JPH07184432A - Automatic seedling feeder - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To provide an automatic seedling feeder capable of saving a conventional carrier storage section by a structure moved to a pulse system comprising freely exchanging carriers of each housing section and capable of reducing lateral width and weight as an apparatus without lowering the function. CONSTITUTION:Six rows of housing sections 10 and 11 for arranging and housing carriers 13, which house preliminary seedlings every row, in vertical four stages are laterally arranged in rows and both ends housing sections 10 among them are equipped with a lifting and lowering mechanism 14 capable of lifting and lowering these carriers 13 and a transverse feed mechanism 16 capable of transversely moving these carriers 13 to an adjacent inside housing section 11, and the inside housing section 11 in central four rows is equipped with a transverse feed mechanism 15 capable of laterally moving these carriers 13 to adjacent both ends housing sections 10 or inside housing section 11 and, simultaneously, a seedling feeding means for feeding preliminary seedling from these carriers 13 in these housing sections 10 and 11 to a seedling carrier 5 is provided every housing sections 10 and 11 to constitute the objective automatic seedling feeder.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a device for automatically supplying a spare seedling to a transplanting machine such as a rice transplanter for transplanting seedlings such as paddy rice into a field so that the efficiency of planting work can be expected to improve. .

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art An apparatus of this type is disclosed in Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 4-27.
The one disclosed in Japanese Patent No. 8006 is known, and the carrier at the lower end of the 6-row seedling storage section is supplied to the seedling placing table for each row, and one storage compartment has a plurality of stages of carriers. It is stored in layers.

[0003]

In the automatic seedling feeder of the above structure, empty carrier storages for stocking empty carriers are arranged on both sides of the storage compartment, respectively.
The width of the storage part tended to increase. That is, since the 6-row rice transplanter of the above publication has the same width as that for 8-row planting, it seems that there is room for improvement in terms of left-right balance and weight increase. The purpose of the present invention is to
The aim is to provide an automatic seedling supply device that is simpler and lighter in weight by minimizing the extra width and weight increase by reviewing the structure.

[0004]

In order to achieve the above object, the present invention provides a plurality of storage compartments in which carriers for accommodating preliminary seedlings for each row are arranged in a plurality of upper and lower stages and are arranged in parallel on the left and right. The storage compartments at both ends of the storage compartments are provided with an elevating mechanism capable of vertically moving carriers in these storage compartments and a lateral feed mechanism capable of laterally moving to the adjacent storage compartments, and the remaining storage compartments are provided with the storage compartments. Each carrier is equipped with a horizontal feed mechanism that can move the carrier inside to the adjacent storage compartment laterally, and a seedling supply unit that supplies preliminary seedlings from the carrier in the storage compartment to each seedling storage tray is automatically supplied. It is characterized in that the device is configured.

[0005]

The carrier can be moved left and right and vertically moved in the left and right storage compartments, and can be moved left and right in the other storage compartments. By making full use of those movement functions, for example, the right storage compartment can be moved. A carrier located at a certain position can be moved to any position, such as moving the carrier located at the lower end to the upper end of the second storage compartment from the left. Therefore, if the first preliminary seedling replenishment is completed for all the rows, the empty carriers at the bottom row and all the upper row carrier rows are replaced, and at the next seedling replenishment, the carrier row at the second row from the top is replaced. As a result, it is possible to satisfy the function of supplying the spare seedlings to be loaded and the function of storing the empty carrier without providing an empty carrier storage section as in the conventional case.

[0006]

As a result, the conventional carrier storage section can be omitted by the structure in which the carriers in each storage section are freely exchanged, that is, the so-called puzzle system is moved, and the width and weight of the apparatus can be reduced without degrading the function. It was possible to provide an automatic seedling supply device.

[0007]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 shows a rice transplanter in which spare seedlings are supplied from a seedling supply vehicle (not shown). In this rice transplanter, a plurality of (6 in this embodiment) seedling planting devices 2 for planting two rows of seedlings can be moved up and down via a link mechanism 8 at the rear of a four-wheel drive type traveling body 1 that is automatically or wirelessly controlled. An automatic seedling supply device D is mounted on the upper portion between the front wheel 3 and the rear wheel 4 while being connected. A prime mover E is arranged at the front of the machine body 1.

The seedling planting device 2 mounts 6 rows of seedlings W grown in a mat shape on a seedling platform 5 which reciprocates laterally with a constant stroke, and a rotary type planting is performed from the lower end of the seedling platform 5. A general structure is used in which the seedlings are cut out one by one by the mechanism 6 and planted in the field scene leveled by the leveling float 7. The automatic seedling supply device D has a function of stacking and storing the spare seedlings in four stages for each row and automatically supplying the spare seedlings W in row units as the seedlings on the seedling placing table 5 are consumed. To do.

As shown in FIGS. 1 to 5, an automatic seedling supply device D is composed of a seedling storage section Dk and six seedling supply means Dg, and is provided on the front and rear of the underframe 9 assembled on the machine body 1. Lateral rail 9a,
9b is mounted in a state of being reciprocally laterally fed in synchronization with the seedling placing table 5 by a drive mechanism (not shown).

The seedling storage section Dk is a storage section 10 on the left and right ends.
A total of six sections including a central storage section 11 for four rows are formed by the storage frame 12, and it is possible to store carriers 13 described later in a total of 24 locations. Left and right 2
The end storage compartments 10 and 10 at the locations are provided with a lifting mechanism 14 capable of moving up and down the carriers 13 in the end storage compartments 10.
And a second lateral feed mechanism 1 capable of lateral movement to the adjacent storage compartment 11
In addition, the storage compartment 11 at four central locations is provided with a first transverse feed mechanism 15 capable of laterally moving the carrier 13 in the storage compartment 11 to the adjacent storage compartment 11 or 10.

The seedling supply means Dg is provided in each of the storage compartments 10 and 11.
It is composed of a drawer device 17 for drawing out only the spare seedling W in the carrier 13 at the lower end and a conveyor device 18 for transferring the drawn spare seedling W to the seedling mounting table 5, and for each of the storage compartments 10 and 11. It is equipped with 6 rows in total.

As shown in FIG. 7, the carrier 13 is constructed as an open-ended box body, and one short side wall 13a in the longitudinal direction is pivotally supported at a lower lateral fulcrum P so as to be swingable and openable, and in a closed state. Is equipped with a closing spring (not shown) for maintaining A detent mechanism 19 for maintaining the closed state is also provided, and the protruding portions 1 formed on the left and right sides of the short side wall 13a.
9a and the recessed portions 19b and 19b formed on the left and right fixed side walls 13b and 13b, respectively.

Here, to describe the outline of the seedling replenishing action, at the beginning, all the carriers 13 at 24 locations contain the spare seedlings W, and when the seedlings on the row of the seedling placing table 5 are reduced, it becomes a replenishment time,
The seedling supplying means Dg of the row is operated, the preliminary seedling W is pulled out from the carrier 13 at the lower end by the pulling-out device 17, and the seedling W is supplied to the seedling placing table 5 by the conveyor device 18. When the replenishment operation is performed in all six rows, the left end storage compartment 10
The ascending / descending mechanism 14 moves upward, the elevating mechanism 14 of the right end storage compartment 10 descends, and the first and second transverse feed mechanisms 15, 1 at the lower ends of all the storage compartments 10, 11 are also moved.
6 moves to the left and all storage compartments 10, 11
When the second and first transverse feed mechanisms 16 and 15 at the upper end are right-feed operated, the empty carriers 13 in the lower six rows and the seedling-containing carriers 13 in the upper six rows are completely replaced, and the empty carriers 13 in the six rows are replaced. The seedling-containing carriers 13 are again loaded in the uppermost row and the lowermost 6 rows, so that the next seedling replenishment is prepared.

Then, the empty carriers 13 in the lower 6 rows are next.
And the second 6 rows of seedling-containing carriers 13 from the top, and then the bottom 6 rows of empty carriers 13 and the third 6 from the top.
The seedling-containing carriers 13 in the row are replaced with each other, and the supply operation of all the carriers 13 is completed. The replacement order of the six columns may be such that the first column is the second column from the bottom, the second column is the third column, and the last column is the top column.

Next, the structure of each part will be described in more detail.
As shown in FIG. 5, the first transverse feed mechanism 15 of the storage compartments 11 at the four central locations has the belt wound around the three rotatable rollers 20 per division in parallel with the storage frame 12. It is configured to support. Then, for example, a transmission structure in which one end of a total of twelve rollers 20 is interlocked with a belt (chain) having internal teeth, and forward or reverse power is applied to the other end by a drive device (not shown above). It is configured to be drivable by adopting.

The left and right second lateral feed mechanisms 16 are provided in the storage frame 12.
Before and after, the three feed rollers 22 are attached to the horizontal feed frame 23
It is configured so as to project in a cantilevered manner, and the lateral feed frame 23 is supported by an actuator 24 such as an electric or hydraulic cylinder so as to be capable of swinging upward and downward about an upper lateral fulcrum X. In other words, when the carrier 13 is laterally fed, the actuator 24 is driven to extend and the exit roller 22
9 in the working posture shown in FIG. 9A, and when the carrier 13 is moved up and down by the lifting mechanism 14, the actuator 2
4 is shortened and the retractable roller 22 is placed in the retracted posture as shown in FIG. The retractable roller 22 winds the internally toothed belt around the toothed wheel attached to the rear end of the shaft, for example.
It is preferable that the above structure (not shown) enables the interlocking drive. The retractable second lateral feed mechanism 16 is of the upper three stages, and the lowermost stage is long in the front-rear direction and is configured to be capable of driving the positionally fixed rotating roller 22.

The elevating mechanism 14 is provided with a chain 29 having a vertically-wound structure wound around the left and right and front and rear of the end storage compartment 10 in a total of four places, and the carrier 1 is mounted on these chains 29.
3 mounting claws 30 for mounting are arranged at equal intervals, and one carrier 13 is configured to be supported by a total of four mounting claws 30 on the same front, rear, left, and right. Has been done. The mounting claw 30 is formed in a substantially T shape and is pivotally supported by the chain 29 so as to be swingable within a predetermined range, and stands up to support the carrier 13 with the upper and lower contact rollers 30 a contacting the guide rail 31. It is set to be in a posture.

The guide rail 31 is constructed as follows, for example. That is, as shown in FIG. 6, a fixed rail 31c at the lower end and first and second movable rails 31a and 31b at the upper end and the middle that can be moved back and forth by an actuator 32 such as an electric or hydraulic cylinder are divided into three parts. That is,
When the empty carrier 13 and the seedling-containing carrier 13 are exchanged, the carrier 13 can be laterally fed to the adjacent storage compartment 11 by the lateral feeding mechanism 16 while the elevating mechanism 14 of the one end storage compartment 10 is driven to rise. In order to do so, it is necessary to place the placing claw 30 in a non-standing posture.
The second moving rails 31a and 31b are allowed to move back and forth.

As shown in FIGS. 2 and 3, the drawing device 17
Includes a feeding member 33 which is slidable forward and backward, and a drive mechanism 34 which repeatedly moves the feeding member 33 forward and backward. The comb portion 33 at the front portion of the feeding member 33 having a substantially comb shape in a plan view.
The a is equipped with a plurality of hooking claws 35. The hooking claw 35 is swingably supported within a predetermined range of the lateral fulcrum Y, and has a hooking posture that bites into the seedling W shown by the solid line in FIG.
The posture can be changed to the retracted posture shown by the phantom line in FIG.

The rear portion of the feeding member 33 is formed on the rack 33b, and the pinion 39 is driven by the driving mechanism 34 by a chain (or belt) with a shared axis 38 described later.
The rack-and-pinion mechanism is configured by the engagement with and, and the feeding member 33 can be slid back and forth while being driven synchronously with the conveyor device 18. Further, a sprocket 39a on the shared axis 38 side of the drive mechanism 34 is provided with a pull-out clutch 40 of an electromagnetic type or the like, which can intermittently interrupt power transmission from the conveyor device 18 to the pull-out device 17.

As shown in FIGS. 2 to 4, the conveyor device 1
8 is composed of a front conveyor 18A whose position is fixed and a rear conveyor 18B which can be swung up and down by an actuator 36 such as an electric or hydraulic cylinder. Rear conveyor 18B
Is a conveyor having a side view shape curving downward so that seedlings can be smoothly supplied to the seedling placing table 5.
It is possible to swing up and down around the shared axis 38 of A and 18B. That is, by the expansion and contraction drive of the actuator 36,
The seedling supply posture (see FIG. 3) in which the transport surface is smoothly connected to the front conveyor 18A and the non-acting posture in which the planting device 2 is swung upward and retracted to allow upward movement (see FIG. 4). The posture can be changed.

The detailed operation of supplying seedlings by the automatic seedling feeder D described above is described. Since the drawer member 33 is located immediately above the carrier 13 at the lower end, when the seedling supply command is issued, the front conveyor 18A rotates normally. When driven, the pull-out clutch 40 is brought into the connected state and the pull-out member 33 slides rearward. Then, as shown in FIG. 3, the hooking claws 35 bite into the soil of the seedling, close the short side wall 13a and push open against the biasing force to pull out the seedling W rearward, after which the conveyor device 18 causes the seedling to grow. Only W is transferred to the seedling placing table 5.

When all the six seedlings have been replenished, the first and second transverse feed mechanisms 15 and 16 and the elevating mechanism 14 are operated with the pulling-out member 33 moved rearward to operate the empty carrier 13 in the lower stage. The carriers 13 of the stages other than the lower stage are completely exchanged, and then the conveyor device 18, that is, the pulling-out device 17 is reversely driven to slide the pulling-out member 33 back forward to prepare for the next preliminary seedling supply. When the pull-out member 33 moves forward, the hooking claw 35 hangs down by its own weight, but it only moves by contact due to the positional relationship of its front fulcrum Y and does not bite into the seedling W.

Here, a concrete example of the operation control state when the carrier 13 is replaced will be described. The right elevating mechanism 14 is driven in the descending direction and the left elevating mechanism 14 is driven in the ascending direction. When the six rows of carriers 13 and the six rows of empty carriers 13 are exchanged, the following control is performed. That is, the retracting roller 22 on the right elevating mechanism 14 side is retracted to allow the carrier 13 (the second one from the bottom of the right end) to pass downward, and after passing, the carrier 13 is laterally fed from the storage section 11 without delay. The retractable roller 22 is returned to the working posture so as to receive the carrier. In this case, the carrier 13 at the upper end and the second end from the top,
Since 13 does not have to move, as shown in FIG. 6B, the first and second moving rails 31a and 31b are relieved and moved in the front-rear direction.

In the left elevating mechanism 14, when the transverse feed of the second carrier 13 from the bottom to the adjacent storage compartment 11 is almost completed (from the position of the center of gravity of the carrier 13, the retractable roller 2).
2) The retractable roller 22 is retracted at a time when the support may be removed), allowing the empty carrier 13 rising from below to pass through the roller portion, and when the predetermined height position is reached, the retractable roller 22 is moved. To the working posture. At this time, the first and second
The moving rails 31a and 31b are escaping and moved.

For reference, when the carriers 13 in the second six rows from the top and the empty carriers 13 in the lower row are completely replaced, only the first moving rail 31a is moved forward and backward to move the carriers in the upper six rows. 13 and any of the moving rails 31 when the lower empty carrier 13 is completely replaced.
Also, a and 31b will not escape and be moved.

It should be noted that reference numerals are added to the claims for convenience of comparison with the drawings, but the present invention is not limited to the configurations of the accompanying drawings by the entry.

[Brief description of drawings]

[Figure 1] Overall side view of rice transplanter

[Figure 2] Side view of automatic seedling feeder

FIG. 3 is a side view of the automatic seedling supply device showing a state in which the seedlings are pulled out.

FIG. 4 is a side view showing a swinging up / down state of the conveyor device.

[Figure 5] Rear view showing the principle of the automatic seedling feeder

FIG. 6 is a side view showing the structure of a lifting mechanism.

FIG. 7 is a partial perspective view showing the structure of a carrier.

FIG. 8 is a cross-sectional view showing a support structure for a hooking claw.

FIG. 9 is a side view showing the swinging structure of the retractable roller.

[Explanation of symbols]

 5 Seedling platform 10, 11 Storage section 13 Carrier 14 Lifting mechanism 15, 16 Horizontal feed mechanism Dg Seedling supply means

Front Page Continuation (72) Inventor Kazuhiko Nishida 64, Ishizukitamachi, Sakai City, Osaka Prefecture Kubota Sakai Factory Co., Ltd.

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. A carrier (1) for accommodating spare seedlings for each row.
3) Storage compartments (1) arranged in a plurality of upper and lower stages
0) and (11) are arranged side by side in parallel, and the carriers (13) in the storage compartments (10) and (10) are moved up and down in the storage compartments (10) and (10) at both ends thereof. A possible lifting mechanism (14) and a transverse feed mechanism (16) capable of moving laterally to the adjacent storage compartment (11) are provided, and the remaining storage compartment (11) is provided with the above-mentioned inside of the storage compartment (11). The carrier (13) is provided with a lateral feed mechanism (15) capable of laterally moving to the adjacent storage compartment (10 or 11), and the seedling platform (15) is moved from the carrier (13) in the storage compartments (10) and (11). Seedling supply means (Dg) for supplying preliminary seedlings to 5)
An automatic seedling supply device equipped with the storage compartments (10) and (11).