JP7092167B2 - Transplanting device and seedling transplanting method - Google Patents

Description

The present invention relates to a transplanting device for transplanting plant seedlings and a method for transplanting seedlings .

Conventionally, for example, the transplantation device described in Patent Document 1 has been known. In this transplanting device, when a sponge-shaped nursery piece in which seedlings are planted is transplanted into a hole at the transplant destination in a cultivation panel, a pair of holding members close and operate to hold the nursery piece from above the hole. By descending, the nursery piece is inserted into the hole. Next, from that state, the pair of holding members open in the hole in the direction in which the holding force with respect to the nursery piece weakens, and after restoring the shape of the nursery piece that had been contracted by the holding force of the holding member until then, Move upward from inside the hole. Then, only the nursery piece whose shape has been restored in the hole remains stationary in the hole due to the action of the frictional force between the inner side surface of the hole, and the transplanting work of the nursery piece to the hole to be transplanted is completed.

Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 2018-068185

By the way, in the above-mentioned transplanting device, when the pair of sandwiching members rise from the hole after opening in the direction in which the sandwiching force with respect to the nursery piece that has been sandwiched in the hole of the transplant destination is weakened, the nursery piece remains in the hole. It slides on the outer surface. That is, the holding member rises while being restored from the contracted state and sliding on a part of the outer surface of the nursery piece in which most of the outer surface is frictionally engaged with the inner surface of the hole. Therefore, when the holding member rises from the hole while sliding on the outer surface of the nursery piece, the nursery member is pulled upward from the hole by the holding member and is lifted above the presumed position in the hole. There was a risk that the cultivation of plants cultivated on the upper surface side of the nursery piece would be hindered.

The present invention has been made in view of such circumstances. The purpose is to cultivate on the upper surface side of the nursery piece transplanted using the closing operation for sandwiching the nursery piece and the opening operation in the opposite direction, and the holding member capable of entering the hole of the transplant destination and retracting from the hole. It is an object of the present invention to provide a transplanting device and a method for transplanting seedlings, which can reduce the possibility of hindering the cultivation of various plants.

Hereinafter, means for solving the above problems and their actions and effects will be described.
A transplanting device that solves the above problems is a closing operation for sandwiching an elastically deformable nursery piece in which a seedling is planted, an opening operation in the opposite direction, and a hole formed in a panel for cultivation to be a transplant destination of the seedling. It is provided with a pinching member configured to enable an approaching operation along the axial direction of the hole and a retracting operation along the axial direction from the inside of the hole, and the pinching member remains in a state of sandwiching the nursery piece by the closing operation. After the nursery piece is inserted into the hole by entering the hole, the nursery piece is opened from that state, and the nursery piece is left in the hole while sliding on the outer surface of the nursery piece. A transplanting device that completes the operation of transplanting the nursery piece into the hole by retracting from the hole, and the sandwiching member is opened from the state where the nursery piece is sandwiched in the hole and then opened in the hole. The frictional force between the holding member and the outer surface of the nursery piece during the retracting operation is smaller than the frictional force between the nursery piece and the inner surface of the hole.

According to this configuration, even when the holding member slides to a part of the outer surface of the nursery piece that is frictionally engaged with the inner surface of the hole and retracts from the hole, the holding member causes the nursery piece to move from the inside of the hole. It is possible to prevent the position from being pulled in the axial direction and shifting from the assumed position in the hole in the axial direction. Therefore, it is possible to reduce the possibility that the cultivation of the plant cultivated on the upper surface side of the transplanted nursery piece is hindered.

In the transplanting device, the holding member slides on the inner side surface of the hole when the nursery bed piece is opened from the state of being held in the hole and then retracted from the hole, and the holding member and the above-mentioned holding member. It is preferable that the frictional force between the inner surface of the hole is smaller than the frictional force between the nursery piece and the inner surface of the hole.

For example, when the cultivation panel in which the hole for transplanting the nursery piece is formed is formed of a foamed resin material, the hole is formed when the holding member that retracts from the hole slides on the inner surface of the hole. There is a risk that the cultivation panel will bend because the portion is pulled in the axial direction of the hole. Then, when the holding member sliding on the inner surface of the hole separates from the inner surface of the hole, the curved portion returns to its original position and vibrates, so that the nursery piece is displaced in the axial direction from the assumed position in the hole. This may interfere with the cultivation of plants cultivated on the upper surface side of the nursery piece. However, in the above configuration, since the frictional force between the holding member and the inner surface of the hole is smaller than the frictional force between the nursery piece and the inner surface of the hole, the portion where the hole is formed in the cultivation panel is formed. It is possible to suppress deformation by being pulled in the axial direction of the hole.

In the transplanting device, at least a portion of the holding member that slides on the inner surface of the hole when the holding member opens from the state of holding the nursery piece in the hole and then retracts from the hole is described above. Friction that can make the frictional force between the sandwiching member and the inner surface of the hole when the sandwiching member retracts from the hole smaller than the frictional force between the nursery piece and the inner surface of the hole. It is preferably composed of a material having a low coefficient.

According to this configuration, by appropriately selecting the constituent material of the portion of the holding member that slides on the inner surface of the hole, the holding member that retracts pulls the portion where the hole is formed in the cultivation panel. By storing it, it is possible to easily prevent the cultivation panel from bending.

The transplanting device includes an opening / closing adjustment mechanism for closing and opening the holding member by adjusting a force acting on the holding member, and the opening / closing adjusting mechanism holds the nursery piece in the hole. When the opening operation is performed from the state and then the evacuation operation is performed from the inside of the hole, the force acting on the holding member is smaller than the force that the nursery piece presses on the inner surface of the hole by the restoration from the compressed state in the hole. It is preferable to adjust so as to.

According to this configuration, by adjusting the force applied to the holding member by the opening / closing adjustment mechanism, the nursery piece that remains in the hole when the holding member opens from the state where the nursery piece is sandwiched in the hole and then retracts from the hole. Can be easily suppressed from being displaced in the axial direction from the assumed position in the hole.

In the transplanting device, it is preferable that the opening / closing adjusting mechanism adjusts the force acting on the holding member to zero when the holding member retracts from the hole with the nursery piece left in the hole.

According to this configuration, the holding member that retracts from the hole does not have a force that positively moves the holding member in either the closing direction in which the holding force with respect to the nursery piece is strengthened or the opening direction in which the holding force is weakened. .. Therefore, it is possible to prevent the nursery piece from being pulled in the axial direction of the hole by the holding member that retracts from the hole, and it is possible to easily prevent the nursery piece remaining in the hole from being displaced in the axial direction from the assumed position in the hole.

In the transplanting device, it is preferable that the opening / closing adjusting mechanism switches between the closing operation and the opening operation of the holding member by switching the direction of action of the force acting on the holding member.

According to this configuration, it is possible to easily switch between the closing operation and the opening operation of the holding member only by switching the action direction of the force applied to the holding member by the opening / closing adjusting mechanism.
In the transplanting device, the nursery piece remains in a state in which the holding member is opened from the nursery composed of a plurality of nursery pieces divided in a matrix by a plurality of boundaries in which cuts and connecting portions are alternately continuous. It is sandwiched by moving downward from above the nursery piece to be transplanted and then closing, and from that state, the sandwiching member moves in a direction away from the nursery and tears off the connecting portion to be separated from the nursery. The nursery piece has a rectangular shape in a plan view, the boundary line along the row direction and the boundary line along the column direction intersect each other at the cut portions, and the holding member is opened. When descending from above the nursery piece to be transplanted in the operating state, the position is diagonally on the upper surface of the nursery piece and the corner is more than the intermediate position between the center and the corner of the upper surface. It is preferable that the tip abuts at a position close to the corner and moves downward.

According to this configuration, the nursery piece is in contact with another nursery piece adjacent to the nursery bed piece in a plan view near the corner portion at a cut rather than a connecting portion. Therefore, when the tip of the holding member abuts at a position close to the corner of the upper surface of the nursery piece and moves downward, the nursery piece contracts by pushing the vicinity of the corner toward the center of the upper surface. It transforms like this. Therefore, a series of operations for sandwiching the nursery piece by lowering the holding member in the opened state from above the nursery piece and then closing the nursery piece is performed at a position close to the connecting portion with other adjacent nursery pieces. It can proceed more smoothly than the case where the tips of the members are brought into contact with each other for the descending operation.

In the transplanting device, the holding member has a tapered cross-sectional shape on the tip side so that the inner surface holding the nursery piece gradually approaches the outer surface as the inner surface for holding the nursery piece approaches the tip when the holding member is closed. It is preferably formed.

According to this configuration, when the tip of the holding member abuts at a position close to the corner of the upper surface of the nursery piece and moves downward, the vicinity of the corner of the nursery piece is pushed toward the center of the upper surface. It can be easily deformed to shrink.

According to the present invention, on the upper surface side of the nursery piece transplanted using the closing operation for sandwiching the nursery piece, the opening operation in the opposite direction, and the sandwiching member capable of entering the hole of the transplant destination and retracting from the hole. It is possible to reduce the risk of hindering the harvesting of cultivated plants.

The front view which shows typically the whole structure of the transplantation apparatus of one Embodiment. Top view showing a part of the nursery broken. Top view showing a part of the cultivation panel. Front view showing the main part of the transplant hand in an enlarged manner. The bottom view of the holding member of the 5-5 line arrow view in FIG. Explanatory drawing which shows the state of the pressure mechanism at the time of closing operation of a holding member. Explanatory drawing which shows the state of the pressure mechanism at the time of opening operation of a holding member. Explanatory drawing which shows the state of the pressure mechanism at the time of raising operation of a holding member. A block diagram showing the electrical configuration of a transplant device. The plan view which shows the position when the holding member moves down from above the nursery piece. The cross-sectional view which shows the state which the holding member is moving down from above the nursery piece. The cross-sectional view which shows the state which the holding member further lowered from the state of FIG. FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional view showing a state in which the sandwiching member is closed and operated from the state of FIG. A cross-sectional view showing a state in which a holding member holding a nursery piece has entered a hole at a transplant destination. FIG. 6 is a cross-sectional view showing a state in which the sandwiching member is opened and operated from the state of FIG. FIG. 5 is a cross-sectional view showing a state in which the holding member is slightly raised from the state of FIG. A cross-sectional view showing a state in which the sandwiching member is retracted from the hole after the transplantation of the nursery piece is completed.

Hereinafter, an embodiment of a transplanting device for transplanting plant seedlings will be described with reference to the drawings.
As shown in FIG. 1, the transplanting device 11 includes a transport mechanism 12 for transporting a nursery piece N in which a plant seedling S is planted, and a transplanting mechanism 13 for transplanting a plant seedling S in units of the nursery piece N. ing. That is, the transplanting device 11 in the present embodiment is a device for transplanting a plant seedling S planted in a nursery piece N, which is a sponge-like block made of a foamed resin such as polyurethane, together with the nursery piece N.

The transport mechanism 12 has a first transport unit 16 for transporting a nursery tray 15 on which a mat-shaped nursery 14 composed of a plurality of nursery pieces N is placed, and a hole 17 into which the nursery piece N separated from the nursery 14 is transplanted. It is provided with a second transport unit 19 for transporting the cultivation panel 18 having the above. The first transport section 16 and the second transport section 19 are arranged so as to be adjacent to each other in the width direction Y intersecting both the vertical direction Z and the depth direction X which is orthogonal to the paper surface in FIG. The 15 and the cultivation panel 18 are transported along the depth direction X.

The transplanting mechanism 13 has a transplanting hand 20 driven to sandwich the nursery piece N when the seedling S is transplanted, and a moving mechanism 30 for moving the transplanting hand 20. The transplant hand 20 has a pair of holding members 21 having a claw piece shape configured to enable a closing operation for holding the nursery piece N and an opening operation in the opposite direction, and a pair of holding members 21 for closing and opening. It includes an actuator 22 that is driven when it is operated. The details of the transplant hand 20 including the holding member 21 and the actuator 22 will be described later.

The moving mechanism 30 is a position for sandwiching the transport mechanism 12 in the width direction Y and a position for sandwiching the transport mechanism 12 in the depth direction X, for example, four frames 31 arranged so as to extend in the vertical direction Z at four locations. have. A first rail portion 32 along the depth direction X is erected between the frames 31 paired with each other in the depth direction X at a position above the transport mechanism 12. A first slider 33 is movably attached to the upper surface side of the first rail portion 32 paired in the width direction Y along the depth direction X, respectively.

A second rail portion 34 along the width direction Y is erected between the first sliders 33 paired in the width direction Y so as to straddle the transport mechanism 12, and is on the front side of the depth direction X in the second rail portion 34. A second slider 35 is attached to the surface to be movable along the width direction Y. Further, a third rail portion 36 along the vertical direction Z is attached to a surface of the second slider 35 opposite to the side on which the second rail portion 34 is located, that is, a surface on the front side in the depth direction X. There is. A third slider 37 is movably attached to the surface of the third rail portion 36 on the front side in the depth direction X along the vertical direction Z.

The surface of the third slider 37 opposite to the side on which the third rail portion 36 is located, that is, the surface on the front side in the depth direction X, is bent in an L shape along the vertical direction Z and the depth direction X. A metal fitting 38 that extends is attached. A portion of the metal fitting 38 extending along the vertical direction Z is attached to the third slider 37, and a portion extending toward the front side in the depth direction X supports the transplant hand 20. That is, in the present embodiment, the transplant hand 20 moves in the depth direction X with the movement of the first slider 33, moves in the width direction Y with the movement of the second slider 35, and moves with the movement of the third slider 37. It is configured to move in the vertical direction Z.

As shown in FIG. 2, the nursery 14 has a configuration in which a plurality of elastically deformable nursery pieces N made of polyurethane and having a rectangular shape in a plan view are arranged in the row direction and the column direction. That is, the nursery 14 is composed of a plurality of nursery pieces N separated in a matrix by boundary lines 40 extending in the row direction and the column direction. In this case, the row direction corresponds to the width direction Y of the transplanting device 11, and the column direction corresponds to the depth direction X of the transplanting device 11.

The boundary line 40 has a structure in which a cut 41 that separates the adjacent nursery pieces N from each other and a connecting portion 42 that partially connects the adjacent nursery pieces N to each other are alternately continuous. Here, the cut 41 completely separates the adjacent nursery pieces N from the upper surface to the lower surface, and the connecting portion 42 connects the adjacent nursery pieces N only at the intermediate portion in the vertical direction Z. There is. When the nursery piece N to be transplanted is separated from the nursery 14, the nursery piece N is sandwiched by the transplanting hand 20 and moves away from the adjacent nursery piece N, so that the portion of the connecting portion 42 is torn off. ..

The boundary line 40 along the row direction and the boundary line 40 along the column direction intersect each other at the portions of the cut 41 in a cross shape in a plan view. That is, the nursery piece N is not connected to another nursery piece N adjacent to the nursery piece N in the vicinity of the corner portion 43 where the boundary line 40 along the row direction and the boundary line 40 along the column direction intersect in a cross shape in a plan view. .. In the nursery piece N in the present embodiment, the width dimension YL in the width direction Y along the row direction is slightly longer than the depth dimension XL in the depth direction X along the column direction in the plan view. Further, a circular recess 44 for planting the seedling S is formed in the center of the upper surface of the nursery piece N.

As shown in FIG. 3, the cultivation panel 18 is a rectangular plate-shaped member, and circular holes 17 penetrating in the vertical direction Z are formed at a plurality of locations. These holes 17 are the destinations for transplanting the nursery piece N, and the diameter D of the holes 17 is slightly shorter than the depth dimension XL, which is the dimension in the nursery piece N in the lateral direction. That is, the elastically deformable nursery piece N is inserted into the hole 17 of the cultivation panel 18 while being sandwiched by the sandwiching member 21 of the transplanting hand 20 and contracted, and then the sandwiching member 21 opens and contracts. When restored from state, its outer surface is frictionally engaged with the inner surface of the hole 17.

The cultivation panel 18 preferably has a certain degree of hardness as compared with the nursery 14, and in the present embodiment, as an example, it is formed of expanded polypropylene which is harder than polyurethane at the time of molding. There is. That is, the cultivation panel 18 does not have rigidity as in the case of being formed of metal or the like, and can be deformed when it receives an external force of a certain magnitude. Further, as shown in FIGS. 2 and 3, the distance L1 between the holes 17 adjacent to each other in the width direction Y in the cultivation panel 18 is such that one nursery piece N is two in the width direction Y in the nursery 14. It is equal to the distance L2 between the nursery and the nursery piece N.

As shown in FIG. 4, the pair of holding members 21 included in the transplant hand 20 performed an opening operation shown by a solid line in FIG. 4 and a closing operation shown by a two-dot chain line in FIG. 4 based on the drive of the actuator 22. It opens and closes with the closed position. FIG. 4 shows a state immediately before the pair of holding members 21 in the open position move downward from above one nursery piece N to be transplanted among the plurality of nursery pieces N in the nursery 14. .. A nursery holding member 45 forming a grid pattern in a plan view is inserted from above on the boundary line 40 including the cut 41 and the connecting portion 42 in the nursery 14. In the nursery holding member 45, when the sandwiching member 21 sandwiches the nursery piece N to be transplanted and rises from the nursery 14, other nursery pieces N adjacent to the nursery piece N are linked upward together and become useless. Suppress tilting.

As shown in FIGS. 4 and 5, the pair of sandwiching members 21 are surfaces facing each other in the opening / closing direction and sandwich the nursery piece N when the nursery piece N is closed from the open position. It has a tapered surface 24 on the tip end side of the inner surface 23. That is, the holding member 21 has a tapered cross-sectional shape on the tip side so that the inner surface 23 approaches the outer surface 26 as the inner surface 23 approaches the tip 25. Therefore, when the sandwiching member 21 descends from the state shown in FIG. 4 to bring the tip 25 into contact with the upper surface of the nursery piece N and then continues to descend, the portion on the upper surface side of the sponge-shaped nursery piece N is sandwiched. It is guided by the tapered surface 24 of the member 21 and contracts so as to be rolled up. As shown in FIG. 5, the outer surface 26 of the sandwiching member 21 has an arcuate cross-sectional shape along the inner surface of the hole 17 in the cultivation panel 18.

Here, as will be described later, the sandwiching member 21 sandwiches and inserts the nursery piece N into the hole 17 of the cultivation panel 18, and then opens from that state and leaves the nursery piece N in the hole 17. In this state, it moves up while sliding on the outer surface of the nursery piece N and the inner surface of the hole 17. Therefore, the holding member 21 has a relatively low friction coefficient so that the frictional force F1 between the nursery bed piece N and the outer surface and the frictional force F2 between the inner side surface of the hole 17 at the time of ascending do not become excessive. The material is formed so that the surface is smooth. Generally, the frictional force F is determined by the relationship between the surface roughness Sr, the load W, and the friction coefficient μ. Therefore, when the load W is the same, the frictional force F is affected by the magnitude of the surface roughness Sr and the friction coefficient μ.

Therefore, the sandwiching member 21 of the present embodiment is made of stainless steel as an example and is formed so that the surface is smooth. On the other hand, the nursery piece N on which the inner surface 23 and the outer surface of the sandwiching member 21 slide, and the cultivation panel 18 on which the outer surface 26 of the sandwiching member 21 and the inner surface of the hole 17 slide are described above. As described above, the surface roughness Sr is rougher than that of the stainless steel holding member 21 having a smooth surface. Therefore, when the sandwiching member 21 rises while sliding from the inside of the hole 17 to the outer surface of the nursery piece N and the inner surface of the hole 17, the frictional force F1 between the sandwiching member 21 and the nursery piece N is the nursery piece N. It can be said that the frictional force between the hole 17 and the inner surface of the hole 17 is smaller than the frictional force F3. Similarly, it can be said that the frictional force F2 between the holding member 21 and the inner surface of the hole 17 is smaller than the frictional force F3 between the nursery piece N and the inner surface of the hole 17.

As shown in FIGS. 6 to 8, the transplanting device 11 is a pressure as an example of an opening / closing adjustment mechanism that closes and opens a pair of holding members 21 of the transplanting hand 20 by adjusting a force acting on the holding member 21. It is provided with a pressure mechanism 50 that closes and opens by the action of. The pressure mechanism 50 includes a pressure source 51 such as an air compressor that generates compressed air during driving, and a solenoid valve 52 that is operated to switch the flow direction of the supplied compressed air. That is, the pressure mechanism 50 opens and closes the pair of holding members 21 by driving the actuator 22 of the transplant hand 20 with the compressed air supplied from the pressure source 51 via the solenoid valve 52. In the present embodiment, when the pair of sandwiching members 21 are opened and closed, compressed air of 0.4 MPa to 1 MPa (hereinafter referred to as “predetermined pressure”) is output from the pressure source 51 as an example. ..

The solenoid valve 52 includes one air supply flow path 54 having an air supply port 53, a first exhaust flow path 56 having a first exhaust port 55 open to the atmosphere, and a second exhaust port 57 also open to the atmosphere. It is provided with a second exhaust flow path 58 having the above. The air supply port 53 is connected to the pressure source 51 via a supply flow path 59 such as a pipe. The solenoid valve 52 of the present embodiment is a double solenoid type solenoid valve of a three-position exhaust center type, and has a valve main body 60, a first solenoid 61, and a second solenoid 62. The first solenoid 61 moves the valve body 60 in the first direction, which is the left direction in FIGS. 6 to 8, when excited. On the other hand, the second solenoid 62 moves the valve body 60 in the second direction, which is the right direction in FIGS. 6 to 8, when excited.

The valve body 60 includes a first switching unit 63, a second switching unit 64, and an atmosphere opening switching unit 65. As shown in FIG. 6, the first switching unit 63 has a first output port 66 and a first input port 67. As shown in FIG. 7, the second switching unit 64 has a second output port 68 and a second input port 69. As shown in FIG. 8, the atmosphere opening switching unit 65 has a first atmospheric communication port 70 and a second atmospheric communication port 71. In the solenoid valve 52, the position of the valve body 60 is switched by selectively exciting or demagnetizing the first solenoid 61 and the second solenoid 62. That is, the position of the valve main body 60 is switched so that any one of the first switching unit 63, the second switching unit 64, and the atmosphere opening switching unit 65 is at the valve use position for air flow.

As shown in FIGS. 6 to 8, the actuator 22 of the transplant hand 20 is composed of an air cylinder including a cylinder tube 72 and a piston 73. The inside of the cylinder tube 72 is divided into a first chamber 74 below the piston 73 and a second chamber 75 above the piston 73. One end of the first switching flow path 76 is connected to the first chamber 74, and one end of the second switching flow path 77 is connected to the second chamber 75. The other end of the first switching flow path 76 and the other end of the second switching flow path 77 are switched to the first switching section 63, the second switching section 64, and the atmosphere open switching according to the switching position of the valve body 60 in the solenoid valve 52. It is connected to any one of the switching units of the unit 65.

A piston rod 78 extends downward from the lower surface of the piston 73 in the first chamber 74 of the cylinder tube 72, and a connecting shaft portion 79 is projected horizontally at the lower end of the piston rod 78. .. At the lower part of the cylinder tube 72 in the first chamber 74, a pair of arm members 80 that support the base end portion of the sandwiching member 21 on the tip end side thereof are swingable on the tip end side with the horizontal axis 81 as a fulcrum. Is supported by. At the base end of the arm member 80, a pair of link plates 83 having elongated holes 82 are provided so as to extend into the first chamber 74. In the pair of link plates 83, the elongated holes 82 partially overlap each other, and the connecting shaft portion 79 at the lower end of the piston rod 78 is inserted into the overlapping portion of the elongated holes 82. The sandwiching member 21 has a moving direction of the piston 73 with respect to the piston 73 by a link mechanism composed of the piston rod 78, the connecting shaft portion 79, the arm member 80, the horizontal shaft 81, the elongated hole 82, and the link plate 83. And they are connected so as to open and close according to the amount of movement.

As shown in FIG. 6, when the holding member 21 is closed, the valve body 60 moves in the first direction due to the excitation of the first solenoid 61. Then, the other end of the first switching flow path 76 is connected to the first output port 66 of the first switching unit 63, and the other end of the second switching flow path 77 is the first input port 67 of the first switching unit 63. Connected to. Therefore, the compressed air of the predetermined pressure described above flows into the first chamber 74 through the first switching flow path 76 to move the piston 73 upward, and the air pushed out from the second chamber 75 by the piston 73 is the first. 2 Discharged through the switching flow path 77. Then, in this case, since the pair of arm members 80 in the above link mechanism swing in the direction in which the tip portions are brought closer to each other, the pair of holding members 21 close as shown in FIG.

Further, as shown in FIG. 7, when the holding member 21 is opened and operated, the valve body 60 moves in the second direction due to the excitation of the second solenoid 62. Then, the other end of the second switching flow path 77 is connected to the second output port 68 of the second switching unit 64, and the other end of the first switching flow path 76 is the second input port 69 of the second switching unit 64. Connected to. Therefore, compressed air of a predetermined pressure flows into the second chamber 75 through the second switching flow path 77 to move the piston 73 downward, and the air pushed out from the first chamber 74 by the piston 73 is first switched. It is discharged through the flow path 76. Then, in this case, since the pair of arm members 80 in the above link mechanism swing in the direction in which the tip portions are separated from each other, the pair of holding members 21 open and operate as shown in FIG. 7.

Then, as shown in FIG. 8, when the holding member 21 is raised from the inside of the hole 17 in the open position, both the first solenoid 61 and the second solenoid 62 are demagnetized, and the air release switching unit 65 valve. The position of the valve body 60 is switched so as to be used for air circulation at the use position. Then, the other end of the first switching flow path 76 is connected to the first atmospheric communication port 70 of the atmospheric opening switching unit 65, and the other end of the second switching flow path 77 is connected to the second atmospheric communication of the atmospheric opening switching unit 65. Connected to port 71. Therefore, the first chamber 74 is opened to the atmosphere via the first switching flow path 76 and the first exhaust flow path 56, and the second chamber 75 is opened to the atmosphere via the second switching flow path 77 and the second exhaust flow path 58. Is open to the atmosphere. That is, the compressed air remaining in the first chamber 74 and the second chamber 75 at that time is released to the atmosphere. As a result, the pressing force along the vertical direction Z is not applied to the piston 73 connected to the holding member 21 via the link mechanism. That is, the pressure, which is an example of the force acting to cause the holding member 21 to perform the closing operation and the opening operation, is adjusted to be zero. Therefore, as shown in FIG. 8, the pair of holding members 21 in the open position do not actively operate in the closed direction or the open direction, and maintain the open position.

Next, the electrical configuration of the transplant device 11 will be described.
As shown in FIG. 9, the transplanting device 11 includes a control unit 90 that comprehensively controls the entire transplanting device 11. The control unit 90 includes a CPU 91, a ROM 92, and a RAM 93. The CPU 91 functions as a central processing unit and executes various programs. The ROM 92 readablely stores various information, a transplant program used for controlling the operation of the entire transplant device 11, and the like. The RAM 93 stores various types of information in a writable and readable manner. When various information is input to the control unit 90 via an interface (not shown), the CPU 91 executes a porting program stored in the ROM 92. As a result, the CPU 91 performs various operations required for controlling the operation of the porting device 11, reads various information used in the operations to the ROM 92, and uses the ROM 92 in the operations. The various information to be read and written is read and written to the RAM 93.

An operation unit 94 for user operation is electrically connected to the input side interface (not shown) of the control unit 90. The output side interface (not shown) of the control unit 90 includes a first transport unit 16, a second transport unit 19, a first drive unit 95, a second drive unit 96, a third drive unit 97, a pressure source 51, and a solenoid valve. 52 are electrically connected to each other. The first drive unit 95 is a drive source that is driven when the first slider 33 is moved along the first rail unit 32, and the second drive unit 96 is the second along the second rail unit 34. 2 It is a drive source that is driven when the slider 35 is moved. Further, the third drive unit 97 is a drive source that is driven when the third slider 37 is moved along the third rail unit 36. Then, based on the operation of the operation unit 94, the control unit 90 includes the first transport unit 16, the second transport unit 19, the first drive unit 95, the second drive unit 96, the third drive unit 97, the pressure source 51, and the solenoid. The drive of the valve 52 is controlled respectively.

Next, the operation of this embodiment will be described.
When the seedling S is transplanted from the nursery 14 into the hole 17 of the cultivation panel 18 together with the nursery piece N, in the transplanting device 11, first, the first driving unit 95 that moves the first slider 33 in the depth direction X, and the first 2 The second drive unit 96 for moving the slider 35 in the width direction Y is driven. Then, as shown in FIG. 4, the holding member 21 of the transplanting hand 20 is moved to just above the nursery piece N to be transplanted. At this time, the pair of sandwiching members 21 are in an open position in which the inner surfaces 23 facing each other are separated from each other in the opening / closing direction. Next, when the third slider 37 descends in the vertical direction Z by the drive of the third drive unit 97 from that state, the holding member 21 of the transplant hand 20 remains in the open position of the nursery piece N to be transplanted. It moves down from above.

As shown in FIG. 10, in the open position of the pair of holding members 21, one holding member 21 and the other holding member 21 are in the depth direction X and the width direction Y in a plan view. The opening position is set so that they are separated in the diagonal direction where they intersect diagonally. Therefore, when the pair of holding members 21 descend from above the nursery piece N in the open position, the tip 25 thereof is at a diagonal position on the rectangular upper surface of the nursery piece N and the upper surface thereof. It abuts at a position closer to the corner portion 43 than the intermediate position between the center and the corner portion 43. In this case, the holding member 21 may be in contact with any part of the tip 25 of the nursery piece N at a position on the diagonal line of the rectangular upper surface of the nursery piece N. Then, after the tip 25 is brought into contact with the vicinity of the corner portion 43 on the upper surface of the nursery piece N in this way, the holding member 21 of the transplant hand 20 continues to descend further.

Then, as shown in FIG. 11, in the nursery piece N, the vicinity of the corner portion 43 which is in contact with the adjacent nursery bed piece N not at the connecting portion 42 but at the cut 41 is due to the inner surface 23 of the holding member 21. It is pushed toward the center of the upper surface of the piece N and deformed so as to contract. Moreover, the tip end side of the inner surface 23 of the sandwiching member 21 is a tapered surface 24 formed so that the closer to the tip 25, the closer to the outer surface 26. Therefore, the nursery piece N is guided by the tapered surface 24 that the sandwiching member 21 has on the tip end side of the inner surface 23, and is smoothly deformed so that the vicinity of the corner portion 43 contracts toward the center of the upper surface.

Then, as shown in FIG. 12, when the pair of sandwiching members 21 are further lowered from the state shown in FIG. 11 in the open position and the tip 25 reaches the height position immediately before the nursery tray 15, the second 3 The drive of the drive unit 97 is stopped, and the lowering operation of the pair of sandwiching members 21 is also stopped. At this point, the portion of the entire outer surface of the nursery piece N that is in contact with the inner surface 23 of the pair of sandwiching members 21 is slightly deformed inward, but the other parts are hardly deformed and are adjacent to each other. The connecting portion 42 with the other nursery piece N is not yet separated.

Next, as shown in FIG. 13, when the pair of holding members 21 closes in the closing direction from the state of the opening position shown in FIG. 12 to reach the closed position, the nursery piece N becomes the pair of holding members 21. It will be in a state of being pinched by. That is, the compressed air of a predetermined pressure output from the pressure source 51 acts on the pair of holding members 21 in the closing direction, so that the pair of holding members 21 hold the nursery piece N from the open position. It closes to the state of the position and operates. Then, the nursery piece N is pushed inward by the pair of holding members 21 that have been closed and deformed so as to contract.

Next, as shown by the alternate long and short dash line in FIG. 13, the third slider 37 is raised by the driving of the third driving unit 97, and the nursery bed remains in the closed position where the pair of sandwiching members 21 sandwich the nursery bed piece N. It rises in the direction of the white arrow away from 14. Then, the nursery piece N sandwiched between the sandwiching members 21 is separated from the nursery 14. That is, when the nursery piece N sandwiched between the sandwiching members 21 rises together with the sandwiching member 21, the connecting portion 42 with the other nursery piece N adjacent to the nursery 14 at the boundary line 40 is torn off. The pressure value of the compressed air from the pressure source 51 at this time is such that the frictional force between the rising holding member 21 and the nursery piece N sandwiched between the holding members 21 is separated from the nursery piece N and others. It is set so as to be larger than the force required to tear off the connecting portion 42 with the nursery piece N of the above. After that, the pair of sandwiching members 21 sandwiching the nursery piece N to be transplanted are the first slider 33 and the second slider driven by the first drive unit 95 and the second drive unit 96 from the state shown by the alternate long and short dash line in FIG. It moves in the depth direction X and the width direction Y together with 35. As a result, the nursery piece N is moved to a position above a predetermined hole 17 to be transplanted in the cultivation panel 18 while being sandwiched by the sandwiching member 21.

Next, as shown in FIG. 14, the third slider 37 is lowered by the drive of the third drive unit 97, and the pair of sandwiching members 21 are shown by a two-dot chain line in FIG. 14 with the nursery piece N sandwiched. When descending from the state into the hole 17, the nursery piece N to be transplanted is inserted into the hole 17 at the transplant destination. That is, the nursery piece N enters the hole 17 in the vertical direction Z along the axis C of the hole 17 with the holding member 21 sandwiching the nursery piece N. Will be inserted. After that, due to the action of pressure by the pressure mechanism 50, the pair of sandwiching members 21 are opened in the opening direction from the state of the closed position shown by the solid line in FIG. That is, the compressed air of a predetermined pressure output from the pressure source 51 acts on the pair of holding members 21 in the opening direction, so that the pair of holding members 21 are placed in the hole 17 from the closed position to the nursery piece N. It opens in the direction in which the holding force against the air is weakened.

Then, as shown in FIG. 15, in the pair of sandwiching members 21, the inner surface 23 is in contact with the outer surface of the nursery piece N, and the outer surface 26 is in contact with the inner surface of the hole 17. Become a state. Although not shown, when the outer surface 26 of the pair of sandwiching members 21 is in an open position in contact with the inner surface of the hole 17, the actuator 22 is detected and a pressure source is applied to the control unit 90. A sensor switch for outputting a signal for stopping the driving of the 51 is provided. On the other hand, since the nursery piece N is released from being pinched by the pinching member 21, it is restored to its original shape from the compressed shape up to that point, and is frictionally engaged with the inner surface of the hole 17. That is, in the hole 17, a part of the outer surface of the nursery piece N is frictionally engaged with the inner surface 23 of the holding member 21, and a part other than the outer surface of the nursery piece N is rubbed against the inner surface of the hole 17. It will be in an engaged state.

Next, as shown in FIG. 16, when the third slider 37 is raised by driving the third drive unit 97, the pair of sandwiching members 21 start to rise from the state shown in FIG. That is, the pair of sandwiching members 21 slide from the hole 17 to the axis C of the hole 17 while sliding on the outer surface of the nursery piece N and the inner surface of the hole 17 with the nursery piece N left in the hole 17. It retracts upward in the vertical direction Z along the line. At this time, since the compressed air output from the pressure source 51 is released to the atmosphere on the pair of sandwiching members 21, no pressure acts on the pair of holding members 21 in either the closing direction or the opening direction.

Further, as shown in FIG. 16, when the pair of sandwiching members 21 rise from the hole 17 as a retracting motion, the pair of holding members 21 are frictionally engaged with the outer surface of the nursery piece N on which the inner surface 23 slides by frictional force F1. However, the outer surface 26 is frictionally engaged with the inner surface of the hole 17 on which the sliding force F2 slides. On the other hand, the nursery piece N that remains stationary in the hole 17 and the inner surface of the hole 17 are frictionally engaged with each other by the frictional force F3. Therefore, when the sandwiching member 21 rises from the hole 17 of the cultivation panel 18 as shown in FIG. 16, the following problems may occur depending on the magnitude relationship between the frictional force F1, the frictional force F2, and the frictional force F3. Occurs.

That is, for example, when the frictional force F1 is larger than the frictional force F3, the nursery piece N is pulled upward from the hole 17 and lifted upward by the holding member 21 that rises while sliding on the nursery piece N. There is a risk of being struck. In such a case, the nursery piece N in which the seedling S is planted is displaced upward from the position assumed in advance in the hole 17, and the plant cultivated from the seedling S on the upper surface of the nursery piece N Cultivation is hindered. Further, for example, when the frictional force F2 is larger than the frictional force F3, the portion where the hole 17 is formed may be pulled upward and the cultivation panel 18 may be curved. Then, when the sandwiching member 21 sliding on the inner surface of the hole 17 separates from the inner surface of the hole 17, the curved portion returns to its original position and vibrates, so that the nursery piece N from the assumed position in the hole 17 Is displaced in the vertical direction Z, which also hinders the cultivation of plants cultivated from the seedling S on the upper surface of the nursery piece N.

In this respect, in the present embodiment, the holding member 21 having a smooth surface made of a stainless steel material has a relatively low friction coefficient μ and a relatively small surface roughness Sr. On the other hand, the nursery piece N and the cultivation panel 18 each made of polyurethane and foamed polypropylene have a relatively high friction coefficient μ and a relatively large surface roughness Sr. Therefore, the frictional force F1 between the sandwiching member 21 having a smooth surface and a member having a low friction coefficient and the nursery piece N having a non-smooth surface and a member having a high friction coefficient has a smoother surface and higher friction. It is smaller than the frictional force F3 between the nursery piece N, which is a member of the coefficient, and the hole 17 of the cultivation panel 18. Similarly, the frictional force F2 between the sandwiching member 21 whose surface is smooth and has a low coefficient of friction and the hole 17 of the cultivation panel 18 whose surface is non-smooth and has a high coefficient of friction has a higher surface. It is smaller than the frictional force F3 between the nursery piece N, which is a non-smooth member with a high coefficient of friction, and the hole 17 of the cultivation panel 18.

Therefore, as shown in FIG. 17, even when the sandwiching member 21 rises from the inside of the hole 17 while sliding on the outer surface of the nursery piece N which is frictionally engaged with the inner surface of the hole 17, the nursery piece N is sandwiched. It is unlikely that the member 21 will pull upward from the hole 17 and lift it. Similarly, even when the sandwiching member 21 rises from the inside of the hole 17 while sliding on the inner surface of the hole 17, it is unlikely that the portion where the hole 17 is formed is pulled upward and curved. Therefore, as shown in FIG. 17, after the sandwiching member 21 retracts upward from the hole 17 of the cultivation panel 18, the nursery piece N remains stationary without being unnecessarily displaced upward with respect to the hole 17. , This completes a series of porting work.

Next, the effect of this embodiment will be described.
(1) The frictional force F1 between the holding member 21 and the outer surface of the nursery piece N is smaller than the frictional force F3 between the nursery piece N and the inner surface of the hole 17. Therefore, even when the holding member 21 rises from the inside of the hole 17 while sliding on a part of the outer surface of the nursery piece N which is frictionally engaged with the inner surface of the hole 17, the nursery piece N is an axis line from the inside of the hole 17. It is possible to prevent the hole 17 from being pulled upward along C and being displaced upward from the assumed position in the hole 17. Therefore, it is possible to reduce the possibility that the cultivation of the plant cultivated on the upper surface side of the transplanted nursery piece N will be hindered.

(2) Since the frictional force F2 between the holding member 21 and the inner surface of the hole 17 is smaller than the frictional force F3 between the nursery piece N and the inner surface of the hole 17, the hole 17 is formed in the cultivation panel 18. It is possible to prevent the cultivation panel 18 from bending because the formed portion is pulled upward along the axis C of the hole 17.

(3) By appropriately selecting a material having a low coefficient of friction such as stainless steel as the constituent material of the holding member 21, the holding member 21 that retracts from the hole 17 pulls the portion of the cultivation panel 18 in which the hole 17 is formed. It is possible to easily prevent the cultivation panel 18 from bending due to the fact that it is evacuated.

(4) By adjusting the pressure applied to the sandwiching member 21 by the pressure mechanism 50, the hole is opened when the sandwiching member 21 opens from the state where the nursery piece N is sandwiched in the hole 17 and then retracts from the hole 17. It is possible to easily prevent the nursery piece N remaining in 17 from being displaced up and down.

(5) The holding member 21 that retracts from the hole 17 receives pressure to positively operate the holding member 21 in both the closing direction in which the holding force with respect to the nursery piece N is strengthened and the opening direction in which the holding force is weakened. Does not work. Therefore, it is possible to prevent the nursery piece N and the portion where the hole 17 is formed from being pulled upward along the axis C of the hole 17 by the holding member 21 that retracts from the hole 17, and the nursery piece N remaining in the hole 17 can be suppressed. Can be easily suppressed from being displaced upward from the assumed position in the hole 17.

(6) The closing operation and the opening operation of the holding member 21 can be easily switched by simply switching the acting direction of the pressure applied to the holding member 21 by the pressure mechanism 50.
(7) The nursery piece N is such that the tip 25 of the sandwiching member 21 abuts from above at a position close to the corner portion 43 in contact with another nursery piece N adjacent to the nursery piece N in a plan view at a cut 41 and descends. The vicinity of the corner portion 43 is pushed toward the center of the upper surface and deformed so as to contract. Therefore, a series of operations for sandwiching the nursery piece N by lowering the holding member 21 in the opened state from above the nursery piece N and then closing the nursery piece N is close to the connecting portion 42 with the other nursery piece N. It can proceed more smoothly than when the holding member 21 is lowered to the position.

(8) The tip end side of the inner surface 23 of the sandwiching member 21 is a tapered surface 24 formed so as to gradually approach the outer surface 26 as it approaches the tip end 25. Therefore, when the tip 25 of the sandwiching member 21 abuts at a position close to the corner portion 43 of the upper surface of the nursery piece N and moves downward, the vicinity of the corner portion 43 of the nursery piece N is pushed toward the center of the upper surface. It can be easily deformed so that it contracts.

The above embodiment may be changed as in the modification shown below. Further, the configuration included in the embodiment and the configuration included in the following modification example may be arbitrarily combined, or the configurations included in the following modification example may be arbitrarily combined.

The sandwiching member 21 sandwiches and inserts the nursery piece N into the hole 17 of the cultivation panel 18, and then opens from that state and operates and rises from the hole 17 with the nursery piece N left in the hole 17. When this is done, it may be configured to slide on the outer surface of the nursery piece N but not on the inner surface of the hole 17. That is, when the holding member 21 opens in the hole 17 and reaches the open position, the holding member 21 is stopped at a slight interval with respect to the inner surface of the hole 17, and the inner surface of the hole 17 is stopped. There may be a configuration in which the nursery bed piece N does not slide and moves up while sliding only on the outer surface of the nursery piece N.

The opening / closing adjustment mechanism for closing and opening the holding member 21 by adjusting the force acting on the holding member 21 may be other than the pressure mechanism 50 for adjusting the pressure acting on the holding member 21. For example, the transplant hand 20 is composed of an electric chuck mechanism in which a pair of sandwiching members 21 are opened and closed by a driving force from an electric motor such as a motor, and the opening and closing adjustment is performed by a controller that controls the drive voltage and drive current of the electric motor in the electric chuck mechanism. A mechanism may be configured.

If the sandwiching member 21 is configured to be capable of sandwiching the nursery piece N, for example, three or four places at equal angles in the circumferential direction with the nursery piece N to be sandwiched as the center, in addition to the pair of sandwiching members 21. It may be composed of a plurality of holding members 21 arranged at a plurality of places such as a place.

The sandwiching member 21 may have a shape in which the inner surface 23 does not have a tapered surface 24 on the tip end side of the inner surface 23 thereof and the inner surface 23 continues flat until the tip end 25. However, in that case, it is preferable that the edge portion between the inner surface 23 and the tip 25 is chamfered in a rounded shape like the edge portion between the outer surface 26 and the tip 25.

The sandwiching member 21 is not configured to continuously perform an operation of tearing the nursery piece N to be transplanted from the nursery 14 and separating the nursery piece N and moving up and down with respect to the hole 17 of the cultivation panel 18 to transplant the nursery piece N. You may. For example, a plurality of nursery pieces N separated into one by one are arranged in advance, and the plurality of nursery pieces N are sequentially sandwiched one by one by the sandwiching member 21 and transplanted into the hole 17 of the transplant destination. It may be configured.

-The nursery piece N may have a square cube shape in a plan view.
-The shape of the upper surface of the nursery piece N may be circular or elliptical in addition to the rectangular shape in a plan view.

When the holding member 21 descends from above the nursery piece N and brings the tip 25 into contact with the upper surface of the nursery piece N, the tip 25 comes into contact with a position closer to the corner portion 43 than the position shown in FIG. The opening position may be set as such. That is, it may be a position on the diagonal line on the upper surface of the nursery piece N and a position closer to the corner portion 43 than an intermediate position between the center of the upper surface and the corner portion 43.

The actuator 22 of the transplant hand 20 includes an air cylinder dedicated to the closing operation in which the pressure from the pressure mechanism 50 acts on the holding member 21 only in the closing direction, and an air cylinder dedicated to the opening operation in which the pressure from the pressure mechanism 50 acts only in the opening direction. , May be held separately.

As shown in FIG. 16, the pressure mechanism 50 has a first chamber 74 and a second chamber 75 partitioned by the piston 73 when the sandwiching member 21 rises from the hole 17 leaving the nursery piece N in the hole 17. Instead of opening the and to the atmosphere, for example, a slight pressure may be applied to the second chamber 75. That is, when it is opened to the atmosphere, a pressure of 0 MPa acts on the sandwiching member 21, but for example, the nursery piece N released from the sandwiching of the sandwiching member 21 and restored from the compressed state is the inner surface of the hole 17. If the pressure is slightly lower than the pressure to press, there is less possibility of trouble.

The sandwiching member 21 is not entirely formed of a material having a low coefficient of friction such as high-density polyethylene, but at least a portion including an outer surface 26 which is a portion sliding with the inner surface of the hole 17 has low friction. It suffices if it is made of a coefficient material.

The material having a low coefficient of friction constituting the sandwiching member 21 may be other than stainless steel. In short, any material having a lower coefficient of friction than a material having a high coefficient of friction, such as polyurethane or foamed polypropylene constituting the nursery piece N or the panel 18 for cultivation, may be used.

The magnitude of the predetermined pressure of the compressed air output from the pressure source 51 of the pressure mechanism 50 to act on the sandwiching member 21 may be a pressure value other than 0.4 MPa to 1 MPa.
The magnitude of the pressure of the compressed air output from the pressure source 51 of the pressure mechanism 50 to act on the sandwiching member 21 differs depending on whether the sandwiching member 21 is closed or opened. May be good. For example, the pressure may be set to 0.6 MPa when the holding member 21 is closed, and 0.3 MPa when the holding member 21 is opened, so that the pressure is smaller when the holding member 21 is opened. In this case, since the pressure for opening operation is small, when the holding member 21 opened from the closed position in the hole 17 abuts on the inner surface of the hole 17, it strongly abuts on the inner surface of the hole 17. Can be suppressed.

The sandwiching member 21 passes through the hole 17 at the transplant destination from below to above, sandwiches the nursery piece N above the hole 17, and then descends together with the nursery piece N to enter the hole 17 and enter the hole 17. It may be configured to open and retract below the hole 17 in which the nursery piece N remains from that state. In this case, the sandwiching member 21 has a configuration in which the tip 25 thereof is located above in the direction opposite to the case of the above embodiment in which the tip 25 is located below.

The holding member 21 holds the nursery piece N from below by moving up from below toward the lower surface of the nursery piece N to be transplanted and then closing the nursery piece N while it is in the open state, and moves down from that state. The nursery bed piece N may be separated from the nursery bed 14 by tearing off the connecting portion 42.

Next, the technical idea that can be grasped from the above-described embodiment and modification will be described together with its action and effect.
(A) Closing operation for sandwiching the elastically deformable nursery piece in which the seedling is planted, opening operation in the opposite direction, and the axial direction of the hole with respect to the hole to be transplanted to the seedling formed in the cultivation panel. It is provided with a holding member configured to enable an approaching operation along the hole and a retracting operation along the axis direction from the inside of the hole, and the holding member enters the hole while holding the nursery piece by the closing operation. By operating, the nursery piece is inserted into the hole, and then the nursery piece is opened from that state, and the nursery piece is left in the hole while sliding on the outer surface of the nursery piece and the inner surface of the hole. A transplanting device that completes the operation of transplanting the nursery piece into the hole by retracting from the hole, and after the sandwiching member opens from the state of sandwiching the nursery piece in the hole, the nursery piece is retracted from the hole. At least the portion of the sandwiching member that slides on the inner surface of the hole has a lower friction coefficient than the material that forms at least the inner surface of the hole and the material that forms the nursery piece in the cultivation panel. A transplanting device characterized by being made of the same material.

According to the technical idea of (A) above, even when the holding member retracts from the inside of the hole while sliding on the outer surface of the nursery piece and the inner surface of the hole which are frictionally engaged with the inner surface of the hole. It is unlikely that the inner edge of the hole will be pulled in the axial direction from inside the hole and deformed. Therefore, after the sandwiching member is retracted from the hole of the cultivation panel, the nursery piece remains stationary without being unnecessarily tilted on the upper surface of the hole, and the plant cultivated on the upper surface side of the transplanted nursery piece. It is possible to reduce the possibility that the harvest will be hindered.

(B) Closing operation for sandwiching the elastically deformable nursery piece in which the seedling is planted, opening operation in the opposite direction, and the axial direction of the hole with respect to the hole to be transplanted to the seedling formed in the cultivation panel. It is provided with a pinching member configured to enable an approaching operation along the hole and a retracting operation along the axial direction from the inside of the hole, and the pinching member enters the hole while holding the nursery piece by the closing operation. By operating the nursery bed piece, the nursery bed piece is inserted into the hole, and then the nursery bed piece is opened from that state, and the nursery bed piece is left in the hole and slides on the outer surface of the nursery bed piece while retracting from the hole. This is a transplanting device that completes the work of transplanting the nursery piece into the hole, and the holding member when the holding member opens from the state where the nursery piece is sandwiched in the hole and then retracts from the hole. At least the portion sliding on the outer surface of the nursery piece is formed of a material having a lower friction coefficient than the material forming at least the inner side surface portion of the hole in the cultivation panel and the material forming the nursery piece. A transplant device characterized by being.

According to the technical idea of (B) above, even when the holding member retracts from the hole while sliding on the outer surface of the nursery piece that is frictionally engaged with the inner surface of the hole, the outer surface of the nursery piece It is unlikely that a part of the pinching member will be pulled in the axial direction from inside the hole. Therefore, after the sandwiching member is retracted from the hole of the cultivation panel, the nursery piece remains stationary without being unnecessarily tilted on the upper surface of the hole, and the plant cultivated on the upper surface side of the transplanted nursery piece. It is possible to reduce the possibility that the harvest will be hindered.

(C) Closing operation for sandwiching the elastically deformable nursery piece in which the seedling is planted, opening operation in the opposite direction, and the axial direction of the hole with respect to the hole to be transplanted to the seedling formed in the cultivation panel. It is provided with a holding member configured to enable an approaching operation along the hole and a retracting operation along the axis direction from the inside of the hole, and the holding member enters the hole while holding the nursery piece by the closing operation. By operating the nursery bed piece, the nursery bed piece is inserted into the hole, and then the nursery bed piece is opened from that state, and the nursery bed piece is left in the hole and slides on the outer surface of the nursery bed piece while retracting from the hole. This is a transplanting device that completes the work of transplanting the nursery piece into the hole, and the nursery piece is formed by a plurality of nursery pieces separated in a matrix by a plurality of boundaries in which cuts and connecting portions are alternately continuous. The sandwiching member is sandwiched from the configured nursery by moving downward from above or ascending from below and then closing the nursery piece to be transplanted while the sandwiching member is open, and from that state, the sandwiching member is sandwiched by the nursery. The nursery is separated from the nursery by moving in a direction away from the nursery and tearing off the connecting portion. The nursery piece has a rectangular shape in a plan view and is along the boundary line along the row direction and the column direction. The boundary line intersects with the cut portion, and when the sandwiching member moves downward from above or ascends from below the nursery piece to be transplanted while being opened, the upper surface of the nursery piece is moved. Alternatively, the transplantation is characterized in that the tip abuts on a diagonal position on the lower surface and is closer to the corner portion than the intermediate position between the center and the corner portion of the upper surface, and the tip is in contact with the lowering operation or the ascending operation. Device.

According to the technical idea of (C) above, the nursery piece is in contact with another nursery piece adjacent to the nursery piece near the corner in the plan view, not at the connecting portion but at a break. Therefore, when the tip of the holding member abuts at a position close to the corner portion of the upper surface or the lower surface of the nursery piece and the descending operation or the ascending operation is performed, the vicinity of the corner portion of the nursery piece is directed toward the center of the upper surface or the lower surface. It is pushed in the direction and deforms to contract. Therefore, a series of operations for sandwiching the nursery piece by moving the holding member in the opened state from above or ascending from above or then closing the nursery piece is performed at the connecting portion with other adjacent nursery pieces. It is possible to proceed more smoothly than in the case where the tip of the holding member is brought into contact with the position close to the position and the lowering operation or the ascending operation is performed.

11 ... Transplant device 14 ... Nursery 17 ... Hole 18 ... Cultivation panel 20 ... Transplant hand 21 ... Holding member 23 ... Inner surface 24 ... Tapered surface 25 ... Tip 26 ... Outer surface 40 ... Boundary line 41 ... Cut 42 ... Connection Part 43 ... Corner part 50 ... Pressure mechanism C ... Axis F1, F2, F3 ... Friction force N ... Nursery piece

Claims (5)

Closing action to hold the elastically deformable nursery piece in which the seedlings are planted, opening action in the opposite direction, and entry along the axial direction of the hole formed in the cultivation panel to which the seedling is to be transplanted. The holding member is provided so as to be able to move and retract from the inside of the hole along the axial direction, and the holding member moves into the hole while holding the nursery piece by the closing operation. After inserting the nursery piece into the hole, the nursery bed piece is opened from that state and then retracted from the hole while sliding on the outer surface of the nursery bed piece with the nursery bed piece left in the hole. A transplanting device that completes the transplanting work of the nursery piece into the hole.
It is provided with an opening / closing adjustment mechanism that closes and opens the holding member by adjusting the force acting on the holding member.
The opening / closing adjusting mechanism adjusts the force acting on the holding member to close and open the holding member to zero when the holding member retracts from the hole with the nursery piece left in the hole. A transplant device characterized by. The transplant device according to claim 1, wherein the opening / closing adjusting mechanism switches between a closing operation and an opening operation of the holding member by switching the direction of action of a force acting on the holding member. The nursery piece is to be transplanted with the holding member opened from the nursery bed composed of a plurality of nursery bed pieces divided in a matrix by a plurality of boundaries in which cuts and connecting portions are alternately continuous. It is pinched by moving down from above or ascending from below and then closing, and from that state, the pinching member moves in a direction away from the nursery and tears off the connecting portion to be separated from the nursery. The nursery piece has a rectangular shape in a plan view, the boundary line along the row direction and the boundary line along the column direction intersect each other at the cut portions, and the holding member is opened. When the nursery bed piece to be transplanted moves downward from above or rises from below while in the operating state, it is a diagonal position on the upper surface or the lower surface of the nursery bed piece and the center and corner angle of the upper surface or the lower surface. The transplanting apparatus according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the tip abuts at a position closer to the corner portion than an intermediate position with the portion to perform a descending operation or an ascending operation. The holding member has a tapered cross-sectional shape on the tip side so that the inner surface holding the nursery piece gradually approaches the outer surface as the inner surface holding the nursery piece approaches the tip during the closing operation of the holding member. 3. The transplant device according to claim 3 . Closing action to hold the elastically deformable nursery piece in which the seedlings are planted, opening action in the opposite direction, and entry along the axial direction of the hole formed in the cultivation panel to which the seedling is to be transplanted. The holding member is provided so as to be able to move and retract from the inside of the hole along the axial direction, and the holding member moves into the hole while holding the nursery piece by the closing operation. After inserting the nursery piece into the hole, the nursery bed piece is opened from that state and then retracted from the hole while sliding on the outer surface of the nursery bed piece with the nursery bed piece left in the hole. It is a method of transplanting seedlings using a transplanting device that completes the transplanting work of the nursery piece into a hole.
A matrix formed by a plurality of boundaries in which the cuts and connecting portions are alternately continuous and the boundary lines along the row direction and the boundary lines along the column direction intersect each other at the cut portions. The nursery bed, which is rectangular in plan view to be transplanted from the nursery bed composed of a plurality of the nursery school pieces divided into the above, is located diagonally on the upper surface or the lower surface of the nursery bed piece and is on the upper surface or the lower surface. The nursery piece is lowered or lowered from above the nursery piece while the holding member is opened and operated so that the tip of the holding member comes into contact with the position closer to the corner than the intermediate position between the center and the corner. The nursery piece is sandwiched by closing the holding member after being moved up from the nursery, and the holding member is moved from that state in a direction away from the nursery to tear off the connecting portion from the nursery. The nursery piece is separated, and then the holding member holding the nursery piece is moved into the hole and opened, and then the holding member is moved from the hole with the nursery piece left in the hole. A method of transplanting seedlings, which is characterized by evacuating.

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