JP7822604B2 - Swing-type riding top trimmer - Google Patents

Description

Article 30, paragraph 2 of the Patent Act applies. Publication on April 20, 2021, at Nishimoto, Chiran-cho, Minamikyushu City, Kagoshima Prefecture.

Article 30, paragraph 2 of the Patent Act applies. Publication on January 12, 2022, in Higashibeppu, Chiran-cho, Minamikyushu City, Kagoshima Prefecture.

Article 30, paragraph 2 of the Patent Act applies. Publication on March 7, 2022, at Nishimoto, Chiran-cho, Minamikyushu City, Kagoshima Prefecture.

Article 30, paragraph 2 of the Patent Act applies. Publication on March 9, 2022, at Nishimoto, Chiran-cho, Minamikyushu City, Kagoshima Prefecture.

The present invention relates to a riding-type bottom trimmer used for trimming the bottom of tea ridges.

In tea plantations, tea trees planted in ridges (tea furrows) are managed by trimming unnecessary branches and leaves from the base of the tea plants in preparation for tea picking. Figure 9 shows a tea furrow T and a base ts. Conventional base trimming machines are mainly walk-behind types, which are operated by manually pushing a wheeled cutting blade (see, for example, Patent Documents 1 and 2). The operator holds the handle and moves the wheel between the narrow furrows, pruning the bases of the tea plants that extend between the furrows with an engine-driven blade that moves up and down. However, walk-behind types are hard work because they require passing through narrow furrows, and there are also problems with the quality of the finished base trimming, which varies depending on the operator's skill level.

In contrast to the walk-behind type, riding types are also known (see, for example, Patent Documents 3 and 4). Riding types involve a blade fixed to the riding machine, and the machine travels between the furrows on a traveling device while the blade fixed to the machine cuts off the bottoms of the tea plants. Riding types can perform bottom cutting more efficiently than walk-behind types, but they must be driven in a straight line between the furrows, and because the machine is large, they are more difficult to operate than walk-behind types, and if the machine shifts to the left or right, the finished bottoms of the tea plants will become uneven. Furthermore, with riding types, the width and spacing of the tea furrows vary depending on the planting and growth conditions of the tea plants, so the attachment position of the blade needs to be adjusted each time.

Publication number 03-027387 Japanese Patent Application Publication No. 11-137040 Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2002-300808 JP 2011-200194 A

In recent years, the environment surrounding tea plantations has been tough, with farmers aging. At the same time, tea plantations have become larger in scale, and labor-saving mechanized harvesting and management work have become more efficient, with some tasks being automated and unmanned.

If the finish of tea ridge bottom trimming changes or becomes uneven depending on the operator's level of operation, it will also affect the machinery that moves between the rows during picking and maintenance work, leading to reduced yields and reduced quality during picking work, and inconsistent spraying of pesticides during maintenance work. However, conventional walking and riding types were unable to address these issues.

The present invention was made in consideration of the above-mentioned problems, and aims to provide a rocking riding bottom trimmer that can trim the bottoms of tea ridges at a consistent level regardless of the operator's operating level, and can perform a good finishing touch to the bottom trimming of tea ridges.

In order to solve the above problems, the present invention provides a swing-type riding skirt trimmer, which comprises:
The machine comprises a body that straddles the tea ridges, a pair of traveling devices that travel between the tea ridges, and a cutting blade device that cuts the bottoms of the tea plants while the machine is traveling, and the cutting blade device is attached to the machine via a swing arm that can swing left and right relative to the traveling direction of the machine,
the swing arm has two arm bodies that are parallel to each other and extend in the front-rear direction of the machine body, and these two arm bodies are swingable in the left-right direction with respect to the traveling direction of the machine body;
The cutting blade device comprises a drive motor, a cutting blade body that is cantilevered via support pins at the tip ends of the two arm bodies of the swing arm and can move in parallel left and right as the swing arm swings, a first clipper blade that is attached to one side of the cutting blade body and moves up and down reciprocally as driven by the drive motor to cut the bottom of the tea plants on one side of the furrow, and a second clipper blade that is attached to the other side of the cutting blade body and moves up and down reciprocally as driven by the drive motor to cut the bottom of the tea plants on the other side of the furrow,
The cutting blade device is mainly characterized in that a first movable sensing plate that comes into contact with the bottom of one of the tea plants between the rows when the machine is moving, and a second movable sensing plate that comes into contact with the bottom of the other of the tea plants between the rows are attached in a direction that widens in a V-shape as they go rearward in a plan view, and that the first and second sensing plates are constantly biased by biasing means when the machine is moving, with the first sensing plate facing the bottom of one of the tea plants and the second sensing plate facing the bottom of the other tea plant .

As explained above, the oscillating riding bottom trimmer of the present invention comprises a body that straddles tea ridges, a pair of travel devices that travel between the ridges, and a cutting blade device that trims the bottoms of the tea plants as the body travels. The cutting blade device is attached to the body via a swing arm that can swing left and right relative to the direction of travel of the body. Therefore, if the orientation or position of the body shifts left or right relative to the direction of the tea ridges while the body is traveling, the swing arm will maintain the cutting blade device in its original bottom trimming position. This allows the bottom trimming of tea ridges to be performed at a consistent level regardless of the operator's operating level, resulting in excellent finishing of the tea ridge bottom trimming.

1 is an overall perspective view of a swing-type riding-type skirt trimmer; Rear view of a swing-type riding skirt trimmer; 1 is a plan view of a swing-type riding-type skirting machine; FIG. 2 is a perspective view of a main part showing a state in which a swing arm and a cutting blade device are attached; 10 is a side view of a main part showing the mounting state of the swing arm and the cutting blade device; FIG. 2 is a plan view of a main part showing a state in which a swing arm and a cutting blade device are attached; 10 is an explanatory diagram showing the movement of the swing arm; An explanatory diagram showing the movement of the sensing plate; FIG. 1 is a diagram showing a cross section of a tea ridge.

Figures 1 to 9 show one embodiment of a swinging riding bottom trimmer according to the present invention. In these figures, reference numeral 100 denotes a swinging riding bottom trimmer (hereinafter referred to as a bottom trimmer), and reference numeral T denotes a tea ridge.

As shown in Figure 9, the bottom trimmer 100 is a riding machine used to trim the bottoms (sides) ts of tea plants in tea furrows T in a tea plantation. As shown in Figures 1 to 3, it comprises a gate-shaped body 110 positioned to straddle the tea furrows T, and left and right traveling devices 120 attached to the bottom of the body 110. Although not shown, the left and right traveling devices 120 each have front and rear wheels and crawlers wound around the wheels, and are driven by an engine 111, allowing the machine to travel at a low speed along the tea furrows T and between the furrows, operated by the operator.

The gate-shaped machine body 110 is equipped with an engine 111 and an operator's seat 112. The operator, seated in the operator's seat 112, can operate the handlebars 113 for driving, as well as the operating lever 114 for bottom trimming and the operating lever 115 for height adjustment.

A pair of left and right cutting blade devices 130 are attached to the rear of the machine body 110 via a swing arm 140. As shown in Figures 4 to 6, the cutting blade device 130 is U-shaped in plan view and includes a cutting blade main body 131 extending in the height direction, and left and right clipper blades 132, 132 attached facing forward on both sides of the cutting blade main body 131. The cutting blade main body 131 is supported in a cantilevered manner at the tips of the two arm main bodies 141, 141 that make up the swing arm 140.

A drive motor 133 is mounted on top of the cutting blade body 131, and the rotational drive force from the drive motor 133 is transmitted to two left and right transmission cases 135, 135 via a connection 134. An eccentric cam and driven member (neither shown) are located inside each transmission case 135, and the rotational force from the drive motor 133 is converted into up and down reciprocating motion of the driven member by the movement of the eccentric cam, which then causes the left and right clipper blades 132, 132 to reciprocate up and down via the driven member.

The left and right clipper blades 132, 132 each consist of a pair of blades, which slide up and down while reciprocating in opposite directions. This allows the left and right clipper blades 132, 132 to trim away unnecessary branches and leaves from the bottoms ts of the tea ridges T, giving the bottoms ts a neat finish. A weight 136 is attached to the opposite side of the drive motor 133.

The swinging arm 140 swings to correct the position of the cutting blade device 130 back to its original cutting position when the orientation or position of the machine body 110 shifts left or right relative to the orientation (longitudinal direction) of the tea ridges T while the machine body 110 is moving, and comprises two arm bodies 141, 141 on the left and right that extend parallel to each other in the front-to-rear direction. Bearings 142, 142 are provided at the base ends of the arm bodies 141, 141, and the bearings 142, 142 are rotatably connected between the top and bottom plates of the support body 144 via support pins 143, 143.

Bearings 145 are provided at the tips of the arm bodies 141, and the bearings 145 are rotatably connected via support pins 146 between the top and bottom plates of a support 137 fixed to the inner surface of the cutting blade body 131 of the cutting blade device 130. As a result, the cutting blade device 130 is cantilevered relative to the swing arm 140, and as shown in Figure 7, the left and right clipper blades 132 are kept facing in a fixed direction (forward), allowing them to move in parallel left and right by swinging the swing arm 140.

A fixing means for fixing the swing arm 140 (preventing swinging) is provided on the top plate of the support body 144 of the swing arm 140. As shown in FIG. 3, this fixing means includes a cylindrical guide portion 147 that is cantilevered on the top plate of the support body 144 and extends rearward, and a fixing pin 148 that is guided back and forth within the guide portion 147. The swing arm 140 is fixed by engaging the fixing pin 148 with a central fixing hole in a fixing plate 138 (see FIG. 4) provided on the upper front surface of the cutting blade body 131. The swing arm 140 can be fixed by removing (releasing) the fixing pin 148 from the fixing hole.

Between the support 144 of the swing arm 140 and the machine body 110, a height adjustment mechanism 150 is provided to adjust the height of the cutting blade unit 130. The height adjustment mechanism 150 has a link mechanism and includes a support member 151 that extends vertically and securely supports the support member 144; two support arms 152, 153 that are pivotally connected at their base ends to the rear of the machine body 110 and pivotally connected at their free ends to the upper and lower sides of the support member 151, extending parallel to each other in a side view; and a telescopic cylinder 154 that is connected between the rear of the machine body 110 and the support arm 152 and moves the two support arms 152, 153 vertically in parallel. The height of the swing arm 140 and the cutting blade unit 130 from the ground can be adjusted by operating the telescopic cylinder 154.

A pair of left and right sensor plates 161, 162, which assist the swinging of the swing arm 140, are attached to the rear of the blade body 131 of the blade device 130 so that they widen in a V-shape toward the rear in plan view, as shown in Figures 6 and 8.

When the machine body 110 travels between the furrows, the sensor plates 161, 162 constantly abut against the bottoms (sides) ts of the brown ridges T on both sides of the furrows, thereby assisting the swinging of the swinging arm 140 and ensuring that the position (widthwise position) of the cutting blade device 130 in the furrows, i.e., the positions of the left and right clipper blades 132, 132, is always constant. The sensor plates 161, 162 are movable and are supported rotatably and outwardly on both side plates of the cutting blade body 131 via upper and lower pivoting support parts 163, and each has a sensor part 164 that abuts against the bottoms ts of the brown ridges T.

Moveable sensing plates 161, 162, compared to fixed types, experience less resistance when in contact with the bottom ts of the tea ridges T, and absorb the resistance from the bottom ts of the tea ridges T while the machine body 110 is moving, smoothing the movement of the swing arm 140 and also ensuring smooth movement of the machine body 110. Even if there are missing stalks between the front and rear tea plants in the tea ridges T, the movable sensing plates 161, 162 absorb the missing stalks, so the bottom trimming operation while the machine body 110 is moving is not affected.

An auxiliary mechanism 166 is provided on the inner surface of the sensing plates 161, 162 via mounting portions 165. This auxiliary mechanism 166 adjusts the movement of the sensing plates 161, 162 to match changes in the bottom width (spacing) of the brown ridges T on both sides of the inter-row space. As shown in FIG. 6, this auxiliary mechanism 166 includes a pair of left and right first connecting members 167, 167 whose one ends are rotatably connected to the left and right mounting portions 165, 165, and a pair of left and right second connecting members 168, 168 whose one ends are rotatably connected near the other ends of the first connecting members 167, 167. The other ends of the second connecting members 168, 168 are rotatably connected to a support plate 138 fixed to the center of the back surface of the cutting blade body 131.

The auxiliary mechanism 166 has a pair of left and right spring members 169, 169 interposed in a stretched state between the middle of the left and right second connecting members 168, 168 and the back surface of the cutting blade body 131 on both sides of the support plate 138. The left and right sensing plates 161, 162 are constantly biased against the bottom portions ts of the lateral brown ridges T via the left and right second connecting members 168, 168 and the left and right first connecting members 167, 167.

For this reason, when the bottom width (spacing) on both sides of the ridges is narrow, the left and right sensing plates 161, 162 rotate in the closing direction as shown by the solid lines in Figure 8, so that they are constantly in contact with the bottoms of the tea ridges T on both sides. When the bottom width (spacing) on both sides of the ridges is wide, the left and right sensing plates 161, 162 rotate in the opening direction as shown by the dotted lines in Figure 8, so that they are constantly in contact with the bottoms of the tea ridges T on both sides. The auxiliary mechanism 166 operates to cause the movement of the sensing plates 161, 162 to follow changes in the bottom width (spacing) of the tea ridges T on both sides of the ridges.

Next, we will explain the bottom trimming work of tea ridges T using the bottom trimming machine 100 configured as described above.

First, the body 110 of the bottom trimmer 100 is positioned on the tea ridge T so that it straddles the ridge T, and the cutting blade devices 130, 130 at the rear of the body are aligned between the ridges (see Figure 3). The operator in the driver's seat 112 then operates the height adjustment control lever 115 to adjust the height of the cutting blade devices 130, 130. The left and right swing arms 140 are fixed in place by their respective fixing pins 148.

Next, the operator in the driver's seat 112 operates the bottom trimming lever 114 to activate the left and right cutting blade devices 130, 130, and moves the traveling device 120 of the bottom trimmer 100 into the furrow. After entry, when the rear sensor plates 161, 162 are activated (detecting the bottoms ts on both sides of the furrow), the left and right fixing pins 148 are released, allowing the left and right swing arms 140, 140 to swing.

In this state, when the operator in the driver's seat 112 operates the handlebars 113 to move the machine 110 forward at a low speed (2 to 4 km/h), the left and right cutting blade devices 130, 130 at the rear of the machine 110 begin cutting the bottoms ts on both sides of the furrows (pruning work).

The left and right cutting blade devices 130, 130 transmit the rotational driving force from the drive motor 133 to two transmission cases 135, 135, where it is converted into up and down reciprocating motion within the transmission cases 135, 135, causing the left and right clipper blades 132, 132 to reciprocate up and down, respectively. As a result, the left and right clipper blades 132, 132 cut off unnecessary branches and leaves from the bottom parts ts on both sides of the furrows, giving the bottom parts ts a neat finish.

During the bottom trimming operation, the left and right sensor plates 161, 162 are equally biased by spring members 169, 169 toward the bottoms (sides) ts of the tea furrows T on both sides. Therefore, while the machine body 110 is moving, the cutting blade devices 130, 130 remain stably positioned in the center of the furrows, and the bottoms ts on both sides are trimmed straight.

While the machine body 110 is moving, it is difficult for the operator to operate the handle 113 to keep it running straight and parallel to the tea ridge T. The orientation of the machine body 110 relative to the tea ridge T may shift left or right along the way, or the machine body 110 may shift left or right from the center of the tea ridge T. If the orientation of the machine body 110 shifts left or right along the way relative to the tea ridge T, the left and right rear swing arms 140, 140, with the assistance of the sensing plates 161, 162, respectively, swing in the opposite direction to the machine body 110, correcting the positions of the cutting blade devices 130, 130, i.e., the positions of the clipper blades 132, 132, so that they return to their original bottom trimming positions, and maintaining the original bottom trimming positions.

For example, when the machine body 110 faces left relative to the tea ridge T and the entire machine body 110 moves to the left, the rear swing arm 140 swings to the right, correcting the bottom trimming position of the cutting blade devices 130, 130 and maintaining the original bottom trimming position (if the cutting blade devices 130 are fixedly attached to the machine body 110, when the machine body 110 moves to the left relative to the tea ridge T, the rear cutting blade device 130 will deeply cut the bottom of the tea ridge on the left side, while the bottom of the tea ridge on the right side will be left uncut). Also, when the machine body 110 faces right relative to the tea ridge T and the entire machine body 110 moves to the right, the rear swing arm 140 swings to the left, correcting the bottom trimming position of the cutting blade devices 130, 130 and maintaining the original bottom trimming position.

When the swinging arm 140 swings, the two arm bodies 141, 141, which are parallel to each other and extend back and forth, move in parallel (see Figure 7), so the orientation of the left and right cutting blade devices 130, i.e., the orientation of the two left and right clipper blades 132, is kept constant, allowing the bottom trimming to be performed so that the cutting surface is straight and flush. The swinging arm 140 can swing with just one arm body, but by using two parallel arm bodies, the effects of the tea plant's bottom branches getting caught and fluctuations in the cutting load are minimized, making the bottom trimming operation more stable.

While the machine body 110 is moving, the sensor plates 161, 162 are constantly in contact with and detect the bases of the furrows on both sides. Tea plants are planted at regular intervals along the tea furrows T, but if there are any missing stalks, the movable sensor plates 161, 162 will follow the missing stalks, minimizing the effect of the missing stalks on the swinging arm 140, allowing the cutting blade devices 130, 130 to stably and neatly cut the bases ts of the tea furrows T.

When the machine body 110 reaches the edge of the tea ridge T and the bottom trimming work on both sides of the furrow is completed, the operator operates the operating lever 114 to stop the operation of each cutting blade device 130, rotate the machine body 110, move to the adjacent tea ridge T where bottom trimming work is not being performed, and position the machine body 110. Then, following the above procedure, the machine body 110 is again moved forward at low speed along the tea ridge T, while the left and right rear cutting blade devices 130 are operated to continue bottom trimming work on both sides of the furrow.

In this case too, if the orientation of the machine body 110 shifts left or right relative to the direction of the tea ridges T while the machine body 110 is moving forward, the swinging arm 140 attached to the rear will swing away from the machine body 110, i.e., toward the center, with the assistance of the sensing plates 161, 162, thereby maintaining a constant bottom trimming position for the tea ridges T. Furthermore, if the position of the machine body 110 shifts left or right relative to the center of the tea ridges T, the swinging arm 140 at the rear will swing away from the machine body 110, i.e., toward the center of the tea ridges T, thereby maintaining a constant bottom trimming position for the tea ridges T.

In this way, even if the orientation or position of the machine body 110 shifts left or right while the machine body 110 is moving, the rear swing arm 140 will swing in the opposite direction to the orientation of the machine body 110, i.e., toward the center of the furrow, thereby always maintaining a constant position of the cutting blade device 130 in the furrow and allowing the bottoms of both sides of the furrow to be neatly finished.

The bottom trimmer 100 of this embodiment is also effective when operated automatically. The applicant previously proposed a control structure for an automatically traveling machine (Patent Publication No. 11-168947). The control structure has a pinion attached to the rotary shaft of the travel handle mounted on the machine body, which can be rotated by a rack that moves back and forth by a hydraulic cylinder. Sensor plates that detect both sides of the tea plants in the ridges are attached to the left and right front of the machine body. When the machine travels across the ridges, as the machine turns to the right, the difference in resistance of the variable resistor based on the rotation angle of the left and right sensor plates reaches a specified value, the position of the electromagnetic switch valve is changed, the hydraulic cylinder piston rod and rack retract, the pinion rotates counterclockwise, and the travel handle also rotates counterclockwise, returning the machine to its original straight-ahead position. When the machine turns to the left, the difference in resistance of the variable resistor based on the rotation angle of the left and right sensor plates reaches a specified value, the position of the electromagnetic switch valve is changed, the hydraulic cylinder piston rod and rack advance, the pinion rotates clockwise, and the travel handle also rotates clockwise, returning the machine to its original straight-ahead position.

The bottom trimmer 100 of this embodiment demonstrates its power when applied to the above-mentioned automatically operable machine. When the machine body 110 turns to the right, the swing arm 140 swings toward the center of the furrow, maintaining a constant position for the cutting blade device 130 between the furrows. When the machine body 110 turns to the left, the swing arm 140 swings again toward the center of the furrow, maintaining a constant position for the cutting blade device 130 between the furrows. By maintaining a constant position for the cutting blade device 130 between the furrows while the machine body 110 is traveling, the bottom of the tea furrow T is neatly trimmed straight from the beginning to the end of the furrow, resulting in a finished look.

By pruning the bottom of the tea ridges T neatly and straight from the beginning to the end of the ridge, when using a riding tea plucking machine that employs the above-mentioned automatic driving control structure to pick first-season tea, second-season tea, etc., the orientation of the machine while moving is stable compared to when the bottom of the tea ridges T is finished with an uneven surface, allowing for picking work with better quality (more tea leaves, fewer branches) and more stable yields (the machine is less likely to sway from side to side, resulting in a more stable yield).

In this embodiment, the skirt trimmer 100 has the cutting blade device 130 attached to the rear of the machine body 110, but the cutting blade device 130 can also be attached to the front of the machine body 110. In this case, the attachment orientation of the cutting blade device 130, swing arm 140, and sensor plates 161, 162 is the same as in the previous embodiment, and an extension arm extending forward can be placed between the swing arm 140 and the height adjustment mechanism 150 located at the front of the machine body 110, with the swing arm 140 supported on the front of the extension arm.

Thus, by using the oscillating riding bottom trimmer of the present invention, it is possible to efficiently trim the bottoms of tea ridges in tea fields while finishing the bottoms of the ridges with a clean, even surface. It also reduces the workload of farmers, ultimately leading to higher-quality picking and a more stable yield.

Furthermore, by using the oscillating riding bottom trimmer of the present invention, even if the width and spacing of tea ridges vary depending on the planting and growth conditions of the tea plants, there is no need to adjust the attachment position of the trimmer blade each time, thereby improving usability.

The present invention can be used as a riding bottom trimmer that travels along tea ridges in tea fields to trim the bottoms of the ridges.

REFERENCE SIGNS LIST 100 Hem trimmer 110 Machine body 111 Engine 112 Driver's seat 113 Handle 114 Working lever 115 Operating lever 120 Traveling device 130 Cutting blade device 131 Cutting blade body 132 Clipper blade 133 Driving motor 134 Connection part 135 Transmission case 136 Weight 137, 144 Support body 138 Support plate 140 Swinging arm 141 Arm body 142, 145 Bearing part 143, 146 Support pin 147 Guide part 148 Fixing pin 150 Height adjustment mechanism 151 Support member 152, 153 Support arm 154 Telescopic cylinder 161, 162 Sensor plate 163 Rotating support part 164 Sensor part 165 Mounting part 166 Auxiliary mechanism 167 First connecting member 168 Second connecting member 169 Spring member T Brown ridge ts Bottom portion

Claims (1)

The machine comprises a body that straddles the tea ridges, a pair of traveling devices that travel between the tea ridges, and a cutting blade device that cuts the bottoms of the tea plants while the machine is traveling, and the cutting blade device is attached to the machine via a swing arm that can swing left and right relative to the traveling direction of the machine,
the swing arm has two arm bodies that are parallel to each other and extend in the front-rear direction of the machine body, and these two arm bodies are swingable in the left-right direction with respect to the traveling direction of the machine body;
The cutting blade device comprises a drive motor, a cutting blade body that is cantilevered via support pins at the tip ends of the two arm bodies of the swing arm and can move in parallel left and right as the swing arm swings, a first clipper blade that is attached to one side of the cutting blade body and moves up and down reciprocally as driven by the drive motor to cut the bottom of the tea plants on one side of the furrow, and a second clipper blade that is attached to the other side of the cutting blade body and moves up and down reciprocally as driven by the drive motor to cut the bottom of the tea plants on the other side of the furrow,
A movable first sensing plate that comes into contact with the bottom of one of the tea plants between the furrows when the machine is moving, and a movable second sensing plate that comes into contact with the bottom of the other of the tea plants between the furrows are attached to the cutting blade device in a direction that widens in a V-shape as it goes rearward in a plan view, and the first and second sensing plates are constantly urged by urging means when the machine is moving, with the first sensing plate facing the bottom of one of the tea plants and the second sensing plate facing the bottom of the other tea plant.
A swing-type riding skirt trimmer characterized by: