JP2025039186A - Weeding unit for moving vehicles - Google Patents

Abstract

To lower a height while securing an adjusting range of weeding strength.SOLUTION: A weeding unit 1 equipped to a travelling vehicle 2 includes: a swing shaft 13 that cannot rotate around a shaft of the travelling vehicle with respect to the travelling vehicle 2; a swing frame 14 vertically swingable through the swing shaft 13; a weeding tooth 15 provided on a tip side of the swing frame 14; and a spring energizing mechanism 16 for energizing the swing frame 14 downward. The spring energizing mechanism 16 includes a spring support frame 22 having an arc-shaped spring guide 21 that is nearly arc-shaped around the swing shaft 13, which is swingably supported through the swing shaft 13, relative support means 23 for relatively supporting the spring support frame 22 with respect to the swing shaft 13, spring means 24 externally inserted into the arc-shaped spring guide 21 for energizing the swing frame 14 downward, and engaging means 25 for engaging with the swing frame 14 so that the tip of the arc-shaped spring guide 21 is not separated to a spring support frame side.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 1

Description

The present invention relates to a weeding unit for a vehicle that is equipped on a vehicle configured to travel in a field and that weeds between rows of crops.

Conventionally, the weeding strength, which is the force with which the weeding part of a weeder that is designed to be able to travel in a field is pressed down on the ground, has been adjusted by adding or removing weights to the weeding part, attaching or removing tension springs, or changing the mounting position.

The weeder described in Patent Document 1 is provided with a spring that uses an adjustment rod that extends linearly in the vertical direction as a spring guide, and the upper end of the spring is elastically supported so as to be slidable at the mid-height of the adjustment rod, while the lower end of the spring is configured to be adjustable by selecting it with a positioning pin.

JP 2011-188790 A

However, when adding or removing weights to the weeding section of the weeder, the weight is changed depending on the weight of the weight itself, and in the case of small, weak weeders in particular, an increase in weight can have a negative effect on driving performance, and the work of adding or removing the weight itself is cumbersome. Although there is no increase in weight when attaching or removing the tension spring or changing the mounting position, there are issues in that the work involved is cumbersome and the change can only be made in stages.

In addition, the machine in Patent Document 1 is equipped with a spring that uses an adjustment rod that extends linearly in the vertical direction as a spring guide, which means that the machine is large in the height direction. For example, when weeding in a vinyl greenhouse that is less than 1 m in height, there is an issue that the machine can easily interfere with entrances and ceilings.

In order to solve the above problem, the weeding unit for a traveling vehicle of the first invention is
A weeding unit for a traveling vehicle that is equipped on a traveling vehicle configured to be able to travel in a field and weeds between rows of crops,
A swing shaft extending in the left-right direction and provided so as not to rotate around the axis relative to the traveling vehicle;
a swing frame that is supported at its base end via the swing shaft and is provided so as to be swingable up and down;
a weeding tooth attached to a tip side of the swing frame;
a spring biasing mechanism that biases the swing frame downward,
the spring biasing mechanism includes an arc-shaped spring guide that is formed in a substantially arc shape centered on the swing shaft and that extends beyond the swing frame at a tip side so as to be movable relative to the swing frame, and the spring support frame is swingably supported via the swing shaft;
a relative support means for supporting the spring support frame relative to the pivot shaft so as not to rotate about the axis of the pivot shaft;
a spring means inserted around the arc-shaped spring guide between the spring support frame and the swing frame, for biasing the swing frame downward relative to the spring support frame;
The arc-shaped spring guide further includes a locking means for locking the tip of the arc-shaped spring guide to the swing frame so that the tip of the arc-shaped spring guide does not come off the spring support frame.

According to this configuration, the spring biasing mechanism includes the spring means that is extrapolated to the arc-shaped spring guide that is formed in a substantially arc shape centered on the swing shaft, thereby biasing the weeding teeth downward via the swing frame. As such, the arc-shaped spring guide extends in an arc shape, so it can be configured lower than if it were formed linearly in the vertical direction. Therefore, according to this configuration, the height can be configured low while still ensuring the adjustment range of the weeding strength.

As the weeding unit for a traveling vehicle of the second invention, in the first invention,
a spring support frame, a base end side of which is supported so as to be freely swingable via the swing shaft, and a spring pressing frame which presses an end of the spring means on the spring support frame side;
a spring force adjusting means for adjusting a swing position of the spring restraining frame about the swing shaft to adjust a spring force of the spring means,
An example embodiment is shown in which the spring means is configured to be inserted into the arc-shaped spring guide between the spring restraining frame and the oscillating frame and to urge the oscillating frame downward against the spring support frame via the spring restraining frame.

With this configuration, the force with which the spring means urges the swing frame downward can be easily adjusted by the spring force adjustment means, thereby making it easy to adjust the weeding strength.

As the weeding unit for a traveling vehicle of the third invention, in the first or second invention,
The relative support means may be configured to adjust a swing position of the spring support frame about the swing axis relative to the swing frame.

With this configuration, the resilience of the spring means can be adjusted by adjusting the swing position of the spring support frame around the swing axis relative to the swing frame, thereby making it easy to adjust the weeding strength.

As the weeding unit for a traveling vehicle of the fourth invention, in the third invention,
In one embodiment, the relative support means is configured to adjust the swing position of the spring support frame about the swing axis relative to the swing frame by an actuator or a motor.

According to this configuration, the elastic force of the spring means can be mechanically adjusted by the actuator or motor. Therefore, for example, it is possible to configure it so that the weeding strength can be adjusted automatically or wirelessly, or the weeding part can be raised when traveling in areas where there are no crops.

As the weeding unit for a traveling vehicle of the fifth invention, in any one of the first to fourth inventions,
An embodiment is shown in which the vehicle includes a rolling section that is rotatably supported via a rolling shaft that extends in the front-rear direction of the traveling vehicle, and the swing shaft is provided on the rolling section.

The range of rotation of the rolling part relative to the rolling axis is not particularly limited, but may be configured to be limited to a certain range.

With this configuration, the rolling section is configured to be rotatable via the swing shaft, so even if there is a misalignment between the left-right inclination of the ground contact point of the traveling vehicle and the left-right inclination of the ground contact point of the weeding teeth due to the inclination or unevenness of the field, the weeding teeth can properly contact the ground in accordance with the relative left-right inclination with respect to the soil surface, thereby providing an appropriate weeding effect.

As a weeding unit for a traveling vehicle of the sixth invention, in any one of the first to fifth inventions,
The weeding teeth include a front section and a rear section,
The front portion is formed so that the tip portion extends in the approximately left-right direction so as to scrape the surface soil,
In this embodiment, the rear portion is formed so that its tip portion extends in a substantially vertical direction so as to loosen the soil on the surface scraped by the front portion.

With this configuration, the front and rear sections of the weeding teeth scrape the soil on the surface of the field and then loosen it, so the soil can be loosened evenly and the weeding effect can be properly exerted.

The weeding unit for a traveling vehicle according to the present invention has the excellent effect of being able to be configured to a low height while still ensuring an adjustable range of weeding strength.

1 is a side view of a weeding unit for a traveling vehicle according to an embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 5A and 5B are diagrams showing the main parts of the structure of the spring force adjusting means of the weeding unit, in which (a) is a rear cross-sectional view, and (b) is a view taken along the arrow b in (a). FIG. 11 is an enlarged side view showing the operation of the spring force adjusting means of the weeding unit. FIG. 4 is an enlarged side view showing the operation of the actuator of the weeding unit. FIG. 4 is an enlarged side view showing the operation of the weeding teeth of the weeding unit. This is a rear view of the weeding unit, where (a) shows a case where the contact surface of the running vehicle and the contact surface of the weeding unit are parallel to each other, and (b) shows a case where the contact surface of the weeding unit is inclined to the right relatively to the contact surface of the running vehicle.

Figures 1 to 7 show a weeding unit 1 for a traveling vehicle according to one embodiment of the present invention, and in each figure, an arrow F points to the front of the vehicle body. This weeding unit 1 is mounted on a traveling vehicle 2 that is configured to travel through a field H, and is configured to weed between the rows of crops C.

In Fig. 1, the weeding unit 1 is provided with a rolling unit 12 that is rotatably supported via a rolling shaft 11 that extends in the front-rear direction and is provided at the rear end of the traveling vehicle 2. The rolling unit 12 is provided with a swing shaft 13 that extends in the left-right direction and is provided so as not to rotate around the axis relative to the traveling vehicle 2, a swing frame 14 that is supported at its base end via the swing shaft 13 and is provided so as to be swingable up and down, weeding teeth 15 attached to the tip side of the swing frame 14, and a spring biasing mechanism 16 that biases the swing frame 14 downward.

In FIG. 2, the traveling vehicle 2 has a traveling body 4 supported by a pair of left and right crawlers 3 as a traveling means. The traveling body 4 has an electric drive unit (not shown) that drives the pair of left and right crawlers 3, and a battery (not shown) that supplies power to the drive unit.

2 and 3, the rotation range of the rolling unit 12 with respect to the rolling shaft 11 is limited to the range of the maximum deviation that is assumed to occur in the left-right inclination of the ground contact point of the traveling vehicle 2 and the left-right inclination of the ground contact point of the weeding teeth 15 due to the inclination and unevenness of the field H. In addition, in this example, a balance spring means 17 (see FIG. 3(a)) is provided between the traveling vehicle 2 and the weeding unit 1 to balance the rotation position of the weeding unit 1 around the rolling shaft 11 to a predetermined position so that the left-right direction of the weeding teeth 15 in an unloaded state coincides with the left-right direction of the traveling vehicle 2.

In Figures 2 and 3, the oscillating shaft 13 is fixed to the rolling portion 12 so that it does not rotate around its axis, and therefore does not rotate around its axis with respect to the traveling vehicle 2.

2 and 3, the swing frame 14 includes a pair of left and right side frame pieces 14a, 14a extending in the front-rear direction, a connecting piece 14b connecting the middle parts of the frame pieces 14a, 14a, and a horizontal frame piece 14c extending in the left-right direction attached to the tip end (rear end) of the frame pieces 14a, 14a. The base end (front end) of the left and right side frame pieces 14a, 14a is supported rotatably relative to the left and right ends of the swing shaft 13, respectively. Five weeding teeth 15 are arranged in a row in the left-right direction on the horizontal frame piece 14c, spaced apart from each other by the spacing between adjacent rows.

As shown in Figures 1 and 2, the weeding tooth 15 comprises a base portion 15a that is attached to the horizontal frame piece 14c and extends in the front-to-rear direction, and a front stage portion 15b and a rear stage portion 15c that are attached to the base portion 15a at a distance in the front-to-rear direction. As shown in Figures 2, 4 and 7, the front stage portion 15b is formed so that its tip portion (lower end portion) extends in a generally left-to-right direction when in contact with the ground so as to scrape the surface soil, and the rear stage portion 15c is formed so that its tip portion (lower end portion) extends in a generally up-to-down direction when in contact with the ground so as to loosen the surface soil scraped by the front stage portion 15b.

In FIG. 4, the spring biasing mechanism 16 includes an arc-shaped spring guide 21 that is formed in a substantially arc shape around the swing shaft 13 and whose tip extends beyond the swing frame 14 so as to be movable relative to the swing frame 14, a spring support frame 22 that is supported so as to be able to swing via the swing shaft 13, a relative support means 23 that supports the spring support frame 22 relative to the swing shaft 13 so as not to rotate around the axis of the swing shaft 13, a spring means 24 that is inserted into the arc-shaped spring guide 21 between the spring support frame 22 and the swing frame 14 and biases the swing frame 14 downward relative to the spring support frame 22, and a locking means 25 that locks the tip of the arc-shaped spring guide 21 to the swing frame 14 so as not to come off the spring support frame side. The locking means 25 can be a method using a retaining pin or a method of fixing a retaining plate.

The spring support frame 22 has an arm portion 22a extending upward from a base end supported by the swing shaft 13, and an arc-shaped spring guide 21 extending in a generally arc shape centered on the swing shaft 13 is provided at the rear of the tip of the arm portion 22a. The tip of the arc-shaped spring guide 21 is inserted relatively movably into a hole 26 (see FIG. 2) provided in the horizontal frame piece 14c, and is locked by a locking means 25 so as not to come off the hole 26 toward the spring support frame.

The relative support means 23 includes a first support portion 31 and a second support portion 32 that are rotatably connected to each other via a first joint shaft 30 extending in the left-right direction. The first support portion 31 extends substantially forward with its tip portion on the opposite side to the first joint shaft fixed to the swing shaft 13. The tip portion of the second support portion 32 on the opposite side to the first joint shaft is rotatably supported by the tip side of the arm portion 22a of the spring support frame 22 via a second joint shaft 33 extending in the left-right direction. In this example, the second support portion 32 is an actuator 34 that is driven by power supplied from the battery provided in the traveling vehicle 2. The actuator 34 is configured to adjust the distance between the first joint shaft 30 and the second joint shaft 33, thereby adjusting the swing position of the spring support frame 22 about the swing shaft 13 relative to the swing frame 14.

The spring support frame 22 is supported at its base end so that it can swing freely via the swing shaft 13. It is equipped with a spring holding frame 36 that holds down the end of the spring means 24 on the spring support frame side, and a spring force adjustment means 37 that adjusts the spring force of the spring means 24 by adjusting the swing position of the spring holding frame 36 around the swing shaft 13.

The spring force adjustment means 37 is provided on the spring support frame 22 with a spring force adjustment frame 38 having a number of locking recesses 38a, 38a, ... arranged in a row along the arc-shaped spring guide 21. The spring force adjustment means 37 also includes a locked portion 39 that is selectively locked to any of the locking recesses 38a, a biasing means 41 for holding the locked state of the locking recesses 38a and the locked portion 39 in a detachable manner, and a spring force adjustment lever 40 on the spring holding frame 36 for adjusting the spring force by switching the position at which the locked portion 39 is locked, thereby moving the position of the spring holding frame 36 in the arc direction and expanding and contracting the spring means 24.

The spring means 24 is inserted into the arc-shaped spring guide 21 between the spring retaining frame 36 and the oscillating frame 14, and is configured to urge the oscillating frame 14 downward against the spring support frame 22 via the spring retaining frame 36. A spring material is used for the spring means 24.

Next, examples of the use and operation of the weeding unit 1 of this embodiment will be described.
(1) Method of adjusting the weeding strength The weeding strength can be adjusted in stages by operating the spring force adjusting means 37 (see FIG. 4). In addition, the weeding strength can be finely adjusted by expanding and contracting the actuator 34. By combining these adjustments, the weeding strength can be appropriately adjusted according to the condition of the field H, the weeding target, etc.
(2) Lifting operation of the entire weeding unit 1 from the field surface In this example, as shown in Fig. 5, the entire weeding unit 1 can be lifted upward from the field surface by the actuator 34. This makes it possible to prevent the weeding unit 1 from interfering with travel when moving in areas where there are no crops, such as between crop furrows.
(3) Swinging action of the weeding unit 1 about the swing shaft 13 during weeding As shown by the solid lines in Fig. 6, normally, both the traveling vehicle 2 and the weeding unit 1 are horizontal to the soil surface, and press the weeding unit 1 downward (towards the soil). Then, as shown by the two-dot chain lines in Fig. 6, when the weeding unit 1 climbs up on a convex part Ha of the soil surface, the spring means 24 contracts, and the swing frame 14 rotates upward relative to the arc-shaped spring guide 21, so that the weeding unit 1 can continue traveling.
(4) Rolling action of the weeding unit 1 around the rolling axis 11 during weeding Figure 7(a) shows a case where the ground contact surface of the traveling vehicle 2 and the ground contact surface of the weeding unit 1 are parallel to each other. And Figure 7(b) shows a case where the ground contact surface of the weeding unit 1 is inclined to the right relative to the ground contact surface of the traveling vehicle 2 when viewed from the back of the weeding unit 1. In this way, since the weeding unit 1 is configured to be able to roll around the rolling axis 11 relative to the traveling vehicle 2, even if there is a deviation between the left-right inclination of the ground contact location of the traveling vehicle 2 and the left-right inclination of the ground contact location of the weeding teeth 15, the weeding teeth 15 will follow the left-right inclination relative to the soil surface and make appropriate contact with the ground.

According to the weeding unit 1 for a traveling vehicle of this example configured as described above, the spring biasing mechanism 16 is provided with a spring means 24 that is inserted around the arc-shaped spring guide 21 that is formed in a roughly arc shape centered on the swing shaft 13, thereby biasing the weeding teeth 15 downward via the swing frame 14. As the arc-shaped spring guide 21 thus extends in an arc shape, it can be configured to be lower than if it were formed in a straight line in the vertical direction, and can be configured to perform weeding work in a vinyl greenhouse with a low ceiling.

The device also includes a spring retaining frame 36 supported between the spring support frame 22 and the swinging frame 14 via a swinging shaft 13 so as to be freely swingable, and a spring force adjustment means 37 for adjusting the relative angle of the spring retaining frame 36 with respect to the spring support frame 22 around the swinging shaft 13. The spring means 24 is inserted into the arc-shaped spring guide 21 between the spring retaining frame 36 and the swinging frame 14, and is configured to urge the swinging frame 14 downward against the spring support frame 22 via the spring retaining frame 36. With this configuration, the force with which the spring means 24 urges the swinging frame 14 downward can be easily adjusted by the spring force adjustment means 37, thereby making it easy to adjust the weeding strength.

The relative support means 23 is also configured to allow adjustment of the swing position of the spring support frame 22 around the swing axis 13 relative to the swing frame 14. With this configuration, the resilience of the spring means 24 can be adjusted by adjusting the swing position, and the weeding strength can be easily adjusted.

The relative support means 23 is also configured to adjust the swing position of the spring support frame 22 around the swing axis 13 relative to the swing frame 14 by the actuator 34. With this configuration, the elastic force of the spring means 24 can be mechanically adjusted by the actuator 34. Therefore, for example, it is possible to adjust the weeding strength automatically or wirelessly, or to lift the entire weeding unit 1 off the field surface when traveling in areas where there are no crops.

The running vehicle 2 also includes a rolling section 12 that is rotatably supported via a rolling shaft 11 that extends in the longitudinal direction of the running vehicle 2, and a swing shaft 13 is provided on the rolling section 12. With this configuration, the rolling section 12 is configured to be rotatable via the swing shaft 13, so even if there is a discrepancy between the inclination of the landing location of the running vehicle 2 in the same direction and the inclination of the landing location of the weeding teeth 15 in the same direction due to the inclination or unevenness of the field H in the direction of travel of the running vehicle 2, the weeding teeth 15 can properly land on the ground by following the inclination in the same direction relative to the soil surface, and can properly exert the weeding effect.

Furthermore, the weeding teeth 15 have a front section 15b and a rear section 15c, the front section 15b being formed so that its tip extends in a generally left-right direction so as to scrape the surface soil, and the rear section 15c being formed so that its tip extends in a generally up-down direction so as to loosen the surface soil scraped by the front section 15b. With this configuration, the front section 15b and the rear section 15c of the weeding teeth 15 scrape the soil on the surface of the field H and then loosen it, so that the soil can be loosened evenly and the weeding effect can be properly exerted.

The present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiment, and can be embodied by making appropriate modifications without departing from the spirit of the invention, for example, as described below.
(1) As a means for adjusting the gap between the first joint shaft and the second joint shaft in the relative support means 23, a feed mechanism including a feed shaft driven by a motor is used instead of the actuator 34.
(2) Properly modifying the configuration of the weeding teeth 15. For example, adopting a configuration in which the front portion 15b of the weeding teeth 15 is omitted.

REFERENCE SIGNS LIST 1 weeding unit 2 traveling vehicle 3 crawler 4 traveling machine body 11 rolling shaft 12 rolling unit 13 swing shaft 14 swing frame 14a side frame piece 14b connecting piece 14c horizontal frame piece 15 weeding tooth 15a base portion 15b front stage portion 15c rear stage portion 16 spring biasing mechanism 17 balance spring means 21 arc-shaped spring guide 22 spring support frame 22a arm portion 23 relative support means 24 spring means 25 locking means 26 hole 30 first joint shaft 31 first support portion 32 second support portion 33 second joint shaft 34 actuator 36 spring retaining frame 37 spring force adjusting means 38 spring force adjusting frame 38a locking recess 39 locked portion 40 Spring force adjustment lever 41 Pressing means C Crop F Arrow H Field Ha Convex portion

Claims (13)

A weeding unit for a traveling vehicle that is equipped on a traveling vehicle configured to be able to travel in a field and weeds between rows of crops,
A swing shaft extending in the left-right direction and provided so as not to rotate around the axis relative to the traveling vehicle;
a swing frame that is supported at its base end via the swing shaft and is provided so as to be swingable up and down;
a weeding tooth attached to a tip side of the swing frame;
a spring biasing mechanism that biases the swing frame downward,
the spring biasing mechanism includes an arc-shaped spring guide that is formed in a substantially arc shape centered on the swing shaft and that extends beyond the swing frame at a tip side so as to be movable relative to the swing frame, and the spring support frame is swingably supported via the swing shaft;
a relative support means for supporting the spring support frame relative to the pivot shaft so as not to rotate about the axis of the pivot shaft;
a spring means inserted around the arc-shaped spring guide between the spring support frame and the swing frame, for biasing the swing frame downward relative to the spring support frame;
and a locking means for locking the tip of the arc-shaped spring guide to the swing frame so that the tip does not come off toward the spring support frame. a spring support frame, a base end side of which is supported so as to be freely swingable via the swing shaft, and a spring pressing frame which presses an end of the spring means on the spring support frame side;
a spring force adjusting means for adjusting a swing position of the spring restraining frame about the swing shaft to adjust a spring force of the spring means,
The weeding unit for a traveling vehicle as described in claim 1, wherein the spring means is extrapolated to the arc-shaped spring guide between the spring retaining frame and the oscillating frame and is configured to urge the oscillating frame downward against the spring support frame via the spring retaining frame. The weeding unit for a traveling vehicle according to claim 1, wherein the relative support means is configured to be capable of adjusting the relative angle of the spring support frame with respect to the swinging frame about the swinging axis. The weeding unit for a traveling vehicle according to claim 2, wherein the relative support means is configured to be capable of adjusting the relative angle of the spring support frame with respect to the swing frame about the swing axis. The weeding unit for a traveling vehicle according to claim 3, wherein the relative support means is configured to adjust the swing position of the spring support frame around the swing axis relative to the swing frame by an actuator or a motor. The weeding unit for a traveling vehicle according to claim 4, wherein the relative support means is configured to adjust the swing position of the spring support frame around the swing axis relative to the swing frame by an actuator or a motor. The weeding unit for a traveling vehicle according to claim 1, which is provided with a rolling unit that is rotatably supported via a rolling shaft that extends in the front-rear direction of the traveling vehicle, and the swing shaft is provided on the rolling unit. The weeding unit for a traveling vehicle according to claim 2, which is provided with a rolling unit that is rotatably supported via a rolling shaft that extends in the front-rear direction of the traveling vehicle, and the swing shaft is provided on the rolling unit. The weeding unit for a traveling vehicle according to claim 3, which is provided with a rolling unit that is rotatably supported via a rolling shaft that extends in the front-rear direction of the traveling vehicle, and the swing shaft is provided on the rolling unit. The weeding unit for a traveling vehicle according to claim 4, which is provided with a rolling unit that is rotatably supported via a rolling shaft that extends in the front-rear direction of the traveling vehicle, and the swing shaft is provided on the rolling unit. The weeding unit for a traveling vehicle according to claim 5, which is provided with a rolling unit that is rotatably supported via a rolling shaft that extends in the front-rear direction of the traveling vehicle, and the swing shaft is provided on the rolling unit. The weeding unit for a traveling vehicle according to claim 6, which is provided with a rolling unit that is rotatably supported via a rolling shaft that extends in the front-rear direction of the traveling vehicle, and the swing shaft is provided on the rolling unit. The weeding teeth include a front section and a rear section,
The front portion is formed so that the tip portion extends in the approximately left-right direction so as to scrape the surface soil,
The weeding unit for a traveling vehicle according to any one of claims 1 to 12, wherein the rear stage is formed so that a tip portion extends in an approximately vertical direction so as to loosen the soil on the surface scraped by the front stage.

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