JP3499656B2 - Soil leveling device - Google Patents

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a soil leveling device.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, a soil inserting device which is incorporated in a seedling raising plant as part of seeding work and is used for putting soil into a seedling raising box is known. A soil leveling device is provided side by side (for example, see Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 7-50932 filed by the present applicant).

This soil leveling device is provided with a brush capable of rotating around a horizontal axis so as to straddle the upper part of a transport device for transporting a soil container such as a nursery box. Is brought into sliding contact with the surface of the soil in the soil container transported on the transport device, whereby the soil is leveled. By the way, in this type of soil leveling device, a height adjusting mechanism is provided in order to make the height of the brush variable with respect to the transport device (soil container). Further, in the above-mentioned prior application, in order to make this height adjustment possible with one touch, an attachment member formed by bending a rod into a U-shape is attached to the horizontal axis of the brush and is provided on both end sides of this horizontal axis. The apparatus frame is provided with a height adjusting table capable of supporting the above-mentioned accessory member, and a plurality of engaging recesses having different heights are arranged in a row on the height adjusting table.

[0004]

By the way, in the seedling raising seeding equipment, one earthing apparatus may be used for both floor soil and soil covering. In that case, the soil leveling device attached to the soil-filling device is always operated to flatten the surface of the floor soil when the soil-filling device is used for floor soiling, but when used for covering soil. , It is not necessary to level the soil cover surface, so the brush should be retracted upward.

In order to retract the brush upward in this way, it is easy to set the above-mentioned accessory member to the retracted position of the height adjusting table, but to return it to the original leveled soil level. The original set height must be remembered, and setting mistakes may occur due to memory mistakes, etc., making it extremely complicated to set with caution. In addition, in the soil leveling device, it may be necessary to clean or replace the brush from the viewpoint of whether soil leveling work is possible or not, or periodically.
It often happens that the accessory is removed from the height adjustment table, and the brush must be adjusted to the original set height each time.

Further, the brush causes frictional resistance between the brush and the soil container due to repeated contact with the soil, etc. When the brushes are arranged in tandem in order to further raise the soil leveling accuracy, a larger frictional resistance is generated. , The soil container may be conveyed incorrectly. The present invention has been made in view of the above circumstances, and an object of the present invention is to provide an earth leveling device capable of reducing the troublesomeness associated with height adjustment as much as possible.

[0007]

In order to achieve the above object, the present invention takes the following technical means. That is, according to the first aspect of the present invention, in the soil leveling device configured to bring the brush rotating around the horizontal axis into sliding contact with the soil surface in the soil container, the biasing means for biasing the brush downward. And a height adjusting base in which a plurality of engaging recesses having different height positions that allow the attachment / detachment provided on the horizontal axis to be freely engaged and disengaged are provided, and the height adjusting base includes It is characterized in that a positioning member capable of locking the stopped state is provided at a position corresponding to each engaging recess.

With such a structure, in the height adjusting table, the alignment member can be used as a mark indicating a specific engaging recess. That is, when the brush is replaced or cleaned, the positioning member is stopped and locked in correspondence with the engaging recess that was supporting the accessory member at the initial stage. Then, after replacing the brush, the height of the brush can be returned to the original state only by engaging and supporting the additional member again in the engaging concave portion that is indexed by the alignment member. Therefore, in this case, it is not necessary to purposely adjust the height of the brush.

In such a soil leveling apparatus, the engaging recessed portion of the height adjusting table farthest from the brush is formed at a position for retracting the brush upward from the soil container (claim). 2). If this is the case, when one soil-filling device is used for both floor soil filling and soil-filling, when using the soil-filling device for covering soil, the brush should be easily retracted upward. And the restoration of the brush setting height by the alignment member is further utilized.

In such a soil leveling device, a transport device for loading and unloading the soil container to the lower part of the brush and a transport drive to the upper edge of the soil container against the rotational force of the brush acting on the soil container. It is possible to have a configuration in which an auxiliary transfer device that transmits force is provided side by side (claim 3). In this case, the soil container is transported while being sandwiched by the transport device and the auxiliary transport device, and passes through the portion corresponding to the soil leveling device (the portion that receives the rotation of the brush) as it is. There is no possibility that the rotation speed of the brush will slow down the transportation speed of the soil container, or that the soil container will not be jammed in the soil leveling device and will become congested.

[0011]

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. 1 and 2 show a soil leveling apparatus 1 which is one of the embodiments of the present invention, and this soil leveling apparatus 1 is used for soil containers 2 such as nursery boxes as shown in FIG. It is used for equipment rows that can be automatically seeded.

First, an outline of the automatic seeding equipment sequence will be given. Reference numeral 3 is a conveying device for the soil container 2, which is constituted by a conveyor structure using belts, van cords, chains, etc., or a roller roller conveyor structure or the like. The transport direction is from the left side to the right side in FIG. One soil leveling device 1 is provided for the transport device 3, and a fertilizer application device 4, an irrigation device 5, a sowing device 6, between the loading side end of the transport device 3 and the soil leveling device 1. A soil filling device 7 is provided, and a corner press 8 is provided downstream of the soil leveling device 1.

Although not shown in the drawing, the transfer device 3 includes
The lower part thereof is provided with a reverse feed conveying means which is parallel to this, or the stacking stock device of the soil containers 2 is connected to the end on the unloading side, so that a plurality of soil containers 2 are continuously transported. Is possible. In this automatic seeding equipment row, when an empty soil container 2 is supplied to the carry-in side end of the transport device 3, the soil container 2 is once fed to the soil inserting device 7. Then, in the soil filling device 7, as shown in FIG. 5, the soil from the hopper 10 comes to be dropped and supplied while interfering with the dispersal conveyor 11, and the soil soil of the soil container 2 has a substantially uniform thickness. Will be done. The soil container 2 sent out from the soil inserting device 7 is further subjected to soil leveling by the soil leveling device 1 and soil leveling of the corners near the front and rear walls of the nursery box by the corner press 8.

The soil container 2 thus sent to the carry-out side of the carrying device 3 is returned to the carrying-in side end of the carrying device 3 again by the above-mentioned reverse feeding carrying means or manual work (that is,
Try to convey it twice.) Then, by the next transportation, fertilization by the fertilizer application device 4, watering by the irrigation device 5, sowing by the seeding device 6, and soil covering supply by the soil filling device 7 are received.

It should be noted that the corner press 8 is arranged between the fertilizer application device 4 and the irrigation device 5 so that the soil thickness of the corner portion can be adjusted even after the fertilizer application. It is optional. Next, the earth leveling device 1 will be described in detail. As shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, the earth leveling device 1 includes a pair of left and right swing arms 14 that are held by a base frame 13 of a carrier device 3 in a vertically swingable manner via a lower fulcrum 14a. (See FIG. 5), and a brush 16 in the shape of a horizontally elongated cylinder that is rotatably provided around a horizontal shaft 15 that is installed between the upper ends of the swing arms 14.
The height adjusting mechanism 17 of the brush 16 is provided.

The base frame 13 of the transfer device 3 is provided with a pair of left and right device frames 20 in the shape of a standing plate.
These device frames 20 are formed with arcuate elongated holes 21 (see FIG. 5) for allowing the horizontal shaft 15 to move as the swing arm 14 swings. Brush 16
Is a natural (animal or plant) fiber material, a resin fiber material, around the barrel 23 that is non-rotatably fitted to the horizontal axis 15.
Alternatively, the flocking material 24 made of a wire or the like is flocked radially.

Since the illustrated conveying device 3 is a roller roller conveyor in which all or a proper number of rollers 26 are rotationally driven by the drive means 27 of the chain transmission system, the drive means 27 is driven by the chain transmission system. The drive distribution means 28 are arranged in parallel, and thereby the rotational power can be transmitted to the brush 16. However, the drive means 27 and the drive distribution means 28
Can be replaced with a belt transmission system, a gear transmission system, or the like.

The horizontal axis 15 has a long hole 2 in the device frame 20.
A large-diameter collar 30 is rotatably fitted in a portion penetrating 1 and a small-diameter collar 31 is rotatably fitted outside the large-diameter collar 30 in the axial direction. A spring shaft 33 is provided upright on the large-diameter collar 30, and a coil spring 34 is externally inserted on the spring shaft 33. On the other hand, the device frame 20 is provided with a spring receiving plate 35 into which the spring shaft 33 can be inserted but the coil spring 34 cannot. In this state, the coil spring 3
A compressive force along the spring shaft 33 is applied to 4. Therefore, these constitute the biasing means 37 for biasing the brush 16 downward.

On the other hand, the small-diameter collar 31 is an accessory member formed by bending a rod into a U-shape so as to connect the right and left so as to straddle the upper portion of the brush 16 at a height exceeding the apparatus frame 20. 39 are connected. On the other hand, the device frame 2
0 is a height adjustment table 4 which allows the attachment member 39 to be freely engaged and disengaged.
0 is provided. The height adjusting table 40 is a standing plate having a notched upper edge, and each notch is an engaging recess 41 having a different height position.

That is, the above-mentioned height adjusting mechanism 17 is constituted by these, and by selecting one of the engaging concave portions 41 to hook the auxiliary member 39, the horizontal shaft 15 is held. The height, that is, the height of the brush 16 (the degree to which the brush 16 slides on the soil in the soil container 2) can be adjusted. In addition, the accessory member 39,
Turnbuckle mechanisms 42 are provided on the left and right vertical rod portions extending in the radial direction from the horizontal axis 15, and fine adjustment of the height adjustment of the brush 16 is possible.

In the height adjusting table 40, the brush 16 can be held higher in the engaging recess 41 on the left side of FIG. The leftmost (the position farthest from the brush 16) engagement recess 41 (41A) is for evacuation so that the brush 16 can be raised to a position where it does not contact the soil container 2. In the soil leveling apparatus 1 having such a configuration, the height adjusting table 40 is provided with the positioning member 50 capable of locking the stopped state at a position corresponding to each engaging recess 41.

The alignment member 50 is a slide base portion 51 that is engaged with the upper edge portion of the apparatus frame 20 and is movably held in the front-rear direction, and from the slide base portion 51 to the height adjustment base 40. A guide protrusion 52 protruding upward along
And have. Slide base portion 5 of the alignment member 50
1 is provided with a bolt receiving portion 53 to which a nut is welded, and the device frame 20 is formed with a long hole 55 corresponding to the bolt receiving portion 53 and elongated in the front-rear direction. The lock bolt 56 is screwed into the bolt receiving portion 53 of the alignment member 50 from the outside of the device frame 20.

Therefore, by moving the slide base 51 with the lock bolt 56 loosened, the height adjusting base 40 can be moved.
The reference projection 52 can be brought into contact with the attached member 39 that is in the hooked state. Further, if the lock bolt 56 is tightened in this state, its position can be locked. As a result, even if the accessory member 39 is once removed from the height adjusting base 40, it is possible to determine which engagement concave portion 41 is in the engaged state before the attachment member 39 is detached from the height adjusting table 40.
It becomes obvious by the positioning of.

As shown in FIG. 1, transparent covers 58 and 59 made of resin are provided in front of and behind the brush 16 to prevent the scattering of soil. The front transparent cover 58 is detachable from the device frame 20, and the rear transparent cover 59 is openable / closable via a hinge portion 60. The brush 16 can be replaced or cleaned, respectively. It is easy to do.

By the way, in the soil leveling device 1, not only the soil container 2 is transported by the transport device 3 provided side by side, but also the soil container 2 is transferred to the upper edge portion of the soil container 2 as shown in FIGS. The auxiliary drive device 62 provided so as to abut the roller 63 is also configured to transfer the drive to the soil container 2. That is, this auxiliary transport device 62
Has a pair of left and right rollers 63 that are pressed against the upper edge portions of the left and right side walls of the soil container 2. Further, a pair of right and left rollers 63 is provided at a predetermined interval in the front-rear direction of the conveyance direction. Then, all of these (four) rollers 63 are rotationally driven by a drive distribution means 64 by a chain transmission system provided in parallel with the drive means 27 of the conveying device 3.

Since the drive distributing means 64 needs to rotate the roller 63 in the opposite direction to the roller 26 of the conveying device 2, the lower tension sprocket 65 is held so as to be freely rotatable. The drive input sprocket 66 is arranged on the tension side of the chain for adjusting tension. The drive distributing means 64 is pressed from the upper side so that the soil container 2 does not bounce up and generate vibrations when the floor soil is dropped and supplied into the soil container 2 in the soil-filling device 7. However, the rear side thereof is extended into the soil leveling device 1, and the left and right pairs of rollers 63 on the downstream side (the right side in FIG. 5) in the conveying direction are the front end portion (the right end portion in FIG. 5) of the soil container 2. ) Is still positioned so that the conveyance drive can be continuously transmitted to the soil container 2 even when the rotating force is received from the brush 16 of the second soil leveling device 1.

Due to such a structure, the soil leveling device 1
The soil container 2 to be carried into the carrier 3 and the auxiliary carrier 6
Since the upper and lower sides are sandwiched by 2 and
The soil container 2 can be conveyed strongly and reliably without the conveyance speed of the soil container 2 being slowed by the rotational force of the brush 16. Of course, the soil container 2 does not become jammed without being caught in the soil leveling device 7.

Therefore, the brush 1 in the soil leveling device 1
With respect to the height adjustment of 6, the following can be performed. The roller 63 used in the auxiliary transport device 62 is not limited to the flanged shape as shown in FIG. 3, and may be a collarless shape. If it is not necessary to consider the interference with the soil-filling device 7, etc., the soil container 2
It is also possible to use a long roller that covers the entire width of the roller. Further, it is also possible to replace with a transmission system in which a van cord belt or a belt belt is slidably contacted, a chain transmission system having a hooking claw, and the like.

The present invention is not limited to the above embodiment. For example, in the alignment member 50, it is not necessary to purposely bring the reference protrusion portion 52 into contact with the accessory member 39 that is in a hooked state with respect to the height adjustment base 40. Instead of the reference protrusion portion 52, It is possible to provide a display portion only for indicating the predetermined engaging concave portion 41.

As described above, the shape, the structure, the number of uses (only one side may be used) and the like of the alignment member 50 can be arbitrarily changed. In the brush 16, the horizontal shaft 15 and the barrel 23 can be integrally formed, or the space between the horizontal shaft 15 and the barrel 23 can be freely rotated. Brush 16
It is not limited that the drive is taken out from the roller 26 of the transport device 3 for the rotation of the roller and the rotation of the roller 63 of the auxiliary transport device 62, and each drive device can be provided independently.

The attachment member 39 provided on the horizontal shaft 15 of the brush 16 can also have an indirect attachment structure via the swing arm 14. Moreover, when arranging a total of two soil-entry devices 7 for floor soil and soil-covering in the automatic seeding equipment row, the soil leveling device 1 attached to the two soil-entry devices 7 is brush retracted. The engaging recess 41A for use may be omitted, and even in that case, the attachment member 39 is removed from the set position for maintenance or the like. Note that the soil leveling device 1 may not be provided side by side with the soil filling device 7 for covering soil.

[0032]

As is apparent from the above description, claim 1
In the present invention described, the height adjustment for supporting the biasing means for biasing the brush downward and the auxiliary member provided on the horizontal axis of the brush by selectively engaging with the plurality of engaging recesses having different height positions. Since the height adjusting table is provided with a positioning member that can be stopped and locked corresponding to the engaging position of the accessory member, when the brush is replaced, The engaging recess that supported the accessory member (before adjustment) is made apparent by the alignment member, and the work of again supporting the accessory member on the height adjustment table can be performed quickly and reliably. Therefore, in this case, it is not necessary to purposely adjust the height of the brush.

Further, in such a soil leveling apparatus, the engaging recessed portion of the height adjusting table farthest from the brush may be formed at a position for retracting the brush upward from the soil container. 2) When one soil-filling device is used for both soil filling and floor-filling, the brush can be easily retracted upward when the soil-filling device is used for soil filling. The restoration of the brush setting height by the positioning member can be utilized more effectively.

Further, in such a soil leveling device, an auxiliary transporting device for transmitting the transporting driving force to the upper edge portion of the soil container against the rotational force of the brush acting on the soil container is provided separately from the transporting device. If it is also provided side by side (claim 2), the soil container will pass through the soil leveling device while being sandwiched between the transport device and the auxiliary transport device, so that it will be affected by the friction resistance of the brush. Therefore, the transportation speed of the soil container does not slow down, or the soil container does not become jammed in the soil leveling device and does not become congested.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a side sectional view (corresponding to a sectional view taken along the line AA of FIG. 2) showing a soil leveling device which is one of the embodiments of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a front cross-sectional view (corresponding to a cross-sectional view taken along the line BB of FIG. 5) showing the soil leveling device which is one of the embodiments of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a front cross-sectional view showing an upper roller included in the conveying device at a portion corresponding to the lower part of the soil-filling device.

FIG. 4 is a side view showing an example in which the soil leveling device is used in an automatic seeding equipment row.

FIG. 5 is an enlarged side view showing a part of the soil filling device to the soil leveling device in FIG.

[Explanation of symbols]

1 Earth leveling device 2 soil containers 3 Conveyor 15 Horizontal axis 16 brushes 37 Biasing means 39 Accessories 40 height adjustment table 41 Engagement recess 50 Positioning member 62 Auxiliary transport device 63 Roller

Claims (3)

(57) [Claims] 1. A brush (1) rotating about a horizontal axis (15).
In the soil leveling device configured to slide 6) onto the soil surface in the soil container (2), a biasing means (37) for biasing the brush (16) downward and the horizontal axis (15). ) Is provided with a height adjusting base (40) in which a plurality of engaging recesses (41) having different height positions that enable engagement and disengagement of the attachment member (39) are arranged. Move to the adjustment stand (40)
An alignment member (5) which is movable and can be locked in a stopped state at a position corresponding to each engagement recess (41).
0) is provided, and a soil leveling device. 2. The brush (1) of the height adjusting table (40).
6) the engaging recess (41A) farthest away from the brush (1)
The soil leveling device according to claim 1, wherein the soil leveling device (6) is formed at a position retracted upward from the soil container (2). 3. A transfer device (3) for loading and unloading the soil container (2) to and from the lower portion of the brush (16), and the transfer device (3) against the rotational force of the brush (16) acting on the soil container (2). The soil leveling device according to claim 1, further comprising an auxiliary transport device (62) for transmitting a transport driving force to the upper edge of the soil container (2).