JPH04141006A - Mechanism for feeding seed to gel-coating apparatus for seed - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To surely feed a seed on a gel film of a nozzle part by attaching hollow needles to both ends of a rotatable arm, connecting the hollow needles to a vacuum source when the needle is just above a vertically movable seed container and to a compressed air source when the needle is just above the nozzle part. CONSTITUTION:When a hollow needle 7 is positioned just above a seed container 21 and the container is lifted, the needle is connected to a vacuum source 12 by the action of a solenoid valve 13 to suck a seed to the tip end of the hollow needle 7. The seed container is lowered and an arm 5 is rotated. When the hollow needle is positioned just above a nozzle part B, it is connected to a compressed air source 11 by the action of the solenoid valve to drop the seed on the gel film under the nozzle.

Description

[Detailed Description of the Invention] [Industrial Application Field] The present invention relates to a seed feeding mechanism in a seed gel coating processing device that coats seeds with a gel containing nutritional substances and fungicides and having elasticity. be.

[Conventional technology]

Conventionally, seeds are generally sown uncoated, but seeds are coated to protect them from animal damage and to perform pretreatment such as sterilization9 germination promotion treatment before sowing. There are coated seeds.

Conventional coated seeds are made by spraying clay, fine sand, or a mixture of them with type a and adhering it to the seed surface by spraying a binder such as CMC.
In some cases, an oxygen generating agent or the like is added.

These are relatively hard coatings, but there are also soft coatings in which the seeds are coated with a gel or gelatinous material that swells when it absorbs water.

[Problem to be solved by the invention]

However, in conventional coating techniques, there has been no example of coating seeds using an aqueous gel that hardens only the surface layer.

For this purpose, the present applicant has developed a gel-coating processing device for seeds, which coats the seeds with a gel film by dropping and feeding the seeds onto a gel formed in a film shape, and turns the seeds into large-diameter spheres. There was a problem in that seeds were not supplied on top of the gel membrane, resulting in occasional grain defects.

The present invention aims to solve this problem, and provides a seed supply mechanism for a seed coating and display device that reliably supplies seeds onto a gel film.

(Means for Solving the Problems) In order to achieve the above object, the seed gel coating processing apparatus of the present invention includes a linear shaft erected on a lower plate and a pedestal in which the upper plate is fixed to the upper end of the wall plate; A slider that is slidably provided on the linear shaft and can be raised and lowered by a cylinder, a seed container that is attached to the slider and stores seeds therein, and a rotating part that is fixed to the upper plate and can rotate 180 degrees. A rotary actuator, an arm having a rotating shaft fixed to the rotating part in the middle and having a hollow needle at both ends, one end communicating with the hollow needle and the other end communicating with a pneumatic source via a solenoid valve. It includes a flexible conduit communicating with a negative pressure source, and a control section that controls the raising and lowering of the slider, the rotation of the arm, and the switching of the solenoid valve.

[Effect]

In the seed feeding mechanism of the seed gel coating processing apparatus configured as described above, one hollow needle is positioned directly above the seed container, and when the seed container at the lower limit rises, the one hollow needle is inserted into the seeds in the seed container, and by switching the solenoid valve, the conduit of one hollow needle is communicated with a negative pressure source, and the seeds are sucked into the tip of the hollow needle.

Next, the seed container is lowered, the arm is rotated and positioned, and the solenoid valve is switched to connect the conduit of one of the hollow needles to a pneumatic pressure source, so that the seeds are placed on top of the gel membrane below. is supplied falling.

In parallel with this, the seed container is raised and the other hollow needle is inserted into the seeds in the seed container, the conduit of the other hollow needle communicates with a negative pressure source, and the seed is placed at the tip of the hollow needle. is attracted.

The arm then rotates 180 degrees and returns to its old position, completing one cycle of seed feeding.

By repeating the above operations, the seeds in the seed container are successively supplied to the gel membrane.

〔Example〕

Embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.

Figure 1 is a front view of the seed supply mechanism A and its surrounding equipment;
FIG. 2 is an enlarged view in the direction of the X arrow in FIG.
(See Figure 1).

The frame 3 has a wall plate 3b on one side (right side in FIG. 2) of a lower plate 3a, a linear shaft 3C on the other side, and an upper plate 3d on the upper ends of the wall plate 3b and the linear shaft 3C. The lower end of a rotation support shaft 6 provided at the center of the arm 5 is connected to the rotation part of the rotary actuator 4 mounted on the upper plate 3d of the pedestal 3.
Hollow needles 7 and 8 are fixed to both ends of the tube (see FIG. 2).

One end of a flexible conduit 10 is attached to a pipe fitting 9 attached to the upper end of one hollow needle 7, and the other end of the conduit 10 is connected to a solenoid valve 13 connected to an air pressure source 11 and a negative pressure source 12. A suction pressure switch 14 is connected to the pipe line 10 and detects that the inside of the pipe line 10 has reached a predetermined negative pressure.

Similarly, one end of a flexible conduit 16 is attached to the pipe joint 15 attached to the upper end of the other hollow needle 8, and the conduit 1
The other end of 6 is connected to a solenoid valve 17 connected to air pressure #11 and a negative pressure source 12, and a suction pressure switch 18 is connected to the pipe line 16 to detect when the inside of the pipe line 16 has reached a predetermined negative pressure. is provided.

On the outer peripheral surface of the linear shaft 3C of the frame 3, there is a slider 19 that is moved up and down by a direct-acting air cylinder (not shown).
A seed container 21 containing seeds is placed at the end of a plate 20 attached to the top of the slider 19.
is attached to the slider 19, and a fiber switch (not shown) for detecting the rising height of the seed container 21 is attached to the fiber bracket 22 provided on the side surface of the slider 19.

The rotating part of the rotary actuator 4 can rotate within a range of 180 degrees, and the hollow needles 7 and 8 are rotationally positioned alternately directly above the seed container 21 and directly above the nozzle part B on the opposite side. Ru.

Near the rotation support shaft 6, there are switches 23 and 24 for low clearance.
The rotary switch 23 detects that one hollow needle 7 is positioned directly above the seed container 21, and the rotary switch 24 detects that one hollow needle 7 is positioned directly above the nozzle part B. Detects that the position has been determined.

The wall plate 3b of the pedestal 3 has a nozzle part B that forms a gel film.
A nozzle body 25 is attached.

As shown in FIG. 3, in the nozzle part B, a gel flow path 26 is formed inside a nozzle body 25, and the gel flow path 26 communicates with a plunger hole 27 that vertically penetrates the nozzle body 25. A valve seat 27a is formed at the lower end of 27,
A cylindrical cutting plunger 28 is inserted into the plunger hole 27 .

The cutting plunger 28 is provided with a pressure receiving part 28a in the middle part of the outer peripheral surface, and a tapered valve 28b is formed in the lower end part.
The upper end surface of the cutting plunger 28 is pressed by a spring (not shown), and the valve 28b is in contact with the valve seat 27a.

A gel compression plunger 29 is inserted into the gel flow path 26, and when the gel compression plunger 29 moves in a direction to pressurize the gel in the gel flow path 26, the gel presses the pressure receiving part 28a and the cutting plunger 28 rises. It is designed to open the valve.

A pipe joint 31 is provided above the gel storage tank 30 installed on the shelf 2, one end of a pipe line 32 passing through the pipe joint 31 is inserted into the gel storage tank 30, and the other end of the pipe line 32 is connected to the wall. Board 3
It communicates with the gel flow path 26 via a Paul check valve 33 attached to b.

The pipe joint 31 is configured such that the gel in the gel storage tank 30 is supplied to the gel flow path 26 via a ball check valve 33.

Next, the operation of the seed supply mechanism A will be explained together with the operation of the nozzle section B related thereto.

(State before starting automatic operation) As shown in FIG. 2, one hollow needle 7 is located directly above the seed container 21, and the other hollow needle 8 is located directly above the cutting plunger 28 of the nozzle part B. The position of the hollow needle 7 is confirmed by the rotary switch 23.

Further, it is confirmed that the seed container 21 is at the lower limit by a lower limit switch (not shown), and the conduit 10 of the hollow needle 7 is
is connected to the solenoid valve 13, and the conduit 16 of the hollow needle 8 is connected to the solenoid valve 17.
It is isolated from the air pressure source 11 and the negative pressure source 12 by.

(Automatic operation starts) When the automatic operation button on the control device (not shown) is operated, the slider is activated by a direct-acting air cylinder (not shown)]
9 rises along the linear shaft 3c, and the slider 19
One of the hollow needles 7 is inserted into the seeds of the seed container 210 which has risen at the same time.

When the fiber switch detects that the slider 19 has reached its upper limit, the solenoid valve 13 is actuated, the conduit 10 is connected to the negative pressure source 12, and one hollow needle 7 sucks the seeds.

When the hollow needle 7 suctions the seeds, the negative pressure in the conduit 10 increases, so the suction pressure switch 14 detects that the conduit 10 has reached a predetermined negative pressure.

On the other hand, the seed container 21 descends, but when the tube N110 does not reach the predetermined negative pressure, the seed container 21 rises again and suction is applied to the seeds, and one hollow needle 7 securely suctions the seeds. Start the next action.

When the suction pressure switch 14 confirms that the seeds have been suctioned and the lower limit switch confirms that the seed container 21 has finished being lowered, a solenoid valve for rotary rotation (not shown) is activated and the rotary actuator 4 is rotated. The hollow needle 7 is positioned directly above the cutting plunger 28 of the nozzle part B, and this positioning is detected by the rotary switch notch 24, and as the seed container 21 rises again, the solenoid valve 13
As a result of this operation, one of the pipe lines 10 is connected to the pneumatic pressure source 11, and the seeds that have been attracted to the hollow needle 7 fall.

In parallel with this, the electromagnetic valve 17 is activated, the pipe line 16 of the other hollow needle 8 is communicated with the negative pressure source 11, and the hollow needle 8 sucks the seeds.

On the other hand, in synchronization with the above-mentioned seed supply operation, the gel film is formed and cut at the nozzle portion.

That is, in the nozzle part B, the gel compression plunger 29
As a result of the operation, the cutting plunger 28 which pressurizes the pressure receiving part 28a rises and opens, and the gel flowing out from the lower end of the plunger hole 27 forms a film.

The formed gel film hangs down due to its own weight, and then when the cutting plunger 28 closes, the gel film cannot support its own weight and falls, but some of the gel remains at the lower end of the plunger hole 27 and forms a new gel film. It forms and hangs down due to its own weight (see Figure 3 (f)).

Since the formation of this new gel film is performed in synchronization with the seed supply mechanism, the seeds S are dropped and supplied to this new gel film (see Figure 3 (b)), and the seeds are placed inside the hanging gel film. S is partially wrapped (see Figure 3 (c)).

Next, the gel compression plunger 29 pressurizes the gel in the gel flow path 26, and the cutting plunger 28 pressurized by the pressure receiving part 28a rises to open the valve, and the gel flows out from the lower end of the plunger hole 27. The surrounding area of the seed S is covered with gel (Fig. 3 (
After a predetermined period of time, the gel compression plunger 29 retreats, the pressure inside the gel flow path 26 decreases, the cutting plunger 28 closes, and the gel film is unable to support its own weight and falls (see Figure 3). (Refer to (e)), some gels have plunger hole 2.
It remains on the lower end of the gel, forms a new gel film, and hangs down due to its own weight (see Figure 3).

The falling seed coating gel is spheroidized as it falls, is supplied to the curing agent in the curing agent tank installed below, the surface of the seed coating gel is hardened, and is further transferred to the washing tank where it adheres to the surface. The curing agent is washed.

〔Effect of the invention〕

Since the present invention is configured as described above, it produces the following effects.

(]) After it is confirmed that the hollow needle has reliably sucked the seeds, it is positioned at the seed supply position and the seeds are supplied, so gel coating is performed without the seeds being supplied, so-called missing grains. There is no risk of this occurring.

Further, since the gel coating is formed in accordance with the seed feeding operation, the seeds are not fed too quickly or too late, and the seeds are accommodated in the spherical gel coating.

(2) The operation of the seed supply mechanism and the operation of the nozzle part can be rearranged by a sequence program, so the number of seeds per person can be arbitrarily selected by cutting the gel film after a plurality of seeds have been supplied. You can.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

1 to 3 show an embodiment of the present invention, FIG. 1 is a front view of the seed supply mechanism A and its surrounding equipment, FIG. 2 is an enlarged view of FIG. 1 in the direction of the X arrow, and FIG. (A) to (F) are explanatory diagrams of the gel coating process of seeds. A... Seed supply mechanism, B... Nozzle section, S... Seed, 3... Frame, 3b... Wall plate, 3c... Linear shaft, 4... Rotary actuator, 5...・・・
Arm, 6...Rotation shaft, 7, 8...Hollow needle, 10
...Pipeline, 11...Pneumatic pressure source, 12...Negative pressure source, 1
3... Solenoid valve, 14... Suction pressure switch, 16...
... Pipeline, 17... Solenoid valve, 18... Suction pressure switch, 19... Slider, 21... Seed container, 23
, 24... Rotary switch, 25... Nozzle body, 26... Gel flow path, 28... Cutting plunger,
29...Plunger for gel compression. Patent applicant Yazaki Sogyo Co., Ltd.

Claims (1)

[Claims] A linear shaft erected on a lower plate, a pedestal with an upper plate fixed to the upper end of the wall plate, a slider slidably provided on the linear shaft and movable up and down by a cylinder, and attached to the slider to store seeds inside. a rotary actuator having a rotating part fixed to the upper plate and capable of rotating 180 degrees, and an arm having a rotating shaft fixed to the rotating part in the middle and having hollow needles at both ends. and a flexible conduit whose one end communicates with the hollow needle and whose other end communicates with a pneumatic pressure source and a negative pressure source via a solenoid valve, and a flexible conduit that allows the slider to rise and fall, the arm to rotate, and the solenoid valve to switch. 1. A seed feeding mechanism for a gel coating processing device for seeds, characterized by comprising a control section for controlling the seeds.