Agricultural tractor

Abstract

To provide a tilling device of an agricultural tractor capable of automatically and excellently plowing finely cut discharge rods and weeds when carrying out tilling operation of a field.SOLUTION: In an agricultural tractor in which a tilling device (30) for tilling a field and a leveling plate (33) for pressing and leveling a ground surface after tilling by a pressing tool (34) are mounted on a rear portion of a traveling vehicle body (2), a monitoring device (35) for monitoring a field surface after leveling is provided, an image captured by the monitoring device (35) is analyzed, and a pressure of the pressing tool (34) is changed and controlled so as to eliminate a plowed remainder of a tilled site.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 4

Description

[Technical Field]

[0001] The present invention relates to an agricultural tractor having a tilling device mounted on a traveling body for tilling a field. [Background technology]

[0002] Agricultural tractors are equipped with tilling equipment at the rear of the vehicle, and perform tilling work by plowing the field and plowing the shredded weeds and weeds left on the field into the soil.

[0003] As described in Japanese Patent No. 4656249, the tilling implement attached to this agricultural tractor maintains the level of the tilling implement to till a certain depth in the field, while leveling the land after it has been tilled with the leveling plate at the rear as it travels. [Prior art documents] [Patent documents]

[0004] [Patent Document 1] Patent No. 4656249 Summary of the Invention [Problem to be solved by the invention]

[0005] The tilling device of the agricultural tractor described above tills the soil by plowing shredded waste and weeds left on the field, but if the plowing is insufficient, some of the shredded waste and weeds will float to the surface, delaying composting and adversely affecting the growth of crops grown on the field after plowing, so it is necessary to plow them in thoroughly. However, since the amount of shredded waste and weeds left on the field varies unevenly, it is necessary to check the plowing status while looking at the plowed area, and adjust the tilling device's lifting and lowering speed to ensure that plowing is carried out properly, which makes operating the machine cumbersome.

[0006] An object of the present invention is to enable chopping, removal of weeds, and plowing of weeds to be performed automatically and effectively when tilling a field with the tilling implement of an agricultural tractor. [Means for solving the problem]

[0007] The above-mentioned object of the present invention is achieved by the following technical means.

[0008] The invention of claim 1 is an agricultural tractor equipped with a tilling device 30 for tilling the field and a leveling plate 33 for pressing and leveling the ground surface after tilling with a pressing tool 34 at the rear of the running body 2, characterized in that a monitoring device 35 is provided for monitoring the field scene after leveling, and the image captured by the monitoring device 35 is analyzed and the pressure of the pressing tool 34 is changed and controlled so as to eliminate any remaining plowed area in the tilled field.

[0009] The invention of claim 2 is the agricultural tractor described in claim 1, characterized in that a load detection means 52 for detecting the load rate of the engine E is provided, and the pressure of the pressing tool 34 is changed and controlled within a predetermined load rate range.

[0010] The invention of claim 3 is an agricultural tractor as described in claim 2, characterized in that it is provided with a tilling depth changing means for raising and lowering the tilling implement 30, and changes and controls the tilling depth together with the pressure of the pressing tool 34 within a specified load rate range of the engine E. [Effects of the Invention]

[0011] In the invention of claim 1, the agricultural tractor plows the field with the tilling device 30, and then compresses the cultivated soil with the chopped rods and weeds plowed in using the leveling plate 33 to make it flat and level.If the monitoring device 35, which monitors the field scene after leveling, analyzes images and finds that the chopped rods and weeds have floated to the surface, the pressure applied to the leveling plate 33 is changed and controlled using the compression device 34 to apply stronger pressure, which allows the chopped rods and weeds to be plowed in well during subsequent tilling, making the cultivated land suitable for growing crops.

[0012] In the invention of claim 2, by changing and controlling the pressure of the pressing tool 34 within a predetermined load rate range of the engine E, it is possible to prevent the engine E from being overloaded and stopping, which would cause the tilling work to be interrupted, and to continue the work of shredding and weed removal and plowing.

[0013] In the invention of claim 3, the engine E is not overloaded within the range of the specified load rate of the engine E, and the pressure of the pressing tool 34 is increased to improve shredding and removal of weeds and to plow in the weeds, while the tilling depth of the tilling device 30 is made as deep as possible, allowing tilling work to be performed. [Brief explanation of the drawings]

[0014] [Figure 1] 1 is a right side view of an agricultural tractor equipped with a tilling implement according to an embodiment of the present invention. [Figure 2] FIG. [Figure 3] FIG. [Figure 4] FIG. 1 is a block diagram of automatic control. [Figure 5] FIG. [Figure 6] FIG. 1 is a plan view of an agricultural tractor. [Figure 7] FIG. 10 is a plan view of an agricultural tractor according to another embodiment. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0015] Hereinafter, an embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. First, the overall configuration of an agricultural tractor 10 will be described. As shown in Fig. 1, the agricultural tractor 10 is equipped with a diesel engine E inside a hood 11, and the rotational power of this engine E is appropriately reduced by various transmissions inside a transmission case 13, and then transmitted to two wheels, left and right rear wheels 2R, 2R, or to four wheels, left and right front wheels 2F, 2F and left and right rear wheels 2R, 2R, which serve as the traveling device, to travel.

[0016] In addition, a steering handle 16 for steering the front wheels 2F, 2F is provided in front of the driver's seat 20 of the tractor 10, protruding upward from the rear of the hood 11, and below this are provided a lift lever 14 for raising and lowering the work equipment with a single touch, a forward / reverse switch lever (not shown) for switching between forward and reverse travel of the vehicle, and an accelerator lever 19 for adjusting the engine E rotation speed. A forward switch and a reverse switch for detecting the operator's forward / reverse operation and neutral position operation are provided at the rotation base of the forward / reverse switch lever, and a lever holding mechanism made of friction material is provided at the rotation base of the accelerator lever 19, which is connected to a governor mechanism G on the side of the engine E via a wire or the like. In addition, a front wheel turning angle sensor 6 is provided at the linkage portion of the steering handle 16, more specifically, at the pitman arm of the front wheels 2F, 2F, as means for detecting the vehicle's turning operation.

[0017] A meter panel controller is mounted on the rear side of the steering handle 16, and a meter panel 17 equipped with various pilot lamps, an engine tachometer, a liquid crystal display, etc. is provided on the front below the steering handle 16. Also provided below the meter panel 17 are a work changeover dial, a PTO on / off switch for turning on and off the rotation of the PTO shaft 15 protruding from the rear of the vehicle, and an independent PTO control on / off switch for selecting whether the rotation of the PTO shaft 15 is turned on and off manually or automatically in conjunction with the elevation state of the work implement, etc.

[0018] Furthermore, below the steering wheel 16 are provided a clutch pedal, left and right brake pedals, and an accelerator pedal 23. At the base of the accelerator pedal 23 is provided a biasing mechanism that returns the engine speed to the deceleration side. The engine speed of the engine E is adjusted by depressing this mechanism or by rotating the accelerator lever 19 back and forth, and this speed is detected by an engine speed sensor 41 provided on the engine output shaft.

[0019] In addition, a position lever 21 is provided on the side of the driver's seat 20 to change the height of the tilling implement 30 at the rear of the vehicle body, and a potentiometer is provided at the base of this position lever 21 to detect the operating position.The tilling implement 30 is raised and lowered by matching the operating angle of this lever with the operating angle of the lift arm 27, which will be described later.

[0020] A cylinder case 26 is provided above the transmission case 13, housing a hydraulic cylinder 25 for lifting and lowering a work implement, which serves as a lifting device. The extension and contraction of the piston of the cylinder 25 causes a lift arm 27 to rotate up and down, and various work implements, such as a rotary tiller 30 in the illustrated example, are raised and lowered via a three-point linkage 28 consisting of a top link 28a, left and right lower links 28b, and a horizontal control hydraulic cylinder 28c. A lift arm angle sensor is provided at the base of the lift arm to detect the lifted position of the work implement. The lower link 28b on either side of the left or right side is comprised of a horizontal control hydraulic cylinder 28c. The extension and contraction of the piston of the horizontal control hydraulic cylinder 28c controls the left and right rolling position of the tiller 30, and the tilt of the tiller 30 is detected by a stroke sensor attached to the horizontal control hydraulic cylinder 28c.

[0021] As shown in Figure 2, the implement attached to the rear of the tractor 10 via a three-point linkage mechanism 28 is a rotary tiller 30, which transmits the rotation of the PTO shaft 15 to a rotary shaft 31 to rotate a tiller blade 32 and till the field. The upper rear part of the tiller blade 32 is covered with a tiller cover 36, and a leveling plate 33 is pivotally supported at the rear of the tiller blade 32 to level raised soil.

[0022] The frame of the rotary tillage device 30, which pivots around the rotary shaft 31, is made up of left and right main pipes 37, left and right rear pipes 38L, 38R extending rearward from the main pipes 37, and a rear guard frame rod 39. The leveling plate 33 is suspended from the main pipe 37 by left and right hanging rods 43L, 43R and a compression device (compression spring) 34, with the underside pressed against the field surface to compress the tilled soil together with the shredded discharge rods, etc., to level the field.

[0023] As shown in Figure 3, the hanging rods 43L, 43R and the pressing tool 34 are fitted onto the hanging rods 43L, 43R and are supported by spring bearings 57, and a screw shaft 58 threaded into the spring bearing 57 is rotated by a drive motor 59 to move the spring bearing 57, thereby pressing the leveling plate 33 against the field surface via the pressing tool 34 and leveling the ground surface. The position of the spring bearing 57 is detected by an ultrasonic sensor or a sensor connected by a link and is used for pressure control.

[0024] A monitoring device 35 consisting of a LiDAR sensor 35a and a CCD camera 35b is provided at the center of the left and right of the rear guard frame rod 39 of the tilling device 30, and monitors the field scene behind the leveling plate 33. The LiDAR sensor 35a photographs the size of the tilled soil clods, and the CCD camera 35b photographs the color of the tilled field scene, and photographs the extent to which the shredded soil rods and weeds scattered on the field scene are covered by the soil and plowed in. The monitoring device 35 may also be an AI camera with the function of distinguishing shredded soil rods and weeds.

[0025] Figure 4 is an automatic control block diagram, in which the control unit 40 receives imagery of the field scene after the leveller 33 from the monitoring device 35, the tilling depth of the tiller blade 32 from the tillage depth sensor 45, the impact of the tiller blade 32 hitting a hard object from the impact sensor 46, the engine speed from the engine rotation sensor 47, and the scenery around the machine from the scenery camera 53.The image analysis unit 50 within the control unit 40 analyzes the amount of shredded weeds and remaining weeds from the field scene image from the monitoring device 35 (or analysis from the AI ​​camera), and if a lot remains, it activates the drive motor 59, causing the pressing device 34 to increase the pressure with which the leveller 33 is pressed against the field scene. Furthermore, when the impact sensor 46 detects an impact caused by the tilling blade 32 hitting the soil bottom of the concrete levee, it sounds a buzzer 48 and steers the tractor 10 away from the levee, and also stores the surrounding scenery at that time in the image storage unit 51 so that the next time the tractor approaches a location with that scenery, it sounds a buzzer 48 to warn the tractor and steers it away. Furthermore, when the engine load calculation unit 52 calculates an overload based on the engine speed of the engine speed sensor 47, where the rotation speed has dropped by a predetermined amount, for example, 10% or more, it drives the drive motor 59 to weaken the pressure with which the pressing tool 34 presses the leveling plate 33 against the field surface and raises the work implement lifting cylinder 25 to reduce the tilling depth and reduce the drive load on the engine E.

[0026] In Figure 5, when the tilling device 30g is tilling near a concrete bank 55, if the underground part of the concrete bank 55 buried in the ground surface 54 hits the rotation area 56 of the tilling blade 32, the impact sensor 46 detects this and sounds the buzzer 48 to warn.

[0027] Figure 6 shows a configuration in which a guide plate 60 is provided on the side of the leveling plate 33 to be inserted into the field, pushing the leveling plate 33 to the right and bringing it closer to the right-hand ridge, allowing it to be cultivated closer to the ridge.

[0028] In FIG. 7, a steering follower wheel 61 is provided at the rear of the leveling plate 33 so that the leveling plate 33 can be moved closer to the left and right ridges for plowing.

[0029] The banks are made of concrete, stonework, corrugated iron or mulch sheets, and it is best to understand their characteristics and till as close to the banks as possible. [Explanation of symbols]

[0030] Engine E 2 Running vehicle 30 Tillage equipment 33 Leveling plate 34 Compression Device 35 Monitoring equipment 52 Load detection means

Claims

1. This agricultural tractor is equipped with a tilling device (30) for tilling a field at the rear of a traveling body (2) and a leveling plate (33) for pressing and leveling the ground surface after plowing with a pressing tool (34), and is characterized in that it is equipped with a monitoring device (35) for monitoring the field scene after leveling, and analyzes images taken by the monitoring device (35) and changes and controls the pressure of the pressing tool (34) so ​​as to eliminate any remaining plowed area in the tilled field.

2. 2. The agricultural tractor according to claim 1, further comprising a load detection means (52) for detecting a load factor of the engine (E), and the pressure of the pressing tool (34) is changed and controlled within a predetermined load factor range.

3. 3. An agricultural tractor according to claim 2, further comprising a tilling depth changing means for raising and lowering the tilling implement (30), and for changing and controlling the tilling depth together with the pressure of the pressing tool (34) within a predetermined engine (E) load factor range.

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