JP2000175559A - Machine for inoculating liquid-like spawn - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a liquid-like spawn inoculation machine capable of inoculating a liquid-like spawn without using a spawn cultured in a solid culture medium such as sawdust, thereby capable of always inoculating a constant amount of the spawn into culture containers, respectively, and capable of inoculating the spawn by the use of the compact machine without requiring a large labor, even when the spawn is inoculated into many culture bottles. SOLUTION: This liquid-like spawn inoculation machine 30 for inoculating a spawn in culture media charged in mushroom culture containers comprises a spawn container 32 in which the liquid-like spawn is charged, a carrying path 40 for carrying the liquid-like spawn from the spawn container 32, and a nozzle 42 which is disposed at the end of the carrying path 40 and is used for supplying the spawn into culture containers.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

The present invention relates to a liquid inoculum inoculating machine for inoculating a liquid inoculum in a cultivation container for cultivating mushrooms.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In artificial cultivation of mushrooms, a medium such as sawdust filled in a cultivation container such as a cultivation bottle or a cultivation bag is inoculated with a mushroom inoculum, and the cultivation is performed in a cultivation container. . In addition, mushroom inoculum is also a medium such as sawdust that is similar to the medium filled in the cultivation container,
They are bred in a seed container. like this,
When inoculating a cultivation container with a seed bacterium propagated in a medium such as solid sawdust, the seed bacterium is inoculated by an apparatus as shown in FIG.

FIG. 10 is a schematic view of a conventional inoculum inoculation apparatus, and a conventional inoculum inoculation method will be described with reference to FIG. The inoculum 10 is propagated in the medium 11 in which the sawdust in the inoculum bottle 12 is mixed with sugar.
In order to scrape the inoculum 10, the inoculum bottle 12
a is held by the holder 9 so as to face downward.
The holder 9a on the upper side (bottom surface) of the seed bottle 12 can be rotated about the axis of the seed bottle 12 by the rotating mechanism 13 so that the held seed bottle 12 can be rotated. A scraping blade 16 is inserted into the seed bottle 12 from the opening side 12a. In this drawing, the seed bacillus 12 is rotated by the rotation mechanism 13 to scrape out the seed germ 10, but the scraping blade 16 may be rotated. The inoculum 10 scraped from the inoculum bottle 12 passes through a funnel-shaped transport path section 15 disposed below the inoculum bottle 12 and falls into a cultivation bottle 14 disposed below the transport path section 15. The cultivation bottle 14 is filled with a sterilized medium 18, and inoculation is performed by dropping the inoculum 10 on the upper surface of the medium 18.

[0004]

As described above, the conventional inoculum is propagated in a solid medium such as sawdust in the inoculum bottle, and the inoculation of the inoculum is performed by scraping the medium from the inoculum bottle. Is going. However, inoculation of the inoculum by scraping and dropping the solid medium has a variation in the particle size, such as when the inoculated inoculum (medium) is greatly scraped or fine, and is constant in every cultivation bottle. However, even if the inoculation is carried out by scraping out the inoculum during the scraping time, there is a problem that the amount of inoculum falling into each cultivation bottle is not constant. In addition, in the conventional inoculum inoculation work, when inoculating a large number of cultivation bottles, one seed bottle must be arranged above each cultivation bottle, and a scraping mechanism is required for each. There is a problem that a large-scale device is required as a seed inoculum. Further, in this case, a large number of inoculum bottles have to be turned over and held by a holder or the like above the cultivation bottles, so that there is a problem that it takes a considerable amount of time to prepare for the inoculation work.

Accordingly, the present invention has been made to solve the above-mentioned problem, and an object of the present invention is to inoculate a liquid inoculum without using an inoculum cultured in a solid medium such as sawdust. It is an object of the present invention to provide a liquid inoculum inoculating machine which can always inoculate a certain amount of inoculum into each cultivation container and can inoculate the inoculum with a compact device without inconvenience even when inoculating inoculum into a large number of cultivation bottles.

[0006]

The present invention has the following arrangement to solve the above-mentioned problems. That is, according to the liquid inoculum inoculator according to the present invention, in the inoculum inoculating machine for inoculating the medium in the mushroom cultivation container with the inoculum, the inoculum container filled with the liquid inoculum, and the liquid from the inoculum container And a nozzle provided at an end of the transport path for supplying the inoculum into the cultivation container. By adopting this configuration, the liquid inoculum can be inoculated into the cultivation container from the inoculum container through the transport path from the inoculum container at a constant rate from the nozzle. Furthermore, even when inoculating a plurality of cultivation containers at once, it is not necessary to provide the same number of inoculum containers as the cultivation containers corresponding to each cultivation container, so the inoculation device for the inoculum can be downsized. It is possible. In addition, by providing an air supply device that supplies air into the inoculum container and increases the pressure in the inoculum container, liquid inoculum can be pushed out by the pressure of the air, so that the inoculum in the transport path can be extruded. Inoculation can be performed favorably by preventing clogging and the like. Further, since a driving means for relatively moving the nozzle and the cultivation container is provided, the nozzle can be brought close to the cultivation container at the time of inoculation, so that the inoculum does not spill out of the cultivation container.

The nozzle may be a spray nozzle capable of spraying the liquid inoculum in a mist. If the liquid inoculum is atomized and sprayed, it can be inoculated uniformly over the entire surface of the culture medium in the cultivation container. Further, a transport device that transports the cultivation container, a sensor provided at a predetermined position of the transport device to detect arrival at the predetermined position of the cultivation container, and the sensor detects arrival at the predetermined position of the cultivation container. When it is detected, the transport device is stopped, and a control unit that inoculates the cultivation container with the inoculum for a predetermined time, even in the case of a plurality of cultivation containers that are continuously supplied, Inoculation can be performed automatically and efficiently continuously.

[0008]

Preferred embodiments of the present invention will be described below in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings. FIG. 1 is a front view of the liquid inoculation machine, and FIG. 2 is a side view of the liquid inoculation machine. The inoculum container 32 is attached to the upper surface of the housing 31 of the liquid inoculum inoculator 30 by supporting means for supporting the inoculum container 32. In the present embodiment, a band-shaped attachment portion 34 is provided on the upper surface of the housing 31, and the attachment portion 34 detachably attaches the inoculum container 32 to the housing 31 as support means. For this reason, the inoculum container 32 can be replaced with another inoculum container when the inoculum filled therein becomes empty. The inoculum container 32 may not be detachable, and may be fixed at all times. Further, the support means is not limited to a band-shaped support means.

The inoculum container 32 is a tank formed in a cylindrical shape. An air supply tube 38 is attached to one end face 32a of the cylinder, and the inside liquid inoculum is conveyed from the other end face 32b. A tube 40 is connected as a transfer path for the transfer. Due to such a structure, when air is fed into the inoculum container 32 from one end face 32a side, the pressure inside the inoculum container 32 increases, and the air pressure pushes the liquid inoculum to the other side to the tube 40. It is extruded.

[0010] The tube 38 for supplying air is connected to the inoculum container 3.
2 is connected to an air supply device 36 for supplying air. The air supply device 36 is provided in the housing 31. In addition, when the tube 40, which is a transfer path for the inoculum, is made of silicon, it has good flexibility and can withstand high heat during sterilization. The tube 40 coming out of the seed container 32 is connected to a nozzle 42 via a valve 41 on the way. Valve 4
1 is provided on the front side of the housing 31 and includes a tube 40.
Can be opened and closed on the way, and the tube 40 is
It also plays the role of fixing to 1.

The nozzle 42 can be inserted into the cultivation container 72 (FIGS. 5 to 9 described later) by a rodless cylinder 44 as an example of a driving means provided on the front side of the housing 31 (this embodiment). In the example, it is provided vertically). Here, the nozzle 42 according to the present embodiment is a spray nozzle that sprays liquid in a mist state. That is, two nozzles 54 and 56 for air supply are connected to the nozzle 42 to form the liquid inoculum in the form of a mist with these two systems of air, and to provide a path for the inoculum on the cultivation container side of the transport path for the inoculum. On-off control for opening and closing the end is performed. The inoculation of the inoculum is turned on and off by opening and closing the nozzle 42. That is, the air supply device 36 for pushing out the inoculum is constantly operating, and the inoculum can be discharged when the nozzle 42 is in the open state. Further, the tube 54 is connected to an air supply device 55 provided inside the housing 31, and the tube 56 is connected to an air supply device 57 provided inside the housing 31. It can be controlled.

The head section 46 of the rodless cylinder 44
Is provided with front and rear arms 48 protruding forward. On the front side of the front / rear arm 48, an upper / lower arm 50 extending vertically is provided via a joint 52. The nozzle 42 is attached to the lower end of the upper and lower arms 50. Thereby, the rodless cylinder 44
By driving the head unit 46 in the vertical direction, the nozzle 42 can be moved in the vertical direction via the front and rear arm 48 and the vertical arm 50.

The joint 52 between the front and rear arms 48 and the upper and lower arms 50 can be adjusted to move the nozzle 42 toward and away from the housing 31 and to adjust the movement in the vertical direction. That is, the joint 52 is screwed to each arm 48,
50 can be fixed, and screws 51, 51 are used for adjustment.
To move the arm 50 to an appropriate position, and then tighten the screws 51, 51 to fix them. That is, the upper and lower arms 50
Can move up and down freely with respect to the front and rear arms 48,
It is freely movable in the front-rear direction on the front-rear arm 48.
Since the adjustment for moving the position of the nozzle 42 toward and away from the housing 31 and the adjustment in the vertical direction can be performed, the nozzle position always exists directly above the cultivation container even when the size of the cultivation container changes. The inoculation of the inoculum can be performed reliably.

FIGS. 3 and 4 are sectional views of the nozzle 42, and the structure of the nozzle 42 will be described first based on the sectional view. As described above, the nozzle 42 has the tube 40 to which the inoculum is transported and the two tubes 5 for air supply.
4, 56 are connected. Between the tube 40 and the spray port 58, there is provided a valve 60 having a rod 61 whose front end closes the inlet 59 of the spray port. The inside of the rod 61 of the valve 60 is formed in a cavity, and a small hole 62 is formed in the rear end portion of the rod 61 to communicate the inside cavity with the outside. The small hole 62 is formed at a position that communicates with one of the air supply tubes 54, and the air ejected from the tubes 54 can be introduced into the rod 61. Further, a pressure plate 64 is provided on the rear end side of the rod 61. An air outlet of the other air supply tube 56 is provided in a rear direction (upper direction) of the pressure plate 64, and an air outlet of one air supply tube 54 is provided in a front surface direction (lower direction) of the pressure plate 64. Outlet is provided. For this reason, the valve 60 is moved up and down by the two airs to open and close the inlet 59 of the injection port 58 to perform on-off control of inoculation of the inoculum. The two tubes 54 and 56 are turned on and off by the housing 3
1 is carried out by the air supply devices 55 and 57 in FIG.

The operation of the nozzle 42 will be described. In FIG. 3, the introduction of air from the tube 56 is on and the introduction of air from the tube 54 is off. At this time,
The air from the tube 56 presses the pressure plate 64 of the valve 60 in the direction of arrow A to close the inlet 59 of the injection port 58 with the tip of the rod 61. At this time, the inoculum is not discharged from the tube 40, and the inoculum inoculation is not performed.
The operation shown in FIG. 4 is performed to inoculate the inoculum.
First, the introduction of air from the tube 56 is turned off, and the introduction of air from the tube 54 is turned on. Then, the air from the tube 54 presses the pressure plate 64 of the valve 60 in the direction of arrow B to raise the entire valve 60. Thereby, the tip of the rod 61 is separated from the entrance 59 of the injection port 58. Then, the tube 40 and the injection port 58 communicate with each other, and the liquid inoculum flows into the injection port 58 (arrow C). The air from the tube 54 that has pressed the pressure plate 64 also enters the rod 61 through the small hole 62. The air (arrow D) from the tube 54 that has passed through the inside of the rod 61 is ejected from the tip of the rod 61, mixed with the inoculum at the entrance 59 of the ejection port 58, and atomizes the inoculum and sprays it from the ejection port 58. Also, by injecting air from the tube 54 in the same direction as the inoculation direction of such a liquid inoculum, the inoculum can be sucked from the inoculum container 32,
Using the suction force of the nozzle 42 as well as the air pressure supplied inside, the transfer of the liquid inoculum from the inoculum container 32 can be performed strongly.

The nozzle 42 has three tubes 4 each.
0, 54, and 56 are easily detachably provided. For this reason, even if sterilization is performed after the work is completed,
Sterilization in the nozzle 42 and sterilization in each of the tubes 40, 54, 56 can be easily performed.

Next, with reference to FIGS. 5 and 6, an example will be described in which a transport device for transporting a cultivation container is installed below the above-described liquid inoculum inoculation device 30. That is,
Here, the liquid inoculum inoculation device 30 described above will be described as the liquid inoculum inoculation device main body 20. A transport belt 70 as an example of a transport device for transporting the cultivation container 72 is provided below the liquid inoculum inoculation device main body 20. In the present embodiment, the cultivation container 72 is a bag formed in a rectangular parallelepiped shape, but may be a bottle. The inside of the cultivation container 72 is already filled with the medium 18 in which sawdust is mixed with sugar, and sterilization has already been performed. Cultivation container 72
Is placed on a transport belt 70 as an example of a transport device, and is transported from the upstream side to the downstream side (in the direction of arrow E). In addition, in order to keep the cultivation container 72 aseptic,
Except at the time of inoculation of the inoculum, the opening side is closed by a cap in the case of a bottle, and the opening side is closed by folding the bag in the case of a bag as shown in this figure. However, in this figure, a device for folding a bag and a device for opening a folded portion are omitted.

A sensor 74 is provided at a predetermined position of the conveyor belt 70.
Is provided. The sensor 74 may use a photoelectric tube or a contact type. Here, the sensor 74 may be provided at a position where the downstream end of the cultivation container 72 exists when the central portion of the cultivation container 72 is located immediately below the nozzle 42. In this way, if the conveyor belt 70 is stopped at the same time as the detection of the cultivation container 72, the nozzle 42 is positioned directly above the cultivation container 72, and the medium in the cultivation container 72 can be inoculated without bias. .

As shown in FIG. 7, a control unit 82 for receiving the cultivation container arrival signal from the sensor 74 is provided in the liquid inoculum inoculation device main body 20. The control unit 82 is connected to the transport belt 70 and controls the transport belt 70 based on whether or not a cultivation container has arrived from the sensor 74. Also,
The control unit 82 is also connected to the rodless cylinder 44,
In addition to controlling the driving of the nozzle 42, the air supply device 5
5 and 57, and controls the supply of air supplied into the nozzle 42.

Hereinafter, the operation of inoculating the inoculum of the whole apparatus will be described with reference to FIGS. When the sensor 74 provided at a predetermined position detects the cultivation container 72 conveyed by the conveyor belt 70 in the direction of arrow E, the sensor 74
Outputs a cultivation container arrival signal to the control unit 82. Control unit 8
In 2, in response to the cultivation container arrival signal, a stop signal is output to the transport belt 70, and the drive of the transport belt 70 is stopped.
Therefore, the cultivation container 72 is stopped immediately below the nozzle 42 as described above. Here, the above-described device (not shown) for opening the folded portion of the bag opens the opening side of the cultivation container 72. When the conveyor belt 72 stops, the liquid inoculum inoculation device 30 outputs a drive signal to the rodless cylinder 44. The rodless cylinder 44 receiving the drive signal
The nozzle 42 is driven to enter the cultivation container 72. As described above, the nozzle 42 is made to enter the cultivation container 72 at the time of inoculation of the inoculum, so that the inoculation of the inoculum outside the cultivation container is prevented.

A switch 76 is provided at the lower end of the rodless cylinder 44. When the head 46 descends and comes into contact with the switch 76, the switch 76 is turned on. When the switch 76 is turned on, the control unit 82 outputs a control signal so that the air supply device 57 is turned on and the air supply device 55 is turned off. When the air supply device 57 is turned on and the air supply device 55 is turned off, the nozzle 42 is opened to spray the inoculum (80 in FIGS. 7 and 8). As described above, since the liquid inoculum is atomized and sprayed, it is possible to inoculate the entire surface of the culture medium 18 in the cultivation container 72 uniformly.

The control unit 82 outputs a control signal so that the air supply device 55 is turned on and the air supply device 57 is turned off after a lapse of a predetermined time from the start of inoculation. Thereby, the nozzle 42 is closed and the spraying of the inoculum ends. As described above, since the control unit 82 can control the inoculation time to be constant, the control unit 82 can always inoculate a constant amount of the inoculum. The inoculation time of the inoculum can be freely changed according to the capacity of the cultivation container and the like. Further, when the inoculation is completed, the controller 82 outputs a drive signal to the rodless cylinder 44. Upon receiving the drive signal, the rodless cylinder 44 drives the nozzle 42 to pull out the nozzle 42 from the cultivation container 72 and raise it. Thereafter, the control unit 82 stops the driving of the rodless cylinder 44 when the head 46 has risen to the predetermined position. Here, the opening side of the bag is folded by a folding device (not shown), and the cultivation container 72 is closed. Thereafter, the control unit 82 outputs a drive signal to the transport belt 70 to operate the transport belt 70. Then, the cultivation container 72 inoculated with the inoculum is transferred in the direction of arrow E, and the cultivation container 72 without inoculation of the inoculum is transported to the inoculation position.

The seed container described above is a simple cylindrical one, but a container having a bellows-like side surface may be used. In other words, in the case of a bellows-shaped inoculum container, a cylinder or the like that presses one end surface is used as a means for pushing out the inoculum, and the inoculum is pushed out by expanding and contracting the inoculum container itself (shown in the drawing). Zu). Further, the driving means for moving the nozzle and the cultivation container toward and away from each other is not limited to the case where the nozzle is operated, and may have a structure in which the cultivation container is brought closer to the nozzle.

Although the present invention has been described in detail with reference to the preferred embodiments, the present invention is not limited to these embodiments, and many modifications can be made without departing from the spirit of the invention. Of course.

[0025]

According to the liquid inoculum inoculator according to the present invention, a constant amount of the inoculum can be constantly ejected as compared with the case of scraping out a solid inoculum. Can be kept. In addition, since such a liquid inoculum is provided so that it can be inoculated, even when inoculating a plurality of cultivation containers at once, the same number of inoculum as the cultivation container for each cultivation container is required. Since there is no need to provide a container, the size of the inoculum itself can be reduced. In addition, since air is supplied into the inoculum container and the inoculum in the inoculum container is pushed out, clogging of the inoculum in the transport path does not occur,
Good inoculation can be performed. Further, since the liquid inoculum is sprayed in the form of a mist, it can be uniformly and uniformly inoculated on the surface of the culture medium. In addition, since the liquid inoculum is sprayed, drying of the culture medium surface can be prevented.

Further, since a driving means for relatively moving the nozzle and the cultivation container is provided, the nozzle can be brought close to the cultivation container at the time of inoculation, so that the inoculum does not spill out of the cultivation container. . Note that a transport device that transports the cultivation container, a sensor that is provided at a predetermined position of the transport device and detects arrival at the predetermined position of the cultivation container, and transports when the sensor detects arrival at the predetermined position of the cultivation container. If the apparatus is stopped and a control unit is provided to inoculate the cultivation container with the inoculum for a predetermined period of time, even in the case of a plurality of continuously supplied cultivation containers, the efficiency is automatically and continuously increased. Inoculation can be done well.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a front view of a liquid inoculum inoculator according to the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a side view of the liquid inoculum inoculator according to the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a sectional view of a spray nozzle.

FIG. 4 is a cross-sectional view showing the operation of the spray nozzle shown in FIG.

FIG. 5 is a front view showing a state where a transfer device is provided in the liquid seed incubator main body.

FIG. 6 is a side view showing the liquid inoculum shown in FIG. 5;

FIG. 7 is a block diagram showing a control system of the liquid seed incubator.

FIG. 8 is a front view showing that the inoculum is sprayed on the cultivation container on the transfer device.

FIG. 9 is a side view showing the liquid seed incubator shown in FIG. 8 and a cultivation container on a transport device.

FIG. 10 is an explanatory view showing inoculation of a conventional solid inoculum.

[Explanation of symbols]

 Reference Signs List 20 liquid inoculum inoculator main body 30 liquid inoculum inoculator 31 housing 32 inoculum container 34 attachment part (supporting means) 36 air supply device 38, 54, 56 tube 40 transport path (tube) 41 valve 42 nozzle 44 driving means ( Rodless cylinder) 46 head 48 front and rear arm 50 upper and lower arm 52 joint 58 spout 59 inlet 60 valve 61 rod 62 small hole 64 pressure plate 70 transport device (transport belt) 72 transport container 74 sensor 76 switch 80 sprayed seeds 82 control Department

Claims (5)

[Claims] An inoculum inoculating machine for inoculating a culture medium in a mushroom cultivation container with an inoculum, comprising: an inoculum container filled with a liquid inoculum; and a transport path for transporting the liquid inoculum from the inoculum container. A liquid inoculum inoculating machine, comprising: a nozzle provided at an end of the transport path to supply inoculum into the cultivation container. 2. The liquid inoculum inoculator according to claim 1, further comprising an air supply device for supplying air into the inoculum container to increase the pressure in the inoculum container. 3. The liquid inoculum inoculator according to claim 1, further comprising a drive unit for relatively moving the nozzle and the cultivation container toward and away from each other. 4. The liquid inoculum inoculator according to claim 1, wherein the nozzle is a spray nozzle capable of atomizing and spraying the liquid inoculum. 5. A transport device for transporting the cultivation container, a sensor provided at a predetermined position of the transport device to detect arrival of the cultivation container at a predetermined position, and wherein the sensor moves to a predetermined position of the cultivation container. The liquid inoculum according to claim 1, 2, 3 or 4, further comprising: a control unit that stops the transport device when the arrival of the inoculation is detected, and inoculates the inoculation with the inoculum for a predetermined time in the cultivation container. Inoculation machine.