Ground drilling machine and rod exchanger utilized therefor

A rod exchanging device comprising:

• a main body portion;
• a rod accommodation portion mounted to the main body portion for accommodating a plurality of rods with a space from each other;
• and
• a rod exchanging unit provided with a rod grasping device having a grasping portion which is movable between a position inside the main body portion and a position outside the main body portion, said grasping portion being formed with a fixed portion and a movable portion;
• wherein said rod accommodation portion has a disc shaped structure adapted to accommodate a plurality of rods along the circular locus thereof with a space from each other and to be rotatable;
• and
• said rod grasping device comprises,
• a device body,
• said fixed portion fixedly mounted to the device body,
• said movable portion slidably and swingably mounted to the device body,
• a roller mounted to the device body and contacted with a side surface of the movable portion in a slidable manner,
• a cylinder for moving the movable portion along the roller, and
• a spring for urging the movable portion to swing to a releasing position,
• wherein said movable portion is swung between a grasping position opposing to the fixed portion and the releasing position apart from the fixed portion by cooperation of the roller, the cylinder and the spring.