JP7116678B2 - boom sprayer - Google Patents

Description

Application of Article 30, Paragraph 2 of the Patent Law Published in Nokei Shinpo No. 3230 published on July 9, 2018 (Heisei 30). Exhibited at the 34th International Agricultural Machinery Exhibition in Obihiro held from July 12th to July 16th, 2018.

The present invention relates to a boom spreading device.

The boom sprayer, as represented by a so-called boom sprayer, is a self-propelled ride-on type, a tractor-towed type, a tractor-mounted type, or the like. It is a working machine that sprays a spraying material such as a chemical solution toward the field with a spraying width corresponding to the length of the field. This boom spraying device performs spraying work while advancing on the field, and in one stroke, sprays an area equal to the moving distance x the spraying width, and repeats the back-and-forth stroke to apply the spraying work to the entire field. be.

Such a boom spraying device comprises a first boom (side boom) that deploys horizontally in the left and right direction, and a second boom that can move in the longitudinal direction of the first boom. It is known that the spray width can be changed by freely adjusting the boom length, which is determined by how much the boom protrudes (see Patent Document 1 below).

In addition, in the boom spraying device, the position of the spraying width end is set by arithmetically processing the GPS signal, the movement trajectory of the aircraft is stored from the position information of the machine, and the movement trajectory and the set spraying width end position are stored. The position of the end of the spraying width is adjusted so that the already sprayed area and the scheduled spraying area do not overlap based on the already sprayed area and the aircraft position after turning. There has been proposed a setting method (see Patent Literature 2 below).

JP 2018-157775 A JP 2015-53891 A

According to the prior art described above, by automatically adjusting the spray width by controlling the length of the boom according to the position information based on the GPS signal, it is possible to achieve the boundary line of the planned spray area stored in advance as the position information. Automatic spray width control is conceivable, in which the spraying work is carried out by advancing the aircraft while adjusting the spraying width to match.

In order to actually perform such automatic spreading width control, the relationship between the traveling speed (working speed) of the aircraft and the telescopic speed of the boom when controlling the boom length becomes a problem. If the aircraft's traveling direction is parallel to the boundary line of the planned spraying area, the boom length will be constant while the aircraft is traveling, but if the traveling direction of the aircraft and the boundary line of the planned spraying area are not always parallel , it is necessary to variably adjust the boom length according to the progress of the aircraft. At that time, if the traveling speed of the aircraft is too fast, the length of the boom will not be able to expand and contract in time, and the end of the spraying width will not be able to align with the boundary line of the planned spraying area. There was a problem that spraying leaks in the planned area tended to occur.

The present invention has been proposed to address such problems. That is, in a boom spraying device that variably adjusts the spray width by adjusting the boom length so as to match the boundary line of the planned spraying area, by considering the traveling speed of the aircraft and the expansion and contraction speed of the boom, The problem is to suppress spraying and spraying leaks in the planned spraying area.

In order to solve such problems, the present invention has the following configurations.
Boom spraying for spraying a spraying material toward a field with a spraying width corresponding to the length of the boom, provided with a machine that advances on a field and a boom that can be freely deployed in a substantially horizontal direction that intersects the traveling direction of the machine. The apparatus comprises a control unit for controlling the spray width according to the position information of the aircraft based on the GPS signal, the control unit aligning the boundary line of the predetermined spray area with the edge of the spray width. When the recognized traveling speed of the aircraft exceeds a set speed determined by the speed of expanding and contracting the length of the boom, the traveling speed of the aircraft is reduced. A boom spraying device, characterized in that it outputs one or both of a warning signal to prompt and a control signal to reduce the traveling speed of the aircraft.

According to the boom spraying device having such features, in the boom spraying device that variably adjusts the spray width by adjusting the boom length so as to match the boundary line of the planned spraying area, the traveling speed of the aircraft and the expansion and contraction speed of the boom By considering the above, it is possible to prevent the spraying outside the planned spraying area and the leakage of spraying inside the planned spraying area.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS It is explanatory drawing ((a) is a side view, (b) is a perspective view of the diagonal rear view) which showed the whole structure of the boom spraying apparatus which concerns on embodiment of this invention. FIG. 4 is an explanatory diagram showing a schematic configuration of a boom length adjusting mechanism; FIG. 4 is an explanatory diagram for explaining the telescoping operation of a boom (side boom); FIG. 4 is an explanatory diagram showing functions of a control unit; FIG. 10 is an explanatory diagram showing an example of an operation flow of dispersion width control; FIG. 3 is an explanatory diagram showing an example of a display screen controlled by a display unit ((a) shows a state in which work is being performed at a set speed; (b) is a work in which the progress speed exceeds the set speed; It shows a state where the

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. In the following description, the same reference numerals in different figures denote portions having the same function, and duplication of description in each figure will be omitted as appropriate.

As shown in FIGS. 1(a) and 1(b), the boom spraying device 1 includes a machine body 2 that advances in a field, a spraying device 3 mounted on the machine body 2, and an approximation that intersects the traveling direction of the machine body 2. It has a horizontally deployable boom 4, and sprays a spraying material such as a chemical agent toward the field with a spraying width corresponding to the length of the boom 4. - 特許庁In the illustrated example, the fuselage 2 is a traction type fuselage that is towed by a tractor (running device), but is not limited to this, and may be a mounted fuselage attached to a three-point link of a tractor or a self-propelled riding fuselage. It may be a body of formula.

The shown towing type machine body 2 is equipped with traveling wheels 2A, and in front of the machine body 2, there are a connection part 2B connected to the tractor, and a power transmission from the PTO of the tractor via a transmission means such as a universal joint. It has an input section 2C to which power is input. The spraying device 3 mounted on the body 2 includes a pump 3A driven by power input to the input section 2C and a tank 3B containing spraying agents such as chemicals.

The boom 4 has a center boom 4A and left and right side booms 4B. The center boom 4A is supported by the airframe 2 via the horizontal device 5. As shown in FIG. The side booms 4B are respectively connected to the left and right ends of the center boom 4A so as to be retractable and unfoldable, and are configured to be telescopic themselves (in the figure, the side booms 4B are retracted to their shortest state). ). Pipes or hoses having a plurality of spray nozzles 6 are attached to the center boom 4A and the side booms 4B. be done.

The side booms 4B are deployed in the horizontal direction intersecting the traveling direction of the airframe 2 and extended to the maximum length to achieve the maximum spraying width. can be variably adjusted. Also, the side boom 4B can be retracted to the shortest state (shortest length), folded along the traveling direction of the machine body 2, and tilted with the tip raised to be put in the stored state. The left and right side booms 4B can be retracted, deployed, and extended/retracted individually by boom operating mechanisms (boom retracting mechanism, boom deploying mechanism, boom length adjusting mechanism) not shown.

FIG. 2 shows a boom length adjusting mechanism 10 that extends and retracts the side boom 4B to adjust the boom length. The side boom 4B has a plurality of booms (boom 11 and boom 12). Although an example with two booms is shown here, the same configuration may be multi-staged to have three or more booms.

The boom length adjustment mechanism 10 is a mechanism that adjusts the length of the booms by varying the overlapping state along the longitudinal direction of a plurality of booms (booms 11 and 12). A specific mechanism is the same as that of the prior art, and the booms 11 and 12 are slidably supported along the longitudinal direction. is connected to the output shaft of the motor 19 . A chain 15 is wound around the sprocket 13 , one end of the chain 15 is connected to one end of a wire 16 via a connecting portion 17 , and the wire 16 is wound around a pulley 14 provided at the tip of the boom 11 . , and the other end is connected to the other end of the chain 15 via the connecting portion 18 . A base end of the boom 12 is connected to the wire 16 .

The boom length adjustment mechanism 10 rotates the sprocket 13 by driving the motor 19 to rotate, and slides the wire 16 connected to the chain 15, so that the base end side is supported by the horizontal device 5. The length of the boom 4 (side boom 4B) is adjusted by moving the boom 12 in the longitudinal direction of the boom 11 that is present.

The boom length is controlled by controlling the amount of rotation of the motor 19 using the output of the control section 20 . The controller 20 receives detection signals from a shortest position sensor 21 such as a proximity sensor and a rotation sensor 22 that detects the rotation of the sprocket 13 . The shortest position sensor 21 is attached to the base end side of the boom 11 and detects when the base end of the boom 12 approaches and reaches the shortest position. The rotation sensor 22 detects pulses (for example, encoder pulses) generated by the rotation of the sprocket 13 to detect the amount of rotation of the sprocket 13 (or the output shaft of the motor 19).

As a control operation by the control unit 20, the motor 19 is rotated before work, the boom 12 is moved to the base end side, and the shortest position sensor 21 detects and detects that the displacement amount of the boom 12 is minimized. A signal is sent to the control unit 20 . Based on this detection signal, the controller 20 recognizes that the boom 12 is at the shortest position. Then, by rotating the motor 19 in the reverse direction and detecting the amount of rotation (the number of pulses) by the rotation sensor 22, the control unit 20 moves the boom 12 by a predetermined amount of displacement, causing the boom 4 (side boom 4B) to move. ) has reached a predetermined length. Thereby, the control part 20 can control the displacement amount of the boom 12 according to an input signal, and can adjust the length of the boom 4 (side boom 4B) to arbitrary length.

As mentioned above, boom 4 is provided with a plurality of spray nozzles 6 . In the side boom 4B, the spray nozzles 6A and 6B are arranged at the same intervals on the booms 11 and 12, respectively. Further, the booms 11 and 12 are provided with flow paths (hoses or pipes) 11A and 12A for supplying spraying material to the spraying nozzles 6A and 6B.

When adjusting the boom length, a passage valve (not shown) to the spray nozzle provided on one of the spray nozzles 6A and 6B arranged at the overlapped portion of the boom 11 and the boom 12 is operated. is closed. Also, the adjustment of the boom length is performed in units of the deployment intervals of the spray nozzles 6A and 6B. As a result, the spray nozzles 6 arranged on the boom 4 are arranged at the set equal intervals regardless of the length of the boom 4 adjusted. The spreadable nozzles 6 (6A, 6B) that can be opened and closed, which are arranged at regular intervals along the arbitrary length of the boom 4, are called effective nozzles.

The interval between the spraying nozzles 6A and 6B can be set in the controller 20 in advance. As a method of setting, it can be performed by a calibration operation before work. For example, as shown in FIG. After that state, the motor 19 is driven until the maximum length is reached as shown in FIG. Then, the total displacement amount L is divided by the interval number n of the spray nozzles 6B arranged on the displaced boom 12 to obtain the number of pulses for the arrangement interval D (=L/n). The controller 20 always drives the motor 19 with a pulse number that is an integral multiple of the deployment interval D, thereby adjusting the length of the boom 4 for each deployment interval of the spray nozzles 6A and 6B.

Next, control of the spread width by the control unit 20 will be described. As shown in FIG. 4, the controller 20 receives detection signals from the shortest position sensor 21 and the rotation sensor 22 as well as a GPS signal from the GPS receiver 23 . A GPS signal is input to ascertain the current position of the body 2 at any time.

In addition, positional information of the preset spraying area 24 is input to the control unit 20 . The planned spraying area 24 is an area where the boom sprayer 1 is scheduled to spray from now on, and includes position information of the entire field based on the work area in which the boom sprayer 1 has worked in the past, and the spraying has already been performed in the current work. The positional information of the already-dispersed areas and the like are stored in storage means (memory) (not shown), and are set in advance based on the data stored in this storage means.

The control unit 20 has functions such as a travel speed calculation unit 25, a boom length control unit 26, an alarm signal output unit 27, a display unit 40, and the like.

The travel speed calculation unit 25 calculates the travel speed V of the aircraft 2 based on the GPS signal that is input. The traveling speed calculator 25 is for the machine body 2 to be directly mounted on or towed by a tractor. may be calculated.

The boom length control unit 26 controls the spray width by adjusting the length of the boom 4 (side boom 4B). The length of the boom 4 (side boom 4B) is controlled to match.

In the control of the spraying width by the boom length control section 26, the relationship between the speed at which the length of the boom 4 is expanded and contracted and the traveling speed of the machine body 2 calculated by the traveling speed calculating section 25 is important. If the traveling speed of the machine body 2 is too fast, the length of the boom 4 cannot be expanded or contracted so that the edge of the spray width is aligned with the above-mentioned boundary line. determines a set speed that allows the spray width to match the boundary line, and when the machine body 2 is traveling within a range that does not exceed the set speed, the boom length control unit 26 controls the spray width. .

The set speed at this time is set according to the speed at which the length of the boom 4 is extended and retracted. A calibration function is preferably provided to set the speed at any time. In this calibration function, the length of the booms 11 and 12 in the side boom 4B is set to the shortest state as shown in FIG. 3(a), and then the motor 19 is rotated until the length reaches the maximum length as shown in FIG. 3(b). is driven, and the time required for the variable to reach the total displacement L from zero is measured, and the speed at which the length of the boom 4 is extended or retracted is determined.

The warning signal output unit 27 has a function of outputting a warning signal when the traveling speed of the machine body 2 exceeds the set speed described above. When the control unit 20 outputs a warning signal, the display unit 40 can display a display image corresponding to the warning signal, or can output a warning sound or the like if a sound generating means is provided.

In addition to the function of the alarm signal output unit 27, or instead of the function of the alarm signal output unit 27, the control unit 20 outputs a control signal to the traveling body ( In the case of a tractor-mounted type or a towing type, it is the tractor, and in the case of a self-propelled type, it may be output to the ECU (electronic control unit) 50 of the self-propelled body) to perform control to reduce the traveling speed. .

FIG. 5 shows an example of an operation flow of spray width control by the boom length control section 26. As shown in FIG. When the spray width control is started, a GPS signal is input to the control unit 20 at predetermined time intervals (S01), and the current position of the airframe 2 is confirmed by the input GPS signal (S02). Then, the traveling speed V of the aircraft 2 is calculated from the movement distance obtained from the difference between the aircraft position based on the previously input GPS signal and the current position based on the current GPS signal and the input interval time of the GPS signals (S03).

The boundary line position ahead of the current position is input to the control unit 20 according to the set spraying area 24 (S04). Inputting the front boundary position is a boundary position several centimeters to several tens of centimeters ahead of the current position so that the edge of the scatter width and the position of the boundary line can be matched by the scatter width control. be done.

Next, the calculated advancing speed V and the set speed Vs are compared (S05). As described above, the set speed Vs is the limit value of the advancing speed at which the expansion and contraction of the boom 4 can match the spray width to the boundary line. is set in advance by measuring .

As a result of comparing the advancing speed V and the set speed Vs, if V≤Vs (S05: YES), whether the front boundary line position is outside the maximum length of the boom 4 (side boom 4B) is determined (S06).

If V≦Vs (S05: YES) and the front boundary line position is not outside the maximum length of the boom 4 (side boom 4B) (S06: NO), all effective nozzles are controlled to open. Then (S07), the boom length control unit 26 controls the spraying width so that the end of the spraying width coincides with the boundary line position (S08).

On the other hand, when the traveling speed V exceeds the set speed Vs (S05: NO), the end of the spray width cannot be aligned with the boundary line position by controlling the boom length. causes the alarm signal output unit 27 to output an alarm signal.

When the front boundary line position is outside the maximum length of the boom 4 (side boom 4B) (S06: YES), the boom length control unit 26 also moves the end of the spray width to the boundary line. Since it is not possible to match the position, an alarm signal is output (S10) to prompt a change in the traveling direction of the body 2, all the effective nozzles are opened (S11), and the boom length is controlled to the maximum (S12).

If the spray width control is to be continued (S13: YES), the GPS signal is input at the next timing (S01), the above steps are repeated, and if the spray width control is not to be continued (S13: NO). to exit control.

The display unit 40 displays the control state of the spreading width by the control unit 20 on the screen at any time. FIG. 6 shows an example of the display. The image displayed on the display screen 40G by the display unit 40 is a triangular display image 41 indicating the current position and traveling direction of the airframe 2 (the apex position of the triangle indicates the current position, and the direction of the apex angle indicates the traveling direction). ), a display image 42 of a boundary line extending forward in the traveling direction of the current position of the machine body 2 , a display image 43 of a rectangular graphic indicating the current spraying width that has been set, and the maximum length of the boom 4 . A display image 44 of a rectangular figure indicating the range, a display image 45 indicating the already sprayed area, a display image 46 indicating the numerical value of the current traveling speed V of the aircraft 2, and a display image indicating the numerical value of the set speed Vs described above. 47.

Here, display images 43 and 44 show the relative relationship of the current spread width to the maximum length range of boom 4 . Such a display image of the display unit 40 changes at any time according to the time-series output of the control unit 20, and both ends of the display image 43 showing the spread width move along the display image 42 of the boundary line. is displayed on the display screen 40G at any time.

An operator performing work while looking at the display screen 40G compares numerical values of a display image 46 displaying the current advancing speed V of the machine body 2 and a display image 47 displaying the set speed Vs, as shown in FIG. 6(a). You can continue to work while This allows the operator to work while adjusting the advancing speed V so as not to exceed the set speed Vs.

When the traveling speed V exceeds the set speed Vs, an alarm signal is output from the alarm signal output unit 27, and a display image 48 corresponding to the alarm signal is displayed, for example, as shown in FIG. is displayed on the display screen 40G. In addition to the display image 48, or instead of the display image 48, a warning sound or the like may be transmitted.

As described above, the boom spraying device 1 outputs an alarm when the traveling speed of the machine body 2 is too fast for the telescopic speed of the boom 4. Since the progress speed can be reduced by , the work can be progressed while maintaining the progress speed at which appropriate spray width control is possible.

Further, the boom spraying device 1 allows the operator to work while looking at the display screen 40G controlled by the display unit 40, so that the operator can check the currently set spraying width and the state of the boundary line between the planned spraying area. However, the work can proceed at the desired work speed. Furthermore, since the display screen 40G displays the relative relationship of the spray width with respect to the maximum length range of the boom 4, it is possible to confirm the position of the machine body 2 and the boundary line while confirming the range in which the spray width can be controlled to the maximum. Work can proceed while adjusting the positional relationship.

Although the embodiments of the present invention have been described in detail above with reference to the drawings, the specific configuration is not limited to these embodiments, and design modifications and the like are made within the scope of the present invention. is included in the present invention. In addition, each of the above-described embodiments can be combined by utilizing each other's techniques unless there is a particular contradiction or problem in the purpose, configuration, or the like.

1: Boom spraying device,
2: machine body, 2A: traveling wheels, 2B: connecting part, 2C: input part,
3: spraying device, 3A: pump, 3B: tank,
4, 11, 12: boom, 4A: center boom, 4B: side boom,
5: horizontal device, 6, 6A, 6B: spray nozzle,
10: Boom length adjustment mechanism,
13: sprocket, 14: pulley, 15: chain,
16: wire, 17, 18: connection part, 19: motor,
20: control unit, 21: shortest position sensor, 22: rotation sensor,
11A, 12A: flow path,
23: GPS receiver, 24: scheduled area for dispersal,
25: advancing speed calculator, 26: boom length control unit, 27: alarm signal output unit,
40: display unit, 40G: display screen, 41 to 48: display images,
50: ECU

Claims (4)

Boom spraying for spraying a spraying material toward a field with a spraying width corresponding to the length of the boom, provided with a machine that advances on a field and a boom that can be freely deployed in a substantially horizontal direction that intersects the traveling direction of the machine. a device,
A control unit that controls the spray width according to the position information of the aircraft based on the GPS signal,
The control unit
expanding and contracting the length of the boom so that the boundary line of the preset spraying area and the edge of the spraying width match,
When the recognized traveling speed of the aircraft exceeds the set speed determined by the speed at which the length of the boom is extended and retracted, an alarm signal prompting reduction of the traveling speed of the aircraft and a control signal for reducing the traveling speed of the aircraft are generated. A boom distribution device characterized by outputting one or both. The speed for expanding and contracting the length of the boom is calibrated by measuring the time required to extend the boom from the shortest state to the longest state, and the set speed is determined according to the calibrated speed. 2. The boom distribution device of claim 1. A display unit that displays the control state of the spreading width by the control unit on the screen at any time,
The display unit
3. The boom spraying device according to claim 1, wherein the current position of the machine body, the boundary line extending forward of the current position in the traveling direction, and the currently set spraying width are displayed. 4. The boom spraying device according to claim 3, wherein the display unit displays a display image corresponding to the alarm signal on a display screen.

Images