JP2002238382A - Apparatus for immersing plant - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To maintain a culturing liquid to a condition suitable for growing a plant and to prosperously grow the plant. SOLUTION: This apparatus is equipped with a culturing tank 1 filled with a culturing liquid 2, a plant implanting panel 3 floated on the liquid in the culturing tank 1, a conveying means 11 relatively conveying the plant implanting panel 3 at least from the liquid level position to the immersing position and a liquid controlling means controlling the condition of the culturing liquid 2.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an apparatus used in plant hydroponics in which a plant is planted in a planting panel and cultivated with a culture solution. More specifically, the planting panel is immersed in the solution for a predetermined time. The present invention relates to a plant immersion apparatus for exterminating pests.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In hydroponic cultivation, in which the roots of a plant are immersed in a culture solution in a cultivation tank to absorb nutrients, pesticides such as herbicides and soil conditioners are not required. However, pesticides such as insecticides and insect repellents for controlling pests such as armyworms and biting insects still had to be used. For this reason, there was a problem that these used pesticides remain in the crop.

[0003] The above-mentioned pests perform so-called tracheal respiration in which oxygen is taken into tissues from the respiratory tract that opens to the body surface and carbon dioxide is discharged from the respiratory tract to the outside. For this reason, if these pests are immersed in a liquid for a long time, they will not be able to exchange gas from the respiratory tract and die. The time required for killing is approximately 3 to 4 hours for rust and 0.5 to 2 hours for green worms.

Utilizing this property, a method for controlling a pest of a plant in which the pest is killed without damaging the plant by immersing the plant with the pest in a solution adjusted to a required concentration for a predetermined period of time. Also, a plant immersion apparatus for the purpose has been proposed (Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open Nos. 11-42038 and 2000-217450).

[0005]

However, in the plant immersion apparatus disclosed in the above-mentioned prior art, there is no disclosure or suggestion of appropriately managing the culture solution in a state suitable for growing the plant.

The present invention has been made in view of such conventional problems, and has as its object to provide an apparatus that can maintain a culture solution in a state suitable for plant growth.

[0007]

According to the present invention, there is provided a plant immersion apparatus, comprising: a cultivation tank containing a culture solution;
A plant planting panel floating on the liquid surface in the cultivation tank, moving means for relatively moving the plant planting panel from at least the liquid surface position to the immersion position, and a liquid management device for managing the state of the culture solution The configuration was provided with.

Here, from the viewpoint of more efficiently managing the culture solution, it is desirable to operate the liquid management means when the plant planting panel is moving.

Further, from the viewpoint of efficient operation of the apparatus and labor saving, it is preferable to further comprise a control means for controlling the moving means and the liquid management means.

In order to remove unnecessary substances such as algae and insect pests generated during plant cultivation and maintain the water quality of the culture solution, it is preferable to use a liquid purification means as the liquid management means.

The liquid purifying means includes a purifying container containing a filter and a pump for circulating the culture liquid in the cultivation tank between the cultivation tank and the purifying container because of easy maintenance and management. Is desirable.

In order to prevent the culture solution from overflowing from the purification container when the filter is clogged, it is preferable to provide an overflow path for returning the culture solution overflowing from the purification container to the cultivation tank.

[0013] From the viewpoint of more stably detecting the concentration of the culture solution, the concentration detecting means is preferably provided downstream of the filter. When the filter is removed from the viewpoint of facilitating confirmation of the state of contamination and easy cleaning. It is preferable to mount it so that it is exposed so that it can be cleaned. Further, from the viewpoint of the convenience of the apparatus, it is desirable that the concentration detecting means also detects clogging of the filter.

In order to adjust the amount of dissolved oxygen in the culture solution, it is preferable to use air supply means for supplying air to the cultivation tank as liquid management means.

It is preferable to use liquid temperature control means as liquid management means in order to assist the growth of plants and prevent cold damage in winter.

Here, it is desirable that the liquid temperature control means has a heating unit for heating the culture solution and a temperature detection unit for detecting the temperature of the culture solution, and only the upper part of the liquid in which the roots of the plant are immersed is effective. From the viewpoint of efficient heating, the heating unit is desirably attached to the outer surface of the cultivation tank corresponding to the vicinity of the liquid level of the culture solution.

In order to control the growth of the plant, it is preferable to use a concentration detecting means as the liquid management means.

Here, from the viewpoint of convenience, it is preferable that the concentration detecting means detects the resistance of the culture solution passing between the electrodes. Further, in order to quickly prevent adverse effects on plants, it is preferable to further provide a notifying means for notifying the abnormality when the concentration detecting means detects the abnormality.

[0019]

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION The present inventors have conducted intensive studies on whether or not plants can be grown more smoothly and reliably in an apparatus for controlling pests on plants by immersion treatment.
The present inventors have found that the state of the culture solution has a great effect on the growth of plants, and have accomplished the present invention.

FIG. 1 is a longitudinal sectional view showing an example of the plant immersion apparatus of the present invention. The cultivation tank 1 for hydroponic cultivation has a box shape with an open top, and is filled with a culture solution 2 for about 8 minutes. Then, the rectangular plate-shaped plant planting panel 3 is
Floating on the surface of The plant planting panel 3 is made of a material having a specific gravity smaller than that of the culture solution, such as styrene foam,
Alternatively, any material that is hollow and floats by the buoyancy of the culture solution 2 in the cultivation tank 1 may be used. A plurality of planting holes 4 are drilled in the plant planting panel 3, and a sponge-like holding material 6 holding the base of the plant P is inserted into the planting hole 4, and the roots of the plant P are planted. 3 soaked in the culture solution 2 below. In addition,
A circumferential projection may be provided on the inner wall of the planting hole 4 so that the holding material 6 holding the base of the plant P does not easily come out of the planting hole 4.

A machine room 7 is provided on one side of the cultivation tank 1. The machine room 7 is vertically divided near the height of the cultivation tub 1, and includes an upper first machine room 7a and a lower second machine room 7b. The first machine room 7a includes a motor 11 (moving means) for moving the plant plant panel 3 from the liquid level position to the immersion position, a cover 8 having an open bottom surface, and an operation panel provided on the upper surface of the cover 8 (external). Input unit) 102 and the like. On the other hand, control means 101 is provided in the second machine room 7b.

The motor 11 provided in the first machine room 7a
The elevating shaft 13 is rotated while the rotation is reduced through a worm gear 12 and the like, which are composed of a worm 12a and a worm wheel 12b mounted on a motor shaft. The motor 11 is a DC motor and can be rotated forward and backward. Vertical axis 1
One end of each of wires 14 and 14 ′ is fixed to 3. The wires 14 and 14 ′ are connected to the cultivation tank 1 from the elevating shaft 13.
Of the cultivation tub 1 and proceed along the bottom surface by a pulley 15 provided at the bottom end of the cultivation tank 1. One wire 14 travels upward by a pulley 15 'and another wire 14'
After further proceeding along the bottom surface, the wire ends are further fixed to the bottom surface of the planting panel 3 by pulleys 15 ″.

A position detecting means 16a is provided at the end of the plant planting panel 3 on the machine room side. It is provided in the second machine room 7b so as to face the position detecting means 16a when it moves. Although there is no particular limitation on the position detecting means, for example, a means for detecting the position by magnetic coupling or the like can be exemplified.

The control means 101 controls the motor 11 in accordance with the immersion conditions input from the operation panel 102 to move the plant planting panel 3 to perform immersion processing. FIG. 8 shows an example of a circuit diagram of the plant planting apparatus of the present invention. Operation panel 1
The immersion conditions and the start / stop signal of the immersion processing input from 02 are sent to the control means 101, and the control means 101 controls the motor 11 according to these conditions. FIG.
Other functions of the circuit diagram shown in FIG.

The operation panel 102 displays the start of the immersion process.
A switch and a setting button for a user to set immersion conditions such as stop and immersion time, and a display unit for displaying the set immersion conditions are provided. FIG. 3 shows an example of the operation panel. The operation panel 102 includes a current time display section 51,
An immersion time display section 52, a current time selection button 54, an immersion time selection button 55, a time setting button 57, a start / reset button 58, and a power indicator lamp 59 are provided. Then, using the selection buttons 54 and 55 and the time setting button 57, the current time is set and the immersion start time is input.

The immersion time may be appropriately determined in consideration of the type of plant and the like. If possible, it is preferable to set a preliminary experiment based on the result of the experiment. For example, in the case of spinach, good results can be obtained with an immersion time of about 10 to 20 minutes. Although not shown in FIG. 3, the user may set and input the immersion time from the operation panel, or the immersion time may be selected from several options. With such a configuration, it is possible to provide a fine-grained response according to the state of occurrence of pests and the state of plant growth.

Next, the operation of immersion processing in the plant immersion apparatus having such a configuration will be described. When the setting of these immersion conditions is completed, the start / reset button 58 is pressed. Then, the power indicator lamp 59 is turned on, and the plant planting panel 3 moves from the liquid level position to the immersion position at the set immersion time. Specifically, in FIG. 1, at the immersion time, the control means 101 applies a DC voltage to the motor 11 to rotate the elevating shaft 13 and wind up the wire 14. Thereby, the plant planting panel 3 moves from the liquid level position to the immersion position. When the plant planting panel 3 reaches the immersion position, the position detecting means 16a and 16b reach the opposing position,
The signal is sent to the control means 101, and the rotation of the motor 11 is stopped. FIG. 2 shows a longitudinal sectional view when the plant planting panel 3 has moved to the immersion position. In this state, the plant P
Is completely immersed in the culture solution 2.

At the immersion position, a reverse torque is applied to the elevating shaft 13 because the plant plant panel 3 tends to float by receiving the buoyancy of the culture solution 2. The plant planting panel 3 cannot be rotated, and is kept in the immersion position.

When a predetermined immersion time has elapsed, the control means 101 applies a reverse voltage to the motor 11 to reversely rotate the elevating shaft 13 to rewind the wire 14 and the plant planting panel 3 It moves from the immersion position to the liquid level position by buoyancy. When the plant planting panel 3 reaches the liquid level position, the rotation of the motor 11 is stopped, the display lamp 59 is turned off,
Indicates that the immersion process has been completed. As a method of detecting that the plant planting panel 3 has reached the liquid level, for example, a method of calculating the driving time of the motor from the distance from the immersion position to the liquid level and controlling the motor, or a method of detecting the plant level. A method of storing the number of rotations of the motor when the 3 is moved from the liquid surface position to the immersion position, and reversely rotating the motor by the stored number of rotations of the motor when moving the immersion position to the liquid surface position. Can be In addition,
When the start / reset button 58 is pressed during the immersion process, the immersion process is stopped, the plant plant panel 3 floats at the liquid level, the power indicator lamp 59 goes off, and the initial state is restored.

First, the case where a liquid purifying means is used as the liquid managing means in the above plant immersion apparatus will be described. This liquid purifying means removes unnecessary substances such as algae and insect pests generated in the culture solution and maintains the water quality of the culture solution. FIG. 4 is a plan view showing an example of the plant immersion apparatus of the present invention, FIG. 5 is a cross-sectional view taken along line AA in FIG. 4, and FIG. 6 is a partially enlarged view of the liquid purification means.

The liquid purifying means includes a purifying container 20 containing a filter 25, and a pump 23 for feeding the culture solution 2 from the cultivation tank 1 to the purifying container 20. A suction port 21 formed at the bottom of the cultivation tank 1 and a suction side of the pump 23 are connected by a pipe 22. 'Connected. A filter 25 for removing unnecessary substances in the culture solution 2 is replaceably provided in the purification container 20. The type of the filter 25 is not particularly limited as long as unnecessary substances in the culture solution 2 can be removed, and examples thereof include porous materials such as filter paper, filter cloth, glass filter, and spongy metal. Alternatively, a coarse filter may be attached to the suction port 21 to remove relatively large unnecessary matter in advance, and to remove relatively small unnecessary matter in the purification container.

The cover 8 facing the upper opening of the purification container 20 is provided with a lid 30 which can be attached or detached or opened and closed. By detaching or opening the lid 30, the clogged state of the filter 25 can be visually observed, and the filter 25 can be replaced or washed from here if necessary. Lid 3
If 0 is made of a transparent material, the state of the inside of the purification container 20 can be understood without detaching the lid.

At the bottom of the purification container 20, a filter 25
A groove 26 for discharging the culture solution 2 purified in the step (1) is formed. This groove 26 is connected to an outlet 27 formed at the lower part of the side wall of the purification container 20.
A discharge pipe 28 for returning the culture solution to the cultivation tank 1 is connected. Here, in order to use the filter 25 as a whole, it is preferable that the position of the outlet 27 formed in the purification vessel 20 be as far as possible from the inlet 24.

In the groove 26, a plate electrode 31 for detecting the concentration of the culture solution 2 is provided. Since the plate electrode 31 is provided on the downstream side of the filter 25, the resistance of the purified culture solution can be measured, and the resistance between the electrodes can be stably measured. When the filter 25 is removed, the plate electrode 31 can be viewed from the upper surface of the purification container 20 and can be cleaned if necessary. Further, the plate electrode 31 is provided so as to be immersed in the purified culture solution during the purification process. The resistance value detected by the plate electrode 31 is sent to the control means. The details of the density detecting means will be described later.

An overflow pipe 29 is connected to the upper part of the side wall of the purification vessel 20. When the culture solution 2 is excessively stored in the purification vessel 20 due to clogging of the filter 25, the culture fluid passes through the overflow pipe 29. 2 returns to the cultivation tank 1.

The purification of the culture solution will be described below.
5 and 6, the control means 101 (shown in FIG. 8)
When the pump 23 is activated by a signal from the cultivation tank 1, the culture solution 2 is sucked into the pump 23 via the pipe 22 from the suction port 21 formed at the bottom of the cultivation tank 1, and further passes through the pipe 22 ′ from the discharge side of the pump 23. Then, the water is injected into the purification vessel 20 from an inflow port 24 formed at the upper part of the side wall of the purification vessel 20. The culture solution 2 injected into the purification container 20 is filtered by a filter 25 to remove unnecessary substances such as algae and dead insects, and then returned to the cultivation tank 1 through the groove 26 and the discharge pipe 28.

There are no particular restrictions on the timing and time of the purification treatment of the culture solution, and it may be appropriately determined in consideration of the amount of unnecessary substances generated. However, in consideration of energy saving and the like, a purification treatment of about one hour per day is preferable. . Further, when the plant planting panel moves, the culture solution is agitated by the plant planting panel, so that the purification efficiency of the culture solution increases. Therefore, it is recommended to carry out purification treatment at the time when the planting panel moves.

Next, the case where the concentration detecting means is used as the liquid managing means will be described. The concentration of the culture solution constantly changes due to the absorption of nutrients in the culture solution by plants, inflow of rainwater, evaporation of water, and the like. Since the concentration range suitable for growth is determined depending on the type of plant, if the concentration of the culture solution is out of the appropriate concentration range, it is necessary to notify the user to that effect. For example, the above-mentioned plate electrode 31 (shown in FIG. 6) is used as the concentration detecting means, and the resistance value of the culture solution 2 flowing between the plate electrodes is used as an index of the concentration. Examples of the notification means include lighting / flashing of a lamp and sounding of a buzzer. Among them, the plant immersion apparatus is generally installed outdoors, and therefore, it is desirable to notify by lighting / blinking display of a lamp.

As for the timing of the density detection, the plate electrode 31 as the density detection means is connected to the filter 25 as shown in FIG.
In the device provided on the downstream side, after the liquid purification means is operated, the purified culture solution 2 comes back to the cultivation tank 1 stably, and the plate electrode 31 is completely immersed in the culture solution 2. It is better to detect the density when In order to prevent erroneous detection, it is preferable to perform density detection a plurality of times and use an arithmetic average thereof.

When the plate electrode 31 is provided on the downstream side of the filter, clogging of the filter can be detected. That is, when the filter 25 is clogged, the amount of the culture solution passing through the filter 25 decreases and the plate electrode 31
Is no longer immersed in the culture solution 2, so that the resistance between the electrodes is significantly increased. Therefore, when the resistance value between the plate electrodes exceeds the preferable resistance value range and becomes higher, it can be estimated that the filter 25 is clogged.

Next, the case where the liquid temperature control means is used as the liquid management means will be described. For the growth of plants, there is an appropriate temperature range of the culture solution depending on the type. Outside this temperature range, plant growth is inhibited. Therefore, in the plant immersion apparatus of the present invention, a liquid temperature control means is provided to control the temperature of the culture solution within a predetermined temperature range. FIG. 5 is a side sectional view showing an example of an apparatus provided with a liquid temperature control unit. A heater 34 is provided on the outer surface of the cultivation tub 1 corresponding to the vicinity of the liquid level of the culture solution 2, and a temperature detecting means 35 is provided on the outer surface of the cultivation tub 1 in the second machine room 7b. As the temperature detecting means 35, for example, a conventionally known thermostat or thermistor can be used. When a thermostat is used as the temperature detecting means, the temperature of the liquid is controlled by turning on and off the power supply to the heater 34 by the thermistor. On the other hand, when a thermistor is used, a signal is sent from the thermistor to the control means, and the control means controls a triac or the like to control the heater 34.
To control the energization of When the purpose is to protect plants from cold damage, a heater having a small heating capacity may be provided, and the heater may be energized continuously to raise the liquid temperature by about several degrees Celsius. In this case, a manual switch must be provided in series with the heater, and the user needs to turn the manual switch on and off in consideration of the weather condition of the day.

There is no particular limitation on the mounting position of the heating unit 34, but when the plant planting panel is at the liquid level, the roots of the plant hardly reach the lower part of the cultivation tank, and the plant planting panel is placed at the dipping position Since the time at the liquid surface position is longer than that at the liquid surface position, from the viewpoint of energy saving, the area where the plant roots planted when the plant planting panel is at the liquid surface position exists, that is, the upper part of the culture solution It is preferable to attach a heating unit so as to heat at least. Specifically, it is preferable to attach a heating unit to the outer surface of the cultivation tank corresponding to the vicinity of the surface of the culture solution.

FIG. 7 shows another embodiment in which a liquid temperature control means is attached to the plant immersion apparatus. In the apparatus of FIG. 7, an outer frame 36 is provided so as to surround the side surface and the bottom surface of the cultivation tub 1, and a heat insulating material 33 is filled between the cultivation tub 1 and the outer frame 36. By providing such a heat insulating material 33,
The amount of heat radiation from the cultivation tank 1 is suppressed, and a further energy saving effect is obtained. Examples of the heat insulating material used here include styrene foam and glass wool.

If the cultivation tank 1 is made of a material having a low thermal conductivity, the temperature of the culture solution 2 may not be able to be controlled quickly and appropriately. Therefore, as shown in FIG. Drill a hole at the installation position and place a heat transfer plate 3
It is desirable that the heat-sensitive plate 7 and the heat-sensitive plate 38 are attached in a watertight manner, and the temperature detecting means 35 and the heater 34 are attached to the surface thereof.

Next, the case where air supply means is used as liquid management means will be described. When the amount of dissolved oxygen in the culture solution decreases, plant growth is inhibited. Therefore, the plant immersion apparatus of the present invention is provided with an air supply means, and when the dissolved oxygen amount in the culture solution becomes lower than a predetermined value, air is supplied to the cultivation tank by the air supply means. 5 and 6 show an example of the air supply means. An air pump 39 is provided below the first machine room 7a. A pipe 40 is connected to the discharge side of the air pump 39, and the other side end of the pipe 40 is connected to an air supply port 41 formed in a side wall near the bottom surface of the cultivation tank 1. In this figure, the air supply port 41 is provided at one place. However, from the viewpoint of supplying oxygen to the whole culture solution, the air supply port 41 is preferably provided at a plurality of locations on the bottom surface of the cultivation tank 1.

When the air pump 39 operates, the surrounding air is sucked by the air pump 39 and supplied into the culture solution from the air supply port 41 through the pipe 40. Then, while the supplied air rises toward the liquid surface as bubbles in the culture solution, oxygen is exchanged at the gas-liquid interface between the bubbles and the surrounding culture solution 2. Therefore, in order to increase the total area of the gas-liquid interface, it is recommended to attach a dispersion plate provided with many pores to the air supply port 41 so as to generate small bubbles. The operation time of the air pump 39 may be set at a predetermined interval, for example, once a day, for one hour. From the viewpoint of efficient oxygen supply to the culture solution 2, the air pump 39 is operated at a time when the plant plant panel 3 is moving. It is desirable to match.

FIG. 8 shows an example of a circuit diagram of the plant immersion apparatus of the present invention provided with all of the liquid purifying means, the air supply means, the liquid temperature control means, and the concentration detecting means as the liquid management means. A series circuit of the commercial heater 34 and the thyristor 61 and a low-voltage DC power supply circuit 62 are connected in parallel to the power supply 60, and the DC power supply circuit 62 supplies power to the control unit 101. The gate of the thyristor 61 is connected to the control means 101. The control unit 101 receives an input signal from the operation panel 102, a detection signal from the temperature detection unit 35 of the liquid temperature control unit, a detection signal from the concentration detection unit 31, and a detection signal from the position detection units 16a and 16b. , Various display units 51, 52, 59 on the operation panel 102 and LEDs
An output signal is sent to a notification means 65 such as a buzzer or buzzer.

The motor 11, the pump 23 and the air pump 39 are connected to a DC power supply circuit 62 via transistors 66A, 66B and 66C. Transistor 66
A, 66B, and 66C each have a control means 10
1 One end of the motor 11 is connected to a contact a of the relay circuit 67A and a contact b of the relay circuit 67B. The c contact of the relay circuit 67A is connected to one end of the DC power supply circuit 62, and the c contact of the relay circuit 67B is connected to the other end of the DC power supply circuit 62 through the collector and the emitter of the transistor 66A. Relay circuit 67A, 6
7B uses a two-circuit, single-pole, double-throw relay 67, and the control means 101 excites the relay coil.

The control means 101 has a clock function, and when the immersion time input from the operation panel 102 comes, the motor 1
1 is activated to move the plant planting panel 3 from the liquid level position to the immersion position. At this time, the relay coil is off,
The contact a of the relay 67 is turned on. When the plant planting panel 3 moves to the immersion position, the position detecting means 16a, 1
The control means 101 stops the motor 11 by a signal from 6b. Then, when a predetermined immersion time has elapsed, the motor 11 is started by a command from the control means 101.
At the same time, the relay coil is turned on, and the contact b of the relay 67 is turned on. That is, the planting panel 3 is mounted on the motor 11.
Since the reverse voltage is applied when the is moved to the immersion position, the motor 11 rotates in the direction opposite to the previous direction. As a result, the plant plant panel 3 floats by its buoyancy. When the liquid level is reached, the motor 11 stops. As described above, the timing of stopping the motor 11 may be determined by calculating the rotation time of the motor 11 from the length of the wire required until the plant plant panel 3 reaches the liquid level, for example.

The pump 23 and the air pump 39 operate in accordance with a program input to the control means 101 in advance, for example, to purify the culture solution 2 from 2:00 pm to 3:00 pm, or to supply air to the culture solution 2. .

The control means 101 includes the density detecting means 31
Is compared with a preset reference value, and if it deviates from the reference value, the notifying means 65 is operated to notify the user of the density abnormality.

The control means 101 further comprises a temperature detecting means 3
5 ON / OFF of thyristor 61 based on detection signal
By controlling the heater 34, the temperature of the culture solution 2 is kept constant.

In the embodiment shown in FIG. 8, the liquid management means is automatically controlled by using the control means. However, the plant immersion apparatus of the present invention is not limited to this. Of course, the user may manually operate the liquid management means while taking the above into consideration. Further, it is not necessary to use all of the liquid purifying means, the air supply means, the liquid temperature control means, and the concentration detecting means as the liquid management means, and one or more of these means may be used in combination.

[0054]

The plant immersion apparatus of the present invention is provided with a liquid management means for controlling the state of the culture solution, so that the culture solution can be maintained and managed in a state suitable for plant growth, and the plant can grow smoothly.

If the liquid management means is operated while the plant planting panel is moving, the management of the culture solution can be performed more efficiently.

If a control means for controlling the moving means and the liquid management means is further provided, efficient operation of the apparatus and labor saving can be achieved.

As liquid management means, at least one of liquid purification means, air supply means, liquid temperature control means and concentration control means
If one is used, the planted plant can grow smoothly.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a longitudinal sectional view showing an example of a plant immersion apparatus of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a longitudinal sectional view when the plant planting panel has moved to a dipping position.

FIG. 3 is a plan view illustrating an example of an operation panel.

FIG. 4 is a plan view showing an example of the plant immersion apparatus of the present invention.

FIG. 5 is a sectional view taken along line AA of FIG. 4;

FIG. 6 is a partially enlarged sectional view of the liquid purifying means of FIG.

FIG. 7 is a longitudinal sectional view showing another example of the plant immersion apparatus of the present invention.

FIG. 8 is a circuit diagram showing an example of the plant immersion apparatus of the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Cultivation tank 2 Culture solution 3 Plant planting panel 11 Motor (moving means) 20 Purification container (liquid purification means) 23 Pump (liquid purification means) 25 Filter (liquid purification means) 29 Overflow pipe (overflow path) 31 Plate electrode ( Concentration detecting means) 34 heater (heating unit) 35 temperature detecting unit 39 air pump (air supply means) 65 notification means

 ──────────────────────────────────────────────────続 き Continuing on the front page (72) Inventor Masao Tachioka 22-22 Nagaikecho, Abeno-ku, Osaka-shi, Osaka Inside Sharp Corporation (72) Inventor Ryoto Yanohara 1-43, Hannancho, Abeno-ku, Osaka-shi, Osaka No. 17 F term (reference) 2B314 MA12 MA23 MA26 MA39 MA52 NC01 NC24 NC40 NC58 PA11 PA17 PA20 PB06 PB32 PB61 PD44

Claims (16)

[Claims] 1. A cultivation tank containing a culture solution, a plant planting panel floating on a liquid surface in the cultivation tank, and a movement for relatively moving the plant planting panel from at least a liquid surface position to an immersion position. A plant immersion apparatus, comprising: means for controlling a state of a culture solution. 2. The plant immersion apparatus according to claim 1, wherein said liquid management means is operated when said plant planting panel is moving. 3. The apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising control means for controlling said moving means and said liquid management means.
The plant immersion device according to the above. 4. The plant immersion apparatus according to claim 1, wherein said liquid management means is a liquid purification means. 5. The plant immersion apparatus according to claim 4, wherein said liquid purifying means includes a purifying container accommodating a filter, and a pump for circulating a culture solution between the cultivation tank and the purifying container. apparatus. 6. The plant immersion apparatus according to claim 5, wherein the purification vessel has an overflow path for returning a culture solution overflowing from the purification vessel to the cultivation tank. 7. A concentration detecting means for detecting the concentration of the culture solution downstream of the filter.
The plant immersion device according to the above. 8. The plant immersion apparatus according to claim 7, wherein said concentration detecting means is mounted so as to be exposed so as to be able to be cleaned when said filter is removed. 9. The plant immersion apparatus according to claim 7, wherein said concentration detecting means also detects clogging of said filter. 10. The plant immersion apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the liquid management unit is an air supply unit that supplies air to the cultivation tank. 11. The plant immersion apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the liquid management means is a liquid temperature control means. 12. The plant immersion apparatus according to claim 11, wherein the liquid temperature control means has a heating unit for heating the culture solution and a temperature detection unit for detecting the temperature of the culture solution. 13. The plant immersion apparatus according to claim 12, wherein the heating unit is attached to an outer surface of the cultivation tank corresponding to a position near the liquid surface of the culture solution. 14. The plant immersion apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the liquid management unit is a concentration detection unit. 15. The plant immersion apparatus according to claim 14, wherein the concentration detecting means detects the resistance of the culture solution passing between the electrodes. 16. The apparatus according to claim 14, further comprising a notifying unit for notifying the abnormality when the concentration detecting unit detects the abnormality.
Or the plant immersion apparatus according to 15.