JPH09156767A - Seedling raising box supplying device - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To perform the supplying operation of seedling raising boxes without any obstacle by reliably stacking a replenishing seedling raising box to be lowered and transferred on a supplying seedling raising box. SOLUTION: A seedling raising box supplying device is provided with a lowering conveying device 13 provided with a pair of one box separating pawls 17a, 18a capable of dropping and supplying seedling raising boxes 2a one by one, for lowering and transferring a replenishing seedling raising box group 2 having thirty stages when the number of stages of the supplying seedling raising box group is decreased to the set number or less by the one box separating action, and for stacking the replenishing seedling raising box group on the seedling raising box 2a on the topmost stage of the supplying seedling raising box group 2. Four guide members 38 for sliding and guiding the lowering transference of the seedling raising box 2a on the lowermost stage of the replenishing seedling raising box group 2 onto the seedling raising box 2a on the topmost stage of the supplying seedling raising box group 2 are provided on the front, back, right and left parts.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a nursery box feeding device for feeding empty nursery boxes stacked in multiple stages one by one from the bottom one, and more specifically, a group of nursery boxes to be supplied. Technology for surely stacking seedlings on a nursery box in a box separating section.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art As this type,
The one disclosed in Japanese Patent No. 234 is known, and when the number of nursery boxes in the lower one-box separating section is small, the group of supplemental nursery boxes is stacked on the group of nursery boxes for supply. The supplementary seedling raising box group is moved down while being placed on the locking pieces of the chain mechanism that is arranged opposite to each other on both sides of the seedling raising box, and the locking pieces contact the upper end of the feeding seedling raising box. The force causes the chain mechanism to open and swing, so that the chain mechanism disengages from the locking piece and functions to rest on the seedling raising box below.

[0003]

However, in the above-mentioned prior art, there is a possibility that the supplementary seedling raising box may be laterally displaced and may not be stacked properly when it is lowered and stacked on the supply seedling raising box. In other words, the chain mechanism has a structure that automatically opens when the locking piece and the uppermost seedling raising box of the feeding seedling raising group are brought into contact with each other. The group approaches either left or right. An object of the present invention is to ensure that the replenishment seedling raising boxes that are moved down are stacked on the supply seedling raising boxes so that the feeding operation of the seedling raising boxes can be performed satisfactorily.

[0004]

[Means for Solving the Problems]

[Structure] The first characteristic structure of the present invention is provided with a single box separating unit capable of dropping and supplying the lowermost seedling growing boxes of the vertically stacked seedling growing boxes one by one, and is provided in this one box separating unit. When the number of stages of the nursery box group is reduced to a set number or less, the supplementary raising nursery box group stacked by a predetermined number of stages is lowered and transferred, and a descending conveying device for stacking on the uppermost nursery box in the feeding nursery box group is provided, A guide member is provided to guide the lowering of the lowermost seedling raising box of the supplementary raising seedling raising group from the side to the lowering transfer to the uppermost raising seedling raising box of the supply raising seedling raising group.

A second characteristic configuration is the same as the first characteristic configuration, in which a pair of chain mechanisms formed by winding chains around the upper and lower wheels are arranged opposite to each other in a state in which a supplementary nursery box group is arranged between them. Then, a locking piece for mounting and supporting the supplementary seedling raising box group is attached to each chain, and the supplementary seedling raising box group placed on the locking piece can be moved down to the supply seedling raising box group. That is, the lowering and conveying device is configured by supporting the pair of chain mechanisms so as to open and swing around the upper fulcrum in directions away from each other.

[Action] According to the structure of claim 1, the guide member from the side ensures that the replenishing seedling raising group that has descended does not shift to the side and is reliably placed on the feeding seedling raising group. You will be able to stack in a regular state.

According to the second aspect of the invention, since the left and right chain mechanisms that are suspended are separately oscillated and moved, it is easy for them to shift to the left and right during the stacking operation, so the guide action of the guide member is effective. It has a simple structure and is inexpensive and can be stacked well.

[Effect] As a result, in the seedling raising box feeding device according to any one of claims 1 and 2, the supplementary raising seedling raising group can be surely changed into a supply raising seedling raising group by a simple modification only by providing a guide member. It can be stacked.

In the seedling raising box supply device according to the second aspect of the present invention, stacking is performed by utilizing the descending movement of the chain mechanism of the feeding seedling raising box group, so that there is an advantage that the above effect can be obtained while the structure is simple and inexpensive. .

[0010]

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION As shown in FIG. 14, a seeding plant 1 is provided on the first floor of a building, and a seedling raising box supply unit 3 for the seeding plant is provided on the second floor for storing a large number of seedling raising boxes 2a. Between the first floor and the second floor, an elevating device 4 for descending and transporting the seedling raising box 2a from the seedling raising seedling box supply unit 3 to the seedling plant 1 side.
Is provided to form a sowing center. Sowing plant 1
Is above the seeding conveyor 5 that conveys the seedling raising box 2a, in order from the hand side in the conveying direction, the bed soil supply device 1a and the irrigation device 1
b, a seeding device 1c, and a soil covering device 1d are provided.

As shown in FIG. 13, the nursery box feeder 3 is
A plurality of seedling raising box groups 2 each consisting of 30 seedling raising boxes 2a in a stacked state are placed on each of the plurality of seedling raising group feeding conveyors 6 arranged in parallel to form a seedling raising group row group and each seedling raising group supply One progressive conveyor 7 for receiving the nursery box group 2 on the conveyor 6 and transporting it to the lifting device 4 is provided from the nursery box group supply conveyor 6 located at one end of the nursery box row group to the other end. The nursery box group supply conveyors 6 are arranged so as to be orthogonal to the nursery box group supply conveyors 6 at one end side thereof.

As shown in FIG. 14, the lifting device 4 is a first chain mechanism in which a chain 9c is wound around a drive wheel 9a and a free wheel 9b which are separately arranged on the first and second floors of a building. 9 in pairs at two locations in the axial direction of both wheels 9a, 9b,
The seedling raising box group 2 is provided so as to face each other with a space provided therebetween.
The first locking pieces 10 for supporting the seedling raising box group 2 by being locked to the lowermost seedling raising box 2a of the seedling raising box group 2 in a state where they are positioned between the opposing first chain mechanisms 9. The chains are provided in the chains 9c of the chain mechanism 9, respectively.

Around the upper end of the elevating device 4, there is an extruding conveyor 19 for feeding the nursery box group 2 conveyed by the progressive conveyor 7 to the elevating device 4 by driving the roller 19a.
A push-out unit 20 for feeding the nursery box group 2 together with the push-out conveyor 19 to the elevating device 4 by driving the pull-out arm 20a is provided. Around the lower end of the elevating device 4, the nursery box 2a of the nursery box group 2 lowered by the elevating device 4
A seedling raising box supply device 8 is provided for supplying the seedlings to the sowing conveyor 5 side by box.

As shown in FIG. 2, this nursery box feeding device 8
Is a support stand 11 for placing and supporting the nursery box groups 2 lowered by the lifting device 4, a pusher portion 12 for laterally pushing out the nursery box group 2 on the support table 11, and a pusher portion 12 A descending transport device 13 for receiving and further transporting the seedling raising box group 2, a single box separating unit 23 for supporting the seedling raising group 2 descended and transported by the descending transport device 13 and dropping it downward one by one, and one box separating It comprises an auxiliary conveyor 22 for feeding the seedling raising box 2a dropped from the section 23 to the seeding conveyor 5. An idle roller 11a is provided on the upper surface of the support base 11 so that the seedling raising box group 2 can be easily fed to the descending and conveying device 13. The pusher unit 12 is configured by providing a standing wall 12a having substantially the same height as the group of 30 nursery boxes 2 on the support base 11 so as to be slidable toward the lowering and conveying device 13 side.

As shown in FIGS. 1 (a), 1 (b) and 2,
The descending conveyance device 13 includes a second chain mechanism 14 formed by winding a chain 14c around a drive wheel body 14a and an idle wheel body 14b which are separately arranged on the second floor side and the first floor side of a building.
4a and 14b are provided at two locations in the axial direction, one pair at a time, facing each other with a space therebetween. A second elongated locking piece 15 for supporting the seedling raising group 2 by being locked to the lowermost seedling raising box 2a of the seedling raising group 2 while being positioned between the second chain mechanisms 14 and 14 facing each other. Are respectively provided in the chains 14c of both chain mechanisms 14 and 14, and the second locking pieces 15 and 15 facing each other are provided.
With the nursery box group 2 placed and supported on the second chain mechanism 1
It is configured such that the seedling raising box group 2 is lowered and conveyed by driving Nos. 4 and 14.

Then, the two second chain mechanisms 14, 14 are
The upper drive wheel 14a is pivotally supported about the axis thereof so that the second chain mechanisms 14 and 14 can be brought into a delivery position in which the second chain mechanisms 14 and 14 are in parallel with each other from a conveyance position. As described above, the distance between the lower ends of the second locking pieces 15 is changeable, and the lower surface of the second locking piece 15 is formed on the inclined cam surface 16 that rises toward the seedling raising box. An urging mechanism D is provided to urge the second chain mechanism 14 back to the drooping posture in which the supplementary seedling raising box group 2 is placed on the locking piece 15 and transferred downward.

That is, in the state shown in FIG. 1 (a), when the nursery box group 2 is transported down from the second floor side of the building to the first floor side, the second
The inclined cam surface 16 of the locking piece 15 comes into contact with the uppermost seedling raising box 2a of the seedling raising box group 2 which has been already moved down and is located on the first floor side.
4, 14 are expanded and open in a V shape and swing. As a result, as shown in FIG. 1 (b), the seedling raising box group 2 that has been lowered and transported is the lower seedling raising group group 2 that has already been lowered and transported.
It is automatically stacked on top of.

As shown in FIGS. 11 and 12, the above-mentioned urging mechanism D includes the bracket 3 attached to the apparatus frame 13F.
9 and the receiving plate 33 attached to the second chain mechanism 14 and penetrates the long bolt 34, and a pair of cushion rubbers 35, 35, a pair of washers 36, 36, and a compression type winding spring 37 are provided. It is configured by interposing. Therefore, when the locking piece 15 is not in contact with the feeding nursery box group 2, the urging spring 37 keeps urging the hanging piece 37, and the second chain mechanism 14 opens and swings unexpectedly due to swinging. It's stabilized so as not to. Then, when the locking piece 15 comes into contact with the group 2 for feeding nursery boxes, the winding spring 37 is compressed and deformed to open laterally.

Further, as shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, the lower transfer of the lowermost nursery box 2a of the supplemental nursery box group 2 to the uppermost nursery box 2a of the supply nursery box group 2 is performed. A guide member 38 for guiding from one side is provided. The guide member 38 is constructed by integrally welding a guide main body 38a formed of a round bar and a mounting flange 38b bolted to the device frame 13F, and is provided at a total of four positions on the left and right sides of the nursery box 2a. is there. Due to the guiding action of these guide members 38, when the locking piece 15 comes into contact with the uppermost seedling raising box 2a of the feeding seedling raising box group 2, there is a difference in the opening movement of the left and right second chain mechanisms 14, 14. Even if the replenishment nursery box group 2 is biased to the left or right, the lateral shift movement is prevented and the stacks can be reliably stacked. The guide member 3
The contact type 8 may be either a contact type, which is always in sliding contact with the seedling raising box 2a, or a basically non-contact type, which is closely arranged with a very small clearance.

As shown in FIG. 2 to FIG.
Is a first claw 18 on which the lowermost seedling raising box 2a can be placed and supported,
Also, a second stage capable of mounting and supporting the second-stage seedling raising box 2a from the bottom.
Each of the nails 17 has a non-acting position in which the nails 17 have retreated to the side,
A linking drive mechanism A is provided so as to be able to move in and out of an action position that projects in the a direction, and when one of these claws 18 and 17 is in the action position, the other is linked so that the other is in the non-action position. I have it. Then, a standby state in which the lowermost stage nursery box 2a is placed and supported by the first claw 18 in the working posture, and a supply in which the second stage nursery box 2a is placed and supported by the second claw 17 in the working posture. By alternately repeating this state, the lowest seedling raising boxes 2a can be dropped and supplied one by one.

More specifically, the first pawl 18 swingable at the fulcrum X is through the first link 25, and the second pawl 17 swingable at the fulcrum Y is through the second link 24. The first and second claws 18 and 17 are respectively connected to the rotating body 21 and reciprocally swing in a linked state when the rotating body 21 rotates. Rotating body 21
Is the first arm 21A for driving the first pawl 18 and the second pawl 1
It is formed by connecting and integrating the second arm 21B for driving 7
It rotates integrally around the axis W.

The rotating body 21 may be composed of a single disc. The locking claw 18a at the tip of the first claw 18 is the seedling raising box 2a.
The bottom surface 2s and the locking claw 17a at the tip of the second claw 17 respectively support the ribs 2r projecting laterally from the seedling raising box 2a from below. Also, the first and second claws 17, 18
The pair of front and rear pawls 17a and 18a are provided on the left and right of the nursery box 2a, respectively, and the locking claws 17a and 18a are long members that connect and integrate the front and rear claws 17 and 18, as shown in FIG.

As shown in FIG. 10, the second claw 17 is provided with an error absorbing mechanism B for slidably supporting the locking claw 17a laterally. That is, the second bent sideways
The tip of the claw 17 and the substrate 26 are bolted together via two collars 27, and a locking claw 17a having elongated holes 17b, 17b through which the collar 27 passes is formed between the two. It is installed and the locking claw 17a
An error absorbing mechanism B is configured by interposing a winding spring 28 between the rising portions of the substrate 26 and the substrate 26. The plate thickness of the locking claw 17a is slightly smaller than that of the collar 27, and is normally elastically supported by the urging force of the winding spring 28 in a position projecting toward the seedling raising box so that an external force applied to the locking claw 17a. It is a structure that can be slid and retracted in the direction away from the nursery box.

Further, as shown in FIG. 9, the lowermost seedling raising box 2
Blocking claws 29 capable of forcibly pushing down a are provided on the left and right. The blocking claw 29 is biased by a spiral spring 32 or the like in the direction of the nursery box 2a until it comes into contact with the stopper 30 around the fulcrum Z at the upper part thereof, and an inclined guide portion 29a that allows the nursery box 2a to move downward. , A suspending member having a blocking portion 29b which comes into contact with the rib portion 2r from above to prevent the relative raising of the seedling raising box 2a. The pair of front and rear blocking claws 29, 29 are connected and integrated by a connecting pipe 31 centering on the fulcrum Z.

Next, the operation of the one-box separating portion 23 and the blocking claw 29 will be described on the one side. First, as shown in FIG.
The first claw 18 is in the vicinity of the highest position and the locking claw 18a is in a position where the bottom surface 2s of the lowermost seedling raising box 2a is placed and supported, and at that time, the second claw 17 is most lowered and the locking claw is located. 17a
Is at a position retracted outside the descending movement path of the rib portion 2r.

Next, FIG. 4 shows a state in which the rotary body 21 is rotated 36 degrees from the state shown in FIG.
Is oscillated downward and the second claw 17 is oscillated upward, so that the seedling raising box group 2 is entirely lowered in the vertical difference due to the lowering of the first claw 18. At the time of this movement, the rib portion 2r of the lowermost seedling raising box 2a abuts the tilt guide portion 29a of the blocking claw 29 from above, but the blocking claw 29 is laterally resisted by the biasing force due to the component force of the tilt. As a result, the seedling raising group 2 can be lowered without difficulty.

FIG. 5 shows a state in which the rotor 21 has rotated 72 degrees from the state shown in FIG. 3, in which the first pawl 18 continues to swing down and the second pawl 17 continues to rise. The seedling raising box group 2 further swings down. At this time,
The sum of the amount of ascent of the second claw 17 and the amount of descent of the first claw 18 is slightly larger than the height of one box of the nursery box 2a.
The locking claw 17a of the claw 17 is the rib portion 2 of the seedling raising box 2a at the bottom stage.
r is exhausted downward, and the rib portion 2r is moved within the region of the downward movement trajectory. Therefore, the locking claw 17 of the second claw 17
Even if there is a slight position error at the tip of the a
The rib portion 2r of a is not caught.

FIG. 6 shows a state in which the rotary body 21 has rotated 108 degrees from the state shown in FIG. 3, in which the first pawl 18 continues to swing downward and barely supports the nursery box 2a. And, the second pawl 17 is further swung up and moved from the bottom to
It is located just at the lower end of the rib portion 2r of the stepped nursery box 2a. At this time, the blocking claw 29, the position of which is restricted by the stopper 30, has just entered between the upper and lower ribs 2r, 2r.

FIG. 7 shows a state in which the rotary body 21 has rotated 144 degrees from the state shown in FIG. 3, and the first claw 18 continues to descend and swing to descend the locus of movement of the bottom surface 2s of the seedling raising box 2a. The second claw 17 moves to the position retracted from the position, and the second claw 17 moves to the position further raised. That is, the rotation angle of the rotating body 21 is 1
On the way from 08 degrees to 144 degrees, the first claw 18 moves to the bottom surface 2
The lowermost seedling raising box 2a falls off by itself due to its own weight and comes to be supported by the second claws 18 by the ribs 2r, and the ribs 2r are supported by the second claws 17 from the bottom. The staged nursery box 2a is lifted a little and moved.

At this time, the lowermost seedling raising box 2a is 2 from the bottom.
Even if they may be lifted and moved together without moving away from the staged seedling raising box 2a, the raising stage moves the seedling raising stage 2 at the bottom.
As indicated by an imaginary line, a is relatively pushed down by the blocking claw 29 that comes into contact with the rib portion 2r from above, and is forcibly separated from the upper nursery box 2a and surely falls. The action of becoming. In other words, the expanding mechanism C is configured by the second pawl 17 that moves upward and the blocking pawl 29 that is positionally fixed in the vertical direction.

FIG. 8 shows a state in which the rotary body 21 is rotated 180 degrees from the state shown in FIG. 3, and the first claw 18 is laterally retracted from the descending movement locus of the rib portion 2r. To the position where the lowermost seedling raising box 2a is completely dropped, and the second raising seedling raising box 2a from the bottom that is further lifted by the second claw 17 is the lowermost step. It becomes the nursery box 2a.

In a section in which the rotary body 21 rotates beyond 180 degrees to 360 degrees, the second pawl 17 swings downward, and
The first claw 18 starts to oscillate upward, and the nursery box group 2 which has started to move downward returns to the vicinity of the position where the first claw 18 is shown in FIG. 6 (the position near the position rotated by 108 degrees from FIG. 3). When coming up, the state in which the rib portion 2r is placed and supported by the second claw 17 is changed to the state in which the bottom surface 2s is placed and supported by the first claw 18, and the rotary body 21 rotates 360 degrees. The nursery box group 2 is slightly lifted and moved until it returns to its original position (position in FIG. 3). That is, when the rotator 21 makes one rotation, only the lowermost seedling raising box 2a is dropped and supplied, and the rotator 21 continuously rotates and the above series of operations is repeated, so that the seedling raising boxes 2a are continuously moved to 1 The boxes can be dropped and supplied.

As shown in FIG. 8, the auxiliary conveyor 22 is
The roller 22b for receiving the conveyor belt 22a is disposed slightly lower, and a gap is provided between the roller 22b and the lower surface of the conveyor belt 22a. As a result, the shock of the falling seedling raising box 2a is absorbed by the stretching deformation of the conveyor belt, and the shock can be supplied onto the auxiliary conveyor 22 with little posture disturbance.

Further, a box number detection sensor (not shown) for detecting that the number of the nursery boxes 2a of the group 2 for raising seedlings on the one-box separating section 23 is reduced to a certain number is provided. When the number has decreased to a certain number, the succeeding seedling raising box group 2 waiting at the lower end of the lifting device 4 is received and conveyed down. The descending transporting device 13 functions so that a large number of seedling raising boxes 2a can be continuously supplied to the seeding plant 1 by placing them on the seedling raising group 2 that has been reduced to a certain number, and is controlled as follows. Is executed.

That is, when the bottommost seedling raising boxes 2a are sent one by one to the auxiliary conveyor 22 and the number thereof is reduced to a certain number, the box number detecting sensor detects it and the number of the seedling raising boxes is determined based on the detection result. The two-chain mechanism 14 is driven only for a certain period of time to position the second locking piece 15 slightly below the support base 11. Then, the standing wall 12a of the pusher portion 12 slides on the support 11 and pushes out the succeeding seedling raising box group 2 waiting at the lower end of the elevating device 4 toward the lowering and conveying device 13 side, as shown in FIG. As shown in (1), the second raising piece 15 mounts and supports the nursery box group 2. When this support is made, the standing wall 12a retreats to its original position, and at the same time, the second chain mechanism 14 is re-driven and the succeeding nursery box group 2 is lowered and conveyed.

Then, as shown in FIG. 1B, the situation where the succeeding nursery box group 2 is placed on the previously transferred nursery box group 2 is as described above (second This is the swinging motion of the chain mechanism 14).

[Other Embodiments] In the above-described embodiment, the vertical length of the guide member 38 is relatively short corresponding to the delivery portion area between the supplementary nursery box group 2 and the supply nursery box group 2. However, it may be extended to the upper part of the 30-stage supplementary nursery box group 2 so that the descending conveyance of the supplementary nursery box group 2 can be performed stably without fluctuation.

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

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 (a) is a front view of a descending / conveying device showing a locking support state of a nursery box group, and (b) is a front view of a descending / conveying device showing an unlocked state of a nursery box group.

[Figure 2] Overall side view of the nursery box feeder

FIG. 3 is an operation diagram showing an operating state of the one-box separating unit.

FIG. 4 is an operation diagram showing an operating state of the one-box separating unit.

FIG. 5 is an operation diagram showing the operating state of the one-box separating unit.

FIG. 6 is an operation diagram showing the operating state of the one-box separating unit.

FIG. 7 is an operation diagram showing the operating state of the one-box separating unit.

FIG. 8 is an operation diagram showing the operating state of the one-box separating unit.

FIG. 9 is a perspective view showing the structure of a blocking claw.

FIG. 10 is a sectional side view showing the structure of the error absorbing mechanism.

FIG. 11 is a single-part view showing the structure of the guide member.

FIG. 12 is an enlarged side view showing the structure of the biasing mechanism.

[Fig. 13] Plan view of the nursery box supply unit

FIG. 14: Side view of the whole seeding center

[Explanation of symbols]

 2 Nursery box group 2a Nursery box 13 Lowering and conveying device 14 Chain mechanism 14a, 14b Drive wheel 14c Chain 15 Locking piece 23 One box separating part 38 Guide member

 ─────────────────────────────────────────────────── --Continued front page (72) Inventor Minoru Takamori 64 Ishizukitamachi, Sakai City, Osaka Prefecture Kubota Sakai Factory

Claims (2)

[Claims] 1. A single box separating part (23) capable of dropping and supplying the lowermost seedling growing boxes (2a) of the vertically stacked seedling growing boxes (2a), and this single box separating part (23) When the number of stages of the feeding nursery box group (2) existing in 1 is reduced to a set number or less, the feeding nursery box group (2) stacked by a predetermined number of stages is lowered and transferred to the feeding nursery box group (2). A descending transport device (1 for stacking on top of the uppermost nursery box (2a)
3), and the lowermost seedling raising box (2a) of the supplementary seedling raising group (2)
, The uppermost nursery box (2) of the above-mentioned group for feeding nursery boxes (2)
a) A guide member (3) for guiding the descending transfer from the side
8) A seedling raising box supply device provided. 2. A pair of chain mechanisms (14) formed by winding a chain (14c) around upper and lower wheels (14a), (14b), and said supplementary nursery box group (2) arranged between them. In such a state that the locking pieces (15) for placing and supporting the supplementary seedling raising box group (2) are mounted on the chains (14c),
(14c) The locking pieces (1
5), the above-mentioned supplementary seedling raising box group (2) placed on (15)
By supporting the pair of chain mechanisms (14) and (14) so as to open and swing away from each other around the upper fulcrum so that they can be moved down to the feeding nursery box group (2). The seedling raising box supply device according to claim 1, wherein the descending transfer device (13) is configured.