JPH06121610A - Vegetable harvester - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To dispense with the manual work for the supplementary cutting of the stalk of a bulb vegetables, etc., by detecting the bottom of a head-formed vegetable with a height sensor and adjusting the height of a cutting blade in such a manner as to leave uniform and short stem on the head-formed vegetable. CONSTITUTION:The vegetable harvester is composed of a height sensor 3 to detect the height of the vegetable 4 while scooping and guiding the stem of the vegetable along an inclined face A rising backward according to the travel of a machine body 1, a cutter 11 to cut the stem of the vegetable 4 detected by the height sensor 3 and a lifting apparatus to control the height of the cutter 11 according to the detection result of the height sensor 3 in such a manner as to cut the stem at a definite position.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a vegetable harvester for harvesting ball-shaped vegetables such as cabbage and Chinese cabbage.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication (Kokai) No. 2-124023 discloses a technique in which beaded vegetables are extracted together with roots, unnecessary roots are cut from stems in the process of transferring to the upper rear, and then wrapped with a film. ing.

[0003]

DISCLOSURE OF THE INVENTION Problems to be Solved by the Invention After harvesting vegetables, they are generally film-packaged, shipped and sold in order to maintain their freshness and prevent damage to soft outer leaves. In particular, the market value of wounded outer leaves is significantly reduced. In the conventional mechanical harvesting, since the mowing is done on the ground basis, there is a large difference in the length of the stem remaining in the harvested vegetables due to unevenness of the vegetation soil surface, variations in the length of the stems of the jade-shaped vegetables, etc. .

When the stem portion remains long, the film is easily pierced during packaging and the vegetables are easily scratched. Therefore, in order to make the stem lengths short after harvesting, they had to be cut manually again.

[0005]

According to the present invention, the stalk of a bead-shaped vegetable 4 such as cabbage, Chinese cabbage, etc. is scooped and guided along the rearwardly-inclined slope A by the traveling of the machine body 1.
Height sensor 3 that detects the height position of the cutter, a cutter 11 that cuts the vegetables 4 detected by the height sensor 3 with the stem, and the cutter 11 is controlled to move up and down by the detection of these height sensors 3. The vegetable harvesting machine is composed of an elevating device that maintains and controls so that a certain position of the stem is cut off.

[0006]

When the machine body 1 moves forward along the ridges in which the vegetables 4 grow, the height sensor 3 is provided close to the soil surface.
Scoops the stem of the beaded vegetable 4 into the V-shaped groove and moves forward while guiding. When the bottom of the vegetables 4 comes into contact with the inclined surface A of the scooping guide of the height sensor 3, the height sensor 3 is pushed down, its movement is detected, and the lifting device is operated to attach the height sensor 3 to the mounting portion. The cutter 11 provided integrally is lowered.

When the bottom of the vegetable 4 has finished passing the inclined surface A of the height sensor 3 in this way, the upper surface of the height sensor 3 indicates the height of the bottom of the vegetable 4, and the height sensor 3
The cutter 11 installed at a slightly lower position behind the
The stem of the vegetable 4 can be cut with a short length and a certain length. When the vegetables 4 are cut off from the stalk and sent backward, the height sensor 3 returns to its original position, detects the upward movement and activates the lifting device, and moves the mounting portion of the height sensor 3 and the cutter 11 to the set position. Raise and prepare for the next harvest.

[0008]

As described above, the height sensor 3 accurately detects the height of the vegetable 4 while guiding the stem of the vegetable 4 along the rearwardly inclined surface A by scooping up the stem. Since the cutting action position of the cutter 11 located at the rear of the height sensor 3 is controlled, the stalks of the vegetables 4 can be cut at a short fixed position, and double cutting after harvesting is required. Therefore, the configuration of the height sensor 3 can be simplified.

[0009]

[Embodiment] Fig. 1 to Fig. 4 are used for cutting and conveying beaded vegetables 4.
An example of the vegetable harvester to store is shown. A prime mover 7 is provided below a chassis 24 that forms the skeleton of the machine body 1, and transmits power to the traveling wheels 6 and various parts of the working mechanism via a gear box.

A seat 8, an operation panel 9 and the like are provided on one front side of the chassis 24, and two on the other side thereof are projected from the chassis 24 forward.
A pair of left and right parallel links 1 is provided with a book arm 25.
The harvesting device 2 is suspended via 0. The parallel link 10
By the expansion and contraction of the hydraulic cylinder 5, the hydraulic cylinder 5 is pivoted up and down around the support shafts 26 and 27 to raise and lower the mowing device 2. This reaping device 2 forms a reaping frame with an inverted U-shaped vertical member 28 and two horizontal members 21 that intersect at right angles to the vertical member 28, and the left and right horizontal members 21 have a height sensor 3 above the center thereof. Hang on.

The height sensor 3 has a V-shaped groove, and has an inclined surface A which is located in front of the shaft mounting portion and descends forward. A rotation angle detector 16 (for example, a potentiometer) is provided at one end of the height sensor shaft 23 to detect the vertical rotation angle of the height sensor 3, and this information is sent to the controller 15 having a microcomputer under the seat 8. Feed, hydraulic cylinder 5
Is stretched to raise and lower the mowing device 2.

An arm 17 is attached to the tip of the height sensor shaft 23.
Is fixed, and the spring 18 presses the tip of the height sensor 3 so as to rotate it upward. The rotation range of the arm 17 is regulated by a stopper 19 and determines the upper and lower limits of the height sensor 3. Especially, the stopper 19 on the lower limit side avoids contact of the height sensor 3 with the cutter 11.

Horizontal members 21 on both left and right sides of the height sensor 3
A guide belt 12 is provided to guide the left and right sides of the vegetables 4 and convey the vegetables 4 rearward. The vegetables 4 are conveyed from the end of the guide belt 12 to the chassis 24 by the conveyor 13, and the tilting platform 14
It passes through the above and is accommodated in the chassis 24. Next, the function of each part will be explained according to the progress from the start of the harvesting work to the harvesting.

At the start of the work, the machine body 1 is advanced along with the vegetation row of the vegetables 4 and the harvesting device 2 is lowered so that the gate-shaped harvesting frame 21 straddles the ridge, and the height sensor 3 has a V groove. The tip position is set to a height at which the relatively upper part of the stem of the beaded vegetable 4 is sandwiched, and this height is stored in the controller 15. When moving forward in this state, the height sensor 3 advances while guiding the stalks of the savory vegetables 4 in its V groove, and the stalks reach the inclined surface A inclining forward of the height sensor 3 and the syrups 4 When the bottom part of the sensor contacts the height sensor 3, the height sensor 3 is pushed down and the height sensor shaft 23 rotates, and the rotation direction and angle are detected by the rotation angle detection unit 16, and the controller 15
Sent to.

The controller 15 switches the hydraulic valve and the like by calculating from the traveling speed, the rotation angle, the sensor shape, etc., controls the hydraulic flow rate, operates the hydraulic cylinder 5, and raises and lowers the reaping device 2. As a result, when the bottom of the vegetables 4 has finished passing the inclined surface A of the height sensor 3, the height of the upper surface of the height sensor 3 indicates the height of the bottom of the edible vegetables 4. The cutter 11, which is provided slightly below the height sensor 3 with a distance D, cuts the stem portion of the egg-shaped vegetable 4 while leaving a short and constant length.

When the bead-shaped vegetables 4 are cut off from the stem and sent to the rear, the height sensor 3 is returned and rotated by the spring 18, and the rotation angle detection unit 16 detects that it has returned to the set angle, The controller 15 controls the cutting device 2 up to the stored height.
Move up and down to prepare for the next harvest. In the embodiment, the height sensor 3 and the cutter 11 are provided on the same frame 21 moved up and down by the hydraulic cylinder 5, but the height sensor 3 is different from the frame 21 moved up and down by the hydraulic cylinder 5. It may be mounted on a frame so that it can be raised and lowered.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a side view of a vegetable harvester.

FIG. 2 is a plan view thereof.

FIG. 3 is a perspective view of a height sensor.

FIG. 4 is a side view thereof.

[Explanation of symbols]

 1 Airframe 2 Harvesting device 3 Height sensor 4 Vegetables 11 Cutter A Sloping surface

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. A height at which the height position of a vegetable 4 such as cabbage, Chinese cabbage, etc. is detected by guiding the stem of a bead-shaped vegetable 4 such as cabbage, Chinese cabbage, etc. along the rearwardly rising slope A by traveling of the machine body 1. A sensor 3, a cutter 11 that cuts the vegetables 4 detected by the height sensor 3 with the stem portion, and a certain position of the stem portion while controlling the cutter 11 to move up and down by the detection of the height sensor 3 A vegetable harvester consisting of a lifting device that is maintained and controlled as described above.