinafter also referred to as "transport direction F"). The retraction device 20, transport device 30, separation device 40, discharge device 50, storage device 60, and storage table 70 are connected in series. The retraction device 20 is provided at the most upstream position in the transport direction F. The storage table 70 is provided at the most downstream position in the transport direction F. In the following description, front, rear, left, and right are defined as shown in Fig. 2.

<Traveling Device> The traveling direction of the traveling device 10 is forward or backward. The traveling device 10 is well known, and a description thereof will be omitted.
Patent Application No. 14-18084, Patent Application No. 2017-175997, and Patent Application No. 2022-5
This is the content of Publication No. 1493.

<Pulling device> Fruits and stems are drawn in by the pulling device 20.
The retraction device 20 is configured as follows: a frame 21, a pulley 22,
and a belt 23. The frame 21 is connected to a conveying device 30. A plurality of pulleys 22 are supported by the frame 21. One or more of the pulleys 22 are driven by a drive source (not shown). As a result, the pulleys 22 rotate in a fixed direction (direction R). The belt 23 is made up of a plurality of drive belts 23a and a plurality of rods 23b. The drive belts 23a are driven by the pulleys 22. The rods 23b are driven by the pulleys 22.
The rods 23b are attached to the drive belt 23a. Adjacent rods 23b are spaced apart at a constant interval. The drive belt 23a and the rods 23b are substantially perpendicular to each other. With the above configuration, the belt 23 rotates in a constant direction (direction R), and the fruits, stems and leaves are drawn in by the rotation.

<Conveying device> The conveying device 30 conveys fruits and stems and leaves. The conveying device 30 has a tip 30a and a tail 30b. The conveying device 30 is attached to the front of the running device 10. The conveying device 30 is composed of a frame, pulleys, belts, and
The drive source. The parts that are the same or substantially the same as these parts are the parts of the drawing device 20, so the description of them will be omitted. The parts work together to transport the fruits, stems and leaves, with the starting point being the tip 30a and the ending point being the end 30b. In other words,
The fruit and stems are transported from the tip 30a to the end 30b.

<Separator> Fruits and stems and leaves are separated by the separator 40. That is, the stems and leaves are removed by the separator 40, and the fruits are transported.

4 shows the positional relationship between the conveying device and the separating device. The separating device 40 is provided above the traveling device 10. The separating device 40 has an upper end 40a and a lower end 40b.
The upper end 40a is provided below the end 30b. In other words, the conveying device 30 is located above the separating device 40, thereby preventing the straddling of the stems and leaves.

The separating device 40 has an inclined surface 40c (see FIG. 2). The angle θ that the inclined surface 40c forms with the upper surface 10a (see FIG. 1) of the traveling device 10 is 12 degrees to 35 degrees. The inclination of the separating device 40 makes it difficult for the fruit to be retained.

5 shows the main configuration of the separation device 40. The separation device 40 is made up of a frame 41, a drive source 42, a pair of removal rolls 43, and a pair of transport rolls 44. The frame 41 supports the drive source 42. The drive source 42 drives the pair of removal rolls 43,
and a transport roll pair 44 .

The removal roll pair 43 removes the stems and leaves. The removal roll pair 43 is composed of:
The two rolls 43a and 43b are adjacent to each other.
The rotation directions of the rolls 43a and 43b are different from each other. That is, the roll 43a rotates in the direction R1. On the other hand, the roll 43b rotates in the direction R2. This allows the stems and leaves to be removed. The removed stems and leaves fall onto the discharge device 50. There is no restriction on the number of removal roll pairs 43, but it is preferably two or more pairs. In this embodiment, the number of removal roll pairs 43 is two pairs. When harvesting pumpkins, the rolls 43a and
The diameter of 43b is more than 120 mm, thereby efficiently removing the stems and leaves.

The transport roll pair 44 is provided downstream of the removal roll pair 43. The removal roll pair 44 includes two rolls 44a and 44b.
The rotation directions of the rolls 44a and 44b are the same (direction R1).
As a result, the fruit is transported. The destination of the fruit is the storage device 60. The number of transport roll pairs 44 is not important. In the present embodiment, the number of removal roll pairs 44 is one pair. Since the rotation directions of the rolls 44a and 44b are the same, the fruit is less likely to become stuck.

In this embodiment, the number of driving sources 42 is equal to the total number of the removal rolls 43a, 43b and the transport rolls 44a, 44b. What is not excluded in the present invention is that the number of driving sources 42 is less than the total number. For example, when two driving sources are provided, all of the removal rolls 43a, 43b can be driven by one driving source. All of the transport rolls 44a, 44b can be driven by the other driving source. The direction of rotation of the two driving sources is controlled by the control device.

<Discharge device> The discharge device 50 discharges the removed stems and leaves. The discharge device 50 is provided above the traveling device 10 and below the separating device 40. Figure 6 shows the main components of the discharge device. The discharge device 50 is made up of a frame 51, a pulley 52, a belt 53, and a drive source (not shown). These components are identical or substantially identical to the components of the retraction device 20, so their description will be omitted. As a result, the stems and leaves are discharged to the left or right of the harvesting system 1. The discharge device 50 is further made up of a plate 54. The plate 54 is provided on the inner circumferential side of the belt 53.
This makes it difficult for stems and leaves to straddle the belt 53 between the top and bottom.

<Storage device> The objects stored in the storage device 60 are the containers. The storage device 60 is provided downstream of the separating device 40. The storage device 60 is made up of a frame, a belt, a pulley, and a drive source. The components of the retracting device 20 are the same or substantially the same as these components, so a description of them will be omitted. The containers CTN are thereby transported to.

<Storage Platform> The container CTN is supported by the storage platform 70. The storage platform 70 is provided downstream of the storage device 60. The storage platform 70 allows the container CTN to be raised and lowered.

REFERENCE SIGNS LIST 1 Harvesting system 10 Traveling device 10a Upper surface 30 Conveying device 30a Front end 30b Rear end 40 Separating device 40a Upper end 40b Lower end 40c Inclined surface 43 Removal roll pair 43a, 43b Roll 44 Conveying roll pair 44a, 44b Roll 50 Discharge device 54 Plate

Claims (8)

A harvesting system comprising:
Running gear,
A carrier device having a leading end and a trailing end,
This is provided on the running device, and
The fruits and stems are transported in a direction from the tip to the end, and
A separation device having an upper end and a lower end, the upper end being located below the distal end;
This removes the foliage, and
This transports the fruit. 2. The harvesting system of claim 1,
The separation device comprises:
A pair of removal rolls, which remove the foliage, and
A conveying roll pair is provided on the lower end side of the removing roll pair, and
This transports the fruit. 3. The harvesting system of claim 2,
The pair of removal rolls is made up of two rolls, the rotation directions of which are different, and the foliage is removed by the rolls; and
The transport roll pair is made up of two rolls that rotate in the same direction, and the fruit is transported by them. 2. The harvesting system of claim 1,
The separating device has an inclined surface, and the angle that the inclined surface forms with the upper surface of the traveling device is 12 degrees to 25 degrees. The harvesting system of claim 1 further comprising:
A discharge device, which is located below the separation device and which comprises:
A circumferential belt, which discharges the foliage and the stems; and
Plate: This is provided on the inner peripheral side of the circumferential belt. A separation device comprising:
A pair of removal rolls, which remove the foliage, and
A conveying roll pair is provided downstream of the removal roll pair, and
This transports the fruit. 7. The separation device of claim 6,
The pair of removal rolls is made up of two rolls, the rotation directions of which are different, and the foliage is removed by the rolls; and
The transport roll pair is made up of two rolls that rotate in the same direction, and the fruit is transported by them. The separation device according to claim 6 or 7,
It has an upper end and a lower end, the upper end being located below the distal end of the conveying device.

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