Abstract:
A carousel-type distribution unit for handling and planting vegetable species, the carousel containing a plurality of conical cups, each whereof is composed of two half-cones which are articulated about substantially horizontal axes, the cups being adapted to contain the vegetable species and to open in order to plant them, the unit further comprises two arms which are fixed to the center of the carousel and are adapted to open two of the cups in order to release the plant species into two respective conveyance channels for guiding into respective internal chambers of respective hollow plowshares, from which the plant species are expelled by respective ejector feet into the furrows of the soil provided by the plowshares and arranged along two mutually staggered adjacent rows.

Description:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION  
         [0001]    The present invention relates to a carousel-type distribution unit for handling and planting vegetable species.  
           [0002]    It is known that currently there is a demand for devices for agricultural use capable of facilitating the transplanting of new plants, such as for example tomato plants.  
           [0003]    In particular, devices are known having a carousel in which the plants to be planted are placed manually. The carousel is provided with mechanisms which periodically expel a plant from the carousel and convey it, within a guiding channel, to the furrow produced by an appropriate plowshare which cuts through the soil below said channel. In this manner it is possible to plant rows of new plants simply by loading the carousel of the distribution unit.  
           [0004]    Although these devices considerably facilitate transplanting, there is still the limitation of having to use an operator assigned to refilling the distribution unit in order to deposit a single row of plants at each pass over the field.  
         SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION  
         [0005]    The aim of the present invention is to obviate the above-mentioned shortcomings of known devices, by providing a carousel-type distribution unit for handling and planting vegetable species, which is capable of planting simultaneously two adjacent rows of plants arranged at a mutual presettable distance and staggered quincuncially, managed by a single operator for two rows of plants.  
           [0006]    Within this aim, an object of the present invention is to provide a structure which is simple and sturdy, relatively easy to provide in practice, and can be handled by a single operator.  
           [0007]    Still another object of the present invention is to provide a structure which is safe in use, effective in operation and relatively low in cost.  
           [0008]    This aim and these and other objects which will become better apparent hereinafter are achieved by the present carousel-type distribution unit for handling and planting vegetable species, provided with a carousel containing a plurality of conical cups, each whereof is composed of two half-cones which are articulated about substantially horizontal axes, the cups being suitable to contain the vegetable species and to open in order to plant them, characterized in that it comprises two arms which are fixed to the center of said carousel and are adapted to open two of said cups in order to release the plant species into two respective conveyance channels for guiding into respective internal chambers of respective hollow plowshares, from which the plant species are expelled by respective ejector feet into the furrows of the soil provided by said plowshares and arranged along two mutually staggered adjacent rows. 
       
    
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS  
       [0009]    Further characteristics and advantages of the present invention will become better apparent from the detailed description of a preferred but not exclusive embodiment of a carousel-type distribution unit for handling and planting vegetable species, according to the invention, illustrated only by way of non-limitative example in the accompanying drawings, wherein:  
         [0010]    [0010]FIG. 1 is an elevation view of a carousel-type distribution unit according to the present invention, mounted on an agricultural machine;  
         [0011]    [0011]FIG. 2 is a plan view of the carousel-type distribution unit according to the present invention;  
         [0012]    [0012]FIG. 3 is a sectional view, taken along the line III-III of FIG. 2, of a constructive detail of the carousel-type distribution unit;  
         [0013]    [0013]FIG. 4 is an enlarged-scale elevation view of the carousel-type distribution unit according to the present invention;  
         [0014]    [0014]FIG. 5 is an enlarged-scale elevation view of the constructive details of the ejector foot and of the dispenser of microgranular weed and pest control agent;  
         [0015]    [0015]FIG. 6 is a sectional view, taken along the line VI-VI of FIG. 2, of the constructive detail of the torque limiter of the carousel-type distribution unit according to the present invention. 
     
    
     DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS  
       [0016]    With reference to the figures, the reference numeral  1  generally designates a carousel-type distribution unit for handling and planting vegetable species according to the invention.  
         [0017]    The distribution unit  1  is of the type that can be mounted on a frame  2  of an agricultural machine and is composed of a carousel  3 , along the circumference of which there are twelve conical cups  4 , each of which is composed of two half-cones  4   a  and  4   b  mutually articulated about two respective pivots  5  which have a substantially horizontal axis.  
         [0018]    The cups  4  are adapted to contain the plant species and to open and drop the plants contained therein into two underlying conveyance channels  6 .  
         [0019]    The conveyance channels  6  are arranged symmetrically with respect to the vertical axis of rotation of the carousel  3  in a peseudodiametrical position.  
         [0020]    The channels  6  have an upper inlet  6   a  shaped like a truncated pyramid and extending with a lower tube-shaped portion  6   b  which has a square cross-section and leads into a chamber  7  defined inside a respective hollow plowshare  8  which forms a furrow in the soil.  
         [0021]    The plowshare  8  is provided by two mutually connected side walls  9  and contains a plant ejector foot  10 .  
         [0022]    [0022]FIGS. 1 and 2 illustrate the kinematic chain of the mechanical elements that transmit the rotary motion to the carousel  3 .  
         [0023]    The carousel  3  is driven by a vertical shaft  11  internally coaxial to a sleeve  12 , which is rigidly coupled to the frame  2  and is designed to support the carousel  3 .  
         [0024]    The vertical shaft  11  is rotatably supported within the sleeve  12 , with the interposition of two bearings  14 , and is rigidly coupled to the carousel  3  by means of a contoured nut  15  screwed onto the upper end of the shaft  11 .  
         [0025]    A first bevel gear  16  is instead arranged at the lower end of the shaft  11  and meshes with a second bevel gear  17  which is keyed to a shaft  18  arranged substantially horizontally.  
         [0026]    The shaft  18  is rotatably supported by two bearings  19  accommodated in seats which are fixed on the frame  2 .  
         [0027]    The bevel gear  17  is keyed in a central position on the shaft  18  and a cylindrical gear  20  and a first pinion  21  are keyed to the shaft  18  respectively at its opposite ends which lie on the outside of the bearings  19 .  
         [0028]    The pinion  21  meshes with a transmission chain  22 , in turn driven by a second pinion  23  which is actuated by a driving bar  24  coaxial thereto.  
         [0029]    As shown more clearly in FIG. 6, a torque limiter, generally designated by the reference numeral  25 , is interposed between the second pinion  23  and the driving bar  24 .  
         [0030]    The torque limiter  25  is composed of a sleeve  26 , which rotates rigidly with the bar  24  and can slide axially thereon, and is provided with a series of six contoured protrusions  27  which engage respective seats  28  formed in the front side  29  of the second pinion  23 .  
         [0031]    The sleeve  26  is kept in contact with the second pinion  23  by a cylindrical spring  30  acting between an adjustment ring  31 , which is screwed onto the bar  24 , and the end of the sleeve  26 .  
         [0032]    In this manner, by adjusting the compression of the spring  30  against the sleeve  26  by means of the ring  31 , it is possible to preset the torque to be transmitted by the driving bar  24  to the second pinion  23 .  
         [0033]    As to the torque limiter  25 , it should be noted that among the protrusions  27 , there is one which is larger. A direct consequence of this particularity is that if the transmissible torque is exceeded and the connection between the sleeve  26  and the second pinion  23  is lost, the protrusions  27  of the sleeve  26  must perform a full turn about their rotation axis, in order to reengage the seats  28  of the pinion  23 . This ensures that synchronization is maintained between the corresponding parts of the distribution unit  1  and in particular that the quincuncial layout of the plants in the soil is not altered.  
         [0034]    [0034]FIGS. 1 and 4 illustrate more clearly the mechanical elements that control the opening of the cups  4  containing the plant species to be planted.  
         [0035]    Such figures show that at the center of the carousel  3  there are two arms  32 ,  33  which lie one above the other, are rigidly coupled to the sleeve  12 , and are mutually angularly spaced.  
         [0036]    The arms  32 ,  33  are substantially L-shaped, since each one is composed of a first horizontal portion  32   a ,  33   a , which is substantially radial, and of a second vertical portion  32   b ,  33   b , which is perpendicular to the first horizontal portion  32   a ,  33   a.    
         [0037]    The arms  32 ,  33  are adapted to abut against respective rollers  34  which are mounted so as to be laterally rigidly coupled to the half-cones  4   a  of the cups  4 .  
         [0038]    The second portions  32   b ,  33   b  abut periodically, at each turn of the carousel  3  against the rollers  34  of the cups  4  which move together with the carousel  3 . In this manner, the arms  32 ,  33  act as cams for the rollers  34 .  
         [0039]    When the rollers  34  encounter the arms  32 ,  33 , they pass over and beyond them, imparting the opening movement to the half-cones  4   a . In turn, the half-cones  4   a  lift the half-cones  4   b , since they are connected thereto by way of lobe-shaped portions  35  which affect the region proximate to the articulation pivots  5 . In this manner, the two half-cones  4   a  and  4   b  open together, dropping the plant that they contain into the respective underlying conveyance channels  6  and thence into the chamber  7  defined inside each one of the two hollow plowshares  8  that form a furrow in the soil.  
         [0040]    In particular, the rollers  34  are mounted on the half-cones  4   a  at different heights; more specifically, six of the twelve half-cones  4   a  are connected to said rollers  34  in a raised position with respect to the remaining ones, since spacer arms  36  are interposed on the former.  
         [0041]    It should be noted that the half-cones  4   a  that have the spacer arms  36  are alternated with the half-cones that do not have them along the circumference of the carousel  3 . Moreover, the respective ends of the portions  32   b  and  33   b  of the arms  32  and  33  are at different heights inside the carousel  3 .  
         [0042]    Since the rollers  34  and the portions  32   b ,  33   b  are arranged in this manner, it is evident that only the highest vertical portion  32   b  is adapted to open all and only the half-cones  4   a  provided with said spacer arms  36 , while the remaining half-cones  4   a  are opened only by the lowest portion  33   b.    
         [0043]    This solution allows to open one half of the cups  4  with one arm  32  and the other half with the other arm  33 , and it is also possible to provide equal timing gaps between the events for opening the cups  4  on the opposite sides of the carousel  3 , allowing to provide arrangements of plants arranged in a quincuncial pattern, i.e., arranged along mutually staggered rows, by using the same carousel-type distribution unit  1 .  
         [0044]    As clearly shown in FIGS. 4 and 5, each ejector foot  10  has a profile which is generally C-shaped, with a contoured lower end  10   a . The end  10   a  is adapted to delicately plant the plants that arrive from the conveyance channel  6 , while the upper end  10   b  is rotatably articulated to a pivot  37  for connection to the frame  2 .  
         [0045]    Each one of the two ejector feet  10  is further connected, in a central position, to a linkage  38  which makes it move with a reciprocating curved motion centered on the pivot  37 . The linkage  38  is arranged between said central portion of the ejector foot  10  and a pivot  39  of a crank  40 .  
         [0046]    The cranks  40  are arranged at the opposite ends of an auxiliary shaft  41  (see FIG. 2) which can rotate on bearings  42  accommodated in respective seats of the frame  2 .  
         [0047]    The auxiliary shaft  41  is substantially parallel to the shaft  18  and is driven thereby by means of the cylindrical gear  20 , which meshes with a respective cylindrical gear  43  being keyed in the central portion of the auxiliary shaft  41 .  
         [0048]    As shown in FIG. 5, the ejector foot  10  further actuates the dispensing of the microgranular weed and pest control agent contained in the funnel  44  of a dispenser  45 .  
         [0049]    The ejector foot  10  is rigidly connected, proximate to the pivot  37  for articulation to the frame  2 , to a rocker  46  acting on a rod  47 , in turn connected to a plate-like valve  48  which controls the outflow of the weed and pest control agent from a lower part  45   a  of the dispenser  45 .  
         [0050]    The plate-like valve  48  has, across its thickness, a through hole  49  of presettable volume, in which a dose of weed and pest control agent is arranged. The valve  48  moves with a reciprocating rectilinear motion between a first position, in which the through hole  49  is aligned with a duct  50  that exits from the funnel  44 , containing the weed and pest control agent, and a second position, in which the through hole  49  is aligned with an inlet  51  of a tube  52  for conveying the weed and pest control agent onto the soil.  
         [0051]    In this manner, the dose of weed and pest control agent required to protect each planted plant is alternately loaded and released inside the through hole  49 .  
         [0052]    It has thus been shown that the invention achieves the intended aim and objects.  
         [0053]    The invention thus conceived is susceptible of numerous modifications and variations, all of which are within the scope of the appended claims.  
         [0054]    All the details may further be replaced with other technically equivalent ones.  
         [0055]    In practice, the materials used, as well as the shapes and dimensions, may be any according to requirement without thereby abandoning the scope of the protection of the appended claims.  
         [0056]    The disclosures in Italian Patent Application No. BO2000A000490 from which this application claims priority are incorporated herein by reference.