JP7756934B2 - rice transplanter - Google Patents

Description

The present invention relates to a rice transplanter equipped with a float for soil leveling.

Generally, rice transplanters are equipped with a traveling body capable of traveling through a field and a seedling planting unit supported at the rear of the traveling body. The seedling planting unit is also typically equipped with a ground-leveling float at its lower end, which glides along the soil surface of the field. This type of rice transplanter is disclosed in many documents, including Patent Document 1.

As shown in the plan view of Figure 5, rice planting by the rice transplanter 101 is typically performed while the traveling body 110 travels back and forth in a zigzag pattern across the field 100. At this time, behind the traveling body 110, the seedling planting unit 120 plants seedlings at the desired depth in the soil that has been leveled by the float 130.

Japanese Utility Model Application Publication No. 59-036929

However, as shown in the enlarged plan view of Figure 6, when planting work is being carried out on the return path 202 after planting work on the outbound path 201 has been completed, the seedlings 210 planted on the outbound path 201 may fall over or be washed away. In this case, the seedlings must be replanted, resulting in poor work efficiency. This problem of seedlings 210 falling over and being washed away on the outbound path 201 is particularly likely to occur when rice planting is carried out in loosened fields immediately after tilling, and when rice planting is carried out while the traveling machine body 110 is traveling at high speed.

Regarding the falling and washing away of seedlings 210 on the outbound journey 201, the inventors of the present application have discovered that this can be caused by muddy water waves W1 generated in front of the float 130 directly hitting the seedlings 210 diagonally behind.

Patent Document 1 discloses technology to prevent seedlings from falling over immediately after being planted behind the float, but does not take into consideration the problem of seedlings falling over or being washed away on the outbound journey during planting work on the return journey. Furthermore, no effective solution to this problem has been proposed to date.

The present invention aims to provide a rice transplanter that can prevent seedlings planted on the outbound journey from falling over or being washed away during planting work on the return journey.

One aspect of the present invention is a rice transplanter comprising a traveling body capable of traveling in a field, and a seedling planting unit supported at the rear of the traveling body, and a plurality of floats for leveling the soil are arranged in a horizontal direction at the lower end of the seedling planting unit, and a side blocking member for blocking muddy water waves generated in front of the floats from the sides is arranged so as to face from the outside in the horizontal direction against a portion including the front edge of the ground contact surface of the float at the horizontal end of the plurality of floats, and the side blocking member is arm-shaped, and is connected to the side blocking member at one end and to the traveling machine at the other end via a first connecting part, and the side blocking member The device is characterized in that it is supported by a first support member rotatably connected to each of the blocking member and the first connecting portion via a first connecting shaft extending laterally, and a second support member which is arm-shaped and connected at one end to the lateral blocking member rearward of the first support member and at the other end to the seedling planting unit via a second connecting portion, and which is rotatably connected to the lateral blocking member via a second connecting shaft extending laterally and to the seedling planting unit via a third connecting shaft extending laterally, and which has a long hole extending longitudinally so that the second connecting shaft can slide.

With the rice transplanter of the present invention, during seedling planting, muddy water waves that are generated in front of the float and propagate to the sides of the rice transplanter are reliably blocked by the side blocking members. As a result, when rice is planted using a rice transplanter that travels back and forth in a zigzag pattern within a field, the seedlings that were planted on the outbound journey are effectively prevented from falling over or being washed away during planting on the return journey. This makes it possible to perform successful rice planting even immediately after plowing, when the soil surface becomes muddy. It also makes it possible to increase the travel speed of the rice transplanter during rice planting and reduce the amount of seedling replanting work. This effectively improves rice planting efficiency.

FIG. 1 is a side view showing a rice transplanter according to an embodiment of the present invention. FIG. FIG. 2A and 2B are an enlarged side view and an enlarged plan view showing the positional relationship between the float and the side blocking member in the rice transplanter. FIG. 1 is a plan view schematically showing the movement trajectory of a rice transplanter in a field. FIG. 1 is an enlarged plan view for explaining the problems of a conventional rice transplanter.

One embodiment of the present invention will now be described with reference to the accompanying drawings. Note that the following description is merely exemplary in nature and is not intended to limit the invention, its applications, or its uses.

[Overall configuration]
Fig. 1 is a side view showing the rice transplanter 1 according to this embodiment, Fig. 2 is a plan view of the rice transplanter 1, and Fig. 3 is a rear view of the rice transplanter 1. In each figure, the horizontal direction when viewed from the traveling direction of the rice transplanter 1 is indicated by reference symbol X1, the front-rear direction parallel to the traveling direction of the rice transplanter 1 is indicated by reference symbol Y1, and the up-down direction (height direction) of the rice transplanter 1 is indicated by reference symbol Z1.

As shown in Figures 1 to 3, the rice transplanter 1 comprises a traveling body 10 capable of traveling in a field, and a seedling planting unit 20 supported at the rear of the traveling body 10. To facilitate understanding of the invention, the seedling planting unit 20 is shown simplified by dashed lines in Figures 2 and 3. Although not shown, the rice transplanter 1 may also be equipped with attachments other than the seedling planting unit 20 (for example, a fertilizer application unit).

The rice transplanter 1 according to this embodiment is a riding type, and the traveling body 10 is provided with a driver's seat 12. The traveling body 10 is equipped with a pair of front wheels 14 and a pair of rear wheels 16. The traveling body 10 is equipped with a drive source such as an engine (not shown), a power transmission mechanism (not shown) that transmits the output of the drive source to the wheels 14, 16, and various operating parts (e.g., a handlebar 17, levers, and pedals) that are operated by the occupant.

The seedling planting unit 20 is connected to the rear of the traveling machine body 10 via a connecting part 18. The connecting part 18 is configured, for example, as a link mechanism. The seedling planting unit 20 is supported on the traveling machine body 10 via the connecting part 18 so that it can be raised and lowered.

The seedling planting unit 20 includes a seedling tray 22 that can hold seedlings arranged in multiple rows, and a planting section 24 that grabs the lowest seedling placed on the seedling tray 22 and plants it in the field. While Figures 2 and 3 show a seedling tray 22 for planting five rows, the number of rows per rice transplanter 1 is not an issue in the present invention.

[float]
At the lower end of the seedling planting unit 20, multiple floats 30 (30A, 30B, 30C) for ground leveling are arranged in the horizontal direction X1. Specifically, one center float 30B is arranged in the center of the horizontal direction X1, and one side float 30A, one side float 30C are arranged at each end of the horizontal direction X1. Note that although the rice transplanter 1 according to this embodiment is provided with three floats 30, the number of floats 30 can be changed as needed.

Each float 30 (30A, 30B, 30C) has a wide portion 32 that includes the front end of the float 30, and a narrow portion 34 that extends rearward from the center of the wide portion 32 in the lateral direction X1. The wide portion 32 is generally rectangular in plan view. The narrow portion 34 is generally rectangular in plan view, and has a smaller dimension in the lateral direction X1 than the wide portion 32. The boundary between the wide portion 32 and the narrow portion 34 tapers rearward in the fore-aft direction Y1.

The front end of each float 30, i.e., the front end of the wide portion 32, has a raised portion 33 that extends diagonally upward toward the front. The raised portion 33 is curved so that it bulges forward.

As shown in Figure 4(a), the portion of the underside of the float 30 rearward of the rising portion 33 forms a ground contact surface 36 that contacts the soil surface S1 of the field. The portion of the underside of the float 30 forward of the ground contact surface 36, i.e., the surface below the rising portion 33, forms the front surface 39 of the float 30. The lower edge of the front surface 39 coincides with the front edge 38 of the ground contact surface 36.

When the rice transplanter 1 is planting seedlings, the float 30 glides along the soil surface S1 at the ground contact surface 36. If the soil surface S1 becomes muddy due to soiling, for example, a wave W1 of muddy water may form in front of the front surface 39 of the float 30. The inventors of the present application have discovered that this wave W1 may spread to the side of the rice transplanter 1, causing the seedlings 210 to tip over and be washed away on the outbound path 201, as shown in Figure 6. To solve this problem, the rice transplanter 1 of this embodiment is configured as follows.

[Side blocking member]
As shown in Figures 1 to 3, the rice transplanter 1 is provided with a pair of side blocking members 50 that block muddy water waves W1 (see Figure 4(a)) generated in front of the floats 30 from the sides (lateral direction X1). The side blocking members 50 are provided on both sides of all the floats 30 (30A, 30B, 30C) in the lateral direction X1. In this embodiment, the pair of side blocking members 50 have a common configuration. The configuration of the side blocking members 50 will be specifically described below.

The side blocking member 50 is a long member extending in the front-to-rear direction Y1. The side blocking member 50 is a plate-shaped member arranged approximately perpendicular to the lateral direction X1. The side blocking member 50 is, for example, a plate-shaped member that is completely closed.

However, the configuration of the side blocking member 50 can be modified as needed as long as it is capable of blocking muddy water waves W1. For example, the side blocking member 50 may be a lattice-like member with multiple elongated openings aligned in one direction, or a mesh-like member with multiple openings arranged in a grid pattern.

In this embodiment, the side blocking member 50 is supported by the traveling body 10 and the seedling planting unit 20.

The side blocking member 50 is supported on the traveling machine body 10 via a first support member 70. The first support member 70 is an arm-shaped member connected at one end to the side blocking member 50 and at the other end to the traveling machine body 10. One end of the first support member 70 is rotatably connected to the side blocking member 50 via a connecting shaft 62 extending in the lateral direction X1. The other end of the first support member 70 is rotatably connected to a connecting portion 72 provided on the traveling machine body 10 via a connecting shaft 74 extending in the lateral direction X1.

The side blocking member 50 is supported on the seedling planting unit 20 via a second support member 80. The second support member 80 is an arm-shaped member connected at one end to the side blocking member 50 and at the other end to the seedling planting unit 20. One end of the second support member 80 is rotatably connected to the side blocking member 50 via a connecting shaft 64 extending in the lateral direction X1. The second support member 80 is connected to the side blocking member 50 rearward of the first support member 70. The other end of the second support member 80 is rotatably connected to a connecting part 82 provided on the seedling planting unit 20 via a connecting shaft 84 extending in the lateral direction X1. The connecting part 82 is provided, for example, on the seedling tray 22, but may also be provided elsewhere in the seedling planting unit 20 (for example, on the float 30).

The second support member 80 has a longitudinally extending slot 86. The connecting shaft 64 attached to the side blocking member 50 is engaged with the slot 86 so that it can slide along the slot. When the seedling planting unit 20 moves up and down, the side blocking member 50, supported on the seedling planting unit 20 via the second support member 80, can also move up and down. At this time, the connecting shaft 64 slides along the slot 86, allowing the side blocking member 50 to move up and down smoothly.

However, the support structure of the side blocking members 50 can be modified as appropriate depending on the structure of the rice transplanter. For example, the side blocking members 50 may be supported only by the traveling body 10, or only by the seedling planting unit 20. The side blocking members 50 may also be supported by the side floats 30A, 30C.

[Positional relationship between side blocking member and side float]
The positional relationship between the side blocking member 50 and the side floats 30A, 30C will be explained with reference to the enlarged side view in Fig. 4(a) and the enlarged plan view in Fig. 4(b). Note that Fig. 4(a) shows the positional relationship between the right-side side float 30C and the side blocking member 50 as viewed forward in the front-rear direction Y1 (the forward direction of the rice transplanter 1), but the positional relationship between the left-side side float 30A and the side blocking member 50 is similar.

The side blocking members 50 are arranged to face the portions of the side floats 30A, 30C that include the front edge portions 38 of the ground contact surfaces 36 from the outside in the lateral direction X1. The side blocking members 50 are arranged at a distance from the side floats 30A, 30C in the lateral direction X1.

The opposing surfaces 51 of the lateral blocking members 50 that face the side floats 30A, 30C are arranged along the traveling direction (front-to-back direction Y1) of the traveling vehicle body 10 so as to guide the muddy water waves W1 rearward. More specifically, the opposing surfaces 51 are arranged parallel to the front-to-back direction Y1. The opposing surfaces 51 are also arranged perpendicular to the lateral direction X1.

The upper edge 52 of the opposing surface 51 is arranged parallel to the front-to-rear direction Y1. The upper edge 52 of the opposing surface 51 is arranged above the upper edge of the portion of the side float 30A, 30C that is rearward of the rising portion 33, and below the upper end of the rising portion 33.

The lower edge 53 of the opposing surface 51 is arranged parallel to the front-to-rear direction Y1. The lower edge 53 of the opposing surface 51 is arranged below the ground contact surfaces (lower edges) 36 of the side floats 30A, 30C. In other words, the opposing surface 51 protrudes below the ground contact surfaces (lower edges) 36 of the side floats 30A, 30C.

The front edge 54 of the opposing surface 51 is inclined obliquely upward toward the front along the rising portion 33 of the side floats 30A, 30C. The front edge 54 of the opposing surface 51 is located forward of the rising portion 33. In other words, the opposing surface 51 protrudes forward of the front surface 39 of the side floats 30A, 30C.

The rear edge 55 of the opposing surface 51 is arranged parallel to the vertical direction Z1. The rear edge 55 of the opposing surface 51 is arranged rearward of the front end of the narrow portion 34 of the side floats 30A, 30C. In other words, the opposing surface 51 is arranged to face the side floats 30A, 30C in the region in the longitudinal direction Y1 that extends from the wide portion 32 to the narrow portion 34.

[Function of Side Blocking Member 50]
With the above configuration, during the planting operation of seedlings by the rice transplanter 1, the muddy water wave W1 that is generated in front of the float 30 and propagates to the side of the rice transplanter 1 reliably collides with the opposing surface 51 of the side blocking member 50. The muddy water wave W1 that collides with the opposing surface 51 of the side blocking member 50 is guided along the opposing surface 51 to the rear in the front-to-rear direction Y1 and attenuates. As a result, the muddy water wave W1 that propagates to the side of the rice transplanter 1 is reliably blocked by the side blocking member 50.

Accordingly, this embodiment effectively prevents seedlings that were previously planted on the outbound path 201 (see FIG. 6) from falling over or being washed away during planting work on the inbound path 202 (see FIG. 6). This allows the rice transplanter 1 to perform successful rice planting work even immediately after the soil surface S1 has turned muddy. Furthermore, it is possible to increase the travel speed of the traveling body 10 during rice planting work and reduce the amount of seedling replanting work. This effectively improves the efficiency of rice planting work.

To achieve this effect, it is sufficient to provide one side blocking member 50 on each of the right and left sides of the rice transplanter 1, regardless of the number of floats 30. In other words, since it is not necessary to provide a side blocking member 50 for each of the floats 30, an increase in the number of parts and a complicated structure can be prevented.

[Wheel blocking member]
As shown by the dotted line in Figure 2, the rice transplanter 1 may further be provided with a wheel blocking member 90 for blocking waves of muddy water generated in front of the wheels (front wheels 14 and/or rear wheels 16) of the running body 10 from the side.

Specifically, the wheel blocking member 90 may be provided so as to face the lower end portions of each of the pair of front wheels 14 from the outside in the lateral direction X1. The wheel blocking member 90 is supported on the traveling body 10, for example, via a pair of support members 92, 94. As a result, when muddy water waves generated in front of the front wheels 14 are transmitted to the side during planting work by the rice transplanter 1, these muddy water waves are effectively blocked by the wheel blocking member 90. Therefore, as described above, the falling over and washing away of seedlings planted earlier is more effectively suppressed, and the work efficiency of rice planting by the rice transplanter 1 is more effectively improved.

A similar wheel blocking member 90 may also be provided facing the lower end of the rear wheel 16. In this case, the same effect can be achieved with respect to muddy water waves generated in front of the rear wheel 16. Additionally, if a soil leveling rotor is provided on the rice transplanter 1, a corresponding rotor blocking member may be provided on the soil leveling rotor from the outside in the lateral direction X1 of the soil leveling rotor. Waves are generated from the rice transplanter 1 at four locations: the front wheel, rear wheel, float, and soil leveling rotor. Therefore, a blocking member corresponding to any of these locations can be provided. However, when a soil leveling rotor is not used, it is preferable to always provide a blocking member corresponding to the float, since the float generates the most waves. When a soil leveling rotor is used, it is preferable to provide a blocking member corresponding to the float and soil leveling rotor, since the float and soil leveling rotor generate the most waves. Furthermore, if the thickness of the planting layer (topsoil) in a paddy field is uneven and deep in some areas, the rice transplanter may sink and the soil leveling rotor may push against the topsoil, causing the planted seedlings to become covered with topsoil; however, this can be prevented by installing a blocking member that corresponds to the soil leveling rotor.

The present invention has been described above using the above-mentioned embodiments, but the present invention is not limited to the above-mentioned embodiments. For example, the shape of the side blocking member 50 described above is merely an example, and in the present invention, the shape of the side blocking member can be changed as appropriate depending on the configuration of the float, etc. Also, in the above-mentioned embodiments, an example is described in which a pair of side blocking members 50 have a common configuration, but the configurations of the pair of side blocking members 50 do not necessarily have to be the same. Furthermore, in the above-mentioned embodiments, a riding rice transplanter is described, but the present invention is also applicable to walk-behind rice transplanters.

1 Rice transplanter 10 Running body 14 Front wheel (wheel)
16 Rear wheel (wheel)
20 Seedling planting unit 30A, 30C Side floats (floats at the lateral ends)
30B Center float 32 Wide portion 33 Rising portion 34 Narrow portion 36 Ground contact surface 38 Front edge portion of ground contact surface 50 Side blocking member 51 Surface facing float 52 Upper edge portion of opposing surface 53 Lower edge portion of opposing surface 54 Front edge portion of opposing surface 55 Rear edge portion of opposing surface 70 First support member 80 Second support member 90 Wheel blocking member S1 Soil surface W1 Muddy water wave

Claims (9)

A rice transplanter comprising a traveling body capable of traveling in a field and a seedling planting unit supported on the rear of the traveling body, and a plurality of floats for ground leveling are arranged horizontally at the lower end of the seedling planting unit,
a lateral blocking member for blocking muddy water waves generated in front of the floats from the sides is provided so as to face from the lateral outside a portion including a front edge portion of the ground contact surface of the float at the lateral end of the plurality of floats,
The side blocking member is
a first support member having an arm shape, one end of which is connected to the side blocking member and the other end of which is connected to the traveling machine via a first connecting part, and which is rotatably connected to each of the side blocking member and the first connecting part via a first connecting shaft extending laterally;
a second support member having an arm shape, one end of which is connected to the side blocking member rearward of the first support member and the other end of which is connected to the seedling planting unit via a second connecting part, the second support member being rotatably connected to the side blocking member via a second connecting shaft extending laterally, and the second support member being rotatably connected to the seedling planting unit via a third connecting shaft extending laterally, the second connecting shaft having an elongated hole extending longitudinally so as to allow the second connecting shaft to slide;
A rice transplanter characterized by being supported by.
A rice transplanter as described in claim 1, characterized in that the side blocking member is arranged laterally spaced from the float at the lateral end. A rice transplanter as described in claim 2, characterized in that the surface of the side blocking member facing the float at the lateral end protrudes forward beyond the front surface of the float at the lateral end and protrudes downward beyond the lower edge of the float at the lateral end. The rice transplanter described in claim 3, characterized in that the opposing surface is arranged along the traveling direction of the traveling body so as to guide the muddy water waves rearward. The float at the lateral end portion has a wide portion including a front end of the float and a narrow portion extending rearward from a lateral center portion of the wide portion,
The rice transplanter according to claim 4, characterized in that the opposing surface is arranged to face the float at the lateral end in a front-to-rear region extending from the wide portion to the narrow portion. A rising portion extending obliquely upward toward the front is provided at the front end of the float at the lateral end,
A rice transplanter as described in any one of claims 3 to 5, characterized in that the front edge portion of the opposing surface is arranged so as to slope diagonally upward toward the front along the rising portion and to be positioned forward of the rising portion. A rice transplanter as described in any one of claims 1 to 5, characterized in that the side blocking members are provided on both sides of the plurality of floats in the horizontal direction. A wheel blocking member that blocks muddy water waves generated in front of the wheels of the traveling body from the side,
The rice transplanter according to any one of claims 1 to 5, characterized in that the lower end of the wheel is provided so as to face the outside in the lateral direction. The traveling machine body includes a pair of front wheels and a pair of rear wheels,
The rice transplanter according to claim 8 , wherein the wheel blocking members are provided so as to face each of the pair of front wheels from the lateral outer side.