JPH0662716A - Automatic liquid applicator - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To provide the subject applicator so designed that a spray nozzle is automatically put to vertical motion during traveling to expand liquid application range and, even if the nozzle, when lifted, comes to contact with obstacles above it, it senses them automatically and dodges them automatically, thus proceeding with application. CONSTITUTION:In an applicator where a truck 1 capable of both advancing and retreating motions is equipped with a liquid application body 5 fitted with a spray nozzle 3 in a vertically movable manner through a lift 2. This applicator is also equipped with (A) a sensor 6 to detect obstacles when the application body 5 comes to contact with them and (B) a traveling control unit 7 to temporarily retreat and then advance the track 1 again based on the detection signals. Besides, another control unit 8 to control the vertical motion of the application body 5 based on the above signals is also installed on the applicator.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an automatic liquid spraying vehicle for spraying a disinfectant solution, liquid fertilizer, water, etc., on plants grown in a vinyl house, for example, and is especially tall. It is suitable for use when spraying a liquid on plants.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Liquid spraying vehicles of this type include a manual type, a semi-automatic type and a fully automatic type. The manual type sprays liquid from the spray nozzle while a person pushes the trolley that travels through the ridges in the field or the vinyl house, while the semi-automatic type automatically sprays the liquid while the automatic sprayer travels in the aisle. Liquid is automatically sprayed from the spray nozzle, but the passage of the automatic liquid spraying vehicle is manually changed.In the fully automatic type, the liquid is sprayed from the spray nozzle while the automatic liquid spraying vehicle automatically travels in the passage. Is automatically sprayed, and the passage of the automatic liquid spraying vehicle is automatically switched. Incidentally, as a fully automatic automatic liquid spraying vehicle, there are Japanese Patent Application No. 57-86600 and Japanese Patent Application No. 63-109590, which were previously developed and applied by the applicant of the present application.

In any of these automatic liquid spraying vehicles, the position of the spray nozzle is fixed, and the angle of the spray nozzle can be changed vertically only at a fixed position.
The spray range of the liquid was narrow, and it was not possible to spray tall plants or short plants from top to bottom, especially on the front and back of leaves. As a result of diligent research, the applicant of the present invention has shown that, as shown in FIG. 7, the spray nozzle A automatically moves up and down while running to spray plants from top to bottom evenly. Was developed (Japanese Patent Application No. 3-
112610).

[0004]

The automatic liquid spraying vehicle B shown in FIG. 7 has no particular problem per se. However, in cultivating a rose C as shown in FIG. 8, a supporting rod D is set up on the side of the rose C in order to grow the tall rose C straight and to support it. In order to prevent the ridges from falling, the supporting rods D of the adjacent ridges are often connected to each other by a connecting tool E such as a rope or a pipe. In this case, automatic liquid sprayer B
When traveling through the ridge passage while moving the spray nozzle A up and down, the liquid supply pipe F to which the spray nozzle A is attached may hit the connector E and stop there. Therefore, in some cases, an operator is required to monitor the working status of the automatic liquid spraying vehicle B, and the operator temporarily retracts the automatic liquid spraying vehicle B that has stopped by hitting the connecting tool E, and the liquid supply pipe When F descends below the connector E, there is a problem that it has to be advanced and passed under the connector E.

[0005] In the case of a short agricultural house, the beam may be hit by the connecting tool E, and in this case also, there is exactly the same problem as when the connecting tool E is hit.

An object of the present invention is to automatically raise and lower the spray nozzle during traveling to widen the spraying range of the liquid, and to automatically raise the spray nozzle even if it hits an upper obstacle during traveling. In view of the above, it is an object of the present invention to provide an automatic liquid spraying vehicle capable of advancing past the obstacle automatically and continuing liquid spraying.

[0007]

As shown in FIG. 1, an automatic liquid spraying vehicle according to a first aspect of the present invention comprises a traveling vehicle 1 which can move forward and backward, and a spraying device 3 which lifts and lowers a spray nozzle 3 by means of a lifting device 2. In the automatic liquid spraying vehicle equipped with the liquid spraying body 5, the detecting device 6 that detects when the liquid spraying body 5 hits an obstacle and the traveling vehicle 1 is temporarily operated based on the detection signal of the detecting device 6. Traveling control device 7 that causes the vehicle to move backward and then forward again
And is provided.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, the automatic liquid spraying vehicle according to the first aspect of the present invention is the same as the automatic liquid spraying vehicle according to the first aspect of the present invention. Is provided.

[0009]

In the automatic liquid spraying vehicle according to claim 1 of the present invention,
As shown in FIG. 2, the automatic liquid spraying vehicle moves the liquid sprayer 5 up and down to spray the liquid from the spray nozzle 3 and move in the direction of the arrow in the figure. At this time, when the liquid spray body 5 hits the obstacle 9 as shown in FIG. 3, the liquid spray body 5 falls backward as shown in FIG. As a result, the detection device 6 detects it and generates a detection signal, and when this detection signal is sent to the traveling control device 7 that controls the forward and backward movements of the traveling vehicle 1, the traveling control device 7 controls the same as in FIG. As shown in, the traveling vehicle 1 slightly moves backward and then moves forward again. During this time, the liquid spraying body 5 is repeatedly moved up and down, and as shown in FIG. 5, the traveling vehicle 1 passes under the obstacle 9 when it descends from the obstacle 9.

In the automatic liquid spraying vehicle of claim 2 of the present invention, as shown in FIG. 2, the automatic liquid spraying vehicle moves the liquid spraying body 5 up and down to spray the liquid from the spray nozzles 3, and the arrow in the figure. Move in the direction. At this time, when the liquid spray body 5 hits the obstacle 9 as shown in FIG. 3, the liquid spray body 5 falls backward as shown in FIG. As a result, the detection device 6 detects it and generates a detection signal, and when this detection signal is sent to the traveling control device 7 that controls the forward and backward movements of the traveling vehicle 1, the traveling control device 7 controls the same as in FIG. As shown in, the traveling vehicle 1 slightly moves backward and then moves forward again. At this time, the detection signal from the detection device 6 is also sent to the lifting control device 8 that controls the lifting of the lifting device 2, and the liquid spraying body 5 is temporarily lowered by the control of the lifting control device 8 while traveling. The car 1 passes under the obstacle 9. After the passage, the elevating controller 8 resumes elevating the liquid spraying body 5.

[0011]

Embodiment 1 FIG. 1 shows an embodiment of an automatic liquid spraying vehicle of the present invention. In FIG. 1, reference numeral 1 is an electric vehicle including an electric motor 10, a battery 11, a travel control device 7, and a drive system (not shown). When the traveling vehicle 1 sends an electric signal to the traveling control device 7, the current sent from the battery 11 to the electric motor 10 is turned on / off, or the plus / minus is reversed, so that the vehicle moves forward / backward. The reverse can be controlled freely.

Reference numeral 2 in FIG. 1 denotes an elevating device driven by an electric motor 20 mounted on the traveling vehicle 1 and its elevating control device 8. The lifting device 2 is attached to an L-shaped support 12 protruding from the front of the traveling vehicle 1 with a connecting bolt 13, and with the bolt 13 as a fulcrum, the front-back direction (S direction, T direction in the drawing). It can be rotated little by little. As shown in FIG. 6, the lifting device 2 is provided with a drive gear 21 and a guide gear 23, which are rotated by the electric motor 20, rotatably attached to the upper and lower ends of a case 29 having a U-shaped cross section. An L-shaped arm 24 is attached to a chain 22 wound between both gears 21 and 23, and an elevator 27 is attached to a connecting portion 25 of the arm 24 via a mover 26. It is connected.

The drive gear 21 is attached to the rotary shaft 28 of the electric motor 20 via a shaft joint 30, and the lifting device 2 rotates about the connecting bolt 13 as a fulcrum to rotate the rotary shaft 28 of the electric motor 20. Even if the drive gear 21 and the drive gear 21 come close to or away from each other, it is possible to follow them. The arm 24 has its connecting portion 25 located on the axis connecting the centers of the upper and lower two gears 21, 22, so that when the chain 22 rotates right and left, the connecting portion 25 reciprocates up and down on the axis. It moves so that the elevator 27 also reciprocates up and down along with the reciprocating movement, and the liquid spraying body 5 attached to the elevator 27 reciprocates up and down.

The mover 26 of FIG. 1 is formed in the shape of an elongated plate, and its upper hole 33 is rotatably attached to the connecting portion 25 of the arm 24 by a bolt and nut (not shown), and the lower hole 34 is formed. It is rotatably attached to the elevator 27 by means of bolts and nuts (not shown). As a result, even if the position of the connecting portion 25 of the arm 24 deviates slightly from the axis, the lower hole 34 of the movable element 26 always moves up and down on the axis, and the elevator 27 always slides on the axis accordingly. Is done.

Reference numeral 31 in FIG. 1 is a plate-shaped guide body, which is fixed to the front surface of the case 29. The elevator 27 is arranged outside the guide body 31 so as to move up and down along the guide body 31.

Reference numeral 5 in FIG. 1 denotes a liquid dispersion body, which is provided with a liquid supply port 4 to which a liquid supply hose 15 is connected at a lower portion (a central portion in FIG. 6) of a liquid supply pipe 14 in the vertical direction. The spray nozzle 3 is attached to the vertical direction of the liquid supply pipe 14.
There are steps. Moreover, two spray nozzles 3 at each stage are provided so as to project to the left and right, and the spray angle of each spray nozzle 3 can also be changed. The number of spray nozzles 3, the number of stages, etc. may be other than this, and for example, the number of spray nozzles 3 may be one. The liquid spraying body 5 is attached to the elevator 27 via a fixture 16 so as to move up and down together with the elevator 27.

Reference numeral 6 in FIG. 1 denotes a detecting device, which is an arm 4 which is bent in a substantially V shape and is rotatably attached to the connecting bolt 13 of the support 12 together with the elevating device 2.
1, 42, a spring 43 attached to the lower ends of both arms 41, 42, and both arms 41 fixed to the support tool 12,
Two fixing pins 45, 46 that press the bottom of 42 from the inside
And the fixing pin 44 fixed to the lifting device 2 and the arm 4
2 and the limit switch 40 attached to the arm 41
And an operating element 49 formed with a through hole 48 into which the pin 47 of the limit switch 40 is inserted.

In this detection device 6, as shown in FIG. 3, when the automatic vehicle 1 is traveling in the S direction, the liquid spraying body 5 is
When the lifting device 2 supporting the liquid spraying body 5 tilts in the T direction in the figure when the obstacle 9 hits the obstacle 9, one arm 41 remains fixed by the fixing pin 45 of the support tool 12, and the other Arm 42 is pushed out in the T direction in the figure by the fixing pin 44 of the lifting device 2. Then, the limit switch 40 attached to the arm 42 is pushed out in the S direction, and at this time, since the operator 49 fixed to the other arm 41 does not move and holds the pin 47 of the limit switch 40,
As a result, the pin 47 falls down as shown in FIG. 3, and the contact of the limit switch 40 is switched.

When the contact of the limit switch 40 is switched, a detection signal is output to the traveling control device 7. Then, the traveling control device 7 temporarily stops the electric current to the electric motor 10 and temporarily stops the traveling vehicle 1, and immediately thereafter, the electric motor 1 is stopped.
The current supplied to 0 is reversed to move the traveling vehicle 1 backward as shown in FIG.

When the liquid spraying body 5 separates from the obstacle 9, the arm 42 once pushed out by the fixing pin 44 is pulled back by the force of the spring 43, as a result, as shown in FIG. Push back to the original standing state. In this state, the pin 47 of the limit switch 40 returns to the original state, and the contact is switched again. Then, the detection signal to the traveling control device 7 is turned off, the traveling control device 7 temporarily stops the electric motor 10 and then reverses the electric current to the electric motor 10 again, so that the automatic vehicle 1 is driven. Move forward as shown in. During this time, the liquid spraying body 5 is moved up and down by the lifting device 2.

[0021]

Second Embodiment In this embodiment, when the automatic liquid spraying vehicle of the first embodiment receives a detection signal output from the detecting device 6 when the liquid spraying body 5 hits an obstacle 9, the lifting device 2 is lifted from the battery 11. ON / OFF the current supplied to the electric motor 20 of
A lifting control device 8 for controlling lifting or lowering of the liquid spraying body 5 by turning it off or in reverse is attached.

Upon receiving the detection signal from the detection device 6 (FIG. 3), the elevation control device 8 first stops the electric current to the electric motor 20 to stop the elevation of the liquid spraying body 5. Next, the elevator control device 8 drives the electric motor 20 to lower the liquid spraying body 5. In the meantime, when the traveling vehicle 1 moves backward under the control of the traveling control device 7 as shown in FIG. 4, the liquid spray body 5 separates from the obstacle 9, and the detection signal from the detection device 6 turns off, a predetermined time ( The time is set in advance so that the autonomous vehicle 1 can pass through the obstacle 9)
Hold the liquid sprayer 5 only in the lowered state (Fig. 5),
After that, the vertical movement of the liquid spraying body 5 is restarted.

[0023]

The automatic liquid spraying vehicle of the present invention has the following effects. By increasing the vertical range of the liquid sprayer 5, the range of vertical movement of the liquid sprayer can be widened. By doing so, the distribution range of the liquid can be widened, and tall plants and short plants can be obtained. But you can evenly spread it from top to bottom. Further, even in the liquid spraying work in rose cultivation and the liquid spraying work in a short house, when the vertically moving liquid sprayer 5 hits the obstacle 9, the detection device 6 detects it and automatically travels. Since the vehicle 1 is slightly retracted and then moved forward, the spraying work can be performed automatically. Particularly, in the automatic liquid spraying vehicle according to the second aspect, the liquid spraying body 5 remains lowered while passing under the obstacle 9, so that it is possible to pass under the obstacle 9 more reliably. it can.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing an embodiment of an automatic liquid spraying vehicle of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a side view showing the running state of the automatic liquid spraying vehicle of FIG. 1 in normal times.

3 is a side view showing a state when an obstacle hits the automatic liquid spraying vehicle of FIG.

FIG. 4 is a side view showing a state where the automatic liquid spraying vehicle of FIG. 3 hitting an obstacle moves backward.

FIG. 5 is a side view showing a state in which the automatic liquid spraying vehicle of FIG. 4 which has moved backward moves past the obstacle again and moves forward.

6 is an exploded perspective view of a lifting device in the automatic liquid spraying vehicle of FIG.

FIG. 7 is a perspective view showing an example of a conventional automatic liquid spraying vehicle.

8 is a front view showing a problem in the automatic liquid spraying vehicle of FIG. 7. FIG.

[Explanation of symbols]

 1 Travel Vehicle 2 Lifting Device 3 Spray Nozzle 5 Liquid Disperser 6 Detection Device 7 Travel Control Device 8 Lifting Control Device

Claims (2)

[Claims] 1. An automatic liquid spraying vehicle comprising a traveling vehicle 1 capable of moving forward and backward, and a liquid spraying body 5 for raising and lowering a spray nozzle 3 by an elevating device 2. When the liquid spraying body 5 hits an obstacle. An automatic liquid spraying vehicle, which is provided with a detection device 6 for detecting it and a travel control device 7 for temporarily moving the traveling vehicle 1 backward based on a detection signal of the detecting device 6 and then moving the traveling vehicle 1 forward again. . 2. The automatic liquid spraying vehicle according to claim 1, further comprising a lifting control device 8 for controlling lifting and lowering of the liquid spraying body 5 based on a detection signal of the detection device 6. .