Seedling transplanter

Abstract

To provide a seedling transplanter which does not have a risk of falling of a cell seedling and a deformation of a seedling tray by a lateral face pressure of the seedling tray and which can suppress a speed of sliding even when the number of cells is different.SOLUTION: A seedling transplanter having a seedling stand with an inclination for supplying by sliding a seedling tray, includes excessive speed suppression means for generating a slide resistance by being in slide contact with a lateral edge part of the seedling tray in a thickness direction. Also, the seedling stand includes an upper guiding part provided along an upper side of a sliding trajectory of the lateral edge part of the seedling tray and preventing floating of the seedling tray. The excessive speed suppression means includes a vertical movable member which comes into slide contact with a lower face side of the lateral edge part of the seedling tray and which pinches and presses the lateral edge part with the upper guiding part.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 13

Description

[Technical Field]

[0001] The present invention relates to a seedling transplanter equipped with a seedling carrier. [Background technology]

[0002] One type of seedling transplanter has a transplanting unit connected to the rear of a traveling unit, and the traveling unit travels while pulling the transplanting unit, and the transplanting unit transplants the seedlings into a field.

[0003] The transplanting section is equipped with a seedling carrier, a seedling removal means is located at the rear of the lower part of the carrier, and a planting means is located below the seedling removal means. The seedling carrier is arranged in an inclined position with a high front and a low rear, so that multiple seedling trays (for example, two trays) with cells for accommodating cell seedlings can be placed successively in the vertical direction on the carrier. The seedling carrier is also equipped with a vertical feed mechanism that intermittently feeds the seedling trays vertically downward.

[0004] The seedling collection means is configured to take out the cell seedlings grown in the cells of the seedling tray one by one, and transfer the cell seedlings to the planting means, which then plants the cell seedlings in the field, thereby functioning as a seedling transplanter.

[0005] When placing seedling trays on the seedling carrier, the first seedling tray is first placed on top of the carrier and then slid down to the bottom on the carrier, connecting and locking it to the vertical feed mechanism installed on the carrier. Next, the second seedling tray is placed on top of the carrier and slid down on the carrier until the bottom edge of the second seedling tray comes into contact with the top edge of the first seedling tray, making the upper and lower seedling trays continuous.

[0006] However, when the second, subsequent seedling tray is released from the seedling carrier, it may slide down the carrier with force due to its own weight, colliding with the first seedling tray placed ahead of it, causing the cell seedlings in the tray to fly out (fall out) due to the impact, which can cause problems such as this.

[0007] Therefore, various configurations have been proposed to suppress the momentum of the seedling tray sliding down the seedling carrier.

[0008] For example, Patent Document 1 discloses a transplanter that, when seedling trays are placed on an inclined seedling carrier and transported vertically, presses the seedling trays by contacting a pressing member with the outer surface of the cells (pot portion) of the seedling tray from a direction perpendicular to the vertical transport direction, thereby suppressing the momentum of the seedling trays as they slide down.

[0009] For example, Patent Document 2 discloses a seedling carrier for a seedling transplanter that is provided with a sliding prevention body that abuts against the groove portion (hereinafter simply referred to as the V-groove portion) between adjacent cells in the left-right direction on the underside (back side) of the seedling tray to prevent the seedling tray from sliding downward.

[0010] This configuration is said to be able to suppress the impact when a subsequent seedling tray sliding down comes into contact with a seedling tray placed ahead of it. [Prior art documents] [Patent documents]

[0011] [Patent Document 1] Japanese Patent Publication No. 2020-202794 [Patent Document 2] Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2013-074834 Summary of the Invention [Problem to be solved by the invention]

[0012] However, in the case of a configuration in which a pressing member is abutted against the side of the seedling tray, the soft seedling tray is compressed from the side, which may cause the cell seedlings to fall off or the seedling tray to deform sideways and become misaligned, resulting in poor feeding during the lower stage.

[0013] Furthermore, in the case of a configuration in which the slippage suppressing body abuts against the V-groove portion, the shape of the V-groove portion changes when the seedling tray is changed to one with a different number of cells, so the degree to which slippage of the seedling tray is suppressed is not stable.

[0014] The present invention has been made in consideration of the above circumstances, and provides a seedling transplanter that does not have the risk of cell seedlings falling off or seedling tray deformation due to pressure on the side of the seedling tray, and can suppress the momentum during sliding down even when the number of cells is different. [Means for solving the problem]

[0015] In order to solve the above-mentioned conventional problems, the seedling transplanter of the present invention is (1) a seedling transplanter equipped with an inclined seedling carrier that supplies seedling trays while sliding them down, and is equipped with an overspeed suppression means that slides against the side edge of the sliding seedling tray in the thickness direction, generating sliding resistance.

[0016] The seedling transplanter according to the present invention is also characterized in the following points. (2) The seedling carrier is provided with an upper guide body arranged above the sliding trajectory of the side edge of the seedling tray to prevent the seedling tray from floating up, and the overspeed suppression means is provided with an up-and-down movable member that slides against the underside of the side edge of the seedling tray and clamps the side edge between it and the upper guide body. (3) The overspeed suppression means has a plurality of the vertically movable members along the sliding direction of the seedling tray. (4) The clamping pressure of the upper and lower movable members can be changed. [Effects of the Invention]

[0017] According to the seedling transplanter of the present invention, the seedling transplanter is equipped with an inclined seedling carrier that supplies seedling trays while sliding them down, and is equipped with an overspeed suppression means that slides against the side edge of the sliding seedling tray from the thickness direction to generate sliding resistance.This means that there is no risk of cell seedlings falling off or the seedling tray being deformed due to pressure on the side of the seedling tray, and it is possible to provide a seedling transplanter that can suppress the momentum of sliding down even if the number of cells is different. [Brief explanation of the drawings]

[0018] [Figure 1] FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a seedling transplanter according to an embodiment of the present invention. [Figure 2] FIG. 1 is a side view of a seedling transplanter according to an embodiment of the present invention. [Figure 3] FIG. 1 is a plan view of a seedling transplanter according to an embodiment of the present invention. [Figure 4] FIG. 2 is a bottom view of the seedling transplanter according to the present embodiment. [Figure 5] FIG. [Figure 6] FIG. 1 is an explanatory diagram showing a side view of the transplanted area. [Figure 7] FIG. 2 is an explanatory diagram showing a transplanted area in plan view. [Figure 8] FIG. 10 is an explanatory diagram showing the transplanted area from a rear view. [Figure 9] FIG. [Figure 10] FIG. 2 is an explanatory diagram showing the configuration of a transplant unit. [Figure 11] FIG. 1 is an explanatory diagram showing the appearance of a seedling tray commonly used in a seedling transplanter. [Figure 12] FIG. 10 is an explanatory diagram showing a seedling tray sliding down a seedling carrier from the side; [Figure 13] FIG. 10 is a perspective view showing the overspeed suppression device attached to the seedling carrier. [Figure 14] This is an exploded view showing the components of the overspeed suppression device removed from the seedling carrier. [Figure 15] FIG. 4 is an explanatory diagram showing the configuration of a sliding contact unit. [Figure 16] FIG. 4 is an explanatory diagram showing the configuration of a right-side overspeed suppression mechanism. [Figure 17] FIG. 10 is an explanatory diagram showing a seedling tray sliding down a seedling carrier from the side. [Figure 18] 10 is an explanatory diagram showing the state of contact of the sliding contact body with the vertical side edge portion from the perspective of a left-right cross section of the seedling carrier. FIG. [Figure 19] FIG. 10 is a plan view showing the seedling carrier of the seedling transplanter according to the second embodiment. [Figure 20] FIG. 10 is an explanatory diagram showing the configuration of an overspeed suppression device attached to a seedling carrier according to a second embodiment. [Figure 21] FIG. 2 is an explanatory side view showing the configuration of an overspeed suppression mechanism. [Figure 22]FIG. 2 is a perspective view showing the configuration of an overspeed suppression mechanism. [Figure 23] FIG. 10 is an explanatory diagram showing the braking state of the seedling tray by the overspeed suppression device. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0019] The seedling transplanter according to this embodiment will be described in detail below with reference to the drawings. A shown in Figs. 1 to 3 is a riding vegetable seedling transplanter (seedling transplanter A) according to the present invention. As shown in Figs. 1 to 3, seedling transplanter A has a transplanting unit 3 attached to the rear of a traveling unit 1 serving as a towing vehicle via a lifting mechanism unit 2 so that the transplanting unit 3 can be raised and lowered. This seedling transplanter A is capable of transplanting multiple rows of seedlings (two rows in this embodiment).

[0020] [Running unit 1] 1 to 3, the running unit 1 is configured by placing an upper body 12 on a lower body 11. As also shown in FIG. 4, the lower body 11 is formed by interposing a connecting frame 15 extending in the front-to-rear direction between a transmission case 13 disposed at the front and a rear axle case 14 disposed at the rear.

[0021] Axle cases 16, 16 extend outward and downward in the left-right direction from the left and right side wall portions of the transmission case 13, and front axle cases 17, 17 extend downward in the vertical direction from the outer ends of each axle case 16, 16, and a pair of left and right front wheels 19, 19 are attached to the outer lower ends of each front axle case 17, 17 via front axles 18, 18.

[0022] A pair of left and right rear wheels 21, 21 are attached to the left and right outer ends of the rear axle case 14 via rear axles 20, 20. The connecting frame 15 is formed into a pipe shape with a rectangular cross section that extends straight in the front-to-rear direction. An engine 22 serving as a prime mover is mounted on the connecting frame 15.

[0023] As shown in Figure 5, the engine 22 and the transmission case 13 are interlocked via a first transmission mechanism 150. The transmission case 13 and the rear axle case 14 are interlocked via a second transmission mechanism 160. The transmission case 13 and the power intake section of the transplant section 3 are interlocked via a third transmission mechanism 170.

[0024] 2 and 5, a clutch case 130 is provided midway through the third transmission mechanism 170, and the clutch case 130 is disposed at the rear right side of the lower body 11. Inside the clutch case 130, a clutch mechanism 141 equipped with a planting clutch 145, a plant spacing adjustment mechanism 142, a transplanting unit power take-off mechanism 143, and a fertilizer applicator power take-off mechanism 144 are arranged in an interlocking manner. Note that although the seedling transplanter A according to this embodiment does not include a fertilizer applicator, one can be separately installed if necessary, and in that case the required power can be taken from the fertilizer applicator power take-off mechanism 144.

[0025] As shown in Figures 1 to 3, the upper body 12 is stretched over the support frame 25 in a covering manner. A handle 31 is disposed at the front of the upper body 12 via a handle column 35. A driver's seat 45 is placed midway through the upper body 12, and the driver's seat 45 is located behind a cover body 44 that covers the periphery of the handle column 35. A flat step portion 46 is formed at the rear of the upper body 12, and the step portion 46 serves as a seedling tray discharge platform.

[0026] Next, the power transmission structure of the traveling unit 1 will be described with reference to Figure 5. The engine 22 is interlocked with the transmission case 13 via a first transmission mechanism 150. The first transmission mechanism 150 is formed by winding a transmission belt 903 between the drive shaft 23 of the engine 22 and an input shaft 900 provided in the transmission case 13 via pulleys 901 and 902.

[0027] The transmission case 13 is provided with a hydrostatic continuously variable transmission 912 consisting of a hydraulic pump 910 with a variable swash plate and a hydraulic motor 911. The hydraulic pump 910 is operatively connected to the input shaft 900. The hydraulic motor 911 is fluidly connected to the hydraulic pump 910, and a main transmission mechanism 914 is operatively connected to the output shaft 913. Reference numeral 915 denotes a main clutch, and 916 denotes a main transmission shaft. A front wheel transmission shaft 917 extending in the left-right direction is operatively connected to the main transmission shaft 916, and a pair of left and right front wheels 19, 19 are operatively connected to the left and right ends of the front wheel transmission shaft 917 via front axles 918, 918 and front axles 18, 18.

[0028] A power output shaft 919 with an axis extending in the front-to-rear direction is provided on the left side of the transmission case 13. The power output shaft 919 has a base end interlocked with the main transmission shaft 916, and a tip end protruding rearward and interlocked with a power input shaft 920 protruding forward from the rear axle case 14 via a second transmission mechanism 160. The second transmission mechanism 160 is formed by a transmission shaft extending in the front-to-rear direction.

[0029] A rear wheel transmission shaft 921 extending in the left-right direction is provided on the rear axle case 14. The middle portion of the rear wheel transmission shaft 921 is interlocked to the base end of the power input shaft 920, and a pair of left and right rear wheels 21 are interlocked to the left and right sides of the rear wheel transmission shaft 921 via rear axles 922, 922 and rear axles 20, 20. Reference numeral 923 denotes a side clutch.

[0030] A PTO shaft 930 with its axis facing the front-to-rear direction is provided on the right rear part of the transmission case 13. The base end of the PTO shaft 930 is interlocked with an interlocking shaft 931 which is interlocked with the main transmission mechanism 914, and the tip end protrudes rearward and is interlocked with the power intake part of the transplant part 3 described later via a third transmission mechanism 170. The third transmission mechanism 170 is formed by an upstream transmission shaft 932 and a downstream transmission shaft (not shown).

[0031] The upstream transmission shaft 932 interlocks the tip of the PTO shaft 930 with the base of a first transmission support shaft 146 provided in the clutch case 130. A second transmission support shaft 147 provided in the clutch case 130 is interlocked with the transplanting unit 3, and the transplanting operation of the seedlings is performed in the transplanting unit 3.

[0032] [Lifting mechanism 2] 2, the lifting mechanism 2 is attached so as to be able to rotate up and down on a lifting mechanism support 24, which is a gate-shaped lifting mechanism support (viewed from the rear) that forms the rear of the support frame 25. The lifting mechanism 2 is composed of a top link piece 180 extending in the front-rear direction, a pair of left and right lower link pieces 181, a rear end connecting piece 182, and a single-acting lifting cylinder 183.

[0033] With this configuration, by supplying pressurized oil to the lifting cylinder 183, the lifting cylinder 183 is contracted, causing the rear end connecting piece 182 to rise, while by discharging the pressurized oil supplied to the lifting cylinder 183, the cylinder is extended, causing the transplantation part 3 connected to the lifting mechanism support 24 to descend under its own weight.

[0034] [Transplant part 3] As shown in Figures 6 to 8, the transplanting section 3 has a pair of left and right seedling supply means 200, 200 arranged in the front part of the support machine frame 110 to supply seedlings via a cross feed frame body 128. Transplanting units 390, 390 are arranged in the rear part of the support machine frame 110 via a pair of left and right unit machine frames 380, 380. The transplanting unit 390 is made up of a seedling picking means 400 that picks up seedlings from the seedling supply means 200, and a planting means 500 that is arranged below the seedling picking means 400 and receives the seedlings picked up by the seedling picking means 400 and plants them in the field.

[0035] The support machine frame 110 is formed from a frame body 120 formed in a rectangular frame shape when viewed from above, a rising frame body 127 which is gate-shaped when viewed from the rear and stands upright at the front of the frame body 120 in an inclined manner with a high front and a low rear, and a lateral feed frame body 128 which is placed on the rising frame body 127 so that it can move back and forth in the left and right width direction (freely feeds left and right laterally), and a seedling supply means 200 is attached to the lateral feed frame body 128.

[0036] A speed change gear case 121 is detachably connected to the left side of the frame body 120, and power from the engine 22 arranged in the traveling part 1 is transmitted via the speed change gear case 121 to the seedling supply means 200 attached to the cross feed frame body 128. A plate-shaped shaft support 122 extending in the vertical direction is installed on the right side of the frame body 120, and a vertical feed shaft 123 extending in the left-right direction is horizontally installed between the speed change gear case 121 and the shaft support 122, which are opposed to each other on the left and right. In addition, a cross feed shaft 125 extending in the left-right direction is horizontally installed below the vertical feed shaft 123, in parallel with the vertical feed shaft 123, between the speed change gear cases 121, which are opposed to each other on the left and right, and a shaft support bracket 124, which is provided on the right side of the frame body 120.

[0037] As shown in Figures 7 and 8, each seedling supplying means 200 is equipped with a seedling carrier 210 extending in the vertical direction and a vertical feed mechanism 211 disposed below the seedling carrier 210. The right seedling supplying means 200 is provided with a vertical feed drive mechanism 212 interlocked with the vertical feed shaft 123 via a vertical feed cam 126. The right end of a vertical feed drive shaft 213 extending in the left-right direction is interlocked with the vertical feed drive mechanism 212.

[0038] As shown in Figure 9, a seedling tray 214, with cells 215 for accommodating cell seedlings arranged in an orderly manner in the vertical and horizontal directions, is placed on the seedling carrier 210, and the seedling tray 214 is slid to the vertical feed mechanism 211. Each seedling supplying means 200 moves the seedling tray 214 horizontally via the horizontal feed shaft 125 at the pitch of the cells 215, and also intermittently moves it vertically from top to bottom via the vertical feed shaft 123 at the pitch of the cells 215 once a horizontal row of seedlings has been picked. In other words, the seedling supplying means 200 is a means for placing the cell 215 containing the seedlings to be planted next at a predetermined position (seedling picking position).

[0039] In addition, as shown in Figures 7 and 8, the seedling carrying platform 210 of the seedling supply means 200 comprises a plate-shaped seedling carrying platform main body 220 that extends vertically so that multiple seedling trays 214 can be placed in series, guide walls 221, 221 that extend vertically along the left and right side edges of the seedling carrying platform main body 220 and are formed to protrude from the surface of the seedling carrying platform main body 220, and a central partition plate 213.

[0040] The seedling carrier 210 is attached to the cross-feed frame 128 in an inclined position with the front high and the rear low, with the left and right side edges of the seedling tray 214 placed on the upper surfaces of the guide walls 221, 221, and a cell 215 placed on the seedling carrier main body 220, so that the seedling tray 214 is horizontally suspended between the guide walls 221, 221, and the center of the seedling tray 214 is supported by the central partition plate 213, with the bottom of the cell 215 spaced apart from the seedling carrier main body 220, allowing the seedling tray 214 to slide downward under its own weight along the guide walls 221, 221.

[0041] In addition, upper guide bodies 222 are disposed above each guide wall 221, 221 at a predetermined distance so that at least the left and right side edges of the seedling tray 214 can be interposed therebetween, thereby preventing the seedling tray 214 from floating up as it slides down. In other words, the upper guide bodies 222 are disposed above the sliding path of the left and right side edges of the seedling tray 214, and the left and right side edges of the seedling tray 214 are configured to run between the guide walls 221, 221 and the upper guide bodies 222.

[0042] The seedling carrier 210 is also provided with an overspeed suppression device 260 that slides against the left and right side edges of the descending seedling tray 214 in the thickness direction to generate sliding resistance, preventing the subsequent seedling tray 214 from colliding with the preceding seedling tray 214 at an excessive sliding speed. The overspeed suppression device 260 is one of the main features of this embodiment, functioning as an overspeed suppression means, and will be described in detail later.

[0043] As shown in Figure 9, the seedling supply means 200 is provided with an empty seedling tray recovery mechanism 244 that transports empty seedling trays 214 from the end of the vertical feed mechanism 211, which is the lower end, in a folded manner to the underside of the seedling supply means 200 and recovers them.

[0044] The empty seedling tray recovery mechanism 244 transports the empty seedling tray 214 transported to the underside of the seedling supply means 200 to a position near the driver's seat 45 arranged on the traveling section 1.

[0045] A flat step section 46 is stretched approximately horizontally on the rear of the upper body 12 of the running section 1, that is, at the rear positions on the left and right sides of the driver's seat 45, and empty seedling trays 214, 214 transported from a pair of empty seedling tray recovery mechanisms 244 on the left and right sides are placed on the step section 46, making the step section 46 a seedling tray discharge platform.

[0046] Transplanting units 390, 390 are disposed below and behind the left and right seedling supplying means 200, 200, respectively, as shown in FIG.

[0047] The transplanting unit 390 includes a seedling picking means 400 for picking seedlings from the seedling tray 214, and a planting means 500 for receiving the seedlings picked by the seedling picking means 400 and planting them in the field.

[0048] The seedling picking means 400 is equipped with a pair of left and right seedling picking claws 410, 410 and a seedling picking operating mechanism 420 that clamps and operates both seedling picking claws 410, 410. The seedling picking operating mechanism 420 also operates to move the seedling picking claws 410 back and forth between a seedling picking position and a transfer position where the seedlings are handed over to the planting means 500.

[0049] The planting means 500 is equipped with a pair of front and rear planting claws 510, 510, and a planting operating mechanism 520 that opens and closes both planting claws 510, 510. The planting operating mechanism 520 also moves the planting claws 510 back and forth between the delivery position and the planting position where they penetrate the soil.

[0050] The transplanting unit 390 then transplants the seedlings while synchronizing the movements of the seedling harvesting means 400 and the planting means 500. That is, the seedling harvesting means 400 directs the seedling harvesting claw 410 forward to extract the seedlings from the cells 215 that the seedling supplying means 200 has placed at the seedling harvesting position, and then directs the seedling harvesting claw 410 downward to move it to the transfer position, where the seedlings are dropped onto the planting claw 510 waiting below the seedling harvesting means 400 for delivery.

[0051] The planting means 500 moves the planting claws 510 that have received the seedlings at the delivery position to the planting position, and opens the planting claws 510 in the soil to place the seedlings in holes of a predetermined depth.

[0052] In addition, a soil covering wheel 830 is attached below the transplanting unit 390, and as the seedling transplanter A moves forward, it covers the planting holes made by the planting claws 510 with soil.

[0053] In this way, the transplanting work is carried out by the seedling transplanter A.

[0054] Next, the overspeed suppression device 260, which is a main part of the seedling transplanter A according to this embodiment, will be described with reference to Figs. 11 and 12.

[0055] Figure 11 is an explanatory diagram showing the appearance of seedling trays 214 commonly used in seedling transplanters, with Figure 11(a) showing the appearance of a 128-hole seedling tray 214a and Figure 11(b) showing the appearance of a 200-hole seedling tray 214b. Figure 12 is an explanatory diagram showing a schematic side view of the 128-hole seedling tray 214a sliding down the seedling carrier 210.

[0056] The 128-hole seedling tray 214a shown in Figure 11(a) is rectangular in plan view with a vertical dimension Ly1 and a horizontal dimension Lx1, and is configured by neatly recessing 16 cells 215 vertically and 8 cells horizontally in a generally flat base sheet portion 250.

[0057] In order to suppress excessive increase in the sliding speed of the 128-hole seedling tray 214a on the seedling carrier body 220, the overspeed suppression device 260 in this embodiment slides a sliding body 261 against the portion of the base sheet portion 250 shown in the shaded view in the enlarged view of Figure 11(a), i.e., the vertical side edge portion 251, from the thickness direction as shown in Figure 12 with a predetermined contact pressure, and clamps the vertical side edge portion 251 between the sliding body 261 and the upper guide body 222, generating a frictional force.

[0058] In addition, the vertical side edge 251 of the 128-hole seedling tray 214a, which is placed on the upper surface of the guide wall 221 (shown by solid lines in Figure 12) and slides down, is guided onto the sliding body 261 by the guide 266 arranged on the side and upper surface of the guide wall 221, and is configured to slow down.

[0059] The overspeed suppressing device 260 is provided along both the left and right sides of the seedling carrier 210 so as to be in sliding contact with and clamp the vertical side edges 251 on both the left and right sides of the 128-hole seedling tray 214a.

[0060] Furthermore, this configuration of the overspeed suppression device 260 may be able to suppress the momentum of the seedlings sliding down even when seedling trays 214 with different numbers of cells are used. For example, the 200-hole seedling tray 214b shown in Figure 11(b) is a seedling tray 214 with 20 cells 215 arranged vertically and 10 cells horizontally. Although the vertical dimension Ly2 is shorter than the vertical dimension Ly1 of the 128-hole seedling tray 214a, the horizontal dimension Lx2 is the same or approximately the same as the horizontal dimension Lx1.

[0061] Therefore, the overspeed suppression device 260 provided on both sides of the seedling carrier body 220 can also slide into and clamp the vertical side edge portions 251 on both the left and right sides of the 200-hole seedling tray 214b, making it possible to suppress overspeed even if the number of cells is different.

[0062] Next, the specific configuration of the overspeed suppression device 260 provided in the seedling transplanter A will be described with reference to Figures 13 to 18. Figure 13 is a perspective view showing the overspeed suppression device 260 attached to the seedling carrier 210, and Figure 14 is an exploded view showing the components of the overspeed suppression device 260 removed from the seedling carrier 210. In the following description, the upper side of the inclined seedling carrier 210 will also be referred to as the upstream side, and the lower side will also be referred to as the downstream side.

[0063] As shown in Figures 13 and 14, the overspeed suppression device 260 includes an upper guide body 222, a sliding unit 262, an upstream edge guide plate 263, a midstream edge guide protrusion 264, and a downstream edge guide plate 265, one set on each side of the seedling carrier 210.

[0064] In addition, the set of overspeed suppression devices 260, upper guide body 222, sliding unit 262, upstream edge guide plate 263, midstream edge guide protrusion 264, and downstream edge guide plate 265 arranged on the left side of the seedling carrier 210 constitute a left overspeed suppression mechanism 260L, and the other set of overspeed suppression devices 260, upper guide body 222, sliding unit 262, upstream edge guide plate 263, midstream edge guide protrusion 264, and downstream edge guide plate 265 arranged on the right side of the seedling carrier 210 constitute a right overspeed suppression mechanism 260R.

[0065] The left overspeed suppression mechanism 260L and the right overspeed suppression mechanism 260R differ in that the above-mentioned components are constructed with mirror-symmetrical arrangements, and that each pair of components is also mirror-symmetrical. However, both have similar configurations. Additionally, each component is paired with one for constructing the left overspeed suppression mechanism 260L and one for constructing the right overspeed suppression mechanism 260R, each of which has a mirror-symmetrical structure. Note that, below, explanation of the difference between the mirror-symmetrical structures may be omitted.

[0066] The upper guide body 222 is a long rod-shaped member extending from the upstream to downstream sides of the seedling carrier 210 on the guide walls 221, 221, and is arranged above the sliding path of the vertical side edge 251 of the seedling tray to prevent the seedling tray 214 from floating up as it slides down the seedling carrier 210. The reference numeral 222a shown in Figure 14 denotes an attachment piece 222a for attaching the upper guide body 222 to the seedling carrier 210.

[0067] As shown in FIGS. 14 and 15, the sliding contact unit 262 includes a base plate 270 serving as a foundation, an upstream sliding contact mechanism 271, a midstream sliding contact mechanism 272, and a downstream sliding contact mechanism 273.

[0068] The base plate 270 is a long material that is roughly L-shaped in cross section and extends in the upstream-downstream direction along the lower outer edge of the guide wall 221, and the horizontal part 270a at the bottom of the L serves as a bolt fastening space for fixing to the seedling carrier 210, while the vertical part 270b serves as an attachment base for each sliding mechanism 271, 272, 273.

[0069] As shown in FIG. 15(b), the vertical portion 270b has a cutout portion 270e formed in a low wall shape in a portion in the upstream-downstream direction so that the downstream sliding mechanism 273, which will be described later, can be adjusted in position along the base plate 270 without interfering with the vertical portion 270b.

[0070] The upstream sliding mechanism 271, midstream sliding mechanism 272, and downstream sliding mechanism 273 are mechanisms that generate friction by clamping the vertical side edge 251 of the passing seedling tray 214 between them and the upper guide body 222. Although they are installed at different locations (upstream, midstream, and downstream) and the downstream sliding mechanism 273 has a stepwise position adjustment mechanism in the upstream-downstream direction, all of them have roughly the same configuration. These sliding mechanisms 271, 272, and 273 function as brake devices to slow down the speed of the seedling tray 214 sliding down due to its own weight on the rear-sloping seedling carrier.

[0071] The upstream sliding contact mechanism 271 is a sliding contact mechanism provided upstream of the base plate 270 relative to the other sliding contact mechanisms 272 and 273, and is equipped with a sliding contact body rocking piece 274, a sliding contact pressure adjusting lever 275, and a sliding contact body biasing spring 276.

[0072] The sliding contact body oscillating piece 274 is a plate-like member that extends along the base plate 270 and has a roughly inverted triangular shape when viewed from the side, and is pivotally supported at approximately the center of its extension direction by a sliding contact body oscillating shaft 274a having an axis in the left-right direction relative to the vertical part 270b of the base plate 270 so as to be able to oscillate.

[0073] Additionally, a slide body 261 is disposed downstream of the slide body swing shaft 274a on the upper edge of the slide body swing piece 274 attached to the base plate 270. The slide body 261 is disposed below the travel path of the vertical side edge 251 of the seedling tray 214 and is a member that contacts the underside of the vertical side edge 251 to generate frictional force. It is formed as a roughly rectangular flat plate in plan view, with a width slightly wider than the vertical side edge 251 and a longitudinal length in the upstream-downstream direction. In addition, the slide body 261 functions as a vertically movable member that approaches and presses against the vertical side edge 251 and moves away from it as the slide body swing piece 274 swings. In the following description, the gap through which the vertical side edge 251 passes, formed between the guide wall 221 or the slide body 261 and the upper guide body 222, is also referred to as a running gap.

[0074] 16 and 17, the slide contact body 261 is disposed on an inclined plane at an angle α formed by the upper surface of the slide contact body 261 (see the imaginary extension line shown by the dashed-dotted line) with respect to the extending direction of the upper guide body 222 so that the gap between the slide contact body 261 and the upper guide body 222 is wider on the upstream side than on the downstream side, or conversely, so that the running gap on the downstream side gradually narrows compared to the upstream side. Such a wide-mouth structure functions as a guide means for smoothly guiding the downstream end (leading portion) of the vertical side edge 251 traveling from the upstream side onto the slide contact body 261 so that it does not slip under the underside of the slide contact body 261. Note that in the midstream slide contact mechanism 272 and downstream slide contact mechanism 273 described later, this angle α may be the same or different.

[0075] As shown in Figure 15, the upstream end of the sliding contact body oscillating piece 274 is an engagement part with the sliding contact body biasing spring 276, and the sliding contact body 261 is biased upward with the sliding contact body swinging shaft 274a as a fulcrum due to the tensile force applied to the sliding contact body oscillating piece 274 by the sliding contact body biasing spring 276, so that the sliding contact body 261 can abut against the vertical side edge 251 of the seedling tray 214 with a predetermined sliding pressure according to the tension of the sliding contact body biasing spring 276.

[0076] The sliding pressure adjustment lever 275 is a plate-shaped member with a gripping portion that extends upward upstream in the extension direction of the base plate 270, and is pivotally supported below the midpoint of its longitudinal direction by a lever shaft 275a having an axis in the left-right direction relative to the vertical portion 270b of the base plate 270 so as to be swingable.

[0077] In addition, the sliding pressure adjusting lever 275 has an engagement portion for a sliding body biasing spring 276 at a midpoint upstream of the lever shaft 275a, and the sliding body biasing spring 276 can be stretched between the sliding body swinging piece 274.

[0078] 15(a), an elongated hole 275c is formed in the sliding pressure adjusting lever 275 in the direction of an arc centered on the lever shaft 275a near the end downstream of the lever shaft 275a. A bolt hole 275d is formed in the vertical part 270b opposite to the elongated hole 275c, and the sliding pressure adjusting lever 275 can be fixed at a desired angle by a lever fixing bolt 275b inserted through the elongated hole 275c and the bolt hole 275d. In other words, a sliding pressure variable mechanism is constructed that can change the sliding pressure of the sliding contact body 261 by changing the amount of extension of the sliding contact body biasing spring 276 according to the fixing angle of the sliding pressure adjusting lever 275.

[0079] Furthermore, the change in sliding pressure by the sliding pressure variable mechanism can bring about a change in the clamping pressure applied to the vertical side edge 251 of the seedling tray 214 interposed between the upper guide body 222 and the sliding pressure variable mechanism.

[0080] The midstream sliding contact mechanism 272 is a sliding contact mechanism provided downstream of the upstream sliding contact mechanism 271 and upstream of the downstream sliding contact mechanism 273, that is, at a midstream position of the base plate 270 relative to the other sliding contact mechanisms. The midstream sliding contact mechanism 272 is provided with a sliding contact body rocking piece 274, a sliding contact pressure adjusting lever 275, and a sliding contact body biasing spring 276, similar to the upstream sliding contact mechanism 271 described above, and performs substantially the same operations at the respective positions, so a description of these will be omitted.

[0081] The downstream sliding contact mechanism 273 is a sliding contact mechanism provided downstream of the base plate 270 relative to the other sliding contact mechanisms 271, 272. The downstream sliding contact mechanism 273 also has a similar structure to the above-mentioned upstream sliding contact mechanism 271 and midstream sliding contact mechanism 272 in that it includes a sliding contact body rocking piece 274, a sliding contact pressure adjusting lever 275, and a sliding contact body biasing spring 276. However, it differs in that while these members are directly attached to the base plate 270 in the upstream sliding contact mechanism 271 and midstream sliding contact mechanism 272, the downstream sliding contact mechanism 273 is attached to the auxiliary base plate 269 so as to be movable along the base plate 270.

[0082] That is, the downstream sliding contact mechanism 273 includes an auxiliary base plate 269, a sliding contact body swinging piece 274, a sliding contact pressure adjusting lever 275, and a sliding contact body biasing spring 276, as shown in FIG. 15(b).

[0083] The auxiliary base plate 269 is a member having an approximately L-shaped cross section like the base plate 270, but its length in the upstream-downstream direction is shorter than that of the base plate 270, and the auxiliary base plate 269 can be moved in the upstream-downstream direction with the outer corner of the L-shaped cross section of the auxiliary base plate 269 aligned with the inner corner of the L-shaped cross section of the base plate 270.

[0084] In addition, a sliding contact body rocking piece 274 and a sliding contact pressure adjustment lever 275 are arranged on the auxiliary base plate 269, and a sliding contact body biasing spring 276 is arranged between the respective engagement portions of the sliding contact body rocking piece 274 and the sliding contact pressure adjustment lever 275, thereby constructing a downstream sliding contact mechanism 273.

[0085] Further, an upstream bolt hole 269c and a downstream bolt hole 269d for fixing the downstream sliding contact mechanism 273 to the base plate 270 are drilled in the horizontal portion 269a on the lower side of the L shape of the auxiliary base plate 269.

[0086] Furthermore, in the horizontal portion 270a of the base plate 270, three bolt holes 270c (three equally spaced in this embodiment) corresponding to the upstream bolt holes 269c of the auxiliary base plate 269 are drilled at different positions in the upstream-downstream direction, and the downstream sliding mechanism 273 can be fixed with bolt 268 by appropriately selecting the bolt hole 270c that corresponds to the upstream bolt hole 269c from the multiple (three) bolt holes 270c.

[0087] In addition, a bolt hole 270d is drilled in the horizontal portion 270a of the base plate 270 at a position opposite to the downstream bolt hole 269d when the upstream bolt hole 269c is matched to each of the multiple bolt holes 270c, and the downstream sliding mechanism 273 can be fixed after being repositioned in multiple stages (three stages) by being fastened at two points by the upstream bolt hole 269c and the downstream bolt hole 269d with bolt 268.

[0088] The slide contact body rocking piece 274 of the downstream sliding contact mechanism 273 is disposed on the outer side of the L-shape of the vertical part 269b of the auxiliary base plate 269, and the slide contact body rocking shaft 274a and the lever shaft 275a also have portions that protrude outside the L-shape. Therefore, these components would normally interfere with the vertical part 270b of the base plate 270 when the position of the downstream sliding contact mechanism 273 is changed. However, as described above, in this embodiment, the notch 270e is formed in the base plate 270, so these components do not interfere even when the downstream sliding contact mechanism 273 is moved within the adjustable position range. In other words, the notch 270e is formed by cutting out the vertical part 270b so that the above components do not interfere when the downstream sliding contact mechanism 273 is moved within the adjustable position range.

[0089] In this way, a position adjustment mechanism is constructed between the auxiliary base plate 269 and base plate 270 of the downstream sliding mechanism 273, which allows for stepwise adjustment of the position of the downstream sliding mechanism 273 in the upstream-downstream direction and allows for two-point fastening using the upstream bolt hole 269c and the downstream bolt hole 269d.

[0090] The upstream edge guide plate 263, the midstream edge guide protrusion 264, and the downstream edge guide plate 265 are all members or parts that function as the aforementioned guide 266. These are also members or parts that function as one of the guide means for preventing the downstream end (leading end) of the vertical side edge 251 from slipping under the underside of the slide contact body 261.

[0091] 14 and 16, the upstream edge guide plate 263 is a member having a cross section of a generally L-shape, which is disposed along the inner surface of the guide wall 221 at a position immediately upstream of the slide body 261 of the upstream sliding mechanism 271. The horizontal portion 263a at the lower part of the L is used as a bolt fastening margin for fixing to the seedling carrier 210, while the upper side of the vertical portion 263b is a hypotenuse that is low and approximately the same height as the guide wall 221 on the upstream side and high and approximately the same height as the upstream end of the slide body 261 on the downstream side, and serves as a guide upper side portion 263c that lifts the vertical side edge 251 running on the guide wall 221, and is configured so that it is smoothly guided to the upper surface of the slide body 261 via its wide-mouth structure.

[0092] 14, the midstream edge guide protrusion 264 is a portion provided in a convex shape on the upper surface of the guide wall 221 at a position immediately upstream of the slide contact body 261 of the midstream sliding contact mechanism 272. A gentle slope is formed from the upper surface of the guide wall 221 to the upper surface of the midstream edge guide protrusion 264, and the height of the protrusion is formed to be approximately the same as the upstream end of the slide contact body 261, so that the water can be smoothly guided onto the slide contact body 261 via its wide-mouth structure.

[0093] The downstream edge guide plate 265 is a member having a generally L-shaped cross section and disposed along the inner surface of the guide wall 221, immediately upstream of the slide body 261 of the downstream sliding mechanism 273. Like the upstream edge guide plate 263, the downstream edge guide plate 265 has a horizontal section 265a at the lower L-shape, which serves as a bolt fastening margin for fixing to the seedling carrier 210, while the upper edge of the vertical section 265b serves as a guide upper edge section 265c, which is smoothly guided to the upper surface of the slide body 261 via the wide-mouth structure. The guide upper edge section 265c differs from the guide upper edge section 263c of the upstream edge guide plate 263 in that it is stepped. This is due to the provision of three consecutive lifting structures for the vertical side edge 251, each lower on the upstream side and higher on the downstream side. As mentioned above, the downstream sliding mechanism 273 allows for gradual position changes, and is structured so that even if the position of the sliding body 261 changes, the downstream side edge guide plate 265 remains in place and the vertical side edge 251 can be lifted.

[0094] With the seedling transplanter A having such a configuration, when the seedling tray 214 supplied by the operator to the most upstream portion of the seedling carrier 210 starts to slide down, at the position indicated by the symbol P in the upstream-downstream direction in Figure 17 (hereinafter simply referred to as the P position), the downstream tip end (hereinafter also referred to as the downstream end of the side edge) of the vertical side edge 251 of the seedling tray 214 runs on the upper surface of the guide wall 221. For ease of explanation, in Figure 17, only the ridge line (upper surface) of the guide wall 221 is shown by a dashed line.

[0095] Next, when the downstream end of the side edge reaches position Q, as can be seen from the running gap shown by the hatched area in the enlarged view at the upper right of Figure 17, the downstream end of the side edge moves from the upper surface of the guide wall 221 to the upper guide edge portion 263c of the upstream side edge guide plate 263, and gradually approaches the upper guide body 222 as it slides down.

[0096] After passing the upper guide edge portion 263c, the downstream end portion of the side edge portion then enters the running gap (position R) formed by the sliding contact body 261 having a wide-mouth structure and the guide wall 221, and then travels along the upper surface of the sliding contact body 261 of the upstream sliding contact mechanism 271 to reach an even narrower running gap portion.

[0097] Here, when the height of the running gap becomes smaller than the thickness of the vertical side edge 251, the vertical side edge 251 is pinched between the sliding contact body 261 and the upper guide body 222, and the seedling tray 214 is decelerated.

[0098] Next, the downstream end of the side edge portion that has passed over the upper surface of the slide contact body 261 reaches position S where the running gap is wide again, and runs on the upper surface of the guide wall 221.

[0099] Next, when the downstream end of the side edge reaches position T, the downstream end of the side edge approaches the upper guide body 222 again due to the midstream side edge guide protrusion 264 formed on the upper surface of the guide wall 221.

[0100] After passing the midstream side edge guide protrusion 264, the downstream end of the side edge enters the running gap (U-shaped) formed by the wide-mouthed sliding body 261 and the guide wall 221, and then travels along the upper surface of the sliding body 261 of the midstream sliding mechanism 272 to reach an even narrower running gap. The vertical side edge 251 is clamped between the sliding body 261 and the upper guide body 222, and the seedling tray 214 is decelerated.

[0101] Next, when the downstream end of the side edge reaches the V position, the downstream end of the side edge moves to the upper guide side portion 265c of the downstream side edge guide plate 265 and gradually approaches the upper guide body 222 as it slides down.

[0102] After passing the upper guide edge 265c, the downstream end of the side edge enters the running gap (at position W) formed by the wide-mouthed sliding body 261 and the guide wall 221, and then travels along the upper surface of the sliding body 261 of the downstream sliding mechanism 273 to reach the narrower running gap. The vertical side edge 251 is clamped between the sliding body 261 and the upper guide body 222, and the seedling tray 214 is decelerated.

[0103] Furthermore, although the description has been given here with a focus on the downstream end of the side edge, the entire longitudinal side edge 251 also follows a similar trajectory at each of the positions P to W.

[0104] In this embodiment, the seedling carrier 210 is provided with three sliding mechanisms, namely, the upstream sliding mechanism 271, the midstream sliding mechanism 272, and the downstream sliding mechanism 273, arranged from upstream to downstream. The sliding bodies 261, which are the vertically movable members constituting each sliding mechanism, are arranged in multiple stages (three levels) along the sliding direction. This effectively prevents the seedling trays 214 from overspeeding, preventing problems caused by the second, subsequent seedling tray 214 strongly colliding with the first seedling tray 214. Furthermore, the arrangement of multiple sliding bodies 261 along the sliding direction reduces variations in the braking action of the sliding bodies 261 on the second seedling tray 214, depending on the amount of seedling tray 214 remaining on the seedling carrier 610.

[0105] Figure 18 is an explanatory diagram showing the contact state of the sliding body 261 with the vertical side edge 251 from the perspective of a left-right cross section of the seedling carrier 210, and shows the state facing downstream of the slope near the downstream sliding mechanism 273 as a representative example of the three sliding mechanisms.

[0106] As shown in Figure 18(a), the overspeed suppression device 260 arranged on the seedling carrier 210 has a left overspeed suppression mechanism 260L and a right overspeed suppression mechanism 260R that slide against the vertical side edges 251 on both the left and right sides of the seedling tray 214, in this case a 128-hole seedling tray 214a, sliding down the seedling carrier 210, in the thickness direction, generating sliding resistance and slowing down the seedling.

[0107] More specifically, by bringing the sliding contact body 261 into contact with the vertical side edge portion 251 with a predetermined sliding pressure, the vertical side edge portion 251 is clamped between the sliding contact body 261 and the upper guide body 222 by a reaction force from the upper guide body 222, thereby slowing down the movement.

[0108] Therefore, the momentum of sliding down can be suppressed without fear of the cell seedlings falling off due to pressure on the side of the 128-hole seedling tray 214a or deformation of the 128-hole seedling tray 214a.

[0109] This also applies to the case where the number of cells 215 is different as shown in Fig. 17(b). That is, not only for seedling trays 214 having substantially the same horizontal dimension, such as the horizontal dimension Lx1 of the 128-hole seedling tray 214a and the horizontal dimension Lx2 of the 200-hole seedling tray 214b illustrated in Fig. 11, but also for seedling trays 214 having horizontal dimensions that allow the vertical side edges 251 to be clamped between the upper guide members 222 and the slide members 261 on both sides, regardless of the number of cells, the momentum of the seedling trays 214 sliding down can be suppressed.

[0110] Each of the upstream sliding mechanism 271, midstream sliding mechanism 272, and downstream sliding mechanism 273 is provided with a variable sliding pressure mechanism that can adjust the sliding pressure of the sliding body 261 by operating a sliding pressure adjusting lever 275, thereby enabling appropriate braking of the seedling tray 214 at each of the upstream, midstream, and downstream positions. Of course, the variable sliding pressure mechanism in each sliding mechanism must be set to a sliding pressure that will not cause the seedling tray 214 to stop halfway on the seedling carrier 210.

[0111] Second Embodiment Next, we will explain the overspeed suppression device of the seedling transplanter A2 according to the second embodiment. As mentioned above, various configurations have been proposed in the past to suppress the momentum of the seedling tray sliding down on the seedling carrier.

[0112] The overspeed suppression device shown at the beginning of this application as Patent Document 2 was previously proposed by the applicants, and suppresses excessive speed increases of the seedling tray as it slides down by abutting a sliding suppression body against the V-groove portion on the underside of the seedling tray.

[0113] This type of V-groove abutment type overspeed suppression device is superior to methods that slow down the speed of soft seedling trays by compressing them from the sides, as it reduces the risk of cell seedlings falling off or the seedling trays deforming sideways and becoming misaligned.

[0114] However, in the case of the above-mentioned conventional V-groove abutment type overspeed suppression device, the sliding suppression body was fixed, so if the seedling tray was relatively light due to the growth of the seedlings and the moisture content of the soil, the sliding resistance generated by the sliding suppression body could exceed the force acting in the sliding direction of the seedling tray due to gravity, and there was a risk that the seedling tray would stop halfway down the seedling carrier.

[0115] Furthermore, in the case of a configuration in which the slippage suppressing body abuts against the V-groove portion, the shape of the V-groove portion changes when the seedling tray is changed to one with a different number of cells, so the degree to which slippage of the seedling tray is suppressed is not stable.

[0116] The invention of the second embodiment was made in consideration of such circumstances, and provides a seedling transplanter that can prevent the seedling tray from stopping halfway on the seedling carrier even if the weight of the seedling tray changes by adjusting the contact pressure on the V-groove portion, and can also suppress the momentum during sliding down even if the number of cells is different.

[0117] In order to solve the problems in the second embodiment, the seedling transplanter A2 in the second embodiment is equipped with an inclined seedling carrier that slides the seedling trays while supplying them, and a sliding suppression body that abuts against the underside of the seedling tray to suppress sliding of the seedling tray is arranged on the seedling carrier and can be moved up and down.

[0118] The seedling transplanter A2 according to the second embodiment also has the following features. The slide suppressor is biased upward by a spring, and the contact pressure of the slide suppressor against the V-groove portion can be adjusted by changing the biasing force. A stopper mechanism is provided that limits the elevation of the slide suppressor to a predetermined height against the biasing force of the spring. -The slip prevention body is an integrated rod-shaped body that extends continuously in the upstream-downstream direction of the seedling carrier. The position of the slide suppressor can be changed left and right.

[0119] Furthermore, according to the seedling transplanter A2 of the second embodiment, in a seedling transplanter equipped with an inclined seedling carrier that supplies seedling trays while sliding them down, a slide suppression body that abuts against the underside of the seedling tray to suppress the sliding of the seedling tray is arranged on the seedling carrier and can move up and down.Therefore, by adjusting the contact pressure on the V-groove portion, it is possible to prevent the seedling tray from stopping halfway on the seedling carrier even if the weight of the seedling tray changes, and it is possible to provide a seedling transplanter that can suppress the momentum of the seedling tray sliding down even if the number of cells is different.

[0120] The seedling transplanter A2 according to the second embodiment will be described below, focusing on the seedling tray and the overspeed control device. Figure 19 is a plan view showing the seedling tray 610 of the seedling transplanter A2, and Figure 20 is an explanatory diagram showing the configuration of the overspeed control device 660 attached to the seedling tray 610.

[0121] The seedling carrier 610 has a main configuration similar to that of the seedling carrier 210 of the seedling transplanter A described above, and therefore a detailed description thereof will be omitted, but it is equipped with a seedling carrier main body 620, guide walls 621, 621, and an upper guide body 622. A central partition plate 613 is also provided in the center of the seedling carrier main body 620 from side to side.

[0122] As shown in Figures 19 and 20(a), the left and right halves of the seedling carrier body 620, separated by the central partition plate 613, have openings 623 formed therein that penetrate from the front to the back from the midstream to the downstream position, and the sliding suppression body 661 of the overspeed suppression device 660, which will be described next, is exposed from the openings 623, allowing it to come into contact with the back of the seedling tray 214 sliding down the seedling carrier body 620.

[0123] As shown in FIG. 20(b), the overspeed suppression device 660 is made up of a frame portion 655 and an overspeed suppression mechanism main body portion 656.

[0124] The frame portion 655 is a part that serves as a mounting frame for attaching the overspeed suppression device 660 to the back side of the seedling carrier 610, and is composed of horizontal frames 657, 657 extending in the left-right direction and vertical frames 658, 658 extending in the upstream-downstream direction to form an approximately rectangular frame body.

[0125] The overspeed suppression mechanism main body 656 is composed of a biasing side support shaft 550 and a driven side support shaft 551 that are spanned between the vertical frames 658, 658, a left side overspeed suppression mechanism 660L that activates the slip suppression body 661 exposed from the opening 623 in the left half of the seedling carrier main body 620, and a right side overspeed suppression mechanism 660R that activates the slip suppression body 661 exposed from the opening 623 in the right half.

[0126] The left overspeed suppression mechanism 660L and the right overspeed suppression mechanism 660R differ in that some components are mirror-symmetrical, but both have similar configurations. Note that, below, a description of the differences in the mirror-symmetrical structure will be omitted.

[0127] As shown in FIG. 21, the left and right overspeed suppression mechanisms 660L, 660R each include a link mechanism 662, a biasing mechanism 663, and a stopper mechanism 664.

[0128] The link mechanism 662 constitutes a parallel link mechanism for moving the slide suppressing body 661 in parallel, and is made up of the slide suppressing body 661 , a biasing side rotating body 665 , and a driven side rotating body 666 .

[0129] The sliding suppression body 661 is a member for suppressing the speed of the seedling tray 214 as it slides down by sliding against the V-groove portion of the seedling tray 214, and is an integrated rod-shaped body extending in the upstream-downstream direction of the seedling carrier 610.

[0130] In addition, an attachment piece 661a is arranged at the bottom of the slip prevention body 661, and a connecting shaft 670 can be inserted into a connecting shaft insertion hole 661b drilled in the attachment piece 661a, making it possible to connect to the biasing side rotating body 665 and the driven side rotating body 666.

[0131] The biasing side rotating body 665 is a member that is rotatable around the axis of the biasing side support shaft 550, and as shown in Figures 21 and 22(a), it is equipped with an outer body 667, a driving link plate 668, and a spring locking piece 669.

[0132] The outer casing 667 is a short tube having an inner diameter approximately the same as the outer diameter of the biasing side support shaft 550, and is arranged coaxially with the biasing side support shaft 550 inserted therethrough so that it can rotate around the axis.

[0133] The driver plate 668 is a plate that constitutes the driver of the parallel link mechanism, and is a plate-like member that extends diagonally upward radially outward from the exterior body 667. A connecting shaft insertion hole 668a is formed at the tip of the driver plate 668, and by aligning this hole with the connecting shaft insertion hole 661b of the slide suppressor 661 and inserting a connecting shaft 670 through this hole, the driver plate 668 is connected to the slide suppressor 661 so that the slide suppressor 661 can move up and down (vertically) while maintaining its horizontal state.

[0134] The spring locking piece 669 is a member for rotating the exterior body 667 in a direction in which the driver plate 668 stands up when it receives a tensile force from the biasing mechanism 663, and is a short plate-like member extending substantially downward and radially outward from the exterior body 667. A locking hole 669a is formed in the spring locking piece 669, and a hook at the end of a tension spring 676 (described later) can be locked in the spring locking piece 669.

[0135] The driven-side rotating body 666 is a member provided rotatably around the axis of the driven-side support shaft 551 , and includes an exterior body 671 , a follower plate 672 , and a rotation restricting piece 673 .

[0136] The outer casing 671 is a short tube having an inner diameter approximately the same as the outer diameter of the driven side support shaft 551, and is arranged coaxially with the driven side support shaft 551 inserted therethrough so that it can rotate around the axis.

[0137] The follower plate 672 is a plate that constitutes the follower of the parallel link mechanism, and is a plate-like member that extends diagonally upward radially outward of the exterior body 671. A connecting shaft insertion hole 672a is drilled at the tip of the follower plate 672, and by aligning this hole with the connecting shaft insertion hole 661b of the slip suppressing body 661 and inserting the connecting shaft 670, the slide suppressing body 661 is connected to the follower plate 672 so that it can move up and down (vertically) while maintaining the horizontal state of the slide suppressing body 661.

[0138] The rotation restricting piece 673 is a plate-like member that cooperates with the stopper mechanism 664 to restrict the rotation of the exterior body 671 in the direction in which the follower plate 672 stands up to a predetermined rotation angle, and is a short plate-like member that extends radially outward and downward from the exterior body 671.

[0139] The biasing mechanism 663 is composed of a biasing stay plate 674 , an adjustment rod 675 , and a tension spring 676 .

[0140] The biasing side stay plate 674 is a plate-like member suspended between the left and right vertical frames 658 as shown in Figure 20(b), and has two female-threaded threaded holes 674a, 674a into which the adjustment rod 675 can be threaded, as shown in Figures 20(b) and 21, formed for the link mechanism part 662 of the left overspeed suppression mechanism 660L and the link mechanism part 662 of the right overspeed suppression mechanism 660R.

[0141] The adjustment rod 675 is a rod-shaped member having a locking hole 675a ​​at its tip for a tension spring 676. The base end side of the adjustment rod 675 is formed as a male thread portion 675b, and by threading the male thread portion 675b into a threaded engagement hole 674a of the biasing side stay plate 674 and moving the male thread portion 675b back and forth, the tensile biasing force applied to the driver link plate 668 can be adjusted.

[0142] The tension spring 676 is a tension coil spring that urges the slide suppressing body 661 upward via the urging-side rotating body 665. Although a tension coil spring is used in this embodiment, other elastic bodies can also be used as long as they can perform the same function.

[0143] The stopper mechanism 664 is composed of a stopper side stay plate 677 and a stopper rod 678 .

[0144] As shown in Figures 21 and 22(a), the stopper side stay plate 677 is a plate-like member that is hung between the left and right vertical frames 658, and has two female-threaded threaded holes 677a, 677a into which the stopper rod 678 can be screwed, one for the link mechanism part 662 of the left overspeed suppression mechanism 660L and the other for the link mechanism part 662 of the right overspeed suppression mechanism 660R.

[0145] The stopper rod 678 is a rod-shaped member with an abutment portion 678a formed at its tip. A male thread portion 678b is formed on the base end of the stopper rod 678, and by moving the stopper rod 678 back and forth while threadedly engaged with the threaded hole 677a of the stopper-side stay plate 677, the abutment position with the rotation restricting piece 673 can be changed to adjust the allowable rotation angle of the driven-side rotating body 666 and define the upper limit of the upright height of the follower plate 672. In this way, the stopper mechanism 664, together with the rotation restricting piece 673, constitutes a stopper mechanism that limits the lift of the slide suppressing body 661 to a predetermined height against the biasing force of the tension spring 676.

[0146] In addition, the left overspeed suppression mechanism 660L and the right overspeed suppression mechanism 660R can each be moved left and right, and the sliding suppression body 661 can be abutted against the V-groove portion to slow down the seedling tray 214 even for multiple seedling trays 214 with different V-groove portion positions (for example, in this embodiment, the 128-hole seedling tray 214a and the 200-hole seedling tray 214b).

[0147] Specifically, as shown in Figure 22(a), the axial lengths of the left half of the biasing side support shaft 550 and the left half of the driven side support shaft 551 that support the left overspeed suppression mechanism 660L are longer than the axial lengths in the left-right direction of the outer casing 667 of the biasing mechanism part 663 and the outer casing 671 of the stopper mechanism part 664 that constitute the left overspeed suppression mechanism 660L, and the outer casings 667, 671 that are inserted so as to be rotatable around the axes of the biasing side support shaft 550 and the driven side support shaft 551 can also move in the left-right axial direction.

[0148] That is, by making the exterior bodies 667, 671 movable in the left-right direction, the left-right position of the left overspeed suppression mechanism 660L itself, particularly the left-right position of the slip suppression body 661 on the seedling carrier 610, can be changed.

[0149] Figure 22(b) shows a cross section of the overspeed suppression device 660 shown in Figure 22(a) taken along a plane including the axis of the biasing-side support shaft 550 and the axis of the driven-side support shaft 551. As shown in Figure 22(b), mounting holes 278 for fixing pins 277 for fixing the left-right positions of the exterior bodies 667, 671 are provided on the left half of the biasing-side support shaft 550 and the left half of the driven-side support shaft 551.

[0150] Specifically, a 128-hole mounting hole 278a is formed in order to fix the outer bodies 667, 671 at a position where the anti-slip body 661 can abut against the V-groove portion of the 128-hole seedling tray 214a, and 200-hole mounting holes 278b, 278b are formed in order to fix the outer bodies 667, 671 at a position where the anti-slip body 661 can abut against the V-groove portion of the 200-hole seedling tray 214b.

[0151] The reason why only one 128-hole mounting hole 278a is formed on the left half of the driving side support shaft 550 and the left half of the driven side support shaft 551 is that the outer bodies 667, 671 are fixed to the left end of the driving side support shaft 550 and the driven side support shaft 551 at a position where the slip prevention body 661 can abut against the V-groove portion of the 128-hole seedling tray 214a, and movement outward from the body at that time (further movement to the left) is regulated by the anti-fall body 279 arranged at the left end of each support shaft 550, 551, so fixation by a fixing pin 277 is not necessary.

[0152] Furthermore, the configuration that allows the left-right position of the above-mentioned slippage suppression body 661 to be changed is the same for the right-side overspeed suppression mechanism 660R, although the positional relationship of the mounting holes 278 and the restrictions by the fall-off prevention body 279 are configured symmetrically.

[0153] Figure 23 is an explanatory diagram showing the braking state of the seedling tray 214 by the overspeed suppression device 660, showing a cross section at the position of the biasing support shaft 550 as viewed from the upstream side to the downstream side. In Figures 22 and 23, the right half is shown configured for the 128-hole seedling tray 214a and the left half is shown configured for the 200-hole seedling tray 214b to facilitate structural comparison for understanding the invention, but normally both the left and right sides are used with the same settings.

[0154] Furthermore, according to the configuration of the second embodiment described above, by attaching a fixing pin 277 to the 128-hole mounting hole 278a, for example, as shown in the state of the right-side overspeed suppression mechanism 660R in Figure 22(a) or the right half of Figure 22(b), the left-right position of the right-side overspeed suppression mechanism 660R can be fixed, and the sliding suppression body 661 can be positioned so that it can abut against the V-groove portion of the 128-hole seedling tray 214a, as shown in Figure 22(a) and the right half of the seedling carrier 610 in Figure 23.

[0155] Furthermore, for example, as shown in the left half of Figure 22(b), by attaching a fixing pin 277 to the 200-hole mounting holes 278b, 278b, the left-right position of the left-side overspeed suppression mechanism 660L can be fixed, and the sliding suppression body 661 can be positioned so that it can abut against the V-groove portion of the 200-hole seedling tray 214b, as shown in the left half of the seedling carrier 610 in Figure 22(a) and Figure 23.

[0156] In addition, the left and right overspeed suppression mechanisms 660L, 660R allow the slip suppression body 661 to move up and down using the link mechanism 662, so that as shown in the right half of the seedling carrier 610 in Figure 23, the slip suppression body 661 can be raised from the top surface of the seedling carrier main body 620 to a height H1 to abut against the V-groove portion 216a of the 128-hole seedling tray 214a, which has a relatively wide V-groove portion 216, thereby generating a frictional force and suppressing overspeed of the 128-hole seedling tray 214a.

[0157] On the other hand, as shown in the left half of the seedling carrier 610, the slippage prevention body 661 is raised from the top surface of the seedling carrier body 620 to a height H2 to abut against the V-groove portion 216b of the 200-hole seedling tray 214b, which has a relatively narrow V-groove portion 216, thereby generating frictional force and preventing the 200-hole seedling tray 214b from overspeeding.

[0158] In particular, in the past, the height position of the sliding suppression body was fixed, so even if the width of the V-groove portion 216 was different, it would bite into the V-groove portion 216 at the same height, and in the case of a 200-hole seedling tray 214b having a relatively narrow V-groove portion 216b, it could stop midway through sliding down on the seedling carrier 210. However, with the above-mentioned configuration, the seedling tray 214 can be raised to a height H2 lower than height H1, thereby providing an overspeed suppression device 660 that can suppress overspeed without hindering sliding down, and ultimately a seedling transplanter A2 equipped with the same overspeed suppression device 660.

[0159] 21 and 22, the frictional force on the seedling tray 214 can be adjusted by adjusting the contact pressure of the slide suppression body 661 using the biasing mechanism 663 of the left and right overspeed suppression mechanisms 660L, 660R, thereby reliably maintaining an appropriate sliding speed. This makes it possible to set an appropriate braking action on the seedling tray 214 by the overspeed suppression mechanisms 660L, 660R depending on, for example, the type of seedlings used and the moisture status of the seedlings.

[0160] In addition, the left and right overspeed suppression mechanisms 660L, 660R are each provided with a stopper mechanism 664, which suppresses excessive rise of the sliding suppression body 661 and prevents the seedling tray 214 from coming off the upper guide body 622 or the flow of the seedling tray 214 from becoming poor.

[0161] Furthermore, since the sliding prevention body 661 is an integrated rod-shaped body that extends continuously in the upstream-downstream direction of the seedling carrier 610, the friction force applied to the seedling tray 214 can be made approximately constant in the upstream-downstream direction, thereby enabling stable overspeed prevention.

[0162] The slide suppressor 661 is provided so that its position can be adjusted in the left-right direction. This configuration can accommodate various types of trays, such as the 128-hole seedling tray 214a and the 200-hole seedling tray 214b.

[0163] As described above, according to the seedling transplanter A2 of the second embodiment, the seedling transplanter A2 is equipped with an inclined seedling carrier 610 that slides the seedling trays 214 while supplying them, and a sliding suppression body 661 that abuts against the underside of the seedling tray 214 to suppress the sliding of the seedling tray 214 is arranged on the seedling carrier 610 so that it can move up and down.Therefore, by adjusting the contact pressure on the V-groove portion 216, it is possible to prevent the seedling tray from stopping halfway even if the weight of the seedling tray changes, and it is possible to provide a seedling transplanter A2 that can suppress the momentum of the seedling tray when sliding down even if the number of cells 215 is different.

[0164] Finally, the above-described embodiments are merely examples of the present invention, and the present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiments. Therefore, even if the embodiments are different from those described above, various modifications can be made depending on the design, etc., as long as they do not deviate from the technical concept of the present invention.

[0165] In the second embodiment described above, the overspeed suppression device 660 is configured with two overspeed suppression mechanisms, a left overspeed suppression mechanism 660L disposed on the left half of the seedling carrier 610 and a right overspeed suppression mechanism 660R disposed on the right half, but this is not limited to this. For example, it is also possible to configure the device by providing one overspeed suppression mechanism in the center of the seedling carrier 610. [Explanation of symbols]

[0166] 210 Seedling stand 214 seedling tray 222 Upper guide body 251 Vertical side edge (side edge) 260 Overspeed suppression device (overspeed suppression means) 261 Sliding body (upper and lower movable member) 271 Upstream sliding contact mechanism 272 Midstream sliding contact mechanism 273 Downstream sliding contact mechanism 275 Sliding pressure adjustment lever A Seedling transplanter

Claims

1. A seedling transplanter equipped with an inclined seedling carrier that slides down and supplies seedling trays, A seedling transplanter characterized by being provided with an overspeed suppression means that slides against the side edge of the sliding seedling tray in the thickness direction to generate sliding resistance.

2. The seedling carrier is provided with an upper guide body arranged above the sliding path of the side edge of the seedling tray to prevent the seedling tray from floating up; 2. The seedling transplanter according to claim 1, wherein the overspeed suppression means comprises an up-and-down movable member that slides in contact with the underside of the side edge of the seedling tray and clamps the side edge between the upper guide body and the up-and-down movable member.

3. 3. The seedling transplanter according to claim 2, wherein the overspeed suppressing means comprises a plurality of the vertically movable members arranged along the sliding direction of the seedling tray.

4. 4. The seedling transplanter according to claim 2, wherein the clamping pressure of the vertically movable members is changeable.

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