Grafting device

A grafting device comprising:

• a rotating table configured to rotate around a rotating shaft;
• a hold unit arranged at an outer peripheral portion of the rotating table and configured to move on a transfer path along the outer peripheral portion, hold and transfer a graft and a rootstock on the transfer path when the rotating table rotates, an axial direction of the graft and an axial direction of the rootstock intersecting with a plane including a top face of the rotating table;
• a tape supply unit configured to arrange a tape made of thermoplastic resin in a location between a first position and a second position of the transfer path of a grafted seedling that is in a state where cut surfaces of the graft and the rootstock are closely attached to each other in such a manner that the tape crosses the transfer path of the grafted seedling and is allowed to be pulled out from the tape supply unit;
• a sandwiching mechanism configured to bend the tape pulled from the tape supply unit at a location ahead of the grafted seedling tape on the transfer path before the grafted seedling comes in contact with the tape while forming a first part and a second part of the tape, the first part facing the second part, and then sandwich a closely attached part of the grafted seedling between the first part of the tape and the second part of the tape;
• and
• a welding unit configured to ultrasonically weld the first part and the second part of the tape to cover a periphery of the closely attached part of the grafted seedling,
• wherein the sandwiching mechanism includes a pull-out member that is located anterior to the hold unit in a rotational direction and is configured to pull out the tape from the tape supply unit by moving along the transfer path without gripping the tape in such a manner that the pull-out member is positioned between the pulled-out tape and the grafted seedling in the transfer direction as the rotating table rotates.

A grafting device comprising:

• a transfer unit configured to transfer, from a first position to a second position, a grafted seedling that is in a state where a cut surface of a graft and a cut surface of a rootstock are closely attached to each other;
• a tape supply unit configured to arrange a tape in a location between the first position and the second position in such a manner that the tape crosses a transfer path of the grafted seedling and the tape is allowed to be pulled out from the tape supply unit;
• a pull-out member configured to move ahead of the grafted seedling on the transfer path of the grafted seedling to pull out the tape from the tape supply unit by moving along the transfer path without gripping the tape in such a manner that the pull-out member is positioned between the pulled-out tape and the grafted seedling in the transfer direction, bend the tape so as to form a first part of the tape and a second part of the tape, and sandwich a closely attached part of the grafted seedling between the first part of the tape and the second part of the tape, the second part facing the first part which in part overlap each other at a periphery of the closely attached part of the grafted seedling so as to form an overlapped part of the tape;
• a welding unit configured to cover the periphery of the closely attached part of the grafted seedling with the tape and weld the tape;
• and
• a pushing member that is opposite to the welding unit across the grafted seedling such that the overlapped part of the first part and the second part of the tape are sandwiched between the pushing member and the welding unit to weld and cut the overlapped part of the first and second parts of the tape at the periphery of the closely attached part of the grafted seedling while the tape remains connected in such a manner that the tape crosses the transfer path of the grafted seedling,
• wherein the transfer unit includes a first hold unit that holds a first part of the graft by grasping the first part of the graft and a second hold unit that holds a second part of the rootstock by grasping the second part of the rootstock so that an axial direction of the graft and an axial direction of the rootstock are in a vertical direction, the first part being located higher than the closely attached part in the vertical direction, the second part being located lower than the closely attached part in the vertical direction, the first part being different from the second part,
• wherein the pull-out member is located anterior to the hold unit in a transfer direction of the hold unit, and
• wherein the pushing member and the welding unit sandwiches the tape when the welding unit welds the tape.

A grafting device comprising:

• a rotating table configured to rotate around a rotating shaft;
• a first hold unit configured to hold a graft in an outer peripheral portion of the rotating table and a second hold unit configured to hold a rootstock in the outer peripheral portion of the rotating table, an axial direction of the graft and an axial direction of the rootstock intersecting with a plane including a top face of the rotating table;
• a tape supply unit configured to arrange a tape made of thermoplastic resin in a location between a first position and a second position of a transfer path of a grafted seedling that is in a state where cut surfaces of the graft and the rootstock are closely attached to each other in such a manner that the tape crosses the transfer path of the grafted seedling and the tape is allowed to be pulled out from the tape supply unit;
• a sandwiching mechanism configured to bend the tape pulled from the tape supply unit so as to form a first part of the tape and a second part of the tape and sandwich a closely attached part of the grafted seedling between the first part of the tape and the second part of the tape, the second part facing first part which in part overlap each other at a periphery of the closely attached part of the grafted seedling so as to form an overlapped part of the tape;
• a welding unit configured to ultrasonically weld the first part and the second part of the tape at the periphery of the closely attached part of the grafted seedling;
• and
• a pushing member that is opposite to the welding unit across the grafted seedling such that the overlapped part of the first part and the second part of the tape are sandwiched between the pushing member and the welding unit to weld and cut the overlapped part of the first and second parts of the tape at the periphery of the closely attached part of the grafted seedling while the tape remains connected in such a manner that the tape crosses the transfer path of the grafted seedling,
• wherein the first hold unit holds a first part, which is located higher than the closely attached part in the axial direction, of the graft, and the second hold unit holds a second part, which is located lower than the closely attached part in the axial direction, of the rootstock,
• wherein the sandwiching mechanism includes a pull-out member that is located anterior to the hold unit in a rotational direction and pulls out the tape from the tape supply unit by moving along the transfer path without gripping the tape in such a manner that the pull-out member is positioned between the pulled-out tape and the grafted seedling in the transfer direction as the rotating table rotates, and
• wherein the pushing member and the welding unit sandwiches the tape when the welding unit welds the tape.