Yazaki Corporation

Takeo Hayashi

Yasushi Kouno

Yasushi Kohno

An artificial seed manufacturing apparatus in which enclosures can be inserted into capsules without fail, and the diameter of the capsule can automatically be controlled. This apparatus comprises: an enclosure supply mechanism with a container, a tip, and a driving source; a coating material delivery mechanism with a passage, a pressure plunger, a hollow nozzle plunger, and a stepping motor; and a control unit for controlling the enclosure supply mechanism and the coating material delivery mechanism, comprising: moving distance storing means for erasably storing setting data which are inputted through setting operation to designate moving distance of the pressure plunger; and stepping motor control means for supplying driving pulse, the stepping motor control means allowing the pressure plunger to reciprocate by the moving distance, to the stepping motor based on the data stored in the moving distance storing means.

Artificial seed manufacturing apparatus

A gel-coating apparatus for seeds comprising: a nozzle portion for forming and cutting a gel coating film by opening and closing operation of a cutting plunger; a seed storing vessel moving upward and downward; an arm having a rotation shaft at the center thereof and a hollow needle at both ends thereof; a seed supply portion having pipes for communicating the needles with a negative pressure source and a positive pressure source by way of electromagnetic valves; a curing vessel provided below the nozzle portion; and a control section for synchronously operating the movement of the curing vessel, the nozzle portion, the seed storing vessel, the arm, and the seed supply portion. With the above apparatus, a method of gel-coating seeds according to the present invention comprising the steps of gel-coating seeds into a larger spherical form, immersing the seed into a curing agent for a predetermined period of time to cure the surface of the gel-coating layer and, subsequently, taking the gel-coated seed out of the curing agent, washing out the deposited curing agent with water and curing only the surface of the layer.

Growing community of inventors

Shizuoka, Japan

Takeo Hayashi