Seedling planting apparatus

Abstract

To cope with a case in which an inter-planting row space is small as compared to the size of a seedling box.SOLUTION: A seedling planting apparatus includes a first seedling supply conveyor 7 for conveying pot seedlings 10 in a lateral direction toward the outside of a seedling transplanter, and conveying the pot seedlings 10 in a vertical direction downward from the end of the conveyance in the lateral direction, and a second seedling supply conveyor 9 for conveying pot seedlings 10 supplied from the end of the conveyance of the first seedling supply conveyor 7 in a lateral direction toward the inside in an advancing direction. The conveyance speeds of the two conveyors 7 and 9 are set to be the same. Projections 39a and 47a for partitioning the adjacent pot seedlings 10 are arranged in a row on the surfaces of respective conveyance belts 39 and 47 of the two conveyors 7 and 9. An interval from a lower end face of the conveyance belt 39 of the first seedling supply conveyor 7 to a top face of the conveyance belt 47 of the second seedling supply conveyor 9 is set to be larger than a numerical value obtained by adding the diameter D of a root part 10b and the height H of the projection 39a of the first seedling supply conveyor 7.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 4

Description

[Technical Field]

[0001] The present invention relates to a seedling planting device to be installed on a seedling transplanter, and more specifically, to a device for automatically planting potted seedlings that are pushed out of seedling boxes and transported sequentially into an upright position in a field. [Background technology]

[0002] Seedling transplanters for transplanting seedlings of vegetables such as onions and cabbages, and flowering plants into fields, have been provided in the past, and the present applicant has also provided, in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2003-79210 (Patent Document 1) and other publications, a seedling transplanter in which seedling boxes containing potted seedlings are simply set on a seedling carrier, and the seedling boxes are sequentially transported from the seedling carrier as the seedling transplanter travels, the potted seedlings are pushed out of the seedling boxes, and the pushed-out potted seedlings are converted into an upright position by a planting device and automatically planted in the field.

[0003] In detail, as shown in Figures 8(a) and (b), the seedling transplanter lowers a seedling carrier 101, pushes out potted seedlings 103 in seedling boxes 102 that are being transported therethrough using a push rod 104, and then moves the pushed-out potted seedlings 103 to a horizontal conveyor belt 106 below using a crank rod 105. At this time, the potted seedlings 103 are tilted so that the leaf portion 103a is at the rear in the direction of travel of the seedling transplanter and the root portion 103b is at the front. In this state, the potted seedlings 103 transported by the horizontal feed conveyor belt 106 are transported downward one by one by the vertical feed belt 107, as shown in Figure 8(b). The potted seedlings 103 transported sequentially are held between a pair of planting discs 108, and the potted seedlings 103 lying horizontally are converted into an upright position, and the potted seedlings 103 are planted in the field G. [Prior art documents] [Patent documents]

[0004] [Patent Document 1] Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2003-79210 Summary of the Invention [Problem to be solved by the invention]

[0005] However, due to the nature of arranging the potted seedlings 103 on the horizontal conveyor belt 106, space is required for arranging the potted seedlings 103. Since the space is determined by the size of the seedling boxes 102 and the potted seedlings 103, if they are large, the planting row spacing of the machine may be restricted.

[0006] If the spacing between planting rows is larger than the size of the seedling tray 102, the horizontal conveyor belt 106 can be extended outward, but if the spacing between planting rows is smaller than the size of the seedling tray 102, a mechanism is required to transport the potted seedlings 103 inward. This transport poses issues such as timing discrepancies and damage to the potted seedlings. [Means for solving the problem]

[0007] In order to solve the above problems, the seedling planting device of the present invention comprises: The seedling transplanter is provided with a first seedling supply conveyor that transports potted seedlings laterally outward in the direction of travel of the seedling transplanter and vertically downward from the end of the horizontal transport, and a second seedling supply conveyor that transports potted seedlings supplied from the end of the vertical transport of the first seedling supply conveyor laterally inward in the direction of travel, The conveying speeds of the first seedling supply conveyor and the second seedling supply conveyor are set to be the same, On the surface of each conveyor belt of the first seedling supply conveyor and the second seedling supply conveyor, protrusions for separating adjacent potted seedlings are arranged at regular intervals in the longitudinal direction of each conveyor belt, The distance from the lower end surface of the conveying belt of the first seedling supply conveyor to the upper surface of the conveying belt of the second seedling supply conveyor is set to be greater than the sum of the diameter of the root of the pot seedling and the height of the protrusion of the first seedling supply conveyor.

[0008] This configuration provides the following advantageous effects. Specifically, at the point where the potted seedlings are transferred from the first seedling supply conveyor to the second seedling supply conveyor, the conveyor belt moves in an arc at the turning point of the conveyor belt at the lower end of the first seedling supply conveyor, so the moving speed of the tip of the protrusions of the first seedling supply conveyor is relatively faster than the moving speed of the tip of the protrusions of the second seedling supply conveyor. Therefore, if the distance is less than the specified value, the difference in moving speed between the protrusions of the first seedling supply conveyor and the second supply conveyor may cause the roots of the potted seedlings on the conveying surface of the second seedling supply conveyor to be damaged by the tip of the protrusions of the first seedling supply conveyor. However, if the distance is set greater than the specified value, this can be prevented.

[0009] The seedling planting device includes: an auxiliary conveyor having a conveying surface facing the vertical pot seedling conveying surface of the first seedling supply conveyor, the conveying belt surface of which is provided with a row of the protrusions, the conveying speed of which is set to be the same as that of the first seedling supply conveyor, and which conveys the pot seedlings vertically while sandwiching them together with the first seedling supply conveyor; An example of an embodiment in which the first seedling supply conveyor and the auxiliary conveyor have protrusions arranged at the same pitch as each other and are configured to be driven so as to maintain the positions of the protrusions aligned with each other during transport in the vertical direction.

[0010] With this configuration, the potted seedlings can be transported stably in the vertical direction.

[0011] The seedling planting device includes: An example of an embodiment is shown in which a backflow prevention means having a backflow prevention surface that prevents pot seedlings from flowing back in the opposite direction of the conveying direction of the second seedling supply conveyor at the drop position of the pot seedlings supplied from the first seedling supply conveyor and the auxiliary conveyor onto the conveying path of the second seedling supply conveyor.

[0012] With this configuration, at the folded portion of the conveying belt at the lower end of the auxiliary conveyor, the conveying belt and its protrusion move in the opposite direction to the conveying direction of the second seedling supply conveyor.As a result, when the potted seedlings fall onto the conveying path of the second seedling supply conveyor, the potted seedlings may flow back in the opposite direction to the conveying direction.However, this is prevented by the backflow prevention surface, allowing the potted seedlings to be transported smoothly. [Effects of the Invention]

[0013] The seedling planting device according to the present invention has the excellent effect of being able to accommodate cases where the planting row spacing is small compared to the size of the seedling tray, and being able to transport potted seedlings without damaging them. [Brief explanation of the drawings]

[0014] [Figure 1] 1 is a left side view showing a main part of a seedling planting device according to an embodiment of the present invention. FIG. [Figure 2] FIG. 2 is a front view of the seedling transport mechanism on the left side of the planting device. [Figure 3] FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional view taken along line III-III in FIG. 2. [Figure 4] FIG. [Figure 5] FIG. 10 is an enlarged front view of a main part of a modified example of the seedling transport mechanism. [Figure 6] 10 is an enlarged front view of a main part illustrating a problem that occurs when the distance between the conveying belts of the seedling conveying mechanism is too short. FIG. [Figure 7] 10 is an enlarged front view of the main part showing the operation of the seedling transport mechanism in stages. FIG. [Figure 8] 1A and 1B are diagrams showing a seedling transplanter according to the background art, in which (a) is a side view and (b) is a perspective view. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0015] An embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to Figures 1 to 7. In each figure, arrow F indicates the front side of the aircraft (direction of travel). As shown in Figure 1, the seedling transplanter 1 of this embodiment is a ride-on type equipped with running wheels (not shown) at the front and rear of the body, and with a driver's seat mounted on a frame supported by the running wheels.It is also a rear-mounted type equipped with a seedling carrier 4 for transporting seedling boxes (not shown) and the seedling planting device 5 of the present invention, etc., mounted behind the driver's seat.

[0016] The seedling planting device 5 of the present invention is equipped with a seedling removal mechanism (not shown) that removes a row of potted seedlings 10 from a seedling box mounted on a seedling carrier 4 in a horizontal position with the leaves 10a at the rear in the direction of travel and the roots 10b at the front, a seedling transport mechanism 12 that transports the potted seedlings 10 removed by the seedling removal mechanism, and a seedling planting mechanism 13 that successively plants the horizontally positioned potted seedlings 10 transported by the seedling transport mechanism 12 into a field G in an upright position with the roots 10b at the bottom.

[0017] As shown in Figures 2 to 4, the seedling conveying mechanism 12 is equipped with a first seedling supply conveyor 7 that conveys the potted seedlings 10 taken out by the seedling removal mechanism in a horizontal position horizontally toward the outside of the direction of travel of the seedling transplanter 1, and also conveys the potted seedlings 10 vertically downward from the end of the horizontal conveyance, an auxiliary conveyor 8 that has a conveying surface facing the vertical conveying surface of the first seedling supply conveyor 7 for conveying the potted seedlings 10 vertically while clamping them together with the first seedling supply conveyor 7, a second seedling supply conveyor 9 that conveys the potted seedlings 10 supplied from the end of the vertical conveyance of the first seedling supply conveyor 7 horizontally toward the inside of the direction of travel, and a backflow prevention piece 11 as a backflow prevention means provided at the conveying start end of the second seedling supply conveyor 9. With this configuration, the space below the first seedling supply conveyor 7 is utilized to provide the second seedling supply conveyor 9, which transports potted seedlings 10 inward in the direction of travel of the seedling transplanter 1, thereby making it possible to accommodate row spacing that is narrower than the horizontal size of the seedling box.

[0018] The first seedling supply conveyor 7 comprises a pair of support shafts 35a, 36a projecting from the support frame 34 at a distance from each other in the direction of travel of the seedling transplanter 1, a support shaft 37a projecting from the support frame 34 at a distance below the outer support shaft 36a in the direction of travel of the seedling transplanter 1, pulleys 35, 36, 37 attached to the support shafts 35a, 36a, 37a, respectively, and a conveyor belt 39 wound around the pulleys 35, 36, 37. The conveyor belt 39 is formed into an inverted L shape by a relay pulley 38 attached to a support shaft 38a projecting from the support frame 34.

[0019] The auxiliary conveyor 8 includes a pair of support shafts 41a, 42a projecting from the support frame 34 at a distance from each other in the vertical direction, pulleys 41, 42 attached to the support shafts 41a, 42a, respectively, and a conveying belt 43 wound around the pulleys 41, 42.

[0020] The second seedling supply conveyor 9 comprises a pair of support shafts 45a, 46a protruding from the support frame 34 at intervals to the side of the seedling transplanter 1 in the direction of travel, pulleys 45, 46 attached to the support shafts 45a, 46a, respectively, and a conveying belt 47 wrapped around the pulleys 45, 46.

[0021] The conveying speeds of the first seedling supply conveyor 7, the auxiliary conveyor 8, and the second seedling supply conveyor 9 are set to be the same. Protrusions 39a, 43a, 47a for separating adjacent potted seedlings 10 are arranged at regular intervals along the length of each conveyor belt 39, 43, 47 on the surface of each conveyor belt 39, 43, 47 of the first seedling supply conveyor 7, the auxiliary conveyor 8, and the second seedling supply conveyor 9. The protrusions 39a, 43a, 47a of the first seedling supply conveyor 7 and the auxiliary conveyor 8 are arranged at the same pitch, and are driven to maintain the positions of the protrusions 39a, 43a aligned with each other during conveyance in the vertical direction. In addition, the potted seedlings 10 supplied from the first seedling supply conveyor 7 and the auxiliary conveyor 8 to the second seedling supply conveyor 9 are driven so as to fall between the adjacent protrusions 47a, 47a in the conveying direction of the second seedling supply conveyor 9. Furthermore, the distance from the lower end surface of the conveyor belt 39 of the first seedling supply conveyor 7 to the upper surface of the conveyor belt 47 of the second seedling supply conveyor 9 is set to be larger than the sum of the diameter D of the root portion 10b and the height H of the protrusion 39a of the first seedling supply conveyor 7.

[0022] The backflow prevention piece 11 has a backflow prevention surface 11a that prevents the potted seedlings 10 from flowing backward in the opposite direction to the conveyance direction of the second seedling supply conveyor 9 at the drop position of the potted seedlings 10 supplied from the first seedling supply conveyor 7 and the auxiliary conveyor 8 onto the conveyance path of the second seedling supply conveyor 9. As shown in FIG. 3, the backflow prevention piece 11 has notches at the portions through which the protrusions 43a of the conveyor belt 43 of the auxiliary conveyor 8 and the protrusions 47a of the conveyor belt 47 of the second seedling supply conveyor 9 pass to avoid interference. As shown in FIG. 4, the backflow prevention piece 11 of this example has an inclined surface 11a that slopes diagonally downward from the upstream side to the downstream side in the conveyance direction to prevent the backflow while actively allowing the potted seedlings 10 to flow in the conveyance direction of the second seedling supply conveyor 9. The backflow prevention surface 11a may also be a vertical surface that simply blocks the backflow, as shown in FIG. 5.

[0023] 7 shows the step-by-step operation of the seedling transport mechanism 12 of the seedling planting device 5 of this embodiment. As shown in FIG. 7(a), when potted seedlings 10 are supplied onto the transport path of the second seedling supply conveyor 9 from the first seedling supply conveyor 7 and the auxiliary conveyor 8, they are first caught by the backflow prevention pieces 11 provided at the drop position to prevent backflow. At the same time, as shown in FIG. 7(b), they are guided toward the transport direction of the second seedling supply conveyor 9. Next, as shown in FIGS. 7(c) and 7(d), they drop onto the transport belt 47 between adjacent protrusions 47a in the transport direction of the transport belt 47 of the second seedling supply conveyor 9, and are transported smoothly.

[0024] The seedling planting device 5 of this example configured as described above can achieve the following effects: At the transfer point of the potted seedlings 10 from the first seedling supply conveyor 7 to the second seedling supply conveyor 9, the conveyor belt 39 moves in an arc at the turning point of the conveyor belt 39 at the lower end side of the first seedling supply conveyor 7, so the moving speed of the tip side of the protrusion 39a there becomes relatively faster than the moving speed of the tip side of the protrusion 47a of the second seedling supply conveyor 9. Therefore, as shown in Figure 6, if the spacing is less than the above-mentioned numerical value, the difference in moving speed between the protrusions 39a, 47a of the first seedling supply conveyor 7 and the second seedling supply conveyor 9 may cause the tip of the protrusion 39a of the first seedling supply conveyor 7 to break down the root portion 10b of the pot seedling 10 on the conveying surface of the second seedling supply conveyor 9 (the state of Figure 6(a) changes to the state of Figure 6(b)). However, if the spacing is set larger than the above-mentioned numerical value as in the present invention, such a situation can be prevented from occurring.

[0025] The first seedling supply conveyor 7 and the auxiliary conveyor 8 have a conveying surface facing the conveying surface of the potted seedlings 10 in the vertical direction of the first seedling supply conveyor 7, and the conveying belt 43 has a row of protrusions 43a on its surface, and the conveying speed is set to the same as that of the first seedling supply conveyor 7. The first seedling supply conveyor 7 and the auxiliary conveyor 8 are provided with the protrusions 39a, 43a at the same pitch as each other and are configured to be driven so that the protrusions 39a, 43a remain aligned with each other during vertical transport. This configuration allows for stable transport of potted seedlings 10 in the vertical direction.

[0026] Furthermore, at the position where the potted seedlings 10 supplied from the first seedling supply conveyor 7 and the auxiliary conveyor 8 onto the conveying path of the second seedling supply conveyor 9 fall, a backflow prevention piece 11 is provided as backflow prevention means having a backflow prevention surface 11a for preventing the potted seedlings 10 from flowing back in the opposite direction to the conveying direction of the second seedling supply conveyor 9. According to this configuration, at the turning back portion of the conveying belt 43 at the lower end of the auxiliary conveyor 8, the conveying belt 43 and its protrusion 43a move in the opposite direction to the conveying direction of the second seedling supply conveyor 9. As a result, when the potted seedlings 10 fall onto the conveying path of the second seedling supply conveyor 9, the potted seedlings 10 may flow back in the opposite direction to the conveying direction, but this is prevented by the backflow prevention surface 11a, allowing the potted seedlings 10 to be transported smoothly.

[0027] The present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiment, and can be embodied by making appropriate modifications within the scope of the invention, for example, as follows. (1) The shape, size, installation pitch, etc. of the protrusions 39a, 43a, 47a may be changed as appropriate. (2) The shape, size, installation position, etc. of the backflow prevention piece 11 may be changed as appropriate. [Explanation of symbols]

[0028] 1 Seedling transplanter 4 Seedling stand 5 Seedling planting device 7 First seedling supply conveyor 8 Auxiliary Conveyor 9 Second seedling supply conveyor 10 potted seedlings 10a Leaf 10b Root 11 Backflow prevention piece 11a Backflow prevention surface 12 Seedling transport mechanism 13 Seedling planting mechanism 34 Support frame 35 pulley 35a spindle 36 Pulley 36a Support shaft 37 Pulley 37a spindle 38 Relay pulley 38a spindle 39 Conveyor belt 39a Protrusion 41 Pulley 41a Support shaft 42 Pulley 42a spindle 43 Conveyor belt 43a protrusion 45 Pulley 45a spindle 46 Pulley 46a Support shaft 47 Conveyor belt 47a Protrusion

Claims

1. The seedling transplanter is provided with a first seedling supply conveyor that transports potted seedlings laterally outward in the direction of travel of the seedling transplanter and vertically downward from the end of the horizontal transport, and a second seedling supply conveyor that transports potted seedlings supplied from the end of the vertical transport of the first seedling supply conveyor laterally inward in the direction of travel, The conveying speeds of the first seedling supply conveyor and the second seedling supply conveyor are set to be the same, The first seedling supply conveyor and the second seedling supply conveyor have a row of protrusions extending in the width direction of each conveyor belt to separate adjacent potted seedlings on their surfaces. A seedling planting device in which the distance from the lower end surface of the conveying belt of the first seedling supply conveyor to the upper surface of the conveying belt of the second seedling supply conveyor is set to be greater than the sum of the diameter of the root of the pot seedling and the height of the protrusion.

2. an auxiliary conveyor having a conveying surface facing the vertical pot seedling conveying surface of the first seedling supply conveyor, the conveying belt surface of which is provided with a row of the protrusions, the conveying speed of which is set to be the same as that of the first seedling supply conveyor, and which conveys the pot seedlings vertically while sandwiching them together with the first seedling supply conveyor; The seedling planting device described in claim 1, wherein the first seedling supply conveyor and the auxiliary conveyor have protrusions arranged at the same pitch as each other, and are configured to be driven so as to maintain the positions of the protrusions aligned with each other during vertical transport.

3. 3. The seedling planting device according to claim 2, further comprising a backflow prevention means having a backflow prevention surface that prevents potted seedlings from flowing back in the opposite direction to the conveying direction of the second seedling supply conveyor at the drop position of the potted seedlings supplied from the first seedling supply conveyor and the auxiliary conveyor onto the conveying path of the second seedling supply conveyor.

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