JPH0853216A - Seedling raising box transport and supply apparatus - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To stop a seedling raising box group in the end position of a conveyer by providing a control device for linking a seedling breeding box detecting sensor, a driving source and a braking mechanism with one another in such a manner as to stop the driving source for a transport conveyer and operate the braking mechanism according to the operation of the seedling raising box detecting sensor. CONSTITUTION:A conveyance conveyer A for conveying a group of seedling raising boxes stacked in plural stages and an intermittent driving feed conveyer B for stopping and transporting the group of seedling breeding boxes from the transport conveyer A are provided in such a manner as to be continuously arranged. The feed conveyer B is formed by fitting raised hooks 6 with a designated pitch to an endless belt 7 for transporting a seedling breeding box group. The apparatus is further provide with a seedling breeding box detecting sensor 5 disposed on this side of the end of the transport conveyer and a braking mechanism 30 for stopping a seedling breeding group in such a range not to interfere with a moving locus K of the raised hook 6. The seedling breeding box detecting sensor 5, the driving source 3 and the braking mechanism are linked with one another in such a manner as to stop the driving source 3 of the transport conveyer A and operate the braking mechanism 30 according to the operation of the seedling breeding box detecting sensor 5.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a feeder for feeding and feeding a nursery box, which is suitable for sending an empty nursery box to a separating and feeding apparatus or sending a seedling raising box after seeding to a waiting place for loading a germination trolley. Is.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art As a conveying / supplying device of this type, as shown in Japanese Utility Model Laid-Open No. 2-87437, there is provided a feed conveyor (reference numeral 2) in which standing hooks are attached to a flat belt at a predetermined pitch. Is known, and is driven when the seedling raising box of the transfer device (reference numeral 3) runs out, conveys one set of seedling raising boxes, and when it is pushed into the transfer device by the standing hook, it is stopped again. A feed conveyor is configured.

[0003]

Although not shown in the above-mentioned publication, a conveyor having a general structure for transferring a group of nursery boxes to the feed conveyor is actually arranged in front of the feed conveyor, Inconvenience sometimes occurred when the nursery box was transferred between the transfer conveyor and the feed conveyor. That is, the transport conveyor is driven and stopped in accordance with the intermittent drive of the feed conveyor. When the feed conveyor is driven, the transport conveyor is also driven, and when the feed conveyor is stopped, the transport conveyor is also stopped. In other words, when the transport conveyor is stopped, the end of the nursery box end matches the end of the conveyor.To do this, the motor is stopped at the point of overrun due to the drive inertia of the device. Since there is no dedicated braking device, there is an advantage that it can be constructed at low cost.

However, in the means for stopping the conveyer conveyor by the motor brake by cutting off the power supply to the motor, the stop position is unstable and difficult to determine. Therefore, when restarting after stopping in the overrun state. As shown in FIG. 6, the standing hooks 6 were in a state of lifting the seedling raising box 1 group from below, and the seedling raising box 1 might fall. Further, the above-mentioned inconvenience may occur even when the progress is made less than expected. In order to avoid this inconvenience, it is possible to stop the nursery boxes at a position sufficiently before the end of the conveyor, but if this happens, the spacing (pitch) between the nursery groups on the feed conveyor will be too large, and the efficiency will be poor. This is not preferable because it leads to unnecessary enlargement of the device. An object of the present invention is to make it possible to stop a group of seedling raising boxes conveyed by a conveyer conveyor in a state of being aligned with the end position of the conveyer without variations such as overrun.

[0005]

In order to achieve the above object, the present invention provides a conveyor for conveying a group of nursery boxes stacked in a plurality of stages, and an intermittent for conveying and conveying the group of nursery boxes from the conveyor. A drive type feed conveyor is provided in a state where both of these conveyors are continuously arranged, and this feed conveyor is mounted on an endless belt for placing and transporting the seedling raising group, and standing hooks capable of pushing the seedling raising group at a predetermined pitch. The nursery box detection sensor, which is located just before the end of the transport conveyor, and the braking mechanism that forcibly stops the nursery box group within the range that does not interfere with the movement path of the standing hook, are provided to operate the nursery box detection sensor. Along with this, a control device that links the seedling-growing box detection sensor, the drive source, and the braking mechanism is provided so that the driving source of the transport conveyor is stopped and the braking mechanism is activated. It is an.

Further, a conveyor for conveying the group of seedlings stacked in a plurality of stages, and an intermittent drive type feed conveyor for locking and conveying the group of seedlings from the conveyor, both conveyors are continuously arranged. The feed conveyor is provided in a state in which a raising hook capable of pushing the seedling raising group is attached at a predetermined pitch to an endless belt on which the seedling raising group is placed and conveyed, and the seedling raising is arranged slightly before the end of the conveyer conveyor. The seedling raising box detection sensor and the drive source are linked so that the drive source of the transport conveyor is stopped in accordance with the operation of the box detection sensor, and the standing hook closest to the transport conveyor is the next hook. The feed source of the feed conveyor and the carrying Conveyor drive source and may be intended to are allowed conjunction driven.

[0007]

According to the first aspect of the present invention, not only the drive source of the conveyor is stopped in accordance with the operation of the nursery box detection sensor,
Since the braking mechanism is also activated, the nursery box group can be reliably stopped before the movement path of the standing hook even if it overruns, so that there is no inconvenience of riding on the standing hook. Become. Therefore, by setting a shorter transfer distance due to inertia after stopping the drive source,
It will be possible to stop the nursery box in a state that it always matches the end of the conveyor.

According to the second aspect of the present invention, when the feed conveyor is stopped and the transfer conveyor is stopped by the cooperation of the conveyor drive sources for the transfer and the feed, for example, FIG.
As shown in, the standing hooks 6 stand up at the starting position of the conveyor, and even if a group of nursery boxes 1 on the transport conveyor overrun, they will stop by contacting the standing hooks 6 and re-starting. The above-mentioned inconvenience does not occur at startup. Therefore, even in this case, it is possible to stop the nursery box group within the regular stop position area by setting the transfer distance due to the inertia after the drive source is stopped to be short.

[0009]

Therefore, in any of the nursery box transport and supply devices according to the first and second aspects of the present invention, the nursery box group can be stopped at a suitable position at the end of the transport conveyor without overrunning or stopping at a position too close to the front. To the feed conveyor. or,
In the nursery box transport / supply device according to claim 1, there is an advantage that the stop position of the nursery box group on the transport conveyor can be made constant and the transporting posture can be further stabilized, and the pitch of the nursery box array on the feed conveyor can be reduced. The device can be made compact. In the second aspect, the braking mechanism is unnecessary, which is advantageous in cost.

[0010]

EXAMPLE An example of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings regarding a feeding and feeding device for feeding an empty seedling raising box before seeding to a separating and feeding device. As shown in FIG. 1, a transport conveyor A that transports empty nursery boxes 1 stacked in 20 stages.
A feed conveyor B that locks and conveys a group of seedling raising boxes to be delivered from now on, and a separating and feeding device C that separates the group of seedling raising boxes sent from the feed conveyor B and sends them out one by one. . The transport conveyor A is for transporting a group of empty seedling raising boxes stacked by a stacking device (not shown), and the separating / feeding device C is for feeding the empty seedling growing boxes 1 to a seeding plant (not shown). is there.

The conveyor A has a large number of rollers 2 arranged side by side and is equipped with a first motor 3 as a drive source thereof and a transmission mechanism 4 utilizing a belt, a chain, a shaft or the like to drive all the rollers 2. Is. Then, for example, an optical type (eg, CDS) nursery box detection sensor 5 is provided at the second or third roller 2 portion from the transport end side, and when the nursery box detection sensor 5 operates to detect, The driving of the motor 3 is stopped.

The feed conveyor B is provided with a conveyor belt 7 to which the standing hooks 6 are attached at a predetermined equal pitch, a second motor 8 as a drive source for the conveyor belt 7 and a transmission mechanism 9, and the separation conveyor C The seedling raising box 1 is driven for the first time when it disappears, and is configured to be an intermittent drive type in which one set of seedling raising boxes 1 group is conveyed and pushed when the raising hook 6 pushes it into the separating / supplying device C to stop it.

The separating / supplying device C mounts and supports the raising / lowering mechanism 10 capable of ascending / descending the entire group of 20-stage nursery boxes sent from the feed conveyor B, and placing and supporting the second-stage nursery box 1 from the bottom. A holding mechanism 11 capable of holding all of the second or more seedling raising boxes 1 at the height level, and a single separated seedling raising box 1
And a feeding frame 12 for feeding the seedling raising box, and a frame 13 and a base frame 14 that surround the group 1 of seedling raising boxes. The basic structure of this separation and supply device C will be described only briefly with reference to a known technique corresponding to the configuration disclosed in the above-mentioned publication (JP-A-6-144580).

As shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, a lifting mechanism 10 is provided.
Is provided with an eccentric plate 16 that supports the pedestal 15 and a motor mechanism 17 that can drive and rotate the eccentric plate 16. The height of the mounting surface on the upper surface of the pedestal 15 is determined by the conveyance surface of the feed conveyor B. A receiving position at the same level (it may be sure to feed it as a slightly lowered position) and a delivery position slightly lowered from the state where the lowermost seedling raising box 1 is placed on the delivery roller 21 described later. It can be raised and lowered freely. The holding mechanism (corresponding to a separating mechanism) 11 includes a pair of rotating claws 18 and 18 acting on both end portions in the longitudinal direction of the seedling raising box 1 and both claws 18 and 18 thereof.
Is provided with a motor 19 for simultaneously opening and closing. When the claw 18 is rotated downward, it is in an operating position in which the seedling raising box 1 can be placed and supported, and when it is rotated upward, it is in a retracted position which allows the downward movement of the seedling raising box 1. Sending mechanism 12
Is provided with a plurality of feeding rollers 21 that can be driven and rotated by a motor 20, and is lowered to separate the nursery box 1
, In the direction orthogonal to the transport direction of the feed conveyor B.

As shown in FIGS. 1 to 3, the frame 13
Is a vertical frame 13a arranged at the four outer corners of the group of nursery boxes,
Along with the horizontal frame 13b arranged at the top of the vertical frame or in the upper and lower intermediate parts, both ends in the longitudinal direction of the group of nursery boxes 1,
A guide member 22 for guiding the downward movement path of the seedling raising box 1 is provided on the side surface opposite to the side of the feed conveyor B, and a guide width adjusting means 23 capable of varying the guide path width by these guide members 22 is provided. . That is, there are provided guide members 22 at a total of 6 places, in which elastic members 22b such as urethane and sponge, which are relatively easily deformed, are attached to the support plate 22a attached across the upper and lower horizontal frames 13b.
It is set so that the regular position of the nursery box 1 is exposed in a state of being elastically deformed to some extent.

Therefore, even if the total length and width of the nursery box 1 vary to some extent, the deformation amount of the elastic member 22b differs according to the variation, and the nursery box 1 is always guided from the side and lowered. Even if there is an operational shock due to movement, it is possible to prevent lateral displacement and rotational displacement, and it is possible to send it to the next process in a desired posture. That is, the elastic member 22b also serves as the guide width adjusting means 23, and functions so that the width is automatically adjusted. Since the front-rear direction, which is a direction orthogonal to the transfer direction of the group of nursery boxes, is relatively unlikely to be displaced, the front and rear elastic members 22b are slightly softer than the elastic member 22b that receives the transfer inertia of the feed conveyor B. It is set for the purpose.

Further, as shown in FIG. 3, an optical detection sensor 2 for detecting whether or not the seed feeding box 1 group has been fed from the feed conveyor B to the starting end portion of the separating and feeding device C to detect whether or not the feeding has been performed.
9, and a pair of movable guides 24 for restricting the movement of the seedling raising box group 1 taken into the separating and supplying apparatus C to the feed conveyor B side. That is, the movable guide 24 has a door structure that can be opened / closed by pivoting about the vertical axis P, and is equipped with a motor 25 for opening / closing the movable guide 24. 24
Is automatically closed, and the nursery box 1 can be guided forward, backward, left and right.

The position of the detection sensor 29 can be adjusted in the transfer direction of the feed conveyor B. By adjusting the detection position according to the size of the nursery box 1 to be used,
The closed position of the movable guide 24 is also automatically adjusted and set to a position close to the end of the nursery box 1 side. Further, it is more convenient if the elastic members 22b are attached to the tips of the movable guides 24, 24.

As shown in FIG. 1, the first and second motors 3, 8, the seedling raising box detecting sensor 5, and the raising hooks 6 which have been transferred by pushing the seedling raising group 1 group into the separating and feeding apparatus C are then in a horizontal posture. The hook detection sensor 26, which operates by contacting the standing hook 6 below the conveyor so as to stop at a time point, and the seedling raising box 1 group on the transport conveyor A are forced within a range that does not interfere with the movement trajectory K of the standing hook 6. Braking mechanism 3 to stop
The drive motor 30m of 0 is connected to the control device 27 to constitute the automatic supply control means E. The braking mechanism 30 is swingable around a fulcrum Z oriented in the transport direction, and a stopper 31 that can swing between a braking posture that the transport conveyor A projects to the transport route of the group of nursery boxes 1 and a retracted posture that is retracted to the outside of the transport route.
And a drive motor 30m thereof, and a pair of them are arranged on the left and right of the end of the conveyor.

The operation of the conveyor A will be described. When the nursery box detection sensor 5 operates during the driving of the conveyor, the first operation is performed.
The motor 3 is immediately stopped, and as shown in FIG. 4, the braking mechanism 30 is operated to stop the left and right stoppers 31,
It is controlled to switch the braking posture 31 to the overturned posture, and the seedling raising group 1 comes into contact with the stopper 31 and stops even if there is inertia. Then, when there is the detection information that the seedling raising box 1 in the separating and supplying apparatus C has disappeared, the stopper 31 is switched to the retracted posture and the first motor 3 is driven.

To explain the operation of the feed conveyor B,
Immediately after the upright hook 6 pushes the seedling raising box group 1 into the separating and supplying apparatus C as the conveyor is driven, the hook detection sensor 26
Detects the stand-up hook 6 and immediately stops the second motor 8, and if there is detection information that the seedling raising box 1 in the separating and feeding apparatus C has disappeared after that, it is controlled to be re-driven together with the conveyor A. To be done.

That is, the transport conveyor A and the feed conveyor B are the same at the time of start-up, but they are different when the drive is stopped in many cases, and contact the stopper 31 while the feed conveyor B is stopped. When the seedling raising group 1 group is being conveyed by the conveyer conveyor A or the interval between the standing hooks 6 is wide, the feed conveyor B is driven when the conveyer conveyor A is stopped when the seedling raising group 1 group contacts the stopper 31. There may be situations where

[Other Embodiment] As shown in FIG. 5, the braking mechanism 30 in the transfer conveyor A is omitted, and instead,
The standing hook 6 closest to the conveyor A has
The second motor 8 and the first motor 3 are linked and driven automatically so that the feed conveyor B is stopped in a state in which it is positioned on the lower side in the transport direction than the group 1 of raising seedlings to be transported by the next standing hook 6. The supply control means E may be used.

That is, a little before the group of nursery boxes 1 reaches the expected stop position after the nursery box detecting sensor 5 is activated,
The pitch between adjacent standing hooks 6 and 6 and the drive speeds of the first and second motors 3 and 8 are set so that the standing hook 6 stops in a state in which the standing posture is changed from the hanging posture. ing. Also, at that time, the raising box 6 next to the standing hook 6 at the starting end of the feed conveyor B (at this time, is in a hanging posture on the lower side of the conveyor) is stopped at the terminal end of the conveyer conveyor A. It is configured so that the first group cannot climb.

Therefore, in the transport conveyor A, the nursery box 1
Even if the group may reach the area of the feed conveyor B due to an overrun that goes beyond the expected stop position, it will stop by hitting the standing hook 6 standing at the start end of the feed conveyor B, and at the time of the next re-driving, This prevents the group of nursery boxes 1 from riding on the standing hooks 6. In FIG. 5, the standing hooks 6 are vertically standing, but if the standing hooks 6 are on the lower side in the carrying direction than the group 1 of raising seedlings to be carried by the next standing hooks 6, they are in the process of transitioning to an obliquely tilted standing. But good.

Although the present embodiment is a nursery box transporting / feeding apparatus for an empty nursery box 1, it may be configured as a transporting / feeding apparatus for a waiting place for transferring a group of seeded nursery boxes 1 to a germination trolley. .

In the claims, reference numerals are provided for convenience of comparison with the drawings, but the present invention is not limited to the configuration shown in the attached drawings.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a side view showing a separation and supply device, a feed conveyor, etc.

FIG. 2 is a front view showing the structure of the separation and supply device.

FIG. 3 is a plan view showing an arrangement structure of guide members.

FIG. 4 is a front view showing the structure of a braking mechanism.

FIG. 5 is a side view showing another structure of the automatic supply control means.

FIG. 6 is an operation diagram showing an inconvenient state of delivery between the transfer conveyor and the feed conveyor.

[Explanation of symbols]

 1 Nursery box 3 Drive source 5 Nursery box detection sensor 6 Standing hook 7 Endless belt 30 Braking mechanism A Conveyor B Feed conveyor

Claims (2)

[Claims] 1. A transfer conveyor (A) for transferring a group of seedlings (1) stacked in a plurality of stages, and an intermittent drive type feed for locking and transferring the group of seedlings (1) from this transfer conveyor (A). The conveyor (B) is provided in a state where both the conveyors (A) and (B) are continuously arranged, and the feed conveyor (B) carries the endless belt (7) on which the seedling raising box (1) group is placed and conveyed. ), A standing hook (6) capable of supporting the group of nursery boxes (1) is attached at a predetermined pitch, and a nursery box detection sensor (5) arranged slightly before the end of the conveyor (A). , A braking mechanism (30) for forcibly stopping the group of nursery boxes (1) within a range that does not interfere with the movement path of the standing hooks (6), and the transfer is performed in accordance with the operation of the nursery box detection sensor (5). Stop the drive source (3) of the conveyor (A), and Serial to actuate the brake mechanism (30), said nursery box detection sensor (5) and said driving source (3) and said brake mechanism (30) and nursery box conveyor supply device are a control device is provided to coordinate the. 2. A transport conveyor (A) for transporting a group of seedlings (1) stacked in a plurality of stages, and an intermittent drive type feed for locking and transporting the group of seedlings (1) from this transport conveyor (A). The conveyor (B) is provided in a state where both the conveyors (A) and (B) are continuously arranged, and the feed conveyor (B) carries the endless belt (7) on which the seedling raising box (1) group is placed and conveyed. ), A standing hook (6) capable of pushing the group of nursery boxes (B) is attached at a predetermined pitch, and the raising box detection sensor (5) is provided a little before the end of the conveyor (A). The seedling raising box detection sensor (5) and the drive source (3) are linked to each other so that the drive source (3) of the transport conveyor (A) is stopped in association with the operation. The nearest standing hook (5) is Tsu nursery box the transport object by click (6) (1) in a state located in the conveying direction downstream side than the group,
A nursery box carrier / feeder in which the drive source of the feed conveyor (5) and the drive source (3) of the carrier conveyor (A) are linked and driven so that the feed conveyor (5) stops.