Yazaki Corporation

Kazushi Nakatsukasa

Yasushi Kohno

Yoichi Ido

For feeding seeds contained in a tank main body of a seeds feeding section to a gel coating section by means of suction tips arranged in a seeds transfer section in order to coat them with a gellant, a total of eight through bores are formed along the upper end of the peripheral wall of the tank main body at positions corresponding to the suction tip and arranged at regular intervals so that an annular adaptor having a through bore running through the center thereof is fitted into each of the through bores. The inner peripheral wall of the through bore has a large diameter section located on the outer peripheral side of the peripheral wall for receiving a suction tip and a small diameter section smaller than the large diameter section located on the inner peripheral side of the peripheral wall for allowing seeds to pass therethrough from the tank main body. In a seeds feeding tank of a gel coating apparatus for coating seeds with a gellant and hardening the gellant to produce gel-coated seeds, seeds to be processed can be surely and securely sucked and held by suction tips before they are moved to a downstream processing step of coating seeds with a gellant regardless of the amount of seeds remaining in the seed hopper containing them.

Seeds feeding tank of a gel coating apparatus

The gel-covering apparatus has an inexpensive configuration that can supply the gelling agent to the seed covering portions under uniform pressure when performing simultaneously a plurality of same processes of covering the seeds with gelling agent. The gelling agent is supplied and filled into the closed spaces (73m) formed between the eight passages (73c) and the plungers (73h) in the nozzle block (73). The eight pressurizing air cylinders (77) connected to the eight gel supply passages (73B) communicating with the spaces (73m) are operated to pressurize the gelling agent in the spaces (73m) through the gel passages (75a) to cause the plungers (73h) in respective passages (73c) to move up, opening the valves (73b) at the lower ends of the passages (73c). At the same time, the seeds to be processed are thrown from above into the passages (73v) in the plungers (73h) so that the seeds falling from the lower ends of the passages (73v) down below the plungers (73h) are enclosed by the gelling agent, which is dropped from the spaces (73m) through the valves (73b) down below the passages (73c), to form gelling agent-covered seeds.

Apparatus for covering seeds with gel

The covered seed hardening apparatus of this invention has a construction suited for performing simultaneous parallel processes of hardening the gelling agent of seeds. The seeds covered with the gelling agent are dropped from the valves (73b) of the gel covering section (7) into the liquid hardener in the front half of the feed liquid tank (111a) on the reaction tank (111b) side of the flow regulating barrage (111g) in the hardening tank (111) of the gel hardening section (11). The covered seeds immersed in the hardener are moved through the hardener in the guide direction Y by the guide paddles (113b) after the guide paddles (113b) dip into the hardener in the reaction tank (111b) on the feed liquid tank (111a) side until the guide paddles (113b) move to a point in the reaction tank (111b) near the inclined surface (111m) of the hardner stopping barrage (111k) and come out of the hardener.

Apparatus for hardening covered seeds

A processing section in a gel coat processing unit for seeds to uniform the coating amount of seeds with gelatinizer to change a grain diameter of coated seeds without taking plenty of time and labor nor cost. In the processing section the seed is introduced from an outside into a passageway filled with gelatinizer which becomes the polymeric gel by hardening and a coated seed made by coating the seed with the gelatinizer is dropped from the passageway, the processing section comprises: a gel storing section to which the gelatinizer is supplied from an outside, the gel storing section communicating with the passageway; an opening-closing valve for opening and closing an aperture between the passageway and the gel storing section; and an extension-contraction member for extending and contracting an internal space of the gel storing section, the extension-contraction member moving in the gel storing section linked with an opening and closing of the opening-closing valve, the extension-contraction member being movable between a first position where an internal space of the gel storing section has the minimum capacity corresponding to a position when the opening-closing valve is opened and a second position where the internal space of the gel storing section has the maximum capacity which is equal to the minimum capacity plus an amount of the gelatinizer used for the coated seed corresponding to a position when the opening-closing valve is closed.

Processing section in gel coat processing unit for seeds

A product collecting device for use in an apparatus for coating seed with gel includes a product receiving case, a top portion of which is open, arranged in a downward direction of water wash bath. A partition wall is provided for a bottom wall of the product receiving case. A product collecting port is provided for one side of the partition wall. The other side of the partition wall is provided with a draining hole located directly under a carrying out side end portion of the water wash bath. A draining chute which covers the other side of bottom wall, is inclined downward toward the product collecting port water breaking hole is provide in such a way that a length of the water breaking hole is long along the direction both of inclination and hardening.

Growing community of inventors

Susono, Japan

Kazushi Nakatsukasa