Work vehicles

Abstract

While there is a technology that allows for the individual raising and lowering of multiple planting units using a lifting mechanism, its configuration requires multiple actuators, and although individual lifting and lowering is possible, the configuration has not been sufficiently simplified. [Solution] Multiple seedling planting units 21 are held together by a planting frame 50, which connects them as a single unit. The planting frame 50 is equipped with a slide 52 that allows the seedling planting units 21 to be adjusted and positioned in a direction parallel to the direction of work progress 101, and a slide 51 that allows the seedling planting units to be adjusted and positioned in a direction perpendicular to the direction of work progress 102.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The present invention relates to a transplanting work vehicle for agricultural use.

Background Art

[0002] There is a work vehicle that individually raises and lowers a plurality of planting bodies by a lifting mechanism. (Patent Document 1)

Prior Art Documents

Patent Documents

[0003]

Patent Document 1

Summary of the Invention

Problems to be Solved by the Invention

[0004] In the prior art, there is a technique for individually raising and lowering a plurality of planting bodies by a lifting mechanism.

[0005] However, in terms of configuration, a plurality of actuators are required, and although individual raising and lowering is possible, the configuration has not been sufficiently simplified.

[0006] The present invention uses the rotation from the transmission case to raise and lower multiple rows simultaneously, and each planting body can be individually attached and changed for easy adjustment, and moreover, it aims to provide a work vehicle with a configuration that can be integrally planted at the same depth.

Means for Solving the Problems

[0007] The first invention is solved by the following technical means.

[0008] The first invention has multiple seedling planting units 21 that open in a direction parallel to the direction of work progress 101, and holds the multiple seedling planting units 21 as a single unit with a planting frame 50, and the planting frame 50 is equipped with a slide 52 that can adjust the position of the seedling planting units 21 in a direction parallel to the direction of work progress 101 and a slide 51 that can adjust the position of the seedling planting units 21 in a direction perpendicular to the direction of work progress 102, and is equipped with a mechanism that allows the planting position in the field to be adjusted individually for each seedling planting unit 21 while simultaneously moving the multiple seedling planting units 21 held by the planting frame 50.

[0009] The second invention is solved by the following technical means.

[0010] The seedling planting unit 21A is equipped with a shutter mechanism 26A for holding seedlings, which is linked to a lever 23A for opening and closing the shutter. By operating the lever 23A, seedlings can be supplied into the hopper 25A of the seedling planting unit 21A. Multiple seedling planting units 21A, each equipped with a shutter mechanism 26A for holding seedlings, were provided. [Effects of the Invention]

[0011] The first invention prevents unstable planting depth due to mutual vibration caused by the movement of multiple seedling planting units 21, and despite its simple structure, it has the function to adjust the planting position of each row, enabling high-speed multi-row planting with a lightweight machine.

[0012] The second invention allows for manual adjustment of the planting position by the operator. [Brief explanation of the drawing]

[0013] [Figure 1] Overall perspective view of the work vehicle of the present invention, from the rear left side. [Figure 2] Perspective view of the planting device for the work vehicle of the present invention [Figure 3] Perspective view of the planting device for the work vehicle of the present invention with the frame removed. [Figure 4] Perspective view of a conventional work vehicle with the planting device frame removed. [Figure 5] Overall perspective view of a conventional work vehicle from the rear left side

Modes for Carrying Out the Invention

[0014] Hereinafter, the present invention will be described based on the embodiments shown in the drawings.

[0015] The work vehicle shown in FIGS. 1 to 5 shows an example of the present embodiment.

[0016] The background of the present invention will be described.

[0017] In recent years, mechanization has also become established in the cultivation of vegetables, and further large-scale and high-speed operations are desired. Among them, the need for machines that can transplant multiple rows simultaneously is increasing. However, compared with paddy field multi-row transplanting machines, the levelness of the field in upland farming is somewhat lower, and furthermore, in terms of the types of seedlings to be transplanted, there is a problem that the growth is easily affected by the depth of the planted seedlings.

[0018] However, in order to control the planting depth for each row, a detection sensor and a device for controlling the planting depth are required for each row, which makes the mechanical structure complicated and also makes it difficult to achieve stable planting in terms of vibration and other aspects.

[0019] In order to prevent such complication of the work vehicle and to achieve multi-row planting, a configuration of a work vehicle that solves this problem has been devised by providing a mechanism that can finely adjust each row in a configuration that integrates and plants multiple rows.

[0020] The overall configuration of the work vehicle of the present invention will be described.

[0021] The work vehicle 100 of the present invention includes a traveling vehicle body 1 that enables the machine body to travel forward, a steering handle 2 for walking operation provided at the rear of the traveling vehicle body 1, a planting device 20 that plants root vegetables such as potatoes and vegetable seedlings such as lettuce (hereinafter collectively referred to as seedlings) in the field, and a supply device 30 that supplies seedlings to the planting device 20.

[0022] The vehicle body 1 includes an electric motor 3, a battery 5 that supplies power to the electric motor 3, left and right drive rear wheels 7L and 7R that rotate using the driving force from a drive transmission case 6 that transmits the driving force of the electric motor 3 at a variable speed, a planting transmission case 8 that transmits the driving force at a variable speed to the planting device 20 and the supply device 30, and left and right front wheels 9L and 9R that are freely supported in front of the left and right drive rear wheels 7L and 7R.

[0023] A main frame 10 is positioned behind the electric motor 3, and the front sections of the long, front-to-back running case bodies 11L and 11R are rotatably attached to the left and right sides of the main frame 10.

[0024] The left and right drive rear wheels 7L and 7R are mounted on the left and right axles that protrude from the rear sides of the left and right drive case bodies 11L and 11R.

[0025] The driving force from the electric motor 3 is transmitted to the left and right axles via the drive transmission case 6, causing the left and right drive rear wheels 7L and 7R to rotate.

[0026] Furthermore, the left and right case bodies 11L and 11R are integrally attached to the mounting parts of the main frame 10, with the left and right arms 12L and 12R extending upward being attached together. The upper ends of each arm are connected to the tips of the piston rods of the left and right rear wheel electric cylinders 13L and 13R, which are fixed to the main frame 10.

[0027] When the left and right rear wheel electric cylinders 13L and 13R are activated and their piston rods protrude to the rear of the aircraft, the left and right arms 12L and 12R rotate to the rear, and consequently the left and right case bodies 11L and 11R rotate downward, causing the aircraft to rise. Conversely, when the piston rods of the left and right rear wheel electric cylinders 13L and 13R move to the front of the aircraft and retract into the cylinders, the left and right arms 12L and 12R rotate to the front, and consequently the left and right case bodies 11L and 11R rotate upward, causing the aircraft to descend.

[0028] The left and right rear wheel electric cylinders 13L and 13R are operated by ground sensors that make contact with the ridge surface and operate in response to changes in the vertical distance between the machine and the ridge surface. The operation of the ground sensors detects the height of the ridge surface relative to the machine, and the left and right rear wheel electric cylinders 13L and 13R are configured to operate based on the detection operation of the ground sensors so that the machine is at a set height relative to the height of the ridge surface.

[0029] Furthermore, since the left and right rear wheel electric cylinders 13L and 13R are located on the left and right sides of the machine body above the bases of the left and right case bodies 11L and 11R, space can be secured in the center of the vehicle body 1. In addition, since the left and right drive rear wheels 7L and 7R are moved up and down by the left and right rear wheel electric cylinders 13L and 13R respectively, the operating speed is increased and work efficiency is improved.

[0030] The left and right front wheels 9L and 9R are mounted on the left and right front axles, which are located at the lower ends of the left and right support bodies 14L and 14R, which are rotatably mounted on both sides of the main frame 10. Links 18L and 18R, which enable rotational drive of the left and right support bodies 14L and 14R, are joined to the outer circumference of the cylindrical shafts of the left and right support bodies 14L and 14R. By rotating the tip of these links, the left and right support bodies 14L and 14R can be easily rotated, and the position of the left and right front wheels 9L and 9R changes with rotation, thereby changing the distance between the front wheels of the work vehicle 100 and the ground.

[0031] Links 18L and 18R are connected to links 17L and 17R, and joined to the aforementioned left and right arms 12L and 12R. The links are configured to operate in accordance with the rotational movement of the left and right arms 12L and 12R.

[0032] The planting device 20 includes a beak-shaped seedling planting body 21 with its tip pointing downward, an up-and-down movement mechanism 22 that moves the seedling planting body 21 up and down between a position where the lower end of the seedling planting body 21 is above the field surface and a position where it is below the field surface, and an opening and closing mechanism that opens and closes the seedling planting body 21 into a closed state in which the lower end of the beak-shaped seedling planting body 21 is closed to receive seedlings from above and house the seedlings inside, and an open state in which the lower end of the seedling planting body 21 is opened to the left and right to release the seedlings housed inside downward.

[0033] The supply device 30 includes a plurality of seedling containers 31 that receive seedlings from above and house the seedlings inside, a movement mechanism that moves the seedling containers 31 in a circular motion so that they pass above the seedling planting body 21, and an opening mechanism that opens the bottom of the seedling containers 31 at a position above the seedling planting body 21, allowing the seedlings housed inside to fall and supply the seedlings to the seedling planting body 21. The planting device 20 has a four-row planting configuration with four seedling planting bodies 21 arranged in the left-right direction of the machine.

[0034] The opening and closing mechanism of the seedling planting body 21 is configured to open downwards when the seedling planting body 21 reaches the lower end position, in conjunction with the operation of the vertical movement mechanism 22, and to close the lower side of the seedling planting body 21 when the seedling planting body 21 reaches the upper end position, thereby closing it.

[0035] The structure of the seedling planting body 20 of the present invention is shown in Figure 1, and the structure of a conventional seedling planting body 20 is shown in Figures 4 and 5. By comparing these two figures, the structural differences will be clarified. Note that the same components shown in Figure 1 and components or elements used in Figure 5 are indicated by adding "A" to the end of their reference numerals.

[0036] One of the major differences between the seedling planting unit 20 and the seedling planting unit 21 is the direction in which the seedling planting unit 21 opens. In conventional machines, the seedling planting unit 210 opens perpendicular to the direction of work of the work vehicle 100. In contrast, the seedling planting unit 21 opens parallel to the direction of work of the work vehicle 100.

[0037] Unlike conventional seedling planting units 210, which open perpendicular to the working direction 102A of the work vehicle 100A, the seedling planting unit 210 needs to be used to close the holes made in the field during planting. The compaction wheels 500 are positioned at the rear and are used to mound soil. These compaction wheels are needed on both the left and right sides to accommodate the lateral spread of the seedling planting unit 210. Figure 5 shows a configuration with four rows, but eight compaction wheels are required. Therefore, the work vehicle has a large number of parts. In order to simplify the work vehicle in this state, the basic configuration of the invention is one that eliminates the compaction wheels.

[0038] As shown in Japanese Patent Publication No. 2023-153977, the rotating drive shaft 43, which serves as the center of rotation for the vertical movement mechanism 22, and the swinging plate 44, whose rear end is pivotally supported by the swinging arm 45, are configured to swing back and forth. As a result, the lifting arm 48 and the sub-link 49 swing back and forth together with the vertical movement of the rotating drive shaft, creating a front-to-back bulge in the vertical trajectory L of the seedling planting body 21. This allows the plant to enter the ground perpendicularly when planting in the field and to be pulled out in the direction of travel, resulting in effortless removal and allowing the soil above to cover the hole naturally. By adopting the vertical trajectory L shown in Figure 2, it became possible to eliminate the conventionally required compaction wheel.

[0039] Because the bulging trajectory of this lifting trajectory L generates vibrations, it is not impossible to use a configuration that shifts the phases of each movement, but the seedling planting body 21 may tilt due to vibrations, making it impossible to plant at the appropriate depth. Therefore, in order to transmit the movement of the lifting arm 48 and the sub-link 49 in a balanced manner, a configuration in which multiple rows are planted together with the same movement is considered effective. With the planting frame 50 of the present invention that encloses multiple rows, the seedling planting bodies 21A and 21B can move simultaneously along the same trajectory.

[0040] The seedling planting unit 21A can change the row width using the planting frame 50 and slide 51. Furthermore, by using slide 52, the front-to-back position relative to the direction of travel can be changed, making it possible to change the planting positions of seedling planting units 21A and 21B. When the distance between seedling planting units 21A and 21B is widened to the maximum extent, staggered planting becomes possible.

[0041] Although the connection between each slide 51 and the seedling planting body 21 is omitted in each figure, it is fixed with fasteners such as screws, and any member that allows the fastening force to be weakened to move, and then increased again at the desired position to fix it in place is acceptable. The same applies to slide 52.

[0042] Figure 3 shows the seedling planting units 21A and 21B with the planting frames 50 removed, and by comparing it with the seedling planting units 21C and 21D, the opening and closing mechanism of the hopper 25 is displayed.

[0043] The first invention has multiple seedling planting units 21 that open in a direction parallel to the direction of work progress 101, and the multiple seedling planting units 21 are held by a planting frame 50 that connects them as a single unit, and the planting frame 50 is equipped with a slide 52 that can adjust the position of the seedling planting units 21 in a direction parallel to the direction of work progress 101 and a slide 51 that can adjust the position of the seedling planting units 21 in a direction perpendicular to the direction of work progress 102, and has a mechanism that allows the planting position in the field to be adjusted individually for each seedling planting unit 21 while simultaneously moving the multiple seedling planting units 21 held by the planting frame 50.

[0044] <Seedling supply> The supply device 30 has a configuration comprising: a plurality of seedling containers 31, each having a cylindrical body with an opening at the top and bottom and a bottom cover that opens and closes the lower opening of the cylindrical body, and being connected to each other in a loop like an endless chain; a movement mechanism that rotates the seedling containers 31 counterclockwise in an elongated oval loop-shaped trajectory that is long from left to right in a plan view of the machine, while passing near the top of the seedling planting body 21; an opening mechanism that opens the bottom cover of the seedling containers 31 at a position above the seedling planting body 21; and a cover body 32 that guides the inner circumference of the plurality of seedling containers 31 connected in a loop and covers the inner circumference. The cover body 32 has a shallow basin-like structure and can hold a large number of seedlings to be supplied to the seedling containers 31.

[0045] The opening mechanism of the supply device 30 is configured such that when the seedling container 31 passes above the seedling planting body 21, the bottom cover is released from the support and rotates downward, opening the bottom cover so that the seedlings inside the seedling container 31 can fall downward. The timing of the opening of the bottom cover of the seedling container 31 is adjusted so that it opens when the seedling planting body 21 rises to directly below the seedling container 31.

[0046] In this manner, the timing of the opening of the bottom lid of the seedling container 31 is adjusted. However, since the seedling planting units 21A and 21B move simultaneously by the planting frame 50, the timing of their movement must be controlled by the operator, separate from the timing of the opening of the bottom lid of the seedling container 31. Therefore, each planting unit of the seedling planting device 20 is equipped with a shutter for temporarily holding seedlings, and a backup device is also provided that allows seedlings to be dropped into the hopper by operating each lever. The seedling planting unit 21A has a lever 21A, and the seedling planting unit 21B has a lever 21B. Manual operation is also possible by opening and closing these levers.

[0047] In the diagram, the seedling planting unit 21C has a lever 21C, and the seedling planting unit 21D has a lever 21D. While the example shows a configuration with four rows divided into two pairs, configurations with multiple seedling planting units, such as an eight-row configuration with four rows on one side, are also possible.

[0048] The second invention is that the seedling planting unit 21A is equipped with a shutter mechanism 26A for holding seedlings, which is linked to a lever 23A for opening and closing the shutter, and by operating the lever 23A, seedlings can be supplied into the hopper 25A of the seedling planting unit 21A, and the configuration has multiple seedling planting units 21A, each equipped with a shutter mechanism 26A for holding seedlings. [Explanation of symbols]

[0049] 20 Planting equipment 21 Seedling planting unit 22 Vertical movement mechanism 23 (A, B, C, D) Lever 25 (A, B, C, D) Hoppers 26 (A, B, C, D) Shutter mechanism 50 planting frames 51 slides 52 slides 100 work vehicles 101 Parallel to the direction of work progress 102 Direction of work and perpendicular direction

Claims

1. It has multiple seedling planting units (21) that open in a direction parallel to the direction of work progress (101), and the multiple seedling planting units (21) are held together by a planting frame (50) that connects them as a single unit. The planting frame (50) is equipped with a slide (52) that allows the seedling planting body (21) to be adjusted and positioned in a direction parallel to the direction of work progress (101), and a slide (51) that allows the seedling planting body (21) to be adjusted and positioned in a direction perpendicular to the direction of work progress (102), A work vehicle equipped with a mechanism that allows for the simultaneous movement of multiple seedling planting units (21) held by a planting frame (50), while also allowing for individual adjustment of the planting position of each seedling planting unit (21) in the field.

2. The seedling planting unit (21A) is equipped with a shutter mechanism (26A) for holding seedlings, which is linked to a lever (23A) that opens and closes the shutter. By operating the lever (23A), seedlings can be supplied into the hopper (25A) of the seedling planting unit (21A). A work vehicle according to claim 1, having multiple seedling planting units (21A) each having a shutter mechanism (26A) for holding seedlings.

Images