JPH09226934A - Pitch changing mechanism for a plurality of heads - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To easily and accurately make a plurality of heads for transferring cell forming seedlings to the pots of other seedling trays or cups or the like on a conveyor coincide with the pitches of the pots of the seedling trays or carrier cups. SOLUTION: A guide rod is horizontally fixed to an attaching bracket 22, a plurality of head supporting bodies 27A to 27H are fitted in parallel on the guide rod so as to be freely slid, a long pitch regulating member is placed horizontally between the adjacent head supporting bodies and short pitch regulating members 29B to 29H are provided in the side faces of the head supporting bodies. A pitch changing cylinder 23 is provided between the head supporting body in one end and the head supporting body in the other end, a pitch changing rod 26 is horizontally placed in parallel with the guide rod, the short pitch regulating members 29B to 29H are fitted around the pitch changing rod in an axial direction so as to be freely slid and prevented from being rotated, contact pins are disposed in the side faces of the head supporting bodies 27A to 27H oppositely to the short pitch regulating members 29B to 29H and contact positions between the short pitch regulating members 29B to 29H and the contact pins is changed.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention sows seeds such as flowers and vegetables in a cell-forming seedling tray, and transfers the germinated cell-forming seedlings to a pot of another seedling tray or a cup on a conveyor. The present invention relates to a configuration for adjusting a plurality of heads to a pot of a seedling tray or a pitch of a carrier device cup.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, seeds such as flowers and vegetables are sown in each recess of a seedling tray in which recesses (pots) are formed in a grid pattern, and seedlings are cultivated to have a size of about 2 to 6 leaves after germination. Then, temporary planting was carried out in a temporary planting tray or a temporary planting pot (vinyl pot) having a recess slightly larger than the recessed part of the seedling tray, and further seedlings could be machine-planted or shipped in the temporary planting pot. In this way, a technique for transplanting a pot from one seedling tray to another pot is disclosed in, for example, Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 7-754.
It is known from No. 50. This technology conveys cell-formed seedlings raised in seedling trays one after another, projects the seedling trays from above each seedling tray with a CCD camera, etc., image-processes all or half or one row of seedling trays, and removes seedlings. It is configured so that only suitable cell-molded seedlings are taken out by the loading robot, temporary seedlings are temporarily planted one by one in the temporary planting pot, and the temporary planting pots are stored in a basket placed in a grid pattern. Was there.

[0003]

Since the temporary planting device of the prior art has a structure in which the cell-forming seedlings are grasped and conveyed one by one, the time for replanting is long and the efficiency is poor. Therefore, although it is possible to efficiently replant several plants at a time, the pitch of the pots of the seedling tray and the pitch of the temporary planting pots are different, so a pitch changing mechanism is required. In order to change this pitch, it is possible to change the pitch of the head by providing a head on each pivot of the pantograph-like link and changing the angle of this link. If it is not, smooth expansion and contraction cannot be performed, so accurate positioning is difficult, and errors from play accumulate as the distance from the reference side increases, so the position of the head farthest from the reference side may deviate more than the set position. was there. Also,
Depending on the seedling tray, a wide rib portion for reinforcement may be provided at the center in the width direction, and the pitch could not be adjusted to the seedling tray whose pitch changes in the middle.

[0004]

The problems to be solved by the present invention are as described above. Next, the means for solving the above problems will be described. That is, a guide rod is horizontally mounted on the mounting bracket, a plurality of head supports are slidably fitted in parallel on the guide rod, and a long-pitch defining member is horizontally mounted between adjacent head supports. In addition, a short pitch defining member is provided on the side surface of each head support, and a pitch changing actuator is interposed between the head support on one end side and the head support on the other end side.

Further, a pitch changing rod is laid horizontally in parallel with the guide rod, and the short pitch defining member is slidably axially fitted onto the pitch changing rod and non-rotatably fitted on the pitch changing rod. A plurality of contact surfaces at different positions are formed on the outer peripheral surface of the regulation member at right angles to the axial direction, contact pins are arranged on the side surface of the head support so as to face the contact surface, and the pitch changing rod is rotated. The contact position between the short pitch regulating member and the contact pin can be changed to change the short pitch.
Conversely, on the outer surface of the short pitch regulating member, a plurality of contact surfaces at different positions are formed at right angles to the axial direction to form a long pitch regulating portion, and the long pitch regulating portion is contacted by a brim-shaped contact rod. The contact position is changed so that the contact position can be changed by rotating the pitch changing rod.

[0006]

Next, an embodiment will be described. 1 is an overall front view of the pot raising device, FIG. 2 is an overall plan view of the pot raising device, FIG. 3 is a left side view of the pot raising device, FIG. 4 is a front view of the sensing conveyor C, and FIG. 5 is a short pitch. 6 is a bottom view of the change mechanism, FIG. 7 is a partially enlarged bottom view of the short pitch change mechanism, and FIG. 8 is an X section of FIG.
-X arrow view, FIG. 9 is a side view partial sectional view of the chuck device of the seedling extracting section, FIG. 10 is a front view thereof, FIG. 11 is a side view partial sectional view of the chuck device of the seedling loading section, and FIG. FIG. 13 is a front view partially sectional view of the long pitch changing mechanism, FIG. 13 is a bottom view thereof, and FIG. 14 is a partially enlarged bottom view partially sectional view of the long pitch changing mechanism.

With reference to FIGS. 1, 2 and 3, the overall construction of the bowl raising device equipped with the pitch changing mechanism for a plurality of heads according to the present invention will be described. A caster wheel for movement is arranged in the lower part of the framed frame base H, and a pair of conveyors are arranged in parallel in the front-rear direction on the upper part of the frame base H, and one of them accommodates the cell-formed seedlings after seedling raising. The supply conveyor 10 that conveys the seedling tray P is provided, and the other one is provided as the complementary conveyor 11 that conveys the complementary tray S that stores only normal cell-forming seedlings after the determination. The supply conveyor 10
A controller is housed on the left side of the rear part and a control panel 1 having an operation panel is arranged. The size of the seedling tray P and the size of the cell-forming seedlings can be set, and the transfer of the cell-forming seedlings described later is controlled. I am trying. At a substantially central portion in the front and rear of the frame base H, a sensing conveyor C is disposed so as to cross over both conveyors of the supply conveyor 10 and the complementary conveyor 11 in a right-angled (left-right) direction. A seedling discriminating device F is arranged.

The seedling tray P stores cell-formed seedlings G after raising seeds, and the seedling trays P are sequentially placed at the rear of the supply conveyor 10 and synchronized with the driving of the seedling extracting section B forward. And then transported. The supply conveyor 10 and the complementary conveyor 11 are flat belts and are driven by a motor (not shown). The complementary conveyor 11 is a complementary tray S
Is placed and conveyed from the front to the rear in synchronization with the driving of the sensing conveyor C. In the potting device, the seedling tray P and the complementary tray S are exactly the same, and the seedling tray P after extracting the cell-molded seedling G can be used as the complementary tray S, but at that time, the infection of diseases is prevented. Need to be washed in order to do. Further, when transplanting to the temporary plant pot, a tray on which the temporary plant pot is mounted is placed instead of the complementary tray S, and the pitch is also changed by the pitch changing mechanism of the present invention.

A seedling extraction section B is provided above the intersection of the sensing conveyor C and the supply conveyor 10, and between the seedling tray P conveyed by the supply conveyor 10 and the cup 9 on the sensing conveyor C, seedlings are collected. The extracting part B moves back and forth and vertically at the same time to extract the cell-formed seedlings on the seedling tray P and transfer them to the cup 9. In addition, a seedling loading section E is provided above the intersection of the sensing conveyor C and the complementary conveyor 11, and the cup 9 and the complementary conveyor 11 are provided.
The seedling loading section E moves forward, backward, up and down simultaneously with the seedling supplementary tray S conveyed by, and holds the cell-formed seedling in the cup 9 and transfers it to the pot of the seedling supplementary tray S.

The seedling extraction section B is arranged so as to convey the cell-forming seedling G from the front side of the supply conveyor 10 behind the sensing conveyor C to the cup 9, and the seedling loading section E is arranged from the cup 9 of the sensing conveyor C. The cell-formed seedlings G are arranged on the rear side supplement conveyor 11 on the rear side supplement conveyor 11 so that the cell-formed seedlings G are conveyed to the subsequent process side.
So that the cell-forming seedling G does not hit the bottom of the chain and the height of the upper part of the chain 20 is made as close as possible to the upper surfaces of the supply conveyor 10 and the complementary conveyor 11 so that the height is suppressed and the center of gravity is lowered. I am configuring.

As shown in FIGS. 1 to 4, the sensing conveyor C has a support frame 3 on an upper portion of the frame base H.
6 sideways, one side (left side) driven sprocket 34.
34 is rotatably supported, and a drive sprocket 35 and a driven sprocket 34 are arranged on the other side (right side). The drive sprocket 35 is rotationally driven by a motor 7 to drive the driven sprocket 34, 34, 34 and the drive sprocket 34. A chain (or belt) 20 is wound between 35, and the cups 9, 9 ... Are fixed on the outer periphery of the chain 20 at regular intervals. Partition plates 6 are provided on the left and right sides of each cup 9 at right angles to the conveying direction, and the cell-forming seedlings G are inserted into the cups 9 to identify seedling discriminating devices F.
When making a pass / fail determination in step 2, the adjacent cell-forming seedlings G are positioned on the determined cup so that two seedlings do not coexist and one cell-forming seedling can be surely identified. The sensing conveyor C is the supply conveyor 1
The upper part of both the 0 and the complementary conveyor 11 is arranged in the vertical direction so as to rotate in the left-right direction. Then, the discriminating device F processes the video signal from the camera 55 composed of two sets of CCD cameras and the like by the image processing device to judge the quality of the cell molding seedling.

Columns 2, 2 ... Are erected up and down between the supply conveyor 10 and the complementary conveyor 11 on the frame base H, and the horizontal frame 3 is provided between the upper ends of the columns 2, 2.・ 3
Is horizontally installed, the seedling extracting section B is arranged on the side surface of the left lateral frame 3, and the seedling loading section E is arranged on the side surface of the right lateral frame 3. Since the seedling extracting section B and the seedling loading section E have substantially the same configuration, the seedling extracting section B will be described. As shown in FIG. 3, the front-back raising / lowering mechanism of the seedling extracting section B is provided with a roller guide formed in an arc shape in a side view on a side surface of the horizontal frame 3 provided in the front-rear direction between the upper portions of the columns 2 and 2. A guide rail is arranged in the front-rear direction, a roller attached to the seedling picking support 21 is fitted to the roller guide, and a slider is fitted between the guide rail and the seedling picking support 21 so as to be slidable back and forth and up and down. However, a moving cylinder 16 is interposed between the seedling picking support 21 and the pillar 2.

Therefore, by expanding and contracting the moving cylinder 16, the seedling-picking support 21 is moved in parallel and diagonally up and down along the seedling-picking roller guide and the guide rail, and the seedling-picking section B moves up and down and back and forth. The movements are performed at the same time so that they can reciprocate between above the sensing conveyor C and above the seedling tray P. The contracted position and the extended position of the moving cylinder 16 are detected by a sensor to detect when the seedling is taken out and when the seedling is temporarily placed.

Then, a head having a pitch changing mechanism and a chuck device for taking seedlings is attached to the seedling taking support 21. The chuck devices are laterally arranged by the same number or half or a fraction as the number of pots in one row of the seedling tray P, and the pitch changing mechanism 13 of the present invention allows the pitch of the pots of the seedling tray P and the cup of the sensing conveyor C to be changed. It is configured so that it can be adjusted to a pitch of 9.

The pitch changing mechanism 13 of the present invention is shown in FIGS.
As shown in, the piston rod 1 of the lifting cylinder 17
It is attached to the lower end of 7a by a mounting bracket 22,
A change cylinder 23 as a pitch change actuator is fixed on the mounting bracket 22 in the left-right direction. Support plates 24L and 24R are provided on the lower left and right sides of the mounting bracket 22 in a protruding manner, and guide rods 25 and 25 and a pitch changing rod 26 are provided between the supporting plates 24L and 24R in parallel with the changing cylinder 23. Head support members 27A, 27B, 27C on the guide rods 25, 25 and the pitch changing rod 26.
・ 27D, 27E, 27F, 27G and 27H are slidably fitted in parallel.

The head supports 27 are provided so as to sandwich the cell-formed seedlings G by a chucking device described later, and the number of the cell-formed seedlings G is conveyed at one time. In the present embodiment, eight head supports 27 are provided. Body 27A / 27B / 27C / 2
A chuck device described later is attached to each of the front ends (or the rear ends) of the 7D, 27E, 27F, 27G, and 27H. The head support 27A, 27B, 27C, 27D
The expanded state of 27E, 27F, 27G, and 27H is adjusted to the pitch of the cups 9 ... of the sensing conveyor C, and the narrowed state is adjusted to the pitch of the pots of the seedling tray.

The head support 27A is supported by the support plate 2 by a positioning bolt 38 and a stopper bolt 39R.
Positioned and fixed to 4R. In addition, the positioning bolt 38 can be moved left and right, and the stopper bolt 39R
The support plate 24 is fixed on the circumference of the support plate 24
The reference position can be changed by fixing the shaft passing through R and rotating the shaft. On the other hand, the head support 27H on the left end side is the piston rod 2 of the changing cylinder 23.
It is fixed to a connecting plate 37 fixed to the tip of 3a, and the connecting plate 37 has a hole 22 opened at the center of the mounting bracket 22.
The hole 22b is penetrated so that the hole 22b can be moved left and right. That is, the head support 27A and the head support 27
The change cylinder 23 is interposed between H and the head supports between the head supports 27A and 27H are connected to each other by long pitch defining members 32 described later.

The long pitch regulating members 32A, 32B, 32
C, 32D, 32E, 32F and 32G are composed of bolts or pins of the same length, and each head support 2
7B / 27C / 27D / 27E / 27F / 27G / 27
The head support members 27A and 27 on the right side are slidably inserted in parallel with the guide rod 25 through the through holes provided on the side surface of H.
When fixed to B / 27C / 27D / 27E / 27F / 27G and the pitch is expanded, the heads 32a / 32a of the long pitch regulating member 32 are located on the left side of the head support 27B / 2.
7C, 27D, 27E, 27F, 27G, and 27H are brought into contact with the side surfaces and stopped to perform long-pitch positioning. The head support 27H is stopped by the stopper bolt 39L when the stopper bolt 39L is projected from the support plate 24L toward the head support 27H and spreads out.

Further, the head supports 27A, 27B,
Abutting pins 33, 33, ... Are provided at the upper positions of the through holes of 27C, 27D, 27E, 27F, and 27G, respectively. On the other hand, the head supports 27B, 27C, 2
7D, 27E, 27F, 27G, and 27H, as shown in FIG.
Through the short pitch regulating member 29B / 29C / 29D / 2
One end of 9E / 29F / 29G / 29H is rotatably inserted and locked by retaining rings 31, 31 ... The short pitch regulating member 29B, 29C, 29D, 29E, 29
The pitch changing rod 26 is slidably inserted into the shaft center portion of the F / 29G / 29H, and the pitch changing rod 26 is composed of a square rod, a spline shaft, a flat shaft or the like, and a short pitch defining member 29. The shaft and the pitch changing rod 26 are slidable in the axial direction, but are not rotatable. One end of the pitch changing rod 26 has a support plate 2
4R is rotatably supported and the other end is a support plate 24L.
The rotation handle 30 is further projected and fixed so that it can be rotated manually. However, a gear or the like may be fixed to the pitch changing rod 26 so that the pitch changing rod 26 can be rotated automatically or remotely by using a motor or the like.

Further, each of the short pitch defining members 2
9B / 29C / 29D / 29E / 29F / 29G / 29
As shown in FIGS. 7 and 8, a plurality of (four in this embodiment) contact surfaces 29a, 29b, 29c are provided on the outer periphery of the right side surface of H.
29d is provided so that the distance is different in the axial direction by being offset from the center by a set angle (90 degrees in this embodiment) at right angles to the axial direction. Arranged so that any one of the contact surfaces 29a, 29b, 29c, 29d on the side of the short pitch regulating member 29 contacts the contact pins 33, 33 ... When they are brought into contact with each other, the pitch of the cell-forming seedling tray (K1, K2, K3, K4) is set.

With this structure, the short pitch regulating member 2 is provided at the position where the changing cylinder 23 is contracted.
9B / 29C / 29D / 29E / 29F / 29G / 29
The contact surface 29a (or 29b · 2) set on the right end surface of H
9c / 29d) is the head support 27A / 2.
7B / 27C / 27D / 27E / 27F / 27G, contacting with the contact pins 33, 33 ...
The spacing is adjusted to the pitch of the recesses (pots) of the seedling tray P. When the change cylinder 23 is extended from this state,
The connecting plate 37 fixed to the tip of the piston rod 23a pulls the head support 27H, and the adjacent head support 27G
The head portion 32a of the longer pitch defining member 32G that is further protruded comes into contact with the left surface of the head support member 27H and is adjusted to the pitch of the cups 9 and 9 of the sensing conveyor C. And
Long pitch regulating member 32F / 32E one after another as it extends
・ 32D ・ 32C ・ 32B ・ 32A heads 32a ・ 32
a: head support 27G / 27F / 27E / 27
D. 27C and 27B are brought into contact with each other in order, and the cups 9 and 9 of the sensing conveyor C are aligned with each other and positioned.

Since the pitch when the changing cylinder 23 is contracted is an interval matched with the pitch of the pot of the seedling tray P, when the seedling tray is changed, it is necessary to change according to the pitch of the pot. Therefore, when the change cylinder 23 is extended, the rotation handle 30 is rotated to contact the contact pins 33.
..Abutting surfaces 29a, 29b, 29c at positions opposed to
29d is pitch-matched and selected to change the position. At this time, the short pitch regulating member 29B on the pitch changing rod 26
-29C / 29D / 29E / 29F / 29G / 29H can be rotated simultaneously and the pitch can be changed at the same time. However,
The rotating handle 30 is operated by a motor, etc.
Alternatively, the seedling tray can be detected and automatically changed. Further, the head portion 32a of the long pitch regulating member 32 may be constituted by a nut so that it can be finely adjusted. Further, the contact pin 33 can also be made of a bolt so that it can be finely adjusted. The plunger bolt 40 is screwed from the lower surface of the support plate 34L to position the pitch changing rod 26 for pitch selection.

Depending on the type of seedling tray, ribs may be provided in parallel with the pots to reinforce, and the pitch may deviate for each fixed amount of pots. In such a case, by exchanging the short pitch regulating member, the intervals at arbitrary positions can be widened or narrowed to have different intervals.

The above-mentioned configuration is a configuration for changing the pitch when the changing cylinder 23 is contracted, but it is also possible to change the pitch when the changing cylinder 23 is extended. That is, as shown in FIGS. 12, 13 and 14, the short pitch defining members 29B, 29C, 29D, 2
A plurality of contact surfaces 29a, 29b, 29c, 29d are provided on the outer periphery of the right side surface of 9E, 29F, 29G, 29H at right angles to the axial direction and at different distances to form a long pitch defining portion,
The long pitch regulating member 32A, 32B, 32C, 32D
・ 32E ・ 32F ・ 32G contact rods 12A ・ 12B
・ 12C ・ 12D ・ 12E ・ 12F ・ 12G, applicable contact rods 12A ・ 12B ・ 12C / 12D ・ 12E ・ 1
2F and 12G tips have brims 12a, 12a, and
.. forming the contact surfaces 29a, 29b, 29c, 2
It is configured so that it can come into contact with any of 9d.

With this structure, the short pitch defining member 2 is provided at the position where the changing cylinder 23 is contracted.
9A, 29B, 29C, 29D, 29E, 29F, 29
The left and right end surfaces of G.29H come into contact with each other, and the spacing is adjusted to the pitch of the recesses (pots) of the seedling tray P. When the changing cylinder 23 is extended from this state, the head support 27H is pulled by the connecting plate 37 fixed to the tip of the piston rod 23a, and at the same time, the contact rod 12G slides at the same time, and the brim portion 12a has a short pitch. Member 29G
Contact surface 29a (or 29
b, 29c, 29d), the gap between the heads between the 8th and 7th is adjusted to the pitch of the cup 9, and further extended so that the brim portion 12a of the contact rod 12F is a short pitch defining member. Abutting against the contact surface 29a of 29F, the distance between the seventh and sixth heads is adjusted to the pitch of the cup 9. Similarly, the heads between the 5th and 1st are also slid in the same manner, and the pitch of the cup 9 (J1, J2,
J3 / J4) is positioned. Pitch (J1
When changing (J2, J3, J4), the rotary handle 30 is rotated in the same manner as described above, and the contact surfaces 29a, 29b, 29c, 2 on which the brim portion 12a of the contact rod 12 is located.
The long pitch can be changed by changing 9d.

Next, the head supports 27A, 27B, 2
The structure of the chuck device attached to the 7C / 27D will be described with reference to FIGS. 9, 10 and 11. The chuck device shown in FIG. 9 is attached to the seedling extracting section B, and each chuck device is attached to the head support 27A, 27B, 27C, 27D, 27E, 27F via the mounting plates 41, 41, ....
The chuck opening / closing cylinder 49 is fixed directly to the mounting plate 41 by being fixed to 27G / 27H. FIG. 11 shows a state in which the mounting plate 4 is mounted on the seedling loading section E.
A chuck elevating cylinder 19 for elevating the chuck device is vertically fixed to the upper surface of the chuck 1, and a chuck opening / closing cylinder 49 is fixed to the tip of the piston rod of the chuck elevating cylinder 19. At the bottom of the case of the chuck opening / closing cylinder 49, the claw mounts 51, 51 are provided with opening / closing fulcrum shafts 50.5.
It is attached so that it can swing around 0, and a claw mount 51 is attached to the tip of the piston rod 49a of the chuck opening / closing cylinder 49.
・ One end of 51 is pivotally connected. The opening / closing cylinder 49 of the pawl opening / closing mechanism is constantly urged to a contracted state by a spring 53.

The upper and lower cylinders 42, 42 are respectively provided on the other side of the claw mounts 51, 51, that is, on the outer side in the front-rear direction.
Two chuck claws 5, 5 are integrally attached to the tips of the piston rods 42a, 42a of the upper and lower cylinders 42, 42 in parallel with the extending and contracting direction of the upper and lower cylinders 42, respectively. On one side of the front and rear, the middle part of the chuck claws 5, 5 is slidably supported by the support plate 52, and the lower part of the chuck claws 5, 5 is provided at the lower end of the support rod 47 extending below the support plate 52. It is supported by a seedling holder 46 so that it can slide up and down.

With such a construction, when the cell-formed seedling G is taken out from the seedling tray P, the chuck claws 5 are positioned above the cell-formed seedling G with the pitch changing mechanism 13 being in a narrow pitch state. With the opening / closing cylinder 49 in the contracted state, the lifting cylinder 17 is extended so that the seedling retainer 46 is located above the pot,
When 2 is extended (Fig. 9), the chuck claws 5 and 5 are guided by the support plates 51 and 51 and the seedling holders 46 and 46, and at the angle matching the pot shape of the seedling tray P. Pierce into, and in this state lift cylinder 1
When 7 is reduced, the cell forming seedling G is lifted while being pierced and pinched on the side surface of the root pot Ga, and the moving cylinder 16
Can be extended and moved above the cup 9 of the sensing conveyor C.

When the pitch changing mechanism 13 is widened above the cup 9 and the chuck device is adjusted to the pitch of the cup 9 and the elevating cylinder 17 is extended, the cell forming seedling G is lowered and the cup 9 is moved. Go inside,
When the upper and lower cylinders 42 are contracted in this state, the chuck claws 5 are raised, and at this time, the root pot Ga of the cell-shaped seedling G adheres to the chuck claws 5 and tries to rise.
The cell-molded seedling G is pressed by and remains in the cup 9, and the chuck claws 5 are removed. Next open / close cylinder 4
When 9 is extended and the chuck claws 5 are opened, they are completely separated from the root pot Ga and the temporary placement is completed. Then, the lifting cylinder 17 is reduced, and the same operation as above is repeated to carry out seedling tray P.
The cell-molded seedlings are transferred to the cup 9 of the sensing conveyor C.

Then, the temporarily placed cell-molded seedlings are conveyed by the sensing conveyor C, and the quality of the seedlings is judged on the way, and only the normal seedlings are chucked in the seedling loading section E and complemented from the cup 9. Transferred to tray S.
That is, when transferring an appropriate cell-molded seedling G from the sensing conveyor C to the complementary tray S, a moving cylinder (not shown) is extended to position the seedling loading section E above the sensing conveyor C, and the pitch is changed. The chuck 13 is adjusted to the pitch of the cup 9 with the mechanism 13 expanded to a long pitch state, the opening / closing cylinder 49 (FIG. 11) is extended to open the chuck claws 5 and 5, and the upper and lower cylinders 42 are also extended to expand the chuck claws 5.5. When the cell-molded seedlings projected by the sensing conveyor C are normal, the chuck elevating cylinder 19 is extended to position the lower parts of the chuck claws 5 on the side of the cup 9 to open and close. When the cylinder 49 is contracted, the chuck claws 5 are rotated in a sandwiching direction, and the lower end of the chuck claws 5 pass through the notches 9e and 9e to form the cell forming seedling. Grab the root ball Ga. Then, when the chuck elevating cylinder 19 is contracted, the cell molding seedling G is lifted. If there is an improper cell-forming seedling, normal cell-forming seedlings are sequentially fed until the head of the seedling, and only normal seedlings are sequentially chucked from the lower side of conveyance.

When the cell molding seedlings are gripped by all the chucks, the pitch changing mechanism 13 is narrowed to a short pitch state, the moving cylinder is reduced and positioned above the complementary tray S, and the chuck elevating cylinder 19 is extended again. When the cell molding seedling G is inserted into the pot of the complementary tray S and the upper and lower cylinders 42 are contracted, the chuck claws 5 are withdrawn, and the root pot Ga of the cell molding seedling G is pressed by the seedling holder 46. The cell-shaped seedling G is loaded in the pot of the complementary tray S. In addition, an inappropriate cell-molded seedling is discharged by a means such as blowing it off with air.

[0032]

As described above, the present invention has the following advantages. That is, a plurality of head supports are slidably fitted in parallel on a guide rod, a long-pitch defining member is provided horizontally between adjacent head supports, and a short-pitch is defined on the side surface of each head support. Since a pitch change actuator was provided between the head support on one end side and the head support on the other end side, when the pitch change actuator was extended, each head was moved to a long pitch by the long pitch regulation member. When the pitch change actuator is contracted, the head support comes into contact with the short pitch regulating member so that each head can be positioned at a short pitch, and the pitch can be divided into two stages of extension and contraction. Can be changeable,
The pitch can be easily changed by the expansion and contraction mechanism, the structure is simple and the cost can be reduced. Moreover, since the rotation mechanism is not required at the time of expansion and contraction, no play is required and accurate positioning can be performed.

Further, a pitch changing rod is installed horizontally in parallel with the guide rod, and the short pitch regulating member is fitted onto the pitch changing rod so as to be axially slidable and non-rotatable.
A contact surface at a plurality of different positions is formed on the outer peripheral surface of the short pitch regulating member at a right angle to the axial direction, and an abutment pin is arranged on the side surface of the head support member so as to face the contact surface. Since it is possible to change the contact position between the short pitch regulation member and the contact pin by rotating, multiple positions can be set by changing the contact surface of the short pitch regulation member by reducing the pitch change actuator and stopping it. It becomes possible to change in multiple stages, and it is possible to easily adapt to the pitch of seedling pots of different seedling trays and seedling trays of unequal pitch depending on the size of seedling tray, and the changing operation rotates the pitch changing rod. Can be easily adjusted by just Also, by changing the short pitch regulating member, it is possible to match the pitches of more kinds of seedling trays.

Further, a plurality of contact surfaces at different positions are formed on the outer peripheral surface of the short pitch defining member at right angles to the axial direction to form a long pitch defining portion, and the brim portion of the contact rod abuts on the long pitch defining portion. With this configuration, conversely to the above, it becomes possible to define the long pitch at the stop position where the pitch changing actuator is extended, and when the pitch changing rod is rotated, the contact position is changed and a plurality of pitches are changed. In addition, the short pitch defining member and the long pitch defining portion can be used together.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is an overall front view of a pot raising device of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is an overall plan view of the pot raising device.

FIG. 3 is a left side view of the pot raising device.

FIG. 4 is a front view of a sensing conveyor.

FIG. 5 is a front view partially sectional view of a short pitch changing mechanism.

FIG. 6 is a bottom view of the same.

FIG. 7 is a partially enlarged bottom view and partially sectional view of the short pitch changing mechanism.

8 is a view as viewed in the direction of arrows XX in FIG. 7;

FIG. 9 is a side view partial cross-sectional view of the chuck device of the seedling extracting unit.

FIG. 10 is a front view of the same.

FIG. 11 is a side view partially sectional view of the chuck device of the seedling loading section.

FIG. 12 is a partial front sectional view of a long pitch changing mechanism.

FIG. 13 is a bottom view of the same.

FIG. 14 is a partially enlarged bottom view and partially sectional view of the long pitch changing mechanism.

[Explanation of symbols]

 12 Abutment Rod 12a Collar 13 Pitch Change Mechanism 22 Mounting Bracket 23 Change Cylinder 25 Guide Rod 26 Pitch Change Rod 27 Head Support 29 Short Pitch Ruler 29a / 29b / 29c / 29d Abutment Surface 32 Long Pitch Ruler 33 33 Contact pin

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[Procedure amendment]

[Submission date] March 18, 1997

[Procedure amendment 1]

[Document name to be amended] Statement

[Name of item to be corrected] 0024

[Correction method] Change

[Correction contents]

[0024] The configuration is a configuration for changing the pitch when the reduced change cylinder 23, a configuration for changing the pitch when stretching the change cylinders 23, NaeSo
Applied to the filling section E, and when reduced, the sensing conveyor
When extended to the pitch of C cup 9, 9 ...
To be able to match the pitch of the seedling supplement tray S
This to be able to also. That is, FIG. 12, FIG. 13, FIG .
As shown in, the short pitch regulating members 29B, 29C,
29D, 29E, 29F, 29G, and 29H have a plurality of contact surfaces 29a, 29b, 29c, and 29d on the outer periphery of the right side surface at right angles to the axial direction at different distances to form a long pitch defining portion. Regulation member 32A, 32B, 32
Contact rod 12 for C, 32D, 32E, 32F, 32G
A / 12B / 12C / 12D / 12E / 12F / 12G
And applicable contact rods 12A, 12B, 12C, 12D.
Heads 12a, 12F, 12G are provided with brim 12a, respectively.
. 12a ... is formed and the contact surfaces 29a, 29b.
It is configured so that it can come into contact with either 29c or 29d. Then, in plan view, it abuts, for example, the abutment rod 12d.
The rods 12F overlap, but as shown in FIG.
The head is offset and the brim portions 12a, 12a ...
De Support 27A / 27B / 27C / 27D / 27E / 2
Do not interfere by fitting into the through hole (or recess) provided in 7F.
It is configured to

[Procedure amendment 2]

[Document name to be amended] Statement

[Name of item to be corrected] 0032

[Correction method] Change

[Correction contents]

[0032]

As described above, the present invention has the following advantages. That is, a plurality of head supports are slidably fitted in parallel on a guide rod, a long-pitch defining member is provided horizontally between adjacent head supports, and a short-pitch is defined on the side surface of each head support. Since a pitch change actuator was provided between the head support on one end side and the head support on the other end side, when the pitch change actuator was extended, each head was moved to a long pitch by the long pitch regulation member. When the pitch change actuator is contracted, the head support comes into contact with the short pitch regulating member so that each head can be positioned at a short pitch, and the pitch can be divided into two stages of extension and contraction. Can be changeable,
The expansion / contraction mechanism makes it easy to change the pitch, the structure is simple and the cost can be reduced, and since no rotation mechanism is required when expanding / contracting, no play is required, and the pantograph-type cumulative error is eliminated.
The error is smaller than the difference, and accurate positioning can be performed.

[Procedure 3]

[Document name to be amended] Statement

[Correction target item name] 0033

[Correction method] Change

[Correction contents]

Further, a pitch changing rod is installed horizontally in parallel with the guide rod, and the short pitch regulating member is fitted onto the pitch changing rod so as to be axially slidable and non-rotatable.
A contact surface at a plurality of different positions is formed on the outer peripheral surface of the short pitch regulating member at a right angle to the axial direction, and an abutment pin is arranged on the side surface of the head support member so as to face the contact surface. Since it is possible to change the contact position between the short pitch regulation member and the contact pin by rotating, multiple positions can be set by changing the contact surface of the short pitch regulation member by reducing the pitch change actuator and stopping it. It becomes possible to change in multiple stages, and it is possible to easily adapt to the pitch of seedling pots of different seedling trays and seedling trays of unequal pitch depending on the size of seedling tray, and the changing operation rotates the pitch changing rod. It's easy to set up, and there is no need to change the jig, and the setup change time
It can be shortened and the jig will not be lost . Also, by changing the short pitch regulating member, it is possible to match the pitches of more kinds of seedling trays.

[Procedure amendment 4]

[Document name to be amended] Statement

[Correction target item name] Brief description of drawings

[Correction method] Change

[Correction contents]

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is an overall front view of a pot raising device of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is an overall plan view of the pot raising device.

FIG. 3 is a left side view of the pot raising device.

FIG. 4 is a front view of a sensing conveyor.

FIG. 5 is a front view partially sectional view of a short pitch changing mechanism.

FIG. 6 is a bottom view of the same.

FIG. 7 is a partially enlarged bottom view and partially sectional view of the short pitch changing mechanism.

8 is a view as viewed in the direction of arrows XX in FIG. 7;

FIG. 9 is a side view partial cross-sectional view of the chuck device of the seedling extracting unit.

FIG. 10 is a front view of the same.

FIG. 11 is a side view partially sectional view of the chuck device of the seedling loading section.

FIG. 12 is a partial front sectional view of a long pitch changing mechanism.

FIG. 13 is a bottom view of the same.

FIG. 14 is a partially enlarged bottom view and partially sectional view of the long pitch changing mechanism.

15 (a) is a view taken in the direction of arrow UU in FIG.
13B is a view taken along the line V-V in FIG. 13, and FIG.
13 is a view taken along the line WW in FIG.
FIG.

[Explanation of Codes] 12 Abutment Rod 12a Collar 13 Pitch Change Mechanism 22 Mounting Bracket 23 Change Cylinder 25 Guide Rod 26 Pitch Change Rod 27 Head Support 29 Short Pitch Ruler 29a / 29b / 29c / 29d Abutment Surface 32 Long Pitch Regulation member 33 Contact pin ───────────────────────────────────────────── ─────────

[Procedure amendment]

[Submission date] March 18, 1997

[Procedure amendment 1]

[Document name to be amended] Drawing

[Correction target item name] FIG.

[Correction method] Change

[Correction contents]

FIG. 13

[Procedure amendment 2]

[Document name to be amended] Drawing

[Correction target item name] FIG.

[Correction method] Added

[Correction contents]

FIG.

Continued on the front page (72) Inventor Kenji Tomitsu 2-181-1, Inaji, Amagasaki-shi, Hyogo Pref.

Claims (3)

[Claims] 1. A guide rod is horizontally mounted on a mounting bracket, a plurality of head supports are slidably and parallelly fitted on the guide rods, and a long pitch defining member is provided between adjacent head supports. A plurality of heads are characterized in that they are laterally crossed and a short pitch regulating member is provided on the side surface of each head support, and a pitch changing actuator is interposed between the head support on one end side and the head support on the other end side. Pitch change mechanism. 2. The pitch changing mechanism for a plurality of heads according to claim 1, wherein the pitch changing rod is mounted horizontally in parallel with the guide rod, and the short pitch defining member is slidable in the axial direction on the pitch changing rod. Further, it is non-rotatably fitted outside, and a plurality of contact surfaces at different positions are formed on the outer peripheral surface of the short pitch regulating member at right angles to the axial direction, and the contact pin is provided on the side surface of the head support member so as to face the contact surface. And a pitch changing mechanism capable of changing the contact position between the short pitch defining member and the contact pin by rotating the pitch changing rod. 3. A pitch changing mechanism for a plurality of heads according to claim 1, wherein a pitch changing rod is laterally laid parallel to the guide rod, and the short pitch defining member is slidable in the axial direction on the pitch changing rod. Further, the non-rotatably externally fitted, a plurality of abutting surfaces at different positions are formed on the outer peripheral surface of the short pitch defining member at right angles to the axial direction to form a long pitch defining portion, and the long pitch defining portion is formed on the side surface of the head support. A plurality of contact rods each having a brim-shaped tip arranged opposite to the contact surface, and the contact position between the long pitch defining portion and the contact rod can be changed by rotating the pitch changing rod. Head pitch change mechanism.