FR3053569A1 - INSTALLATION FOR PLANT GROWTH - Google Patents

Abstract

Installation (1) for growing plants comprising a frame (2), end supports (3) rotatably mounted about a common axis on said frame (2), means (4) for rotating drive end supports (3), and a plurality of gutters (5) pivotally supported between the end supports (3). The installation comprises, by gutter (5), a pair of suspension rings (6) inside which said gutter (5) rests by support, each ring (6) of suspension being coupled to a support (3) end portion by a link (7) axis pivot parallel to the axis of rotation of the end supports (3) and each gutter (5) comprising an elongate body (51) open from above and a cover (52). ) removable at least partial closure of said body (51), said cover (51) being provided with a plurality of orifices (53) through which the plants are able to protrude.

Description

Holder (s): ETABLISSEMENTS CHABEAUTI SAS Simplified joint-stock company, TOIT TOUT VERT, ASS RECH REGION ET HORTICULTURE DEVELOPP.

Extension request (s)

Agent (s): IPSILON.

£> 4 / PLANT FOR GROWING PLANTS.

FR 3 053 569 - A1 fri // Installation (1) for plant growth comprising a frame (2), end supports (3) rotatably mounted around a common axis on said frame (2), means (4) for rotating the end supports (3), and a plurality of gutters (5) pivotally supported between the end supports (3).

The installation comprises, by gutter (5), a pair of suspension rings (6) inside which said gutter (5) rests by support, each suspension ring (6) being coupled to a support (3) end by a link (7) pivot axis parallel to the axis of rotation of the supports (3) end and each gutter (5) comprising a body (51) elongated open from above and a cover (52 ) removable at least partial closure of said body (51), said cover (51) being provided with a plurality of through holes (53) through which the plants are able to project.

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FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The invention relates to an installation for growing plants.

It relates more particularly to an installation comprising a chassis, end supports rotatably mounted about a common axis on said chassis, means for driving the end supports in rotation, a plurality of gutters capable of being supported at pivoting between the end supports to maintain the vertical position of the plants arranged in the gutters during the rotation of the end supports.

PRIOR ART

Such an installation is known, as illustrated by patent GB 1 160 512. In this installation, the gutters are in the form of simple trays on which are placed plant pots which are coupled in non-removable manner to the end supports. This results in the absence of modularity of such an installation, in terms of number of gutters, and a possibility of limited cultivation, due in particular to the size of the pots and the resulting loss of space.

PURPOSE AND SUMMARY

An object of the invention is to provide an installation whose design allows modularity in terms, in particular, of type of plants, number of plants, spacing between plants, number of gutters, type of gutters, without harming the simplicity of the installation and its ease of cleaning and implementation.

To this end, the subject of the invention is an installation for the growth of plants, said installation comprising a chassis, end supports mounted for rotation about a common axis on said chassis, means for driving in rotation the end supports, a plurality of gutters capable of being pivotally supported between the end supports for keeping the plants arranged in the gutters in the vertical state during the rotation of the end supports, characterized in that 'It comprises, for the pivoting support of the gutters between the end supports, a pair of suspension rings per gutter inside which said gutter io rests by support, each suspension ring being coupled to a support end by a pivot link with an axis parallel to the axis of rotation of the end supports and at least one, preferably each, gou faceplate comprising an elongated body open from above and a removable cover at least partially closing said body, said cover being provided with a plurality of through orifices through which the plants, able to be disposed inside said body, are able to protrude.

The use of suspension rings allows easy mounting and dismounting of the rings. The positioning by support of gutter inside the rings allows an easy assembly and disassembly of gutters for their replacement or their cleaning, while their design in the form of a body and a cover allows an easy assembly and modularity crop density by simply changing the hood design.

Thanks to this design, it is possible to pass in a short time from an installation arranged for the cultivation, for example of salads, to an installation arranged for the cultivation of other plants whose cultivation conditions can be extremely different from those of salads.

According to one embodiment, each end support comprises an endless chain with links, each link in the chain being articulated to an adjacent link by a pivot axis with an axis parallel to the axis for rotating the supports d end, at least some of said pivot axes being hollow to allow the reception of a connecting axis, each connecting axis being capable of forming in cooperation with the associated pivot axis the pivot of the pivot connection between a suspension ring and said end support.

The positioning of the pivot at a hollow axis of the link allows, because of the large number of links, a large number of position possibilities allowing the height spacing between gutters to be varied as desired.

According to one embodiment, said suspension ring rests by pressing îo on said connecting axis. This positioning by support allows easy mounting and dismounting of the suspension ring.

According to one embodiment, each suspension ring comprises a square or rectangular base and a triangular top. The pivot can thus be inserted, at the top of the ring, between the branches of the triangle forming an inverted V between them.

According to one embodiment, the installation has at least two sets of suspension rings with a ring height, taken between the base and the top of a ring, different from one set of rings to another. Thanks to the possibility of suspension rings of different height from one ring to the other of a pair of suspension rings of a gutter, it becomes easy to give the gutter a slope in the laid state of said gutter on said suspension rings, and coupled suspension rings to the end supports. This results in a simplicity of assembly for the operator, having just to take care of having suspension rings of different heights for the same gutter.

The presence of suspension rings of different heights can also make it possible to easily vary the spacing between gutters.

According to one embodiment, the installation comprises, for at least one of the gutters, at least one additional cover interchangeable with the so-called main cover of the gutter, this at least one additional cover having a plurality of through orifices arranged in differently from the plurality of through holes in the main cover. Thus, the same gutter body can be used for several types of plant cultivation.

According to one embodiment, the cover is secured by elastic snap-fastening to the body of the gutter. This results in an ease of assembly and disassembly of the cover, to allow easy cleaning of the gutter and its adaptation to different types of culture.

According to one embodiment, at least one of the gutters is provided at one of its ends with a filling funnel and at its other end with a drainage orifice, a damping element being disposed vertically from the 'funnel on the bottom of the gutter. This configuration makes it possible to limit the projections of a nutritive solution circulating between the gutters during the passage of said nutritive solution from one gutter to another, and this results in a reduction of the noise produced by the gravitational fall of the nutritive solution during its passage from one gutter to another. This damper can also act as a filter and trap of impurities present in the solution.

According to one embodiment, the means for driving the end supports in rotation comprise a rotary motor shaft and means for transmitting the rotational movement from the rotary motor shaft to said end supports, said rotary motor shaft being carried by the chassis and extending at least partially between said end supports.

According to one embodiment, the installation comprises watering means and means for lighting the content of the gutters.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The invention will be clearly understood on reading the following description of exemplary embodiments, with reference to the appended drawings in which:

- Figure 1 shows a schematic overview of an installation according to the invention.

- Figure 2 shows a detailed view of the means for rotating the end supports.

- Figure 3 shows a detailed view of the pivot connection between the suspension ring and end support.

- Figure 4 shows a detail side view of the pivot connection between the suspension ring and an end support.

- Figure 5 shows a perspective view of a gutter with detailed views of the funnel on the one hand, and the drain port on the other hand.

- Figure 6 shows a perspective view of a so-called additional cover.

- Figure 7 shows a schematic view of a plurality of installations arranged side by side.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

As mentioned above, the subject of the invention is an installation 1 for the cultivation of plants, capable of allowing, in a reduced space, the cultivation of a large number of plants under environmentally satisfactory conditions.

This installation 1 comprises, in a manner known per se, a chassis 2, end supports 3 rotatably mounted about a common axis on the chassis 2, means 4 for driving in rotation the end supports 3 and a plurality of gutters 5 capable of being pivotally supported between the end supports 3, for maintaining the vertical state of the plants arranged in the gutters 5 during the rotation of the end supports 3.

In the examples shown, the frame 2 is formed by two frames arranged in the upright state and facing each other. Each frame supports four cogwheels each arranged near a corner of the frame. The two end supports 3 io are each associated with a frame of the chassis.

Each end support 3 comprises an endless chain with links 31 which is wound around the four toothed wheels carried by the frame of the chassis, to follow a loop path of square or rectangular shape.

To allow such rotation of the end supports 3 on the chassis 2, means 4 for rotating the end supports 3 are provided. These means 4 for driving in rotation here comprise a rotary motor shaft 41 which extends between the two frames of the chassis and is supported so as to rotate freely on said frames of the chassis 2.

This rotary shaft 41, driven in rotation by a motor, transmits, by means of transmission means 42, its rotational movement to the end supports 3, in particular to one of the toothed wheels around which the chain without end of links 31 constituting each end support 3 is wound.

These transmission means 42 comprise, in the example shown, an endless chain winding between a toothed wheel integral in rotation with the rotary motor shaft 41 and a toothed wheel carried by a shaft pre-equipped with one cogwheels around which the endless link chain 31 winds.

Thus, the rotational movement of the rotary motor shaft 41 is transmitted via the endless chain to a shaft which rotates the toothed wheel in engagement with the endless chain with links and, consequently, the endless chain with links 31.

For the pivoting support of the gutters 5 between the end supports 3, the installation comprises two suspension rings 6 per gutter. As illustrated in the figures, each suspension ring 6 here comprises a base 61 of square or rectangular shape and a triangular apex 62.

Thus, each gutter 5 rests, at each of its ends, in abutment on the base 61 of a suspension ring 6, while each suspension ring 6 of the suspension is pivotally coupled by its top, via a pivot connection 7, to an end support 3.

Thus, in the example shown, each link 31 of the endless chain with links constituting an end support 3 is articulated to an adjacent link by an axis 32 pivot of axis parallel to the drive axis in rotation of the end supports 3.

Some of said pivot axes 32 are hollow, to allow the reception of a connection axis 71. Each connecting axis 71 is able to form, in cooperation with the associated pivot axis 32, the pivot of the pivot connection 7 between a suspension ring 6 and said end support 3.

The suspension ring comes, by its top, to surround the connecting axis 71 around which it can rotate or swing to allow, during the rotational drive of the endless chain with links along its loop path , maintaining the so-called horizontal orientation of the gutters by displacement relative to pivoting of the suspension ring and the connecting pin 71. This suspension ring 6 therefore rests, by simple pressing, on the connecting pin 71.

Each gutter 5 simply rests on the base of a suspension ring 6. Thus, to dismantle a gutter, it is enough to lift it from the base of the pair of suspension rings which supports it, to offset it axially to remove it from one of the rings, then to remove it from the other ring suspension. The installation of a gutter is done by reverse operations.

Likewise, it is noted that the suspension rings which are removably coupled to the end supports can be assembled or disassembled extremely easily, since it suffices to surround with the top of the ring, the axis 71 of connection for mounting the suspension ring.

In the example shown in Figure 4, the connecting pin 71 is equipped with a nut and a head between which is inserted the top of the ring. This connecting pin 71 carries two additional nuts, which frame the endless chain with links constituting the end support in the inserted state of the connecting pin 71 in a hollow pivot axis of a link in the endless chain. with links, to avoid inadvertent axial sliding of the connecting pin 71 out of its housing.

It is noted, in the example shown, that the installation has two sets of suspension rings 6 with a ring height, taken between the top and the base of said ring, different from one set of rings to another . In particular, the suspension rings 6 of a pair of rings are of different height from one ring to the other of said pair of suspension of the gutter, to give the gutter a slope in the state placed on said suspension rings and coupled suspension rings 6 to the end supports 3.

Similarly, the higher suspension rings are arranged alternately with the lower suspension rings on the same end support, as illustrated in Figure 1.

Thanks to this arrangement, the gutters are inclined from a so-called high end towards a so-called low end of the gutter, with the low end of the gutter being disposed directly above the high end of the gutter, along the descending or ascending strand of said endless link chain. The role of this slope of each gutter will be described below.

Each gutter 5 is in turn formed by an elongated body 51 open from above and a removable cover 52, at least partially closing said body 51. The cover 52 is provided with a plurality of orifices 53 passing through. îo through which the plants, able to be arranged inside said body 51, are able to protrude.

Preferably, the installation 1 comprises, for at least one of the gutters 5, at least one additional cover interchangeable with the cover 52 known as the main of the gutter 5, this at least one additional cover having a plurality of through orifices arranged differently from the plurality of through holes in the main cover 52 as shown in Figure

6.

By orifice arranged in a different way is meant, at the level of the additional cover, in particular orifices of different size and / or a gap between different orifices, and / or a number of different orifices compared with the series of orifices in the cover. main.

In the example shown, the cover 52 is secured by elastic snap-fitting to the body 51 of the gutter 5. For this purpose, the cover 52 is equipped with slots 8 inside which lugs or studs or tongues of the body 51 of the gutter are suitable for insertion. Thus, the assembly and disassembly of the cover 52 can be carried out without tools.

Each gutter 5 is provided, on the high end side, with a filling funnel 9, which extends above the first orifice of the gutter. This ίο funnel 9 helps guide an aqueous solution to be introduced into the gutter. The lower end of the gutter is equipped, at the bottom of the body, with a drain hole 10.

To complete this assembly, a damping element 11 such as foam, can be placed in the bottom of the body of the gutter, vertically above the orifice provided with the funnel, to avoid or limit the production of noise resulting from feeding the gutter with aqueous solution.

This supply of aqueous solutions to the gutters is carried out using watering means 12 fitted to the installation. These watering means 12 can comprise at least one watering rod carried by the chassis 2.

This sprinkler can be connected to a water source in aqueous solution via a closable connection. The opening of the link can be controlled using, for example, plates arranged on an end support and integral in displacement with said end support. These plates pass in front of a detection sensor which, with each passage of a plate, controls the stopping of the motor ensuring the rotation of the end supports 3 as well as the opening of a solenoid valve which constitutes the shutter member. of the connection between the watering rod and the fluid supply source to allow the filling of a gutter 5. In addition, a time delay system makes it possible to infinitely adjust the opening time of the solenoid valve, therefore the volume of aqueous solution poured into the gutter. So, it can be decided to feed every other gutter.

The feed takes place at the funnel of each gutter to be fed by said sprinkler means. The slope of each gutter, as described above, allows a gravitational displacement of the aqueous solution inside said gutter. Thus, the overflow of a gutter formed for example by an aqueous solution feeding the gutter is poured into the gutter immediately below. For this purpose, the drain hole of each gutter can be positioned directly above and above a funnel for filling a gutter located immediately below. A container for collecting the content of the last gutter in the series of gutters of the ascending and descending strands of the endless chains with constituent links of the end supports 3 can be disposed between the frames of the frame 2.

To avoid a complete drain of the gutters, the drain hole of each gutter protrudes inside the gutter, to form a rim around the opening of the hole, as shown in Figure 5.

The installation may also include means 13 for lighting the content of the gutters. These artificial lighting means 13 are formed here by horizontal ramps of light-emitting diodes suspended from a connecting cable connecting the frames of the chassis to each other. The lighting parameters can be adjustable.

The suspension height can be adjustable. A motor speed control unit of the rotary motor shaft can be provided to vary the rotational drive speed of the end supports, depending on the crops. This speed adjustment can be carried out safely from the ground using, for example, a remote control.

In operation of the installation, the gutters move parallel to 20 themselves following a closed loop path.

During their movement, these gutters can be lit and, optionally watered using the watering means.

Preferably, each gutter pours its overflow into the gutter immediately below, as described above. Such an installation therefore allows the cultivation of a large number of plants, in a reduced space, with controlled water consumption.

This installation 1 can be coupled to similar adjacent installations as illustrated in FIG. 7, the rotary shaft 41 being able to be common to all the installations.

Claims (10)

1. Installation (1) for plant growth, said installation (1) 5 comprising a frame (2), end supports (3) rotatably mounted about a common axis on said frame (2), means (4) for rotating the end supports (3) , a plurality of gutters (5) able to be pivotally supported between the end supports (3) for maintaining the vertical position of the plants arranged in the gutters (5) during the rotation of the supports (3 ) end, characterized in that it comprises, for the pivoting support of the gutters (5) between the end supports (3), a pair of rings (6) of suspension by gutter (5) to the 'inside which said gutter (5) rests by support, each suspension ring (6) being coupled to a support (3) 15 at the end by a pivot link (7) with an axis parallel to the axis of rotation of the end supports (3) and at least one, preferably each, gutter (5) comprising a body (51) elongated open from above and a removable cover (52) at least partially closing said body (51), said cover (52) being provided with a plurality of through orifices (53) through which the plants, 20 able to be arranged inside said body (51), are capable of projecting. 2. Installation (1) according to the preceding claim, characterized in that each end support (3) comprises an endless chain with links (31), each link (31) of the chain being articulated to a 25 link adjacent by an axis (32) pivot axis parallel to the axis for rotating the end supports (3), at least some of said axes (32) pivots being hollow to allow the reception of a axis (71) of connection, each axis (71) of connection being able to form in cooperation with the axis (32) associated pivot the pivot of the connection (7) pivot between a ring (6) of suspension and said 30 end support (3). 3. Installation (1) according to the preceding claim, characterized in that said suspension ring (6) rests by pressing on said connecting pin (71). 4. Installation (1) according to one of the preceding claims, 5 characterized in that each suspension ring (6) comprises a base (61) of square or rectangular shape and a triangular top (62). 5. Installation (1) according to one of the preceding claims, characterized in that it has at least two sets of rings (6) of suspension io with a ring height, taken between the base and the top of a ring (6), different from one set of rings (6) to another. 6. Installation (1) according to one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the installation (1) comprises, for at least one of 15 gutters (5), at least one additional cover interchangeable with the cover (52) said to be the main of the gutter (5), this at least one additional cover having a plurality of through orifices arranged differently in relation to the plurality of 'through holes of the main cover (52). 7. Installation (1) according to one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the cover (52) is secured by elastic snap to the body (51) of the gutter (5). 25 8. Installation (1) according to one of the preceding claims, characterized in that at least one of the gutters (5) is provided, at one of its ends, with a filling funnel (9) and at its other end, a drain orifice (10), a damping element (11) being disposed vertically over the funnel (9) on the bottom of the gutter (5). 9. Installation (1) according to one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the means (4) for rotating the end supports (3) comprise a rotary motor shaft (41) and means (42) for transmitting the rotational movement of the rotary motor shaft (41) to said end supports (3), said rotary motor shaft (41) being carried by the 5 chassis (2) and extending at least partially between said end supports (3). 10. Installation (1) according to one of the preceding claims, characterized in that it comprises means (12) for watering and iso means (13) for lighting the content of the gutters (5). 1/4