JP2004097235A - Water-reservoir - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a water-reservoir suitable for facilities raising plants only by using natural precipitation even if provided no special affusion equipment. <P>SOLUTION: A cover 2 of a water-reservoir 1 has a plurality of holes 4 and a vessel 3 has a vertical groove 6 and a notch 8 for flooding. The water-reservoir 1 is juxtaposed with a structure 10 and a charcoal 11 and a soil 12 are put thereon so as to plant a plant 13. When raining, water is passed through the soil 12 and the charcoal 11 and purified thereby and is reserved in the water-reservoir 1. Excess water is overflowed through the notch 8, flows onto the structure 10 along the vertical groove 6 and is drained through a raised bottom 3b. The holes 4 bored through the cover 2 drain rainwater and the like into a vessel 3 and make evaporated water from the vessel 3 adsorbed on the charcoal 11. Water in the water-reservoir 1 is consumed only by adsorption by the charcoal 11, water amount thereof is kept constant, so adsorption/release of water becomes stepwise and surplus water supply is suppressed. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2004,JPO

Description

This invention makes use of the water adsorption and release capacity of a porous structure consisting of continuous fine pores represented by charcoal, etc., and makes it possible to grow plants only by natural precipitation without special watering equipment. It relates to a suitable water reservoir.

Conventionally, planters have been widely used when planting plants in areas where there is no planting soil, such as verandas and paved areas. Planters are used for rooftop greening and the like because they are lightweight and easy to handle because they contain a limited amount of soil in a container, and are excellent in waterproofness. In the field of indoor horticulture, there is also pot planting called so-called hydroculture, in which artificial balls called artificial gravel or expanded brick are used instead of soil, and plants are cultivated in containers around us.

In plant cultivation, it is important to supply sufficient oxygen and appropriate moisture to the roots, and both root rot and water rot must be prevented. Since the planter is perforated, there is no danger of root rot due to excess water flowing out to the root, but the water retention is poor and frequent irrigation is indispensable.

On the other hand, hydroculture has a relatively long watering interval, for example, plants can be grown even if watered about once every two to three weeks. However, since there is no hole in the container, the gas and liquid phases in the artificially grown soil are reduced. It is important to divide the water properly, the initial water level must be strictly adjusted according to the type of plant, and the bottom of the vessel needs to be filled with roots and chemicals for preventing water rot.

In the case of hydroculture, various indoor horticultural containers have been proposed so that the water level can be easily adjusted. As one of the typical configurations, there is a configuration in which a bowl is formed in a double structure or in a dividable manner, and an outer or lower container is used as a water reservoir. As an indoor horticultural container which aims to prevent water dying and root rot by properly supplying and draining water to plants in a flower pot by bottom watering, for example, a hydroculture as described in Patent Document 1 or Patent Document 2 has been proposed.
JP-A-5-219845 JP-A-8-140507

Patent Literature 1 discloses a cultivation apparatus having a pot for storing a plant and soil and forming a hole in the bottom, a saucer for storing water, and a water-absorbing wick for sucking water from the saucer into the pot by capillary action. Patent Literature 2 discloses a plant cultivation device with an irrigation device that sends water from a water tank set on a lower surface to a pot.

装置 Although devices that automatically supply a constant amount of water have been developed even in plant cultivation using conventional planters, there have been problems that the cost is high and installation locations are limited. Hydroculture is applied to small-scale plant cultivation such as indoor horticulture in the first place, and is unsuitable for outdoor plant cultivation and general cultivation that does not limit the type of plant. Could not be applied to a facility for growing general plants outdoors.

The present invention has been made in order to solve the problems of the conventional water reservoir used in plant cultivation, and has a capability of adsorbing and releasing water of a porous structure composed of continuous fine pores represented by charcoal and the like. It is an object of the present invention to provide a water reservoir suitable for a plant cultivation facility where plants can grow only by natural precipitation without using a special watering facility.

In order to solve the above problems, a water reservoir of the present invention includes a perforated lid for mounting a soil layer for plant cultivation containing or laminating a porous structure material composed of continuous fine pores, and a side wall. A notch for overflow, a vertical groove continuous with the notch, and a vertical bottom and a vertical bottom for drainage formed on the bottom surface; and a container protruding from the lower surface of the perforated lid or the inner surface of the container to contact the container or the lid. It has an inner wall that is in contact with and opens an opening for water flow.

The shape and material of the container are not particularly limited as long as it has a notch, a vertical groove, and a raised bottom. Boxes of various shapes such as a rectangular parallelepiped, a cylinder, a hemisphere, and the like, which are formed of various materials such as styrofoam, plastic materials, wooden, metal, and concrete can be used. Excess water overflows due to the notch, so the soil layer and the water surface are separated. The spilled water flows down the vertical channel and onto the base, and then flows down through the raised bottom for drainage.

The holes drilled in the lid are for dropping water such as rainfall that passes through the soil layer into the container, and for adsorbing water evaporating from the container to the porous structure material. Provide an appropriate number so that they do not fall. In addition, the inner wall is reinforced so that the lid can withstand the load of the soil layer, and is configured to be in contact with the container or the lid so as not to be displaced from each other. The opening is made so that the water dropped in the container becomes even, and a location and shape that does not have a problem with load support are selected.

The porous structure material that is mixed into the soil layer or stratified supplies the absorbed water to the plants and allows excess water, such as rainwater, to pass through it. I do. As the material of the porous structure, for example, porous volcanic rocks such as zeolite and pumice, perlite, vermiculite, porous ceramics, sponge having high water absorbing and moisture absorbing performance, charcoal, activated carbon, artificial lightweight soil and the like are applied. The material having the porous structure may be covered with a sheet material having high ventilation performance.

Select soil with high water retention capacity and low evaporation of water into the atmosphere. Examples of soil with high water retention capacity and low evaporation of water into the atmosphere include, for example, light woody soil mainly made of decayed wood chips, and coarse grains such as coconut shell fiber, peat moss, Akadama soil, artificial lightweight soil, etc. Soil and the like.

The soil layer has a high water retention capacity and low water evaporation, while the water in the reservoir is consumed only by adsorption of porous materials such as charcoal. Here, the water reservoir has a sufficient amount of water necessary for growing the plants, and a separate watering device is not required just for storing natural precipitation. Also, regular watering is not required in normal weather.

This plant cultivation system utilizes the water transfer and the capillarity of the transpired water due to the difference in the relative humidity in each layer from the water reservoir to the plant surface. And so on.

In the water reservoir according to the present invention, the excess water overflows due to the notch, so that the soil layer and the water surface can be reliably separated, and the overflowed water flows along the vertical groove to the base, and the raised bottom for drainage is formed. It can flow down to the outside smoothly. The inner wall reinforces the lid so that it can withstand the load of the soil layer, and the opening makes the water dripped into the container uniform. The holes formed in the lid allow rainwater passing through the soil layer to drip into the container and adsorb moisture evaporated from the container to the porous structure material.

Next, embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings. FIG. 1 is a front view of a water tank for plant cultivation, FIG. 2 is a plan view of the same, and FIGS. 3 and 4 are cross-sectional views each showing a III-III section or an IV-IV section in FIG. The water reservoir 1 comprises a lid 2 and a container 3 made of styrene foam, and a plurality of holes 4 are formed in the lid 2. A vertical groove 6 is provided at the center of each side wall 5 of the container 3, and an overflow notch 8 is formed at the top of the container 3 except for a portion where the inner wall 7 is joined. The inner wall 7 has the same height as the side wall 5 and forms a slope 9 at the end in a staggered arrangement to form an opening for water flow. A groove 2b is formed in the back surface 2a of the lid 2, and the top of the inner wall 7 is fitted. The height of the back surface 2a is set somewhat higher than the bottom height of the overflow notch 8. A raised bottom 3b for drainage is formed on the bottom surface 3a of the container 3 vertically and horizontally.

方法 The method of using the water reservoir will be described with reference to FIGS. FIG. 5 is a cross-sectional view of a state where the planted soil layer is placed, and FIG. 6 is a partially enlarged cross-sectional view thereof. The water reservoir 1 is juxtaposed to a structure 10 or a pavement surface, and on the upper surface thereof, a charcoal 11 wrapped in a sheet material having high ventilation performance and a soil 12 having a large water retention capacity and a small evaporation of moisture into the atmosphere are placed. Then, a greening plant 13 is planted.

The charcoal 11 is desirably recycled plywood produced from formwork plywood or the like as waste material discharged during construction work. Recycled plywood coal has a needle-like shape when subdivided and has a large internal specific surface area, so that it has good absorbency and a steam absorption rate of about 10% or more. Therefore, it has a transpiration during the dry season and a moisture absorbing action during the wet season, and has a high water regulation ability by natural respiration. In addition, the soil modification effect and the sewage purification function are large. The soil 12 is made of a woody lightweight soil having a large water retention capacity and little evaporation of water into the atmosphere, which is mainly made of decayed wood chips.

The water that has passed through the soil 12 and the charcoal 11 and has been purified is stored in the water reservoir 1 during rainfall. The surplus water overflows through the notch 8, flows over the vertical groove 6, flows over the structure 10, and flows outside through the raised bottom 3 b for drainage. A hole 4 formed in the lid 2 allows rainwater or the like to be dropped into the container 3 and adsorbs moisture evaporated from the container 3 onto the charcoal 11.

水 The water in the water reservoir 1 is consumed only by the adsorption of the charcoal 11. In addition, since the amount of water retained in the charcoal 11 is constant, the provision of the charcoal 11 causes the adsorption and release of water to be stepwise, thereby restricting useless supply of water.

水 This water reservoir can be applied to any kind of outdoor plant cultivation and any kind of plant cultivation, and can be applied not only to home use but also to plant cultivation such as greening of paved streets and rooftop greening of buildings.

It is a front view of the water tank for plant cultivation. It is a top view of the water tank for plant cultivation. FIG. 3 is a sectional view showing a III-III section in FIG. 2. FIG. 4 is a sectional view showing an IV-IV section in FIG. 2. It is sectional drawing of the state which mounted the planted soil layer. It is a partially expanded sectional view in the state where the planted soil layer was mounted.

Explanation of reference numerals

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Water reservoir 2 Lid 3 Container 4 Hole 5 Side wall 6 Vertical groove 7 Inner wall 8 Notch for overflow 9 Slope 11 Charcoal 12 Soil 13 Plant for greening

Claims (1)

A perforated lid on which a soil layer for plant cultivation containing or laminating a porous structure material consisting of continuous fine pores is placed, and a notch for overflow on the side wall and a vertical groove continuous with it are provided on the bottom surface. It has a container which forms a raised bottom for drainage vertically and horizontally, and an inner wall projecting from the lower surface of the perforated lid or the inner surface of the container to abut on the container or the lid and open an opening for water flow. A water reservoir characterized by the following.

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