Note: Descriptions are shown in the official language in which they were submitted.
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The present invention relates to a planting device for a plant
setting machinet which planting device comprises a frame supported
by the plant setting machine, a hole-making means for making a
hole for a plant into the ground, said hole-makin~ means being
vertically displaceably mounted on the frame, a shifting means
for displacing said hole-making means vertically in relation to
said frame, a feeding pipe ending at the path of movement oF said
hole-making means for supplying a plant to said hole in the ground
as well as a vibrator for vibrating said nole-making means.
Planting devices designed for various plant setting machines are
previously known by means of which a hole is made in the surface
of the ground for receiving a plant to be set. The hole is made
into the ground by means of a hole-making means which is shifted
vertically towards the ground surface in order to press the tip
of said hole-making means into the ground to an appropriate depth
~ and thereafter is lifted up. In its simplest form the hole-making
means consists of a push rod, the tip of said rod having the shape
of the hol~ to be formed in the ground, but more complicated
constructions are also known, in which the tip of the hole-making ,
means consists of pivotable flaps which, after the tip has pene- -
trated into the ground, widen the hole to the desired size. Hole-
making means of this type are forced into the ground by means of~
mechanical, pneumatic, or hydraulic means, which, when the hole-
making means meets an obstacle in the ground, such as a stone,
root of a tree or equivalent, permit discontinuation of the down-
ward movement of the hole-making means in order to prevent damagos
to the planting device. ~herefore, when the tip of ~he hola-mal~in3
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means meets a stone or a roGt of a tree, a plant hole is only
partly or not at all formed ;n the ground.
It has been suggested earlier to subject the hole-making means to
vibration while it is being pushed into the ground. In this way
the hola-making means starts a bouncing movement if it meets an
obstacle underneath, and it performs some kind of a searching
movement within a certain radius around the first con~act point
between the hole-making means and the obstacle. The vibration o;
the hole-making means has been produced by directly or indirectly
fastening an external vlbrator to the hole-making means. Such an
arrangement is, however, relatively space-consuming and the
vibrating element itself will be positioned rather far From the ;
tip of the hole-making means penetrating into the ground. Therefore~
the vibration has to pass a relatively long distance from the
v1brating element to the tip oF the hole-making meanst which
requires strong vibration and a solid construction of the different
components of the planting device.
It is an object of the present invention to provide a planting
device which eliminates the above mentioned drawback and in which
it is possible to produce the vibration of the tip of the hole-
making means by means of a simple construction as close to the tip
as possible. This object is reached by means of a planting device
in accordance with the present invention t which device is
characterized in that the hole-making means is formed as a vibrator
rod comprising an internal vibrating element.
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The invention i5 based on the idea that tne vibratin3 element of the
vibrator is mounted inside the rod-shaped tip portion of the hole-
making means, which tip portion is rigidly connected to the very
hole-making tip. In this way a small-sized construction is provided
and the vibration may be produced as close to the hole-making tip
as possible. On the contrary, the power means of the vibrator
may be fastened above the rod-shaped tip portion e.g. in a partic-
ular support and be connected to the vibrating element by means of
a power transmission means, such as a flexible drive shaft.
The vibration suggested for the hole-making means may also be
utillzed for packing the ground surface around the set plant,
whereby a packing means surrounding the hole-maktng means is also `
subjected to vibration by means of the vibrator of the hole-making
means.
The Invention will be described more closely below with reference
to the enclosed drawings, wherein
Figure l is a vertical section of a preferred embodiment of a
planting device in accordance with the invention, and
Figures 2 to 5 are vertical views of the planting device at
different working steps.
The plantin~ device shown in the drawings is designed for suspensicn
on a support arm 100 shown by broken lines and belonging to a
planting machin2. The plan~ing device mainly comprises a vertical
tubular frame I verttcally displaceahly fixed to said suppor~ arm
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and a support sleigh 2 mounted vertically slidably inside the frame
and a hole-making rod 3 supported by the sleigh. The support sleigh
is connected to the piston rod 5 of a hydraulic cylinder 4 supported
by the frame for the purpose of vertical displacement of the sleigh.
An electric, pneumatic or hydraulic motor 6 is mounted on the sleigh,
which motor is by means of a fl~xible shaft 7 coupled to a rigid
shaft extending through a support arm 8 of the hole-mak7ng rod and
connected to a vibrating element 9 excentrically rotatably mounted
inside the rod. The support arm 8 is fastened to a vibration
absorber piece 10 supported by the support sleigh.
A packing collar 12 surrounding the rod 3 Ts fastened to the bottom
end of the tubular frame by means of an absorber piece 11. A
feeding pipe 13 extends diagonally upwards from said collar and
is fastened to an extension 15 of the feeding pipe by me~ns of ar,
absorber plece 14.
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When plants are being set, the entire planting device is displaced
- downwards with respect to the support arm 100 of the planting machine
by means of hydraulic cylinders (not sho~n) to said arm and the
frame, until the packing collar 12 contacts the ground surface, as is
"` shown in Figure 2 by an arrow A.
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Hereupon the hydraulic motor 6 is startei so that the rod 3 starts
vibrating, and the rod is pressed downwards by means of the cylinder
4 a distance corresponding the depth of t'ne plant holc" as is shown
In Figure 3 by an arrow B. The tip 3a of the rod is designed as a
double cone so as to correspond to the size and shape or the plants
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to be set. tf the rod meets an:obstacle when moving d~wnwards5 the
rod starts a bouncing movement on the obs~acle so that th~ tip is
swaying laterally. If the obstacle is small, the rod can in this
way penetrat~ into the ground slightly on the side of the original
contact point. The hydraulic motor may be arranged to rotate a~ a
lower speed at the beginning of the hole-making step so that the
frequency of vibration of the rod is lower at the beginning.
Hereupon the rod 3 is raised to the upper po;ition, as is shown by
an arro~ C in Figure 4, and the plant 17 is fell down through the
feeding pipe 13 and the packing collar 12 into the hole in ~ha
ground, as is shown by an arrow D in Figure 4. Thereafter the
packing collar 12 is vibrated by means of the vibrating elernent 9
of the hole-making rod 3. For this purpose the rod is arranged
so that in the upper position (Fig. 4) of the rod it comes into
such a contact with the packing çollar that the vibration movement
of the rod is transferred straight to the packing collar. Owing
to the vibration, the packing collar can better follow variations
in the ground surface at the planting point as compared with a
packtng means purely mechanically pressed against the ground.
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Hereupon the entire planting device is raise.d to a driving position,
as is shown by an arrow E in Figure 5, and the rod 3 is lowered so
that its tip reaches the level of the bottom edge of tne packing
collar ~2.
All the above movemsnts can be easi1y made automatic by means of
appropriate limit switches.
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The drawings and .he description relating thereto are only intend2d
to illustrate the idea of the invention. In its details, the pl3ntill9
device accord;ng to the present ir.vention may vary considel-ably
within the scope of the claims. In stead of a tractor-type planting
machine, it is also possible to use a planting vehicle of ligh.a.
construction, e.g. of a portable type, which supports tne plantinq
device.
