JPH0769452A - Stacking device - Google Patents

Abstract

(57) [Summary] (Corrected) [Purpose] A pair of left and right clamping belts that can transfer a work such as a seedling box in the horizontal direction while clamping it from both left and right sides, and a pair of the left and right clamping belts clamp the work. In a stacking device equipped with a switching device for switching between a holding state and a work releasing state, and an elevating platform that can lift and lower the workpieces that are released from the clamping belt and lifted, a plurality of stacked workpieces are lifted from the clamping belt. Make sure that the work on the upper side does not get caught in the nip belt when it is delivered to. [Structure] The vertical width of the holding belt 24 is wider than the height of the work N, and the holding belt 24 is held when the work N is held.
The upper end of the work N is made higher than the upper end of the work N, and when the lower work N of the stacked plurality of works N is sandwiched by the sandwiching belt 24, the upper work N is also sandwiched by the upper portion of the sandwiching belt 24. The work N is configured so as not to be displaced.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a stacking apparatus suitable for use in stacking seeded seedling boxes on a germination trolley in a stepwise manner.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In a sowing plant for sowing seedlings by raising seedlings in a seedling box, a stacking device is used for stacking and placing the seedling boxes seeded by the seeder on a germination cart in a stepwise manner. This stacking device basically has the following configuration. That is,
The seedling boxes that have been sowed one by one are fed horizontally to the predetermined position while sandwiching them one by one with the pair of left and right sandwiching belts, and when the transfer is completed, the interval between the pair of sandwiching belts is widened and sandwiched. By moving the existing seedling box onto the lifting table provided below the predetermined position, and by lowering the lifting table by the height of one seedling box in synchronization with the timing of dropping the seedling box, A predetermined number of seedling boxes are stacked in steps on the lift table. Then, when a predetermined number of seedling boxes are placed on the lifting platform, the lifting platform moves forward and the seedling boxes held on the waiting germination cart are transferred.

Further, in order to improve the work efficiency, the above-mentioned constitution is improved, and two or more seedling boxes are supplied to the sandwiching belt in a stacked state, and the seedling boxes in the stacked state are transferred by the sandwiching belt. In addition, a stacking device capable of stacking a plurality of seedling boxes in one operation by putting the seedling boxes on the elevating table is also in practical use.

[0004]

Conventionally, this improved stacking device has only clamped the bottom seedling box of the seedling boxes in which a plurality of pair of clamping belts are stacked. Therefore, when the spacing between the sandwiching belts is widened and the seedling box is dropped, as shown in FIG. 29, the upper edge portion N-1 of the upper seedling box N is
May be caught on the holding belt 24, which causes a position shift of the seedling box stacked on the lifting table and a poor delivery of the seedling box from the holding belt to the lifting table. When stacking the seedling boxes N ′ into which the plug trays P integrally formed with the seedling raising pots are stacked, the upper edge portion P-1 of the plug trays P is caught by the sandwiching belt 24 as shown in FIG. Sometimes. The present invention has been made to prevent these accidents.

[0005]

In order to solve the above-mentioned problems, the present invention has the following constitution. That is, the stacking device according to the present invention is a state in which a pair of left and right clamping belts that can transfer a work such as a seedling box from the left and right sides in the horizontal direction and a pair of the left and right clamping belts clamp the work. In a stacking device including a switching device that switches the work to an open state and a lifting platform that can lift the work that is released from the holding belt and falls, the vertical width of the holding belt is wider than the height of the work. Moreover, when the work is clamped, the upper end of the clamping belt is formed to be higher than the upper end of the work.

[0006]

[Operation] Since the vertical width of the sandwiching belt is wider than the height of the work, and the upper end of the sandwiching belt is higher than the upper end of the workpiece when the workpieces are sandwiched, the lowermost work of a plurality of stacked workpieces is sandwiched by the sandwiching belt. In this case, the work on the upper side is located inside the upper part of the holding belt. For this reason, when the workpieces are transferred from the clamping belts to the elevating table by widening the spacing between the clamping belts, the upper workpieces are not caught by the clamping belts, and the position of the upper workpieces after delivery is not displaced.

[0007]

EXAMPLES FIGS. 1 and 2 show an example of a seeding facility. The seeding machine 2 is provided with a bed soil supply device 5, a watering device 6, a seeding device 7, and a soil cover supply device 8 along the seeding conveyor 3, and supplies the bed soil to the empty seedling box N, watering, sowing,
Soil supply is done in sequence. The seedling box N seeded by the seeding machine 2 is carried up to a predetermined height by the lift-up device 10 and further sent to the stacking device 12 by the upper conveyor 11. The stacking device 12 is a device for stacking a predetermined number of seedling boxes in a stepwise manner, and the stacked seedling boxes N, N are placed on a germination trolley 13 and transported to the germination chamber.

The lift-up device 10 has the structure shown in FIGS. The end part of the seeding conveyor 3 located at the bottom and the start part of the upper conveyor 11 located at the top are 2
Pair of lift chains 15a, 15a and 15b, 15b
The two pairs of lift chains are circulated by the motor 16 in opposite directions. A plurality of lugs 17, ... That support the bottom corners of the seedling box N are attached between the lift chains of each set at a predetermined pitch p.
Further, the lift-up device 10 is adapted to carry two seedling boxes sequentially supplied by the seeding conveyor 3 in a stacked state, and as a means therefor, the seedling boxes have been transported to the end portion of the seeding conveyor 3. A push-up cylinder 19 that pushes the seedling box to a certain height, and seedling box holders 20 and 20 that temporarily hold the seedling box that has been raised to a certain height.
Is provided. As shown in FIG. 6, the seedling box holder 20 has a substantially isosceles triangular shape in a side view and has a side 20a.
It is attached to the machine frame so as to be rotatable around the center O.
In the figure, reference numeral 21 is a stopper provided on the machine frame for regulating the lower limit of rotation, and 22 is a stopper provided on the seedling box holder 20 for regulating the upper limit of rotation. Further, on the upper part of the lift-up device 10, there is provided a withdrawal cylinder 24 for drawing the carried seedling box N onto the starting end portion of the upper conveyor 12.

When the first seedling box N (1) reaches the end of the seeding conveyor 3, the push-up cylinder 19 projects to push the seedling box up to a predetermined height. At this time, as shown by the chain line in FIG. 6, the hypotenuse 20b is pushed up by the seedling box N and the seedling box holder 20 is rotated upward. Seedling box N
When (1) passes, the seedling box holder 20 returns to the original position.
Then, the push-up cylinder 19 contracts, and the seedling box N (1) is held on the upper side portions 20c, 20c of the pair of seedling box holders 20, 20. When the second seedling box N (2) reaches the end of the seeding conveyor 3, this time the lift chain 15a,
15a, 15b, 15b move 1 pitch p. Rug 1
Pushed up by seedling box N (2) held on 7, 17
The seedling box holders 20, 20 holding the second seedling box N (1) rotate in the same manner as described above. And the seedling box holders 20, 20
Is rotated to the position shown by the chain line, the first seedling box N
(1) is transferred to the second seedling box N (2).
As shown, the hypotenuse 20b and the upper side 2 of the seedling box holder 20
Since the corner portion of 0c is chamfered, the head of the first seedling box N (1) has a small drop and can be transferred smoothly. When the two seedling boxes stacked in this way are carried up to the top by the lift chains 15a, 15a, 15b, 15b, the pull-out cylinder 24 contracts and pulls the seedling boxes onto the upper conveyor 11.

The lift chains 15a, 15a, 15
The operation timings of b, 15b and the push-up cylinder 19 are controlled by two photoelectric switches SW1, SW2. The switch SW1 is provided along the seeding conveyor 3 corresponding to the entrance of the lift-up device, and is turned off when there is a seedling box at this entrance and turned on when there is no seedling box. The switch SW2 is provided near the end of the seeding conveyor 3, and is turned on when the seedling box is completely inside the lift-up device, and is turned off otherwise. Then, these switches SW1 and SW2 are connected in series,
Lift chain 1 only when both switches are on
5a, 15a, 15b, 15b or the push-up cylinder 19 is operated. Therefore, even if the switch SW2 erroneously detects soil or muddy water falling from the bottom of the seedling box N, if the seedling box is being supplied to the lift-up device 10, the lift chains 15a, 15a, 15b,
15b and the push-up cylinder 19 do not operate, and it is possible to prevent an accident such as a stop of the lift-up device 10 and a damage of a seedling box due to a malfunction of the lift chains 15a, 15a, 15b, 15b and the push-up cylinder 19.

Further, in order to prevent erroneous detection of the soil or muddy water, the following constitution is adopted. That is, the switch SW2 has a timer, and even if the switch detects an object, if the detected state does not continue for a certain time or longer, it is determined that the object is not a seedling box, and the switch is not switched. It is like this. Since the time during which dirt or muddy water blocks the light from the switch SW2 is within 0.02 seconds at the longest, erroneous detection does not occur if the timer is set to about 0.05 seconds.

The stacking device 12 is shown in FIG. 7 to FIG. 15, and sandwiching belts 24, 24 for transferring seedling boxes are provided on the upper part thereof, and an elevator 25 (A, B) and Two sets of lifting devices 26 (A, B) for the lifting platform are provided in parallel.

The sandwiching belts 24, 24 are stretched around pulleys 30, ... Hanging on the upper part of the machine frame 12a, and are driven by a motor 32. Both belts have a two-tiered seedling box N ,. It is designed to be transported in a fixed direction across N. Reference numeral 33 in the figure is a reverse transmission belt. As shown in FIGS. 11 to 13, the holding belt 24 has a body portion 24a fitted in the groove of the pulley 30 and a surface portion 24b which comes into contact with the seedling box rises above the body portion 24a. The pair of clamping belts 24, 24 mainly clamp the lower seedling box of the two-stage stack, but the upper part of the surface portions 24b, 24b also clamp the upper seedling box with relatively weak force. .

Stop positions A and B are set at two positions before and after the seedling box transfer path by the sandwich belts 24 and 24, and sandwich belt switching devices 35 (A and B) are provided at both stop positions. The switching device 35 adjusts the position of the roller support members 37, 37 to which the tension rollers 36, ... Are attached by a solenoid 38, .. The spacing and the tension of the belt are adjusted to switch between the state in which the sandwiching belts 24, 24 sandwich the seedling boxes N, N and the state in which the seedling boxes N, N are opened.

Further, below the holding belts 24, 24, a support device 45 (A,
B) is provided. The support device 45 includes a pair of receiving plates 46 and 46 formed by bending a plate material into an L-shape to open and close the cylinder 4.
7, 47 are moved in a direction orthogonal to the transfer direction to expand or contract the distance between the two. Support plates 46, 4
When 6 is closed, its inner end portion is positioned so as to overlap with the seedling boxes N, N in a plan view and prevents the seedling box from falling.
When 6,46 are opened, the inner end portions of the seedling boxes N, N in plan view
Then, the seedling box can be dropped.

A stop device 50 (A, B) is provided as a device for stopping the seedling box N transferred along the transfer path at the stop position A or B. Both stop devices 50 (A, B) are composed of a receiving member 51 for receiving the front ends of the transferred seedling boxes N, N and a detection switch 52 attached to the receiving member 51.
While (B) is fixedly provided in the machine frame, the stop device 50 (A) on the front side is provided so as to be vertically movable by a solenoid 53.

The lifting table 25 and the lifting device 26 are constructed as follows. That is, a pair of guide struts 60, 60 having a groove-shaped cross section are erected at a predetermined interval in the direction of the transfer path, and elevating bodies 61, 61 are slidably fitted inside the respective guide struts 60. There is. These lifting bodies 61, 61 include
A sandwiching frame 6 having sandwiching rollers 62, which face each other vertically.
3, 63 are integrally provided. Lifting body 61
Is attached to one end of a chain 69 wound around a sprocket 67 fixed to a rotating shaft 66 driven by a motor 65, and moves up and down by rotating the motor 65. Reference numeral 70 in the figure denotes a counterweight attached to the other end of the chain.

The elevating table 25 is a plate-like table whose front end is split into a fork-like shape, and is supported by being sandwiched by the upper and lower rollers 62 of the pair of clamping frames 63. Further, an air cylinder 72 for horizontal movement is horizontally provided below the lifting table 25. When the lift table 25 descends to the lowest position, the engaging portion 73 provided at the rear end portion of the lower surface of the lift table engages with the tip end portion of the piston rod 72a of the air cylinder. This air cylinder 72 is used for the lifting table 2
The stop switches 76 and 7 which detect the contact of the projection 75 provided on the lower surface of the switch 5 and actuate the valve switching solenoid.
The contraction is controlled by 7 in two steps.

The lifting device 26 is controlled by the following switches. The upper limit switch 80 determines the upper limit position of the lift table 76, and the rotation of the motor 65 is stopped when the upper end of the lift body 61 abuts. Lower limit switch 81
Is for determining the lower limit position of the lift table 25. When a predetermined number of seedling boxes are stacked and the lower end of the lift table 25 comes into contact, the rotation of the motor 65 is stopped as described above. The loading switch 82 is for loading the seedling boxes stacked on the lifting platform 25 onto the germination cart 13, and is moved horizontally to the loading position of the germination cart 13 until the lifting platform 25 contacts the switch. Move it down a little.

The germination cart 13 is stopped at a predetermined position on a rail 86 laid on the side of the stacking device 12.
The germination trolley 13 has a space in which two rows of seedling boxes can be stacked in the front and rear and in the left and right, and a support base 87 is provided on the upper surface in two rows in the front and back in the rail direction.

The stacking device 12 having the above-described structure operates as follows.

The seedling boxes N, N supplied by the upper conveyor 11 are taken over by the sandwiching belts 24, 24. The seedling boxes N, N are transported in the direction of the arrow while being sandwiched by a pair of sandwiching belts 24, 24 whose distance is narrowed by a switching device 35 (A). At this time, the lower left and right ends of the lower seedling box N are provided with a pair of receiving plates 46 of the supporting device 45 (A).
It is held by 46.

In the first step, since the solenoid 53 is not excited and the stop device 50 (A) is lowered, the seedling boxes N, N being transferred are stopped at the stop position A by the receiving member 51. At the same time, the detection switch 52 is turned on, and the open / close cylinders 47, 47 expand to open the receiving plates 46, 46, and the solenoids 38, ... Open the seedling boxes N, N. The opened seedling boxes N, N fall,
It is placed on the lift table 25 (A) waiting at the upper limit position. Next, the motor 65 (A) rotates by a certain amount, and the lifting platform 25 (A) is lowered by the thickness of two seedling boxes. During this operation, the opening / closing cylinders 47, 47 are extended to support the support device 4
5 (A) returns to the original closed state.

The sandwiching belts 24, 24 are wider than the thickness of one seedling box, and are designed to sandwich the upper and lower seedling boxes N, N. The seedling box is not caught by the sandwiching belts 24, 24, and the seedling box is smoothly delivered from the sandwiching belts 24, 24 to the elevating table 25. Moreover, since the seedling boxes after delivery are placed at the correct positions on the elevating table 25, even if a large number of seedling boxes are stacked, the seedling group does not tilt or fall.

Similarly, the second group of seedling boxes, which are continuously sent, are also transported to the stop position A by the sandwiching belts 24, 24 and transferred to the lift table 25 (A), but the lift table 25 (A).
Since the seedling boxes of the first group have already been placed on, the seedling boxes of the second group are stacked on the seedling boxes of the first group. Thereafter, seedling boxes are sequentially stacked in the same manner.

A predetermined number of seedling boxes are stacked and lifted up and down table 25
When (A) descends to the lower limit position, this is detected by the lower limit switch 81 (A), and the solenoid 53 of the stop device 50 (A) is excited. This time stop device 50
Since (A) is in a raised state, the seedling box sent thereafter passes through the stop position A and is transferred to the stop position B.
Thereafter, similarly to the previous time, the stop device 50 (B) works to stop the seedling box at the stop position B, and the support device 45
(B), the switching device 35 (B), and the elevating device 26 (B) perform the predetermined operation, and the elevating table 25 (B) has seedling boxes N, ...
Are piled up.

While the seedling boxes are stacked on the rear lift table 25 (B), the front lift table 25 (A) performs the following operations. That is, the horizontal movement cylinder 72 (A) contracts in response to the detection signal of the lower limit switch 81 (A), and the lift table 2 is engaged with the piston rod of the cylinder at the engaging portion 73.
5 (A) is a stop switch 76 when the germination cart 13 is empty
Is operated, the lifting platform 25 (A) is moved to the loading position (shown in the figure) on the rear left side of the germination cart 13 and stopped there. Next, the motor 6
5 (A) is activated and the elevator 25 (A) is transferred to the transshipment switch 8
2 (A) is lowered a little until it comes into contact with it, and the seedling boxes N, ... After that, the horizontal movement cylinder 72 extends and the lift table 25 (A) returns to the original position.

When a predetermined number of seedling boxes N, ... Are stacked on the rear lift table 25 (B), the lower limit switch 81 (B) detects this and the switching device 35 (A) is closed to switch the switching device 3
Switch to open 5 (B). Therefore, the seedling boxes sent thereafter are stopped at the stop position A, and are stacked again on the elevating table 25 (A) on the front side. During this period, the air cylinder 72 (B) and the lifting device 26 (B) are operated to place the seedling boxes N, ... Of the lifting table 25 on the loading position (shown in the figure) on the front left side of the germination cart 13. Change.

Successively, seedling boxes are sequentially stacked on the front and rear lifts 25 (A, B), but this time, the stop switch 76.
Is operated, the stacked seedling boxes N, ... Are loaded in the loading position on the right side of the germination cart 13.

In this way, when a predetermined number of seedling boxes are loaded in the germination cart 13 in two rows in the front, rear, left and right directions, the germination cart 1
3 is transported to the germination chamber and, instead, an empty germination cart 13 is stopped at a predetermined position. Germination trolley 13 brought to the germination room
Are stored there for a suitable number of days until the seeds germinate.

The germination chamber 90 has the structure shown in FIGS. 16 and 17. A heater 91 having a burner 91a is provided outside the house, and the air warmed by the heater 91 is supplied to the room through a warm air duct 92 arranged under the floor. The indoor air is returned to the heater 91 through the return duct 93. A blower 94 for circulating air is provided at a connection portion between the return duct 93 and the heater 91. In the warm air duct 92, the sub ducts 92b, ... Are connected in parallel to the main duct 92a directly connected to the heater, and the upper parts of the sub ducts 92b ,. ... is embedded. The germination carts 13, ... Are arranged at a position straddling the sub-ducts 92b ,, and the hot air from below effectively warms the seedling boxes N ,. The room temperature is constantly monitored by the temperature sensor 96, the amount of heat generated by the burner 91a is adjusted based on the detection result, and the room is automatically controlled so as to always be kept at an appropriate temperature.

A spray nozzle 98 is attached to the ceiling of the warm air main duct 92a, and the humidity sensor 9
When the indoor humidity detected by 9 falls below a certain level, the solenoid valve 100 opens, and the water pressurized by the pump 101 is atomized into the duct to humidify it. As shown in FIG. 18, the temperature control controller 102 includes a signal from the humidity sensor 99 and a fan 94.
The signal from the on / off switch 103 is input, the detected value of the humidity sensor 99 is less than or equal to the set value, and the blower 94
The open signal is output to the solenoid valve 100 only when the engine is in operation. When a humidifier that generates water vapor is installed in a room to humidify it, the humidity around the humidifier becomes particularly high. However, if the warm air blown into the room is humidified, the unevenness in humidity will occur. It does not occur and promotes uniform germination.

When the seeds sown in the seedling box germinate, the seedling box is transferred from the germination cart 13 to the greening cart 104 shown in FIG. The greening cart 104 includes two storage units 104a and 104b formed in a shelf shape, and the seedling boxes are stored in the respective storage units with a vertical gap. The transshipment device that transships the seedling boxes from the germination cart to the greening cart is configured as follows.

20 to 26 show an example of the transshipment device. In this transshipment device 105, a roller conveyor type transport device 106 is horizontally supported at a predetermined height, and the starting end side of the transport device germinates. An extraction section 107 for taking out the seedling box from the cart is provided, and a terminal section is a loading section 108 for loading the seedling box onto the green cart.

The take-out section 107 has a main lift device 11
0, a sub-lift device 111, and a take-out device 112 are provided.

The main lift device 110 has a fork-shaped lift table 113 having a forked front part, and this lift table is vertically movable along guide columns 114, 114.
5,115 are slidably supported in the front-rear direction (direction orthogonal to the transport direction). The lifting body 115 is the motor 1
It is suspended by a chain 119 that is wound and driven by 18, and is raised and lowered by rotating a motor 118.

An air cylinder 122 for horizontally moving the lifting body is horizontally provided below the lifting table 113. When the lifting body 113 descends to the lowest position, the air cylinder 122
Concave engaging portion 1 formed at the tip of the piston rod of
22a engages with the convex engaging portion 113a formed on the lower surface of the rear end of the lifting body 113, and the lifting body 113 and the air cylinder 122 are integrated. When the air cylinder 122 is expanded and contracted in the integrated state, the elevating body 113 moves back and forth.

The sub-lift unit 111 has a pair of left and right seedling box support pieces 125, 125 which engage with both left and right ends (the same direction as the conveying direction) of the bottom surface of the seedling box, and a chain 127 for winding and driving this by a motor 126. , 127 are used for raising and lowering.

The take-out device 112 is a pair of front and rear chucks 130, 130 that can hold one seedling box from above.
Is equipped with. The chuck 130 includes a flat plate 131 that comes into contact with the upper surface of the seedling box, a pair of left and right pawls 132 and 132 rotatably attached to the left and right ends of the flat plate, and an air cylinder 133 that opens and closes the pawl. And 133.
The chuck 130 is supported via a ball joint 137 on a vertical air cylinder 136 whose base side is fixed to a substrate 135 provided above, and is attached to the substrate 135 by springs 138 ,. Is hung. Therefore, the chuck 130 can rotate up and down about the ball joint 137 in both the front-back and left-right directions.
The tensions of 38, ... Are balanced and kept horizontal.

When the air cylinder 136 is contracted, the chuck 130 is moved up and down between the holding position and the pulling position. In a state in which the chuck 130 is pulled up and the springs 138, ... Are contracted, the chuck-side engaging convex portion 139 and the substrate-side engaging concave portion 140 provided inside the spring 138 are engaged, and the position of the chuck 130 is regulated. It

The substrate 135 is supported by guide rails 141 provided horizontally on the left and right, and is slid by the air cylinder 142, so that the chuck device 130 is pulled up between the pulling position and the open position set on the starting end of the transfer device 106. Can be moved back and forth.

The transport device 106 is a roller conveyor having a width of two seedling boxes, and rotates a plurality of rollers 146, ... With the power of a motor (not shown) to transport the seedling boxes in the X direction. It is like this. Above the middle part of the transfer device 106, a watering device 147 for applying water to the seedling box being transferred.
Is provided.

Transport stop positions A and B are set at the terminal end of the transport device 106, and stoppers 155 (A and B) are provided at the respective stop positions. Stopper 155
While (A) is fixedly provided, the stopper 1
55 (B) is provided so as to be vertically movable by a solenoid 158. Then, these stoppers 155 (A,
B) is provided with a detection switch (not shown) for detecting the contact of the seedling box.

In the loading section 108, a lift base 161 on which the green truck 104 is placed and a seedling box pushing device 162 (A,
B) is provided. The lift base 161 is horizontally provided inside a guide frame 160 that is slightly larger than the green truck, and is lifted and lowered by a chain 164 that is driven to wind by a motor 163. The pushing device 162 is configured such that the pushing plate 167 is moved by the air cylinder 166 so as to intersect the conveying device 106, and the seedling boxes at the stop positions A and B are pushed into the greening cart on the lift base 161.

As shown in FIG. 26, since the tip edge portion of the pushing plate 167 is not a right angle with respect to the pushing direction but is slightly angled, the seedling box N is tilted and the greening cart 104 is tilted. It is designed to be pushed into a shelf. Since there is a step N-2 on the outer periphery of the bottom of the seedling box N, the seedling box N is planted with a trolley 1
When pushed in parallel with 04, the stepped portion N-2 is the shelf 1
There is a risk that the seedling box N may tilt when it comes off from 06a (Fig. 2).
7, see FIG. 28). When the seedling box N is slanted and pushed into the greening cart 104 as in the present embodiment, this can be prevented, and the seedlings can be grown well.

When starting operation of the transshipment device 105, the germination cart 13 on which the seedling boxes N, ... Are mounted is stopped at a predetermined position, and the empty greening cart 104 is mounted on the lift base 161. The lift base 161 is set at the upper limit position. When the operation is started in this state, first, the lifting platform 113, which was on standby at the lower limit position, is moved to the germination cart 13
, And the front part is inserted into the space between the germination cart 13 and the seedling box at the bottom. Subsequently, the elevating table 113 rises slightly and scoops up the pile of seedling boxes stacked on the front side of the germination cart 13. The lift table 113 retreats as it is and returns to its original position. Next, the lifting table 113 rises, and the seedling box held by the lifting table 113 is lifted up to the chucking level. The mountain of the seedling box on the front side is the lifting platform
If it is scooped to 3, the pile of seedlings on the rear side is taken out from the extraction section 1.
The germination cart 13 is moved forward so as to face 07.

When the uppermost seedling box is lifted up to the chucking level, the chuck 13 waiting in the pulling position.
0 descends to the grip position and chucks. That is, the air cylinders 133 and 133 extend to rotate the chuck claws 132 and 132 downward, and the lower surface of the flat plate 131 and the chuck claws 132 and 132 grip the edge portion N-1 to obtain the uppermost seedling. Grab the box. Next, the air cylinder 136 is activated and the chuck 130 that holds the seedling box is held.
Is raised to the raised position. Further, the air cylinder 142 operates to move the chuck 130 horizontally to the open position. Then, the chuck claws 132, 132 are opened, and the seedling box that has been grasped is opened to the starting end portion of the transport device 106. After opening the seedling box, the chuck 130 returns to the grip position. In synchronization with this series of operations, the elevating table 113 is raised by one seedling box, and the uppermost seedling box is always kept at the chucking level.

When the number of seedling boxes held by the lift table 113 becomes less than a predetermined number, the operation of the main lift device 110 is stopped,
Instead, the sub-lift device 111 starts to operate. That is, the seedling box support pieces 125, 125 rise, and the seedling box placed on the elevating table 113 becomes the seedling box support piece 12.
Transferred to 5,125. Then, as in the case of the main lift device, the sub-lift device 111 repeats the raising by one seedling box until the seedling boxes are exhausted, and supplies the seedling boxes to the chuck 130.

While the sub-lift unit 111 is in operation, the lifting platform 113 scoops the pile of the seedling box on the rear side of the germination cart 13 and stands by at the lower limit position. When all the seedling boxes are removed, the sub-lift device 111 is stopped and the main lift device 110 starts supplying the seedling boxes. In this way, by operating the main lift device 110 and the sub-lift device 111 alternately to supply the seedling box to the chuck 130, when the seedling box is taken in from the germination cart 13, the seedling box is taken out to the carrier device 106. Work does not have to be interrupted and work efficiency is good.

Two seedling boxes taken out from the starting end of the carrier 106 are simultaneously sent in the X direction. In the first step, the stop device 155 (B) is raised, the seedling box passes under the stop device 155 (B), is transported to the previous stop position A, and hits the stop device 155 (A). Stop in contact. At the same time, this is detected by the detection switch 157, the air cylinder 166 (A) is contracted, and the two seedling boxes on the transport device are moved to the right storage section 104 a of the green truck 104.
Push it into the bottom shelf. Then, the motor 164 is activated to lower the greening cart 104 by one shelf. Similarly, the pushing of the seedling box and the lowering of the cart are repeated in the same manner, and the seedling boxes are sequentially loaded from the lower stage into the right storage section 104a of the greening cart 104.

When the seedling boxes are stored in all the shelves of the right storage section 104a, the green truck 104 is raised to its original upper limit level, the solenoid 158 is de-energized, and the stop device 155 (B) is lowered. . For this reason, the seedling boxes sent thereafter are stopped at the stop position B. Then, this time, the air cylinder 166 (B) is operated to sequentially load the seedling boxes into the left storage portion 104b of the green truck 104.

When the loading is completed, the greening cart 104 full of seedling boxes is replaced with an empty greening cart. After the replacement, the loading unit 108 returns to the original state, and the loading operation is repeated.

[0053]

As described above, in the stacking apparatus according to the present invention, the vertical width of the sandwiching belt is wider than the height of the work such as a seedling box, and when the work is sandwiched, the upper end of the sandwiching belt is concerned. Since it is higher than the upper end of the work, when the lowermost work of a stack of multiple works is sandwiched by the sandwich belt, the upper work is located inside the upper part of the sandwich belt and the sandwich belt is widened. When the work is transferred from the gripping belt to the lifting table, the work on the upper side is not caught by the gripping belt, and the position of the work on the upper side after transfer is not displaced.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is an overall view of a seeding facility.

FIG. 2 is a plan view of the seeding facility shown in FIG.

FIG. 3 is a front view of a lift-up device.

FIG. 4 is a plan view of a lift-up device.

FIG. 5 is a side view of the lift-up device.

FIG. 6 is a front view of the main part of the lift-up device.

FIG. 7 is an overall front view of a stacking device.

FIG. 8 is an overall plan view of a stacking device.

FIG. 9 is a side view of the stacking device.

FIG. 10 is a plan view of the transfer device.

FIG. 11 is a side view of the transfer device in one state.

FIG. 12 is a side view of the transfer device in a state different from that of FIG.

FIG. 13 is a side view of the transfer device in a state different from that of FIGS. 11 and 12.

FIG. 14 is a front view of a stop device provided at a stop position A of the stacking device.

FIG. 15 is a front view of a stop device provided at a stop position B of the stacking device.

FIG. 16 is a plan view of the germination chamber.

FIG. 17 is a side sectional view of a main part of the germination chamber.

FIG. 18 is a block diagram of a control system of a spray nozzle.

FIG. 19 is a front view of a green truck.

FIG. 20 is a front view of the transshipment device.

FIG. 21 is a plan view of the transshipment device.

FIG. 22 is a side view of the extraction unit.

FIG. 23 is a side view of the loading section.

FIG. 24 is a front view of the take-out device.

FIG. 25 is a plan view of the ejection device with a part omitted.

FIG. 26 is a plan view showing a pushed-in state of a seedling box by the transshipping device of the present embodiment.

FIG. 27 is a plan view showing a pushed-in state of a seedling box by a conventional loading device.

FIG. 28 is a front view showing a pushed-in state of a seedling box by a conventional loading device.

FIG. 29 is an explanatory diagram showing a delivery state of a seedling box from a sandwiching belt to a lift table by a conventional stacking device.

FIG. 30 is an explanatory diagram showing a delivery state of a plug tray from a holding belt to a lift table by a conventional stacking device.

[Explanation of symbols]

 N Seedling box 2 Seeder 10 Lift-up device 12 Stacking device 13 Germination trolley 24 Clamping belt 25 Lifting platform 35 Switching device 90 Germination chamber 104 Greening trolley 105 105 Transshipment device

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. A pair of left and right holding belts capable of horizontally transferring a work such as a seedling box while holding it from both left and right sides, and a state in which the pair of left and right holding belts holds the work and a state in which the work is released. In a stacking device equipped with a switching device for switching to and a lifting table for lifting a work that is released from the holding belt and placed thereon, a vertical width of the holding belt is wider than the height of the work and the work is held. A stacking device characterized in that the upper end of the holding belt is sometimes formed to be higher than the upper end of the work.