Design and experiment of the side insertion horizontal transplanting device for sweet potato(Ipomoea batatas Lam.)seedlings on mulch film

Side insertion horizontal transplanting sweet potato seedlings on mulch film is one kind of new planter pattern,which keeps the soil warm and moist restraining the infestation of pests and weeds,realizing dense transplanting and ensuring uniformity of sweet potato sizes.Therefore,a side insertion horizontal transplanting device for sweet potato seedlings on mulch film was designed,including the details and parameters of the reciprocating mechanism and the seedling clamping mechanism.Both the two mechanisms and the whole device were simulated and the test bench was built for field experiments to detect if this device can meet the agronomic requirements.The simulation results show that the designed device is in accordance with the agronomic requirements of horizontal transplanting,transplanting depth and transplanting length,and is potential for achieving rational close planting.The lateral length of the designed transplanting device is extended at about 90 mm compared with previous machine,which will promote the number of soil nodules of sweet potato seedlings and the growth of production enormously.The horizontal velocity of the transplanting claw is−17 mm/s when picking the seedling,the horizontal velocity of the transplanting claw 645 mm/s and the vertical velocity 83 mm/s when releasing the seedling.These data could ensure the accuracy requirements of horizontal transplanting trajectory.The field experiment results show the expulsion rate of sweet potato seedlings at 1.38%,the qualified rate of transplanting length and depth at 94.17%and 95.11%respectively,the average length and width of the mulch film breaking hole at 44.67 mm and 43.00 mm in several.The postures of the actual transplanted seedlings are consistent with the simulation results,meeting the requirements of horizontal transplanting with less damage to the mulch film.The designed transplanting device lays a foundation for the development of sweet potato seedlings side transplanting machine.

Design and experimental research on the sweet potato seedling transplanting mechanism of the planetary gear train with deformed elliptical gear transmission

Aiming at the lack of suitable machines for sweet potato seedling transplanting in China,and according to the agronomic requirements for the horizontal insertion method of sweet potato seedling,a new sweet potato seedling transplanting mechanism of planetary gear train was proposed based on the non-uniform transmission of deformed elliptical gear.The working principle of the transplanting mechanism was analyzed,and the kinematics modeling and analysis of the mechanism were carried out.The study established the numerical objectives of the transplanting mechanism and applied the theory of membership function to establish a mathematical model for the parameter-guided optimization design of the transplanting mechanism.The parameter-guided optimization design software was developed to obtain a set of optimal mechanism parameters that satisfied the motion trajectory of sweet potato transplanting and the posture of the transplanting arm.Based on the optimized parameters,the structure of the transplanting mechanism was designed,and a virtual prototype of the mechanism was created,whereby a virtual motion simulation of the transplanting mechanism was conducted to verify the correctness of the kinematics model and design of the mechanism.The high-speed photographic kinematics test of the mechanism prototype and sweet potato seedling transplanting tests were conducted to test the mechanism’s kinematic characteristics and transplanting performance.The test results show that the test trajectory of the mechanism and test posture of the transplanting arm are almost consistent with the theoretical and simulation trajectory,meeting the agronomic requirements of the horizontal insertion method of sweet potato seedling;And when the rotary speed of the mechanism are 20 r/min and 30 r/min,the average success ratios of sweet potato seedlings transplanting are 90%and 82%,respectively,which prove the application feasibility of the mechanism in the practical machines.