JP3563148B2 - Flat seed sowing equipment - Google Patents

Description

[0001]
[Industrial applications]
The present invention relates to an apparatus that detects a pointed direction of seeds during conveyance when sowing flat seeds on a cell tray and sows the seeds in a certain direction.
[0002]
[Prior art]
In conventional alley cultivation, seeds are sown at appropriate intervals, leaving good-growing seedlings after germination, and thinning others. However, in recent years, the management of seeds has been improved, and the variation in germination has been reduced. In addition, seedlings are grown in cell trays and transplanted mechanically, and work efficiency has been improved. When raising seedlings in this cell tray, one or several seeds are sown in each pot of the tray and transplanted after growing to some extent.
[0003]
[Problems to be solved by the invention]
When raising seedlings in the cell tray as described above, when raising seeds of pumpkin seeds with relatively large and flat seeds in the cell tray, because the pot itself is small, if the position of the embryo is shifted from the center, the germinated sprouts will also be in the pot. In the case of transplantation by a machine, the nail was stuck in the bud portion, and the bud was damaged, and sometimes died after transplantation. In addition, a robot capable of grafting on a cell tray has also been developed, and if no bud has emerged in the center of the pot, it cannot be grafted by the robot. Conventionally, in order to eliminate such a problem, seeds are sown by discriminating the direction of the seeds manually, which is very troublesome.
[0004]
[Means for Solving the Problems]
The problem to be solved by the present invention is as described above. Next, means for solving the problem will be described. That is, the flat seeds are fed out one by one by a seed feeder , conveyed to a shooter, and the seeder is sown in each pot of a cell tray from the shooter one or several seeds. A sensor is provided for detecting the presence or absence of both sides of the rear part, the tip direction of the seed is detected, and the tip part of the seed is located at the center position of the pot and is sowed in a certain direction.
[0005]
[Action]
Next, the operation will be described. In the flat irregular-shaped seed supplied from the seed feeder, the direction of the apex where the embryo is located is determined by three-point position detection by the sensor during the transportation, and the apex of the seed is centered on the cell tray. Seeding in a certain direction to improve the work efficiency.
[0006]
【Example】
Next, examples will be described. FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing a state of a seed moving in a seed feeder, FIG. 2 is a front view showing a detection position of a sensor, and FIG. 3 is a method of discriminating a direction of a seed supplied from a seed feeder and sowing. FIG. 4 is a plan view showing the position of seeds sowed on a cell tray, and FIG. 5 is a schematic perspective view showing a germination state of seeds.
[0007]
In FIG. 3, the overall configuration of the seeding device of the present invention will be described. First, seeds to be sown are pumpkins or the like having a flat irregular shape. The seeds are put into the seed feeder P, and the seeds are discharged one by one from the outlet of the seed feeder P. A transport device 10 is connected to the outlet of the seed feeder P, and a determination position A is provided in the middle of the transport device 10. A shooter Sh is disposed at the end of the transfer device 10, and the shooter Sh is configured to be swingable left and right so that it can be positioned at each of the pots Ta in one row of the cell tray T. T is transported in the front-back direction of the paper.
[0008]
The seed feeders P are not limited as long as they can be taken out and transported one by one in a row. For example, as shown in FIG. 1, when seeds 1.1 are put into a hopper, centrifugal force is used. Then, the seeds are arranged one by one in a row, sequentially sent, and sent from the exit to the transport device 10. In the middle of the transport device 10, the tip direction of the seed is detected by a determination position A described later. That is, the portion where the embryo of the seed is located is sharp, and is detected in advance in order to make the direction in which the bud emerges constant.
[0009]
A sorting device D is disposed in a process subsequent to the determination position A. The sorting device D arranges the selection plate 2 so as to be rotatable, and rotates the selection plate 2 when the direction of the seed is different depending on the determination position A. The seeds are transported to the collection container E side. A shooter Sh is provided at the end of the transfer device 10, and a shutter 16 and a shutter opening / closing device 14 are provided at the base end of the shooter Sh. The tip of the shooter Sh is located on the pot Ta of the cell tray T. The drive of the shutter 16 and the shutter opening / closing device 14 are linked, so that when the seed 1 comes into contact with the shutter 16, the shutter 16 is opened and the seed is sown at a predetermined position (center of the pot). A cell tray T is arranged below the shooter Sh, and is transported and driven by the transport driving device 15. The seed feeder P, the discriminating position A, the sorting device D, the shutter 16, the shutter opening / closing device 14, and the transport driving device 15 are connected to the controller C, and are controlled by the controller C as described later. However, it is also possible to provide the same number or a plurality of transporting devices as one row of pots in parallel from the seed feeder P, and to provide a discriminating device and a sorting device as described above, so that one row or several rows of pots are seeded simultaneously. it can.
[0010]
Next, the determination position A will be described. As shown in FIG. 1, a stopper 11 is provided so that the transport of the seed 1 is temporarily stopped when it reaches the determination position A, or the transport device 10 is stopped. Then, the light-emitting unit 12 of the presence / absence sensor S including the light-emitting unit 12 and the light-receiving unit 13 is disposed so as to face upward and the light-receiving unit 13 is facing downward, and as shown in FIG. A light emitting element and a light receiving element are arranged so as to oppose each other at three positions so that the presence or absence of three positions C1 to C3 can be detected.
[0011]
That is, the detection positions are set at three positions where the vertices of the isosceles triangle of the front center position C3 in the traveling direction and the rear left and right sides C1 and C2 are located, C3 is turned off (the light receiving element does not receive light), and C1 is turned off. When C2 is ON or one of C1 and C2 is ON, as shown in FIG. 2, it can be seen that the wide portion 1b is conveyed in the front and the sharp portion 1a in the rear posture. Conversely, when C3 is turned off or on and C1 and C2 are turned off, it can be seen that the pointed portion 1a is conveyed first and the wide portion 1b is conveyed in a later posture.
[0012]
In the above-described configuration, the seeds 1 are taken out of the seed feeder P one by one in a line, conveyed by the conveying device 10, and the pointed direction of the seed 1 is determined by the discrimination position A in the middle, and the front side is pointed. In the case of the proper direction, the case where the rear side is the apex is regarded as inappropriate, and when the direction of the seed is inappropriate, the germination position is shifted, so that the germination position is discharged to the collection container E by the sorting device D, and is again supplied to the seed feeder P. You. However, it is also possible to provide a reversing device so that the seeds are reversed and returned to the transport device 10.
[0013]
Then, the seed in the appropriate direction is sent to the shooter Sh, and the shutter 16 is opened to drop one (or several) seeds onto the center of the pot Ta of the cell tray T. That is, the tip of the shooter Sh is positioned so as to be located at the center of the pot Ta, and the seeds dropped from the shooter Sh have the apex located at the center Ta1 of the pot Ta as shown in FIG. Drop it in the direction (it can be the front-back direction). When seeding is sequentially performed and seeding in one row is completed, the cell tray T is fed by one row by driving of the transport driving device 15, and is seeded in the same manner as described above.
[0014]
When the seedlings are raised after sowing, as shown in FIG. 5, stems K come out from the apex 1a of the seeds 1 almost vertically upward, the leaves H open in the left and right directions, and all the seeds 1,. Since the seeds sprout and grow in the same state from Ta, Ta, etc., when grafting is performed by a grafting robot or the like, the position of the stem K is unified, so that work can be performed without failure to graft.
[0015]
【The invention's effect】
The present invention is configured as described above, and has the following effects. .. Supplied from the seed feeder P are discriminated by the discriminating device and can be automatically selected, thereby improving the workability of sowing. Can be sown at the center position Ta1 of the pot Ta and germinated, so that the bud portion can be largely displaced from the center Ta1 of the pot. Instead, they can be mechanically transplanted or grafted by a grafting robot.
[Brief description of the drawings]
FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing a state of a seed moving in a seed feeder.
FIG. 2 is a front view showing a detection position of a sensor.
FIG. 3 is a schematic diagram of a process of determining a direction of a seed supplied from a seed feeder and sowing the seed.
FIG. 4 is a plan view showing positions of seeds sowed on a cell tray.
FIG. 5 is a schematic perspective view showing a germination state of seeds.
[Explanation of symbols]
A Discrimination position C Controller C1 to C3 Detection position P Seed feeder Sh Shooter T Cell tray Ta Pot 1 Seed 1a Tip

Claims (1)

The flat seeds are fed out one by one by a seed feeder , conveyed to a shooter, and one or several seeds are seeded from the shooter into each pot of a cell tray. Providing a sensor for detecting the presence or absence of the seed, detecting the tip direction of the seed, the tip of the seed is located at the center position of the pot, sowed in a certain direction, sowing flat seed apparatus.

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