JP7629674B2 - Spare seedling transport device for riding transplanters - Google Patents

Description

The present invention relates to a spare seedling transport device for a riding transplanter.

Conventionally, a ride-on transplanter has been known in which a roller conveyor-type transport device is disposed to the side of the driver's seat of the traveling body and supplies spare seedlings from the ridge to the seedling platform of the planting machine, and which has a fixed seedling platform rotatably supported on the traveling body, and a front movable seedling platform and a rear movable seedling platform connected to the front and rear of the fixed seedling platform so that they can be folded upward, and which can be folded into a transport position in which the front movable seedling platform, the fixed seedling platform and the rear movable seedling platform are deployed in a straight line in a side view, and a storage position in which the front movable seedling platform and the rear movable seedling platform are folded above the fixed seedling platform (see, for example, Patent Document 1).
The above-mentioned conveying device is provided with a rotational fulcrum on a fixed seedling carrying platform that supports the conveying device so that it can be rotated and tilted back and forth, and a tilted attitude holding mechanism that can hold the tilted attitude in a switchable manner, and is configured so that the rotation restriction of the conveying device can be switched between a regulated state and a released state by selectively inserting and engaging the locking pin of the tilted attitude holding mechanism 51 into a plurality of selective engagement holes drilled in the front support frame.

JP 2014-168438 A

The transplanter shown in Patent Document 1 above allows spare seedlings to be sequentially replenished from the rear movable seedling carrier to the seedling carrier as the planting work progresses, so that empty seedling boxes can be placed in the open space that arises from the rear movable seedling carrier to the fixed seedling carrier, and can sequentially pick up empty seedling boxes, fertilizer tanks, and other agricultural materials left on the ridges of the field and place them on the transport device, allowing the operator to carry out planting work without scattering recovered materials such as empty seedling boxes and agricultural materials on the steps or walkways.
However, when the above-mentioned materials are handed over to an assistant worker standing on the edge of the field to be collected (recovery work), the transport device must be lowered to a height that is easy for work to be done, so either the operator must dismount and walk on the surface of the field, or the assistant worker must dismount from the field ridge and walk on the surface of the field and move to the inclined attitude maintaining mechanism configured on the front side of the machine body. This creates problems such as the effort of walking on the muddy, difficult-to-walk surface of the field, and the need to be careful not to fall over.
When changing the inclined position of the transport device, first, while bending over, loosen the knob bolt, grasp the operating handle extended toward the fixed seedling carrier side to support the weight of the transport device, remove the clevis pin from the front support frame to release the restriction of the inclined position maintaining mechanism, rotate the transport device to the desired height, align the engagement hole of the support frame with the engagement hole of the sliding member on the fixed seedling carrier side, and then insert the clevis pin to restrict the inclined position maintaining mechanism, which is a cumbersome inclined position operation.
Therefore, transplanters equipped with a transport device using the above-mentioned tilted attitude maintaining mechanism have problems such as the time and trouble of having to walk across muddy, easily tipping rice field surfaces every time spare seedlings or agricultural materials are supplied or collected, and the inefficient and complicated tilted attitude operation required to switch the tilted attitude maintaining mechanism between a regulated state and a released state.

In order to solve the above problems, the present invention provides a method for connecting a planting work machine 15 to the rear of a traveling body 4, and providing a transport device 7 inclined in a high-front, low-rear configuration to the side of a control section 8 of the traveling body 4 for supplying spare seedlings from the ridge to the seedling carrier 16 of the planting work machine 15, and providing a front movable seedling carrier 7F and a rear movable seedling carrier 7R which are connected to a fixed seedling carrier 7M supported on the traveling body 4 side and can be folded upward at the front and rear of the fixed seedling carrier 7M, so that the transport device 7 can be switched between a transport position in which the front movable seedling carrier 7F, the fixed seedling carrier 7M and the rear movable seedling carrier 7R are deployed in a straight line in a side view, and a storage position in which the front movable seedling carrier 7F and the rear movable seedling carrier 7R are folded toward the fixed seedling carrier 7M, and the inclination position of the transport device 7 is changed to a transport position in which the front movable seedling carrier 7F, the fixed seedling carrier 7M and the rear movable seedling carrier 7R are inclined in a high-front, low-rear configuration. In this spare seedling transport device for a ride-on transplanter, the device is configured to be provided with a pivot fulcrum 40 that supports the transport device 7 so that it can rotate freely up and down and can be changed to a recovery and transport position fixed in a tilted position, and a tilted position maintaining mechanism 51 that can be switched between a restricted state that restricts the up and down rotation and a released state that releases the restriction.The pivot fulcrum 40 that rotates the transport device 7 up and down is disposed shifted rearward from the fore-and- aft center P of the transport device 7 in the transport position, and an operating device 50 that can switch the restriction of the tilted position maintaining mechanism 51 between a restricted state and a released state is provided on the rear movable seedling carrier 7R on the shifted side, so that when the operating device 50 provided on the rear movable seedling carrier 7R is operated to release the restriction of the tilted position maintaining mechanism 51 when the transport device 7 is in the transport position, the transport device 7 will assume the recovery and transport position under its own weight .
Secondly , the operating tool 50 is characterized in that it is provided on the inside of the body of the transport device 7 .

According to the invention of claim 1, the planting work machine is connected to the rear of the traveling body, and a transport device inclined with a high front and a low rear is provided on the side of the operating part of the traveling body for supplying spare seedlings from the ridge to the seedling carrier of the planting work machine, and the transport device is provided with a fixed seedling carrier supported on the traveling body side, and a front movable seedling carrier and a rear movable seedling carrier which are connected to the front and rear of the fixed seedling carrier so as to be freely foldable upward, and the transport posture in which the front movable seedling carrier, the fixed seedling carrier and the rear movable seedling carrier are deployed in a straight line in a side view, and the front movable seedling carrier and the rear movable seedling carrier are deployed in a straight line in a side view. In the transportation device for spare seedlings in a riding transplanter , the transportation device is provided with a pivot point for supporting the transportation device so as to be freely rotated up and down so that the inclination of the transportation device can be changed between a transportation posture inclined with the front high and the rear low and a recovery transportation posture inclined with the front low and the rear high on the fixed seedling carrier, and a tilt posture holding mechanism capable of switching between a restricting state in which the vertical rotation is restricted and a restricting release state in which the restriction is released. The pivot point for rotating the transportation device up and down is located on the rear side of the front-to-rear center of the transportation device in the transportation posture. The rear movable seedling carrier is disposed offset from the rear movable seedling carrier and is provided with an operating tool capable of switching the restriction of the tilted attitude maintaining mechanism between a restricted state and a released state , and when the operating tool provided on the rear movable seedling carrier is operated to release the restriction of the tilted attitude maintaining mechanism while the transport device is in the transporting position, the transport device is configured to assume the recovery transporting position by its own weight. Therefore, when the operating tool is operated to release the restriction of the tilted attitude maintaining mechanism, the transport device rotates around the pivot point on the side opposite to the movable seedling carrier on the side where the operating tool is installed. Because the center of gravity is located widely, the operator can easily switch the restriction of the tilted posture maintaining mechanism of the operating tool between a restricted state and a released state at his or her fingertips, and the switching operation to change the front and rear inclination of the transport device can be easily performed without requiring a large lifting force, which eliminates the transmission of incorrect force in the folding direction of the rear movable seedling carrier and prevents malfunction in the folding direction, allowing a series of planting operations to be performed efficiently in large fields where seedling supply and recovery operations are performed frequently.
In addition, the fixed seedling carrier has a pivot point shifted rearward from the front-to-rear center of the transport position, and an operating tool is provided on the rear movable seedling carrier on the shifted side.This allows the operator to remain at the control section without having to get off the vehicle each time the tilt position is operated, and releases the restriction on the operating tool installed on the rear movable seedling carrier.At the same time, the transport device can be easily fixed and held in the desired angle position with the pivot point as a fulcrum by simply adjusting the amount of pressure applied to the rear movable seedling carrier on which the operating tool is located with a small amount of force, thereby allowing the transport device to be tilted and the series of planting operations associated with it to be carried out efficiently.
In addition , the operator can change the forward/backward tilt of the transport device and return agricultural materials from the same position as when supplying seedlings to the planting device, thereby efficiently performing the frequent seedling supply and retrieval tasks while reducing the amount of walking required on the machine .
According to the invention of claim 2 , the operating tool is provided on the inside part of the body of the conveying device, so that when changing the position of the conveying device, the operator can easily and efficiently switch the operating tool and tilt the rear movable seedling loading platform while remaining in the driver's seat or in a standing seedling supply position, without having to assume an awkward position.

FIG. 1 is an overall left side view of a riding transplanter to which the present invention is applied. FIG. 2 is an overall plan view of the riding transplanter. FIG. FIG. 4 is a left side view of the conveying device of FIG. 3 in a tilted position operated downward. FIG. 13 is a left side view showing the transport device in a folded storage position. 13 is a right side view showing the main structure of the operating tool and the inclined attitude maintaining mechanism. FIG. FIG. 4 is a rear view showing the structure of the transport device and the operating tool.

An embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. The transplanter 1 shown in Figures 1 and 2 is a riding type rice transplanter, and is equipped with a running body 4 supported by front wheels 2 and rear wheels 3. An engine mounting section 5 for mounting an engine (not shown) is configured at the front of the running body 4. Side frames 6 are erected on both the left and right outer sides of the engine mounting section 5, and a transport device 7 is provided above the side frames 6 as a spare seedling supply device for transporting spare seedlings and agricultural materials.
Behind the engine mounting section 5 is a control section 8 in which an operator sits. The control section 8 is equipped with a steering wheel 9, a driver's seat 10, etc., and a floor step 11 that forms the floor surface of the control section 8 is provided in front of and below the driver's seat 10.

The floor step 11 is connected to a front step 12 provided on the left and right outer sides of the engine mounting section 5, and a wide step 13 that extends the left and right width of the floor step 11. By passing through these front step 12 and wide step 13, the operator can enter the control section 8 from either the front or side of the aircraft.
Meanwhile, a planting machine 15 is connected to the rear of the traveling body 4 via a lifting link mechanism 14 so as to be able to rise and fall freely. The planting machine 15 is equipped with a seedling carrier 16 that is inclined so as to be higher at the front and lower at the rear, a planting mechanism 17 that picks up seedlings from the seedling carrier 16 and plants them in the field, and a float 18 that slides on the surface of the rice field.

A rear step 19 is provided at the rear of the traveling body 4, allowing the worker to stand on the rear step 19 and move left and right, and in a semi-standing position using the rear step 19 and the wide step 13, the worker can replenish spare seedlings from the transport device 7 to the seedling carrier 16 and collect empty seedling boxes. By operating the transport device 7 as described below, the seedling supply work and seedling box collection work can be carried out efficiently.

Next, the specific structure of the transport device 7 will be described with reference to Figures 1 and 2. The transport device 7 is disposed along the front-to-rear direction on both the left and right outer sides of the traveling body 4, with its front end located in front of the traveling body 4 and its rear end located to the side of the driver's seat 10. It is a rectangular roller conveyor with multiple rollers 21 rotatably supported between the left and right side frames, and is configured to transport spare seedlings rearward in a self-propelled manner along a high-front-low-rear slope.

The transport device 7 of this embodiment is divided into a front movable seedling platform 7F, a fixed seedling platform 7M, and a rear movable seedling platform 7R. These seedling platforms 7F, 7M, and 7R are connected via hinges 22 and 23, respectively, and when not in use, the rear movable seedling platform 7R and the front movable seedling platform 7F can be folded and stored above the fixed seedling platform 7M, as shown in Figure 5, to take a storage position.

When transporting spare seedlings from the front to the rear of the traveling body 4, the transport device 7 is used in an extended position in which the front movable seedling platform 7F and the rear movable seedling platform 7R are extended forward and backward relative to the fixed seedling platform 7M, that is, the front movable seedling platform 7F extends from the fixed seedling platform 7M to the front side of the body, and the rear movable seedling platform 7R extends from the fixed seedling platform 7M to the rear side of the body, so that at least one spare seedling can be placed on each seedling platform. In this embodiment, when the transport device 7 is simply referred to, it is meant to refer to the transport device 7 in the extended position.

Next, the support portion of the transport device 7 will be described with reference to Figures 3 to 7. This support portion includes a side-viewed support frame 24 erected on the side frame 6 which is the outer portion of the traveling body 4, a left-right rotation support mechanism 25 which supports the transport device 7 on the support frame 24 so as to be rotatable left-right, and a up-down rotation support mechanism 26 which supports the transport device 7 on the support frame 24 so as to be rotatable up-down.
The support frame 24 is formed in a side view and integrally comprises a pair of front and rear support frames 27, 28 and a connecting frame 29 that integrally connects the front and rear support frames 27, 28, and all of the frames 27, 28, 29 are formed using cylindrical pipe material.

As shown in Figures 3 and 6, the left-right rotation support mechanism 25 includes an operating handle 30 that is integrally provided along the bottom of the transport device 7, a first support shaft bracket 31 that is integrally provided at the rear end of the operating handle 30, and a left-right rotation support base 33 that supports the first support shaft bracket 31 so that it can rotate left and right via a first rotation support shaft 32 that faces the up-down direction, enabling the transport device 7 to rotate left and right around the first rotation support shaft 32. The left-right rotation support base 33 in the illustrated example is integrally provided with a box-shaped base body 33a and a pipe-shaped extension portion 33b that extends forward from the base body 33a, and the transport device 7 is supported by the base body 33a via the first rotation support shaft 32 so that it can rotate left and right.

A left-right adjustment mechanism 34 that adjusts the left-right rotation position of the transport device 7 in stages is configured between the first support shaft bracket 31 and the left-right rotation support base 33 (base body 33a). The left-right adjustment mechanism 34 is configured with a plurality of engagement holes (not shown) formed along an arc centered on the first rotation support shaft 32 on the upper surface of the left-right rotation support base 33, an engagement pin (not shown) that is provided on the first support shaft bracket 31 so as to be movable up and down and selectively engages with the engagement hole of the left-right rotation support base 33, and a left-right rotation switch lever 35 that inserts and removes the engagement pin.

Furthermore, between the operating handle 30 and the left-right rotation support base 33 (extension portion 33b), there is provided a posture maintaining assistance mechanism 36 that supports the load of the conveying device 7 from below at the initial left-right rotation position that is parallel to the running body 4 in a planar view.
In addition, the conveying device 7 of this embodiment is provided with a material loading platform 37 shaped so that spare seedlings and their empty seedling boxes (spare seedling trays) can be placed along the outer side of the rear movable seedling loading platform 7R, and the material loading platform 37 can be rotated downward from the usage position shown by the solid line in Figure 7 to a storage position along the underside of the rear movable seedling loading platform 7R.

The vertical rotation support mechanism 26 is configured with a second support shaft bracket 39 of a front-view type provided at the upper end of the rear support frame 28, a second rotation support shaft (hereinafter simply referred to as a rotation fulcrum) 40 provided on the second support shaft bracket 39 facing left and right and supporting the rear end side (base body) of the left and right rotation support base 33 so that it can rotate freely up and down, and a height adjustment mechanism 41 provided on the front support frame 27 and supporting the front end side (front end of the extension part) of the left and right rotation support base 33 so that the height can be adjusted.

Next, the height adjustment mechanism 41 will be described with reference to Figures 3 to 6. The height adjustment mechanism 41 is composed of a sliding member 42 supported by the front support frame 27 so as to be freely slidable up and down, a flexible mechanism 43 that connects the upper end of the sliding member 42 to the front end of the extension 33b of the left-right rotation support base 33 in a flexible state, a height adjustment unit 44 that adjusts the sliding position of the sliding member 42 relative to the front support frame 27, a play-removing unit 45 that removes play in the sliding member 42, and a tilt position holding mechanism 51 that includes an operating tool 50 (described later) that allows the locking pin 47 provided on the height adjustment unit 44 to be operated from the control unit 8 side to an engaged position and a disengaged position.

First, as shown in FIG. 6, the height adjustment section 44 comprises an engagement hole (support hole) 27a penetrating the front support frame 27 in the front-to-rear direction, a locking pin 47 (clevis pin) held by a pin holder 27b fixed to the front support frame 27 and slidably inserted into the engagement hole 27a, and selective engagement holes 42a which are formed in multiple numbers at predetermined intervals in the vertical direction of the sliding member 42 and penetrate the front-to-rear direction.
As a result, when the locking pin 47 is inserted and engaged into the selective engagement hole 42a at the lowest position of the sliding member 42, as shown in Figure 6, the height adjustment section 44 can hold the transport device 7 in the maximum upward inclined position (transport position) via the locking pin 47, so that the transport device 7 can transport spare seedlings that are successively supplied and placed from the front ridge side toward the rear side in a continuous sliding manner.

On the other hand, in the release state where the locking pin 47 is pulled out of the selective engagement hole 42a by the operation of the operating tool 50, the operator can rotate the front side of the transport device 7 downward around the rotation fulcrum 40 by a rotation operation described below. At this time, for example, as shown in FIG. 4, when the front of the transport device 7 is at the lowest height, the locking pin 47 is inserted and engaged into the lowest selective engagement hole based on the return operation of the operating tool 50, and the transport device 7 can be held in the maximum downward inclination position (recovery transport position). Also, when the locking pin 47 is inserted into a predetermined selective engagement hole 42a provided between the two, the transport device 7 can be switched between and held in a horizontal position and a gently inclined position at a desired angle.

The rattle elimination portion 45 is equipped with a knob bolt 48 that is screwed into the front side of the front support frame 27 from the front, and by tightening the knob bolt 48 after adjusting the height of the sliding member 42, the sliding member 42 is pressed against the rear side of the inner surface of the front support frame 27 and is also pressed against the locking pin 47 inserted into the engagement hole 27a, thereby regulating rattle.
The rattle elimination section 45 thus configured can prevent vibrations and rattle noises of the sliding members 42, etc., which tend to occur when the transplanter 1 is traveling on the road. By loosening the knob bolt 48 of the rattle elimination section 45 in advance at the start of planting work, the operator can quickly adjust the tilt position of the transport device 7 as required without having to go down to the field.

Next, the tilted attitude holding mechanism 51 will be described in detail with reference to Fig. 6. First, the illustrated operating tool 50 has a lever portion 50a and an operating arm 50b that are L-shaped in side view, and the base positions of both are detachably supported by a mounting shaft 52 that serves as a pivot point for operation and rotation on a mounting bracket 53 provided on the inside of the rear movable seedling carrier 7R.
As shown in Figures 6 and 7, this operating device 50 supports the mounting shaft 52 via the support portion of the mounting bracket 53 so that it is lower than the lower surface of the rear movable seedling carrier 7R, thereby preventing the operating arm 50b from protruding from the upper surface of the transport frame 6a when close to the mounting bracket 53.The operating wire 55, which is the linking means with the locking pin 47, is connected via the inner wire 55a and tension spring 56, so that the locking pin 47 is held in an engaged position in the solid line position shown in the figure.

The lever portion 50a of the operating tool 50 is provided in a downward inclined position below the mounting shaft 52c and directed forward, as shown by the solid line, so that the hand placed on the underside of the transport frame 6a can be smoothly slid forward by using the gripping distance H described later from the mounting shaft 52 to the rear end, and can be rotated in the lifting direction. This prevents the hand from being pinched between the transport frame 6a and the lever portion 50a, and allows the lever portion 50a to be in a holding release operating position (restriction release state) along the underside of the rear movable seedling platform 7R, as shown by the two-dot chain line. In other words, the operator can easily and stably keep the restriction release state by using the rear gripping distance H to operate the operating tool 50, which uses the gripping distance H to put the restriction of the inclined position holding mechanism 51 into the restricted state, by operating the lever portion 50a as if scooping it up with the palm and then holding the thumb against the transport frame 6a.

The operating wire 55 of the tilted posture holding mechanism 51 has the outer wire 55b, which houses the inner wire 55a, attached at its front end to the mounting part 28a provided on the rear support frame 28, and at its rear end to a mounting part protruding from the mounting bracket 53. The middle part is bendable, and the front and rear sides are routed and supported along the rear support frame 28 and the inside part of the rear movable seedling carrier 7R. The other end of the inner wire 55a is connected to the base end of the locking pin 47 supported by the pin holder 27b.

A pressure spring 57 is fitted onto the middle portion of the locking pin 47 and attached to the pin holder 27b, so that the tip of the locking pin 47 in the holding position is biased to partially protrude from the engagement hole 27a of the front support frame 27.
Furthermore, it is desirable to form the tip of the locking pin 47 into a round head shape.In this case, the round head shape guides the insertion action of the locking pin 47 by the pressure spring 57 into the selective engagement hole 42a, which moves up and down, so that it can be quickly engaged and locked.

When the operating wire 55 configured as described above is in the transport posture of the transport device 7 shown in Figure 6, based on the action of the operating tool 50 being pushed up (scooped up) and rotating upward, the inner wire 55a compresses the pressure spring 57 via the tension spring 56, thereby pulling the locking pin 47 and disengaging the engagement between the engagement hole 27a and the selective engagement hole 42a.
Furthermore, at this time, if the engagement between the locking pin 47 and the selective engagement hole 42a is in a gnawing state and the operator overlooks this and forcibly rotates the operating tool 50 in the release direction, the extension of the tension spring 56 allows the operating tool 50 to rotate, and if in this state the operator performs a gnawing release operation, for example, by shaking the conveying device 7 up and down, the pulling action of the tension spring 56 allows the locking pin 47 to perform the disengagement operation without hindrance.

On the other hand, the transport device 7 equipped with the tilted position holding mechanism 51 has its pivot fulcrum 40 for tilting forward and backward shifted backward from the front-rear center P of the transport device 7 in the transport position, and is provided with an operating tool 50 that allows the restriction of the tilted position holding mechanism 51 to be switched between a restricted state and a non-restricted state for the rear movable seedling platform 7R on the shifted side. For example, when the transport device 7 in the upwardly tilted transport position is put into a non-restricted state by pulling the locking pin 47 out of the selective engagement hole 42a by operating the operating tool 50, the center of gravity of the transport device 7 is placed on the opposite side of the rear movable seedling platform 7R side on which the operating tool 50 is arranged, with the pivot fulcrum 40 as the center, so that the weight of the front movable seedling platform 7F and the fixed seedling platform 7M side acts forward as a large rotational force (moment), and the transport device 7 tilts downward around the pivot fulcrum 40.

At this time, the rear movable seedling platform 7R, which is positioned in the direction of the pivot shift and has a small weight, tilts upward around the pivot 40, so the operator does not need to use force to lift and rotate the rear movable seedling platform 7R, but instead operates the rear side of the rear movable seedling platform 7R by adjusting the pressure applied with a small force sufficient to suppress the amount of lifting and rotation, and when it is positioned at the desired angle position as described in Figure 4, operates the operating tool 50 to the return position (restricted state) shown by the solid line.

As a result, the locking pin 47, which is biased by the pressure spring 57 of the operating wire 55, automatically inserts and engages when it reaches the desired selected engagement hole 42a, fixing and holding the transport device 7 in the desired angle position. The operator can easily sense the resistance of this engagement state, and by promptly releasing his hands from the operating tool 50 and the rear movable seedling carrier 7R, the series of tilt position operations can be completed simply and efficiently.

In other words, the operator does not need to get off the vehicle each time the tilt position is operated as in the conventional system. Instead, the operator can remain at the control unit 8 side and release the restriction on the operating tool 50 installed on the rear movable seedling carrier 7R when operating the tilt position of the transport device 7. At the same time, the transport device 7 can be fixed and held in the desired angle position by operating the tilt position simply by adjusting the pressure with little force, without having to lift up the rear movable seedling carrier 7R on which the operating tool 50 is arranged around the pivot point 40.
Therefore, the series of planting operations related to the tilt position operation of the conveying device 7 can be carried out efficiently, and since the rear movable seedling carrier 7R does not require upward operating force when operating it into the tilt position, the transmission of incorrect force in the folding direction of the rear movable seedling carrier 7R is suppressed, preventing folding malfunctions, which also results in reduced labor.

Furthermore, the operating device 50 has an attachment shaft 52 provided on the side of the rolling seat 10 on the inside part of the rear movable seedling carrier 7R, with the lever portion 50a positioned facing the space below the transport frame 6a, making it easy for the operator to push up the lever portion 50a of the operating device 50 with his front hand (the hand operating the lever) which is on the front side of the machine when in a seated position and simply twisting his upper body sideways in a natural semi-turned-back position, and at the same time makes it easy for the operator to grab and hold the inside part of the transport frame 6a of the rear movable seedling carrier 7R with his rear hand (the hand operating the seedling carrier).
At this time, the rear hand (the hand operating the seedling platform) at the rear of the machine body can quickly grab and hold the rear side of the machine inner frame or the rear end side of the frame of the rear movable seedling platform 7R without being hindered by the operating tool 50, because the operating tool 50 is arranged at a gripping operating distance H forward from the rear end of the rear movable seedling platform 7R.

In other words, since the operating tool 50 of the inclined posture maintaining mechanism 51 is arranged at the rear movable seedling platform 7R with the gripping operating distance H, when the operator is seated or standing and facing the rear movable seedling platform 7R with his/her upper body facing the rear movable seedling platform 7R, he/she can switch the operating tool 50 with each hand and instantly contact or grip the rear part of the rear movable seedling platform 7R, which is farther from the pivot point 40, from the side or rear end.
Furthermore, the tilt position of the conveying device 7, which adjusts the amount of downward pressure, can be operated at approximately the same position as the operating position or the position used for supplying seedlings to the planting work device 6, creating the advantage that the operator can increase work efficiency while reducing the amount of forward and backward movement without having to walk significantly on the step.

Next, the manner in which the transplanter 1 equipped with the transport device 7 supplies agricultural materials such as spare seedlings and fertilizer containers, and collects empty seedling boxes, etc. will be described.
First, the transport and supply work of supplying spare seedlings to the seedling carrier 16 is carried out by having an assistant at the edge of the field place and supply spare seedlings at the front of the transport device 7, which is set in an inclined transport position with the front high and the rear low, or in a horizontal position, as with conventional devices.The operator at the rear of the transport device 7 then assumes a standing position (spare seedling supply position) with his feet halfway up on the rear step 19 and wide step 13, receives the transported spare seedlings at the rear of the transport device 7 and supplies seedlings to the entire surface of the seedling carrier 16.

The seedling boxes (empty materials) that become empty as a result of this supply work can be stacked one after another and stored (temporarily placed) on the material loading platform 37, which is in a temporary loading position outside the rear of the conveying device 7, and when the entire surface of the seedling loading platform 16 has been filled with mat seedlings, a recovery work is performed in which the multiple seedling boxes that have been stored are returned to the ridge side and collected.
In this seedling box retrieval operation, since the knob bolt 48 of the backlash removal section 45 is loosened beforehand, the operator, who is standing, first assumes a facing position with his upper body facing the operating tool 50, and while releasing the operating tool 50 with his front hand and at the same time holding down the rear movable seedling carrier 7R with his rear hand, performs the above-mentioned operation of positioning the inclination angle of the transport device 7 up or down. Next, when the front of the transport device 7 has reached the desired angle of downward inclination due to this operating mode, the operating tool 50 is returned to its original position, and the position is switched to the retrieval position and fixed.

Next, the empty seedling boxes temporarily placed on the material loading platform 37 are sequentially loaded onto the rear movable seedling loading platform 7R, which is in a front-low, rear-high recovery position, and conveyed downward toward the front, returning them sequentially to the assistant worker waiting on the side of the ridge. This allows the assistant worker to recover the empty seedling boxes in a comfortable position.
Then, after completing the work of collecting the empty seedling boxes, the operator, either standing or seated in the driver's seat 10, switches the operating tool 50 and tilts the conveying device 7 upward by adjusting the tilt angle up and down to switch and fix the conveying position at the desired angle, and then receives the stored spare seedlings again from the assistant worker, and with a predetermined number of stored spare seedlings loaded along the entire length of the conveying device 7, resumes planting work at the planting location in the field in the next process.

Next, when the seedlings from the stored spare seedlings have been planted in conjunction with the planting work, the operator picks up the empty seedling boxes of the stored spare seedlings placed on the material loading platform 37, empty seedling boxes already left on the ridges, or any agricultural materials, and drives back toward the ridge while placing the collected items on the transport device 7 or wide step 13, etc., and operates the operating tool 50 in the same manner as the above-mentioned collection and supply work, while switching the transport device 7 to each optimal position to collect the empty seedling boxes and agricultural materials, and repeats the supply work several times to complete the series of planting work in the field.

As described above, the transplanter 1 equipped with the transport device 7 that can be set to the desired transport position by the tilt angle up and down positioning operation (tilt position operation) from the control unit 3 side has the pivot fulcrum 40 that rotates and tilts the transport device 7 back and forth shifted rearward from the front-to-back center P of the transport device 7 in the transport position, and the rear movable seedling carrier 7R on the shifted side is provided with an operating tool 50 that allows the restriction of the tilt position holding mechanism 51 to be switched between a restricted state and a released state. As a result, the operator does not have to get off the field and walk along the rice field surface toward the front of the machine each time the restriction of the tilt position holding mechanism 51 is switched between a restricted state and a released state as in the conventional case. Instead, the operator can remain on the vehicle and stay on the control unit 8 side and release the operating tool 50 installed on the rear movable seedling carrier 7R, and at the same time, the transport device 7 can be easily fixed and held at the desired angle position by a labor-saving and easy-to-move operation with the pivot fulcrum 40 as the fulcrum.

In addition, the transport device 7, which has an operating tool 50 mounted on the inside of the rear movable seedling loading platform 7R, allows the operator to face the operating tool 50 by simply turning around in roughly the same position, even when the operator is in a seedling supplying position at the rear of the transport device 7 to supply seedlings to the planting device 6, without the hassle of having to walk far on the steps. This switching operation, the forward and backward tilt switching operation of the transport device 7, and collection operations such as returning empty seedling boxes and agricultural materials can also be performed efficiently.

When the operating tool 50 is gripped and operated to release the tilted attitude holding mechanism 51, the center of gravity of the transport device 7 is centered on the pivot fulcrum 40 and is on the opposite side of the rear movable seedling platform 7R (operating tool installation side movable seedling platform) on which the operating tool 50 is arranged, so that the tilted attitude operation to adjust the tilted attitude of the transport device 7 up and down can be performed by gripping the operating tool 50 and adjusting the pressure on the rear side of the rear movable seedling platform 7R with a small force that suppresses the amount of lift and rotation, and the tilted attitude holding mechanism 51 can be restricted by stopping gripping the operating tool 50 on the spot.

As a result, the operator can easily switch the restriction of the tilted posture holding mechanism 51 of the operating tool 50 between the restricted state and the unrestricted state, and the operation of switching the forward and backward tilt of the transport device 7 does not require an upward lifting force, so that the transmission of incorrect force in the folding direction of the rear movable seedling carrier 7R is eliminated, and malfunction in the folding direction is also prevented. This makes it possible to efficiently carry out a series of planting operations, particularly in large fields where seedling supply and recovery operations are performed frequently.

Furthermore, as shown in Figure 5, when the conveying device 7 of the embodiment is in a compact storage position with the rear movable seedling platform 7R folded above the fixed seedling platform 7M and the front movable seedling platform 7F folded above the fixed seedling platform 7M, the operating tool 50 can be placed in an upward operating position that makes it easy to operate the lever portion 50a on the front side of the inner side of the body of the folded rear movable seedling platform 7R.
As a result, when the transport device 7 is in an upwardly inclined storage position, the operator can move toward the front step 12 and operate the operating tool 50 downward, and the operator or assistant worker who has dismounted can operate the operating tool 50 downward while operating the inclined position to place the transport device 7 in the desired horizontal or downwardly inclined position, which has the advantage of improving convenience when storing the transplanter 1.

Next, a transplanter 1 according to another embodiment of the present invention, which is equipped with a forward operation type transport device 7, will be described. Note that the description of the same configuration and operation as those of the above embodiment will be omitted.
In this case, the transplanter 1 has a structure in which the pivot fulcrum 40 for tilting the transporting device 7 back and forth is shifted forward from the fore-and-aft center P of the transporting device 7 in the transport position, and an operating tool 50 for switching the restriction of the tilted position maintaining mechanism 51 between a restricted state and a released state is provided on the front side of the front movable seedling platform 7F (operating tool installation side movable seedling platform) on the shifted side, via the above-mentioned gripping operating distance H, as shown by the dotted line in Figure 3.

In this case, the support portion of the conveying device 7 is a side-view type support frame 24 which supports the conveying device 7 via a left-right rotating support mechanism 25 and an up-down rotating support mechanism 26, and is installed in a configuration which is an inverted version of the one which supports the rear-operated type conveying device 7, so that the pivot point 40 can be positioned forward relative to the front-to-back center P of the conveying device 7 in the conveying position.
As a result, the transport device 7 can switch the inclined posture maintaining mechanism 51 and change the inclined posture of the transport device 7 through the operation of the operating tool 50, which is provided on the front side with a gripping operating distance H, without the auxiliary worker waiting on the side of the ridge having to descend from the ridge into the field.

That is, the operator at the control unit 8 drives the transplanter 1 to a position close to the ridge and stops it so that the operating tool 50, which is mounted facing downward at the front of the conveying device 7, which is inclined upward as shown in Figure 3, faces above the ridge.
Next, the assistant worker on the ridge side grasps and supports the front part of the front movable seedling carrier 7F with his outstretched seedling carrier operating hand, and rotates the operating tool 50 upward with the other lever operating hand.
This allows the assistant worker to smoothly operate the device from the ridge side in the same manner as the rear-operated transport device 7, thereby enabling the user to smoothly operate the device in the tilting position that is most suitable for the situation.

Next, through communication and coordination between the assistant worker and the operator, the empty seedling boxes and other items are collected, and spare seedlings are supplied to the planting device 6, empty seedling boxes are collected, and multiple spare seedlings are placed on the entire surface of the transport device 7. At this point, the assistant worker, in agreement with the operator, returns the transport device 7 to its original upwardly inclined position suitable for planting, and the operator resumes planting work. This has the advantage that even an operator with little strength can easily and efficiently perform the series of planting tasks related to operating the inclined position of the transport device 7 without putting a great strain on themselves.

In the illustrated example of the transplanter 1, the tilted posture holding mechanism 51 uses the operating wire 55 as a linking means for linking the operation of the operating tool 50 installed on the transport device 7 side and the height adjustment mechanism 41 configured on the support frame 24 side, but the linking means is not limited to this and may be a general link structure, and the height adjustment mechanism 41 may be switched from the operating tool 50 by an electric motor linking means. Also, although the height adjustment mechanism 41 is shown as an engagement selection mechanism between the locking pin 47 and the selection engagement hole 42a, a general-purpose height adjustment mechanism using another method may also be adopted.

1. Transplanter (Ride-on rice transplanter)
4 Traveling body 7 Transport device 7M Fixed seedling platform 7F Front movable seedling platform 7R Rear movable seedling platform 8 Control unit 10 Driver seat 15 Planting work machine 16 Seedling platform 40 Rotating fulcrum 50 Operating tool 51 Inclined posture holding mechanism P Front and rear center

Claims (2)

A planting machine (15) is connected to the rear of the traveling body (4), and a transport device (7) inclined with a high front and low rear is provided on the side of the control section (8) of the traveling body (4) for supplying spare seedlings from the ridge to the seedling carrier (16) of the planting machine (15). The transport device (7) is provided with a fixed seedling carrier (7M) supported on the traveling body (4) side, and a front movable seedling carrier (7F) and a rear movable seedling carrier (7R) are provided at the front and rear of the fixed seedling carrier (7M) so as to be foldable upward, and the front movable seedling carrier (7F), the fixed seedling carrier (7M), and the rear movable seedling carrier (7R) are deployed in a straight line in a side view. a transporting device for spare seedlings in a riding transplanter, the transporting device being configured to be switchable between a transporting position in which the movable seedling carrier (7F) and the movable seedling carrier (7R) are folded toward the fixed seedling carrier (7M) and to a storage position in which the movable seedling carrier (7F) and the movable seedling carrier (7R) are folded toward the fixed seedling carrier (7M), and the fixed seedling carrier (7M) is provided with a pivot (40) for supporting the transporting device (7) so as to be vertically rotatable so as to be changeable between a transporting position in which the movable seedling carrier (7F) and the movable seedling carrier (7R) are inclined toward the fixed seedling carrier (7M) and a recovery transport position in which the movable seedling carrier (7) is inclined toward the fixed seedling carrier (7M), and a tilted position holding mechanism (51) switchable between a restricting state in which the vertical rotation is restricted and a releasing state in which the restriction is released,
The pivot point (40) for vertically rotating the transport device (7) is disposed rearwardly shifted from the front-rear center (P) of the transport device (7) in the transport position, and an operating tool (50) capable of switching the restriction of the inclined position holding mechanism (51) between a restricted state and a released state is provided on the rear movable seedling carrier (7R) on the shifted side .
This spare seedling transport device for a riding transplanter is characterized in that when the transport device (7) is in the transport position and an operating tool (50) provided on the rear movable seedling carrier (7R) is operated to release the restriction of the inclined position maintaining mechanism (51), the transport device (7) assumes the recovery transport position under its own weight . 2. The transportation device for spare seedlings in a riding transplanter according to claim 1 , wherein the operating tool (50) is provided on an inner side of the body of the transportation device (7).

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