JP5399134B2 - Seedling box installation device - Google Patents

Description

In order to grow seedlings for rice planting machines, sowing seeds in a large number of seedling boxes and arranging them on a leveled floor soil in a house, temperature and irrigation are intensively managed.
At this time, a box sorter is used to arrange the seedling boxes. There are various box arrangement machines, but a typical one has the same length as the width of the house (frontage), and the wheel provided in the center is laid in the center of the house in the vertical direction (depth direction) 2 It is structured to move along a book rail. A box hopper loaded with seedling boxes is mounted on this box arranging machine so that it can move in the horizontal direction, and the box hopper is moved along the length of the box arranging machine, that is, along the width of the house, Lower and line up on top. When the seedling boxes are arranged in a row across the width of the house, the box arranging machine is advanced and the seedling boxes are arranged in the next line. This process is repeated to arrange many seedling boxes vertically and horizontally and orderly on the entire site of the house.
The present invention relates to an improvement of such a box sorter.

When arranging seedling boxes using a box arranging machine, the important thing is the close contact between the seedling box and the floor soil.
If the seedling box is simply placed on the floor soil, the contact with the floor soil is insufficient, and the roots cannot be extended to the floor soil. For this reason, after placing the seedling box on the floor soil, a load is applied, such as stepping on the seedling box, and the seedling box is closely attached so that there is no gap between the bottom surface of the seedling box and the floor soil.
The operation of pressing the seedling boxes arranged in this way against the floor soil is referred to as box stepping, and this stepping is particularly important in a pot type seedling box. A pot-type seedling box is divided into a large number of pots, and each pot is independent of each other. Therefore, if even one pot floats off the floor soil, the seedling in that pot will not grow. . Since the actual floor soil is not completely flat and has some irregularities, the bottom of the pot located in the recess of the floor soil is easily lifted by simply placing the seedling box. To avoid this, be sure to step on the pot-type seedling box. In other words, laying the seedling box is not complete unless the box is stepped on.
The simplest method of stepping on a box is to pass a wide flat plate (stepping board) on the seedling box, and an operator steps on it. Although this method is economical, there is an inconvenience that the tread board must be moved onto the next seedling box each time it is stepped on. If the house where the seedling box is set up is large, the movement of the tread board is hard work and the efficiency is not improved. Moreover, since it is difficult to step on the same load every time, it is inevitable that the load is excessive or insufficient. If you step on it too much, the seedling box will be damaged, or if you don't step on it, it will become insufficient.

Along with box treading, it is important to secure the left and right balance of the box sorter. Since the box arrangement machine is long horizontally, it is extremely difficult to secure the balance with only the narrow rail laid in the center of the house. If the box hopper moves sideways, the center of gravity will deviate from the center of the fuselage and easily lose balance. When the box arrangement machine becomes larger and the lateral length becomes longer, the movement distance of the box hopper is increased, so that the tendency to lose balance further increases.
A simple solution for ensuring balance is to provide wheels at the left and right ends of the boxing machine and move them along auxiliary rails laid along the left and right walls of the house. According to this method, the balance can be maintained wherever the box hopper is located.
But this also has problems. The cost for the construction of the auxiliary rails is excessive, and the space for the seedling boxes is sacrificed for the extra rails.

Inventions intended to solve these problems have already been proposed.
One of them is a structure in which a footboard is suspended at the rear of the seedling arranging machine, and when the seedling boxes are arranged side by side, the footboard is lowered onto the seedling box so that the operator can step on the seedling box on the footboard. Yes (Patent Document 1)
In this case, the tread board is attached to the seedling arranging machine in a suspended manner and moves together with the seedling arranging machine, so that the labor for carrying the tread board can be omitted, which is convenient. However, since it does not change in that the operator steps on it, the problem that the force of pushing the seedling box tends to be excessive or insufficient still remains.
In addition, as an example intended to ensure balance, a stand plate that can be raised and lowered is provided at the end of the seedling arranging machine, and while the seedling boxes are being arranged, it is lowered to the ground to support the machine, and when moving, it is raised up The structure (Patent Document 2).
The disadvantage of this is that when raising the stand board, the soil is scattered around and dropped onto the seedling box. When the stand board is lowered to the ground, the stand board will easily sink into the soft floor soil due to the weight of the aircraft, and soil may get on the stand board, but when this soil raises the stand board Splashes around. If the scattered soil falls on the seedling box placed on the floor soil, it is not good for seedling growth.

Japanese Patent No. 2733834 Japanese Patent No. 2732234

Thus, conventionally, there has been no one that reliably steps a large number of seedling boxes at once without relying on human power, and there is no one that properly maintains the balance of the box arrangement machine.
Therefore, the problem to be solved by the present invention is how to easily and reliably step on a large number of seedling boxes and how to stably support the position of the box arranging machine without repelling the soil. That's it.
The solution to these problems is strongly demanded as the size of the house increases and the number of seedling boxes arranged increases. The present invention responds to such a demand and solves the problem of concern.

The first object of the present invention is to press the seedling boxes arranged by the box arranging machine mechanically reliably without depending on human power so that there is no gap with the floor soil.
The second purpose is to maintain the left and right balance of the box arranging machine without laying extra rails such as auxiliary rails.

According to claim 1 invention is intermittently moved in the transverse direction of the house along the box hopper loaded with seedling box to oblong body, side by side Lower the seedling box on a piece not a One bed soil When the horizontal row is finished, the machine is moved forward by a distance of one seedling box along the vertical rail in the center of the house and the next horizontal row is aligned. And a box treader provided with a pressure roll parallel to the direction over the length of the horizontal row of the seedling box and mounted with a power source of the pressure roll,
The box treader is connected to the rear of the box aligner so as to be pivotable about the Z axis in the vertical direction, and the box aligner is moved and the seedling is stepped on by rotation of the pressure reducing roll.
Then, a box arranging machine support is projected forward from the left and right ends of the box treader, and the left and right ends of the box arranging machine are made into a box treader by a support ring provided between the box arranging machine support and the box arranging machine. On the other hand, it is supported so that the position can be changed .

The invention which concerns on Claim 2 comprises the said box sorter support body by a horizontal receiving rail, on which the said support wheel provided in the bottom part of the left and right of a box sorter is mounted on this receiving rail so that movement is possible, It is characterized in that the left and right ends of the box arranging machine are supported so that the position of the box arranging machine can be changed .

The invention according to claim 3 is configured such that the box arranging machine support is constituted by a receiving arm, the support wheels are attached to the receiving arm, and the left and right bottom surfaces of the box arranging machine are put on the support wheels, whereby the box The left and right ends of the line-up machine are supported with respect to the box treader so that the position can be changed.

According to the invention of claim 1, the box treader is connected to the rear of the box arranging machine, and the pressure reducing roll is provided over the length of the horizontal row of the seedling box. Both machines move forward as if the machine pushes the box arranging machine, and the seedling boxes that have just been arranged can be stepped on in the horizontal row at the same time, which is more accurate and efficient than human-made box stepping work .
Further, since the pressure reducing roll itself rotates when moving forward, even if the weight of the box treader is heavy, the pressure reducing roll can move reliably without slipping and the box arranging machine can be promoted.
In addition, since the box treader can freely turn (yaw) around the Z axis with respect to the box aligner, there is no problem even if there is a difference in the distance the crushing roll travels out of rotation on the right and left of the box treader. You can push and pull the box sorter.
Furthermore, since the left and right ends of the box aligner are supported by the box treader via the box aligner support and support wheels so that the position of the box aligner can be changed, even if the relative position of the box treader and the box aligner changes due to yawing. Regardless of the case, it can support the box arranging machine, so that the conventional auxiliary rail can be abolished and the stand plate that causes soil splash can be omitted.

According to the invention of claim 2 , since the receiving rail of the box arranging machine support is horizontal, even if the support wheel moves on the receiving rail, the left and right height of the box treader is constant and a stable posture is balanced. Can be maintained.

According to the invention of claim 3, since the support wheel is attached to the receiving arm of the box sorter support, no special equipment is required on the box sorter side, and the existing box sorter can be used as it is.

Perspective view of the house showing the seedling box Front view of FIG. Conceptual diagram of a seedling box laying apparatus embodying the present invention Front view of the box treader of FIG. Plan view of the box treader of FIG. Side view of the power transmission system of the box pedal shown in FIG. Operation flow diagram of the box treader of FIG. The left half is abbreviate | omitted and shown by the detailed top view of the seedling box laying apparatus which implemented this invention. Right side view of FIG. The state which the box hopper moved to the right in the front view of FIG. 8 is shown. The state before the box hopper of FIG. 8 stops and the seedling box is lowered is shown. The state which the box hopper of FIG. 8 lowers a seedling box is shown. Operation flow diagram of box hopper of FIG. Side view of a box treader in another embodiment of the present invention Side view of another example related to the support structure of the box arranging machine of the present invention

Embodiments of the present invention are shown in the drawings.
1 and 2, reference numeral 1 denotes a house covered with a light-transmitting sheet, and two vertical rails 2 extending in the depth direction (longitudinal direction) of the house are provided in parallel at the center of the interior. 3 is a seedling box, and FIGS. 1 and 2 show a state where all the laying has been completed.
The seedling box 3 of the embodiment is of a pot type and has a structure in which a thin plastic plate is formed and a large number of pots (dents) are continuously arranged in the vertical and horizontal directions. There is a hole in the bottom of the pot. Put the soil in each pot and sow seeds. The seedling box to be used is not limited to the pot type. A mat seedling box with a large number of holes in the flat bottom may be used.

FIG. 3 is a conceptual diagram showing a simplified plan view of the apparatus of the present invention.
A is a box arrangement machine and B is a box treader. Both are connected so as to be swingable around the X axis in the horizontal direction, the Y axis in the front-rear direction, and the Z axis in the vertical direction.
Reference numeral 4 denotes a cart of the box arrangement machine A, which has wheels 5 and moves along the vertical rail 2, that is, along the depth direction (vertical direction) of the house 1. Reference numeral 6 denotes a coupler of the box pedal B, which is connected to the center of the connecting arms 7 and 7 provided in the left half and the right half of the box pedal B via the X axis. The connecting arms 7 are connected to the box treader B via the Y axis. The coupler 6 is coupled to the carriage 4 via the Z axis.

  The box arranging machine A is equipped with a box hopper, which will be described later, and moves the seedling box 3 on the box arranging machine A while moving in the direction perpendicular to the vertical rail 2, that is, the front direction (lateral direction) of the house 1. Put them down on the floor soil one by one and arrange them without gaps. When the horizontal row has been arranged, it moves forward in the vertical direction of the house 1 by one seedling box, the next horizontal row is arranged, and this is repeated.

  On the bottom surface of the box treader B, a pressure reducing roll 8 shown in FIGS. The length of the suppression roll 8 is equal to the length of the horizontal row of the seedling box 3. 4 and 5 have three suppression rolls 8 on the left and right sides of the aircraft, but the number is not limited to three. While these rolling-down rolls 8 roll on the seedling boxes 3 arranged on the floor soil, they are stepped on in a horizontal row at the same time. For this reason, a box treading operation can be performed simply by passing the box treader B over the seedling box.

The box arranging machine A and the box treading machine B move forward together, but the propulsive force depends on the power source mounted on either the box arranging machine A or the box walking machine B. When the power source is mounted on the box arranging machine A side, the wheel 5 is driven, and preferably, the wheel source is mounted on the box treader B side, and the left and right pressure reducing rolls 8 are driven independently.
In the example of the drawings, battery drive motion of the motor MR, mounted one at a ML to the left and right, connecting each to the left and right crush rolls 8. Since the pressure reducing roll 8 is heavy and has a large ground contact area, if it is directly driven, it can be prevented from slipping and the apparatus can be reliably driven. Reference numeral 9 in FIG. 6 denotes a transmission chain that connects the motor MR (ML) and the pressure reducing roll 8.

  Since the pressure-reducing roll 8 is long, if the left and right pressure-reducing rolls 8 are driven independently, there may be a difference in the movement distance between the right half and the left half of the box treader B. Since turning (yawing) about the Z axis, there is no hindrance to the forward (including backward) operation. If yawing is not possible, an unreasonable stress is applied to the connecting part of the box arranging machine A and the box treading machine B, causing a failure, or the left and right pressure-reducing rolls 8 are idled or dragged. The box may be damaged, but such inconvenience can be avoided by yawing.

S1R, S2R, S1L, and S2L in FIG. 3 are two sets of limit switches fixed side by side on the left and right ends of the box treader B. The operating pieces 10R and 10L fixed to the side are respectively positioned.
When the box treader B yaws excessively, the operating piece 10R or 10L comes into contact with these limit switches, the motor MR or ML is turned off, and the pressure reducing roll 8 on the left or right excessively advanced side stops. Thereby, the posture of the box treader B is corrected. As a result, when returning to a position parallel to the box arranging machine A, the pressure-reducing roll that has been stopped is rotated again.
The limit switch can omit either the left or right set (for example, S1L, S2L).

FIG. 7 shows an operation flow of the limit switch and the motor.
If the main switch is continuously pressed (step S1), the left and right motors MR and ML are rotated to drive the pressure reducing roll 8, and the box treader B pushes the box aligner A and moves forward (step S2).
After that, if the right side of the box treader B advances too far from the left side and the whole yaws counterclockwise in FIG. 3 about the Z axis, the operating piece 10R or 10L comes into contact with the limit switch S1R or S2L and turns on. (Step S3). As a result, the right motor ML stops and only the left motor MR rotates (step S4).
As a result, when the box treader B returns in parallel, the operating piece 10R or 10L is separated from the limit switch S1R or S2L, the switch is turned off (step S5), the stopped motor ML is restarted, and the left and right pressures are reduced. The box treader B moves forward by the rotation of the roll (step 6).
On the contrary, if the left side of the box treader B advances too far from the right side and the whole yaws clockwise in FIG. 3 about the Z axis, the operating piece 10R or 10L contacts the limit switch S2R or S1L and turns on. (Step S7). As a result, the left motor ML stops and only the right motor MR rotates (step S8).
As a result, when the box treader B returns in parallel, the operating piece 10R or 10L is separated from the limit switch S2R or S1L and the switch is turned off (step S9). The box treader B moves forward by the rotation of the roll (step 10).
When it is visually confirmed that the length of one seedling box has been advanced in this manner (step 11), the hand is released from the main switch (step 12).
When the hand is released from the main switch, the left and right motors MR and ML are turned off, and the box treader B and the box aligner A are stopped (step 13).

When the operations of steps 1 to 13 are repeated and the seedling boxes are laid on the entire surface of the house, the motors MR and ML are reversed, and the box arrangement machine A and the box treader B are moved backward in the opposite directions to return to the starting point. .
In this way, in the forward or reverse process, the box treader B tilts forward or backward (pitching) about the X axis, or tilts left or right (rolling) about the Y axis in addition to yawing. In addition, since it can move freely with respect to the box aligner A, an unreasonable stress is not applied to the connecting portion of the box aligner A and the box treader B.

8 to 12 are detailed embodiments of the present invention, and the same reference numerals are given to the same parts as those in FIGS.
FIG. 8 is a plan view in which the left half of the apparatus is omitted, and 11 is a weight metal plate placed on the frame of the box treader B. FIG. The weight of the metal plate 11 is 25 kg, and four of these are arranged on one side, and a load of 200 kg in total on the left and right is applied to the pressure reducing roll 8 to enhance the treading force.
The number of seedling boxes 3 arranged in a horizontal row is 16, and only the right eight are shown in FIG. A battery 12 for the motor MR has a battery for the motor ML on the left side as well.
13 is an operation panel provided with a main switch and the like, and an operator stands on the tread board 14 and operates the operation panel 13.

The coupler 6 includes a pedestal portion 6a and a frame portion 6b.
The pedestal portion 6a is pivotally mounted about the vertical Z-axis standing on the cart 4 of the box arranging machine A, and is a rectangular frame formed in fitting grooves formed before and after the pedestal portion 6a. It connects with the base part 6a in the state which the body part 6b fitted.
The center of the gate-shaped connecting arm 7 is connected to the frame portion 6b of the connector 6 via the X axis in the left-right direction, and both ends of the connecting arm 7 are connected to the frame of the box treader B in the front-rear direction. Are connected via the Y axis. A sleeper 15 connects the vertical rails 2 and 2.

As shown in FIGS. 8 and 9, receiving rails 16 are horizontally attached to the left and right ends of the box treader B, and support wheels 17 provided on the left and right bottoms of the box aligner A, 17 is movably mounted and supports the left and right ends of the box arranging machine A. For this reason, the box arranging machine A maintains a horizontal posture without tilting even if the center of gravity deviates from the center.
Since the box treader B has sufficient weight, it can be supported even when the load of the box aligner A is applied to the receiving rail 16.
Further, since the support wheel 17 freely moves on the receiving rail 16, the box arranging machine A can be stably supported even when the box treader B yaws.

H is a known box hopper and has two lifting frames 18 and 18 on its left and right sides. The seedling box 3 is stacked and accommodated in the frame of the elevating frame 18. Reference numeral 19 denotes an elevating motor that raises or lowers the elevating frame 18. S3 is a limit switch that switches between raising, lowering, or stopping of the lifting motor, and is operated by the detection rod 20.
Two feeding rolls 21 are installed on the bottom of each lifting frame 18 in parallel in the left-right direction, and the seedling box 3 is supported between the feeding rolls 21. A feeding motor 22m rotates the feeding roll 21 inward as shown by the arrow in FIG. 12, and feeds the stacked seedling boxes 3 one by one in order from the bottom.
Left and right lifting frames 18 are found disposed away one sheet box seedlings, two seedling box fed out is arranged in a position apart.
The box hopper H may have one lifting frame instead of two.

Reference numeral 22 denotes a horizontal rail provided in the box arrangement machine A in the horizontal direction, and the wheels 23 at the four corners of the box hopper H roll on the rail, and the wheels are moved by the lateral movement motor 24 mounted on the box hopper H. The box hopper H is moved in the horizontal direction by rotating the wheel 23 forward or backward.
S4 is a limit switch attached to the box hopper H. When the limit switch comes into contact with the protrusion 25 fixed to the side surface of the lateral rail 22, the lateral movement motor 24 is stopped and the box hopper H is stopped at a fixed position.

FIG. 13 shows an operation flow of limit switches and motors related to the box aligner A.
When the main switch is turned on (step 21), the box hopper H is moved to the right by the lateral movement motor 24 (step 22). As a result, when the limit switch S4 contacts the protrusion 25 and is turned on (step 23), the lateral movement motor 24 stops (step 24).
Next, the elevating motor 19 rotates forward and descends the elevating frame 18 (step 25). As a result, the lower end of the detection rod 20 turns in contact with the seedling box 3 in the rear row, and the upper end on the opposite side turns the limit switch S3. When pushed, the elevating frame 18 stops, and the feeding roll 21 is rotated by the feeding motor 22m to feed two seedling boxes 3. When the feeding is finished, a feeding limit switch (not shown) for detecting it is turned on (step 28), and 22 is stopped (step 29).
When the elevating motor 19 rotates and the elevating frame 18 reaches the upper limit (steps 30 and 31), a limit switch (not shown) for detecting the upper limit works to stop the elevating motor 19 (step 32).
Next, the lateral movement motor 24 rotates to move the box hopper H to the right again (step 33). When the movement and stop are repeated four times by the limit switch S4 as described above (step 34), the lateral movement motor 24 is reversed. To the left (step 35).
Then, on the left side beyond the center of the box aligner A, the same operation as the right side so far is performed (step 36). After moving and stopping four times, the seedling boxes are arranged in a horizontal row (step 37). The moving motor 24 is moved to the right (step 38), and the box hopper H is stopped at the center of the box aligner A by the limit switch S4 (steps 39 and 40).

In Example 2 in FIG. 14, the front one 8a of the four pressing rolls has a higher axial position than the others, so that it can also ride on the floating seedling box. The arrows indicate the forward direction of the box treader B and the rotation direction of the pressure reducing roll.
A pot-type seedling box is usually 25 mm in height, and when it is stepped on, it is pushed into the floor soil by about 20 mm, so there is a step of about 20 mm between the seedling box before stepping on and the seedling box after stepping on. Arise. If the axial position of the foremost crushing roll is as high as this step, it is convenient that the floating seedling box before being stepped on is not pushed and dragged forward.
Note if the foremost suppression roll thinner than the other, the height of the axis position is also the same, the same effect can be obtained.

Example 3 of FIG. 15 shows another example regarding the support structure at both the left and right ends of the box arranging machine A.
In FIG. 15, unlike the examples of FIGS. 8 and 9, support wheels 17 and 17 are provided on the box treader B side. The support wheels 17, 17 hit the bottom surface of the box arranging machine A to support the box arranging machine A. Reference numeral 26 denotes a receiving arm to which a support wheel is attached. The receiving arm 26 and the receiving rail 16 shown in FIGS. 8 and 9 correspond to the box arranging machine support of the invention of claim 1 .

The seedling box laying device of the present invention is arranged not only in a house but also in a wide field, by efficiently arranging a large number of seedling boxes using power, and then stepping on mechanically with a uniform force regardless of human power, Ideal for seedlings for rice planting machines.
The typical seedling is rice, but it can also be used for other crops such as wheat.

A is a box arrangement machine, B is a box treader, H is a box hopper, X is a horizontal axis, Y is a longitudinal axis, Z is a vertical axis,
1 is a house, 2 is a vertical rail, 3 is a seedling box, 4 is a cart, 5 is a wheel, 6 is a connector, 7 is a connecting arm, 8 is a pressure reducing roll, MR and ML are motors, 9 is a transmission chain, S1R, S2R and S1L, S2L are limit switches, 10R and 10L are actuating pieces, 11 is a metal plate for weight, 12 is a battery, 13 is an operation panel, 14 is a footboard, 16 is a receiving rail, 17 is a support wheel, and 18 is a lift Frame, S3 and S4 are limit switches, 20 is a detection rod, 21 is a feed roll, 22m is a feed motor, 22 is a horizontal rail, 23 is a wheel, 24 is a lateral movement motor, 25 is a protrusion, and 26 is a receiving arm.

Claims (3)

Intermittently moves in the lateral direction of the house the box hopper loaded with seedling box along the landscape of the fuselage, side-by-side Lower the seedling box on a piece not a One bed soil, When you have finished side-by-side next to a row aircraft A box arrangement machine that advances the next one row along the vertical rail in the center of the house and arranges the next horizontal row,
A box treader provided with a pressure reducing roll whose rotation axis is parallel to the lateral direction of the house over the length of a horizontal row of the seedling box and mounted with a power source of the pressure reducing roll;
Comprising
The box treader is connected to the rear of the box aligner so as to be pivotable about the Z axis in the vertical direction, and the advance of the box aligner and the stepping on the seedling box are performed by rotation of the pressure reducing roll,
Then, a box arranging machine support is projected forward from the left and right ends of the box treader, and the left and right ends of the box arranging machine are made into a box treader by a support ring provided between the box arranging machine support and the box arranging machine. seedling box installation apparatus, characterized in forming isosamples located changeably supported against. The box arranging machine support is constituted by a horizontal receiving rail, and the support wheels provided on the left and right bottom portions of the box arranging machine are movably mounted on the receiving rail, whereby the left and right ends of the box arranging machine are placed on the box. The seedling box installation device according to claim 1, wherein the seedling box installation device is supported so that the position of the stepper can be changed . The box arranging machine support is constituted by a receiving arm, and the support wheels are attached to the receiving arm, and the left and right bottom surfaces of the box arranging machine are put on the supporting wheels, whereby the left and right ends of the box arranging machine are stepped on the box. The seedling box installation device according to claim 1, wherein the seedling box installation device is supported so that the position of the machine can be changed .

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