JP7462943B2 - Weeder - Google Patents

Description

The present invention relates to a weeder that removes weeds from rice paddies and fields.

As an example of a conventional weeder, the paddy field weeder described in Patent Document 1 is exemplified. As shown in FIG. 12(a), this weeder 101 has brush members 128 of a common shape arranged in the left-right direction on the brush body 103 so that weeding can be performed uniformly between the rows and between the plants of planted seedlings P, and the brush members 128 are formed in a straight line or a gentle arc shape, and the straight or arc-shaped tip is inserted into the rice field surface. The brush members 128 are arranged in multiple rows, divided into front and rear, and the brush members 128 on the rear row side are arranged at a higher density than the front row side in the traveling direction. A drive unit 110 that drives the brush body 103 to slide in the left-right direction and a float 111 that runs or slides in contact with the rice field surface and supports the weeding frame 102 are attached to the weeding frame 102. The weeder 101 is provided with a travel handle 129 for pushing it by hand.

Patent Document 1 also discloses a modified example in which the float 111 and float-related mechanisms of the weeder 101 are removed and the weeder 101 is attached to the hitch portion 133 of the lifting link 132 of a publicly known dedicated rice transplanter (traveling vehicle) 131 via a bracket 134 and a mounting frame 135 for use as is, as shown in FIG. 12(b). In this modified example, the height of the weeder 101 can be controlled by controlling a publicly known lift cylinder 136 that drives the lifting link 132 up and down, but if the sensor float of the planting machine cannot be used, it is disclosed that a sensor float 137 can be attached to the hitch portion 133 side or the weeder 101 side to sense the degree to which the weeder 101 is submerged and control the height of the weeder itself, i.e., to control the depth at which the brush member 128 is inserted into the rice field.

JP 2019-170224 A

However, the weeder 101 in FIG. 12(a) and the modified weeder 101 in FIG. 12(b) have a problem in that it is difficult to obtain a brush oscillation speed that matches the speed because the travel and the brush oscillation are driven by separate power sources.

In addition, the weeder 101 in FIG. 12(a) and the modified weeder 101 in FIG. 12(b) are configured to oscillate a brush of a predetermined shape at a predetermined width, which poses the problem that the weeding width cannot be changed appropriately depending on the condition of the field or planted seedlings.

In addition, the weeder 101 in Figure 12(a) has floats 111 at the front and rear, and therefore requires mechanisms for supporting the weeding frame 102 with the floats 111 and mechanisms for adjusting the relative height of the weeding frame 102 to the floats 111, etc., at the front and rear, respectively, resulting in a problem of a complex structure.

In addition, the weeder 101 in Figure 12(a) has a body supported by four floats 111 on the front, rear, left and right, and the body and weeding unit are integrated, so there is a problem that differences in the state of the field at the ground contact position of each float 111 tend to cause differences in the depth to which the tips of the brush members 128 are inserted into the field between the front, rear, left and right. There is also a problem that when moving the body when not weeding, it is necessary to support the handle 129 so that the tips of the brush members 128 do not come into contact with the field.

In addition, when turning in a field, the weeder 101 in FIG. 12(a) needs to lift the machine body so that the float 111 and the tip of the brush member 128 do not come into contact with the field, which is labor-intensive.

In addition, the weeder 101 in Figure 12(a) has an issue in that the machine body and the weeding unit are integrated, so the float is prone to sinking in soft fields, and the insertion depth of the tip of the brush member 128 into the field is not stable.

Furthermore, the weeder 101 in Figure 12(a) has an issue in that because the machine body and the weeding unit are integrated, the insertion depth of the tip of the brush member 128 into the field is likely to differ between the front and rear depending on the tilt of the machine body in the forward and backward directions.

In order to solve the above problems, the weeder of the first invention comprises:
A weeder having a weeding unit supported on a traveling body configured to be able to travel in a field,
The traveling machine body includes a machine body frame and a lifting frame supported on the machine body frame so as to be freely raised and lowered and on which the weeding unit is mounted, the lifting frame is suspended and supported on the machine body frame via a sensing spring, and the strength of the support of the sensing spring is adjustable by a sensing spring strength adjustment means;
The weeding unit is configured to swing a brush having a number of wire rods formed of an elastic material and arranged with the wire rods protruding downward in a left-right direction intersecting with the traveling direction of the traveling body, and is provided with a surface following unit provided along the brush, the surface following unit is supported so as to be freely raised and lowered relative to the weeding unit, and the raised and lowered position relative to the weeding unit is adjustable by a surface following unit height position adjustment means,
When the traveling machine body travels along the row direction of the planted seedlings, the brush is swung by the weeding unit, so that the tip of the wire removes weeds in the field,
The advancing speed of the traveling body during weeding is linked to the swinging speed of the brush.

The farm field is not particularly limited, but examples include rice paddies and farm fields.

The wire is exemplified as being made of an elastic material and formed in a straight line or a gentle arc. The wire is preferably configured such that, during the weeding process, its tip elastically scrapes up mud, soil, etc. in the field while scraping off weeds, and when it comes into contact with planted seedlings, it elastically deforms to pass through without knocking over the seedlings, thus removing the weeds.

The manner in which the travelling speed of the traveling body and the swinging speed of the brush are linked is not particularly limited, but the following manner is exemplified.
(1) A mode in which the driving of the traveling body and the driving of the brushes are driven by the same power source.
(2) A mode in which a power source for driving the travelling body and a power source for driving the brushes are provided separately, and their operations are controlled so as to be mechanically and/or electrically linked.

The power source is not particularly limited, but examples thereof include an engine and a motor.
The surface conforming portion is not particularly limited, but the following aspects are exemplified.
(1) In the case where the field is a rice paddy, the device may be a float, a wheel, a roller, or a ski-like member that follows the surface of the rice paddy.
(2) In the case where the farm field is a field, the device may be a wheel, roller, or ski-like member that follows the ground of the field.

According to this configuration, the relationship between the travelling speed of the travelling body and the swinging speed of the brush can be set in advance as appropriate according to the type and condition of the brush, the field, the planted seedlings, the weeds, etc., so that the travelling of the travelling body and the swinging of the brush from side to side can scrape off only weeds in the early stages of growth without knocking over or damaging the planted seedlings or their rooted parts. Therefore, it is possible to prevent problems such as, for example, the swinging speed being too fast compared to the travelling speed, resulting in damage to the planted seedlings, or conversely, the swinging speed being too slow compared to the travelling speed, resulting in insufficient scraping of the weeds.
In addition, the running body comprises a body frame and a lifting frame that is supported on the body frame so that it can be raised and lowered freely and on which the weeding unit is mounted, and the lifting frame is suspended and supported on the body frame via a sensing spring, and the support strength of the sensing spring can be adjusted by a sensing spring strength adjustment means, so that the downward pressing force of the weeding unit against the field can be appropriately adjusted depending on the hardness of the field and the growth and type of planted seedlings.
Furthermore, unlike conventional examples which have floats at the front and back, the weeding part only has the surface following part, so that the structure can be simplified and the insertion depth of the tip of the wire in the brush into the field can be adjusted simply by adjusting the height position of the surface following part using the surface following part height position adjustment means.
Furthermore, since the weeding unit is supported so that it can be raised and lowered freely relative to the body frame, even if the running body tilts forward or backward during weeding, the weeding unit can be raised and lowered relative to the body frame and maintain contact with the field, thereby stabilizing the insertion depth of the brush into the field.

As a weeder of the second invention, in the first invention,
In this embodiment, the brush includes a central brush portion and brush end portions attached to both the left and right sides of the central brush portion, and the brush end portions are configured to be replaceable.

With this configuration, the brush end portion, which has a left-right length according to the condition of the field, planted seedlings, etc., can be attached to the center of the brush, allowing the weeding width to be changed as needed.

As a weeder of the third invention , in the first or second invention ,
The traveling machine body includes one main wheel,
The weeding unit includes a pair of left and right auxiliary wheels,
An example embodiment is shown in which the pair of left and right auxiliary wheels are supported so as to be freely raised and lowered relative to the weeding unit between a running position in which they contact the field and position the weeding unit and the surface following unit above the field, and a non-running position in which they are retracted above the field and place the weeding unit and the surface following unit in contact with the field, and are configured to be engageable at either the running position or the non-running position by an auxiliary wheel engaging means.

According to this configuration, when not weeding (when moving), the auxiliary wheels can be locked in the running position to allow the machine to move freely using the main wheels and the auxiliary wheels. On the other hand, when weeding, the auxiliary wheels can be locked in the non-running position to allow the one main wheel to touch the ground and the surface following section to come into contact with the field, with the tip of the brush in the weeding section being inserted into the field between them. And, since there is only one main wheel, the running machine body can be tilted left and right around the main wheel at the point where the main wheel touches the ground, so the brush can be tilted according to the inclination of the contact point of the surface following section provided along the brush.

As a weeder of the fourth invention , in any one of the first to third inventions ,
An example of an embodiment in which the weeding unit is supported so as to be able to be raised and lowered between a weeding position where it comes into contact with the field and can weed weeds, and a non-weeding position where it is retreated above the field, and is configured to be engaged at either the weeding position or the non-weeding position by a weeding unit engaging means.

With this configuration, the weeding unit can be locked in the non-weeding position, allowing the traveling machine body to easily turn in the field.

The weeder of the present invention has the excellent effect of being able to link the movement of the traveling body with the operation of the weeding section.

1 is a side view showing a schematic overall configuration of a weeder for paddy fields according to an embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 2 is a plan view showing a schematic overall configuration of the weeder. FIG. 2 is a rear view showing a schematic view of the main parts related to the weeding unit of the weeder. FIG. 2 is a rear view showing a schematic configuration relating to a surface following unit of the weeder. 5A and 5B are side views showing a schematic diagram of the configuration relating to the surface following section, in which FIG. 5A shows the surface following section in a lowered state, and FIG. 5B shows the surface following section in a raised state. FIG. 4 is a rear view showing a schematic configuration relating to the auxiliary wheels of the weeder. 4A and 4B are side views showing a schematic diagram of a configuration relating to the auxiliary wheel, in which FIG. 4A shows a state in which the auxiliary wheel is lowered, and FIG. 4B shows a state in which the auxiliary wheel is raised. FIG. 2 is a plan view showing a schematic configuration relating to the lifting and lowering of the weeding unit of the weeder. This is a side view showing a schematic diagram of the configuration related to raising and lowering the weeding unit, where (a) shows the weeding unit in a lowered state, (b) shows the weeding unit in a freely raiseable and lowerable state, and (c) shows the weeding unit in a raised state. 13 is a rear view showing a schematic configuration relating to a sensing spring that suspends and supports the weeding unit of the weeder. FIG. FIG. 2 is a plan view showing a schematic configuration relating to a brush of the weeder. These are diagrams showing conventional paddy field weeders, in which (a) is a side view of a weeder configured to be pushed along by hand, and (b) is a side view of a weeder configured to be attached to a dedicated rice transplanter for use.

Figures 1 to 11 show one embodiment of the weeder of the present invention embodied as a walking weeder 1 for paddy fields, and in each figure, an arrow F points to the front of the machine body. As shown in Figures 1 to 3, this weeder 1 has a weeding unit 3 supported by a traveling machine body 2 configured to be able to travel in a field.

The traveling machine body 2 is formed in a substantially rectangular frame shape in a plan view and includes a machine frame 4 extending in the front-rear direction and a lifting frame 5 provided at the rear of the machine frame 4. The machine frame 4 is supported at approximately the center in the front-rear direction by a single main wheel 6. The front of the machine frame 4 is equipped with an engine 7 as a power source and a reduction transmission 8 that reduces the rotation speed of the engine 7, and a handle 9 is protruding rearward from the rear. The lifting frame 5 is supported so as to be freely raised and lowered via a pair of left and right parallel links 11, which are composed of a pair of upper and lower links 11a, 11b, at the rear of the machine frame 4. The pair of left and right parallel links 11, 11 are connected to each other by a link connecting metal fitting 12 at the lower links 11b, 11b. This allows the left and right parallel links 11, 11 to operate together. The lifting frame 5 is equipped with a weeding unit 3 and a pair of left and right auxiliary wheels 13.

8 and 9, the machine frame 4 is provided with a locking metal fitting 15 that can swing back and forth, and a weeding section locking means 23 that includes a locking spring 16 as a biasing means for biasing the locking metal fitting 15 to rotate backward, and a lock lever 17 (described later) for operating the locking metal fitting 15 to rotate forward. The locking metal fitting 15 has a lower hook 15b provided at the lower end and an upper hook 15a provided above the lower hook 15b, and the link connecting metal fitting 12 can be engaged with the lower hook 15b and the upper hook 15a. When the weeder 1 is moved, the lifting frame 5 is fixed in the lowered position by engaging the link connecting metal fitting 12 with the lower hook 15b, and the auxiliary wheels 13 described later are fixed in the traveling position, allowing the main wheels 6 and the auxiliary wheels 13 to travel in the field. In addition, when weeding with the weeder 1, the lock lever 17 is operated to rotate the locking hardware 15 forward, allowing the parallel links 11, 11 to move up and down freely, and the auxiliary wheels 13 (described later) to be fixed in a non-traveling position, allowing the weeding unit 3 and the surface following unit 40 (described later) to come into contact with the field and weeding to be possible. Furthermore, when turning while weeding with the weeder 1, the link connecting hardware 12 is engaged with the upper hook 15a, fixing the lifting frame 5 in the raised position and allowing only the main wheels 6 to touch the ground, allowing turning.

As shown in FIG. 10, the lifting frame 5 is suspended from the machine frame 4 via a sensing spring 21. The support strength of the sensing spring 21 can be adjusted by a sensing spring strength adjustment means 22. The sensing spring strength adjustment means 22 in this example is configured to adjust the support strength by adjusting the support height of the upper end of the sensing spring 21 relative to the machine frame 4 with a screw 22a.

The lifting frame 5 is supported so that it can be raised and lowered between a weeding position where the weeding unit 3 comes into contact with the field to weed the weeds W, and a non-weeding position where the weeding unit 3 retreats above the field, and is configured to be locked at either the weeding position or the non-weeding position by the weeding unit locking means 23.

The engine 7 is configured so that its power is transmitted to the main wheels 6 via the reduction transmission 8, the gear transmission mechanism as a power transmission mechanism, and the chain transmission mechanism 25 for driving the main wheels, and is also transmitted to the weeding section 3 via the reduction transmission 8, the gear transmission mechanism as a power transmission mechanism, and the chain transmission mechanism 26 for driving the weeding section. With this configuration, the weeder 1 of this example is configured so that the rotation of the main wheels 6 and the oscillation of the brush 36 (described later) in the weeding section 3 are linked, thereby linking the travel speed of the traveling body 2 during weeding with the oscillation speed of the brush 36. Note that in this example, the gear transmission mechanism and the chain transmission mechanism (25, 26) are used as the power transmission mechanism, but these are merely examples and are not particularly limited, and other power transmission mechanisms such as a flexible shaft transmission mechanism can be used as appropriate.

The handle 9 is provided with a throttle lever 27 for the engine 7, a lock lever 17 for operating the lock fitting 15, a weeding clutch lever 28 for switching on and off the transmission of the engine 7's power to the weeding unit 3, and a running clutch lever 29 for switching on and off the transmission of the engine 7's power to the main wheels 6. The lock lever 17, weeding clutch lever 28, and running clutch lever 29 are each provided with a locking means for locking or unlocking the lever when it is gripped.

6 and 7, the pair of left and right auxiliary wheels 13 are rotatably mounted on the tips of a pair of left and right legs 31 supported to be vertically rotatable on the weeding unit 3 via the auxiliary wheel support shaft 30, and are supported via the legs 31 to be movable up and down relative to the weeding unit 3 between a running position where the weeding unit 3 and the surface following unit 40 (described later) are in contact with the field and positioned above the field, and a non-running position where the weeding unit 3 and the surface following unit are retracted above the field and contact the field. Both auxiliary wheels 13 are configured to be lockable at either the running position or the non-running position by the auxiliary wheel locking means 32. In this example, the auxiliary wheel locking means 32 is connected to the leg 31 via the auxiliary wheel support shaft 30 and is composed of an auxiliary wheel position switching lever 32a that adjusts the height position of the auxiliary wheel 13 by adjusting the rotation angle of the leg 31, and a fixing means 32b for fixing the rotation angle of the auxiliary wheel position switching lever 32a.

The weeding unit 3 includes a brush frame 35 extending in the left-right direction, a pair of brushes 36, 36 arranged in front of and behind the brush frame 35, and a swing drive mechanism 37 that swings the pair of brushes 36, 36 left and right relative to the brush frame 35. The front side is supported so as to be freely raised and lowered relative to the traveling body 2, and the rear side includes a surface following part 40 provided along the brush 36. The brush 36 includes a brush mounting seat 38 extending in the left-right direction, and a number of wires 39 are arranged protruding downward from the bottom surface of the brush mounting seat 38. The swing drive mechanism 37 in this example is configured to convert the rotational force of the engine 7 into swinging in the left-right direction using a crank mechanism. In this example, the weeding machine 1 is configured such that when the traveling body 2 advances along the row direction of the planted seedlings P, the brush 36 is swung by the weeding unit 3, so that the tips of the wires 39 weed the weeds W in the field.

As shown in FIG. 11, the brush 36 comprises a brush center 36a and brush ends 36b, 36b attached to the left and right sides of the brush center 36a via brush connecting fittings 36c, and the brush ends 36b are removable. Therefore, the brush 36 is configured so that the brush end 36b can be removed and used with only the brush center 36a, or the brush end 36b can be replaced with one having a different left-right length. As shown in FIG. 11, the brush frame 35 comprises a brush frame center 35a and brush frame ends 35b, 35b attached to the left and right sides of the brush center 35a, and the attachment position of the brush frame end 35b in the left-right direction relative to the brush frame center 35a is adjustable.

As shown in Figures 4 and 5, the surface following unit 40 (embodied as a float in this example) is supported by the rear of the weeding unit 3 via a parallel link 41 so that it can be raised and lowered. The parallel link 41 is composed of a pair of upper and lower links 41a, 41b, and the fulcrum on the weeding unit side of the lower link 41b is connected to a link support shaft 41c. The surface following unit 40 is configured so that its height position relative to the rear of the weeding unit 3 can be adjusted by a surface following unit height position adjustment means 42. The surface following unit height position adjustment means 42 is connected to the link support shaft 41c and is composed of a surface following unit height position adjustment lever 42a that adjusts the height position of the surface following unit 40 by adjusting the rotation angle of the parallel link 41, and a fixing means 42b for fixing the rotation angle of the height position adjustment lever 42a.

A method of using the weeder 1 of this embodiment will now be described.
(1) When moving the weeder 1, the lock lever 17 is gripped to rotate the locking metal fitting 15 forward, so that the parallel link 11 can be raised and lowered freely. In this state, when the handle 9 is lifted upward, the lifting frame 5 moves downward relative to the machine frame 4. The lock lever 17 is then released to rotate the locking metal fitting 15 backward, so that the lower hook 15b of the locking metal fitting 15 engages with the link connecting metal fitting 12, and the handle 9 returns to its original height (see FIG. 9(a)). This fixes the lifting frame 5 in the lowered position. Next, the auxiliary wheel locking means 32 is operated to fix the auxiliary wheels 13 in the traveling position (see FIG. 7(a)). This makes it possible for the main wheels 6 and the auxiliary wheels 13 to travel in the field.
(2) When the weeder 1 is used for weeding, the lock lever 17 is gripped and locked to rotate the lock fitting 15 forward, allowing the parallel link 11 to move up and down freely (see FIG. 9(b)). Next, the auxiliary wheel locking means 32 is operated to fix the auxiliary wheel 13 in the non-traveling position (see FIG. 7(b)). Then, the weeding unit 3 and the surface following unit 40 are brought into contact with the field, allowing weeding (see FIG. 1). Furthermore, the surface following unit height position adjustment means 42 is used to appropriately adjust the height position of the surface following unit 40 (see FIG. 5), and the sensing spring strength adjustment means 22 is used to adjust the strength of support of the sensing spring 21 (see FIG. 10).
(3) When turning the traveling machine body 2 for weeding, the lock lever 17 is gripped to rotate the locking metal fitting 15 forward, leaving the parallel link 11 in a state in which it can be raised and lowered freely, and in this state, when the handle 9 is pushed downward, the lifting frame 5 rises relative to the machine body frame 4, so that by releasing the lock lever 17, the locking metal fitting 15 is rotated backward, the link connecting metal fitting 12 is engaged with the upper hook 15a of the locking metal fitting 15, and the handle 9 is returned to its original height (see FIG. 9(c)). This fixes the lifting frame 5 in the raised position. Then, the machine is in a state in which only the main wheels 6 are on the ground and it is easy to turn.

The weeder 1 of this example, configured as described above, comprises a weeding unit 3 supported by a traveling body 2 configured to be capable of traveling in a field, and the weeding unit 3 is configured to oscillate a brush 36 having a number of wires 39 arranged with the wires 39 protruding downward in a left-right direction intersecting the traveling direction of the traveling body 2.When the traveling body 2 travels along the row direction of the planted seedlings P, the weeding unit 3 oscillates the brush 36 to weed the field with the tip of the wires 39, and the traveling speed of the traveling body 2 during weeding is linked to the oscillating speed of the brush 36.
According to this configuration, the relationship between the travelling speed of the travelling body 2 and the swinging speed of the brush 36 can be set in advance as appropriate according to the type and condition of the brush 36, the field, the planted seedlings P, the weeds W, etc., so that the travelling of the travelling body 2 and the swinging of the brush 36 from side to side scrapes off only the weeds W in the early stages of growth without knocking over or damaging the planted seedlings P or their rooted parts. This makes it possible to prevent problems such as, for example, the swinging speed being too fast compared to the travelling speed, resulting in damage to the planted seedlings P, or conversely, the swinging speed being too slow compared to the travelling speed, which could result in insufficient scraping off of the weeds W.

In addition, in the weeder 1 of this example, the brush 36 includes a brush central portion 36a and brush end portions 36b, 36b attached to both the left and right sides thereof, and the brush end portions 36b are configured to be replaceable.
According to this configuration, the weeding width can be changed appropriately by attaching the brush end portion 36b, which has a left-right length according to the condition of the field, planted seedlings P, etc., to the brush center portion 36a.

In addition, unlike conventional examples that have floats at the front and rear, the weeding unit 3 only has a surface following unit 40 at the rear, which allows for a simple structure, and the insertion depth of the tip of the wire 39 of the brush 36 into the field can be adjusted simply by adjusting the height position of the surface following unit 40 at the rear using the surface following unit height position adjustment means 42.

In addition, in the weeder 1 of this example, the running body 2 has one main wheel 6, and the weeding unit 3 has a pair of left and right auxiliary wheels 13, which are supported so as to be freely raised and lowered relative to the weeding unit 3 between a running position in which they contact the field and position the weeding unit 3 and the surface following unit 40 above the field, and a non-running position in which they are retracted above the field and bring the weeding unit 3 and the surface following unit 40 into contact with the field, and are configured to be engageable at either the running position or the non-running position by the auxiliary wheel engaging means 32.
According to this configuration, when not weeding (when moving), both auxiliary wheels 13 can be locked in the running position to allow the machine to run freely using the main wheels 6 and both auxiliary wheels 13. On the other hand, when weeding, both auxiliary wheels 13 can be locked in the non-running position to allow one main wheel 6 to touch the ground and the surface following unit 40 to contact the field, with the tip of the brush 36 in the weeding unit 3 being inserted into the field between them. And, since there is only one main wheel 6 when weeding, the running machine body 2 can be tilted left and right around the main wheel 6 at the ground contact point of the main wheel 6, so the brush 36 can be tilted according to the tilt of the contact point of the surface following unit 40 provided along the brush 36.

In addition, in the weeder 1 of this example, the weeding unit 3 is supported so as to be able to move freely up and down between a weeding position where it can come into contact with the field and weed the weeds W, and a non-weeding position where it is retreated above the field, and is configured to be engaged at either the weeding position or the non-weeding position by the weeding unit engaging means 23.
According to this configuration, by locking the weeding part 3 in the non-weeding position, the traveling body 2 can be easily turned in the field.

The weeder 1 of this example also includes a sensing spring 21 that suspends and supports the weeding section 3 on the body frame 4 of the traveling body 2, and an adjustment means 22 that adjusts the supporting strength of the sensing spring 21.
According to this configuration, the weeding unit 3 is suspended and supported by the body frame 4 of the running body 2 via a sensing spring 21, and the strength of the support is adjustable, so that the downward pressing force of the weeding unit 3 against the field can be appropriately adjusted depending on the hardness of the field and the growth and type of the planted seedlings P.

Furthermore, in the weeder 1 of this example, the weeding unit 3 is supported so as to be capable of moving up and down relatively to the machine frame 4 .
With this configuration, even if the running body 2 tilts forward or backward during weeding, the weeding part 3 can rise and lower relative to the body frame 4 and maintain contact with the field, thereby stabilizing the insertion depth of the brush 36 into the field.

The present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiment, and can be embodied by making appropriate modifications without departing from the spirit of the invention, for example, as described below.
(1) The weeder of the present invention is embodied and implemented as a weeder for fields.
(2) The weeder of the present invention is configured as a riding type.
(3) The relationship between the travelling speed of the traveling body 2 and the swing speed of the brush 36 during weeding can be changed. For example, the gears in the power transmission mechanism can be replaced or rearranged, or a speed change mechanism can be provided in the power transmission mechanism.

LIST OF SYMBOLS 1 Weeder 2 Traveling machine body 3 Weeding unit 4 Machine body frame 5 Lifting frame 6 Main wheel 7 Engine 8 Reduction transmission 9 Handle 11 Parallel link 11a Link 11b Link 12 Link connecting fitting 13 Auxiliary wheel 15 Lock fitting 15a Upper hook 15b Lower hook 16 Lock spring 17 Lock lever 21 Sensing spring 22 Sensing spring strength adjustment means 22a Screw 23 Weeding unit locking means 25 Main wheel drive chain transmission mechanism 26 Weeding unit drive chain transmission mechanism 27 Throttle lever 28 Weeding clutch lever 29 Traveling clutch lever 30 Auxiliary wheel support shaft 31 Leg 32 Auxiliary wheel locking means 32a Auxiliary wheel position switching lever 32b Fixing means 35 Brush frame 35a Brush frame center portion 35b Brush frame end 36 Brush 36a Brush center 36b Brush end 36c Brush connection metal fitting 37 Swing drive mechanism 38 Brush mounting seat 39 Wire rod 40 Surface following part 41 Parallel link 41a Link 41b Link 41c Link support shaft 42 Surface following part height position adjustment means 42a Position adjustment lever 42b Fixing means F Front side of machine body P Planted seedlings W Weeds

Claims (4)

A weeder having a weeding unit supported on a traveling body configured to be able to travel in a field,
The traveling machine body includes a machine body frame and a lifting frame supported on the machine body frame so as to be freely raised and lowered and on which the weeding unit is mounted, the lifting frame is suspended and supported on the machine body frame via a sensing spring, and the strength of the support of the sensing spring is adjustable by a sensing spring strength adjustment means;
The weeding unit is configured to swing a brush having a number of wire rods formed of an elastic material and arranged with the wire rods protruding downward in a left-right direction intersecting with the traveling direction of the traveling body, and is provided with a surface following unit provided along the brush, the surface following unit is supported so as to be freely raised and lowered relative to the weeding unit, and the raised and lowered position relative to the weeding unit is adjustable by a surface following unit height position adjustment means,
When the traveling machine body travels along the row direction of the planted seedlings, the brush is swung by the weeding unit, so that the tip of the wire removes weeds in the field,
The weeder is configured to link the travelling speed of the traveling body and the swinging speed of the brush during the weeding. The weeder according to claim 1, wherein the brush has a central brush portion and brush ends attached to both the left and right sides of the central brush portion, and the brush ends are configured to be replaceable. The traveling machine body includes one main wheel,
The weeding unit includes a pair of left and right auxiliary wheels,
3. The weeder according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the pair of left and right auxiliary wheels are supported so as to be freely raised and lowered relative to the weeding unit between a traveling position in which the auxiliary wheels are in contact with the field and position the weeding unit and the surface following unit above the field, and a non-traveling position in which the auxiliary wheels are retracted above the field and position the weeding unit and the surface following unit in contact with the field, and are configured to be locked at either the traveling position or the non-traveling position by an auxiliary wheel locking means. The weeding machine according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein the weeding unit is supported so as to be freely raised and lowered between a weeding position where it can come into contact with the field to weed weeds, and a non-weeding position where it is retreated above the field, and is configured to be engaged at either the weeding position or the non-weeding position by a weeding unit engaging means.

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