HEAVY DUTY MACHINE

Description

DESCRIPTION of the industrial invention entitled: ROWING MACHINE owner: FERRARI COSTRUZIONI MECCANICHE SRL nationality: Italian with headquarters in: Strada Squadri, 6 - 46040 Guidizzolo (MN) representative: Dr. Eng. Marco Giovanni MARI studio: ING. MARI & C. SRL Via Garibotti, 3 – 26100 CREMONA designated inventor: Damiano FERRARI DESCRIPTION Technical field of application The present invention is aimed at the agricultural machinery sector, and in particular it concerns a weeding machine suitable for working the soil between seedlings planted in the field in parallel rows, in order to break the crust of the soil around the collar of the seedlings and eliminate weeds near them. Pre-existing technique The well-known type of weeding machines are suitable for operating along a direction of travel, and include: - a main support frame that can be connected to an agricultural machine; - means of support and advancement on the ground in one direction march parallel to the rows of seedlings; - at least one weeding group, of the type comprising a frame secondary for fixing to the main frame, blade tools, of the type with a hoe, in a number related to the number of rows of seedlings to be worked with a passage of the machine, a vision system comprising an optical reader capable of identifying, during the progress of the machine in the field, the presence or absence of the seedlings put into cultivation; - an electronic command and control unit capable of processing the images detected by the said vision system and to control the movement of said cutting tools. Each blade tool comprises a pair of vertical arms at the ends of which are installed inclined hoes, interacting with each other, which operate at adjustable depth and are capable of eliminating weeds up to a few centimetres away from the seedling cultivated. These arms are equipped with a pendulum movement which allows the mutual approach and distancing of the respective inclined hoes: as the weeding machine advances into the ground, said arms, and consequently the inclined blades at their ends sinking into the ground, they open in correspondence with the seedlings identified by the optical reader and close immediately afterwards, so as to work the soil surrounding the seedlings, or their collar, without damage the seedlings themselves. These arms are hydraulically operated. The ends of the hoes, in their approaching movement and distance from the seedlings, they draw a vertical plane arcing trajectory, entering and exiting the ground. Disadvantageously, the movement performed by the arms and the inclined hoes move a lot of soil around the seedlings, especially when reaching high working speeds or the the distance between the seedlings in the individual rows is particularly small. traditional weeders therefore have the limitation of pouring soil onto the leaves of seedlings and vegetables in the field, creating a slowdown to the growth of the vegetables themselves and therefore problems in the production chain. The traditional type weeders as described above, when They work with leafy vegetables such as lettuce or cabbage, they are forced therefore to maintain the forward speed on the field below 2-3 km / h. The disadvantageous effect of speed containment is reflected on the decrease in productivity, as well as causing a greater permanence of the weeding machine in the field and consequently more pollution. Presentation of the invention The aim of the invention is to overcome these limitations by creating a weeding machine that is efficient in breaking the soil and cutting of weeds respecting the spacing between the seedlings, which guarantees full control between advancement speed of the weeding machine and the work of the blade tools, which can achieve good working speeds by increasing hourly productivity of the entire machine. The goals are achieved with a weeding machine suitable for work the soil, following a direction of travel, between rows of seedlings arranged parallel to each other on the ground, including: - a main support frame that can be connected to an agricultural machine; - means of support and advancement on the ground in said direction gear; - an electronic command and control unit, - at least one weeding group, of the type including: - a secondary frame; - at least one pair of blade tools; - an optical reader, serving said at least one weeding group, capable of detecting the presence and arrangement of said plants in the ground and to control the movement of said pair of blade tools, characterized by the fact that each blade tool includes: - a vertical shaft having an axis of rotation; - a star-shaped blade, placed at one end of the said vertical shaft and suitable for operating in a horizontal plane arranged above under the said ground; - a motor suitable for imparting a rotational movement to said tree vertical around its own axis; - a vision system which includes said optical reader, where said rotational movement is intermittent and regulated by said electronic control unit, depending on the speed of advancement of the weeding machine, and from said vision system, depending on the presence of seedlings determined through the detected images and processed by the vision system itself. Advantageously, said star-shaped blade comprises a center, and the axis of rotation of said vertical shaft passes through said center of said star-shaped blade. Furthermore, this star-shaped blade is concave towards the ground, includes three points arranged at 120°, and each point is shaped like a triangle. In a preferred form, said motor is a brushless motor. In particular, said engine is arranged in axis with said shaft vertical. According to a further aspect of the invention, said system of vision includes a strobe LED illuminator. According to a possible embodiment, said at least one weeding group includes adjustment means of the sinking of at least one pair of bladed tools below under the ground. According to a further aspect of the invention, said at least one group of weeding includes a feeler group to control the level of the ground located upstream of said at least one pair of tools blade and to control said means of regulating the sinking of said blade tools cooperating with said electronic control unit. In a possible preferred variant, said at least one group of weeding includes two pairs of bladed tools staggered from each other in the direction of travel of the said weeding machine. Advantageously, said at least one weeding group is fixed to the said main frame by means of a crosspiece capable of being moved selectively in a horizontal plane in a direction orthogonal to the direction of travel of said weeding machine. The weeding machine according to the invention has numerous advantages. The innovative conformation of the blade tools, of the type comprising a star-shaped blade, and the fact that they are rotating around its own axis, allows you to never get the seedling subject to processing as all the movement of the blades is performed under the surface of the ground, while the portion of protruding tool has no translation movements. The entire movement of the blade tools takes place below the level surface of the ground: there is no alternating in-out of the blades from the ground or a superficial movement that could move excessive quantities of earth. If the blades always work underground in a horizontal plane cannot dirty the leaves of the seedlings, even if the car is moving fast. As a result, the weeding machine can reach high processing speed and therefore obtain higher yields. The modularity of the weeding machine, which can mount more weeding groups, and in which each weeding group can mounting multiple pairs of blade tools allows for greater flexibility in growing configurations and distribution rows of seedlings in the field. The vision system mounted for each pair of tools of cutting, and therefore above each row unit, is able to acquire high-resolution images and distinguish details in images with sub-millimeter resolution. Advantageously, a greater reading precision is observed, without perspective errors. Brief description of the drawings These and other features and advantages of the invention will become more evident from the more detailed description exposed below, with the help of the drawings that represent one of them preferred method of execution, illustrated by way of example and not limited to limiting, where: Figs. 1, 2 and 3 illustrate, respectively in axonometric view, in top view and side view, a weeding machine according to a possible variant of the invention; Figs. 4, 5 and 6 illustrate, respectively in axonometric view, in side view and front view, a single weeding group of the machine according to the invention; Fig. 7 illustrates a working diagram of the group of weeding in Fig. 4 in two consecutive working positions; Fig. 8 illustrates, in axonometric view, a weeding group of a weeding machine according to a possible construction variant of the invention. Detailed description of preferred ways of implementing the invention With reference to Figure 1, a weeding machine is illustrated. 1 suitable for working the ground, according to a direction of travel M, between P seedlings arranged in parallel rows in the ground, comprising essentially a main frame 2 equipped with wheels 3, which they act as means of support and advancement on the ground in said direction of travel M, two weeding groups 10 and a control unit 4 command and control electronics in which a program resides electronic that manages each individual weeding group 10. This electronic control unit 4 manages the automatic functions of this weeding machine 1: detects the progress of the machine weeder itself, manages the communication between the components, the operator controls, alarms, etc… The weeding machine 1 can be of the self-propelled type, equipped with own motorization, or without motor, for use with a agricultural tractor or other towing vehicle, as in the variant illustrated. In the illustrated variant, machine 1 is equipped with only two groups of weeding 10, but in alternative variants they can be arranged on a single machine 1 plus 10 weeding groups, for work simultaneously on multiple rows of parallel P seedlings, or even just one weeding group. Referring now to Figures 4-6, a single group of weeding 10, designed to operate as a modular unit of the weeding machine 1 in Figure 1. Said weeding group 10 essentially comprises: - a secondary frame 5; - a pair of 6-blade tools; - a vision system comprising an optical reader 7, capable of detecting the presence and arrangement of said P plants in the soil and communicate with the said electronic control unit 4, as well as a camera, an illuminator, a computer with image processing software images, etc… This vision system is able to process the images detected by said optical reader 7 and to control the movement of said tools blade 6. Going into detail, each 6-blade tool includes: - a vertical shaft 8 having a rotation axis y; - a 9 star-shaped blade, stably associated with an end 8' of said vertical shaft 8 and adapted to operate in a plane horizontally arranged below said ground; - a motor 11 suitable for imparting a rotational movement to said vertical shaft 8 around its own axis. The star-shaped blade 9 is concave towards the ground, and has a center C. The axis of rotation y of said vertical shaft 8 passes through the center C of said star-shaped blade 9. This star-shaped blade 9 includes three 9' points equidistant from each other, arranged at 120°. Each 9' tip is shaped triangular and both free inclined profiles are sharp. These 9' tips are inclined towards the ground by a few degrees, for example 5°-10°. The rotational movement imparted by the motor 11 to the shaft vertical 8, and consequently to the star-shaped blade 9, is a intermittent rotation movement, in 120° increments. The rotation movement is regulated by the said vision system in function of the images detected by the said optical reader 7 which define the presence or absence of P seedlings, and their location in line with the crop row. The two blade tools 6 mounted on each weeding group 10 rotate in opposite directions, that is, the star-shaped blades 9 are counter-rotating. The rotation of the two star-shaped blades 9 is coordinated in so that, in the passage in the spaces between the P plants, two corresponding 9' tips are facing and close, while, in the passage in correspondence with the P seedlings, the blades offer their intermediate portion not cutting and without points 9' (Fig. 7). In order for this rotational movement to be intermittent, each blade tool 6 is connected to an electric motor 11. Preferably the motor 11 used is a brushless servomotor, which thanks to its high dynamism can, depending on the distance linear transplantation of P seedlings, allow the machine weeder 1 to advance at a speed of up to 5 km / h without dirty the crop being processed with earth. Advantageously, said engine 11 is arranged in axis with said vertical tree 8. This vision system includes a LED illuminator stroboscopic that allows you to acquire sharp images even when the weeding machine 1 is moving rapidly. Each weeding group 10 includes adjustment means of the sinking of the pair of blade tools 6 below the land. Said means of regulating the sinking of the pair of tools blade 6 comprises an hydraulic cylinder 14, placed vertically on each weeding group 10 and capable of acting on the respective secondary frame 5 for lowering and raising the blade tools 6. The working depth control of the 6 blade tools is managed from an electronic sensor: for this purpose, each weeding group 10 comprises a feeler group 12 designed to control the level of the ground placed upstream of the corresponding pair of blade tools 6 and to control the excursion of said hydraulic cylinder 14 cooperating with the said electronic control unit 4. With particular reference to the variant in Figure 8, a weeding group 10, mountable individually or in groups on a weeding machine 1, comprising two pairs of blade tools 6. These pairs of blade tools are arranged staggered with respect to each other in the direction of travel M of said weeding machine 1, so as to be able to work, without interfering, two rows of P seedlings very close together. All the weeding groups are made independent from each other thanks to a motherboard that resides in the said electronic control unit 4 which allows precise detection and particularly rapid activation of the components. The interaction between the weeder and the operator is managed by a Touch Screen panel, connected to the said control unit electronics 4, easy to understand, through which it is possible set the processing parameters and monitor the processing same. With particular reference to the overall views of the machine weeder 1 of Figures 1 and 2, the secondary frame 5 of each group of weeding 10 is fixed to the main frame 2 of the machine weeder 1 so that it can be moved laterally with respect to the direction of travel M using hydraulic pistons. In detail, each weeding group 10 is fixed to said main frame 2 by means of a crosspiece 13 capable of being moved selectively in a horizontal plane in a direction orthogonal to the direction of travel M of said weeding machine 1.

Claims

CLAIMS 1) Weeding machine (1) suitable for working the soil, according to a direction of travel (M), between rows of seedlings (P) arranged parallel to each other in the ground, comprising: - a main support frame (2) connectable to an agricultural machine; - support and advancement means (3) on the ground in said direction of travel (M); - an electronic control unit (4), - at least one weeding group (10), of the type comprising: - a secondary frame (5); - at least one pair of blade tools (6); - an optical reader (7), serving said at least one weeding group (10), suitable for detecting the presence and arrangement of said seedlings (P) in the ground, and for controlling the movement of said pair of blade tools (6), characterised in that each blade tool (6) comprises: - a vertical shaft (8) having a rotation axis (y);- a star-shaped blade (9), arranged at one end of said vertical shaft (8) and capable of operating on a horizontal plane located below said ground; - a motor (11) capable of imparting a rotational movement to said vertical shaft (8) around its own axis; - a vision system which includes said optical reader (7), ING. MARI & C. SRL where said rotational movement is intermittent and regulated by said electronic control unit (4), according to the speed of advancement of the weeding machine (1), and by said vision system, according to the presence of seedlings (P) determined through the images detected and processed by the vision system itself.; 2) Weeding machine (1) according to claim 1, characterised in that said star-shaped blade (9) comprises a centre (C), and the rotation axis (y) of said vertical shaft (8) passes through the centre (C) of said star-shaped blade (9). 3) Weeding machine (1) according to claim 2, characterised in that said star-shaped blade (9) is concave towards the ground. 4) Weeding machine (1) according to claim 2, characterised in that said star-shaped blade (9) comprises three tips (9') arranged at 120°. 5) Weeding machine (1) according to claim 4, characterised in that each tip (9') is shaped like a triangle. 6) Weeding machine (1) according to claim 1, characterised in that said motor (11) is a brushless motor. 7) Weeding machine (1) according to claim 1, characterised in that said motor (11) is arranged in axis with ING. MARI & C. SRL said vertical shaft (8). 8) Weeding machine (1) according to claim 1, characterised in that said vision system comprises a stroboscopic LED illuminator. 9) Weeding machine (1) according to claim 1, characterised in that said at least one weeding group (10) comprises means for regulating the sinking of the at least one pair of blade tools (6) below the ground. 10) Weeding machine (1) according to claim 9, characterised in that said at least one weeding group (10) comprises a feeler group (12) suitable for controlling the level of the ground placed upstream of said at least one pair of blade tools (6) and for controlling said means for regulating the sinking of said blade tools (6) by cooperating with said electronic control unit (4). 11) Weeding machine (1) according to claim 1, characterised in that said at least one weeding group (10) comprises two pairs of blade tools (6) staggered from each other in the direction of travel (M) of said weeding machine (1). 12) Weeding machine (1) according to claim 1, characterised in that said at least one weeding group (10) is fixed to said main frame (2) by means of a crosspiece (13) capable of being moved selectively in a horizontal plane in a direction orthogonal to the direction of travel (M) of said weeding machine (1).