JP7138044B2 - 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 the leakage of spraying in the planned area was likely to occur.

In addition, when adjusting the spray width by controlling the boom length, the range in which the spray width is shortened is limited by the shortest length of the boom. Therefore, if the boundary line of the planned spraying area comes too close to the inside of the aircraft while the machine is moving, it is possible to align the edge of the spraying width with the boundary line of the planned spraying area even if the boom length is set to the shortest length. In this case, too, there is a problem that spraying outside the planned spraying area and leaking of spraying within the planned spraying area tend to occur.

In addition, while the machine body of the boom spraying device is advancing linearly and the spraying work is being performed in a predetermined spraying width, there may be a case where a partial sprayed area exists inside the spraying width. In such a case, there is a problem that only by adjusting the boom length, it is impossible to carry out spraying except for the already sprayed area, and there is no choice but to carry out overlapping spraying.

The present invention has been proposed to address such problems. In other words, in a boom spraying device that variably adjusts the spray width by adjusting the boom length to match the boundary line of the planned spraying area, in various situations such as the traveling speed of the aircraft being too fast, the spraying outside the planned spraying area and prevention of spray leaks in the planned spray 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 direction of movement of the machine. The device comprises a control unit for controlling the spray width based on 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. A boom length control unit that controls the expansion and contraction of the length of the boom, and a boom that is arranged at a set interval so that the boundary line of the preset spraying area and the end of the spraying width are aligned. and a nozzle opening/closing control unit that individually controls the opening and closing of the plurality of spray nozzles.

The boom spraying device having such characteristics is a boom spraying device that variably adjusts the spray width by adjusting the boom length so as to match the boundary line of the spraying area. By controlling the spraying width by the nozzle opening/closing control unit under certain circumstances, it is possible to prevent spraying outside the planned spraying area and leakage of spraying within 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 for explaining the flow path configuration of the spraying device and the control of the spraying nozzles; FIG. 4 is an explanatory diagram showing functions of a control unit; FIG. 7 is an explanatory diagram showing an example of an operation flow of dispersion width control; FIG. 4 is an explanatory diagram showing an example of a display screen controlled by a display unit; FIG. 10 is an explanatory diagram illustrating an example of work of the boom spraying device ((a) shows a working state in which partial sprayed areas are scattered in front, and (b) shows a partial sprayed area); It shows the state in which the work is progressing while avoiding the spraying of dust.)

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 a 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 a 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.

FIG. 4 shows a configuration example of the sprinkling device 3 that supplies the sprinkling material to the sprinkling nozzles 6 (6A, 6B). The spraying material in the tank 3B is pressure-fed by the pump 3A to the spraying nozzles 6 (6A, 6B). A pumping flow path 30 connected to the pump 3A is branched into a supply flow path 32 and a return flow path 33 via a three-way valve 31, and the return flow path 33 communicates with the tank 3B via an electric control valve 34, The supply channel 32 is connected to a flow divider 37 via a pressure gauge 35 and a flow meter 36 . The flow divider 37 divides the supply flow path 32 into three supply flow paths 32A, 32B, and 32C via open/close valves 37A, 37B, and 37C. The supply channels 32A and 32C are connected to the channels 11A and 12A in the side boom 4B, respectively, and the supply channel 32B is connected to the channel 38 to which the spray nozzle 6 is connected in the center boom 4A.

Such a sprinkling device 3 can variably control the supply pressure of the sprinkling material by adjusting the opening/closing state of the electric control valve 34 . In addition, a channel valve 6V is individually provided in the channel leading to each of the spray nozzles 6 (6A, 6B). Each spray nozzle 6 (6A, 6B) can be opened or closed individually.

Next, control of the spread width by the control unit 20 will be described. As shown in FIG. 5, the controller 20 receives the detection signals from the shortest position sensor 21 and the rotation sensor 22 as well as the 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 traveling speed calculation unit 25, a boom length control unit 26, a nozzle opening/closing control 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 travel speed calculation unit 25 is for the fuselage 2 to be directly mounted or towed by a tractor, and when the control unit 20 receives a speed signal from the ECU of the tractor, the travel speed calculation unit 25 calculates the fuselage 2 based on the speed signal. 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 nozzle opening/closing control unit 27 selectively opens and closes a plurality of spray nozzles 6 arranged on the boom 4 to control the spray width. A plurality of spray nozzles 6 arranged at set intervals on a boom 4 are individually controlled to open and close so that the ends are aligned.

FIG. 6 shows an example of the operation flow of spray width control by the boom length control section 26 and the nozzle opening/closing control section 27. 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 in front of the current position is input to the control unit 20 according to the set spraying area 24 . 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. (S04).

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 or not the front boundary line position is positioned inside the shortest length of the boom 4 (side boom 4B) is determined (S06). When the front boundary line position is not located inside the shortest length of the boom 4 (side boom 4B) (S06: NO), the front boundary line position is the maximum length of the boom 4 (side boom 4B). (S07).

Then, V≦Vs (S05: YES), the front boundary line position is not inside the shortest length of the boom 4 (side boom 4B) (S06: NO), and the front boundary line position is the boom 4 (side boom 4B). If it is not outside the maximum length of the boom 4B) (S07: NO), all the effective nozzles are controlled to open (S08), and the boom length control unit 26 controls the spray width to control the spray width edge. is matched with the boundary line position (S09).

On the other hand, if the traveling speed V exceeds the set speed Vs (S05: NO), or if the front boundary line position is located inside the shortest length of the boom 4 (side boom 4B) (S06 : YES), the end of the spray width cannot be aligned with the boundary line position by controlling the boom length. is controlled to match the boundary line position.

When the front boundary line position is outside the maximum length of the boom 4 (side boom 4B) (S07: YES), both the boom length control unit 26 and the nozzle opening/closing control unit 27 control the spray width. can not be aligned with the boundary line position, in this case, an alarm signal is output (S11) to urge the aircraft 2 to change its traveling direction, and an alarm display and an alarm sound are output on the display unit 40, which will be described later. Then, all effective nozzles are opened (S12), and the boom length is controlled to the maximum (S13).

If the spray width control is to be continued (S14: 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 (S14: NO). to exit control. In the above example, the spray width control by the boom length control unit 26 and the spray width control by the nozzle open/close control unit 27 are performed separately. may be combined to control the spread width.

The display unit 40 displays the control state of the spreading width by the control unit 20 on the screen at any time. FIG. 7 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 who works while looking at the display screen 40G can proceed with the work while comparing numerical values of the display image 46 displaying the current advancing speed V of the machine body 2 and the display image 47 displaying the set speed Vs. This allows the operator to work while adjusting the advancing speed V so as not to exceed the set speed Vs. Further, even when the advancing speed V exceeds the set speed Vs, the control of the spraying width is automatically performed by the nozzle opening/closing control unit 27 described above. be able to.

FIG. 8 shows an example of the working state of the boom spraying device 1 described above on the display screen of the display unit 40. As shown in FIG. Here, as shown in FIG. 8(a), an example of work is shown in the case where the front of the current position of the airframe 2 is dotted with partial already-dispersed areas 45P. In such a case, the boom spraying device 1 can set a boundary line 42P not only for the left and right boundary lines 42 but also for the partial distribution area 45P. As a result, when the machine body 2 passes over the partial sprayed area 45P, the nozzle opening/closing control unit 27 controls the spraying width 43 so as not to spray the sprayed area 45P. It can be set by dividing into two.

As described above, when the traveling speed of the machine body 2 is too fast for the expansion/contraction speed of the boom 4, the boom spraying device 1 causes the nozzle opening/closing control unit 27 to set the boundary line of the predetermined spraying area. Since the ends of the spraying width can be made to coincide with each other, even when the advancing speed of the machine body 2 is high to some extent, the spraying outside the planned spraying area and the leakage of spraying within the planned spraying area can be suppressed.

In addition, the boom spraying device 1 can be used when the boundary line of the planned spraying area comes to the inside of the machine body while the machine is moving, or when the already sprayed area is partially scattered inside the spraying width. Even if the line is inside the shortest length of the boom 4, the nozzle opening/closing control unit 27 can match the boundary line of the predetermined spraying area with the end of the spraying width. In such a situation, it is possible to prevent spraying outside the planned spraying area, omission of spraying within the planned spraying area, or overlapping spraying to the already sprayed area.

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,
30: pressure feed channel, 31: three-way valve, 32, 32A, 32B, 32C: supply channel,
33: return flow path, 34: electric control valve,
35: pressure gauge, 36: flow meter, 37: flow divider, 38: flow path,
37A, 37B, 37C: opening and closing valves,
4, 11, 12: boom, 4A: center boom, 4B: side boom,
5: horizontal device, 6, 6A, 6B: spray nozzle, 6V: flow path valve,
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: traveling speed calculator, 26: boom length controller, 27: nozzle open/close controller,
40: display unit, 40G: display screen, 41 to 47: display images

Claims (5)

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 direction of movement 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
a boom length control unit that controls expansion and contraction of the length of the boom so that the boundary line of the preset spraying area and the end of the spraying width are aligned;
a nozzle opening/closing control unit that individually controls the opening and closing of a plurality of spray nozzles arranged at set intervals on the boom so that the boundary line of the preset spraying area and the edge of the spray width match ,
When the advancing speed of the aircraft does not exceed a set speed determined by the speed at which the length of the boom is extended and retracted, the boom length control unit aligns the end of the spray width with the boundary line, and the advancing speed is A boom spraying device , wherein when the set speed is exceeded, the end of the spraying width is made to coincide with the boundary line by the nozzle opening/closing control section . The control unit
2. The boom spraying method according to claim 1 , wherein when the position of the boundary line is positioned inside the shortest length of the boom, the end of the spraying width is matched with the boundary line by the nozzle opening/closing control unit. Device. The control unit
3. The boom spraying device according to claim 1, wherein when the position of the boundary line is positioned outside the maximum length of the boom, a warning signal prompting a change in the traveling direction of the machine body is output. A display unit for displaying the control state of the spreading width by the control unit on the screen at any time,
The display unit
4. Displaying the current position of the aircraft , the boundary line extending forward of the current position in the traveling direction, and the currently set spray width. A boom dispersal device as described. 5. The boom spraying device according to claim 4 , wherein the display displays the relative relationship of the spraying width to the maximum length range of the boom.

Images