JP2000175558A - Tray for culture bottle and mechanism for treating culture bottle - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a culture bottle-treating mechanism capable of facilitating the automation of crop culture using culture bottles. SOLUTION: The bottom surface of a tray 10 used for a culture bottle- treating mechanism is divided into partial regions corresponding to regions where the culture bottles 20 are arranged. Openings are formed in the partial regions in the approximately same patterns. The culture bottles 20 arranged in the partial regions of the bottom surface of the tray 10 can be pushed up through the openings by the use of bottle-pushing members.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a cultivation bottle handling mechanism used for arranging and transporting a plurality of cultivation bottles in cultivation of agricultural crops using cultivation bottles (or culture bottles) such as mushroom cultivation, and It relates to a tray for cultivation bottles used in such a mechanism.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In order to artificially cultivate mushrooms such as enoki mushrooms, cultivation bottles made of plastic or the like having a diameter of about 60 mm, a trunk diameter of about 90 mm, and a height of about 175 mm are generally used. In mushroom cultivation using cultivation bottles,
A pretreatment such as washing of the cultivation bottle, filling of the cultivation bottle with the medium, and sterilization of the cultivation bottle is first performed, and then the mushroom fungus is inoculated into the medium. After that, intermediate treatment such as grading the surface of the culture medium, scraping the bacteria, and winding paper into the cultivation bottle (working the wrapping paper around the mouth of the cultivation bottle so that the mushrooms are shaped) is performed in a timely manner. Final processing such as removal of the wrapping paper from the mushrooms and cutting of mushrooms is performed. In such a cultivation process, in the intermediate work and subsequent work, in order to efficiently transport and manage a large number of cultivation bins, a plurality of cultivation bins are arranged as a set on a dedicated tray, and in that state, The above operations are performed.

[0003]

Among the above-mentioned series of operations, automation of the pretreatment and inoculation of the bacteria into the culture medium has been advanced by using a machine, but automation of the intermediate treatment and the final treatment has been advanced. In fact, it still depends on human power today. One of the reasons why the automation of the intermediate processing and the final processing does not proceed in this way is that these processings are performed in a state where a plurality of cultivation bins are stored in a tray, as described above. That is, since the cultivation bins accommodated in the tray are in close contact with each other, for example, an expensive machine that can perform a complicated operation is required to perform an operation such as grasping and removing the cultivation bins one by one. Become. In particular, when the mushrooms grow and cover the upper part of the cultivation bottle, it is difficult to grasp and remove the cultivation bottles one by one without damaging the mushrooms. The present invention has been made to solve such a problem, and an object of the present invention is to provide a cultivation bin tray and a cultivation bin handling mechanism that facilitate automation of crop cultivation using cultivation bins. Is to provide.

[0004]

Means for Solving the Problems A cultivation bin tray according to the present invention made to solve the above-mentioned problem is a tray for accommodating a plurality of cultivation bins arranged in a line, and a bottom surface thereof is provided. An opening is provided in a pattern corresponding to the arrangement pattern of the cultivation bins, and the pattern of the opening is such that the cultivation bins accommodated in the tray are set one by one or a predetermined number as one set in the tray. Or, it is characterized in that the same push-up mechanism is used to push up through the opening regardless of the position of one set of cultivation bins.

[0005] The cultivation bottle handling mechanism according to the present invention comprises:
A cultivation bin handling mechanism for handling cultivation bottles stored in the cultivation bin tray configured as described above,
A bin pushing-up component for pushing up a predetermined number of cultivation bins arranged in the tray through the opening, and a driving unit for driving the bin pushing-up component in a vertical direction,
Tray support means for supporting the tray directly above the bin lifting component without concealing the bottom surface of the tray.

[0006]

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION Generally, a tray for cultivation bottles is made of a material that is lightweight and easy to process (eg, a resin). Openings are often provided on the side surfaces. The cultivation bin tray according to the present invention is characterized by the pattern of the openings provided on the bottom surface as described above.

That is, in the conventional cultivation bin tray,
An opening was provided in the bottom simply for the purpose of reducing the amount of material used, and the pattern was determined independently of the pattern of arranging the cultivation bottles in the tray.

On the other hand, in the cultivation bin tray according to the present invention, the cultivation bins can be pushed up one by one or a predetermined number of sets through an opening provided on the bottom surface. Are determined so as to correspond to the arrangement pattern of the cultivation bins. For example, it is considered to provide an opening on the bottom surface of a tray that accommodates 16 cultivation bottles in close contact with each other in an arrangement pattern of 4 rows and 4 columns. In this case, if the bottom surface of the tray is divided into a total of 16 partial areas in 4 rows and 4 columns corresponding to the arrangement pattern of the cultivation bins and all the partial areas are provided with openings in substantially the same pattern, the tray can be accommodated in The bottom surface of each of the cultivation bottles faces the opening having substantially the same pattern. Therefore, if one push-up mechanism including a bin push-up component having a structure capable of pushing up each cultivation bin through the opening is prepared, the push-up mechanism allows the cultivation bin at any position in the tray to open the cultivation bin. Can be easily pushed up.

When the bottom surface is divided into partial regions as described above, the number of partial regions does not need to be the same as the number of cultivation bottles. For example, in the above tray, when the purpose is to push up four cultivation bins in one row as a set by a push-up mechanism at the same time, a rectangular area where the four cultivation bins are arranged is defined as one partial area, The bottom surface may be divided into a total of four partial regions.

In the above description, openings are provided in substantially the same pattern in all the partial regions.
As long as the functional condition that the cultivation bottle can be pushed up by the same push-up mechanism is satisfied in any of the partial regions, a difference may be appropriately provided in the opening pattern for each partial region. For example, an opening for passing a specific component for holding or pushing up a cultivation bin (for example, a rod of a bin holding component in an embodiment to be described later) of a push-up mechanism is made triangular in a partial area while another opening is used. Even if the partial region is circular, the difference in shape is not important to the present invention as long as all of these openings satisfy the functional condition of allowing the component to pass through.
The shape of the opening provided at a position not related to the passage of the component can be arbitrary. As described above, in the tray according to the present invention, the opening pattern according to various purposes is set for each partial area, for example, for aesthetic treatment, for securing the strength of the tray, or for identifying the position in the tray. Differences may be provided as appropriate.

The cultivation bin handling mechanism according to the present invention is a mechanism for handling the cultivation bottles accommodated in the cultivation bin tray configured as described above. In this mechanism, the bin push-up component can be configured to have, for example, a push-up portion for pushing up the bottom surface of the cultivation bin and a support portion for supporting the cultivation bin from the side. According to such a configuration, it is possible to reliably prevent the cultivation bin from becoming unstable and falling over during the push-up operation. Further, as the configuration of the tray supporting means, for example, a configuration in which a pair of opposing side surfaces of the tray are pressed and held from both sides, and the peripheral portion of the bottom surface is lowered without closing an opening provided in the bottom surface of the tray. And a configuration in which a flange is formed at the upper end of the side wall of the tray and the tray is supported by the flange, and the like. Is preferable. As the driving means, a driving mechanism generally used to reciprocally drive the driven body within a predetermined range may be used.

The cultivation bin handling mechanism according to the present invention having the above-described structure has a simpler structure than a conventional cultivation bin handling mechanism configured to grasp and remove a cultivation bottle from above. It can be manufactured at low cost.

[0013]

1 (A) to 1 (D) show a cultivation bin tray (hereinafter referred to as a new tray 10) according to an embodiment of the present invention, in which (A) is a plan view. , (B) is a front view, (C) is a bottom view, and (D) is a right side view. In addition,
The rear view of the tray 10 appears symmetrically with the front view, and the left side view appears symmetrically with the right side view. FIG. 2 is a bottom view of an example of a conventional cultivation bin tray (hereinafter, referred to as an old tray 12). In addition, the figure drawn with the broken line in FIG.1 and FIG.2 shows arrangement | positioning of the cultivation bin 20 in each tray.

First, a configuration common to both trays will be described. Each tray is a container made of a material that is lightweight and easy to process (eg, a resin). The bottom of the tray is mesh-shaped to ensure strength and reduce the amount of material used. A rib structure is employed. The size of the tray is determined according to the number of cultivation bottles to be accommodated. As shown in the figure, the two trays are designed to accommodate 16 cultivation bottles (4 rows × 4 columns), but this is merely an example, and the capacity of the tray is 16 Needless to say, it is not limited to books.

FIG. 3 is a perspective view showing the state of use of the tray. Regardless of whether the tray is the new tray 10 or the old tray 12, the use state is substantially the same. In the tray of FIG. 3, 16 cultivation bottles 20 for cultivating mushrooms 21 are stored in an aligned state. A wrapping paper 22 for arranging mushrooms 21 in a package is wound around the mouth of each cultivation bottle 20. The wrapping paper 22 is a fan-shaped paper piece having fixing tapes 22a and 22b at both ends as shown in FIG.

Next, the characteristics of the new tray 10 are as follows.
This will be described in comparison with 2. First, in the old tray 12,
The opening pattern formed on the bottom surface is determined irrespective of the size of the cultivation bins and their arrangement patterns. This means that, for example, when looking at FIG. 2, the opening pattern in the area facing the bottom surface of the cultivation bin 20 a near the corner of the old tray 12 is different from the cultivation bin 2 near the center of the old tray 12.
It can be seen from the fact that it is clearly different from the opening pattern in the region facing the bottom surface of Ob.

On the other hand, in the new tray 10, the opening pattern of the bottom surface is determined based on the size of the cultivation bin 20 and the arrangement pattern thereof. This will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 5 is an enlarged view of the area S5 in FIG. 1C, and shows a partial area 10a on the bottom surface of the new tray 10. The partial region 10a is a square region having a side length substantially equal to the diameter of the cultivation bottle 20.
This corresponds to an area where the cultivation bins 20 are arranged. Partial area 10
a, there are 8 congruent right-angled isosceles triangular openings 15
One is provided. FIG. 1 shows that such an opening pattern is commonly observed not only in the partial region 10a of FIG.
It is clear from (A). In order to obtain such an opening pattern, the radius of curvature of the four corners of the new tray 10 is smaller than that of the old tray 12.

The new tray 10 configured as described above is
Compared to the old tray 12, this is advantageous in configuring a cultivation bin handling mechanism including a cultivation bin tray. This will be described below.

As can be seen from FIG. 3, when the mushroom grows, the wrapping paper 22 wrapped around the mouth of the cultivation bottle 20 is pushed out to cover the upper portion of the cultivation bottle 20.
A cultivation bin handling mechanism having a configuration in which 0 is gripped and taken out from above cannot be used. On the other hand, for example, cultivation bin 2
A cultivation bin handling mechanism which can take out 0 sequentially from the side and take out sequentially can be used. In this case, the cultivation bins 20 are sequentially taken out from the outside. However, once the cultivation bin 20 that has been taken out is returned to the original place, the cultivation bin arranged inside cannot be taken out. For this reason, in order to perform a desired operation on all the cultivation bins 20, a transfer mechanism for transferring the removed cultivation bin 20 to another place,
After taking out the cultivation bin 20, a complicated mechanism such as a rearrangement mechanism for sequentially feeding the remaining cultivation bins 20 in the tray is required. However, if the tray in FIG.
, Such a problem is inevitable. On the other hand, if the tray in FIG. 3 is a new tray 10, a cultivation bin handling mechanism having a completely different configuration as described below can be used.

As an example of a cultivation bin handling mechanism including the new tray 10, a cultivation bin pushing-up mechanism having a configuration in which cultivation bins arranged and arranged in the new tray 10 are pushed up one by one or a predetermined number from below. . One embodiment of such a cultivation bin pushing-up mechanism will be described with reference to FIGS.

FIGS. 6A and 6B are views showing the entire cultivation bin pushing-up mechanism of the present embodiment, in which FIG. 6A is a side view and FIG. 6B is a front view. The cultivation bin push-up mechanism 50 includes a conveyor 51 for transporting the new tray containing the cultivation bins in the direction of arrow D in FIG. 6A, a bin holding component 52 for holding the cultivation bin 20 from below, and a bin holding unit. It is mainly composed of a drive unit 53 that drives the component 52 in the vertical direction. The bin holding component 52 includes a plurality of rods 5 on an upper surface of a plate-shaped substrate 54.
5 is an upright part.

FIG. 7 is a view showing a detailed structure of a rod 55 which is a component of the bin holding part 52. FIG. 7A shows the cultivation bin 20 stored in the new tray 10 with four rods. A plan view showing a state held by the bodies 55a to 55d,
(B) is the front view, (C) is the side view of the rod 55, (D)
FIG. As shown in FIGS. 7C and 7D, the rod 55 has a stepped push-up portion 551 that supports the bottom of the cultivation bin 20 from below, and a claw-shaped support portion 552 that supports the side of the cultivation bin 20 from the side. Is provided. Such a rod 5
5 make up a set, and the tab-shaped support portion 552 supports the side surface of the cultivation bin 20 from four directions at an angle of about 90 degrees while pushing up from below by the stepped push-up portion 551 (FIG. 7).
(See (A) and (B)).

As shown in FIG. 7A, four rods 5
5a to 55d are partial areas 1 in which the cultivation bins 20 are arranged.
0a are arranged so as to be able to simultaneously pass through the four openings 15a to 15d. Therefore, even if the cultivation bin 20 is stored in the new tray 10, the four rods 55a to 55d can hold the cultivation bin 20 from below. And since the opening pattern of the bottom surface of the new tray 10 is the same in the partial regions corresponding to any of the cultivation bins 20, the cultivation bins 20 are also arranged in any of the partial regions in the new tray 10 as described above. It can be held by four rods 55a to 55d.

In the bin holding component 52 shown in FIG. 6, four cultivation bins 20 can be held at one time by arranging a total of 16 rods 55 on the upper surface of the substrate 54. When the bin holding component 52 is pushed up by the driving unit 53 in a state where the cultivation bin 20 is held in this way, the cultivation bin 20 is moved to the work space 6 immediately above the cultivation bin pushing-up mechanism 50.
Reaches 0. In the work space 60, an operator manually performs a predetermined operation (for example, removal of a paper roll, mushroom cutting) or a machine automatically performs the operation.
When the operation has been completed for all the cultivation bins 20 that have been pushed up, the bin holding parts 52 are fully lowered by the driving unit 53, and the new tray 10 is transported in the direction of arrow D by the conveyor 51, and the next row of the cultivation bins 20. The bin holding parts 52
Place directly above

In the above example, it is assumed that the size of the cultivation bin 20 is constant. However, the size (diameter) of the cultivation bin is actually various. Therefore, in the bottle holding component 52, it is preferable that the rod 55 is connected to the substrate 54 in a structure that allows the angle of the rod 55 to be changed in a direction in which the claw-shaped support portion 552 supports the side surface of the cultivation bin. In this case, the cultivation bin can be reliably held regardless of the size of the cultivation bin.

FIG. 8 is a side view showing a modification of the bin holding part. The bin holding component 52A shown in FIG. 8 has a total of 32 rods 55 erected in two rows on the upper surface of a wide substrate 54A, so that two rows of the cultivation bottles 20 accommodated in the new tray 10 are provided. It is configured so that a total of eight can be pushed up at once. In this way, the work can proceed in the two work spaces 60A and 60B at the same time, so that the work efficiency is improved.

It is needless to say that the embodiments of the cultivation bin tray and the cultivation bin handling mechanism according to the present invention are not limited to the above. For example, in the above embodiment, four rods 55 are used as one set to hold one cultivation bin 20, but three rods 55 are sufficient to hold the cultivation bin 20. is there. In this case, the three rods 55 are approximately 120
It is preferable to arrange so as to support the side surface of the cultivation bin 20 from three directions at an angle of degrees. In this case, the opening pattern provided on the bottom surface of the tray is changed so that the three rods 55 can pass through the bottom surface at the same time.

In the above embodiment, the single rod 55 has two functions of pushing up the bottom of the cultivation bottle and supporting the side, but these functions can be realized by separate rods. . FIG. 9 shows various examples of such a rod. First, in the examples of FIGS. 9A1 and 9A2, the cultivation bottle 20 stored in the new tray 10 of the above embodiment is used.
The side face is pushed up by four push-up rods 72A while being supported by four support sticks 71A. 9 (B1) and (B2), the cultivation bin 20 accommodated in the new tray 10B having an opening pattern different from that of the new tray 10 is used.
Is pushed up by the four push-up rods 72B while supporting the side surfaces of the four push-up rods 71B. FIG. 9 (C1)
In the example of (C2), the cultivation bin 20 accommodated in the new tray 10C having still another opening pattern is supported by four push-up rods 71C while supporting the side surface of the cultivation bin 20 with four support sticks 71C. Push up.

Further, each of the above examples discloses a push-up mechanism in which the tip of the rod (or the upper end of the step provided on the rod) is brought into contact with the bottom of the cultivation bin to push up the cultivation bin. However, other cultivation bin handling mechanisms including the tray according to the present invention are also conceivable. For example, FIG. 10 is a perspective view showing a pair of bottle holding parts 80A and 80B having a side holding part 81 formed at the upper end so as to be in close contact with the side surface of the cultivation bottle. It can be used in combination with such a tray. That is, the bottle gripping parts 80A and 80B are inserted into the tray from below through the opening in the bottom of the tray, and the side of the cultivation bottle accommodated therein is gripped and lifted. In this case, an opening having a size and a shape is provided on the bottom surface of the tray so that the bin holding parts 80A and 80B can pass at the same time and do not hinder the operation of holding the bin of the bin holding part. Needless to say.

[Brief description of the drawings]

1A to 1D are views showing a tray for a cultivation bottle according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a bottom view of an example of a conventional cultivation bin tray.

FIG. 3 is a perspective view showing a use state of a tray.

FIG. 4 is a development view of a wrapping paper attached to an opening of a cultivation bottle.

FIG. 5 is an enlarged view of a region S5 in FIG.

FIGS. 6A and 6B are views showing the entire cultivation bin pushing-up mechanism of the present embodiment.

FIGS. 7A to 7D are diagrams showing a detailed structure of a rod which is a component of a bin holding component.

FIG. 8 is a side view showing a modified example of the bin holding component.

FIG. 9 is a view showing various examples of (A1) to (C2) rods.

FIG. 10 is a perspective view of a bottle gripping component.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 10 ... Tray for cultivation bin 10a ... Partial area 15 ... Opening 20 ... Cultivation bin 50 ... Cultivation bin push-up mechanism 52 ... Bin holding parts 53 ... Drive part 55 ... Bar body 551 ... Step-shaped push-up part 552 ... Nail-shaped support part

Claims (2)

[Claims] 1. A tray for accommodating a plurality of cultivation bins in an aligned state, wherein an opening is provided on a bottom surface of the tray in a pattern corresponding to an arrangement pattern of the cultivation bins, and the pattern of the openings is in the tray. The cultivation bottles stored in the tray can be pushed up through the opening by the same push-up mechanism regardless of the position of the one or one set of cultivation bins in the tray, one by one or a predetermined number as one set. Tray for cultivation bottles, characterized in that: 2. A tray for accommodating a plurality of cultivation bins arranged in a line, wherein an opening is provided on a bottom surface of the tray in a pattern corresponding to a cultivation bin arrangement pattern, and the pattern of the openings is in the tray. The cultivation bottles stored in the tray can be pushed up through the opening by the same push-up mechanism regardless of the position of the one or one set of cultivation bins in the tray, one by one or a predetermined number as one set. A cultivation bin handling mechanism for handling the cultivation bins arranged in the cultivation bin tray determined as described above, wherein a bin pushing-up part for pushing up the cultivation bins arranged in the tray by a predetermined number through the opening. Driving means for driving the bin lifting component in the vertical direction; and immediately above the bin lifting component without concealing the bottom surface of the tray. And a tray supporting means for supporting the cultivation bin.