To address the special agronomic requirements of wide–narrow row planting of rice potted-seedlings, this paper proposes an inclined transplanting mechanism that achieves wide–narrow row planting under the seedling gate with an equal row spacing of 300 mm through the inclination angle of the inclined transplanting mechanism. The implementation scheme of the wide–narrow row transplanting mechanism (WNRTM) was determined, and its transmission scheme was designed. A kinematic model of the transplanting mechanism was established based on the basic configuration of the variable-speed non-circular planetary gear train. Using the self-developed optimization design software for transplanting mechanisms, a set of optimal design parameters was obtained. Under these optimal parameters, virtual and physical prototypes of the transplanting mechanism were constructed, and the transmission accuracy and motion characteristics of the mechanism were verified via virtual simulation and bench tests. Bench test results indicate that the distance between the seedling picking points on both sides of the designed inclined transplanting mechanism is 305 mm, while the distance between the planting points on both sides is 195 mm. These results meet the agronomic requirements for wide–narrow row transplanting and achieve the goal of wide–narrow row planting under the seedling gate with a fixed row spacing of 300 mm.
Zhou et al. (Sun,) studied this question.