JP2011101628A - Apparatus for liquid inoculation - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To prevent the medium in cultivation containers from making contact with contaminants until inoculated with the liquid inoculum and to minimize the variation as much as possible in the amount of inoculum inoculated to the culture medium in each cultivation container. <P>SOLUTION: The apparatus for liquid inoculation comprises the main tank 200 and the nozzle 77. The nozzle 77 is located above and is brought into contact with or separated from each of the cultivation containers 12 stored in the tray 14 of the position where the liquid inoculation is performed. The apparatus also comprises: the nozzle mechanism 20 which has the nozzle opening and closing means 96 to change the opening and closing of the nozzle 77; the sub-tank 230, which is equipped halfway in the channel leading from the main tank 200 to the nozzle 77, to store the liquid inoculum temporarily; the liquid feed mechanism 220 which supplies the liquid inoculum from the main tank 200 to sub-tank 230; the valve 234 which regulates between the liquid feed mechanism 220 and the sub-tank 230 the inflow of the liquid inoculum to the sub-tank 230; and the control part which controls the opening and closing of both the valve 234 and the closing means 96, respectively, based on the supply of the liquid inoculum into the sub-tank 230. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2011,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to a liquid inoculum inoculation apparatus for inoculating a liquid inoculum into a medium filled in a cultivation container for growing mushrooms.

In artificial cultivation of mushrooms, mushroom seeds are inoculated into a medium such as corn cob or sawdust filled in a cultivation container such as a cultivation bottle or a cultivation bag, and this cultivation is performed in the cultivation container.
Moreover, as an inoculum to inoculate the culture medium in the cultivation container, it is common to use an inoculum (hereinafter referred to as an inoculum culture medium) propagated on a culture medium such as corn cob or sawdust in the inoculation container. When inoculating the culture medium in the cultivation container with the inoculum culture medium, the inoculation work is performed by scraping the seed culture medium in the seed culture container and dropping the scraped seed culture medium on the culture medium in the cultivation container.

  However, when scraping the seed culture medium from the seed culture container and dropping it into the cultivation container, there is a variation in the size of the scraped seed culture medium, and the amount of the seed culture medium inoculated into the culture medium in the cultivation container is not constant There is. In addition, one inoculum container is required for one cultivation container, and the apparatus becomes too large, and it takes time to prepare for the inoculation work.

Therefore, a liquid inoculum inoculation device that inoculates a medium in a cultivation container with a liquid inoculum instead of scraping the seed culture medium from the seed container and inoculating the medium in the cultivation container has been proposed (for example, Patent Document 1). ).
In the liquid inoculum inoculation device described in Patent Document 1, a tray containing a plurality of cultivation containers is conveyed, and the medium in each cultivation container is inoculated with the liquid inoculum within the conveyance path of the tray. When inoculating liquid inoculum, in order to prevent contamination of the liquid inoculum due to contact with various germs floating in the atmosphere, a method is adopted in which the liquid inoculum is sent using a cylinder pump without using compressed air. . However, since the cylinder pump for feeding the liquid inoculum is in direct contact with the liquid inoculum, there is a problem that the liquid inoculum is contaminated when the cylinder pump is contaminated.

  Therefore, the applicant of the present invention has a configuration of a liquid inoculum inoculation device capable of maintaining a state in which the liquid inoculum stored in the inoculum container is not in contact with various bacteria until the culture medium in the cultivation container is inoculated. Is proposed in Patent Document 2.

JP 2003-9657 A JP 2009-72159 A

According to the liquid inoculum inoculation device described in Patent Document 2, it was successful in cutting off contact with various bacteria during the period from the inoculum container to the inoculation of the medium in the cultivation container. However, since this seed inoculator injects liquid seed money from the inoculum container to the cultivation container with a tube pump, pulsation occurs when the liquid inoculum is supplied. It became clear that it was difficult to suppress the variation to 5% or less.
Therefore, there has been a demand for the development of a liquid inoculum inoculation device for inoculating liquid inoculum evenly into the culture medium of the cultivation container.

  The present invention has been made to solve the above-mentioned problems, and the purpose thereof is to cut off contact with various germs during inoculation from the inoculum container to the culture medium in the cultivation container, It is an object of the present invention to provide a liquid inoculum inoculation device capable of reducing as much as possible the variation in the amount of inoculum to inoculate the culture medium in the cultivation container.

In order to achieve the above object, the present invention comprises the following arrangement.
That is, a liquid inoculum inoculation device for inoculating a liquid inoculum in a cultivation container that is stored in a tray and filled with a medium for cultivation of mushrooms, the main tank storing the liquid inoculum, and the inoculation of the liquid inoculum A nozzle mechanism that is positioned above the cultivation container housed in the tray at the position, has a nozzle that moves toward and away from the cultivation container, and a nozzle opening / closing means that switches between opening and closing of the nozzle, and the main A sub-tank that is disposed in the middle of the flow path from the tank to the nozzle, temporarily stores the liquid inoculum, a liquid feeding mechanism that supplies the liquid inoculum from the main tank to the sub tank, the liquid feeding mechanism, and the sub tank; And a valve body that restricts the inflow of liquid inoculum into the sub tank, and a supply amount of the liquid inoculum into the sub tank. There are, opening and closing operations and the valve body, and a control unit for controlling the opening and closing operation of the nozzle opening and closing means, respectively, a liquid seed culture inoculated apparatus characterized by comprising a.

  According to the liquid inoculum inoculation device according to the present invention, the liquid inoculum is in contact with anything other than the flow path surface of the liquid feeding tube until the liquid inoculum is inoculated from the inoculum container containing the liquid inoculum into the culture medium in the cultivation container. Therefore, the liquid inoculum can be inoculated in a clean state. In addition, the liquid inoculum sent out from the main tank is once stored in the sub-tank and then inoculated into the culture medium in the cultivation container from the injection nozzle. Liquid inoculum can be ejected from the ejection nozzle at a constant pressure. Thereby, the variation in the inoculation amount of the liquid inoculum for each cultivation container can be suppressed, and the inoculation amount of the liquid inoculum in the cultivation container can be made uniform.

It is a front view which shows the whole structure of the liquid inoculum inoculation apparatus in this embodiment. It is a side view of an inoculation part among the liquid inoculum inoculation apparatuses in FIG. It is a front view (figure which faced from the exit side of a carry-out way) of an inoculation part. It is explanatory drawing of the shoulder part pressing mechanism of a cap. It is explanatory drawing of the moving mechanism of the movable stand of a cap removal | desorption mechanism. It is explanatory drawing of the state before the cap removal of a cap removal mechanism. It is explanatory drawing of the state in cap removal of the cap removal | desorption mechanism. It is a top view of the cultivation container part in the state of FIG. It is a top view which shows the cultivation container part of the state made to slide in the diagonal direction within the cap horizontal surface from the state of FIG. It is a front view which shows a nozzle mechanism.

Preferred embodiments of the present invention will be described below in detail with reference to the drawings.
FIG. 1 is a front view showing the overall configuration of the liquid inoculum inoculation device in the present embodiment.
2 is a side view of the inoculation unit of the liquid inoculum inoculation device in FIG. 1, and FIG. 3 is a front view of the inoculation unit (a view from the exit side of the conveyance path from which the tray is carried out).
The liquid inoculum inoculation apparatus 1 stores the liquid inoculum in the subtank 230 once in the sub-tank 230 through the main tank 200 that stores the liquid inoculum and the tube 92 that is a liquid feeding unit from the main tank 200, and then the cultivation container 12. The inoculation unit 10 inoculates a predetermined amount of the medium in the inside and the tube pump 220 which is a liquid feeding mechanism for feeding the liquid inoculum in the main tank 200 to the inoculation unit 10. That is, the liquid inoculum inoculation device 1 according to the present embodiment is a tube in which the main tank 200 that is a liquid inoculum storage unit, the tube pump 220 that is a liquid feeding mechanism, and the inoculation unit 10 that has a sub tank 230 are liquid feeding units. It is comprised by connecting by 92.

  The main tank 200 is provided with a stirring motor 210 for stirring the liquid inoculum accommodated therein, and the operating state of the stirring motor 210 is appropriately controlled by a control unit (not shown). The main tank 200 is disposed so as to be replaceable on the roller-mounted base 116. A tube 92 is connected between the bottom of the main tank 200 and the sub tank 230 provided in the inoculation unit 10. A tube pump 220 is disposed in the middle of the liquid supply path by the tube 92, and liquid inoculum is supplied from the main tank 200 to the sub tank 230. The tube pump 220 is also detachably disposed on the roller-mounted base 122.

The sub tank 230 is provided with a pressure sensor 232 for detecting the internal pressure of the sub tank 230 and an air ball valve 234 which is a valve body for switching on and off the inflow state of the liquid inoculum sent from the tube pump 220 into the sub tank 230. It is installed.
When the liquid inoculum stored in the main tank 200 is stored in the sub tank 230 by the tube pump 220, the internal pressure of the sub tank 230 gradually increases. The pressure sensor 232 constantly measures the pressure in the sub tank 230, and when the pressure value in the sub tank 230 reaches a preset pressure value, the pressure sensor 232 transmits a pressure arrival signal to a control unit (not shown). In the present embodiment, the pressure arrival signal transmitted from the pressure sensor 232 to the control unit includes two pressure arrival signals, a high pressure side pressure arrival signal and a low pressure side pressure arrival signal.

  When the internal pressure of the sub tank 230 rises and a high pressure side pressure arrival signal is received from the pressure sensor 232, the control unit (not shown) executes a process of closing the flow path of the air ball valve 234. In addition, the control unit executes a process for stopping the operation of the tube pump 220 simultaneously or in conjunction with the process for closing the flow path. After the above processing by the control unit is executed, the liquid inoculum stored in the sub tank 230 at a predetermined pressure is inoculated into the culture medium of the cultivation container 12 by the inoculation unit 10 described later.

When the liquid inoculum stored in the sub tank 230 by the inoculation unit 10 is inoculated into the culture medium in the cultivation container 12, the internal pressure of the sub tank 230 is lowered. When the internal pressure of the sub tank 230 decreases to a predetermined pressure value, the pressure sensor 232 transmits a low pressure side pressure arrival signal to the control unit. When the control unit receives the low pressure side pressure arrival signal, it executes a process of opening the flow path of the air ball valve 234. Further, the control unit executes a process of resuming the operation of the tube pump 220 simultaneously or in conjunction with the process of opening the flow path.
In this way, the control unit transmits the liquid inoculum from the main tank 200 to the sub tank 230 based on the pressure detection signal transmitted from the pressure sensor 232 according to the internal pressure state (high pressure state or low pressure state) of the sub tank 230. The process of intermittent supply is continuously executed.

  The inoculation unit 10 transports a tray 14 that is filled with a culture medium and is accommodated in a state where a plurality of cultivation containers 12 with caps 11 are arranged vertically and horizontally by a transport mechanism 16 at a predetermined position on the transport path. The cap 11 is removed by the cap detaching mechanism 18, and the liquid inoculum temporarily stored in the sub tank 230 by the nozzle mechanism 20 can be inoculated into the 16 cultivation containers 12 from which the cap 11 has been removed. The nozzle mechanism 20 is connected to the sub tank 230 via the tube 94. In the present embodiment, a silicon tube is used as the tube 94 that communicates the tube 92 that is the liquid feeding path, the sub tank 230, and the nozzle mechanism 20.

Then, the detail of each part in the inoculation part 10 is demonstrated.
In the inoculation part 10, the conveyance mechanism 16 which conveys the tray 14 in which the cultivation container 12 is accommodated consists of four chain conveyors. That is, the transport mechanism 16 is driven by the motor 25, with the chain 24 spanning the sprockets 23, 23 provided on the base 22.
2 and 3, reference numeral 26 denotes a stopper, which normally protrudes from the chain conveyor, and stops the tray 14 conveyed on the chain conveyor at a predetermined position (a position immediately below the cap detaching mechanism 18). A tray detection sensor (not shown) is disposed at the stop position of the tray 14 in the transport mechanism 16, and after detecting that the tray 14 has been transported to a predetermined position, a tray detection signal is transmitted to the control unit.
As will be described later, when the series of inoculation of the liquid inoculum to the culture medium in the cultivation container 12 is completed and the cap 11 is attached to the mouth of the cultivation container 12 again, the electromagnetic solenoid 27 is driven to stop the stopper 26. Enters the lower part of the chain conveyor, so that the tray 14 is conveyed in the direction of the exit. When the tray 14 is carried out, the stopper 26 is again projected onto the chain conveyor.

Next, the cap attaching / detaching mechanism will be described with reference to FIGS.
FIG. 4 is a schematic view showing the shoulder pressing mechanism 30 of the cultivation container 12.
Reference numeral 31 denotes a support bar, which is fixed to the base 22 at both ends so as to be perpendicular to the conveying direction of the tray 14. One support bar 31 is disposed in front of and behind the tray 14 stopped by the stopper 26. That is, the tray 14 is disposed at a position away from the upper position.

Reference numeral 32 denotes a fixed presser plate. The fixed presser plate 32 extends in a direction perpendicular to the paper surface in FIG. 4 and is supported by both support bars 31 by suspension plates 33. Four fixed pressing plates 32 are arranged, and in FIG. 4, they are arranged so as to be positioned at the right shoulder of the cultivation container 12 stored in the tray 14 conveyed on the chain conveyor. That is, the cultivation container 12 is conveyed so that the right shoulder portion is along the fixed presser plate 32.
When the tray 14 is stopped by the stopper 26, each fixed presser plate 32 is positioned corresponding to the right shoulder of the four cultivation containers 12 in each row.

Reference numeral 34 denotes a movable presser plate. Four movable pressing plates 34 are also arranged in a direction perpendicular to the paper surface of FIG. The movable presser plate 34 is fixed to the lower end of a link plate 36 of a parallelogram link composed of a support bar 31, a movable rod 35 arranged in parallel with the support bar 31, and a link plate 36. The link plate 36 is pivotally supported on the support bar 31 and the movable rod 35 by shafts 37 and 38, respectively. The movable rod 35 is always pulled by a spring 39, whereby the suspension plate 33 and the link plate 36 are substantially parallel, and the cultivation container 12 can enter between the fixed presser plate 32 and the movable presser plate 34. is there.
When the cap 11 is detached, the movable rod 35 is pulled against the biasing force of the spring 39 by the electromagnetic solenoid 40. As a result, it is understood that the movable presser plate 34 moves to the right in FIG. 4 and presses the shoulder of the cultivation container 12 with the fixed presser plate 32.

5, FIG. 6, and FIG. 7 are views showing a cap removing mechanism. Note that in FIGS. 6 and 7, the illustration of the fixed presser plate 32 and the movable presser plate 34 is omitted for convenience of explanation.
In FIG. 5, reference numeral 45 denotes a frame-shaped (hatching portion) movable table, which is inclined at 45 degrees with respect to the transport direction of the tray 14 within the horizontal plane above the tray 14 stopped by the stopper 26. It can move back and forth. Reference numeral 47 denotes the guide pole. The guide pole 47 is mounted on the base 22 so that its axis is at an angle of 45 degrees in the horizontal plane with respect to the transport direction of the tray 14. The movable table 45 is guided so as to be movable in an oblique direction by sliding the guide pole 47 into the guide bushes 49 attached to the lower surface side of the attachment stays 48 located on both sides thereof.

Then, when the cam 52 acts on one end side of an L-shaped lever 51 provided to be rotatable about the shaft 50, the other end side of the lever 51 is swung. A pin 53 provided on the upper surface side of the mounting stay 48 enters the bifurcated portion on the other end side of the lever 51. When the other end side of the lever 51 is swung, the movable table 45 is reciprocated at an angle of 45 degrees with respect to the transport direction of the tray 14 via the pin 53. The cam 52 is driven by a motor 54 (FIG. 3). A spring 49 a is disposed between the base 22 and the guide bush 49 and urges the lever 51 so that one end side of the lever 51 is always in contact with the cam 52.
In the present embodiment, a slide mechanism is configured by the guide pole 47, the guide bush 49, the lever 51, the cam 52, the motor 54, and the like.

A cam shaft 55 is supported on the movable table 45 via a bearing so as to be rotatable about the axis above the center of the movable table 45. The cam shaft 55 is disposed in a direction orthogonal to the conveyance direction of the tray 14. The camshaft 55 is rotationally driven by a motor 56 disposed on the mounting stay 48.
As shown in FIGS. 6 and 7, guide bushes 58 are fixed to both ends of the movable base 45, and rods 59 are provided so as to be movable up and down through the guide bushes 58. A total of four rods 59 are provided, two on each end of each movable base. The upper ends of the two rods 59 on both ends are connected by a connecting plate 80.

6 and 7, reference numeral 60 denotes a cap pressing plate, which is attached to the lower surface side of the mounting plate 61 and is urged downward by a spring 62. As shown in FIG. 5, four mounting plates 61 are provided at intervals in the transport direction of the tray 14, and both end portions of each mounting plate 61 are fixed to a common support plate 64.
Each support plate 64 is guided by a rod 59 through a guide bush 66 so as to be movable up and down.
Four cap holding plates 60 are provided on each mounting plate 61 and correspond to the caps 11 of all 16 cultivation containers 12.

A cam follower 67 is attached to the upper end side of the support plate 64, and a cam 68 provided on the cam shaft 55 acts on the cam follower 67.
The other end of a spring 70 having one end fixed to the movable base 45 is attached to the lower end of the support plate 64, and the cam follower 67 is pressed against the cam 68 by being urged by the spring 70.
When the cap 11 is not detached, the cap presser plate 60 is positioned above the cap 11 as shown in FIGS. 6 and 7.

Next, reference numeral 72 denotes a latch plate, which is provided in an inverted T shape and is fixed to a mounting plate 73 positioned below the mounting plate 61. The five latch plates 72 are arranged extending in a direction perpendicular to the paper surface in FIGS. 6 and 7, and the inverted T-shaped portion enters the lower side of the flange portion, which is the large diameter portion on the cap 11. It is like that.
The cultivation container 12 accommodated in the tray 14 and conveyed on the chain conveyor has the cap 11 that can pass between the adjacent retaining plates 72.

Both ends of the mounting plate 73 are fixed to the support plates 74, and each support plate 74 is fixed to the lower end of the rod 59 so as to connect two rods 59 on both ends of the movable base 45.
A cam follower 75 is provided on the upper end side of the rod 59, and a cam 76 provided on the cam shaft 55 is in contact with the lower surface side of the cam follower 75 from below.
Reference numeral 77 denotes a nozzle for supplying liquid inoculum, and a total of 16 nozzles are provided so as to be positioned above each cultivation container 12.

Next, the attaching / detaching operation of the cap 11 will be described.
When the tray 14 is transported by the transport mechanism and stopped by the stopper 26, the control unit (not shown) first operates the electromagnetic solenoid 40 shown in FIG. 4 as described above, by the link mechanism that forms a parallelogram. The fixed presser plate 32 and the movable presser plate 34 are operated to press the shoulder portion of the cultivation container 12 from both sides.

Next, the control unit drives the motor 56 shown in FIGS. 5 and 6 to rotate the camshaft 55. Then, the cam 68 rotates and pushes the cam follower 67 downward against the urging force of the spring 70. As a result, the cap presser plate 60 is pushed downward via the support plate 64 and the mounting plate 61, and the cap presser plate 60 presses the upper surface of the cap 11 by the force of the spring 62.
At this time, the cam 76 also rotates at the same time. However, the cam 76 does not act to raise the cam follower 75 until the cap presser plate 60 presses the cap 11 (the cam 76 in this portion is formed in a circular shape).

When the cap presser plate 60 presses the cap 11, the cam 76 acts on the cam follower 75 so as to push the cam follower 75 upward. As a result, as shown in FIG. 7, the rod 59 rises, the support plate 74 rises through the support plate 64 and the mounting plate 73, comes into contact with the lower surface of the flange portion of the cap 11, and pushes up the flange portion. The upper surface side of the cap 11 is pressed by the cap presser plate 60, and the support plate 74 still rises a certain height so as to compress the spring 62, and the cap 11 is sandwiched between the cap presser plate 60 and the support plate 74. In the depressed state, the cap 11 is removed above the mouth of the cultivation container 12.
The cap 11 is removed above the mouth of the cultivation container 12 as described above. At this time, the cams 68 and 76 are both in a half-rotation state, and the controller stops the motor 56 in this state. FIG. 8 is a plan view of the cultivation container portion in the state of FIG. In FIG. 8, reference numeral 82 is a nozzle entry hole provided in the mounting plate 73.

Next, the motor 54 shown in FIG. 3 is driven by the control unit, the cam 52 rotates and the lever 51 swings, and the movable platform 45 is moved in the tray 14 at an angle of 45 degrees with respect to the transport direction of the tray 14. The cultivation container 12 is slid by a half pitch of the arrangement pitch of the cultivation container 12. In this state, the control unit temporarily stops the motor 54.
Since the cap attaching / detaching mechanism is mounted on the movable table 45, the cap 11 is sandwiched between the cap pressing plate 60 and the support plate 74, and slides in an oblique direction while being held.

Moreover, FIG. 9 is a top view which shows the state of the cultivation container 12 after the cap 11 moved to the diagonal direction.
As shown in FIG. 9, when the cap 11 slides obliquely in the horizontal plane at an upper position of the tray 14, the cap 11 is in a position removed from the mouth of the cultivation container 12. At that time, the nozzle entry hole 82 is located above the mouth of the cultivation container 12 and the mouth of the cultivation container 12 is opened.
Next, as will be described later, the nozzle 77 descends toward the mouth of the cultivation container 12 and inoculates the cultivation container 12 with the required amount of liquid inoculum.

After the inoculation of the liquid inoculum, the motor 54 is driven by the control unit, and the movable base 45 is slid in an oblique direction so as to be positioned above the tray 14.
Next, the motor 56 is re-driven by the control unit, the cam shaft 55 is rotated, and the cams 76 and 68 are further rotated halfway, whereby the cap 11 is fitted to the mouth of the cultivation container 12.
That is, by rotating the cam 76, the cap 11 is lowered while the cap 11 is held by the cap pressing plate 60 and the support plate 74, the cap 11 is pressed by the cap pressing plate 60, and the support plate 74 is moved to the cap. The cap 11 is fitted into the mouth of the cultivation container 12 by moving below the 11 flange portion. Further, when the cam 68 rotates, the cap presser plate 60 rises to the standby position.

  When the cap 11 is fitted to the mouth of the cultivation container 12, the controller 26 lowers the stopper 26, the motor 25 is driven to operate the chain conveyor, the tray 14 is conveyed, and an operator etc. Taken from the exit. In addition, since there is a case where the cap 11 cannot be sufficiently fitted into the mouth of the cultivation container 12 only by the pressing force of the cap pressing plate 60, a roller 83 that presses the cap 11 from above is provided in front of the stopper 26. A roller device 84 is disposed (FIG. 5). When the cultivation container 12 accommodated in the tray 14 passes under the roller device 84, the cap 11 is pressed by the roller 83 so that the cap 11 is completely fitted into the mouth of the cultivation container 12.

Next, the nozzle mechanism 20 will be described. FIG. 10 is a front view showing the nozzle mechanism.
In this embodiment, the nozzle mechanism 20 is provided above the cap detaching mechanism 18 and, as described above, inoculates liquid cultures in the culture container 12 accommodated in the tray 14 all at once. It has 16 nozzles 77 that are the same as the number of cultivation containers 12 accommodated in the tray 14.
The nozzle 77 is formed in a trumpet shape in which the diameter of the inner peripheral surface gradually increases from the upper side to the lower side (not shown). A spiral groove (not shown) is formed on the inner peripheral surface of the nozzle 77 along the inner wall surface. When the nozzle 77 is opened, the liquid inoculum filled in a state where a predetermined pressure is applied to the tube 94 communicating between the sub tank 230 and the nozzle 77 is provided on the inner peripheral surface of the nozzle 77. The inner circumferential surface of the nozzle 77 flows down smoothly along the spiral groove. Therefore, it is convenient because the liquid inoculum can be appropriately dropped onto the medium in the cultivation container 12. In the present embodiment, silicon tubes are employed as the tubes 92 and 94.

  Each nozzle 77 is fixed to a vertical movement plate 85 as shown in FIG. The vertical moving plate 85 moves up and down when two rods 86 whose lower ends are connected to the vertical moving plate 85 are guided by the guide 87 of the base 22 so as to freely move up and down. The upper ends of the two rods 86 are connected by a connecting plate 88, and the connecting plate 88 is moved up and down by a crank mechanism 89 whose operation is controlled by a control unit. A crank mechanism 89 that is a vertical movement mechanism is driven by a motor 90 disposed on the base 22.

  The nozzle opening / closing means 96 that opens and closes the flow path of the nozzle 77 has four rows of pressing plates 97 (hatched portions) connected in a frame shape as shown in FIG. The pressing plate 97 is supported on the lower surface side of the supporting plate 98 and can slide in the left-right direction in FIG. The pressing plate 97 is urged to the left in FIG. The cam 101 is driven by the motor 100 (driving means) whose operation is controlled by the control unit against the urging force of the spring 99, and the pressing plate 97 can move to the right against the urging force of the spring 99. It has become. The tube 94 is pressed against the contact plate 102 by the pressing plate 97, and the tube 94 is crushed so that the liquid inoculum is not dropped.

Further, as shown in FIG. 10, the thickness of the contact plate 102 is formed to be thicker than the thickness of the press plate 97, and the press plate 97 enters the contact plate 102 at a portion where the press plate 97 abuts. A recess 102A is formed. The tube 94 is inserted into a through-hole (not shown) formed in the abutting plate 102 and is pressed by a pressing plate 97 that has entered from the recess 102A.
By adopting such a configuration, the tube 94 can be sandwiched between the upper and lower portions of the abutting plate 102, and therefore it is possible to suitably prevent the inflow of excess liquid inoculum into the nozzle 77.

  As described above, when the movable platform 45 (FIG. 5) moves in the oblique direction and the mouth of the cultivation container 12 is opened, the motor 90 is driven and the nozzle 77 is lowered into the mouth of the cultivation container 12. To do. Then, the motor 100 is driven by the control unit, the pressing plate 97 moves to the left in FIG. 10, the tube 94 is opened, and a predetermined pressure (in this embodiment, a high-pressure side pressure arrival signal) is opened in the sub tank 230 and the tube 94. A predetermined amount of liquid inoculum stored at a pressure of 20 KPa is supplied from the nozzle 77 to the culture medium in the cultivation container 12.

The liquid inoculum inoculation device 1 according to the present embodiment is configured as described above.
Next, inoculation operation of the inoculum using the liquid inoculum inoculation apparatus 1 according to the present embodiment will be described.
First, a control unit (not shown) activates the tube pump 220 and opens the flow path of the air ball valve 234 disposed at the inlet of the sub tank 230 to supply liquid inoculum from the main tank 200 to the sub tank 230. The liquid inoculum is supplied from the main tank 200 to the sub tank 230 by the tube pump 220 until the pressure detection sensor 232 disposed in the sub tank 230 detects a predetermined pressure value (20 KPa) set in advance in the sub tank 230. When the pressure detection sensor 232 detects a predetermined pressure value, a high pressure side pressure arrival signal is transmitted to the control unit. When receiving the high pressure side pressure arrival signal, the control unit closes the flow path of the air ball valve 234 and stops the liquid feeding operation of the tube pump 220. In this way, excessive inflow of liquid inoculum into the sub tank 230 is prevented.

And the tray 14 which accommodated the cultivation container 12 is conveyed in the inoculation part 10 by the conveyance mechanism 16. FIG. The tray 14 may be conveyed to the inoculation unit 10 in advance. Further, although it is assumed that the tray 14 is placed on the chain conveyor by the operator, it is needless to say that the tray 14 may be automatically loaded via the conveyor.
When the tray 14 is positioned directly below the cap removal mechanism 18, it is stopped by the stopper 26. A contact sensor (not shown) is attached to the stopper 26, and when the tray 14 comes into contact with the stopper 26, a detection signal of the tray 14 is transmitted to the control unit.

  And as above-mentioned, while a control part act | operates the cap removal | desorption mechanism 18, it presses the shoulder part of the cultivation container 12 with the fixed presser plate 32 and the movable presser plate 34, and then lowers the cap presser plate 60, The support plate 74 is raised, the cap 11 is sandwiched between them, and the process of removing the cap 11 from the mouth is executed. Next, together with the movable base 45, the cap 11 is held in a state of being sandwiched between the cap pressing plate 60 and the support plate 74, and moves in an oblique direction with respect to the transport direction of the tray 14, and the upper portion of the mouth is opened. Is done. And a control part operates the nozzle mechanism 20 and the nozzle opening-and-closing means 96, and the nozzle 77 descend | falls and a predetermined amount of liquid inoculum is inoculated on the culture medium in the cultivation container 12. FIG.

  As described above, since a predetermined pressure is applied to the sub tank 230, the tube 94 between the sub tank 230 and the nozzle 77 is also applied with the same pressure as that in the sub tank 230. Therefore, if the control unit controls the operation so that the nozzle opening / closing means 96 releases the closed state of the tube 94 for a predetermined time, the amount of liquid inoculum supplied from the tube 94 to the nozzle 77 can be made almost uniform. it can. Since the time for releasing the closed state of the tube 94 (time for opening the flow path of the tube 94) can be obtained in advance by an experiment, the time obtained by the experiment may be input to the control unit in advance.

As described above, when the liquid inoculum is inoculated from the nozzle 77 to the culture medium in the cultivation container 12 from the sub tank 230 and the tube 94, the pressure in the sub tank 230 decreases. Then, the pressure sensor 232 transmits a low pressure side pressure arrival signal (in this embodiment, when the detected pressure is 0 Pa, the low pressure side pressure arrival signal is transmitted. In addition, 0 Pa in the present specification is atmospheric pressure (1 atm). Is transmitted to the control unit. Then, the controller restarts the process of opening the flow path of the air ball valve 234 and the liquid feeding operation by the tube pump 220 so that the inflow state from the air ball valve 234 to the sub tank 230 is turned on. Then, the liquid inoculum in the main tank 200 is supplied to the sub tank until the inside of the sub tank 230 reaches a predetermined pressure (20 KPa).
By repeating the above series of operations, a predetermined amount of liquid inoculum can be inoculated into the culture medium of the cultivation vessel 12 continuously.

Although the present invention has been described in detail based on the above embodiments, the present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiments, and other modes can of course be adopted.
For example, in this embodiment, although embodiment of the liquid inoculum inoculation apparatus 1 which has the cap removal | desorption mechanism 18 is demonstrated, the cap removal | desorption mechanism 18 may be another structure from the liquid inoculum inoculation apparatus 1. FIG. In this case, the nozzle opening / closing means is used only when the tray detection sensor that detects that the tray 14 is conveyed to a predetermined position transmits a tray detection signal to the control unit and the control unit receives the tray detection signal. A configuration in which 96 is operated may be employed.

In the present embodiment, the inoculation unit 10 including the transport mechanism 16, the nozzle mechanism 20, the sub tank 230, and the air ball valve 234 that is a valve body is provided for the liquid inoculum supply unit including the main tank 200 and the tube pump 220. Although a mode in which one unit is disposed has been described, a mode in which a plurality of inoculation units 10 are connected to a set of liquid inoculum supply units can also be employed. In the case of such a configuration, the control unit, based on the signals (high pressure side pressure detection signal and low pressure side pressure arrival signal) transmitted from the pressure detection sensor in each inoculation unit, the flow path of the air ball valve 234 in the same inoculation unit It suffices to execute a process of switching only on / off. Regarding the on / off switching of the liquid feeding operation of the tube pump 220, the liquid feeding operation of the tube pump 220 may be stopped only when the high pressure side pressure arrival signal is transmitted from the pressure detection sensors in all inoculation units.
Thus, if a plurality of inoculation units 10 are connected to a set of liquid inoculum supply units, it is advantageous because a large-scale liquid inoculum inoculation device 1 can be provided at low cost.
In the case of a larger-scale liquid inoculum inoculation device 1, when the number of installed main tanks 200 is X, the number of installed tube pumps 220 is Y, and the number of installed inoculation units 10 is Z, X, Y , Z can also adopt a combination form of arrangement numbers such that X ≦ Y ≦ Z.

  Furthermore, in embodiment, the form which inoculates the liquid inoculum simultaneously to all the cultivation containers 12 in the tray 14 in the state which accommodated in the tray 14 the cultivation container 12 each arranged 4 each vertically and horizontally is demonstrated. However, it can also be set as the form which inoculates the cultivation container 12 accommodated in the tray 14 one by one or several at a time, and conveys the cultivation container 12 single-piece | unit, without accommodating the cultivation container 12 in the tray 14 Of course, it is possible to inoculate the liquid inoculum in the middle of the process.

  Furthermore, the sliding direction of the movable table 45 (cap 11) in the present embodiment is a direction inclined by 45 degrees in the horizontal plane direction with respect to the transport direction of the tray 14, but the movable table 45 is in another angular direction. Of course, it is also possible to slide it. In short, it is only necessary that the nozzle 77 can enter between the cap 11 detached from the cultivation container 12 and the mouth portion of the cultivation container 12.

In the embodiment described above, the embodiment using a motor, a motor, and a cam as the drive mechanism of the crank mechanism 89, the slide mechanism, and the nozzle opening / closing means 96 is disclosed. Of course, it is also possible to employ a cylinder or the like.
Further, the contact plate 102 constituting the nozzle opening / closing means 96 is formed so as to be thicker than the pressing plate 97, the recess 102 A is formed in the contact plate 102, and the pressing plate 97 enters the recess 102 A of the contact plate 102. Although the mode of closing the flow path of the tube 94 by doing is shown, the pressing plate 97 is formed to be thicker than the contact plate 102, and a recess is formed in the portion where the contact plate 102 of the pressing plate 97 contacts, The tube 94 can also be sandwiched between the concave portion formed in the pressing plate 97 and the gap portion between the plate 102.
Further, in the abutment plate 102 or the pressing plate 97, a tube 94 is disposed on the surfaces facing each other, and a nozzle opening / closing means for controlling the opening and closing of the flow path of the tube 94 by simply abutting the abutting plate 97 on the abutting plate 102. Of course, 96 is also possible.

  The control unit includes a control program stored in advance in the storage unit and a CPU that transmits operation control commands such as switching on and off the operation of each component to each component based on the control program. Such a configuration can be realized not only by a general personal computer but also by a so-called microcomputer.

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Liquid seed bacteria inoculation apparatus 10 Inoculation part 12 Cultivation container 14 Tray 16 Conveyance mechanism 18 Cap removal mechanism 20 Nozzle mechanism 77 Nozzle 92,94 Tube 96 Nozzle opening / closing means 200 Main tank 210 Agitation motor 220 Tube pump 230 Sub tank 232 Pressure sensor 234 Air ball valve

Claims (5)

A liquid inoculum inoculation device for inoculating a liquid inoculum in a cultivation container that is stored in a tray and filled with a medium for cultivation of mushrooms,
A main tank containing the liquid inoculum;
A nozzle that is located above the cultivation container housed in the tray at the inoculation position of the liquid inoculum, has a nozzle that moves toward and away from the cultivation container, and a nozzle opening / closing means that switches between opening and closing of the nozzle. Mechanism,
A sub-tank disposed in the middle of the flow path leading from the main tank to the nozzle, and temporarily storing the liquid inoculum;
A liquid feeding mechanism for supplying liquid inoculum from the main tank to the sub tank;
A valve body that is disposed between the liquid feeding mechanism and the sub tank and regulates inflow of liquid inoculum into the sub tank;
A liquid inoculum inoculation device comprising: a control unit that controls the opening / closing operation of the valve body and the opening / closing operation of the nozzle opening / closing means based on the supply amount of the liquid inoculum into the sub tank. . The sub tank is provided with a pressure sensor for measuring the pressure in the sub tank,
The said control part performs the operation | movement which closes the said valve body, when it detects that the measured pressure value from the said pressure sensor has reached the preset pressure value. Liquid inoculum inoculation device. Further comprising tray detection means for detecting that the tray has been transported to a position corresponding to the nozzle position and transmitting a tray detection signal to the control unit;
The controller opens the nozzle opening / closing means for a predetermined time and then closes the nozzle opening / closing means only when the tray detection signal is received after the valve body is closed. The liquid inoculum inoculation device according to claim 1 or 2, wherein each operation is executed.   4. The liquid inoculum inoculation device according to claim 1, wherein a plurality of the transport mechanism, the nozzle mechanism, the sub-tank, and the valve body are provided. 5.   The liquid inoculation device according to any one of claims 1 to 4, wherein the liquid feeding mechanism is a tube pump.

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