Design and Experimental Research on Seedling Pick-Up Mechanism of Planetary Gear Train with Combined Non-circular Gear Transmission

Abstract Currently, transplanting mechanisms for dryland plug seedlings in China are mainly semiautomatic and have low efficiency. The rotary seedling pick-up mechanism with a planetary gear train for non-uniform intermittent transmission, and a concave and convex locking arc device, has a large rigid impact. To solve these problems, according to the design requirements for a dryland plug seedling transplanting mechanism, a rotary seedling pick-up mechanism of a planetary gear train with combined non-circular gear transmission of incomplete eccentric circular and non-circular gears was proposed. This has the characteristics of two-times greater fluctuation of the transmission ratio in a cycle, and can achieve a non-uniform continuous drive. Through analysis of the working principle of the seedling pick-up mechanism, its kinematics model was established. The human–computer interaction optimization method and self-developed computer-aided analysis and optimization software were used to obtain a set of parameters that satisfy the operation requirements of the seedling pick-up mechanism. According to the optimized parameters, the structure of the seedling pick-up mechanism was designed, a virtual prototype of the mechanism was created, and a physical prototype was manufactured. A virtual motion simulation of the mechanism was performed, high-speed photographic kinematics tests were conducted, and the kinematic properties of the physical prototype were investigated, whereby the correctness of the theoretical model and the optimized design of the mechanism were verified. Further, laboratory seedling pick-up tests were conducted. The success ratio of seedling pick-up was 93.8% when the seedling pick-up efficiency of the mechanism was 60 plants per minute per row, indicating that the mechanism has a high efficiency and success ratio for seedling pick-up and can be applied to a dryland plug seedling transplanter.