Grass mower

Abstract

To provide a stably self-traveling grass mower even on a swelling part such as a triangle ridge having almost no flat ground surface.SOLUTION: A self-traveling grass mower 100 includes: a center pin 30 extending in a cross direction of the grass mower 100 at the center of the grass mower 100; a pair of right and left swinging arms 20 extending in a horizontal direction of the grass mower 100 from the center pin 30 and swinging in a vertical direction around the center pin 30; a pair of right and left crawlers 10 supported by tip end parts of the pair of right and left swinging arms 20 and capable of traveling along both side slopes of the swelling part; mower support rods 70 having base end parts supported on the pair of right and left swinging arms 20 and having tip end parts extending toward a side of the grass mower 100; and a pair of right and left grass mowers 80 supported by the tip end parts of the mower support rods 70 and capable of mowing weeds and the like in front-back areas and side areas of the crawlers 10 in both side slope surfaces of the swelling part.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 1

Description

[Technical field]

[0001] The present invention relates to a self-propelled grass cutter for cutting weeds and the like that grow on both side slopes of raised portions such as ridges and furrows in farm fields. [Background technology]

[0002] Self-propelled mowers for cutting weeds growing on slopes in farm fields are well known, for example, as described in Patent Documents 1 to 6. With small mowers, an operator can perform mowing work while driving the mower by holding the operating handle at the rear of the mower. With large mowers, an operator can perform mowing work while riding on the mower and driving it. [Prior art documents] [Patent documents]

[0003] [Patent Document 1] Japanese Patent Application Publication No. 8-70671 [Patent Document 2] Patent Publication No. 2022-162248 [Patent Document 3] Patent No. 5280086 [Patent Document 4] Patent No. 6699021 [Patent Document 5] Patent No. 6719744 [Patent Document 6] Patent No. 6808194 Summary of the Invention [Problem to be solved by the invention]

[0004] In all of the mowers in Patent Documents 1 to 6, the wheels and crawlers of the mower move on flat ground. Therefore, it is very difficult to make the mower run stably on raised areas where there is almost no flat ground between the slopes on both sides, such as so-called triangular ridges with a triangular cross section. For this reason, mowing work on raised areas such as triangular ridges has had to be done by hand.

[0005] SUMMARY OF THE PRESENT EMBODIMENT An object of the present invention is to provide a grass cutter that can stably self-propel itself even on raised areas such as triangular ridges where there is almost no flat ground. [Means for solving the problem]

[0006] In order to solve the above problems, the grass mower of the present invention is a self-propelled grass mower for mowing weeds and the like that grow on both side slopes of a raised portion such as a ridge or furrow in a field, the grass mower being characterized by having a center pin extending in the front-to-rear direction of the grass mower at the center of the grass mower, a pair of left and right oscillating arms that extend in the left-right direction of the grass mower from the center pin and can swing up and down around the center pin, a pair of left and right crawlers that are supported at the tips of the pair of left and right oscillating arms and can run along the both side slopes of the raised portion, a support rod whose base end is supported on the pair of left and right oscillating arms and whose tip extends to the side of the grass mower, and a pair of left and right grass mowers that are supported at the tip of the support rod and can mow weeds and the like in the front-to-rear and lateral areas of the crawlers on the both side slopes of the raised portion. Effect of the Invention

[0007] The grass cutter of the present invention can stably move on its own even on raised areas such as triangular ridges. [Brief description of the drawings]

[0008] [Figure 1] 1A and 1B are a plan view and a front view of a grass cutter according to an embodiment of the present invention. [Diagram 2] 13 is a front view of a grass cutter in which the inclination angle of both side slopes of a raised portion is large. FIG. [Diagram 3] FIG. 13 is a front view of the mower when mowing the horizontal surface and one side slope of a raised portion. [Figure 4] This is an image of a grass cutter that drives autonomously using positioning signals from GNSS satellites. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

[0009] A grass mower 100 according to an embodiment of the present invention will now be described with reference to Fig. 1. The grass mower 100 has a pair of left and right crawlers 10. The pair of left and right crawlers 10 are each driven by a travel motor 12.

[0010] By controlling the rotation speed of the left and right traveling motors 12, it is possible to turn the grass cutter 100 and change the traveling direction. Therefore, a steering mechanism is not necessary, and the grass cutter 100 can be made simple in structure and low in cost.

[0011] As described below, the pair of left and right crawlers 10 can run in the direction of the extension of a raised portion along both slopes of a raised portion where there is almost no flat ground between the slopes on both sides, such as a so-called triangular ridge.

[0012] Meanwhile, a center pin 30 extending in the front-to-rear direction of the grass mower 100 is disposed in the center of the grass mower 100. At least a pair of left and right swing arms 20 extending in the left-to-right direction of the grass mower 100 are disposed from this center pin 30. In the illustrated example, a pair of left and right swing arms 20 and a pair of front and rear swing arms are provided, totaling four.

[0013] The pair of left and right swing arms 20 are connected to each other by an angle adjustment plate 40. The angle adjustment plate 40 has a plurality of positioning holes 42, 44 formed therein, and two of these positioning holes 42, 44 are connected to pin holes formed in the longitudinal middle of the swing arm 20 by connecting pins.

[0014] This allows the angle between the left and right swing arms 20 to correspond to the angle θ of the slopes on both sides of the raised portion. This allows the cutting blade surface of the grass mower 80 and the tread surface of the crawler 10 to be parallel to the slopes on both sides of the raised portion. The angle between the pair of left and right swing arms 20 can also be made continuously variable by using an electric cylinder instead of the angle adjustment plate 40.

[0015] A base 50 is disposed between the front and rear swing arms 20. A support column 60 is disposed on the base 50, and an electric cylinder 72 is disposed on the upper end of the support column 60.

[0016] The electric cylinder 72 supports the base end of the mower support rod 70 and is configured to be able to turn and swing the tip end of the mower support rod 70 in the direction of the arrow as shown in Figure 1 (a). A grass cutting mower 80 is attached to the tip end of the mower support rod 70. The grass cutting mower 80 is driven by a motor 82.

[0017] Link rods 55, 58 arranged crosswise in an X shape are provided on base 50. The lower ends of these link rods 55, 58 are connected to base 50 by pins 52, 54. The upper ends of link rods 55, 58 are connected to the lower end of storage box 90 by other pins 52, 54.

[0018] 1(a), the storage box 90 houses a battery 92 and a receiver / controller 94. The battery 92 supplies power to the travel motor 12 of the crawler 10, the electric cylinder 72, and the motor 82 of the grass mower 80.

[0019] The receiver / controller 94 is configured to receive signals from a transmitter that remotely operates the mower 100, and control the travel motor 12 of the crawler 10, the electric cylinder 72, and the motor 82 of the mower 80 based on the signals. Also, by equipping the mower 100 with a GPS function, it is possible to make the mower 100 travel automatically along ridges, etc. This makes it possible to significantly reduce the labor required for mowing work.

[0020] The grass cutter 100 is configured as described above, and by remotely controlling the grass cutter 100 using the transmitter of the grass cutter 100, the grass cutter 100 can travel over raised areas such as ridges and furrows in a farm field.

[0021] Conventional grass cutters have had great difficulty in running stably on raised areas where there is almost no flat ground between the slopes on both sides, such as triangular ridges with a triangular cross section. For this reason, if the grass cutter is forced to run, there is a risk that the wheels or crawlers of the grass cutter will run off the slope on one of the sides of the raised area. For this reason, grass cutting on raised areas such as triangular ridges has had to be done by hand.

[0022] In contrast, in the grass mower 100 of the present invention, the pair of left and right swing arms 20 can be tilted in a center-bending manner with the center pin 30 as the boundary, so the pair of left and right crawlers 10 can run along the slopes on both sides of the raised portion. In this case, the heaviest part of the grass mower 100 is the crawler 10, but because this crawler 10 runs along the slopes on both sides of the raised portion, the center of gravity of the grass mower 100 during running can be kept as low as possible.

[0023] therefore, 1) Even on a raised area such as a triangular ridge where there is almost no flat ground between the slopes on both sides, 2) Even if the angle of the slopes on both sides of the protuberance is steep, such as 20°⇒30°⇒45°, 3) Furthermore, even if the soil on the raised area and both sides of the slope is soft, The grass cutter 100 can be stably self-propelled in a straight line without slipping. Furthermore, the weeds growing on both sides of the slope of the raised part can be safely and efficiently cut by the grass cutter 80 at the same time.

[0024] 2 is a front view of the mower when the inclination angle of the slopes on both sides of the raised portion is increased. By changing the positioning hole 42 of the angle adjustment plate 40 to the inner positioning hole 44, the angle of the swing arm 20 around the center pin 30 can be adjusted to correspond to the slopes on both sides of the raised portion.

[0025] 3 is a front view of the mower when mowing the horizontal surface and one-sided slope of a raised area. The center of gravity of the mower 100 is low, so it can travel stably even on a one-sided slope.

[0026] (Automatic driving of grass cutter) The grass cutter 100 can also automatically travel along raised areas such as ridges and furrows. Figure 4 is an image diagram of a grass cutter that automatically travels using positioning signals from GNSS satellites.

[0027] That is, a mobile receiver 96 that receives positioning signals (GNSS signals) from positioning satellites (GNSS satellites Sa) as positioning means is mounted on the grass cutter 100. On the other hand, a fixed receiver is installed away from the grass cutter 100, for example, in a base station.

[0028] The positioning signal received by the mobile receiving unit and the positioning signal received by the fixed receiving unit of the base station are then received, and the position of the mobile receiving unit of the grass cutter 100 is corrected based on these two positioning signals. Based on the result of this correction, the grass cutter 100 can be made to travel automatically and accurately along raised areas such as ridges and furrows.

[0029] It is also possible to mount an inertial measurement unit (IMU unit) that detects the angular velocity of the grass mower 100 on the grass mower 100. The inertial measurement unit is attached so as to be parallel to each of the pitch axis, roll axis, and yaw axis of the vehicle.

[0030] With this configuration, by integrating the angular velocity obtained from a certain point in time to the present, it is possible to obtain the amount of change in the orientation of the grass cutter 100 at the current point in time. Based on the orientation of the grass cutter 100 obtained in this manner, the grass cutter 100 can be made to travel automatically and accurately along raised areas such as ridges and furrows. In particular, by obtaining the angle change around the roll axis with the inertial measurement unit, the grass cutter 100 can be made to travel safely in a straight line along raised areas without leaning too much to the left or right.

[0031] In automatic driving using a positioning satellite, there are cases where positioning cannot be performed satisfactorily due to the reception conditions of satellite radio waves, etc. By providing an inertial measurement unit, even in a situation where a positioning satellite cannot be used, the grass cutter 100 can be automatically driven by inertial navigation using the detection results of the inertial measurement unit. It is also possible to automatically drive the grass cutter 100 while correcting the positioning signal from the positioning satellite with the detection results of the inertial measurement unit.

[0032] Although the embodiment of the present invention has been described above, the present invention is not limited to the above embodiment and various modifications are possible. For example, the grass cutter of the present invention can be driven by an engine instead of a battery. Also, the number of grass cutters 80 is not limited to two, and four can be arranged in the front, back, left and right directions. [Explanation of symbols]

[0033] 10: Crawler 12: Travel motor 20: Swing arm 30: Center pin 40: Angle adjustment plate 42, 44: Positioning holes 50: Base 52, 54: Pin 55, 58: Link rod 60: Support pillar 70: Mower support rod 72: Electric cylinder 80: Grass mower 82: Motor 90: Storage box 92: Battery 94: Receiver controller 96: Mobile receiver of GNSS signals 100: Grass cutter θ: Angle

Claims

1. A self-propelled grass cutter for cutting weeds and the like growing on both sides of a raised portion such as a ridge or furrow in a farm field, the grass cutter comprising: A center pin extending in the front-rear direction of the grass mower at the center of the grass mower; A pair of left and right swing arms extending in the left and right direction of the grass mower from the center pin and swingable in the up and down direction around the center pin; a pair of left and right crawlers supported on tip portions of the pair of left and right swing arms and capable of running along both side slopes of the raised portion; A support rod having a base end supported on the pair of left and right swing arms and a tip end extending to a side of the grass cutter; a pair of left and right grass-cutting mowers supported on the tip portions of the support rods and capable of cutting weeds and the like in the front and rear regions and lateral regions of the crawler on both side slopes of the raised portion; A grass cutter comprising:

2. 2. The grass mower according to claim 1, wherein the angle of the pair of left and right swing arms about the center pin is variable.

3. 3. The grass mower according to claim 2, wherein the pair of left and right swing arms are connected to each other at intermediate portions in the longitudinal direction by an angle adjustment plate.

4. 4. The grass cutter according to claim 3, wherein a plurality of positioning holes are formed in the angle adjustment plate, and the angle of the swing arm can be changed by changing the positioning hole connected to the swing arm.

5. 5. The grass cutter according to claim 1, wherein a tip end of the support rod is movable along both side slopes of the raised portion by an electric cylinder disposed at a base end of the support rod.

6. 5. The grass mower according to claim 1, wherein a storage box for storing a power battery for the grass mower is supported on the pair of left and right swing arms.

7. A grass mower according to any one of claims 1 to 4, characterized in that the storage box accommodates a receiver capable of receiving a signal from a transmitter for remotely operating the grass mower, and a controller for controlling the crawler, the electric cylinder, and the grass mower based on the signal.

8. 2. The grass mower according to claim 1, wherein the angles of the pair of left and right swing arms are continuously variable by a second electric cylinder.

9. 2. The grass mower according to claim 1, further comprising a mobile receiving unit which receives a positioning signal from a positioning means, and which is configured to receive the positioning signal received by said mobile receiving unit and the positioning signal received by a fixed receiving unit of a base station, correct the position of said mobile receiving unit based on these positioning signals, and automatically travel along raised parts such as ridges and furrows in a field based on the correction result.

10. 2. The grass mower according to claim 1, further comprising an inertial measurement unit that detects the angular velocity of the grass mower, and configured to be capable of automatically traveling along raised portions such as ridges and furrows in a farm field based on the detection results of the inertial measurement unit.

11. A grass mower characterized in that the position of the mobile receiving unit of claim 9 is corrected based on the detection results of the inertial measurement unit of claim 10, and the grass mower is configured to automatically travel along raised parts such as ridges and furrows in a field based on the correction results.

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