Apparatus for handling tree seedlings

A plant seedling handling apparatus is described which comprises a pair of parallel belts, each of which carries a series of grippers. During loading of the storage device each belt is fed from separate storage means via guide spools which create a nip between the belts. At the nip a pair of grippers 31, 34 grip a seedling stem 36. When the movement is reversed the seedling is released as the grippers separate as the belts pass around the guide spools 24 and 25. The seedling can be released direct to a planting device.

The present invention relates to apparatus capable of handling awkwardly 
shaped delicate or non-rigid objects, in particular for handling tree 
seedlings both bare root seedlings and packaged root seedlings. The 
apparatus is particularly suitable for use as part of a machine for the 
automatic planting of seedlings. 
Systems for planting seedlings, having various degrees of automation are 
known. These reduce the necessary manpower and can increase the rate of 
planting of the seedlings and also the quality of planting. In order to 
facilitate various stages in the handling of seedling trees before out 
planting and in order also to increase their chances of survival after 
they have been transplanted, various ways of packing the tree roots have 
been developed. These are of two general types. The first type are 
transplants which are derived from bare root seedlings by packaging and 
the second type are grown as such. 
A commonly used packaged type derived from bare root stock is the 
"mud-pack". Mud packs have the general appearance of packaged trees which 
are grown as such. 
There are other ways of packaging bare-root trees. An example is the 
experimental method known as the BRIKA process in which the roots are 
enclosed in pressed peat sheets by sandwiching the roots of a seedling 
between a pair of such sheets, either using a paste to secure the sheets 
together or by enclosing the whole in a layer of perforated plastic foil. 
Packaged root seedlings can be easier to handle since they are more 
regularly shaped than bare-root trees, but there is still a difficulty in 
mechanising the planting of packaged root seedlings arising from the 
variety of packaged root sizes and types. Machinery designed to handle one 
type of packaged root seedling is often incapable of handling any other 
type. 
Automatic handling devices for packaged root trees have been developed, for 
instance for feeding seedlings separately from a store carried on a 
vehicle and planting them in desired locations. Most of the feed 
mechanisms involve gravity feed from a hopper or pneumatic transporting 
means. Sometimes the feed mechanism is loaded by hand. Usually the 
apparatus can handle package root seedlings of one type only. The tree 
seedlings are usually dropped or blown into the excavation which gives an 
unsatisfactorily low percentage of property placed seedlings. 
In the United States of America the vast majority of seedling trees planted 
in forests are bare-root trees (in the region of 66%). This number forms a 
large proportion of the seedlings planted in North America. Until now the 
outplanting of such seedlings has been automated only to a limited extent. 
In one partially automated device, a plough forms a furrow and then trees 
are individually placed into the furrow, the furrow afterwards being 
closed by a pair of blades. The tree is fed into the furrow by a pair of 
discs, each being angled slightly to the vertical so that they are close 
to each other at their lower regions and spaced apart at their upper 
regions. The discs are in contact with the ground and roll unpowered as 
the tractor which carries them moves along. Each tree is placed 
individually by hand between the discs which rotate the tree down into the 
furrow and release it near to the bottom as the discs cease to make 
contact. 
In another system for handling bare-root trees, a rotating disc carries a 
resilient prong which can be pressed against the disc. A plate provided 
close to the vertical disc over a part of its surface presses the prong 
towards the plate as the plate rotates. Seedlings are individually hand 
fed to be gripped by the prong as it is pressed against the disc by the 
plate. As the disc rotates the seedling is moved down into a furrow and as 
the seedling reaches the furrow, the prong is released from the plate and 
the closing of the furrow around the roots of the tree pulls it clear of 
the opened prong. 
In U.S. Pat. No. 3,719,158 there is described a transplanting machine which 
is apparently capable of handling bare root seedlings and of planting them 
into a furrow. In the apparatus seedlings are loaded onto, carried and 
discharged from a magazine which is formed of a single flexible belt 
material carrying a resilient strip which has spaced cavities or pockets 
which open as the opposite side of the belt passes around a roll. 
Seedlings are released from a cavity via a holding belt into a 
transplanter which comprises a pair of belts between which the seedling is 
held and which transfers the seedling downwards into a furrow. One problem 
with the system disclosed is that the orientation of the seedling when 
held within a gripper on a belt cannot be changed so that the seedling has 
to be released, transferred to a separate transplanter head which changes 
the orientation as required. 
In U.S. Pat. No. 1,522,702 sugar-beet seedlings are held between adjacent 
coils in a rolled belt. They are released from the rolled belt by being 
dropped as the roll is unwound. Each seedling is picked up by one of a 
number of forked grippers on a transporting belt. The gripper has a 
cross-bar on its outer prong which allows that prong to be raised as the 
bar moves over a cam to open the gripper. The cam then allows the gripper 
to shut the grasped seedling. The belt is then twisted about its axis 
between the loading zone and the depositing zone so that the seedling is 
transferred into a vertical orientation. The plant is released by 
provision of a further cam which bears upon the cross-bar and opens the 
gripper and allows the seedling to drop into the furrow. One problem with 
this apparatus is that the seedling can only be dropped into a furrow. 
Another problem is that although a degree of re-orientation of the 
seedling is possible this can only be done whilst the seedling moves in a 
substantially horizontal plane near to the ground, which restricts the 
design of the vehicle. 
In U.S. Pat. No. 4,253,411 a coiled cassette for carrying seedlings is 
described. Seedlings are held in cells formed between adjacent coils of 
the cassette by rigid spacers. The seedlings are released from the 
cassette as the band passes a roller which bends it to increase the space 
between the spacers or partitions. It is not clear how the seedlings are 
gripped in the cassette. When released the seedlings must be transferred 
into the furrow by a separate planting unit which consists of a pair of 
converging disks. These disks transfer the seedling from a vertical, 
upside-down orientation through 180.degree. to the vertical orientation 
ready for planting. A problem with this apparatus is that transfer from 
the belt mechanism to a separate device is required in order to move the 
seedling downwards into planting position in the correct orientation. 
In FR-A-1266234 a magazine for carrying seedlings is described which 
comprises a single belt carrying a series of grippers which each consist 
of a resilient plate fixed at its centre to the belt. The fixture and 
positions of the grippers are such that adjacent sides of neighbouring 
gripper plates together hold the stem of a seedling against the belt. The 
belt passes around a roller which causes the grippers to open and release 
the seedling. The seedling is from there transferred via a pair of 
converging rollers or a rotor arranged about a horizontal axis and having 
a number of arms each with a gripper forming the planting unit. The 
planting unit thus moves the seedling downwards and changes its 
orientation. The apparatus does not allow the orientation of the seedling 
to be changed whilst it is held by the grippers on the belt. 
A further difficulty with all of the planters based on a single belt 
carrying grippers is that the gripper will either be unable to open 
sufficiently wide to accommodate a range of seedling sizes or the 
apparatus must be provided with separate opening mechanism which actuates 
the opening of the gripper. 
In some parts of North America furrow planting is being performed on logged 
ground. The tool is pulled by a heavy bulldozer (e.g. CAT D8) which 
performs heavy clearing. One of the objects of the present invention is to 
avoid the necessity for this clearing and thus cut down the cost of 
planting. 
There is common use of both bare-root and packaged seedlings with the 
proportions of each type varying from region to region. Very large number 
of both packaged seedling and bare-root seedlings are grown. There is a 
need to cater for this variety. 
It would be desirable for apparatus to be sufficiently flexible to be able 
to handle both bare-root trees and packaged root trees of the various 
commonly available types, without the requirement for further preparation 
or repacking of the seedlings. It would also be desirable for apparatus to 
be able to feed seedlings direct and automatically from a store to the 
ground for planting. 
New apparatus according to the present invention for handling objects 
comprises first and second belts each having a working face and together 
defining a nip between the working faces, and means defining first and 
second path section for the first and second belts, respectively, which 
are directed into the nip, and means defining a third path section for 
both of the belts with their working faces in face to face relationship, 
and the apparatus comprises also a plurality of grippers arranged in 
longitudinal sequence on each of the working faces paired so that a 
gripper on one belt presses against the gripper on the other belt and 
being resiliently biased towards the opposed gripper so that an object can 
be gripped between a pair of opposing grippers. 
In the apparatus the belts are capable of being driven such that both belts 
move through the third path section in the same direction at the same 
rate. That direction is usually such that the belts move from their first 
and second (respective) path sections to the third path section and is 
such that objects can be picked up by the belts in the nip and carried by 
the belts along the third path section. Such objects may be released by 
continuing the movement of the belts through the third path section 
towards a second nip between the belts where the objects are released. 
Alternatively or additionally the belts may be capable of being driven in 
the reverse direction so that objects are released as they reach the first 
nip. 
The apparatus may be hand loaded with objects, that is objects may be 
placed by hand in the vicinity of the nip so that a gripper grabs the 
object as the belts pass through. Alternatively the objects may be loaded 
by some other conveying device to the nip to be grabbed. One advantageous 
feature of the present invention is that is is sufficiently flexible that 
it can be adapted for hand or machine loading. The objects may be released 
to be grabbed by an operative or by another set of mechanical grippers of 
another device or may be held in or released into any other desired 
location for instance, a tree may be held in or delivered into an 
excavation in the ground during a planting operation. 
The nip is generally created by first and second spool means around which 
the first and second belts pass (respectively). The spools may be for 
changing the orientation of the belt or may additionally be suitable for 
winding the belts for their storage. 
Each gripper is generally designed so a part of it stands away from the 
belt as it passes around the spool means preferably so that it "reaches" 
beyond the nip. As well as allowing the gripper to pick up or drop objects 
at a distance from the nip this allows objects to be released at a 
position beyond the nip without movement relative to the nip since the 
gripper at that point opens and moves outwardly away from the object. 
Preferred grippers comprise blades, fixed to the belts with their planes 
generally parallel to the belt planes. The blades are suitably connected 
to the belts adjacent one of the blade ends, being the end which is 
upstream (with respect to the apparatus when the belts are moving in a 
direction for taking hold of objects). The blades are attached to the 
belts so that their free ends are resilient and can be pushed towards the 
respective belt by an object positioned between a pair of grippers. 
Resilience may alternatively be provided by a soft elastic layer on the 
facing surfaces of the grippers. To avoid damage to a delicate object 
between the grippers the object-contacting surfaces may be rendered 
compliant by being provided with a compliant covering. The blades may be 
fixed with their longitudinal axes aligned with the belts, although for 
some uses it may be more convenient to fix the grippers at an angle to the 
belt. The blades may be straight or may be L-shaped or other shapes. They 
may be fixed towards an edge of the bands or, preferably, may be fixed 
substantially centrally. The length of the blades is determined by the 
distance beyond the nip it is required for the gripper to reach and if 
appropriate, by the width of the belt and the position of the pivot fixing 
on the belt when rotation of the blades is necessary. 
It is sometimes convenient to attach gripper blades via pivots which allow 
the blades to pivot about an axis which is substantially perpendicular to 
the plane of the belt. Such grippers can be pivoted whilst gripping an 
object, for instance to reorient it before its release. Such pivoting may 
be carried out by camming of the blades on a blade stop as the belt is 
moved. An alternative mechanism for pivoting the blades is to affix a 
spring to each blade which biases the blades towards a position at which 
the seedling would be in the planting orientation (i.e. in which the blade 
is at an angle to the direction of movement of the belt). In this case the 
belt is provided with a restrainer which retains the blades against the 
spring bias in the orientation for transport and storage of the seedlings, 
(i.e. in which the longitudinal axis of the blade is parallel with the 
direction of movement of the belt). As the grippers reach the nip and open 
they are released from the restrainer so that they rotate to re-orient the 
seedling. 
A gripper on a belt may comprise an array of blades, which can be arranged 
for optimal handling of particularly awkwardly shaped objects. For 
instance where the object to be handled is a tree seedling, it may be 
suitable for the crown and the stem to be gripped, and two pairs of blades 
may be provided for such gripping. 
The belts may be flexible only in the plane which is perpendicular to the 
plane of the belt, that is it may be incapable of twisting and be formed 
of rigid links which are mutually rotatable about axes lying in the plane 
of the belt perpendicular to the belt's longitudinal axis, similar to a 
bicycle chain. The grippers of such belts are desirably rotatable in order 
to allow for flexibility in the orientation of an object so that its 
orientation may be changed before it is released by the gripper. 
Alternatively the belt may be twistable about its longitudinal axes or may 
have a joint structure such that it can be flexed in directions other than 
that in which the bicycle chain described above can be flexed or may have 
some elasticity so that the belt may be directable so that an object 
gripped in a gripper can have its orientation and direction of movement 
changed by bending the belt in a particular direction. For instance an 
object in a horizontal orientation that is moving downwards may become 
vertically oriented and be moved in a horizontal direction. Belts which 
are twistable about their longitudinal axis can be directed around rollers 
whose axes are angled to each other which can allow reorientation of the 
object followed immediately by its release. Providing the rollers with the 
facility of their axes to rotate to separate the nip-forming portions, can 
provide even more controlled release of the object. 
The belts may comprise flat bands of continuous material, optionally 
provided with transverse or longitudinal strengthening means which can 
also affect the degree and type of flexibility, as described above. 
Alternatively the belts may comprise a band of circular or other solid 
section or may comprise a plurality of links connected by joints to give 
the desired flexibility. 
In the type of apparatus in which objects are released by reversal of the 
belts movements, the apparatus is preferably provided with a storage 
device for the belt pair, for instance carrying a plurality of objects 
between the belts, in a corresponding plurality of grippers. Usually the 
storage system comprises a spool on which the pair of belts is wound. An 
alternative storage system is a box into which the pair of belts may be 
folded. 
Generally the belts have connector means, so that they are maintained in 
the desired orientation with respect to one another especially in the 
third path section and any storage system. For instance the grippers may 
be provided with connecting means so that paired grippers remain in 
contact with each other. Such connecting means may comprise Velcro, paired 
magnets, permanently tacky pressure sensitive adhesive, button studs or 
snap fasteners. Where the apparatus comprises storage means for laden belt 
pairs, for instance which comprises a spool on which the belts are wound, 
there may be means for connecting adjacent windings of the belt pair. 
Alternatively or additionally the storage means may be provided with a 
guide system, for instance attached to a store housing or to a spool which 
supports the belts and/or the objects held by the belts. The belts may be 
sufficiently wide that their edges extend beyond the objects being held, 
in which case they may be supported on conventional spool guides such as 
used for reels of film. If the belts are narrower they may be provided 
with extensions which reach beyond the objects, which can be supported on 
spool guides. 
Usually the apparatus is part of or can be fixed to machinery which has 
drive means for moving the belts along their respective paths. The drive 
means will be capable of moving the belts such that they are moving in the 
same direction along their respective second belt path sections. For 
taking hold of objects this direction is such that the belt moves from the 
first to the second belt path section. Preferably the machine comprises 
drive means for moving the belts in the opposite direction, so that 
objects held between the belts may be released. In a preferred machine in 
which the apparatus comprises storage spools for laden paired belts and 
for each individual belt, the drive means are for rotating those spools.

As shown in FIG. 1 an apparatus according the invention comprises belts 2 
and 3, which follow respective belt paths from feed spools 4 and 5 to a 
common storage spool 6. The belt paths consist of respective first belt 
path sections, 7 and 8, and second belt path sections 9 and 10. In the 
second belt path sections the two belt paths are substantially parallel 
with one another and the belts are supported in face to face relationship 
in this section. In the first belt path sections 7, 8, the belt paths 
approach each other. 
Each belt carries a plurality of gripper blades, of which one is shown on 
each belt in the diagram as 11 and 12. These are attached via their 
upstream ends to the belt by means more clearly illustrated and described 
below in relation to FIG. 2. For handling tree seedlings the blades are 
conveniently between 3 and 10 cm, preferably around 5 cm long. As the 
belts move in the directions indicated by arrows 13 and 14, the blades 
move to the positions illustrated by the broken lines 11' and 12'. The 
movement of the belts is caused by the driven rotation of spool 6. 
FIG. 2 shows in more detail how the apparatus of the invention works. Belts 
2 and 3, each of which is fed from a feed spool not shown in the diagram, 
are led around respective guide spools 24 and 25. These change the 
orientation of the belt from the first belt paths, respectively 26 and 27, 
to the second belt path sections, respectively 28 and 29. A plurality of 
gripper blades, 30 to 35, are provided on the belts. The blades are 
positioned such that they meet in pairs in the second belt path sections 
28 and 29. When movement of the belts 22 and 23 is driven by rotation of a 
storage spool (not shown in this diagram) the belts move in so that a pair 
of blades 30, 35, initially held apart, are brought together and can pick 
up and grip an object located between them, such as a tree stem 36 which 
is shown held between the gripper blades 31 and 34. In this embodiment the 
blades are held by a connector 37, to which is attached a spacer 38, which 
in the second path section serves to keep the blades from being in direct 
contact with one another. There are also provided supports 39, to keep the 
blades from touching the belt. In this embodiment the support 39 is 
attached to the belt but it could alternatively be attached to the back of 
the blade. The contact surfaces of the blade 40 may be provided with a 
compliant covering in order to prevent damage of an object gripped by it. 
FIG. 3 shows means by which the orientation of an object, in this instance 
a seedling tree, may be altered before it is released. A blade 41 is 
attached to a belt 42 via a pivot 43. There is a corresponding blade 
paired with blade 41 and attached to the other belt by a similar pivotable 
connection, not shown in the diagram. A bare-root tree seedling 44 is held 
between the blades. The apparatus comprises an end stop 45 which is 
positioned such that as the laden pair of gripper blades move forward 
towards the area where the tree 44 is to be deposited, the ends 46 of the 
blades contact the end stop and as they move forward are caused to rotate 
about the pivot 43. This brings the tree 44 into a vertical orientation 
before it is deposited by separation of the blades as they are moved apart 
by movement of the respective belts, in the direction reversed to that 
shown in FIG. 1. 
FIG. 6 shows an alternative device by which the orientation of the seedling 
can be changed. The figure shows one of a pair of belts 56 which carries a 
blade 57 attached via a pivot 58 to the belt. A spring 59 is attached to 
the belt and to the blade and is biased so that, unless restrained, the 
spring will rotate the blade in the direction of the arrow to the position 
shown by the dotted lines. During storage the rotation of the blade is 
prevented by a restrainer 60 attached to the belt. The restrainer may 
simultaneously act as a connector for stabilising the grippers of a pair. 
As the pair of belts moves from its parallel section through the nip to 
open the gripper blades, the restrainer moves away from the blade so that 
it is rotated by the spring to allow the seedling to be moved into the 
vertical orientation for planting. The blade is positioned in the 
restrained position during loading either by hand, by the operator, or by 
some automatic mechanism. 
FIGS. 4 and 5 show the provision of means for stabilising the storage spool 
of belt pairs. The storage spool 6 is provided within a housing 47 into 
which are led the pair of belts, for convenience shown as a single belt 
48. Attached to the housing are three radially spaced support devices, 49, 
50 and 51. These each comprise a housing attachment part 52, slideable 
radially with respect to the spool) in the housing, and a belt contact 
head 53. The head 53 is urged inwards into contact with the belts 48 by a 
spring 54. The head 53 and belt 48 are provided with interlocking profiles 
55, so that the belt 48 is prevented from moving vertically with respect 
to the housing. The springs 54 are intended to be able to urge the head 53 
into contact with the belt when the spool 6 is empty or full. 
Different stabilising means to those illustrated in FIGS. 4 and 5 could be 
envisaged. For instance the belt or blade could be provided with vertical 
guide members which would be sufficiently long to extend beyond any object 
to be held between the blades, and these could contact normal spool guides 
for supporting the belt pair in the store. Alternatively or additionally 
the belts could be stabilised by the provision of cross bars affixed to 
the storage spool 6 for rotation therewith, and that would contact the 
bottoms of the objects in the store. 
For gripping particularly fragile objects, the grippers on the belts could 
be provided with protective encasing members, which could surround the 
object simultaneously with it being gripped by the gripper blades. Such 
protective casings may in some instances be useful to protect seedling 
trees from damage. Another means of protecting objects is by the 
incorporation of a web on either or both sides of the belt, which is wide 
enough to reach beyond the objects and which is wound or laid down with 
the belts in the storage part of the device and separates adjacent 
windings of belt pairs. 
In FIGS. 7 and 8 there are shown a further embodiment of apparatus 
according to the invention. In this embodiment the belts 61 and 62 are of 
approximately circular cross-section. In this instance one each of a pair 
of grippers 63 and 64 are carried on the belts and are attached via one 
corner shown at 65 and 66. The grippers in this embodiment have connector 
means at the upstream 67 and downstream 68 ends. The gripper thereby 
encloses the stem 69 of a seedling held between them. The grippers also 
have protruding portions 70, 71, which extend beyond the roots 72 and 
branches 73 of the seedling. In the storage device shown in FIG. 7 a 
separate web 74' which extends beyond the top and roots of the seedlings 
is fed with the belts around the spool 74, so that a layer of web 
separates adjacent windings of the belt. The web 74' is fed from and 
stored on a separate spool 75. The web contacts the protruding portions 
70, 71 of the grippers which act as spacers to protect the seedlings from 
damage. The web 74' also serves to stabilise the loaded belts and is 
generally guided by a spool guide which is attached to the spool 74 and is 
shown in FIG. 7 by the dotted line 76. 
The seedlings are released from this embodiment as shown in FIG. 8, by 
passing the belts 61, 62 around a pair of rollers 77, 78 which rotate 
about axes 79, 80 which are angled to the horizontal. As the belts 61, 62 
are led, in this instance substantially vertically in the direction shown 
by arrow 81, the belts pass around rollers 77, 78, respectively, so that 
the seedling is re-oriented to an upright position. The belts then 
separate by virtue of the angled axes of the rollers, so that the grippers 
separate to release the seedling by a similar mechanism to that shown in 
FIG. 2. The belts are subsequently stored on storage spools, not shown. 
For more complex handling apparatus, two or more pairs of belts may be 
used, each having independent sets of grippers, positioned so that an 
object may be simultaneously held by grippers in both sets of belt pairs. 
The present apparatus is of particular use for handling seedling trees and 
can be sufficiently flexible that it can handle both bare-root trees and 
packaged root trees of various types, i.e. it is unspecialised in the type 
of seedlings it can handle. The apparatus may be used as part of an 
automated planting system. The apparatus may form a combination of 
seedling storage and supply to the planting instrument. Thus the trees may 
be stored whilst supported between grippers in the apparatus. The trees 
may be fed directly therefrom to a planter or via an intermediary transfer 
device which can also comprise apparatus according to the present 
invention with grippers. Another type of intermediary device or may 
comprise a pair of grippers mounted on a pair of disks or on other means 
carried on a planting instrument which open and close the grippers on 
being rotated. These grippers may hold the tree stationary with respect to 
the planting head. The apparatus may thus be provided with connector means 
by which it can be affixed to a planting head. The apparatus can avoid 
successive gripping, ungripping and regripping steps generally required to 
be performed when removing seedlings from a storage device and conveying 
them to the planting instrument. It also avoids loose transfer (dropping) 
of tree seedlings into an excavation and can hold the seedling whilst any 
excavating and even backfilling takes place. A suitable planting head is 
described in my co-pending application PCT/GB90/00369 (WO 90/10374) filed 
even date herewith. 
Use of the apparatus as part of an automated outplanting system for 
seedling trees enables manpower to be reduced and the rate of planting to 
be increased, even when using bare-root trees. When used in such an 
automatic out planting machine a plurality of storage devices loaded with 
seedlings may be carried on the machine and may be sequentially connected 
to the planting head. The seedlings are fed from the storage device to the 
planting head by which they are planted out until the device is empty. The 
empty device can be disconnected before reconnection of the next full 
device. A planting machine can comprise several such planting heads each 
connected to a storage device. 
In such a device the tree seedlings must initially be held by the apparatus 
at a position above the ground and must be moved by the apparatus to a 
position at the ground. The belts and grippers may be arranged for a 
combination of flexing and rotation such that the trees can be delivered 
in a vertical orientation into the ground directly from the grippers. 
Alternatively the device may transfer seedlings to the planting head at a 
position above the ground, the grippers releasing the seedling to other 
holding means attached to the planting head. The planting head itself may 
then transfer the seedling to the ground. Alternatively there may be an 
intermediary device to which the tree is transferred from the belt 
grippers and which then conveys the tree down to the planting head. 
The apparatus can also be used as part of a root packaging system for 
converting bare-root tree seedlings to packaged root seedlings. The 
apparatus could thus include a packing device which packs the roots of the 
seedlings as the seedling is held by a gripper. The device could be loaded 
automatically or by hand with bare root seedlings, the seedlings would be 
conveyed to the packing device and thence to a store e.g. where the 
seedlings could be further grown or directly or to a planting device. The 
ability of the device to handle both bare root and packaged seedlings 
would be utilised in such an apparatus. 
The use of the dual belt system with the paired grippers allows release of 
a seedling without much motion in the direction of movement of the belt. 
The use of grippers fixed via a pivot towards one end enables the 
orientation of a seedling prior to release to be achieved. This allows the 
storage device to be carried at a position well removed from the ground 
and for the handling mechanism then to transfer the seedlings from the 
storage device to the planter and to re-orient them before they are 
planted, all without removal of the seedling from the gripper. 
The apparatus can also be used in a variety of operations and machines, 
where it is desired to pick up and then deposit articles automatically. 
For instance the apparatus may form part of a variety of robots for 
various uses. The relative dimensions of the blades, the belts and their 
distances apart, and of the storage spools and direction-changing rollers, 
can be varied to suit the desired use.