Attachment, unmanned flying object, and spraying method

Abstract

To provide a technology capable of spraying a long member wound around a reel from an unmanned flying object while cutting.SOLUTION: An attachment fitted to an unmanned flying object includes: a loading part filled with a reel around which a long member is wound; an unwinding part for unwinding the long member from the reel; a support plate which is connected to the unwinding part on one surface and in which a through hole the unwound long member passes is formed; and a cutting part which is provided on the other surface of the support plate and cuts the long member. The unwinding part has a roller pair gripping and feeding the long member. The cutting part has a shaft rotating along the other surface around the shaft and a disk-like blade provided at the end of the shaft. The blade cuts the long member supplied through the hole by rotation of the shaft.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 5

Description

[Technical Field]

[0001] The present disclosure relates to an attachment that can be attached to an unmanned air vehicle. [Background technology]

[0002] Slow-release pheromone formulations have been used to control pests by disrupting their mating. For example, Patent Document 1 discloses that a rope-shaped slow-release pheromone formulation wound on a reel is unwound from the reel and placed in a linear pattern in a field. [Prior art documents] [Patent documents]

[0003] [Patent Document 1] Japanese Patent Application Publication No. 2019-019071 Summary of the Invention [Problem to be solved by the invention]

[0004] The inventors of the present application envisioned manually cutting a rope-shaped sustained-release pheromone formulation wound on a reel and spraying it over a field from a manned helicopter. However, using a manned helicopter could increase the cost of spraying, so the development of a spraying technology using an unmanned aerial vehicle is desirable. Furthermore, this problem is not limited to cutting a rope-shaped sustained-release pheromone formulation and spraying it over a field, but is a common problem when cutting and spraying any long member. Therefore, there is a need for a technology that can cut a long member wound on a reel and spray it from an unmanned aerial vehicle. [Means for solving the problem]

[0005] The present disclosure can be realized in the following forms.

[0006] (1) According to one aspect of the present invention, there is provided an attachment that can be attached to an unmanned aerial vehicle and includes: a loading section that loads a reel around which a long material is wound; an unwinding section that unwinds the long material from the reel; a support plate that is connected to the unwinding section on one side and has a through hole through which the unwound long material passes; and a cutting section that is provided on the other side of the support plate and cuts the long material. The unwinding section has a pair of rollers that sandwich and feed the long material. The cutting section has a shaft that rotates around an axis along the other side and a disk-shaped blade provided at the tip of the shaft. The blade cuts the long material supplied through the through hole as the shaft rotates. This attachment allows the unmanned aerial vehicle to spray the long material wound on the reel while cutting it.

[0007] (2) In the attachment described in (1) above, the attachment may include a plurality of the loading sections and the unwinding sections, and the support plate may have a plurality of through holes formed on an imaginary circle centered on the shaft. According to this form of attachment, the attachment includes a plurality of loading sections and unwinding sections, and the support plate has a plurality of through holes formed on an imaginary circle centered on the shaft, so that long members unwound simultaneously from a plurality of reels can be cut and scattered, thereby improving the efficiency of scattering the cut pieces.

[0008] (3) In the attachment described in (1) or (2) above, the cutting portion may further have a receiving blade provided adjacent to the through hole on the other surface, and the blade cuts the elongated member while passing between the other surface and the receiving blade as the shaft rotates. With this type of attachment, the blade cuts the elongated member while passing between the other surface of the support plate and the receiving blade, which further reduces unstable cutting.

[0009] (4) In the attachment described in any one of (1) to (3) above, the rotation speed of the roller pair and the rotation speed of the shaft may be configured to be adjustable. With this type of attachment, the rotation speed of the roller pair and the rotation speed of the shaft are configured to be adjustable, so that the amount and speed of the cutting pieces scattered can be easily adjusted.

[0010] (5) In the attachment described in any one of (1) to (4), the elongated member may be a tubular member filled with a liquid pheromone substance. With this attachment, the tubular member filled with the liquid pheromone substance can be cut and sprayed from the unmanned aerial vehicle.

[0011] (6) According to another aspect of the present disclosure, there is provided an unmanned aerial vehicle. The unmanned aerial vehicle includes the attachment described in any one of (1) to (5). The unmanned aerial vehicle of this aspect can cut and spray a long material wound on a reel.

[0012] (7) According to another aspect of the present disclosure, there is provided a spraying method. This spraying method includes a step of cutting the elongated member and spraying it onto a field from the unmanned aerial vehicle described above in (6). According to this aspect of the spraying method, the elongated member wound on a reel can be sprayed from the unmanned aerial vehicle while being cut.

[0013] The present disclosure can be realized in various forms, such as a method for manufacturing an attachment for an unmanned aerial vehicle, a method for manufacturing an unmanned aerial vehicle, a pesticide spraying device, a pesticide spraying system, a method for spraying pesticides, etc. [Brief explanation of the drawings]

[0014] [Figure 1] FIG. 2 is a side view showing an example of an unmanned aerial vehicle with an attachment attached. [Figure 2] FIG. 2 is a perspective view showing a schematic configuration of an attachment. [Figure 3] FIG. 2 is a side view showing a schematic configuration of the attachment. [Figure 4] FIG. 2 is a plan view showing a schematic configuration of the attachment. [Figure 5] FIG. 2 is a bottom view showing a schematic configuration of the attachment. [Figure 6] FIG. 2 is an explanatory diagram showing a schematic configuration of an unwinding section. [Figure 7] FIG. 10 is a bottom view showing an example of a modified attachment. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0015] A. First embodiment FIG. 1 is a side view showing an example of an unmanned aerial vehicle 100 to which an attachment 10 according to an embodiment of the present disclosure is attached. In FIG. 1, a drone (unmanned aerial vehicle, UAV: ​​Unmanned Aerial Vehicle) is illustrated as an example of the unmanned aerial vehicle 100. Note that the unmanned aerial vehicle 100 is not limited to a drone, and may also be an unmanned helicopter, a radio-controlled helicopter, or the like. The unmanned aerial vehicle 100 cuts and sprays a long member 300 shown in FIG. 2, which will be described later, using the attachment 10. The attachment 10 is attached vertically below the unmanned aerial vehicle 100 via a connecting member 400.

[0016] The elongated member 300 is wound around a reel 350 shown in FIG. 2, which will be described later. The elongated member 300 may be, but is not limited to, a tube-shaped member, a sheet-shaped member, a rope-shaped member, or the like. The elongated member 300 may be formed from, but is not limited to, a polymer compound. Examples of polymer compounds include, but are not limited to, polyolefin, polyvinyl chloride, polystyrene, polyvinyl acetate, polyurethane, acrylic resin, ABS resin, UV-degradable resin, and biodegradable resin. From the perspective of environmental impact, UV-degradable resin or biodegradable resin is preferred. Examples of biodegradable resins include, but are not limited to, aliphatic polyester. The elongated member 300 may be kneaded with a desired substance to be sprayed, and such a substance may be filled into the inner hole of the tubular member. The substance filled into the inner hole of the tubular member may be in the form of, but is not limited to, a liquid or powder. Examples of substances include, but are not limited to, pesticides. The pesticide is not particularly limited, but examples thereof include pheromone substances, fungicides, insecticides, fungicides, herbicides, plant growth regulators, etc. As the long member 300, a tubular member filled with a pesticide inside, i.e., a sustained-release pesticide, is preferred, and a tubular member filled with a pheromone substance inside, i.e., a sustained-release pheromone formulation, is even more preferred.

[0017] FIG. 2 is a perspective view showing the schematic configuration of attachment 10. FIG. 3 is a side view showing the schematic configuration of attachment 10. FIG. 4 is a plan view showing the schematic configuration of attachment 10. FIG. 5 is a bottom view showing the schematic configuration of attachment 10. Attachment 10 comprises a loading section 20, an auxiliary plate 25, an unwinding section 30, a support plate 40, and a cutting section 50. Attachment 10 of this embodiment comprises four loading sections 20 and four unwinding sections 30. Attachment 10 of this embodiment is housed inside outer frame 60 formed in a substantially rectangular parallelepiped shape, as shown by the dashed line in FIG. 2.

[0018] A reel 350 around which a long member 300 is wound is loaded in the loading section 20 shown in FIGS. 2 to 4. The four loading sections 20 in this embodiment are arranged around a substantially disk-shaped auxiliary plate 25, at substantially equal intervals from one another along the circumferential direction of the auxiliary plate 25. The auxiliary plate 25 has introduction holes 26 formed through its thickness at positions corresponding to each loading section 20, through which the long member 300 is introduced. The reel 350 is loaded in each loading section 20 so that the long member 300 is introduced into the introduction hole 26 from the radially outer side toward the inner side of the auxiliary plate 25 and from the vertically upper side toward the lower side. The loading section 20 in this embodiment is formed by sandwiching three support posts 22 between two ring-shaped thin plates 21. The loading section 20 in this embodiment also has a cover 28. The cover 28 is configured to be openable and closable by rotating around the axis of one of the support posts 22. The cover 28 prevents the reel 350 from coming off the loading section 20.

[0019] 2 and 3 unwinds the elongated member 300 from a reel 350. In this embodiment, the unwinding section 30 is located between the auxiliary plate 25 and the support plate 40, and is located radially inward of the loading section 20. A detailed description of the unwinding section 30 will be given later.

[0020] The support plate 40 shown in FIGS. 2 to 5 is formed of a plate-like member. In this embodiment, the support plate 40 has a substantially circular external shape, but may have any other shape instead of a substantially circular shape. Furthermore, in this embodiment, the support plate 40 is disposed parallel to the auxiliary plate 25. The support plate 40 supports the unwinding unit 30 and the cutting unit 50. As shown in FIG. 3, the support plate 40 is connected to the unwinding unit 30 at one surface 41. In this embodiment, the one surface 41 of the support plate 40 corresponds to the upper surface of the support plate 40. The cutting unit 50 is provided on the other surface 42 of the support plate 40. In this embodiment, the other surface 42 of the support plate 40 corresponds to the lower surface of the support plate 40. As shown in FIG. 4, the support plate 40 has a through hole 43 formed therein through which the elongated member 300 unwound by the unwinding unit 30 passes. The through hole 43 penetrates the support plate 40 in the thickness direction. As shown in FIG. 5, the support plate 40 of this embodiment has four through holes 43 formed therein. More specifically, the four through holes 43 are formed on an imaginary circle 45 whose center is an axis 44 formed on the other surface 42 of the support plate 40. In Fig. 5, the imaginary circle 45 is indicated by a dashed line.

[0021] The cutting unit 50 shown in FIG. 5 cuts the elongated member 300. As shown in FIG. 5, the cutting unit 50 includes a shaft 51 and a blade 52. In this embodiment, the shaft 51 has an external shape like a long, thin plate. The shaft 51 rotates along the other surface 42 of the support plate 40 around an axis 44 formed on the other surface 42. The blade 52 is provided at the tip of the shaft 51. In other words, the blade 52 is provided at the end of the shaft 51 opposite the end connected to the axis 44. The blade 52 has an external shape like a disk along the other surface 42. The blade 52 is formed at a position that can pass through the formation position of the through hole 43 on the other surface 42 of the support plate 40 as the shaft 51 rotates, i.e., on an imaginary circle 45. The blade 52 cuts the elongated member 300 supplied through the through hole 43 as the shaft 51 rotates, i.e., as the shaft 51 rotates around the axis 44. Therefore, every time the shaft 51 rotates once around the axis 44, the elongated member 300 supplied from the through hole 43 is cut to produce cut pieces. With this type of cutting unit 50, it is possible to prevent the cutting from becoming unstable even when the elongated member 300 is made of a relatively hard material.

[0022] The cutting unit 50 of this embodiment further includes a receiving blade 53. The receiving blade 53 is provided adjacent to the through hole 43 on the other surface 42. A portion of the blade 52 is sandwiched between the receiving blade 53 and the other surface 42. The receiving blade 53 of this embodiment is provided around the entire circumferential direction of the imaginary circle 45. Furthermore, the receiving blade 53 of this embodiment has a through hole 54 formed therethrough at a position overlapping with the through hole 43 of the support plate 40. The blade 52 cuts the elongated member 300 while passing between the other surface 42 and the receiving blade 53 as the shaft 51 rotates. As a result, unstable cutting can be further prevented.

[0023] Figure 6 is an explanatory diagram showing a schematic configuration of the unwinding section 30. Of the four unwinding sections 30 provided in the attachment 10, only one unwinding section 30 is shown in Figure 6. Figure 6 shows this unwinding section 30 as viewed from the radially outer side of the auxiliary plate 25 and the support plate 40. Therefore, the unwinding section 30 shown in Figure 6 unwinds the long member 300 from a reel 350 loaded in a loading section 20 located on the front side of the page, not shown in Figure 6, and sends it out into a through hole 43, not shown in Figure 6.

[0024] The unwinding section 30 has a pair of rollers 31 that sandwich and feed out the elongated member 300. FIG. 6 shows the driven roller 32 of the pair of rollers 31, which is located on the outer side in the radial direction of the support plate 40. A drive roller driven by a motor 36 is located inside the driven roller 32 in the radial direction of the support plate 40, i.e., on the far side of the paper in FIG. 6. The driven roller 32 is pressed toward the drive roller by the action of a tension spring 33, thereby sandwiching the elongated member 300 between itself and the drive roller. With this unwinding section 30, the elongated member 300 can be unwound while applying tension, so that the elongated member 300 can be stably fed into the through hole 43 even if the surface of the elongated member 300 is relatively slippery.

[0025] The unwinding section 30 in this embodiment has an auxiliary roller pair 34 above the roller pair 31. FIG. 6 shows the auxiliary roller 35 of the auxiliary roller pair 34, which is located on the outer side in the radial direction of the support plate 40. The paired auxiliary roller is located inside the auxiliary roller 35 in the radial direction of the support plate 40, i.e., on the far side of the paper surface in FIG. 6. The auxiliary roller pair 34 sends the elongated member 300 supplied from the introduction hole 26 to the roller pair 31. The auxiliary roller pair 34 may be omitted.

[0026] The unwinding section 30 and the cutting section 50 are driven independently of each other by motors 36 and 55, respectively. The motor 36 shown in FIG. 6 is configured to adjust the rotation speed of the roller pair 31 of the unwinding section 30. The motor 55 shown in FIG. 4 is configured to adjust the rotation speed of the shaft 51. The faster the rotation speed of the roller pair 31 is increased, the faster the unwinding speed of the long member 300 unwound from the reel 350. On the other hand, the slower the rotation speed of the roller pair 31 is increased, the slower the unwinding speed of the long member 300 unwound from the reel 350. Therefore, the faster the rotation speed of the roller pair 31 is increased, the longer the length of each cut piece of the long member 300 can be, and the slower the rotation speed of the roller pair 31 is increased, the shorter the length of each cut piece of the long member 300 can be. Furthermore, the faster the rotation speed of the shaft 51, the shorter the length of each cut piece of the elongated member 300 can be, and the slower the rotation speed of the shaft 51, the longer the length of each cut piece of the elongated member 300 can be. Therefore, by adjusting the rotation speed of the roller pair 31 and the rotation speed of the shaft 51, the length of each cut piece can be adjusted, and also the number of pieces cut per time can be adjusted. As a result, the amount and speed of the cut pieces to be scattered can be easily adjusted.

[0027] According to the attachment 10 of the present embodiment described above, the long member 300 wound on the reel 350 can be cut and scattered from the unmanned aerial vehicle 100. Therefore, compared to the case where the long member 300 is cut by hand and scattered from a manned helicopter, unlike the present application, the increase in cost required for scattering the cut pieces can be suppressed. Furthermore, according to the attachment 10 of the present embodiment, since it is provided with multiple loading sections 20 and unwinding sections 30 and has multiple through holes 43 formed in the support plate 40, it is possible to cut and scatter the long member 300 that is unwound from multiple reels 350 simultaneously. As a result, the efficiency of scattering the cut pieces can be improved.

[0028] According to another aspect of the present disclosure, there is provided a scattering method including a step of scattering the elongated member 300 while cutting it from the unmanned aerial vehicle 100 equipped with the attachment 10 of the above embodiment. This method can prevent an increase in the cost required for scattering the cut pieces.

[0029] B. Variations: The configuration of the attachment 10 in the above embodiment is merely an example and can be modified in various ways.

[0030] FIG. 7 is a bottom view showing an example of a modified attachment 10a. In the attachment 10 of the above embodiment, the cutting portion 50 has the receiving blade 53 provided around the entire circumferential circumference of the imaginary circle 45, but the receiving blade 53 may be omitted. Also, as shown in FIG. 7, the cutting portion 50a may have a receiving blade 53a provided on a portion of the circumferential circumference of the imaginary circle 45. Instead of through holes 54 penetrating the plate thickness, the receiving blade 53a may have recesses 56a formed radially inward at positions overlapping with the through holes 43 of the support plate 40. In the example shown in FIG. 7, eight through holes 43 are formed in the support plate 40a, and four receiving blades 53a are provided lined up in the circumferential direction.

[0031] Furthermore, for example, the attachment 10 in the above embodiment includes four each of the loading sections 20 and unwinding sections 30, but it may include any number of each of the loading sections 20 and unwinding sections 30, and the support plate 40 may have through holes 43 formed at any number of locations on an imaginary circle 45 centered on the shaft 44. Furthermore, the attachment 10 may include only one each of the loading sections 20 and unwinding sections 30, and the support plate 40 may have only one through hole 43 formed on an imaginary circle 45 centered on the shaft 44.

[0032] Also, for example, the cutting unit 50 may be provided with a plurality of shafts 51 and blades 52. In such an embodiment, the plurality of shafts 51 and blades 52 may be arranged side by side at equal intervals in the circumferential direction of the imaginary circle 45. Also, for example, the embodiment may be such that the rotation speed of the roller pair 31 cannot be adjusted, or the rotation speed of the shaft 51 cannot be adjusted. Also, for example, the loading unit 20 may have any configuration that allows the reel 350 to be loaded. Also, the auxiliary plate 25 may be omitted, the cover 28 may be omitted, and the outer frame 60 may be omitted.

[0033] The present disclosure is not limited to the above-described embodiments and can be realized in various configurations without departing from the spirit thereof. For example, the technical features in each embodiment corresponding to the technical features in each aspect described in the Summary of the Invention section can be appropriately replaced or combined to solve some or all of the above-described problems or achieve some or all of the above-described effects. Furthermore, if a technical feature is not described as essential in this specification, it can be appropriately deleted. [Explanation of symbols]

[0034] 10, 10a... attachment, 20... loading portion, 21... thin plate, 22... support, 25... auxiliary plate, 26... introduction hole, 28... cover, 30... unwinding portion, 31... roller pair, 32... driven roller, 33... tension spring, 34... auxiliary roller pair, 35... auxiliary roller, 36... motor, 40... support plate, 41... one surface, 42... other surface, 43... through hole, 44... shaft, 45... imaginary circle, 50, 50a... cutting portion, 51... shaft, 52... blade, 53... receiving blade, 53a... receiving blade, 54... through hole, 55... motor, 56a... recess, 60... outer frame, 100... unmanned aerial vehicle, 300... long member, 350... reel, 400... connecting member

Claims

1. An attachment to be attached to an unmanned aerial vehicle, a loading section into which a reel around which a long member is wound is loaded; an unwinding section for unwinding the elongated member from the reel; a support plate connected to the unwinding section on one surface and having a through hole formed therein through which the unwound elongated member passes; a cutting portion provided on the other surface of the support plate and configured to cut the elongated member; Equipped with the unwinding section has a pair of rollers that sandwich and feed out the elongated member, The cutting portion is a shaft that rotates along the other surface about an axis; a disc-shaped blade provided at the tip of the shaft; and The blade cuts the elongated member supplied through the through hole by rotation of the shaft. attachment.

2. 2. The attachment according to claim 1, a plurality of the loading sections and the unwinding sections; The support plate has a plurality of through holes formed on an imaginary circle centered on the axis. attachment.

3. The attachment according to claim 1 or 2, further comprising: the cutting portion has a receiving blade provided adjacent to the through hole on the other surface, The blade cuts the elongated member while passing between the other surface and the receiving blade due to rotation of the shaft. attachment.

4. The attachment according to claim 1 or 2, The rotation speed of the roller pair and the rotation speed of the shaft are each adjustable. attachment.

5. The attachment according to claim 1 or 2, The elongated member is a tubular member filled with a pheromone substance. attachment.

6. An unmanned aerial vehicle comprising the attachment according to claim 1 or 2.

7. The method includes a step of scattering the elongated member while cutting it from the unmanned aerial vehicle according to claim 6. Spraying method.

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