WO1996004775A1

WO1996004775A1 - Method and means for feeding plants and use thereof

Info

Publication number: WO1996004775A1
Application number: PCT/SE1995/000910
Authority: WO
Inventors: Bo Evert Olofsson
Original assignee: Bo Evert Olofsson
Priority date: 1994-08-08
Filing date: 1995-08-07
Publication date: 1996-02-22
Also published as: AU3194195A; SE9500094L; SE9500094D0

Abstract

The invention relates to a method for the feeding of plants (30), especially the feeding of forest plants, from a plant storage unit (100) for such plants arranged in rows to a feeding inlet of a plant receiver (50) for the transfer of said plants to an automatic planting apparatus directly or via a plant feeding conduit. It is characterized by that a plant storage unit (100) for plants (30) is placed in a plant carrier (2), that a gripping tool (20) by means of lengthwise and crosswise transferring means (10, 12; 64, 66) are brought forward to each plant (30) one by one, that each plant is seized and brought up from its seat in the plant storage unit (100) by way of bringing apart the gripping tool (20) and the plant carrier (2) in vertical direction, and that the gripping tool then is moved to a plant receiver (50) and deposits the plant (30) in its feeding inlet (52). The invention also includes an apparatus for the performing of the method.

Description

Method and means for feeding plants and use thereof

The present invention refers to a method for feeding of plants, especially feeding of forest tree plants, as defined in the preamble of claim 1. The invention also relates to an apparatus for the performing of said method as defined in the preamble of the first apparatus claim as well as a use of said method and said apparatus for the feeding of plants to an automatic planting apparatus.

The forestry industry have been mechanised to an ever greater degree, especially on the cutting side, with an accompanying decrease in employed personnel. This leads to that there is no longer access to any skilled labour for reforesting. Therefore, a number of planting apparatuses have been con¬ structed. These have been more or less successful depending upon the terrain in which they were used. However, in these apparatuses it has not yet been found a satisfactory solution of the problem of feeding the plant to the actual planting apparatus. There is a number of apparatuses including a ver¬ tically movable planting pipe, which is thrust down in a pre¬ pared planting patch, for example a reversed turf, a rotary tilled patch or a tilled soil bank. The plants are fed for- ward to the planting pipe through a flexible tube with the aid of compressed air. The tube is long and has several cur¬ ves, which entails considerable wear on the plant's root clod. However, the feeding of the plants into the tube must be carried out manually by a person travelling with the plan- ting apparatus carrier vehicle or on a special towed wagon. When there are several planting pipes more than one man may be needed for the planting. This naturally results in high labour costs and a larger and heavier vehicle, hence increased ground damages when planting.

The Swedish patent application 8303233-4 discloses a plant picking apparatus with a conveyor , that brings the plant cultivation trays or cassettes forward to a plant picking de- vice, which is arranged on a transverse guide bar above the conveyor. Below the conveyor there is arranged a number of lifting pins, which push up the plant root clods partially over the cassette surface. A moving mechanism arranged at the side of the conveyor brings the picking device forward to a plant, then a gripping tool is brought down over the plant, takes hold around the root clod, lifts it up and carries it away sideways to a plant receiver positioned at the side of the conveyor.

This apparatus has the disadvantage that it only with diffi¬ culty can be placed on a self propelled carrier vehicle for a planting apparatus, such as a modified excavator or a harves¬ ter. By the use of a conveyor for several trays it will get such a length, that it hardly fits on such a carrier vehicle. Furthermore, the plant receiver positioned at the side and the moving mechanism runs a great risk of being damaged by the remaining vegetation on a clearing, such as young trees, during planting. The use of lifting pins to pull out the plants necessitates bottomless tray holes. This naturally entails roots growing through, which can grow together under¬ neath and render the withdrawal of the plants more difficult.

There are considerable advantages in having the plant feeding apparatus directly on a self propelled carrier vehicle, such as a modified excavator or harvester, for a planting appa¬ ratus. The driver/operator can then directly monitor the planting and pick out a suitable planting spot and inspect that the result of the planting operation is satisfactory. When the planting apparatus is arranged on a towed vehicle, this inspection possibility for the driver does not exist. It may then be necessary to have an operator on the towed ve¬ hicle for this inspection. If the plant feeding in addition is implemented by hand, the mechanized planting becomes very labour-intensive.

These goals have partially been achieved with a proposed planting apparatus entailing a carrier vehicle exhibiting a tiltable bucket blade to effectuate a reversed turf. After completed turf reversal a planting pipe is lowered through an opening in the bucket blade and a plant is dropped down from a plant feeder arranged at the tip of the bucket arm directly above the bucket blade. The plant feeder consists of a revol¬ ving magazine arranged above a plate with an opening down to the planting pipe. The magazine is rotated forward one step at a time at each planting occasion. Consequently, it is achieved that one single driver/operator can drive the carrier vehicle, pick a favourable planting spot and watch the planting result.

However, this apparatus has a number of disadvantages. By the friction of the plants against the underlying plate the root clod is damaged and soil particles begins to fall away, so that the last plants more and more begin to resemble exposed root plants. This gives of course the newly planted plant less favourable survival possibilities. In order not to make the plant feeder too heavy, it cannot contain more plants than what is fitted into one plant seedling tray. This means that the operator time and time again must climb down from his machine and replenish the revolver with new plants from a tray by hand. Despite the one-man service the result is few plants per working hour.

W093/19581 defines a stationary apparatus with a transver- sally moving picking device, that seizes small plants from above from a cassette, which is fed forward on a conveyor and replants them in larger pots on another conveyor at the side thereof. This apparatus hardly solves the problem at a carrier vehicle of moving plants from a plant tray to a plant receiving device for further transport to a planting appa¬ ratus carried on an arm.

SE 439 571 describes an apparatus for plant feeding, that cuts a plant tray made of soft material apart and then trans¬ ports the separate plants including the hole walls of the plant tray surrounding the root clods forward to a planting apparatus. However, this document does not give any direc¬ tions as to how the plants one by one shall be lifted from an intact plant tray and be transposed to a planting apparatus.

The object of the present invention is therefore to alleviate the shortcomings of earlier plant feeding apparatus by means of a method, which makes it possible to transpose a plant with root clod directly from a plant tray to the intake opening of a plant feeding tube or a planting pipe with the aid of an automatically functioning apparatus and which does not damage the plant root clods. A further object of the in¬ vention is to accomplish a method and an apparatus that makes it possible to replace an emptied plant tray with a full one from a storage. Yet another object of the invention is to accomplish a method and an apparatus, that makes it possible to pick plants from different kinds of plant trays with dif¬ ferent plant hole positions and possibly with staggered plant rows with one and the same plant feeding apparatus. Another object of the invention is to make it possible to inter- changeably feed plants of two different varieties, for exam¬ ple spruce plants and pine plants without changing the plant supply in the plant feeding apparatus. A further object of the invention is to disclose a use of the method and the apparatus for planting forest plants mechanically without manual plant picking and without damaging the plants.

The objects mentioned above are achieved with the invention which has the characteristic features set forth in the characterizing clauses of the accompanying patent claims.

The invention will now be described with reference to non- limiting exemplifying embodiments thereof and with reference to the accompanying, schematic drawings, in which

Fig 1 is a schematic perspective view of a plant feeding apparatus according to the invention, Fig 2 is a detail view of a plant picking device of the apparatus in fig 1,

Fig 3 is a view of a plant receiver included in the plant picking device in fig 2,

Fig 4 is a detail view of a plant carrier of the apparatus in fig 1,

Fig 5 is a detail view of a multi-level plant storage with a tray transferring arm of the apparatus in fig 1,

Fig 6 is a schematic view of another embodiment of a plant carrier seen from the suspension side of the plant feeding apparatus,

Fig 7 is a view of an embodiment of a plant storage with alternative tray holding means and tray transfer means,

Fig 8 is an enlarged view of the plant storage in fig 7,

Fig 9 is a side view of an alternative means for tray transfer, connecting shelves and plant carrier, and

Fig 10 is a detail view of an alternative embodiment of a plant picking device and adherent plant receiver

The inventive plant feeding apparatus consists of three main parts: a plant picking apparatus 1, a plant carrier 2 for plants with a root clod and a plant storage 3 for refilling the plant carrier with new plants, when empty. All the parts are arranged in a common frame 4, that also includes a not shown suspension arrangement for mounting of the apparatus on a bucket arm or on or in a carrier vehicle. Certain parts of the frame consist of magnetic linear shuttles and guide bars, which makes it possible to move the plant picking apparatus 1, plant carrier 2, and plant storage 3 in vertical direction relative to each other in the frame 4. Vertical direction is here and in the following patent claims intended to be under¬ stood as essentially vertical or approximately perpendicular towards the underlying ground, when the carrier is standing on uneven ground, or the inclination that occurs, when the carrying bucket arm stands askew. Correspondingly, the same applies to the horizontal plane, which is perpendicular to this vertical direction.

For lucidity reasons the frame parts are only shown with their outer limitation lines without showing intermediate corner lines, magnetic linear shuttle guide races and bearing races. The frame is covered with doors at the ends, an inner side wall 7 and side doors 8 not shown in figure 1. Further- more, conduits for pneumatic control and signals from diffe¬ rent sensors as well as the control the unit for the appara¬ tus are not shown. Figure 7 shows a foot stand 9 for the ap¬ paratus and a valve box 11, where control valves for opera¬ ting compressed air are brought together in a common place.

The plant picking device consists of a wagon 10 in form of a magnetic shuttle wagon, that is arranged travelling and gui¬ ded on a magnetic linear shuttle 12. The wagon carries a picking arm 14 on a pivot shaft 16. In front of and/or behind the pivot shaft 16 there is at least one power cylinder 18, by means of which the picking arm 14 can be swung between a lower position where the plant is seized and a upper position for plant transportation. At the tip of the picking arm there is arranged a gripping tool 20 consisting of a long leg in the shape of a plate 22 and a short leg in the shape of a finger 26. The finger is fastened on the long leg in a joint 24 and is manoeuvred by means of a power cylinder 28. By means of the gripping tool 20 a plant 30 can be clamped bet¬ ween the finger and the plate, whereupon the picking arm by means of the cylinder or cylinders 18 is lifted into its upper transport position, so that the soil clod goes unhin¬ dered and the plant can be transported away from the tray and its holes. The gripping tool 20 is attached to the arm 14 with a flexible joining part 21, that allows the plate 22 and the finger 26 to adjust themselves to the plant during seizing. In this way it is avoided that plants, that are off centre in their holes, are deformed or broken when seized.

For determination of where the picking arm shall seize a plant, the plant picking device is equipped with a first po¬ sitioning means 32 in longitudinal direction of the picking arm 14 consisting of a cam bar 34 arranged over the guide path 12 interacting with a photocell 36 arranged on the wagon 10. The cam bar is fastened on stays 38 by means of bolts 40 in oblong holes 42. Every cam gap 44 on the cam bar corre¬ sponds with a plant position in the plant carrier 2. In order to correct for staggered plant rows in a plant tray, the cam bar 34 can be shifted in the oblong holes 42 with the aid of a power cylinder 46 and a driving stay 48.

In the rear position of the wagon 10 the gripping tool 20 is situated immediately above a plant receiver 50, in which the plant 30 can be deposited by opening the gripping tool. The plant receiver consists of an inlet funnel 52 exhibiting an removable swinging cover 54 with an operating cylinder 56, a plant feeding conduit 58 and a conduit for transporting air 60 with a symbolically shown, remote controlled valve 62. When used, the cover 54 is opened, a plant is released and the cover is closed. When the planting apparatus is ready to accept a new plant the valve 62 is opened and the plant is blown forwards with assistance of pressure air.

Advantageously the plant feeding can be done with the aid of return air from the various magnetic linear shuttles in the plant feeding apparatus and possible return air from pneuma¬ tic cylinders in accompanying planting apparatus. This feeding method gives small short compression thrusts instead of a powerful compression thrust for the whole transport dis¬ tance. One single compression thrust for the entire transport distance gives high stresses on the plant both through the high pressure and through friction against the tube at high speed. If additional compressed air is needed to implement the whole transport, this is suitably done in the form of short intermittent pneumatic air thrusts.

The magnetic linear shuttle 12 is mounted on a second magne¬ tic shuttle wagon 64, that is arranged on a transverse magne¬ tic linear shuttle 66. The wagon exhibits a second positio¬ ning means 68 comprising a photocell 69 interacting with an exchangeable cam bar 70 arranged on stays 72. The wagon 64 further carries the plant receiver 50 on a carrier arm 74. The carrier arm is positioned at the side of the picking arm 14, so that the picking arm and accompanying plant freely can pass. For increased stability the magnetic linear shuttle 12 may be fastened at its other end to a roller guide 65, that runs on a transverse guide bar 67. This gives increased sta¬ bility and reduced sensitivity to vibrations and chock loads.

The plant picking device works in the following way. The wagon 10 drives the picking arm 14 forward in its lower posi- tion to a plant 30, the plant is seized and lifted whereupon the wagon returns to a position in which the plant is above the plant receiver 50. When the inlet funnel 52 is empty and no vibration causing digging or other such action is underway, the lid 54 is opened, the plant is released and the lid is closed. The plant is then fed forward when the plan¬ ting apparatus is ready to receive the next plant, which is indicated by a photocell in the plant holding space of the planting apparatus. All of these operations are performed automatically with the help of a not shown, electronic con- trol unit and various, in principle known positioning indica¬ tors and other indicators, in order to indicate position and status for the various parts of the picking device. With the assistance of positioning means 32 and 68 together with the operating unit's memory unit, the picking arm can pick the plants one by one from a plant tray on the plant carrier 2. The memory unit knows which plant is picked and thereafter can the next in line be picked up. The plants are picked one by one in rows lengthwise or crosswise or in another way, for example diagonally by the picking device, so that the least possible damage is inflicted on the plants when picked.

The picking arm is brought forward in a motion parallel to the surface of a plant tray or other holding plate for plants arranged in rows. In this way it is avoided that the picking device's gripping tool damages the plant, which easily is done if the gripping tool is brought down from above. It is also not possible to bring down a gripping tool between tightly intergrown plants in a plant tray. However, by means of the inventive method the gripping tool is moved in from the side and grips around the plant stem close above the soil clod. A gripping tool leg, the plate 22 or finger 26, is brought in close to the edge of respective plant cultivation hole 101, and at the following gripping movement the plate 22 and the finger 26 will be centred around the plant stem owing to the flexible joining part 21. Even when branches and need¬ les have grown together, it will during the subsequent plant lifting be possible to lift up the plant, so that the root clod goes free and pull it out sideways without appreciable damages on the plant's above soil parts.

When branches are grown together there is an obvious risk that a gripping tool brought down from above seizes around and lifts up more than one plant. Then you get double feeding and possibly a stoppage in the plant receiver 50 as well as an empty plant position, which will result in a missing plant delivery at a later plant picking occasion.

The plant carrier 2 comprises at least one carrier plate or tray holder 80 for plant trays 100 with holes or seats 101 for plants 30 arranged in rows. The tray holder is arranged on a magnetic shuttle wagon 82 and is vertically movable on a magnetic linear shuttle 84. The tray holder consists of a first shelf part 86, that exhibits a first shelf side 87, and that by telescopic carrying arms 88 is joined to an opposite second shelf part 90 with an opposite second shelf side 89. The tray holder contains also a drawing bar 92, that by means of a power cylinder 94 and a drawing hook 96 presses the shelf parts 86, 90 towards each other, so that they press one or several beside each other arranged plant trays 100 to¬ gether between the sides 87, 89. The drawing hook 96 is tele- scopically arranged in the drawing bar 92, that exhibits a number of holes 98 for distance adjustment of the drawing bar in order to adjust for different sizes of plant trays 100. in such a way you can use a power cylinder 94 with short stroke to lock together and release respectively said plant tray or trays.

The plant carrier may include another one or possibly several tray holders 80, which is shown with dashed lines in fig 4. This additional tray holder is arranged on a magnetic shuttle wagon or other wagon 83 on the magnetic linear shuttle 84. This second wagon is joined with the first magnetic shuttle wagon 82 by means of a connecting beam 102. The distance bet¬ ween the two tray holders 80 is such, that there is space enough to lift out a plant from the lower tray 100 and take it out sideways. By having two tray holders, which are each assigned its own memory space in the control unit, is it pos¬ sible to interchangeably plant tree plants of different kinds, for example spruce and pine, without having to descend and exchange plant trays. To increase the amount of carried plants, you may have even more tray holding planes 80. This assumes however, that the entire plant picking device 1 can travel vertically. Alternatively, the plant carrying unit 2 with all the tray holders 80 must be able to be lifted so high that the lowest tray holder comes level to the picking device. This gives a high upwards protruding portion that can get stuck in trees or possible overhead lines.

The plant carrier 2 is arranged for vertical travel to make it possible to transfer a new plant tray from the plant storage 3, when the present one is empty, which shall be de¬ scribed in more detail below. Because the plant carrier is arranged for vertical travel, is it possible to lower the tray holder instead of lifting the picking arm when lifting out a plant as has been described above. In this way the un¬ balanced weight of the picking arm is reduced, which gives a more stable construction and reduces the hazard of injuries to it.

A plant picking device with a picking arm 14 rigidly fastened in the wagon 10 is shown in figure 10. In this figure corre¬ sponding parts have been assigned the same reference nume¬ rals. The positioning means 32 here consists of a transparent ruler 33, with plant positioning indicators, for example mag¬ netic or opaque positioning indicators 45 arranged at a plant distance. On the wagon 10 there is arranged a photocell or magnetic positioning indicator 36. In this case there are ar¬ ranged further positioning indicators 45' between the posi- tioning indicators 45 corresponding to the plant positions in staggered plant rows in a plant tray. The second positioning means 68 for the transverse movements here consists of a ruler 70 corresponding to the ruler 33, that interacts with a photocell or magnetic position indicator 69. The short leg 26 of the gripping tool 20 here is a plate with the same width as the long leg 22.

The plant receiver 50 here is fastened on an schematically indicated cross beam 51. In this way the plant picking device is further lightened and gets less moving mass. The plant re¬ ceiver 50 can be rigidly or movably attached to the crossbeam 51 by means of a holder 53. In the first attachment case, the picking arm 12 sometimes may need to be moved sideways for plant deposition and not only be pulled backwards. In figure 10 a second plant receiver 50' with a feeding funnel 52" and lid 54' is indicated with dashed lines. Through such an arrangement a plant picking device can supply two planting apparatuses in parallel.

For the determination of the vertical position of the plant carrier there is arranged a positioning switches, for example in form of a non-contact magnetic indicators, at the magnetic linear shuttle 84 or in some other place. This is commonly known technique and is not described in detail.

The plant storage 3 comprises an outer, parallelepipedical frame 110, that can be a part of the frame 4 of the appara¬ tus. It consists of upper longitudinal beams 112, 114 and lower longitudinal beams 116, 118. They are joined by corner posts 120, 122 and middle posts 124, 126, upper and lower gable beams 128, 130 and upper and lower middle beams 132, 134. The longitudinal beams then continues and are joined in their other ends by the corner posts 136, 138 and upper and lower gable beams 140, 142. A protruding upper carrier arm 144 is fastened in the middle of the beams 128, 132 and a protruding lower carrier arm 146 is fastened in the middle of the beams 130, 134. Between them the carrier arms carry a magnetic linear shuttle 148 for a vertically movable transfer apparatus in the form of a tray changer 150 intended for ex¬ change of empty plant trays for filled ones from the plant storage 3. The tray changer consists of a wagon 152 in the form of a magnetic shuttle wagon, that carries a push arm 154 with a push plate 156. The push plate is projectable with the assistance of the push arm, which here consists of a telesco¬ pic cylinder, that is fastened on or beside the magnetic shuttle wagon 152. The stroke length is such, that one or possibly several plant trays 100 arranged on the same shelf can be transferred to the tray holder 80, and at the same time the empty tray is pushed out. The empty trays can be collected in a schematically indicated bag 158 or other re- ceptable. Alternatively the empty trays are allowed to fall down on the ground.

The tray changer 150 can alternatively have telescopically projectible upper and lower carrier arms 144, 146 and a push arm 154 with a fixed length. The tray changer can then be parked in an inner position, and thus exhibits no protruding parts between the tray changes. The plant storage consists of a number of divided shelves (not shown in figure 1), in which the one shelf part is fas¬ tened to the frame 4 and the other on a movable frame 160 consisting of horizontal and vertical frame sides 162 and 164, respectively. The horizontal frame sides 162 are carried by short power cylinders 166 on the longitudinal beams 112, 116. The frame 160 further carries first shelf parts 168 in the form of angle sheets with first shelf sides 169. On the opposite side there are arranged second shelf parts 170, which with opposite second shelf sides 171 are fastened onto the posts 122, 126. By means of the power cylinders the frame 160 with its shelf parts can be pressed against plant trays 100 deposited on the shelves, so that they stay in position and are not shaken loose and fall of.

The frame 160 is positioned in such a way, that when cylin¬ ders are pulled back the first shelf parts 168 will be in alignment with the first shelf part 86 of the tray holder. In this way it is possible to transfer full trays and push away the empty ones. In this case a possible adjustment for trays of different width is easiest arranged by the placing of a distance block 172 at the wall on the second shelf part 170 such as indicated with dashed lines at the top of fig 5. The shelves can of course also be movable sideways. The distance blocks can also be arranged at the frame, in which case the fixed shelves are allowed to be in alignment with the first shelf part 86 of the tray holder 80. The shelves in the storage lies at a closer distance than what is possible in a plant carrier 2 with multiple tray holders 80, since it is not needed to reserve space for the lifting out of the plants.

The plant storage and plant carrier are used in the following way. The movable frame 160 is drawn back and all the shelves are filled with plant trays. In doing this the tray changer has to be moved away vertically, so that all shelves becomes accessible. The shelf parts 86, 90 on the tray holder are also pulled apart, so that a tray can be fed in there with the tray changer 150. hen the trays are in place, the shel¬ ves are pressed together with the aid of the power cylinders 94 and 166 respectively. The tray carrier is now brought up into operating position at the plant picking device 1. When the plants on the currently involved plant tray are finished, the tray carrier is moved straight opposite a full shelf in the plant storage 3 and the tray changer is placed straight opposite. Thereafter the shelves are loosened and the tray changer pushes in a full plant tray 100 simultaneously pushing out the empty one. The shelf parts are pressed to¬ gether again to secure the plant trays and the tray changer's push plate is withdrawn. The plant carrier is driven into po¬ sition at the picking device and the plant feeding apparatus is ready for resumed planting.

The inventive plant feeding apparatus can be positioned in that place on a self propelled carrier vehicle or towed ve¬ hicle where the plant feeding is now performed manually. How¬ ever, it is preferred to place the apparatus on the arm of an excavator, harvester or other vehicle, that carries a plan¬ ting apparatus. In this way a shorter transport distance is achieved and straighter tubing, which gives less damage ha¬ zard for the plant during the transport movement. Advantage¬ ously, a releasable attachment means is arranged on the frame 4 intended to connect to a suspension arrangement on the arm. With the aid of a winch the whole apparatus can be winched down for replenishment or disengagement. (Not shown.) Alter¬ natively, the plant storage 3 alone can be winched down.

The tray holder 80 should have a stop so that the trays always will be placed in the same position after a tray ex¬ change and the gripping tool 20 always will seize one plant only and not two or none. An example of this is shown in fig 1 in the form of a hinged blocking plate 104, that is ope- rated by a cylinder 106 with the aid of the control unit of the apparatus depending on the movements of the push arm 154. Furthermore, the tray holder 80 can be tippably arranged on an axle 108 in order to easily remove the empty trays. The plate 104 can then at the same time be lowered with a linkage system.

Figure 6 shows a favourable embodiment of the tray holder 80, in which a blocking plate 105 is arranged on a bar 107, that extends from the magnetic shuttle wagon 82 to the middle posts 124, 125 of the frame 4. The bar ends exhibit roller guides 103, that runs on said middle posts. Thereby stress on the wagon 82 is reduced and the chest of drawer syndrome is avoided.

The tray holder 80 is pivotably suspended on an axle 108 and can be tipped down for the off-loading of an empty tray 100 by means of a power cylinder 109 with articulated attachment points 111 and 113 at the bar 107 and a plate 115, said power cylinder joining the axle 108 with the actual tray holder 80. In order to secure the tray holder 80 in a correct, in prin¬ ciple horizontal position, in relation to the plant picking device 1, the blocking plate 105 is placed in such a way, that it acts as a blocking abutment against the shelf parts 86, 90. Advantageously the axle 108 is placed asymmetrically, so that the force of gravity keeps it in a horizontal position.

Alternatively, the plant storage 3, as shown in figure 7 and 8, can be designed with shelves and clamping means in the same way as in the tray holder 80 described above. They con¬ sist of first shelf parts 186, which with first shelf sides 187 are fastened to the corner post 120 and the middle post 124. Via telescopic carrier arms 188 the shelf parts are con¬ nected to opposite second shelf parts 190 with opposite se¬ cond shelf sides 189. The shelves 186, 190 further comprises a telescopic drawing bar 192 equipped with length adjustment holes 198. By means of a short power cylinder 194 and a dra- wing hook 196 the drawing bar presses the shelf parts 186, 190 against each other for the securing of the plant trays 100. In this case the tray changer 150 is arranged at the corner post 122, that is opposing the shelf carrying post 120. Next to the post 122 a magnetic linear shuttle 248 is arranged on upper and lower carrier arms 244, 246 at the ends of the cor- ner post. Thereon a magnetic shuttle wagon 251 is arranged, which by means of a driver 253 moves a wagon 252 up and down on the post 122. The wagon carries a push arm 254 with a push wagon 255 in form of a magnetic linear shuttle with a magne¬ tic shuttle wagon. The push wagon carries a push plate 256 via a stay 257 joined to the plate's upper portion, such that it can pass freely over respective shelf side when transfer¬ ring a tray 100 to the tray holder 80. The shelf parts 186, 190 are so designed, that the push plate in its rear position can pass freely up and down between the shelves.

Since the push arm 254 is carried by a separate wagon and not directly by the magnetic shuttle wagon 251, the magnetic shuttle wagon and the magnetic linear shuttle guide are not exposed to great bending tension and hence great friction re- sistance and increased risk for fatigue breaks. A ball bearing wagon on a post, that can be made in thicker mate¬ rial, does not run the same risk. The same construction with a wagon on a post and an adjacent magnetic linear shuttle feeder can also be used for vertical transfer of the plant picking device 1 and the plant carrier 2 instead of letting these be carried directly by a magnetic linear shuttle wagon or some other linear transfer means.

Figure 9 shows yet another design of the tray changer 150. A magnetic linear shuttle 300 are by means of attachment means 302 arranged half way up on the insides of the corner post 122 and the middle post 126. On this there is arranged a mag¬ netic shuttle wagon 304, which carries a vertical magnetic linear shuttle 306, that on its ends exhibit roller guides 308. The roller guides 308 run on the longitudinal beams 114, 118 or separate guide beams. The roller guides carry by means of brackets 310 between themselves a vertical guide beam 312. The magnetic linear shuttle 306 carries a magnetic shuttle wagon 314, which brings a roller guide 316 up and down along the guide beam 312. The wagon 316 carries a push plate 256 by means of stays 257 in the same way as the tray changer of figure 7 and 8.

The whole unit is moved back and forth by means of the magne¬ tic linear shuttle 300 and the magnetic shuttle wagon 304. In its rear end position the push plate 256 can pass up and down behind the plant shelves 186, 190 and in its forward end position the push plate reaches a bit in over the tray holder 80. In that way also short cassettes 100 can be brought for¬ ward to the tray holders blocking abutments 104, 105. The mo¬ ving parts are provided with pressure air in separate condu¬ its through a cable sliding chain shown with its central line 318. This chain also contains leads from various sensors to the controlling unit.

The plant feeding apparatus according to the invention is not limited to an apparatus with both a plant carrier 2 and an adjacently positioned plant storage 3. Where space is limited you may have only a plant carrier with several tray holding shelves 80 with thinly spaced shelves. Alternatively, the plant picking device 1 in this case may be travelling verti¬ cally instead of the plant carrier. In the extreme case a plant picking device 1 and a plant tray 100 can be placed di¬ rectly above a planting apparatus in the same way as the ear¬ lier described revolver feeder is. In all these cases the consequence is that you often must interrupt planting in order to charge new plant trays and that a full day's need of plants can not be fed in one go.

The invention is not limited to the described and illustrated exemplifying embodiment, but can be varied in an arbitrary way within the scope of the inventive concept as it is de- fined in the following patent claims. For example the inven¬ tion is not limited to the uses of magnetic linear shuttles for the linear transportations, all known linear transport means can be considered, such as a screw feeder or ball screw, pneumatic or hydraulic cylinders, and toothed belts, chains or ropes driven by an engine. These non-preferential solutions might be unnecessarily heavy or give high mainte¬ nance costs, but they still perform the main task, namely to securely and without damaging the plants feed plants forward to a planting apparatus without manual assistance. Instead of letting the magnetic linear shuttles carry the components with for example a too great lop-sided load these components can be arranged on a roller guide on a guide by the side and the magnetic shuttles wagons only serve as drivers.

The trays 100 for the plants 30 can also be of an arbitrary nature. Suitably, plant incubating trays from the plant nur¬ series available on the market are used as such in their pre- vailing state. When the tray type is exchanged, the cam bars or rulers 33, 34, 70 are also changed, and a corresponding operating programme is chosen or inserted into the control unit. If the plants are standing in a tray or container, that is not compatible with available cam bars and programs, they must be transferred to a standard tray or a special tray be¬ longing to the plant feeding apparatus. Such a tray can also be used for plants without a soil clod, so called bare root plants and cuttings. This is possible because the leg 22 of the gripping tool 20 is brought in along the sides of the tray holes.

instead of cam bars other kinds of rulers with positioning indicators can be used, for example rulers with magnetic po¬ sitioning indicators or transparent rulers with opaque posi- tioning indicators. Furthermore, you can have a plant recei¬ ver 50 with a wide entrance opening in transversal direction. This does not at all or only intermittently need to follow the picking arm 14 in its transverse movements between the longitudinal rows. The plant receiver 50 may also have its own power cylinder for its transverse movements and then it does not burden the magnetic linear shuttle of the picking arm.

Claims

1. A method for feeding of plants (30), especially feeding of forest tree plants, from a plant storage unit (100) for such plants arranged in rows towards an inlet opening of a plant receiver (50) for transfer of said plants to an automa¬ tic planting apparatus directly or via a plant feeding con¬ duit, characterized in that a plant storage unit (100) for plants (30) is placed in a plant carrier (2), that a gripping tool (20) by means of lengthwise and crosswise transport means (10, 12; 64, 66) is brought forward to each plant (30) one by one substantially parallel to the surface of the plant storage unit (100), that each plant is seized and brought up from its seat in the plant storage unit (100) by bringing the gripping tool (20) and the plant carrier (2) away from each other in vertical direction, and that the gripping tool thereafter is transferred to a plant receiver (50) and deposits the plant (30) in its inlet opening (52).

2 A method according to claim 1, characterized in that the gripping tool's position in direction of travel and cross direction is determined with the aid of first positio¬ ning means (32, 33, 34, 36) and second positioning means (68- 70), and that the picking position is moved one step by means of a control unit with memory function after each picking operation.

3. A method according to claim 1 or 2, characterized in that a plant storage unit (100), that might consist of several parts, for instance pots or plant cultivation trays with one or several plants, is transferred from a shelf (168, 170; 186, 190) in a plant storage (3) to the plant carrier's (2) carrier plate or tray holder (80) by means of a transfer means (150) with a push plate (156, 256) and thereby replacing an previously emptied plant storage unit (100).

4. An apparatus for performing of the method according to claim 1 for the transfer of plants from a plant storage unit (100) to a plant receiver (50), characterized in: a. a plant carrier (2) with a carrier plate or tray holder (80) for at least one plant storage unit (100) for plants (30) arranged in rows; b a plant picking device (1) with a lengthwise and cross¬ wise movable picking arm (14) with a gripping tool (20) intended to seize said plants (30) one by one; c. means (18 and 82 respectively) for the lifting of the plant from said plant storage unit; d. transportation means (10, 12) for the transfer of the plant to a plant receiver (50) and e. first and second positioning means (32 and 68 respecti¬ vely) for determination of the gripping tools position as well as a control unit (not shown) for control of the gripping tool's (20) movement.

5 An apparatus according to claim 4, characterized in that said positioning means (32; 68) includes exchange¬ able rulers with positioning indicators, for example cam bars (34; 70) or rulers (33; 70) with plant positioning indica¬ tors, for example magnetic or opaque positioning indicators, said position indicators corresponding to the positions of the plants in a corresponding plant storage unit (100).

6. An apparatus according to claim 4 or 5, characte¬ rized in means (40, 42, 46, 48) for transposing the refe¬ rence point for the gripping tool in relation to the plant storage unit (100) for the purpose of shifting the picking points when the plant positions are staggered in adjacent rows, or in further, intermediate plant position indicators (45 and 45' respctively) corresponding to said staggered planting positions.

7. An apparatus according to any of the claims 4 - 6, characterized in that the plant picking device (1) and the carrier plate (80) are movable vertically in relation to each other, and/or that the carrier plate (80) and the plant storage (3) are movable vertically in relation to each other.

8 An apparatus according to any of the claims 4 - 7, characterized in that the plant storage (3) exhibits transfer means (150) intended for moving a plant storage unit (100) from a shelf (168, 170; 186, 190) to the carrier plate (80).

9 An apparatus according to any of the claims 4 - 8, characterized in that the carrier plate (80) exhibits a blocking plate (104, 105), which defines the end position when feeding of new plant storage units (100).

10. An apparatus according to claim 8 or 9, characte¬ rized in that the carrier plate (80) is tippable around an axle (108), and/or that the blocking plate (104, 105) can be lowered or shifted away in order to allow for the removal of empty plant storage units (100).

11. An apparatus according to any of the claims 4 - 10, characterized in that the arrangements parts (1, 2,

3) are secured in a common frame (4), which is releasably connected to a suspension arrangement and can be lowered for replenishment with new plant storage units (100), and/or that the plant storage (3) alone is removable and can be lowered for replenishment with new plant storage units.

12. An apparatus according to claim 11, characterized i n that the suspension arrangement is adapted for mounting on an arm of an excavator or harvester.

13. An apparatus according to any of the Claims 4-12, characterized in that the plant storage (3) exhibits first shelf parts (168), that are fastened to a frame (160), which is movable with the aid of power cylinders (166), and second shelf parts (170), that are secured to rigid frame parts (122, 126).

14. An apparatus according to one or more of Claims 4 - 13, characterized in that the shelves in the plant carrier (2) and/or the plant storage (3) consists of a first shelf part (86; 186), which by means of telescopic carrier arms (88; 188) carries an opposite, second shelf part (90; 190), and clamping means (92, 94, 96; 192, 194, 196), which are intended for bringing the first and second shelf parts together to hold the plant storage units (100), and for bringing the first and second shelf parts apart to release said plant storage units.

15. An apparatus according to one or more of Claims 4 - 14, characterized in that the plant receiver (50) includes one or several receiving rooms (52, 52'), preferably in the shape of a funnel.

16 An apparatus according to Claim 15, characterized in that the receiving funnel (52, 52") exhibits an removable swinging cover (54, 54') and/or is connected to a conduit (60) for transport air with a remote controlled valve (62).

17. An apparatus according to any of the Claims 4 - 16, characterized in that the plant receiver (50) is fastened to a transversally moving wagon (64), which also carries the plant picking device (1), and that it follows the plant picking device in its transversal movements.

18. An apparatus according to one or more of the Claims 4 -

17, characterized in that the picking arm (14) is pivotally attached (16) to a wagon (10) and that its gripping tool end can be lifted and lowered by means of at least one power cylinder (18).

19 An apparatus according to one or more of the Claims 4-

18, characterized in that the gripping tool (20) is flexibly or pivotally attached to the picking arm (14) by means of a connecting joint (21), which allows the gripping tool to swing sideways when performing a gripping movement, so that the long leg (22) and the short leg (26) of the grip¬ ping tool are centred around the plant stem, when it is sei- zed instead of bending and maybe damaging the stem of a plant (30), which is asymmetrically positioned in its seat (101).

20. The use of the method according to any of the Claims 1- 3, c haracterized in that plants (30), especially forest plants, one by one are seized by a crosswise and lengthwise travelling gripping tool (20), which is brought in along the surface of a plant storage unit (100), for example a plant incubating tray, and are lifted out thereof and transferred to the feeding inlet (52) of a plant receiver (50), which is intended to directly or via a plant feeding conduit (58) transfer the plants to a planting apparatus.