JP3278960B2 - Grafting robot - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a robot for automatically supplying and grafting rootstock seedlings and spikelet seedlings, and more particularly to a rootstock seedling supply device.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventional robots for producing grafted seedlings are known, for example, as disclosed in Japanese Utility Model Laid-Open No. 3-27933 and Japanese Utility Model Laid-Open No. 4-49935. The grafting robot described in the above-mentioned publication is characterized in that rootstock seedlings arranged in advance in a plurality of seedling support holes radially provided on the outer periphery of the disk stand and scion seedlings arranged on a disk stand having the same structure are each 3
While rotating 60 degrees, adjacent to the disk base, 3
The seedlings are transferred one by one to fixed hands protruding from the rootstock processing disk part and the scion processing disk part that rotate by 60 degrees, and the cutting device is rotated at a position where each seedling processing disk part rotates by a predetermined angle. This is a device that cuts rootstock seedlings and scion seedlings respectively, rotates these seedlings further by a predetermined angle, rotates and transports them to a position where the rootstock and scion can be joined, and joins the stock and scion with clips. . The present inventors have previously improved the conventional grafting robot and invented a grafting robot that can be easily used, and have filed a series of patent applications (Japanese Patent Application Nos. Hei 4-161512 and Hei 5-Hei 5). No. 6753).

[0003]

The grafting robot according to the invention of the patent application developed by the present inventors manually supplies rootstock seedlings or scion seedlings to each supply device, and the supply device includes The seedlings are transported to the cutting position by each transport device.
At the cutting position, each cutting device leaves one cotyledon of the rootstock and cuts off the hypocotyl and root, and the scion cuts down from the middle part of the hypocotyl and joins them at the joint. In the grafting robot, as shown in FIG. 16, the rootstock seedling held by the rootstock hand 38 of the rootstock seedling transporting device is a back support cylinder provided at the tip of the support arm 45 of the rootstock seedling transporting device. Since the hypocotyl of the rootstock seedling was positioned and cut at the position where it hits the roller 41, the position (point A in FIG. 16) where the cutting blade (not shown) of the cutting device contacts the hypocotyl is the rootstock seedling. In the case of a thin seedling, the point A moves upward and the cut surface of the hypocotyl becomes short, so that there is a drawback that the survival rate after joining with the scion seedling decreases. On the other hand, in the case of a thick seedling, the hypocotyl abutment position A of the cutting blade moves downward, and the cut surface of the hypocotyl may be unnecessarily enlarged or the medullary cavity in the central part of the hypocotyl may be exposed. there were. To prevent this, it was necessary to adjust the trajectory radius of the cutting blade tip.However, adjusting the trajectory radius of the cutting blade tip every time the diameter of the hypocotyl changes is cumbersome and not a simple task. Was. In addition, while the diameter of the rootstock hypocotyl changes in the range of about 2 to 4 mm, the diameter of the rootstock hypocotyl changes only in the range of about 1.7 to 2.3 mm, Since the error of the cutting position of the scion due to the difference in the hypocotyl diameter falls within an allowable range, the problem described with reference to FIG. 16 does not occur.

An object of the present invention is to improve the problem of the grafted robot developed by the present inventors and to provide a more easily usable grafted robot. For details,
An object of the present invention is to provide a rootstock seedling supply device of a grafting robot with excellent operability.

[0005]

The above object of the present invention is achieved by the following constitution. That is, the rootstock seedlings arranged in the rootstock supply device and the scionling seedlings arranged in the scion supply device are transported to the respective cutting positions by the transport devices of the respective seedlings,
In a grafting robot that further transports and cuts the cut rootstock seedlings and the earling seedlings to the bonding position with the respective transporting devices, a pair of the rootstock feeding devices grips the hypocotyl of the rootstock seedlings.
A gripping hand, and one of the pair of gripping hands is a hypocotyl.
Abuts the cutting blade of the cutting device at the cutting position, regardless of the thickness
Grafting mechanism with a mechanism that can position the hypocotyl surface
It is a bot.

[0006]

According to the present invention, the platform cutting apparatus when the tree seedlings are conveyed to the cutting position (19) gripping the hand of the rootstock supply device to the cutting blade for supporting the hypocotyl abutting side (13c ' )
Portion, for example, is fixed, the holding arm (13c) portions of the side supporting the hypocotyl opposition side is to be driven,
Base to stock supply (17) as trapezoidal cutting blade tree seedlings at disconnect device conveyed to the cutting position (19) is positioned abutting hypocotyl is irrelevant always place the thickness of the hypocotyl Tree seedlings supplied
Is done.

In this manner, the thick seedling is placed on the back of the hypocotyl of the rootstock transporter at the position of the hypocotyl opposite to the hypocotyl on the side where the cutter cutting blade of the rootstock abuts at the cutting position. (Contact with the hypocotyl) is effective to prevent the useless lengthening of the cut surface or exposing the medullary cavity in the central part of the hypocotyl. Also, because the hypocotyl of the thin seedling is away from the cylindrical roller, Since the hypocotyl is cut while being bent, a long cut surface can be obtained, and in any case, the survival rate of the graft is improved.

[0008]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. A top view of the grafting robot of this embodiment is shown in FIG. 1 (a view with the top plate removed), an enlarged view of the portion (grafted portion) is shown in FIG. 2, a front view is shown in FIG. 3, and a side view is shown in FIG. . The grafting robot comprises a clip feeder 1 and a graft 2, and the graft 2 comprises a stock 3, a scion 5 and a joint 6. A clip guide rail 9 is provided from the outer periphery of the clip bowl 7 of the clip feeder unit 1, and a graft portion 2 is provided at the end thereof.
Are adjacent. Further, respective robot manipulators 10 and 1 for grasping and transporting each of the stock and the scion.
1 and the seedling supply plates 13 and 14 are suspended on a top plate 15 (FIG. 3) of the graft 2. Since all the movements are assembled on one top plate 15, dimensional accuracy is improved. In addition, the top plate 15 plays a role of a cover and a strength member of the grafting robot, and prevents scattering of cutting residues from the stock and scion. FIG. 2 is an enlarged view of the graft portion 2 shown in FIG. Rootstock part 3 includes rootstock seedling supply device 17, rootstock transport device 18, and rootstock cutting device 1
9, and the scion part 5 is likewise connected to the scion seedling supply device 2.
1, a scion transport device 22 and a scion cutting device 23.

A rootstock seedling supplied manually to the rootstock seedling supplying device 17 is transported to a position (cutting position) of a rootstock cutting device 19 by a rootstock transporting device 18 rotating in the direction of the arrow (a) in FIG. Then, the cutting device 19 is rotated (see FIG. 4), and the cutting blade leaves one cotyledon of the rootstock seedling, and the other cotyledons are cut off. The stock cutting device 19 is a rotary cutter having a cutting blade attached to the tip.
It rotates in the direction of arrow (c) in FIG. The rootstock that has been cut and leaves one cotyledon is transported in the direction of the arrow (b), and is joined to the scion by the joining device 25 (see FIGS. 2 and 3) of the joining portion 6 at the grafting portion 2. Similarly, the scion seedlings supplied to the scion seedling supply device 21 manually by the scion conveying device 22 are indicated by arrows (d).
The tissue is transported in the direction (see FIG. 1) and rotated at the cutting position in the arrow (f) direction (see FIGS. 1 and 4). Shafts and roots are cut off. The scion having the cotyledon portion is transported in the direction of the arrow (e), and is joined to the stock and the grafting portion 2 by the clip supplied from the clip feeder portion 1, and the grafting operation is completed. Dropped and collected.

Next, the rootstock seedling supply device 17 and the transport device 1
8 will be described. First, the rootstock seedling supply device 17 will be described with reference to FIGS. The rootstock seedling supply plate 13 is composed of a holding part 13b having a structure for receiving a rootstock at an angle to come into contact with the back surface of both cotyledons opened in a direction facing the receiving groove 13a larger than the rootstock seedling axis diameter. ing.
Since the holding portion 13b is provided at an angle to come into contact with the back surface of the cotyledon, the seedling can be placed on the supply plate 13 in substantially the same direction even when the direction of the cotyledon is not accurately set when supplying the rootstock. Can be.

Further, as shown in an enlarged side view of the rootstock seedling supply plate 13 (FIG. 5 (a)) and an enlarged view from below the rootstock seedling supply plate 13 (FIG. 5 (b)), Rootstock seedling supply plate 13
A movable gripping hand 13c for gripping the hypocotyl and an actuator 13d for driving the gripping hand 13c are provided below the receiving groove 13a. The gripping hand 13c rotates around the base on the side of the actuator 13d, and can hold the hypocotyl with one side of the receiving groove 13a (here, referred to as the "fixed gripping hand 13c '").

The drive control of the actuator 13d is performed by detecting the insertion of the rootstock seedling into the receiving groove 13a by the actuator 13f of the microswitch 13e.
Then, the sequencer 1 is input by the input of the microswitch 13e.
40 operates to drive the valve 141, and the movable gripping hand 13c is driven by air pressure from the compressor 142. Therefore, the actuator 13f is disposed so as to cross the receiving groove 13a, and is mounted so as to be rotatable around a rotation shaft 13f 'provided on the bottom surface of the microswitch 13e. Then, as shown in FIG. 6, after the embryonic axis of the rootstock seedling is gripped by the movable gripping hand 13c and the fixed gripping hand 13c ′ (FIG. 6A), the rootstock is pulled down by human power, and The cotyledon unfolding base of the seedling is grasped by hands 13c, 13
At the position c ′, the rootstock seedling is positioned (FIG. 6 (b)). In this way, it is possible to accurately perform the gripping positioning of the rootstock seedling in the vertical direction at a predetermined position regardless of the diameter of the hypocotyl diameter of the rootstock seedling.

Since the fixed gripping hand 13c 'is fixed, the position of the hypocotyl portion of the rootstock seedling abutting on the fixed gripping hand 13c' is constant even if the hypocotyl thickness is different. In the cutting position, the hypocotyl portion of the rootstock seedling that is in contact with the fixed gripping hand 13c 'is on the side that contacts the cutting blade (not shown) of the cutter.
The hypocotyl always contacts the cutting blade at a specific coordinate point at the cutting position. Therefore, as shown in FIG. 7, in the case of a rootstock seedling having a thin hypocotyl (FIG. 7A), the support arm 4 of the rootstock transport device 18 is used.
5. Since the hypocotyl is far from the back-end cylindrical roller 41 at the tip, the hypocotyl is bent and cut at a specific coordinate point (point A where the cutting blade comes into contact with the hypocotyl), and a large cut surface is obtained. Bonding is facilitated, and the survival rate is improved. In the case of a rootstock seedling having a thick hypocotyl (FIG. 7 (b)), the cylindrical roller 41 for backing is effective to unnecessarily lengthen the cut surface or expose the medullary cavity at the center of the hypocotyl. It prevents them from getting stuck and improves the survival rate by joining with the scion. Thus, although cutting adjustment of the hypocotyl of the grafting robot has been very difficult in the past, the present embodiment has enabled the grafting of seedlings having different thicknesses without adjustment. Thus, unlike the related art, a positioning mechanism for the gripping portion 35 of the stock transport device 18 is not required, so that the number of components is reduced and the cost is reduced.

As described above, by providing the gripping hands 13c and 13c 'having the structure shown in FIG. 5 in the receiving groove 13a of the rootstock seedling supply plate 13, it is possible to adjust the trajectory radius of the cutting blade of the cutting device. The good range is widened, the adjustment time is short, the ease of use is improved, and the survival rate of grafting by bonding with the scion is improved even if the hypocotyl thickness varies.

FIG. 8 (FIG. 8A is a front view, FIG.
As shown in (b) is a side view), a stopper 13h for the embryo shaft of the rootstock seedling may be provided below the receiving groove 13a of the rootstock seedling supply plate 13 (the movable gripping hand 13c in FIG. 8). The case where there is no fixed gripping hand 13c ', actuator 13d, etc. is shown.) This is because the cotyledon deployment base 40 of the hypocotyl is suspended in the receiving groove 13a, but the center of gravity of the seedling is not necessarily on the hypocotyl center line. This is because the rootstock grip 35 of the tree transport device 18 may fail to be gripped. By providing the hypocotyl anti-vibration fitting 13h, the two portions of the hypocotyl are suspended, so that the seedling is prevented from swaying, and the rootstock transporter 18 does not lose grip of the rootstock seedling. Also, when the rooted seedlings are supplied to the rootstock seedling supply plate 13, the lower part is often light and lacks stability during suspension, but the suspension of seedlings at two places on the hypocotyl eliminates swinging of the seedlings and stabilizes. . A stopper for the hypocotyl of the hypocotyl of the seedling may be provided below the receiving groove 14c of the scion seedling supply plate 14.

As shown in FIG. 8 (a), an extension 13b 'is provided in the holding portion 13b of the stock supporting portion 13b of the rootstock seedling supply plate 13 on which the cotyledon remaining after cutting the hypocotyl is placed. Alternatively, the cotyledon may be structured so that the entire surface can be in close contact.
The reason for providing this extension 13b 'is that
3, it is necessary that the direction of the cotyledons to be left after the cutting is brought into close contact with the supply plate 13, but since the two cotyledons are not always developed in the direction of 180 °, the cotyledons to be left after the cutting This is because if there is a surface whose side is in close contact with the supply plate 13, accurate seedling supply is possible.

The rootstock seedlings set on the rootstock supply plate 13 are gripped by the rootstock transport device 18 and transported sequentially to the cutting position and the joining position. FIG. 9 shows a detailed view of the stock carrier 18. 9A is a top view, and FIG. 9B is a side view (FIG. 9A is a view along line AA in FIG. 9B). A rotation actuator 29 for transporting the rootstock of the rootstock transporting device 18 is supported by the top plate 15, and a rootstock transport arm support 30 is provided below the actuator 29.
1 is rotatably supported. The stock transfer arm support 30 includes a stock transfer arm extruding cylinder 33 supported by the support 30, a stock transfer arm 34 fixed to the cylinder 33, and a stock holding part 35 at the tip of the transfer arm 34. (A pair of rootstock hypocotyl hands 37, a pair of rootstock fixing hands 38, and a cylindrical roller 41) are provided. The hands 37 and 38 are controlled to be opened and closed by an air cylinder provided in a box (not shown) of the stock transfer arm 34 so as to hold the stock. The rootstock hypocotyl hand 37 is made of rubber inside the hand 37 so as not to damage the rootstock hypocotyl. In addition, the rootstock fixing hand 38 is the rootstock root bowl 4
3 (see FIG. 9B) is made of a curved plate that grips the cylindrical side surface. In addition, the stock carrier arm support 30
The support arm 4 for rotating the cylindrical roller 41 in the vertical direction at the time of joining with the scion and lifting the rootstock cotyledon.
5 and a rootstock cotyledon lifting rotary actuator 49 are provided.

The air cylinder of the rootstock embryo hand 37 at the tip of the rootstock transfer arm 34 pushed to the rootstock seedling setting position on the rootstock seedling supply plate 13 operates to grip the rootstock seedling.
At the same time as the operation of the hand 37, the rotation actuator 29 for the stock transport arm is also operated, and the stock seedling held by the hand 37 is transported to the cutting position. At the time of joining with the scion, as shown in FIG. 10, the cylindrical roller 41 is rotated in the vertical direction to lift the cotyledons to be left on the stock, so that the clip can grip the stock shaft. As shown in FIGS. 9 and 10, a shielding plate 37 a for shielding the vicinity of the root of the rootstock hypocotyl hand 37 is provided above the hypocotyl hand 37.
The rootstock seedling failed to join with the scion at the joining position due to 7a,
Even if the hand 37 releases the rootstock seedling, the rootstock seedling that has failed to join will not bite into the root of the hypocotyl hand 37, and the rootstock seedling that has failed to join will be smoothly discharged from the rootstock transport device.

Next, the scions will be described in detail. First, the spikelet seedling supply device 21 will be described. As is clearly shown in FIG. 2, the scion seedling supply device 21 is provided with a scion seedling supply plate 14 having a scion receiving groove 14a opened in the front surface so as to have a horizontal plane. The hypocotyl of each scion seedling is inserted into the groove 14a manually to support the scion seedlings. The scion seedlings supported by the scion supply plate 14 are gripped by the scion transporting device 22 and sequentially transported to the cutting position and the joining position. FIG. 11 shows a detailed view of the scion transport device 22. FIG. 11A is a top view, and FIG. 11B is a side view. FIG. 11A is a view taken along line AA of FIG. 11B. The scion conveying device 22 has a scion conveying rotation actuator 73 and a scion conveying arm support 75 below the actuator 73 supported rotatably about the actuator rotation shaft 76. The scion transfer arm support 75 has a scion transfer arm extruding cylinder 77 supported by the support 75, a scion transfer arm 79 which is extended and contracted by the cylinder 77, and a scion holding portion at the tip of the transfer arm 79. Hogi cotyledon support plate 81 and hogi hypocotyl hand 8 constituting 80
3 are provided.

The hand 83 is provided with an actuator 8 provided in a hand support member 85 at the end of the scion transfer arm 79.
9 is controlled to open and close so as to hold the scion. The hogi cotyledon support plate 81 has a plate-like portion 81a on which the back of the hogi cotyledon is placed. Also, FIG. 12 (FIG. 12 (a) is a top view of the scion gripper 80, and FIG.
A cotyledon support plate 81 having a structure shown in a side view seen from line A) may be provided. The plate 81 needs to be provided on the clip supply side so that the cotyledons of the scion do not hinder the supply of the clip from the clip feeder unit 1 when the scion and the stock are joined. This is for preventing the cotyledon from being pinched by the clip when the cotyledon of the scion is hanging.

The scion transfer arm 79 is pushed out by a transfer arm push-out cylinder 77, and the pushing amount is adjusted by a pushing amount adjusting shim 91. A backing guide 92 is fixed to a lower portion of the scaffolding transfer arm pushing cylinder 77, and when the scaffolding transfer arm 79 comes to a retracted position, the guide piece 92a at the tip of the backing guide 92 is moved to the embryo of the scion. The hypocotyl is backed when the shaft is cut. This guide piece 92
The support by the backing of the hypocotyl according to (a) enables reliable cutting by the cutter.

The direction of rotation of the scion cutting device 23 is as shown by the arrow (f) in FIGS. The reason is that it is more advantageous to cut one cotyledon from the hypocotyl side to the cotyledon side while cutting one cotyledon in the hypocotyl when cutting the rootstock. Guide piece 92 at the end of contact guide 92
This is because the shape of the acute angle portion at the tip formed by cutting the hypocotyl is not disturbed, and the shape of the hypocotyl is cut.

The scion transport arm 79 is at the pushing position while the scion is being transported from the supply position to the cutting position, and moves to the retracted position (FIG. 11B) during cutting. Furthermore, the backing guide 92 is in the way when joining the scion and rootstock,
At that time, the transfer arm 79 is pushed out, and the hypocotyl hand 83
The interference between the backing guide 92 and the hand 83 or the like can be prevented by projecting the like.

When the scion grasping portion 80 such as the hypocotyl hand 83 or the like is not stretchable and fixed at the time of joining the scion and rootstock,
A gap must be provided between the rootstock and the scion to prevent interference. However, in order to perform clip joining, a mechanism for separately attracting each seedling is necessary if the gap exists. However, according to the present embodiment, the expansion and contraction of the transfer arm 79 allows the scion gripper 80 to be movable, thereby increasing the degree of freedom in the method of receiving scion seedlings from the supply plate 14. Further, as described above, the pushing amount of the scion gripping portion 80 is adjusted by the shim 91 of the transfer arm 79 of the scion seedling. This is because the cutting surface of the stock and the scion must be in the opening at the tip of the clip when joining with the clip. This is because it is necessary to finely adjust the extrusion amount. In the present embodiment, the shim 91 is provided in the scion carrier 22, but the shim 91 may be provided in the stock carrier 18.

Next, the cutting devices 19 and 23 and the clip feeder unit 1 and the clip joining device 25 adopt the configuration described in the earlier application of the present applicant (Japanese Patent Application No. 5-6753). The operation sequence of the grafting robot of this embodiment is as disclosed in FIG. 13, and the operation time charts of the respective devices of the stock 3 and the scion 5 of the grafting robot of the present invention are shown in FIG. 15 as disclosed. The operation time chart of each device of the clip feeder unit 1 is as disclosed in the earlier application filed by the present applicant (Japanese Patent Application No. 4-161512 and the like).

[0026]

According to the present invention, since a pair of hands for grasping the hypocotyl is provided in the rootstock supply device, the rootstock seedling can be used regardless of whether the hypocotyl diameter of the rootstock is large or small. It is now possible to accurately perform positioning in the vertical direction at a fixed position. In addition, one of the pair of gripping hands is fixed, and the rootstock hypocotyl which is in contact with the fixed gripping hand is in contact with the cutting device at the cutting position, and is always predetermined regardless of the thickness of the hypocotyl. Since it is cut by the cutting blade at the position, the survival rate of the graft is improved.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a top view of a grafting robot according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a top view of a graft portion of the graft robot according to one embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a front view of a graft portion of the graft robot according to one embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a side view of a graft portion of the graft robot according to one embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 5 is an enlarged view of a rootstock seedling supply plate portion of the grafting robot according to one embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 6 is an explanatory view of the grafting robot of one embodiment of the present invention when a rootstock is inserted into a rootstock seedling supply plate portion.

FIG. 7 is a diagram showing a cutter locus when cutting a rootstock seedling by the grafting robot according to one embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 8 is a view showing a stopper for a hypocotyl of a rootstock seedling below a rootstock seedling supply plate receiving groove of the grafting robot according to one embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 9 is a diagram of a rootstock transfer device of the grafting robot according to one embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 10 is a diagram of a rootstock transfer device when the rootstock and the scion of the grafting robot of one embodiment of the present invention are joined.

FIG. 11 is a diagram of a scion transport device of the grafting robot according to one embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 12 is a view showing another example of the scion gripper of the grafting robot according to one embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 13 is a diagram showing an operation sequence of the grafting robot according to one embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 14 is a diagram showing a time chart of driving of a stock unit of the grafting robot according to one embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 15 is a diagram showing a time chart of driving of the scion part of the grafting robot according to one embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 16 shows a rootstock hand 38 of a conventional rootstock seedling transfer device.
The figure which shows the mode at the time of the cutting | disconnection of the rootstock seedling grasped in FIG.

[Explanation of symbols]

1: clip feeder section, 2: graft section, 3: base stock section, 5
... Hoki part, 6 ... Junction, 13 ... Rootstock seedling supply plate, 13a ...
Receiving groove, 13c: movable gripping hand, 13c ': fixed gripping hand, 13d: actuator, 14: spikelet seedling supply plate, 17: rootstock seedling supply device, 18: rootstock transport device, 19
... stockstock cutting device, 21 ... spike seedling supply device, 22 ... spike transport device, 23 ... spike cutting device, 25 ... clip joining device

Claims (1)

(57) [Claims] 1. A rootstock that is placed in a rootstock supply device and a rootstock seedling that is placed in a scion supply device are transported to respective cutting positions by respective seedling transport devices, and the rootstocks that have been cut, respectively. In a grafting robot for further transporting and bonding a seedling and a seedling to a bonding position by each transport device, a pair of grips for gripping a hypocotyl of the rootstock seedling by the rootstock supply device.
A hand, and one of the pair of grasping hands has a thickness of the hypocotyl.
Regardless of the cutting position, it abuts the cutting blade of the cutting device at the cutting position
A grafting robot comprising a mechanism capable of positioning a hypocotyl surface on the side .