Automatic seedling tray supply device and automatic seedling tray supply method

Abstract

To solve the problem that a forced drop mechanism in a conventional seedling tray supply device has a complicated configuration and is difficult to assemble.SOLUTION: A seedling tray supply device 10 is configured such that a support supply unit 20 that supports and supplies multiple stacked seedling trays A is provided on an upper frame 11 formed in a shape of a square frame with an open bottom and installed on a floor by support legs 16. The support supply unit 20 is configured such that a pair of front and rear spiral bodies 21 each having a spiral blade 23 that supports and lowers the stacked seedling trays A and driven to rotate by a drive motor 36 are provided on the upper frame 11 on both right and left sides in a transfer direction of the seedling trays A of a seedling tray transfer device 1, and a forced drop mechanism 70 that forcibly drops lower seedling trays A that are stuck under upper seedling trays A and do not fall naturally, among the stacked seedling trays A is provided. The forced drop mechanism 70 is configured to provide a forced drop body 71 on the spiral body 21 that lowers the seedling trays A.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 9

Description

[Technical Field]

[0001] The present invention relates to an automatic seedling tray supplying device and a method for automatically supplying seedling trays. [Background technology]

[0002] A conventional seedling box supply device is provided with a receiving and supplying unit that supplies seedling boxes one by one above the starting end of a seedling box transfer device having a transfer means that transfers seedling boxes from the starting end to the ending end, and the receiving and supplying unit is configured with a spiral body having spiral blades that receive and lower a group of stacked seedling boxes, and a forced drop unit that forcibly drops lower seedling boxes that get stuck in upper seedling boxes and do not fall naturally among the stacked seedling boxes (Patent Document 1). [Prior art documents] [Patent documents]

[0003] [Patent Document 1] Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2016-185090 Summary of the Invention [Problem to be solved by the invention]

[0004] The above-mentioned known example has a problem in that the forced dropping mechanism is complicated in structure, as it uses a solenoid to force dropping of seedling trays that do not fall naturally, and the control of the solenoid is also complicated.Furthermore, a switch to control the solenoid is also required, making assembly cumbersome. The present invention provides an automatic seedling tray supply device that is easy to assemble and inexpensive, by devising a forced drop mechanism. [Means for solving the problem]

[0005] The invention of claim 1 is a seedling raising box supply device 10 provided with a support supply unit 20 that lowers and supplies each seedling box A out of a group of multiple seedling boxes A stacked up vertically, the support supply unit 20 being installed above the start end of a seedling box transfer device 1 having transfer means 2 that transfers the seedling boxes A from the start end to the end end, the support supply unit 20 supporting an upper frame 11 formed in the shape of a rectangular frame with an open bottom and installed on the floor by support legs 16, and supporting a group of empty seedling boxes A stacked up in multiple layers that are stored in a storage space 63 formed above the upper frame 11, and supplying each seedling box A to the transfer device 1 one by one. The support supply unit 20 is configured by providing a pair of spiral bodies 21, which have spiral blades 23 that support and lower the stacked seedling boxes A and are driven to rotate by a drive motor 36, and are provided on the upper frame 11 on both the left and right sides of the seedling box A transfer direction of the seedling box A of the seedling box transfer device 1, one in front and one in back, and a forced drop mechanism 70 is provided to forcibly drop a lower seedling box A among the seedling boxes A stacked one on top of the other that gets stuck in the upper seedling box A and does not fall naturally, and the forced drop mechanism 70 is configured by providing a forced drop body 71 on the spiral body 21 that lowers the seedling boxes A, thereby forming an automatic seedling box supply device. The invention of claim 2 is configured such that the spiral body 21 of the support supply section 20 is provided with a spiral blade 23 that supports and lowers the group of stacked seedling raising boxes A from below, and a forced falling body 71 that abuts from above on seedling raising boxes A that do not fall naturally, forcing them to fall. The invention of claim 3 is an automatic seedling tray supply device in which the forced falling body 71 is configured to be located below the underside of the spiral blade 23 of the spiral body 21 so as to abut against and press down on the upper surface of the seedling tray A that does not fall naturally. The invention of claim 4 is an automatic seedling tray supply device in which the forced falling body 71 is formed by a spiral member inclined at an angle steeper than the inclination angle of the wing portion 32 on the underside of the spiral blade 23 of the spiral body 21. This is what we have decided. The invention of claim 5 is an automatic seedling tray supply device in which the forced falling body 71 is formed by a lower spiral 72 provided on the shaft tube 22 below the flat portion 24 of the spiral blade 23 of the spiral body 21, at an angle steeper than the inclination angle of the blade portion 32. The invention of claim 6 is an automatic seedling tray supply device in which the forced falling body 71 is arranged on the lower edge of an arc-shaped vertical plate member 75, inclined at an angle steeper than the inclination angle of the wing portion 32, when viewed in a plane. In the invention of claim 7, the forced falling body 71 is provided between the start point 80 and the end point 81 of the spiral blade 23 in the automatic seedling tray supply device. The invention of claim 8 is an automatic seedling tray supply device in which, when viewed from the side, the vertical width T of the arc-shaped vertical plate member 75 is larger than the vertical width t of the gap 76 between the upper seedling tray A and the lower seedling tray A. The invention of claim 9 is an automatic seedling tray supply device in which, when viewed from the side, the vertical width P from the starting point 80 to the end point 81 of the spiral blade 23 is smaller than the vertical width H between the underside 9A of the side rib 9 of the upper seedling tray A and the underside 9A of the side rib 9 of the lower seedling tray A. In the invention of claim 10, the forced falling body 71 is provided so as to straddle the flat portion 24 and the wing portion 32 of the spiral wing 23 in plan view, in the automatic seedling tray supply device. The invention of claim 11 is an automatic seedling tray supply device in which the forced falling body 71 is configured by fixing only the front portion of the arcuate vertical plate member 75 in the rotational direction to the underside of the flat portion 24 of the spiral blade 23 of the spiral body 21. In the invention of claim 12, the forced falling body 71 is an automatic seedling tray supplying device in which a notch 78 is formed in the upper part of the rear side of the arcuate vertical plate member 75 in the rotation direction. The invention of claim 13 is an automatic seedling tray supply device in which the spiral blade 23 of the spiral body 21 has a notch 82 formed between the starting end 80 and the ending end 81 of the spiral blade 23 when viewed in a plane. The invention of claim 14 is an automatic seedling tray supply device in which an upper frame 11 having a support supply section 20 with a spiral body 21 is supported by a pair of support legs 16 provided at the front, rear, left and right, a drive mechanism for the spiral body 21 is provided on the rear frame 13 of the upper frame 11, and a space 84 is formed between the left and right support legs 16 below the front frame 12 of the upper frame 11 into which the starting end of the transport means 2 of the transport device 1 that transports the seedling trays A can be inserted. The invention of claim 15 is a method for automatically supplying seedling boxes, in which a group of empty seedling boxes A stacked in multiple tiers is stored in the storage space 63 of the support supply unit 20, which is installed above the starting end of the seedling box transfer device 1 and has a transfer means 2 for transferring the seedling boxes A from the starting end to the terminal end, and which supplies the seedling boxes A one by one; after the storage, the spiral body 21 is driven to rotate, and the spiral blades 23 of the spiral body 21 lower the group of stacked seedling boxes A; when the spiral blades 23 support the seedling box A second from the bottom of the group of seedling boxes A, the seedling box A in the lowest tier falls naturally from the spiral blades 23; and when the seedling box A in the lowest tier does not fall naturally even though the spiral blades 23 support the seedling box A second from the bottom, the forced falling body 71 of the forced falling mechanism 70, which rotates simultaneously with the spiral blades 23, forcibly drops the seedling box A that does not fall naturally. The invention of claim 16 is a method for automatically supplying seedling trays, in which the forced falling of a seedling tray A that does not fall naturally by the forced falling body 71 begins before the upper seedling tray A falls naturally from the spiral blade 23. The invention of claim 17 is an automatic seedling tray supply method in which, when the seedling tray A does not fall naturally, the forced falling body 71 of the forced falling mechanism 70 forces the seedling tray A to fall by making the amount of descent of the lower seedling tray A greater than the amount of descent of the upper seedling tray A by the spiral blade 23. [Effects of the Invention]

[0006] In the invention of claim 1, the forced drop mechanism 70 is configured by providing a forced drop body 71 on a spiral body 21 that lowers the seedling tray A, so that the forced drop body 71 of the forced drop mechanism 70 can be operated using the rotation mechanism of the spiral body 21, allowing the forced drop mechanism 70 to be configured simply and the entire automatic seedling tray supply device to be made smaller. In the invention of claim 2, the spiral body 21 is provided with a spiral blade 23 that supports and lowers the group of stacked seedling trays A from below, and a forced falling body 71 that abuts from above and forcibly lowers seedling trays A that are stuck and cannot fall.Therefore, seedling trays A that do not fall naturally can be forcibly dropped by the forced falling body 71, preventing two trays from falling at the same time, and the forced dropping mechanism 70 can be simply configured, allowing the entire automatic seedling tray supply device to be made smaller. In the invention of claim 3, the forced falling body 71 is provided below the underside of the spiral blade 23 of the spiral body 21, and is arranged so as to come into contact with and push down the upper surface of the seedling raising box A, which does not fall naturally.Therefore, as the spiral body 21 rotates, the forced falling body 71 enters between the lower surface of the upper seedling raising box A and the upper surface of the lower seedling raising box A, and comes into contact with and pushes down the upper surface of the seedling raising box A, which does not fall naturally, thereby forcing it to fall. In the invention of claim 4, the forced falling body 71 is formed on the underside of the wing portion 32 of the spiral wing 23 of the spiral body 21 at an angle steeper than the inclination angle of the wing portion 32, so that the forced falling body 71 forcibly drops the preceding (lowest) seedling box A that does not fall naturally before the subsequent seedling box A that is lowered by the wing portion 32 of the spiral wing 23 of the spiral body 21, preventing two seedlings from falling at the same time. In the invention of claim 5, the forced falling body 71 is formed by a lower spiral 72 provided on the shaft tube 22 below the flat portion 24 of the spiral wing 23 of the spiral body 21, with an inclination angle steeper than the inclination angle of the wing portion 32, so that the spiral body 21 has a double spiral portion 74 on the upper side, and the lower spiral 72 of the double spiral portion 74 becomes the forced falling body 71, which can be simply constructed. In the invention of claim 6, the forced falling body 71 is provided on the lower edge of the arc-shaped vertical plate member 75, which is arc-shaped when viewed in a plane, at an angle that is steeper than the inclination angle of the wing portion 32, so that the forced falling body 71 enters between the lower surface of the upper seedling raising box A and the upper surface of the lower seedling raising box A as the spiral body 21 rotates, and comes into contact with the upper surface of the seedling raising box A that is stuck and cannot fall, pushing it down and forcing it to fall. Furthermore, since the forcible falling body 71 is formed on the lower edge of the arcuate vertical plate member 75, it can be easily manufactured and assembled. In the invention of claim 7, the forced falling body 71 is provided between the starting end 80 and the ending end 81 of the spiral blade 23, so that the starting end 80 of the spiral blade 23 supports the upper seedling box A, and the lower seedling box A, which does not fall naturally, can be forced to fall. In the invention of claim 8, when viewed from the side, the vertical width T of the arc-shaped vertical plate member 75 is formed to be larger than the vertical width t of the gap 76 between the upper seedling raising box A and the lower seedling raising box A, so that the forced falling body 71 of the arc-shaped vertical plate member 75 can make the amount of descent of the lower seedling raising box A larger than the amount of descent of the upper seedling raising box A, and thereby it can press down the upper surface of the lower seedling raising box A, which does not fall naturally relative to the upper seedling raising box A during descent, and can reliably force it to fall. In the invention of claim 9, when viewed from the side, the vertical width P from the starting point 80 to the end point 81 of the spiral blade 23 is formed to be smaller than the vertical width H between the underside 9A of the side rib 9 of the upper seedling raising box A and the underside 9A of the side rib 9 of the lower seedling raising box A.Therefore, when the lower seedling raising box A descends to the end point 81 of the spiral blade 23, the horizontal part 24 of the spiral blade 23 and the starting end of the forced falling body 71 of the arc vertical plate member 75 will always enter the gap 76 between the underside 9A of the side rib 9 of the upper seedling raising box A and the underside 9A of the side rib 9 of the lower seedling raising box A, and will be forced to fall while supporting the stacked seedling raising boxes A. In the invention of claim 10, the forced falling body 71 is arranged to straddle the flat portion 24 and the wing portion 32 of the spiral wing 23 when viewed in a plane, so that the forced falling body 71 enters the gap 76 between the top and bottom of the side rib 9 of the upper seedling raising box A supported by the flat portion 24 of the spiral wing 23 of the spiral body 21 and the side rib 9 of the lower seedling raising box A that does not fall naturally, and presses down the upper surface of the side rib 9 of the preceding seedling raising box A that does not fall naturally, forcing it to fall and preventing two seedlings from falling at the same time. In the invention of claim 11, the forced falling body 71 is provided by fixing only the front portion of the arc-shaped vertical plate member 75 in the rotational direction to the underside of the flat portion 24 of the spiral wing 23 of the spiral body 21, so that a part of the upper edge of the arc-shaped vertical plate member 75 can be formed into a horizontal mounting surface 77, and by welding and fixing the mounting surface 77 of the arc-shaped vertical plate member 75 to the underside of the flat portion 24, the mounting is completed and the fixing work can be made easy. In other words, since the forced falling body 71 is arranged across the flat surface 24 and the wing portion 32 of the spiral wing 23 of the spiral body 21, the area of ​​action of the forced falling body 71 is widened and it forcibly drops seedling trays A that do not fall naturally, preventing two trays from falling at the same time. However, it is not easy to form the mounting surface 77 of the arc-shaped vertical plate member 75 to match the inclination of the wing portion 32 of the spiral body 21, so by configuring the mounting surface 77 of the arc-shaped vertical plate member 75 to be fixed to the underside of the flat surface 24, the mounting and fixing work is made easier. In the invention of claim 12, the forced falling body 71 has a notch 78 formed in the upper part on the rear side in the rotation direction of the arc-shaped vertical plate member 75, so that the rear part of the mounting surface 77 of the arc-shaped vertical plate member 75 can be mounted without interfering with the wing portion 32 of the spiral wing 23 of the spiral body 21, making mounting easier. In the invention of claim 13, the spiral blade 23 of the spiral body 21 forms a notch 82 in a plan view between the starting end 80 and the ending end 81 of the spiral blade 23, so that the seedling tray A forced to fall by the arc vertical plate member 75 falls naturally onto the transfer means 2 of the transfer device 1 and is automatically supplied. In other words, the support supply section 20 has the function of receiving and supporting multiple seedling trays A with the flat portion 24 of the spiral wing 23 of the spiral body 21, and the wing portion 32 of the spiral body 21 lowers the seedling tray A received by the flat portion 24, and when the seedling tray A descends to the terminal end 81 of the spiral body 21, the seedling tray A detaches from the spiral body 21 and falls naturally onto the transfer means 2 of the transfer device 1. In the invention of claim 14, the upper frame 11 equipped with a support supply section 20 having a spiral body 21 is supported by a pair of support legs 16 provided at the front, rear, left and right, and a drive mechanism for the spiral body 21 is provided on the rear frame 13 of the upper frame 11, and a space 84 is formed between the left and right support legs 16 below the front frame 12 of the upper frame 11 into which the starting end of the transport means 2 of the transport device 1 that transports the seedling tray A can be inserted.Therefore, by providing a drive mechanism for the spiral body 21 on the rear frame 13 of the upper frame 11, a space can be formed below the front frame 12 of the upper frame 11 where only the left and right support legs 16 exist, and thereby the transport device 1 and the upper frame 11 can be moved relative to each other to insert the starting end of the transport means 2 of the transport device 1 that transports the seedling tray A into the space 84 below the front frame 12 for installation, making installation work easier. In the invention of claim 15, a seedling raising box transfer device 1 having a transfer means 2 for transferring the seedling boxes A from the start end to the end end is installed at a position above the start end, and a group of empty seedling raising boxes A stacked in multiple tiers is stored in the storage space 63 of the support supply unit 20 that supplies the seedling boxes A one by one, and after storage, the spiral body 21 is driven to rotate, and the spiral blades 23 of the spiral body 21 lower the group of stacked seedling boxes A, and when the spiral blades 23 support the seedling box A in the second tier from the bottom of the group of seedling raising boxes A, the seedling box A in the lowest tier is lifted by the spiral blades 23. When the seedling raising box A at the bottom does not fall naturally despite the spiral blades 23 supporting the seedling raising boxes A at the second bottom, the seedling raising box A that does not fall naturally is forcibly dropped by a forced dropping body 71 of the forced dropping mechanism 70 that rotates simultaneously with the spiral blades 23, so that the forced dropping body 71 of the forced dropping mechanism 70 can be operated by utilizing the rotation mechanism of the spiral body 21, the forced dropping mechanism 70 can be simply configured, and the entire automatic seedling raising box supply device can be made compact. In the invention of claim 16, the forced drop of the seedling tray A that does not fall naturally by the forced drop body 71 is configured to start before the upper seedling tray A falls naturally from the spiral blade 23, thereby preventing two trays from falling at the same time and ensuring the reliability of the automatic supply of seedling trays. In the invention of claim 17, when the seedling tray A does not fall naturally, the forced falling body 71 of the forced falling mechanism 70 is configured to force the seedling tray A to fall by making the amount of descent of the lower seedling tray A greater than the amount of descent of the upper seedling tray A by the spiral blade 23, so that the forced falling body 71 can reliably force the seedling tray A that does not fall naturally to fall. [Brief explanation of the drawings]

[0007] [Figure 1] FIG. [Figure 2] The same perspective view. [Figure 3] Rear view of the same. [Figure 4] The same front view. [Figure 5] FIG. [Figure 6] Same plan view. [Figure 7] FIG. [Figure 8]3A and 3B are perspective and side views of a forcible dropping body of the forcible dropping mechanism; [Figure 9] 10 is a rear view of a spiral body provided with a forced falling body of a forced falling mechanism of another embodiment, and a cross-sectional view of a seedling raising box. FIG. [Figure 10] 10A is a rear view of the spiral body rotated a predetermined amount from a predetermined position, and FIG. 10B is a cross-sectional view of the seedling tray. [Figure 11] 1A and 1B are front and bottom views of a forced falling body; [Figure 12] Plan view of the spiral. [Figure 13] An explanatory diagram showing the relationship between the gaps between the stacked seedling trays and the forced dropping body. [Figure 14] 10 is a diagram showing the operating state of the seedling tray as it falls naturally. [Figure 15] This is a diagram showing the state of action when seedling trays that do not fall naturally are forced to fall. [Figure 16] Side view of the initial state. [Figure 17] A side view of the lowered seedling tray being transported. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0008] One embodiment of the present invention will be explained with reference to the drawings. 1 is a transport device that transports a seedling raising box (seedling raising container) A from the starting end to the end end, and is configured by providing a transport means 2 consisting of a transport roll or transport belt that transports the seedling raising box A on a transport table (not shown) having support legs (not shown). The seedling raising box A is a so-called drawer-shaped box with an open top and a predetermined depth, and has a bottom plate 5, left and right side walls 6, and front and rear walls 7. Reference numeral 8 denotes a bottom rib on the underside of the bottom plate 5, and reference numeral 9 denotes side ribs provided on the side walls 6 and front and rear walls 7 (Figure 9). Although there are standards for the internal dimensions (internal dimensions) of seedling raising boxes A, the external dimensions and shape are left to the discretion of each manufacturer. Originally, seedling raising boxes A have side ribs 9 on the outside of the inner wall 9A (Figure 13C), but the shapes of the inner wall 9A and side ribs 9 of seedling raising boxes A differ depending on the manufacturer. In this application, for ease of understanding, the shape of the side ribs 9 is illustrated and explained schematically, but the shape of the side ribs 9 is not a requirement of the present invention and does not limit the configuration of the present invention.

[0009] For ease of understanding, the forward, backward, left and right directions or positions are described based on the transport direction in which the seedling tray A is transported forward, but the configuration is not limited by these. At the starting end of the transfer device 1, there is provided a seedling raising box supply device 10 that supplies the seedling raising boxes A one by one to the transfer means 2. The seedling raising box supply device 10 has an upper frame 11 located above the starting end of the transfer means (transfer table) 2 of the transfer device 1. The upper frame 11 has front and rear frames 12, 13 and left and right frames 14, 15, and is formed in a bottomless state so that the seedling raising boxes A can be lowered downward. A pair of left and right support legs 16 are provided on both the front and rear sides of the upper frame 11 to support the front and rear portions of the upper frame 11, and the front portion of the upper frame 11 is positioned on the frame 86 at the starting end of the transfer device 1 (Figure 4).

[0010] The support legs 16 are configured to be extendable up and down, and are configured so that their height can be adjusted according to the height of the frame (transfer means 2) of the transfer device 1. The upper frame 11 is provided with a support supply unit 20 that supports a group of seedling raising boxes A stacked in multiple tiers and supplies them one by one to the transfer device 1. The support supply unit 20 is configured with a pair of left and right spiral bodies 21, one in front and one in back. The spiral bodies 21 have spiral blades 23 on the outer periphery of a shaft tube 22. The uppermost end of the spiral blade 23 is formed into a substantially horizontal flat portion 24 for receiving the group of seedling raising boxes A stacked on top of each other.

[0011] If the pitch of the spiral blade 23 were made larger than the vertical pitch of the side ribs 9 of the upper and lower seedling raising boxes A, the spiral blade 23 at the top of the spiral body 21 may come into contact with the side of the side rib 9. However, in the present application, the portion of the spiral blade 23 at the top of the spiral body 21 is formed into an approximately horizontal flat portion 24, so the pitch between the flat portion 24 at the top and the wing portion 32 of the second-highest spiral blade 23 is narrower than the pitch of the middle portion of a normal spiral blade 23, and the flat portion 24 reliably enters the vertical gap 76 of the group of stacked seedling raising boxes A as they descend (Figure 10). The helical body 21 has a shaft tube 22 formed with a different diameter hole (not shown), into which a different diameter shaft (square shaft / oval shaft) 25 is fitted from above, and the different diameter shaft 25 is rotatably mounted on a support base 26. The support base 26 is slidably mounted on a pair of upper and lower guide shafts 27 in the front-rear direction. The lower part of the different diameter shaft 25 is mounted on the support base 26 and protrudes downward. Passive bevel gears 28 are mounted on the different diameter shafts 25 inside the support base 26, and the passive bevel gears 28 are meshed with a drive bevel gear 30 provided on a drive shaft 29. The drive bevel gear 30 rotates integrally with the drive shaft 29 and is slidably mounted relative to the drive shaft 29 (Fig. 9).

[0012] Therefore, the drive bevel gear 30 is movable together with the support base 26 in the axial direction of the drive shaft 29, and at any position, it meshes with the driven bevel gear 28 to transmit rotation to the helical body 21. The front and rear ends of the guide shaft 27 are attached to the front frame 12 and rear frame 13 of the upper frame 11. Both front and rear ends of the drive shaft 29 are mounted on the front frame 12 and rear frame 13 of the upper frame 11. The rear ends of the left and right drive shafts 29 protrude rearward from the rear frame 13, and each drive shaft 29 is provided with a drive transmission gear 35. A drive motor 36 is provided below one of the left and right drive shafts 29, and an endless chain 38 is looped around an output gear 37 of the drive motor 36 and each of the drive transmission gears 35.

[0013] The drive motor 36 is attached so as to be located on the rear frame 13 side and inside the upper frame 11 . Reference numeral 39 denotes a tension gear, which is provided at one end of a tension arm 40, the middle part of which is rotatably attached to the rear frame 13 side by a shaft 42. Reference numeral 41 denotes a tension spring, and 41A denotes an intermediate gear. A main switch 43 for the drive motor 36 is provided at a predetermined position on the upper frame 11. The main switch 43 may serve both as a start switch for starting the descent of the seedling tray A and as an emergency stop switch.

[0014] Each support base 26 is provided with a cover 46 that surrounds the spiral body 21 . An upwardly rising guide 60 is provided on either the left or right side of the upper frame 11. In this embodiment, it is provided on the upper frame 11 on the side opposite the drive motor 36. The rising guide 60 is formed by connecting a pair of front and rear vertical rods 61 with a horizontal rod 62. The rising guide 60 forms a storage space 63 for a group of empty seedling raising boxes A stacked above the support supply section 20, and guides the group of stacked seedling raising boxes A in the storage space 63 to the cover 46 of the support supply section 20. That is, a separate stacked seedling box supply device that supplies empty stacked seedling boxes is connected to the seedling box supply device 10, and the standing guide 60 serves to stop the transport of the stacked seedling boxes supplied from this stacked seedling box supply device.

[0015] Therefore, the upright guide 60 may be provided on either the left or right side of the seedling tray supply device 10 in accordance with the stacked seedling tray supply device, and is provided on the right side in Figure 1 but on the left side in Figure 2. The vertical rods 61 are formed to have an L-shaped cross section, and the inner surface of the front vertical rod 61 of the front and rear vertical rods 61 abuts against the front of the group of stacked supply seedling raising boxes A to form a stopper 64 that prevents each seedling raising box A from moving forward. Therefore, the standing guide 60 is attached to the horizontal rod 62 so that the spacing between the front and rear vertical rods 61 can be changed, and the front vertical rod 61 of the front and rear vertical rods 61 is attached so that it can move back and forth relative to the front frame 12 of the upper frame 11.

[0016] The upper frame 11 is provided with a forced drop mechanism 70 for forcibly dropping the seedling raising box A when it does not fall off the spiral blades 23 of the spiral body 21 and should fall. That is, among the group of stacked seedling raising boxes A supplied to the support supply section 20, even if the lower seedling raising box A fitted into the upper stacked seedling raising box A comes off the spiral blades 23 of the spiral body 21 and becomes able to fall naturally, it may remain fitted and the two may fall simultaneously together with the next seedling raising box A, so the forced fall mechanism 70 forcibly drops and supplies the lower seedling raising box A that does not fall naturally. The forced dropping mechanism 70 is configured by providing a forced dropping body 71 on a spiral body 21 that lowers the seedling tray A (FIGS. 8 and 9).

[0017] Therefore, the rotation mechanism of the spiral body 21 can be used to operate the forced dropping body 71 of the forced dropping mechanism 70, allowing the forced dropping mechanism 70 to be constructed simply and the entire automatic seedling tray supply device to be made smaller. The spiral body 21 of the support supply part 20 is provided with a spiral blade 23 for lowering a group of stacked seedling raising boxes A while supporting them from below, and a forcible dropping body 71 for contacting from above the seedling raising boxes A that do not fall naturally and forcibly dropping them. Therefore, since the forcible falling body 71 is provided on the spiral body 21 together with the spiral blades 23, the forcible falling body 71 of the forcible falling mechanism 70 can be operated by utilizing the rotation mechanism of the spiral body 21 as it is.

[0018] The forced dropping body 71 is provided below the underside of the spiral blade 23 at the top of the spiral body 21, and is provided so as to abut and press down on the top surface of the seedling raising box A that does not fall naturally (Fig. 8). Therefore, the forced falling body 71 enters between the lower surface of the upper seedling raising box A and the upper surface of the lower seedling raising box A by the rotation of the spiral body 21, and the forced falling body 71 is brought into contact with the upper surface of the seedling raising box A that does not fall naturally, pushing it down and forcing it to fall. The forced falling body 71 is provided on the underside of the wing portion 32 of the spiral blade 23 of the spiral body 21, inclined at an angle steeper than the inclination angle of the wing portion 32. Therefore, the forcible dropping body 71 forcibly drops the preceding seedling raising box A that does not fall naturally before the succeeding seedling raising box A that is lowered by the wing part 32 of the spiral wing 23 of the spiral body 21, thereby preventing two boxes from falling at the same time.

[0019] The forced falling body 71 is formed by the blade edge 73 of the lower spiral blade 72 provided on the shaft tube 22 below the flat portion 24 of the spiral blade 23 of the spiral body 21, and inclined at an angle steeper than the inclination angle of the blade portion 32 (Figure 8). Therefore, the spiral body 21 forms a double spiral section 74 with an upper spiral wing 23 that lowers normal seedling trays A and a lower spiral wing 72 that forcibly drops seedling trays A that do not fall naturally, and the blade edge 73 of the lower spiral wing 72 of the double spiral section 74 serves as a forced drop body 71 (Figure 8). As a result, the lower spiral blade 72 is provided in the space below the lower surface of the spiral blade 23, which allows for a rational configuration that makes effective use of the space. In a side view, the vertical width T of the lower spiral blade 72 is formed to be larger than the vertical width t of the gap 76 between the upper seedling raising box A and the lower seedling raising box A. Therefore, the forced falling body 71 of the arcuate vertical plate member 75 can increase the amount of descent of the lower seedling raising box A and the amount of descent of the upper seedling raising box A, thereby making it possible to press down the upper surface of the lower seedling raising box A, which does not fall naturally relative to the upper seedling raising box A during descent, and the box is surely forced to fall.

[0020] FIG. 9 shows another embodiment of the forcible dropping body 71, which is provided on the lower edge of a vertical arc plate member 75 having an arc shape in a plan view, and is inclined at an angle steeper than the angle of inclination of the wing portion 32 in a front view. Therefore, the forced falling body 71 enters between the lower surface of the upper seedling raising box A and the upper surface of the lower seedling raising box A by the rotation of the spiral body 21, and comes into contact with the upper surface of the seedling raising box A that does not fall naturally, pushing it down and forcing it to fall. Furthermore, since it is formed on the lower edge of the arcuate vertical plate member 75 of the plate member, it can be easily manufactured and assembled.

[0021] The forcing body 71 is provided between the start point 80 and the end point 81 of the spiral blade 23 (FIGS. 9 and 10). Therefore, with the start end 80 of the spiral blade 23 supporting the upper seedling raising box A, the lower seedling raising box A, which does not fall naturally, can be forced to fall. The forcing body 71 is provided across the flat portion 24 and the blade portion 32 of the spiral blade 23 in plan view. Therefore, the forced dropping body 71 enters the gap 76 between the side rib 9 of the upper seedling raising box A supported by the flat part 24 of the spiral blade 23 of the spiral body 21 and the side rib 9 of the lower seedling raising box A that does not fall naturally, and presses down the upper surface of the side rib 9 of the preceding seedling raising box (lower seedling raising box) A that does not fall naturally, forcing it to fall and preventing two boxes from falling at the same time.

[0022] In a side view, the vertical width T of the arcuate vertical plate member 75 is formed to be larger than the vertical width t of the gap 76 between the upper seedling raising box A and the lower seedling raising box A. Therefore, the forced falling body 71 of the arcuate vertical plate member 75 can increase the amount of descent of the lower seedling raising box A and the amount of descent of the upper seedling raising box A, thereby making it possible to press down the upper surface of the lower seedling raising box A, which does not fall naturally relative to the upper seedling raising box A during descent, and the box is surely forced to fall. In side view, the vertical width P from the start point 80 to the end point 81 of the spiral blade 23 is formed to be smaller than the vertical width H between the lower surface 9A of the side rib 9 of the upper seedling raising box A and the lower surface 9A of the side rib 9 of the lower seedling raising box A. Therefore, when the lower seedling raising box A descends to the end 81 of the spiral blade 23, the horizontal part 24 of the spiral blade 23 and the starting end of the forced falling body 71 of the arc-shaped vertical plate member 75 always enter the gap 76 between the underside 9A of the side rib 9 of the upper seedling raising box A and the underside 9A of the side rib 9 of the lower seedling raising box A, and are forced to fall while supporting the stacked seedling raising box A.

[0023] Figure 13 shows the relationship between the stacked seedling raising boxes, the spiral blades 23, and the forced drop body 71, and when viewed from the side, the vertical width T of the arc-shaped vertical plate member 75 is made larger than the vertical width t of the gap 76 between the upper seedling raising box A and the lower seedling raising box A. Therefore, the forced falling body 71 of the arcuate vertical plate member 75 can press down the upper surface of the lower seedling raising box A which does not naturally fall below the vertical width of the gap 76 between the upper seedling raising box A and the lower seedling raising box A, and the box can be forced to fall reliably. In side view, the vertical width P from the start point 80 to the end point 81 of the spiral blade 23 is formed to be smaller than the vertical width H between the lower surface 9A of the side rib 9 of the upper seedling raising box A and the lower surface 9A of the side rib 9 of the lower seedling raising box A.

[0024] Therefore, when the lower seedling raising box A descends to the end 81 of the spiral blade 23, the horizontal part 24 of the spiral blade 23 and the starting end of the forced falling body 71 of the arc-shaped vertical plate member 75 always enter the gap 76 between the underside 9A of the side rib 9 of the upper seedling raising box A and the underside 9A of the side rib 9 of the lower seedling raising box A, thereby supporting the stacked seedling raising boxes A. Figure 13C shows a specific example of how stacked seedling raising boxes A are stacked, with the bottom plate 8 of the upper seedling raising box A fitting into the top opening of the lower seedling raising box A, thereby preventing the stacked seedling raising boxes from moving back and forth or side to side and from collapsing.

[0025] Figure 14 is a diagram showing the rotation of the spiral body 23 from above and from the side, showing the state in which the seedling box A on the bottom tier falls naturally. The stacked seedling boxes are lowered by the spiral blade 23, and fall naturally as the spiral blade 23 rotates 350 degrees from the 180 degree rotation position. Figure 15 is a diagram showing the rotation of the spiral body 23 from above and from the side, showing a state in which all of the seedling boxes A in the stacked seedling box group A do not fall naturally (are stuck and do not fall). The lower seedling box A1 that gets stuck as the spiral body 23 rotates approximately 110 degrees from the initial position is forced to fall, and the seedling box A2 on the second tier from the bottom does not fall naturally as the forced falling body 71 has not yet acted on it when it has rotated 350 degrees, so it returns to its initial position as shown by the arrow, and the lower seedling box A2 that gets stuck as it rotates approximately 110 degrees from the initial position is forced to fall. This process is repeated to automatically supply the seedling boxes A to the transfer device 1.

[0026] As in FIG. 14, the seedling raising box A falls naturally while the spiral blade 23 rotates 350 degrees from the 180 degree rotation position. The forced falling body 71 is provided by fixing only the front portion in the rotation direction of the arcuate vertical plate member 75 to the underside of the flat portion 24 of the spiral blade 23 of the spiral body 21 (FIGS. 9 and 11).

[0027] The forced falling body 71 is provided by fixing only the front portion of the arc-shaped vertical plate member 75 in the rotational direction to the underside of the flat portion 24 of the spiral wing 23 of the spiral body 21, so that part of the upper edge of the arc-shaped vertical plate member 75 can be formed into a horizontal mounting surface 77, and by welding and fixing the mounting surface 77 of the arc-shaped vertical plate member 75 to the underside of the flat portion 24, the installation is completed and the fixing work can be easily performed. Therefore, a portion of the upper edge of the arc-shaped vertical plate member 75 can be formed into a horizontal mounting surface 77, and by welding and fixing the mounting surface 77 of the arc-shaped vertical plate member 75 to the underside of the flat portion 24, the installation is completed and the fixing work can be easily performed.

[0028] In other words, since the forced falling body 71 is arranged across the flat surface 24 and the wing portion 32 of the spiral wing 23 of the spiral body 21, the area of ​​action of the forced falling body 71 is widened and it forcibly drops seedling trays A that do not fall naturally, preventing two trays from falling at the same time. However, it is not easy to form the mounting surface 77 of the arc-shaped vertical plate member 75 to match the inclination of the wing portion 32 of the spiral body 21, so by configuring the mounting surface 77 of the arc-shaped vertical plate member 75 to be fixed to the underside of the flat surface 24, the mounting and fixing work is made easier.

[0029] The forcible falling body 71 has a notch 78 formed in the upper part of the rear side in the rotation direction of the arcuate vertical plate member 75 (FIG. 11). Therefore, the rear portion of the mounting surface 77 of the arcuate vertical plate member 75 can be mounted without interfering with the wing portion 32 of the spiral wing 23 of the spiral body 21, making the mounting easier. In the embodiment, the arcuate vertical plate member 75 is fixed to the helical blade 23 by welding, but the helical blade 23 and the arcuate vertical plate member 75 may be formed integrally by die-casting or the like. The helical blade 23 of the helical body 21 has a notch 82 formed between a starting end 80 and a terminal end 81 of the helical blade 23 in a plan view. Therefore, the seedling raising boxes A that have been forcibly dropped by the arc-shaped vertical plate members 75 fall naturally onto the transfer means 2 of the transfer device 1 as they are and are automatically supplied.

[0030] In other words, the support supply section 20 has the function of supporting and receiving multiple seedling trays A with the flat surface 24 of the spiral wing 23 of the spiral body 21, and the seedling trays A received by the flat surface 24 are supported and lowered by the wing portion 32 of the spiral body 21, and when the seedling trays A descend to the terminal end 81 of the spiral body 21, the seedling trays A detach from the spiral body 21 and fall naturally onto the transfer means 2 of the transfer device 1. On the other hand, when the forced falling body 71 of the arc-shaped vertical plate member 75 forcibly drops a seedling tray A that does not fall naturally, the support lowering action of the spiral blade 23 is unnecessary, and contact with the spiral blade 23 can cause trouble, so the spiral blade 23 below the forced falling body 71 of the arc-shaped vertical plate member 75 that is forcibly dropped by the forced falling body 71 has a notch 82 to prevent interference.

[0031] In other words, the arc-shaped vertical plate member 75 of the forced falling body 71 enters into the gap 76 between the side rib 9 of the upper seedling raising box A supported by the flat portion 24 of the spiral blade 23 of the spiral body 21 and the side rib 9 of the lower seedling raising box A that is stuck in the upper seedling raising box A and does not fall, thereby forcibly dropping the seedling raising box A that does not fall. When viewed from the front, if the flat portion 24 of the spiral wing 23 of the spiral body 21 supports the side rib 9 of the upper seedling raising box A, there is no need for the wing portion 32 of the spiral body 21 to support the lower seedling raising box A, and if the wing portion 32 continues to support the lower seedling raising box A, there is a risk that the upper seedling raising box A will rest on the lower seedling raising box A.

[0032] Therefore, the spiral wing 23 of the spiral body 21 has a notch 82 formed between the starting end 80 and the ending end 81 of the spiral wing 23 when viewed in a plane, and when the flat portion 24 of the spiral wing 23 of the spiral body 21 supports the upper seedling raising box A, the notch 82 of the spiral body 21 is positioned below the side rib 9 of the lower seedling raising box A, so as not to interfere with the fall of the lower seedling raising box A. Therefore, even if the upper seedling raising box A is being lowered by the flat portion 24 or wing portion 32 of the spiral blade 23, the lower seedling raising box A forcibly dropped by the arc-shaped vertical plate member 75 of the forced falling body 71 will always fall onto the transport means 2 earlier than the upper seedling raising box A naturally falls from the spiral blade 23 due to the cutout portion 82 of the spiral blade 23, thereby reliably preventing partial overlapping in the transport direction between the preceding seedling raising box A that did not naturally fall and the subsequent (upper) seedling raising box A.

[0033] The size of this notch 82 varies depending on conditions such as the height of the seedling raising box A used and the left and right width of the side ribs 9, and if multiple types of spiral bodies 21 are prepared and configured to be selectable for use, they can be adapted to various seedling raising boxes A, improving versatility. That is, as shown in Figure 12, when viewed in a plane, the spiral blade 23 overlaps with the side rib 9 of the seedling raising box A in the left-right direction, and although not shown, when the end of the spiral blade 23 separates from below the side rib 9, a notch 82 is located below the side rib 9, and the seedling raising box A loses support from the spiral blade 23 and falls.

[0034] In the present invention having the above-described configuration, a group of empty seedling raising boxes A stacked in multiple tiers is stored in the storage space 63 of the support supply section 20, which is installed above the starting end of the seedling raising box transfer device 1 and has a transfer means 2 for transferring the seedling raising boxes A from the starting end to the ending end, and which supplies the seedling boxes A one by one.After storage, the spiral body 21 is driven to rotate, and the stacked seedling boxes A are lowered by the spiral blades 23 of the spiral body 21.When the spiral blade 23 supports the seedling box A second from the bottom of the group of seedling raising boxes A, the seedling box A in the lowest tier falls naturally from the spiral blade 23.If the seedling box A in the lowest tier does not fall naturally even though the spiral blade 23 supports the seedling box A second from the bottom, the seedling box A that does not fall naturally is forcibly dropped by the forced falling body 71 of the forced falling mechanism 70, which rotates simultaneously with the spiral blade 23.

[0035] Further, the forced falling body 71 starts to forcibly fall the seedling raising box A that does not fall naturally before the upper seedling raising box A falls naturally from the spiral blade 23. When the seedling raising boxes A do not fall naturally, the forced falling body 71 of the forced falling mechanism 70 is configured to forcibly drop the lower seedling raising boxes A by making the amount of descent of the lower seedling raising boxes A larger than the amount of descent of the upper seedling raising boxes A by the spiral blades 23. Therefore, the forced falling body 71 can reliably force the seedling raising box A to fall even if it does not fall naturally.

[0036] When the seedling tray A is forcibly dropped by the forcible dropping body 71 of the forced dropping mechanism 70 or has naturally fallen, it is transported to a predetermined position by the transporting means 2, and the transporting means 2 is ready to receive the next seedling tray A, and a load switch 92 is provided to detect this (Figures 1 and 2). The load switch 92 is composed of a pair of detectors, one light-emitting element and the other light-receiving element, and the load switch 92 is slidably attached to the guide shaft 27 provided on the left frame 14 and the right frame 15.The load switch 92 detects a seedling tray A passing between the detectors of the pair of load switches 92 and stops the drive motor 36 until the seedling tray A is transported to the specified position by the transport means 2.

[0037] That is, multiple stacked seedling trays A are placed on the flat surface 24 of the spiral blade 23 of the spiral body 21 and supplied to the support supply section 20, and when the main switch (not shown) is turned "on" in this state, the load switch 92 is activated and detects that there are no seedling trays A and turns "off", so the spiral body 21 rotates by the drive motor 36 and lowers the seedling trays A. The seedling raising boxes A are lowered to a position where they fall from the spiral body 21, and if the seedling raising box A at the bottom does not fall naturally, the forced falling body 71 of the forced falling mechanism 70 forcibly drops the seedling raising box A.

[0038] When the seedling raising box A is forced to fall by the forced fall mechanism 70 or falls naturally and is placed on the transport means 2, the load switch 92 detects this and stops the drive motor 36, which stops the rotation of the spiral body 21 and stops the downward supply of the next seedling raising box A.When the preceding seedling raising box A is transported to a predetermined position by the transport means 2 and there is enough space on the transport means 2 for the seedling raising box A to fall, the load switch 92 detects this and turns off, causing the drive motor 36 to rotate again and lower the seedling raising box A, and this process is repeated to lower the seedling raising box A.

[0039] In this case, if the mounting position of the load switch 92 on the left frame 14 and the right frame 15 can be adjusted freely, the timing at which the load switch 92 turns "off" can be changed. In other words, if the installation position of the load switch 92 is moved downstream in the direction of transport of the seedling tray A by the transport means 2 (moved to the left in Figure 4), the time required for descent will be longer, and if the installation position of the load switch 92 is moved upstream in the direction of transport (moved to the right in Figure 4), the time required for descent will be shortened.By changing and adjusting the installation position of the load switch 92, the descent time can be synchronized with the transport speed of the transport means 2, improving workability.When the leading seedling tray A has been transported to the specified position, the following seedling tray A is lowered and transported by the transport means 2 without any gaps between the leading seedling tray A and the following seedling tray A.

[0040] Furthermore, since the load switch 92 is a non-contact type detection switch, there is no direct contact with the seedling raising box A, and stability as a switch for switching the drive motor 36 on and off can be ensured. The rear frame 13 of the upper frame 11 is provided with a support roller 97. The support roller 97 supports the rear of the seedling raising box A that descends from the support supply section 20. The relationship between the transport device 1 and the seedling tray supply device 10 is such that the seedling tray supply device 10 is positioned above the starting end of the transport device 1, and the upper frame 11, which is provided with a support supply section 20 having a spiral body 21, is supported by a pair of support legs 16 provided at the front, rear, left and right, and a drive mechanism for the spiral body 21 is provided on the rear frame 13 of the upper frame 11, and a space 84 is formed between the left and right support legs 16 below the front frame 12 of the upper frame 11, into which the starting end of the transport means 2 of the transport device 1 for transporting the seedling trays A can be inserted (Figure 4).

[0041] Therefore, by providing a drive mechanism for the spiral body 21 on the rear frame 13 of the upper frame 11, a space can be formed below the front frame 12 of the upper frame 11 where only the left and right support legs 16 exist, and the frame 85 of the transfer device 1 and the upper frame 11 can be moved relative to each other, and the starting end of the transfer means 2 can be inserted into the space 84 below the front frame 12 and installed. Therefore, the work of attaching the transport device 1 and the seedling tray supply device 10 can be facilitated. 86 denotes a transfer roller constituting the transfer means 2, but it may also be a transfer belt.

[0042] (Operation of the embodiment) An upper frame 11 of a seedling box supply device 10 equipped with a support supply unit 20 that supplies seedling boxes A one by one is installed above the starting end of a seedling box transfer device 1 having a transfer means 2 that transfers seedling boxes A from the starting end to the end. The upper frame 11 is installed on the floor by supports 16 and is formed in the shape of a bottomless square frame. Above the upper frame 11 is formed a storage space 63 for storing groups of empty seedling boxes A stacked in multiple tiers, which the support supply unit 20 supplies to the transfer device 1 one by one by. The support supply unit 20 is configured with a pair of spiral bodies 21 at the front and rear, each having a spiral blade 23 formed on an approximately horizontal flat surface 24 at the top for receiving the stacked groups of seedling boxes A. Therefore, the groups of empty seedling boxes A stacked in multiple tiers are placed on the flat surfaces 24 of the spiral blades 23 of the four spiral bodies 21 of the support supply unit 20. In this case, the support supply section 20 is configured with a pair of spiral bodies 21 on both the left and right sides, one in front and one in back, so that the group of seedling raising boxes A is supported at four points, front, back, left and right, while waiting.

[0043] Next, the main switch 43 is turned on, and when the load switch 92 detects the absence of seedling trays A, the drive motor 36 is driven, rotating the spiral blades 23 of the spiral body 21 to support and lower the group of stacked seedling trays A in multiple tiers, and when the side rib 9 of the second seedling tray A from the bottom is supported by the flat surface 24 of the spiral blades 23 of the spiral body 21, the bottommost seedling tray A separates from the end portion 81 of the spiral blade 23, and the bottommost seedling tray A is dropped and supplied to the starting end of the transfer device 1. This process is repeated to lower and supply the seedling raising boxes A in the plurality of stages supported by the flat surface portion 24 of the spiral blade 23 one by one.

[0044] The support supply part 20 is constructed by providing a spiral body 21 with spiral blades 23 on the outer periphery of a shaft tube 22, so that the upper surface of the spiral blades 23 of the spiral body 21 supports the bottom surface of the side rib 9 of the seedling raising box A, and the support area can be widened by surface contact, and the seedling raising box A is reliably supported in a stable state. Thus, among the seedling raising boxes A stacked one on top of the other, even if the lower seedling raising box A that is tightly fitted into the upper seedling raising box A comes off the wing part 32 of the spiral wing 23 of the spiral body 21 and becomes capable of falling naturally, if it remains fitted, the two will fall together with the next upper seedling raising box A at the same time. In the present invention, a forced drop mechanism 70 is provided to forcibly drop the seedling raising boxes A at the lower level that do not fall naturally among the seedling raising boxes A fitted vertically into the upper frame 11, so that the seedling raising boxes A are reliably supplied one by one to the transport means 2.

[0045] That is, the transfer means 2 of the transfer device 1 is configured to transfer a single seedling raising box A, and if two overlapping seedling raising boxes A are supplied at the same time, the transfer will stop. The forced drop mechanism 70 is configured by providing a forced drop body 71 on a spiral body 21 that lowers the seedling tray A, so that the forced drop body 71 of the forced drop mechanism 70 can be operated by utilizing the rotation mechanism of the spiral body 21, the forced drop mechanism 70 can be simply configured, and the entire automatic seedling tray supply device can be made smaller.

[0046] The spiral body 21 of the support supply part 20 is provided with a spiral blade 23 for lowering the stacked seedling raising boxes A while supporting them from below, and a forced falling body 71 for forcibly lowering the seedling raising boxes A that are stuck and do not fall by contacting them from above, so that the seedling raising boxes A that do not fall naturally are forcibly dropped by the forced falling body 71, preventing two boxes from falling at the same time. The forced falling body 71 is provided below the spiral blade 23 of the spiral body 21 so as to come into contact with and press down the upper surface of the seedling raising box A which does not fall naturally, so that the forced falling body 71 enters between the lower surface of the upper seedling raising box A and the upper surface of the lower seedling raising box A by the rotation of the spiral body 21, and the forced falling body 71 comes into contact with and presses down the upper surface of the seedling raising box A which does not fall naturally, forcing it to fall.

[0047] The forced falling body 71 is provided on the underside of the wing part 32 of the spiral blade 23 at an angle steeper than the angle of inclination of the wing part 32, so the forced falling body 71 forcibly drops the preceding (lower) seedling raising box A that does not fall naturally before the succeeding seedling raising box A lowered by the wing part 32 of the spiral blade 23 of the spiral body 21, thereby preventing two boxes from falling at the same time. The forced falling body 71 is formed by a lower spiral 72 provided on the shaft tube 22 below the flat surface 24 of the spiral blade 23 of the spiral body 21, inclined at an angle steeper than the inclination angle of the blade part 32, so that the spiral body 21 has a double spiral part 74 on the upper side, and the lower spiral 72 of the double spiral part 74 becomes the forced falling body 71, which can be simply constructed.

[0048] The forced falling body 71 is formed on the lower edge of the arc-shaped arc vertical plate member 75 in a plan view at an inclination angle steeper than that of the wing portion 32, so that the forced falling body 71 enters between the lower surface of the upper seedling raising box A and the upper surface of the lower seedling raising box A by the rotation of the spiral body 21, and comes into contact with the upper surface of the seedling raising box A which is stuck and cannot fall, pushing it down and forcing it to fall. When the flat surface 24 of the spiral blade 23 enters the gap 76 between the side rib 9 of the upper seedling raising box A and the side rib 9 of the lower seedling raising box A that does not fall naturally, the starting end of the forced falling body 71 of the arc-shaped vertical plate member 75 below the flat surface 24, which is thin in the vertical direction, enters the gap 76, and as the spiral body 21 rotates, the forced falling body 71, which gradually becomes thicker in the vertical direction, presses down the upper surface of the side rib 9 of the lower seedling raising box A, forcing it to fall.

[0049] Furthermore, since the forcible falling body 71 is formed on the lower edge of the arc-shaped vertical plate member 75, it can be easily manufactured and assembled. The forced falling body 71 is provided between the start end 80 and the end end 81 of the spiral blade 23, so that the lower seedling raising box A that does not fall naturally can be forced to fall while the start end 80 of the spiral blade 23 supports the upper seedling raising box A. As shown in Figure 13, when viewed from the side, the vertical width T of the arc-shaped vertical plate member 75 is larger than the vertical width t of the gap 76 between the upper seedling raising box A and the lower seedling raising box A, so the forced falling body 71 of the arc-shaped vertical plate member 75 can press down the upper surface of the lower seedling raising box A, which does not fall naturally below the vertical width of the gap 76 between the upper seedling raising box A and the lower seedling raising box A, thereby ensuring forced falling. In side view, the vertical width P from the start point 80 to the end point 81 of the spiral blade 23 is formed to be smaller than the vertical width H between the lower surface 9A of the side rib 9 of the upper seedling raising box A and the lower surface 9A of the side rib 9 of the lower seedling raising box A.

[0050] When the lower seedling raising box A descends to the terminal end 81 of the spiral blade 23, the horizontal part 24 of the spiral blade 23 and the starting end of the forced falling body 71 of the arc-shaped vertical plate member 75 always enter the gap 76 between the underside 9A of the side rib 9 of the upper seedling raising box A and the underside 9A of the side rib 9 of the lower seedling raising box A, supporting the stacked seedling raising boxes A (Figure 13). The forcing member 71 is provided across the flat portion 24 and the spiral member 21 in plan view. Therefore, the forced dropping body 71 reliably enters into a gap 76 between the side rib 9 of the upper seedling raising box A supported by the flat part 24 of the spiral blade 23 of the spiral body 21 and the side rib 9 of the lower seedling raising box A that does not fall naturally, and presses down the upper surface of the side rib 9 of the preceding seedling raising box A that does not fall naturally, forcing it to fall and preventing two boxes from falling simultaneously.

[0051] That is, when the side ribs 9 of the upper seedling raising box A are supported by the flat portions 24 of the spiral blades 23 of the spiral body 21, the lower seedling raising box A should naturally fall, but at this timing the forced falling body 71 starts to forcibly press down the side ribs 9 of the lower seedling raising box A which have become stuck and are not falling, so that before the upper seedling raising box A falls naturally, the lower seedling raising box A which has become stuck and is not falling is pressed down and forced to fall, preventing the two boxes from falling at the same time. The forced falling body 71 is provided between the start end 80 and the end end 81 of the spiral blade 23, so that the lower seedling raising box A that does not fall naturally can be forced to fall while the start end 80 of the spiral blade 23 supports the upper seedling raising box A.

[0052] In plan view, the forced falling body 71 is provided across the flat portion 24 and the wing portion 32 of the spiral wing 23, so that the forced falling body 71 enters the gap 76 between the side rib 9 of the upper seedling raising box A supported by the flat portion 24 of the spiral wing 23 of the spiral body 21 and the side rib 9 of the lower seedling raising box A that does not fall naturally, and presses down the upper surface of the side rib 9 of the preceding seedling raising box (lower seedling raising box) A that does not fall naturally, forcing it to fall and preventing two boxes from falling simultaneously. In side view, the vertical width T of the arc-shaped vertical plate member 75 is formed larger than the vertical width t of the gap 76 between the upper seedling raising box A and the lower seedling raising box A, so that the forced falling body 71 of the arc-shaped vertical plate member 75 can increase the amount of descent of the lower seedling raising box A and the amount of descent of the upper seedling raising box A, thereby making it possible to press down the upper surface of the lower seedling raising box A, which does not fall naturally relative to the upper seedling raising box A during descent, and reliably forcibly falls.

[0053] When viewed from the side, the vertical width P from the starting point 80 to the end point 81 of the spiral blade 23 is smaller than the vertical width H between the underside 9A of the side rib 9 of the upper seedling raising box A and the underside 9A of the side rib 9 of the lower seedling raising box A. Therefore, when the lower seedling raising box A descends to the end point 81 of the spiral blade 23, the horizontal part 24 of the spiral blade 23 and the starting end of the forced falling body 71 of the arc-shaped vertical plate member 75 always enter the gap 76 between the underside 9A of the side rib 9 of the upper seedling raising box A and the underside 9A of the side rib 9 of the lower seedling raising box A, and are forced to fall while supporting the stacked seedling raising boxes A.

[0054] The forced falling body 71 is configured so that only the front portion of the arc-shaped vertical plate member 75 in the rotational direction is fixed to the underside of the flat portion 24 of the spiral blade 23 of the spiral body 21, so that part of the upper edge of the arc-shaped vertical plate member 75 can be formed into a horizontal mounting surface 77, and once the mounting surface 77 of the arc-shaped vertical plate member 75 is welded and fixed to the underside of the flat portion 24, the installation is completed and the fixing work can be easily performed. In other words, since the forced falling body 71 is installed across the flat surface 24 and the spiral body 21, the area of ​​action of the forced falling body 71 is widened, and seedling trays A that do not fall are forced to fall, preventing two trays from falling at the same time. However, it is not easy to form the mounting surface 77 of the arc-shaped vertical plate member 75 to match the inclination of the wing portion 32 of the spiral wing 23 of the spiral body 21, so by configuring the mounting surface 77 of the arc-shaped vertical plate member 75 to be fixed to the underside of the flat surface 24, the mounting and fixing work is made easier.

[0055] The forced falling body 71 has a notch 78 formed in the upper part on the rear side in the rotation direction of the arc-shaped vertical plate member 75, so that the rear part of the mounting surface 77 of the arc-shaped vertical plate member 75 can be mounted without interfering with the wing part 32 of the spiral wing 23 of the spiral body 21, making the mounting easy. In the embodiment, the arcuate vertical plate member 75 is fixed to the spiral body 21 by welding, but the spiral body 21 and the arcuate vertical plate member 75 may be formed integrally by die-casting or the like.

[0056] The spiral blade 23 of the spiral body 21 forms a notch 82 in a plan view between the starting end 80 and the ending end 81 of the spiral body 21, so that the seedling tray A forced to fall by the arc-shaped vertical plate member 75 falls naturally onto the transfer means 2 of the transfer device 1 and is automatically supplied. In other words, when the side ribs 9 of the upper seedling raising box A are supported by the flat portions 24 of the spiral blades 23 of the spiral body 21, the upper seedling raising box A begins to descend due to the wing portions 32 of the spiral blades 23 of the spiral body 21, and at the same time, the lower seedling raising box A that does not fall naturally also begins to be forcibly pushed down by the arc-shaped vertical plate member 75, and when the lower seedling raising box A that does not fall naturally is pushed down and forced to fall before the upper seedling raising box A falls naturally, the notch 82 of the spiral body 21 is located in the forced fall path of the lower seedling raising box A, preventing interference between the wing portions 32 of the spiral blades 23 of the spiral body 21 and the forced fall of the lower seedling raising box A.

[0057] Before the arc-shaped vertical plate member 75 forcibly drops the lower seedling raising box A, the flat surface 24 of the spiral wing 23 of the spiral body 21 supports the upper seedling raising box A, and the arc-shaped vertical plate member 75 waits below the flat surface 24, and as the upper seedling raising box A is lowered by the wing portion 32 from the flat surface 24 of the spiral wing 23 of the spiral body 21, the forced dropping body 71 (arc-shaped vertical plate member 75) also rotates, repeating the descent and forced drop of the seedling raising box A. Then, when multiple stacked seedling raising boxes A are placed on the flat surface 24 of the spiral blade 23 of the spiral body 21 and supplied to the support supply section 20, and the main switch is turned "on" in this state, the load switch 92 is off, so the drive motor 36 rotates and the group of seedling raising boxes A begins to descend.

[0058] Next, when the lowest seedling tray A descends onto the transport means 2 to the position where it will fall from the spiral body 21, the load switch 92 detects this and turns "on" (Figure 18), stopping the rotation of the drive motor 36. Next, when the seedling tray A is forcibly dropped by the forced dropping body 71 of the forced dropping mechanism 70 or dropped naturally and is transported to a predetermined position by the transporting means 2, the load switch 92 detects this and turns "off", rotating the drive motor 36 to lower the seedling tray A and repeating the supply of the seedling tray A.

[0059] As described above, the forced drop mechanism 70 and the receiving / supply section are configured to be operated by one spiral body 21, which simplifies the configuration and ensures reliable operation. The load switch 92 is configured to detect the seedling box A until it is transported to a predetermined position by the transport means 2, and while the load switch 92 detects the seedling box A, the load switch 92 is in the "on" state, during which time the drive motor 36 is stopped, and when the seedling box A is transported to the predetermined position and separates from the seedling box A load switch 92, the load switch 92 is turned "off", causing the drive motor 36 to start rotating and restarting the descent of the seedling box A. Therefore, even when the seedling box A is supplied to the transport means 2, the spiral body 21 is not rotated immediately, which prevents the subsequent seedling box A from descending and overlapping on top of the preceding seedling box A and ensures the transport of the seedling box A.

[0060] In addition, if the sensing distance of the load switch 92 is increased, the time required for descent is increased, and if the length of the contact body 99 is decreased, the time required for descent is decreased. Therefore, the descent time can be synchronized with the transport speed of the transport means 2, and the subsequent seedling raising box A can be lowered as shown in Figure 18, and transported by the transport means 2 without any gap between the preceding seedling raising box A and the subsequent seedling raising box A. [Explanation of symbols]

[0061] 1...Transfer device, 2...Transfer means, 5...Bottom plate, 6...Side wall, 7...Front and rear walls, 8...Bottom rib, 9...Side rib, 10...Seedling tray supply device, 11...Upper frame, 12...Front frame, 13...Rear frame, 14...Left frame, 15...Right frame, 16...Support leg, 20...Receiving supply section, 21...Spiral body, 22...Shaft tube, 23...Spiral blade, 24...Horizontal section, 25...Different diameter shaft, 26...Support base, 27...Guide shaft, 28...Passive bevel gear, 29...Drive shaft, 30...Drive bevel gear, 32...Wing section, 33...Support roller, 35...Drive transmission gear, 36...Drive motor, 37...Output gear, 38...Chain, 39...Tension gear, 40...Tension Arm, 42...shaft, 46...cover, 47...upper inclined portion, 48...guide portion, 50...mounting plate, 51...bolt, 60...standing guide, 61...vertical rod, 62...horizontal rod, 63...accommodation space, 64...stopper, 70...forced drop mechanism, 71...forced drop body, 72...lower spiral, 73...wing edge, 74...double spiral portion, 75...arc vertical plate member, 76...gap, 77...mounting surface, 78...notch portion, 80...starting end, 81...ending end, 82...notch portion, 92...load switch, 93...third switch, 94...shaft, 95...contact portion, 97...support roller, 98...fixed side flange portion, 99...stopper.

Claims

1. The seedling box supply device 10 is provided with a support supply unit 20 that lowers and supplies each seedling box A out of a group of multiple seedling boxes A stacked vertically, and is installed above the start end of the seedling box transfer device 1 having a transfer means 2 that transfers the seedling boxes A from the start end to the end end. The seedling box supply device 10 is provided with a support supply unit 20 that lowers and supplies each seedling box A out of a group of multiple seedling boxes A stacked vertically, and supports the group of empty seedling boxes A stored in a storage space 63 formed above the upper frame 11, which is formed in a bottomless rectangular frame shape and installed on the floor by support legs 16, and supplies each empty seedling box A to the transfer device 1 one by one. The support supply unit 20 is configured by providing a pair of spiral bodies 21, which have spiral blades 23 that support and lower the stacked seedling boxes A and are driven to rotate by a drive motor 36, on the upper frame 11 on both the left and right sides of the seedling box A transfer direction of the seedling box A of the seedling box transfer device 1, one in front and one in back, and is provided with a forced drop mechanism 70 that forcibly drops the lower seedling box A of the stacked seedling boxes A that gets stuck in the upper seedling box A and does not fall naturally, and the forced drop mechanism 70 is configured by providing a forced drop body 71 on the spiral body 21 that lowers the seedling boxes A.

2. In claim 1, the automatic seedling tray supply device is configured by providing the spiral body 21 of the support supply section 20 with a spiral blade 23 that supports and lowers a group of stacked seedling trays A from below, and a forced falling body 71 that contacts seedling trays A that do not fall naturally from above and forcibly lowers them.

3. 3. The automatic seedling tray supplying device according to claim 2, wherein the forced falling body 71 is provided below the underside of the spiral blade 23 of the spiral body 21 so as to abut against and press down the upper surface of the seedling tray A that does not fall naturally.

4. 4. The automatic seedling tray supplying device according to claim 3, wherein the forced falling body is formed by a spiral member inclined at an angle steeper than the inclination angle of the wing portion on the underside of the wing portion of the spiral blade of the spiral body.

5. In claim 4, the automatic seedling tray supply device is formed by a lower spiral 72 that is inclined at an angle steeper than the inclination angle of the wing portion 32 on the shaft tube 22 below the flat portion 24 of the spiral wing 23 of the spiral body 21.

6. 4. The automatic seedling tray supplying device according to claim 3, wherein the forced falling body (71) is provided on the lower edge of a vertical arc-shaped plate member (75) in a plan view, inclined at an angle steeper than the angle of inclination of the wing portion (32).

7. 7. The automatic seedling tray supplying device according to claim 6, wherein the forced falling body is provided between the start end and the end end of the spiral blade.

8. 7. The automatic seedling tray supply device according to claim 6, wherein the vertical width T of the arcuate vertical plate member 75 is formed larger than the vertical width t of the gap 76 between the upper seedling tray A and the lower seedling tray A when viewed from the side.

9. In claim 6, an automatic seedling tray supply device in which, when viewed from the side, the vertical width P from the starting point 80 to the end point 81 of the spiral blade 23 is smaller than the vertical width H between the lower surface 9A of the side rib 9 of the upper seedling tray A and the lower surface 9A of the side rib 9 of the lower seedling tray A.

10. 7. The automatic seedling tray supplying device according to claim 6, wherein the forced falling body (71) is provided so as to straddle the flat portion (24) and the wing portion (32) of the spiral blade (23) in plan view.

11. 7. The automatic seedling tray supplying device according to claim 6, wherein the forced falling body is provided by fixing only the front portion in the rotation direction of the arcuate vertical plate member to the underside of the flat portion of the spiral blade of the spiral body.

12. 12. The automatic seedling tray supplying device according to claim 11, wherein the forced falling body (71) has a notch (78) formed in the upper rear portion of the arcuate vertical plate member (75) in the rotation direction.

13. 3. The automatic seedling tray supplying device according to claim 2, wherein the spiral blade of the spiral body has a notch formed between a starting end and a terminal end of the spiral blade in a plan view.

14. In claim 2, the upper frame 11 equipped with a support supply section 20 having a spiral body 21 is supported by a pair of support legs 16 provided at the front, rear, left and right, and a drive mechanism for the spiral body 21 is provided on the rear frame 13 of the upper frame 11, and a space 84 is formed between the left and right support legs 16 below the front frame 12 of the upper frame 11, into which the starting end of the transport means 2 of the transport device 1 that transports the seedling boxes A can be inserted.

15. The seedling box automatic supply method includes: a support supply unit (20) that supplies the seedling boxes (A) one by one and is installed above the start end of a seedling box transfer device (1) having a transfer means (2) for transferring the seedling boxes (A) from the start end to the end end; a group of empty seedling boxes (A) stacked in multiple tiers is stored in the storage space (63); after storage, the spiral body (21) is driven to rotate, and the group of stacked seedling boxes (A) is lowered by the spiral blades (23) of the spiral body (21); when the spiral blades (23) support the seedling box (A) second from the bottom of the group of seedling boxes (A), the seedling box (A) in the lowest tier falls naturally from the spiral blades (23); and when the seedling box (A) in the lowest tier does not fall naturally despite the spiral blades (23) supporting the seedling box (A) second from the bottom, the forced falling body (71) of the forced falling mechanism (70) that rotates simultaneously with the spiral blades (23) forcibly drops the seedling box (A) that does not fall naturally.

16. In claim 15, the automatic seedling tray supply method is configured so that the forced drop of the seedling tray A that does not fall naturally by the forced drop body 71 begins before the upper seedling tray A falls naturally from the spiral blade 23.

17. In claim 15, when the seedling tray A does not fall naturally, the forced falling body 71 of the forced falling mechanism 70 forces the seedling tray A to fall by making the amount of descent of the lower seedling tray A greater than the amount of descent of the upper seedling tray A by the spiral blade 23.

Images