JPH07241115A - Apparatus for automatic feeding of seedling - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To obtain an automatic seedling-feeding apparatus having sophisticated structure free from excess thickness and enabling the size-reduction, simplification of structure and reduction of weight while improving the balance of the machine body and the feeding work efficiency by using a seedling feeding means having a three-dimensional robot structure and recovering empty carriers collectively at the central part of the lateral direction. CONSTITUTION:This automatic seedling-feeding apparatus is provided with a seedling holding part (k) having housing sections 10 parallelly arranged at the right and left and a seedling feeding means F for feeding the reserve seedlings from the carrier 13 in the housing section 10 to a seedling-holding table 5. Each housing section 10 can store carriers 13 for holding reserve seedlings for each row in 4 stages. The seedling feeding means F has a three-dimensional robot structure provided with a supporting mechanism A for supporting or releasing the carrier 13, a composite transfer mechanism B capable of freely transferring the supporting mechanism A in longitudinal, lateral, and vertical directions and a delivery mechanism C to enable the delivery of the reserve seedlings from the carrier 13 supported by the supporting mechanism A. The middle two rows among the 6 rows of storing sections 10 are used as the storing and recovering sections to enable the direct stacking and storage of empty carriers after the feeding of the reserve seedlings.

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 spare seedlings to a transplanting machine such as a rice transplanter for transplanting seedlings such as paddy rice into a field so that improvement of planting work efficiency can be expected. .

[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-mentioned object, the present invention provides a plurality of storage compartments for storing spare seedlings arranged in a plurality of upper and lower stages for each row in parallel. And a seedling supply means for supplying the spare seedlings in the carrier in the storage compartment to the seedling mounting table. The seedling supply means is provided with a support mechanism capable of supporting and releasing the carrier; And a three-dimensional robot structure having a composite moving mechanism that can move up and down, and a take-out mechanism that can take out the preliminary seedlings in the carrier that is supported by the supporting mechanism from the carrier. The storage compartment in the middle of the left and right is configured as a storage / collection compartment in which empty carriers that have been emptied by the supply of spare seedlings can be stacked and stored.

[0005]

According to the above characteristic configuration, all of the series of operations for picking up one of the carriers in the storage compartment and supplying the preliminary seedlings therein to the seedling placing table is performed by one set of robot device, namely, seedling feeding. It is done by means. According to this means
Although the seedling supply means tends to have a relatively complicated structure, it is not necessary to provide seedling transfer means for extracting the carrier and supplying the preliminary seedlings to the seedling mounting table for each row as in the above-mentioned conventional technique, and the left and right It eliminates the need for an empty carrier stock unit, a horizontal carrier conveyor, and a crane device for carrier loading. Further, only the seedling supply means may be fed side by side in synchronization with the seedling mounting table, and the horizontal feeding of the entire storage compartment can be omitted.

In other words, the storage compartment has a function of simply storing the carriers side by side, and as a whole, it is possible to reduce the number of mechanical devices, to make the device compact and to simplify the structure.

Since the storage compartments in the middle of the left and right sides are configured as storage / collection compartments in which empty carriers can be stacked and stored, for example, even the leftmost carrier has an empty carrier in the left / right center storage / collection compartment. It will be better to return it to, and it will be possible to improve the work efficiency such as the movement distance required for returning is shorter than the case of returning to the original left end position, and it is possible to quickly move to the next carrier movement. . In addition, empty carriers can be collected by storing them in storage / collection compartments, so the time and effort required for collection can be saved as compared with the case where the carriers are dispersed and collected in each storage compartment as before.
In addition to contributing to the improvement of recovery efficiency, the mass due to the empty carrier can be concentrated on the left and right central portions, which is convenient for the body balance.

[0008]

As described above, the seedling supplying means has a three-dimensional robot structure, and the empty carriers are intensively collected in the right and left central portions, thereby improving the balance of the machine body and the supply operation efficiency. As a result, the device can be made compact, the structure can be simplified, and the weight can be reduced, and it is possible to provide a more sophisticated seedling automatic feeding device with lean meat.

[0009]

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 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 preliminary seedlings in four stages for each row and automatically supplying the preliminary seedlings W to each row as the seedlings on the seedling placing table 5 are consumed, which will be described below. .

As shown in FIG. 7, the carrier 13 is a seedling W.
The inner frame 1 has a hollow rectangular outer frame 13a and a flat plate-shaped inner frame 13b with side walls pivotally connected to the inner frame by a fulcrum pin 14 so that the balance can swing.
The seedling W is mounted and supported on 3b. Inner frame 1 made of stainless steel
A plurality of convex vertical grooves 13c are formed in parallel on 3b to make it slippery when the seedlings are discharged by inclining the same, and a reduction hole 13d for reducing the weight is formed on the outer frame 13a made of aluminum alloy. Many are formed.

As shown in FIG. 1 to FIG. 3 and FIG. 5, the automatic seedling supplying device D has a plurality of storage compartments 10 for storing spare seedlings arranged in upper and lower four stages for each row. Seedling storage section k arranged in parallel with each other, and a seedling supply means F for supplying the preliminary seedling W in the carrier 13 in the storage section k to the seedling placing table 5.
And is configured.

The seedling storage section k can store the storage sections 10 and 10 in the middle two rows of the left and right among the storage sections 10 in six rows by stacking the empty carriers 13k that have been emptied by the supply of the preliminary seedlings W. It is configured in the storage / collection section 9. Storage compartment 10
Includes a pair of left and right mounting pieces 11, 11 for mounting and supporting the carrier 13 and long in the front and rear in the storage frame 10f, and the mounting pieces 12, 12 of the storage / recovery section 9 are
The opening / closing piece 12 has a one-way clutch structure that can be retracted only upwards around the front-rear fulcrum P and is urged back to the mounting posture.

The seedling supplying means F is a support mechanism A capable of supporting and releasing the carrier 13, a composite moving mechanism B capable of moving the support mechanism A back and forth, left and right and up and down, and a state of being supported by the support mechanism A. Preliminary seedling W in carrier 13 is used as carrier 1
It has a three-dimensional robot structure including a take-out mechanism C that can take out from three.

More specifically, as shown in FIGS. 3 to 6, a support frame 16 having upper and lower rail portions 16a and 16b.
Further, a movable base portion 17 which is movable left and right with respect to the support frame 16 and a support base portion 18 which is vertically movable with respect to the movable base portion 17 are provided. The movable base 17 is movable left and right by rotationally driving a roller 19 fitted to the rails 16a and 16b by a driving device (not shown), and the support base 18 has upper and lower movable bases 17,
A pair of left and right guide struts 20, 2 erected over 17
The screw shaft 21 is penetrated by 0 and one screw shaft 21 and is vertically movable by rotating the screw shaft 21 by a motor 22.

The arm portion 18A of the support base 18 is provided with a receiving plate 24 which is slidable back and forth by the rodless cylinder 23 and the telescopic cylinder 32. The receiving plate 24 is extended and retracted by the tilting cylinder 25, Carrier 1
3 is a horizontal transporting posture in and out of the seedling storage section k,
After the preliminary seedling W is slid and supplied to the seedling mounting table 5, the posture can be freely changed to a tilted and inclined feeding posture.

That is, the tip of the piston rod 32a of the telescopic cylinder 32 is connected to the moving piece 2 of the rodless cylinder 23.
It is pivotally attached to 3a and has a structure in which the receiving plate 24 is moved back and forth by the expansion and contraction of both cylinders 23 and 32. When the receiving plate 24 is in the seedling storage part k, it slides in sliding contact on the placing piece 11 or the opening / closing piece 12 to the rear (support base 18
When moving, the rollers 29 at a plurality of front, rear, left and right sides of the moving base body 27 supporting the receiving plate 24 roll within the rail portion 26 of the support base portion 18.

The receiving plate 24 is supported by a movable base 27 so as to be capable of swinging up and down around a lateral fulcrum Q, and an extension arm of the tilting cylinder 25 is formed by connecting an operating arm 30 having a substantially V-shape in side view and a tilting cylinder 25. The push-up cylinder 28 is mounted on the moving base 27 so as to raise and tilt by the shortening operation and lift and tilt the inner frame 13b on which the seedling W is placed with respect to the outer frame 13a.

Next, the operation of the seedling supplying means F will be described. First, as shown in FIG. 3, the rodless cylinder 23 is extendedly driven to move the receiving plate 24 into a position slightly below the carrier 13 in the storage compartment 10, and then the motor 22 is driven to move the support base 18, that is, The support plate 24 is slightly lifted and the carrier 13 is replaced with the support plate 24 (support plate 2
The width of 4 is slightly narrower than the width between the left and right mounting pieces 11, 11.)

Next, the rodless cylinder 23 and the telescopic cylinder 32 are driven to be shortened to move the receiving plate 24 on which the carrier 13 is placed backward, and then the tilting cylinder 25 is driven to extend. Then, as shown in FIG.
Is tilted upward around the fulcrum Q and the carrier 13 is steeply tilted backward, and then the push-up cylinder 28 is extended and the projection 31 which is the piston rod pushes up the inner frame 13b, and the preliminary seedling W slides down. It is supplied to the seedling stand 5.

Empty carrier 13 after the preliminary seedling W has been supplied
After the k is returned to the horizontal posture by the shortening drive of the tilting cylinder 25, it is moved to the lower end position at the left and right central position by the driving movement of the motor 22 and the moving base 17, and the storage / collection section 9
Returned to. That is, when the empty carrier 13k is moved to a position directly below the opening / closing pieces 12, 12 at the lower end of the storage / recovery compartment 9, and then the motor 22 is driven to lift and move the empty carrier 13k upward, the opening / closing pieces 12, 12 are moved upward. The open carrier 13k is swung open to allow the empty carrier 13k to pass therethrough. After the opening / closing pieces 12 and 12 have returned to the original mounting postures, the motor 22 is driven to lower the receiving plate 24, whereby the empty carrier 13k is lowered. Can be placed and collected in the storage / collection section 9.

Then, when the empty carrier 13k is collected next, the empty carrier 13k is lifted and moved by the receiving plate 24 together with the previous empty carrier 13k, and the empty carriers 13k are piled up in a state where they are directly overlapped with each other.・ Collection section 9
It is possible to stack and collect empty carriers 13k in a number equal to or larger than the number of stages of each storage section 10 (for example, 12 stages).

As described above, the series of operations of taking out the carrier 13 and supplying the spare seedlings and collecting the empty carriers 13k are repeated, and when all the spare seedlings (24 sheets) are supplied, all the empty carriers 13k are supplied. (Or most, like 16)
Will be collected in the two rows of storage / recovery compartments 9, 9 (or the remaining 8 will be collected in the storage compartments 10, 10 next to the storage / recovery compartment 9 in groups of 4 each). . In other words, from the fully loaded seedlings in the storage section k shown in FIG.
After the empty carrier 13k shown in (b) has been recovered to some extent, all the spare seedlings are supplied as shown in FIG. The state where the empty carrier 13k has been recovered appears.

In the above embodiment, the motor 2 for vertically moving the receiving plate 24 and the supporting base 18 for supporting the receiving plate 24.
2 and the like, the support mechanism A, a drive device (not shown) for moving the moving base 17 left and right, the motor 22 and the rodless cylinder 23 and the like, the composite moving mechanism B, and the tilting cylinder 25 and the push-up cylinder 28 and the like. The take-out mechanisms C are respectively configured.

[Other Embodiments] The composite moving mechanism B can be various mechanisms such as a chain drive and a hydraulic cylinder drive. In short, as long as it has a structure capable of three-dimensional drive movement in the front-rear, left-right and up-down directions. In addition, the rear wall of the carrier 13 can be opened and closed freely, and the rear wall is opened along with the rearward tilt movement of the carrier 13 to form the take-out mechanism C for feeding the preliminary seedlings to the seedling placing table 5 by sliding. good.

Further, the supporting mechanism A is constructed by providing a grasping means which can grasp and release the carrier 13, or the carrier 13 is provided with an iron part and the supporting base 18 is provided with an electromagnet, respectively, and the carrier is magnetically applied. The support mechanism A for supporting and releasing the above may be configured.

The storage / recovery compartment 9 has a structure in which the vertical intervals of the fixed mounting pieces 12 are set to a length capable of accommodating two stacked empty carriers 13k, and the mounting pieces other than the lowermost mounting piece 12 claw are mounted. Various structures are possible, such as a structure in which the placing piece 12 is retracted to a position where it does not interfere with the carrier and can be stacked in multiple stages.

It should be noted that although reference numerals are given in the claims for convenience of comparison with the drawings, the present invention is not limited to the structures of the accompanying drawings by the entry.

[Brief description of drawings]

[Figure 1] Rear view of seedling storage

[Figure 2] Overall side view of rice transplanter

FIG. 3 is a side view showing a seedling supply means.

FIG. 4 is a side view showing a seedling supply state by the seedling supply means.

FIG. 5 is a rear view showing a state where the carrier is taken out from the seedling storage unit by the take-out mechanism.

FIG. 6 is a plan view showing a schematic structure of a composite moving mechanism.

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

[Explanation of symbols]

 5 Seedling platform 9 Storage / collection section 10 Storage section 13 Carrier 13k Empty carrier A Support mechanism B Combined movement mechanism C Extraction mechanism F Seedling supply means

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. A carrier (1) for accommodating a spare seedling for each article.
Storage compartment (10) for arranging and storing 3) in upper and lower stages
Seedling storage section (k) formed by arranging a plurality of them in parallel on the left and right, and a seedling supply means (F) for supplying the preliminary seedlings in the carrier (13) of the storage section (10) to the seedling placing table (5). And a support mechanism (A) capable of supporting and releasing the carrier (13) by the seedling supply means (F), and the support mechanism (A).
A compound moving mechanism (B) that can move back and forth, left and right, and up and down
And a take-out mechanism (C) capable of taking out the preliminary seedlings in the carrier (13) supported by the support mechanism (A) from the carrier (13) to form a three-dimensional robot structure. Of the plurality of storage compartments (10), the one in the middle of the left and right is an empty carrier (13
An automatic seedling supply device configured in a storage / collection section (9) capable of stacking and storing k).