Note: Descriptions are shown in the official language in which they were submitted.
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This invention relates to equipment used for supplying
~eedlings (sugar beets, tobacco, young trees~ etcc) in a planter,
and more particularly to equipment which may be used for successive-
ly supplying seedlings~ cultivated in a paper cylinder, from
supplying means to seedling support means for planting the
seedlingsO
When seedlings are planted mechanically by a planting
mechanism, the seedlings may be previously cultivated in paper
cylinders, and in such a state that the seedlings can be easily
separated one after anotherO
The cultivated group of seedlings are separated as indi-
viduals and supplied to a planter one after another for planting.
Hitherto, as seedlings to be p~anted by using a planting
mechanism, the following are examples of ones which are grown
and can be individually separated: seedlings which can be .
separated one after another, grown in a serie-~ of paper cylinders;
sectioned coils containing a number of cultivated seedlings; and
~oil in which the individual roots of seedlings are embracedc
on planting, these separatable seedlings are in general
divided into one portions in the form of rods, each rod corres-
ponding to one seedling. Seedlings cultivated in paper cylinders
can be supplied one after another to a conveyer located in the
supplying means of the planting mechanism, and transferred there-
from to a seedling support means which holds the seedlings for
plantingO
This system requires a relatively long distance for
supplying and arranging the seedlings, and it has been necessary,
in general, to separate by a long distance the seedling support
means from the starting position of a supply member for seedlings 0
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It is a disadvantage that~ for planting a number of rows, equip-
ment comprising a number of pairs of supply members and support
means are of considerable sizeO
This invention provides a more compact planterO
This invention will be illustrated in detail with reference
to an embodiment showed in the accompanying drawings wherein:
Fig. 1 shows a side view of a planter equipped with
seedlings supply means;
Fig. 2 shows a rear view of the planter,
Fig. 3 shows a rear view of the seedlings supply means,
Fig. 4 shows a side view of parts of the seedlings supply
means;
FigO 5 shows a detailed rear view of parts of the seedling~
supply means; and
FigO 6 shows a rear view of seedlings support means~ or a
holding portion of the transplanter.
A machine frame (2), to be coupled with a tractor (not
shown in the drawings), and an operator seat (3) are supported at
the front of the machine frame (1). A number of boxes (4) for
seedlings are placed on the rear of the machine frame (l)o At
the lower part of the machine frame (1), a number of row cutters
(5) for seedlings are laterally provided~ and behind each are
soil covering wheels (7) for filling and pressing the 90il>
mounted by axles (6) on the machine frame (l)o A number of seed-
ling supply means (A) corresponding to the boxes (4) for seedlings
are installed on the upper part of the machine frame (1), between
the seat (3) and boxes (4), and seedling support means, consisting
of holders (B) for seedlings, are mounted via driving shafts (8)
adjacent to the seedling supply means (A). The -~eedling supply
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means (A) each comprise an endless supply conveyer (9) circulating
to supply seedlings and arranged so as to slope downwards to one
side, and a transmission conveyer (10) which is disposed 50 as to
slope from the lower end of the conveyer (9) downwards and in the
opposite direction. The above-mentioned supply conveyer (9) com-
prises pulleys (11) at both ends and an endless conveyer belt (12)
between the pulleys (11~, moving in the direction shown by the
arrow due to revolving shaft (lla) of the pulley (11)~ The above-
mentioned transmission conveyer (10) is composed of two opposing
sprockets (13) with a conveyer chain (14) suspended therebetween,
and a chain guide plate(15, Figure 5) disposed so as to guide
the conveyer chain (14) on the machine frame in an arcuate mannerO
A number of receptacles (16) for seedlings are successively dis-
posed along the periphery of conveyer chain (14), and the trans-
mission conveyer (10) for seedlings circulates in the direction
shown by an arrow due to the driving shaft (13a) of the sprocket
(13). A transmission roller (17) for seedlings is mounted via a
shaft (17a) on the upper side of the supply conveyer (9) of the
seedlings. The pulley (11) and the transmission roller (lf) are
made to mesh with each other through gears (llb), (17b) so that
transmission roller (17) and supplying conveyer (9) rotate in
opposite directionsO A separating roller (18) for seedlings is
mounted via an axle (18a) at the upper side of the supply conveyer
(9), and the separating roller (18) and the above-mentioned
pulley (11) are made to rotate in opposite directions by causing
gears (llc) and (18b) to meshO The separating roller (18) and the
sprocket (13) on the upper end of the above-mentioned transmission
conveyer (10) are coupled to each other via driving chain (19)
to rotate in the same direction~ The outer peripherles of rollers
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(17) and (18) are covered with a gpon~e~aterial (20)o A control
roller (21) for seedlings i8 provided at the upper side of the
transmission conveyer (10) on a shaft (21a), and the control roller
(21) and the sprocket (13) at the upper end of the transmission
conveyer (10) are made to rotate in OppO8 ite directions via the
crossed pulley belt (22). The outer periphery of the above-
mentioned control roller (21) is covered with a sponge material
(20). A collection box (24) for seedlings is mounted at the outer
side of control guide plate (23), the latter being disposed along
the outer surface of revolving chain (14) from below the control
roller (21) to the sprocket (13) at the lower end of transmission
conveyer (lO)o The control guide plate (23) has a cu~hion material
(24a) at its upper end above the collection box (24)o
A pair of blades (25) are mounted via revolving shaft (25a,
Figures 4 and 5) at the end of transmission conveyer (10). The re-
volving shaft (25a) of the blades (25~ is linked with the axle
(6) of the wheels (7) to move simultaneously therewith and the
shaft (25a) of the blades (25) is connected to the sprocket (13)
at the lower end of the conveyer (10), through meshing of the
transmission gear (26), to rotate in the same directionO Along
the outer periphery of the blade wheels (25) there are attached a
number of projections (25b), and above the blade wheels (25),
there is disposed a supporting shaft (27) to which two presses
(28) for seedlings~ independent of each other, are installed
- movably via roller (28a), the presses being attached to coil-
springs (29) so that the presses can approach the revolving shaft
(25a) of the blade wheels (25) along the outer periphery of the
blade wheels (25) while not contacting the blade wheel itself.
The machine frame (1) has a control guide plate (30) for
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seedlings, disposed 90 as to keep a certain distance from the
presses (28) between the two blade wheels (25) on opposite sides
of ito In the holder (B) for seedlings~ a disc (31) is arranged
on the revolving axle (8), simultaneously movable with the ro- :
tation of the wheels (7), the disc (31) being furnished with
radial holders (32)~ Near the top of each holder (32) a support-
ing member (33) is rotatably mounted via an axle (34), and to
the supporting member (33) is fitted an operating arm (35), with
a coil-spring (36) connected at one end, the other end of the
coil-spring (36) being connected to an adjacent holder (32).
Due to the tension of the coil-spring (36), the above-mentioned
supporting member (33) is maintained in a closed state with re-
spect to the holder (32)o The machine frame (1) is furnished
with a first opening guide plate (37) for the upper part and
secondary opening guide plate (38) for the lower part, the opening
guide plates (37), (38) facing the path of operating arm (35)
which moves with the holder (32). In the drawing, reference
character (P) is used for seedlings which have been cultivated
in paper cylinders, and (T) illu~trates a groove in the earthO
A tractor can be coupled to the machine frame (1) through
connection frame (2), and when the tractor draws the planter, the
row cutters (5) act upon the surface of a field to form planting
grooves (T). At the same tLme, the soil covering wheels (7)
move and~ simultaneously with the rotation of the axle (6), the
revolving shaft (25a) of blade wheels (25) rotates~ ~he rotation
of the revolving shaft (25a), on the one hand, is transmitted
to the rotation axle (8) to move the disc (31), and on the other
hand it is transmitted to the shaft (13a) of the sprocket (13)
of the transmission conveyer (10), through the blade wheels (25)
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and transmission gear (26), to move the transmission conveyer
(10) for ~eedlings. The rotation of the sprocket (13) with the
motion of the transmission conveyer for seedlings (10) makes
the separation roller (18), the supply conveyer (9), the trans-
mission roller (17) and control roller (21) move respectively.
The operator on the seat (3) picks up seedlings (P) from
a box (4), and places them on the conveyer belt (12) of the
supply conveyer (9)0 The seedlings (P) are placed in contact
with each other successively and in a parallel manner on the con-
veyer belt (12), sideways with regard to the direction of movementof the ~upplying conveyerO When seedlings (P), fed downwardly
due to the motion of the supply conveyer (9)~ reach the end of
the conveyer9 they are sandwiched between the conveyer belt (12)
and the sponge (20) of the transmission roller (17), and sent out
regularly to the front of the transmission roller ~17) on~ after
another. Next, the seedlings (P) are sandwiched between the con-
veyer belt (12) and the sponge of the separation roller (18),
being fed separately, one after another, down to the seedling
receptacles (16) of the transmission conveyer (lO)o The rotation-
al velocity of the separating roller (18) is set to be faster thanthat of the forwarding roller (17) to complete the separation of
seedlings. The receptaclec (16) of the transmission conveyer (10)
move successively and synchronously with the velocity at which
the seedlings (P) are pushed out of the supply conveyer (9)0 The
seedlings (P) placed successively in the receptacles (16) of the
transmission conveyer (10) are transmitted therewith down to the
opposite side, that is~ in the direction opposite to the initial
supply direction.
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. .
When the nwmber of the seedlings (P) dropped down and
supplied from the ~upply conveyer (9) i8 larger than the number
of receptacles (16) of the transmission conveyer (10), the surplus
seedlings (Pl) are on the receptacles (16) as double seedlings
(Pl)~ The above-mentioned double seedlings (Pl) come into con-
tact with the sponge(20) of the control roller (21) and are sand-
wiched between the rotating control roller (21) and the moving
transmission conveyer (10) and are then sent over the cushion
material (24a) into the collection box (24) for surplus seedlings.
The rotational velocity of the control roller (21) is set to be
larger than the transferring velocity of the receptacles (16) in
order to supply the double seedlings (Pl) into the collection
box (24)o
On the other handD the seedlings (P) in the receptacles which -
are being transferred are forced to move downward from a horizon-
tal direction to a vertical direction due to the arcuate chain
guide plate (15) which guides the transmission conveyer (10).
The seedlings (P) then reach the transferring end of the trans-
mission conveyer (10) while being controlled so as not to fall
from the receptacles (16) and are kept moving while being supported
by the projecting members (25b) of the blade wheels (25)o The
seedlings (P) are transferred down to the holder (B) for seedlings,
while being controlled by the action of the presses (28) along
the control guide plate (30)~ As the disc (31) of the seedling
~upport member (B) rotates, holders (32) revolve simultaneously
with the pushing of the seedlings (P) from the blade wheels (25)
of the supply means (A).
When a holder (32) arrives above the upper open-guide No. 1
(37)~ moving downwardly, the operating arm (35) of the holder (32)
collides with the opening guide No. 1 (37) and as the holder (32)
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descends> the arm revolves on the axle (34) against the tension
of the coil-spring (36), thereby making the supporting member (33)
open. Just before the release of a seedling from the control
of the press (28)t the operating arm (35) is released from engage-
ment with the opening guide No. 1 (37), and by reverse action the
operating arm (35) makes the supporting member (33) close, the
holder (32) catches the seedling (P) with the supporting member
(33), and continues to move downwardly in this state. The
operating arm (35) of the holder (32) collide~ with the lower
opening guide No. 2 (38) and again makes the supporting member (33)
open through the operating arm (35), releasing the seedling caught,
and dropping it vertically into the planting groove (T). Next,
the soil covering wheels act on the groove (T) in which the
seedlings have fallen, planting the seedlings therein.
As described above, in this invention, the supply means,
which supply the cultivated seedlings to the seedling support
means for planting, i9 composed of the supply conveyer sloping
downwardly to one end of the transmission conveyer which slopes
downwardly in the oppo~ite direction, and the supply conveyer
and transmission conveyer rotate in opposite directionsO The
distance from the starting terminal of the supply means (A) to
support means (B) can be diminished by about one half. Therefore,
when a number of sets of planting units, each composed of the
supply means for transferring seedlings and the supporting means
for planting seedlings, are installed side by side, the width
of the planting machine can be diminished to about one half.
When this equipment is appl~ d to a multiline planting machine
capable of planting seedlings in several lines at the same time,
the construction can either be reduced to one half the size, or
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twice the number of units can be installed. It is very con-
venient for operation that the starting point for seedlings in
the supply means and for the support means be situated nearly
along one and the same line.
