JP2011206031A - Hydroponic container - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide an indoor hydroponic container allowing to change or select LED in order to change a wavelength of light to be irradiated, and controlling water temperature.SOLUTION: The hydroponic container is such that a light irradiating part having a plurality of ventilating holes on the side, and provided with the ventilating holes and LED is so formed that the light irradiating part is engaged with or detached from the ventilating holes, and when being engaged, a void for ventilation between the inside and the outside of the container is secured in the ventilating holes. Furthermore, a heater is laid on the bottom of the inside of the container; a water temperature gauge for the inside of the container is set inside the container; a heater control part is formed to be engaged with the ventilating holes like the light irradiating part; a measured value of the water temperature gauge is transmitted to the control part, and based on the value, heater power output is adjusted by the control part.

Description

  The present invention relates to an indoor hydroponics container.

  Hydroponic cultivation has been practiced for a long time as a cultivation of leafy vegetables such as daikon radish, on a small scale by farmers, and also at home.

  However, recently, lighting technology such as LEDs has advanced, and productivity can be improved by continuously irradiating light of a wavelength (color) suitable for plant growth for 24 hours, and soil is not used. Therefore, since it is possible to grow and ship clean vegetables, hydroponics has been carried out on a large scale in so-called plant factories.

  There are also technical and commercial developments of hydroponics, and several containers for hydroponics in a home room have been proposed. For example, in Patent Document 1, a cultivation container in which an LED is attached to the lid is proposed. In Patent Document 2, an oblique cultivation tube is provided on the side surface of the container, and a plant is cultivated in this portion. It is described that the columns are arranged.

  However, in the plant culture container of patent document 1, it cannot change or select to LED which irradiates the wavelength suitable for the plant to grow, and optimal light irradiation cannot be performed. Plants have different wavelengths of light suitable for growth depending on the type of plant, and different wavelengths of light suitable for the growth process. Therefore, it is important to be able to change the LED in hydroponics for promoting the promotion of plants.

  Moreover, although neither the container of patent document 1 and the patent document 2 considers control of water temperature, even if it puts a container indoors, in the state of the low water temperature of winter, plant growth does not advance, but control of water temperature Is also an important factor in promoting the promotion of plants.

  Furthermore, from the viewpoint of placing in the room, the LED light of the hydroponic cultivation container can be expected to improve the interior as accent lighting that produces a space, and therefore, development of an excellent design is desired.

Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 9-252651 Utility Model Registration No. 3128164

  Then, it aims at providing the indoor hydroponic container which can change LED etc. so that the wavelength of the light to irradiate can be changed, and can control water temperature.

And the inventors made invention of the following structure in order to solve this subject.
A hydroponic cultivation container 1 having an opening 2 in an upper part 100 and a plurality of ventilation openings 3 in a side wall 101,
The light irradiating unit 5 including the vent 3 and the LED 4 has a structure in which the light irradiating unit 5 is locked to the vent 3 or can be removed.
A heater 6 is laid on the bottom surface 104 inside the container 1, and a thermometer 8 for measuring the temperature of the water 105 to be put inside the container 1 is installed on the side surface 102 inside the container 1,
Transmitting the measured value M1 of the thermometer 8 to the controller 9 of the heater 6 and adjusting the current M2 for heating the heater 6 by the controller 9 based on the measured value M1;
Hydroponics container 1 characterized by this.

  With the hydroponic container according to the present invention, the LED can be changed according to the plant to be cultivated and the growth stage, and the water temperature can be controlled, so that the cultivation efficiency can be improved.

It is a vertical sectional view of a hydroponics container. It is a horizontal sectional view (A1-A2 section of Drawing 1) of a hydroponics container. It is a front view of a hydroponics container. (A) Horizontal cross-sectional view of hydroponics container, (b) Part of vertical cross-sectional view of hydroponic container, (c) Hydroponic container It is drawing which looked at the light irradiation part from the inside. It is drawing which shows an example of arrangement | positioning of LED in a light irradiation part. It is a front view at the time of providing water supply equipment. It is an expanded view of the object controlled by a control part.

Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the accompanying drawings.
The following embodiments are specific examples of the present invention and do not limit the technical scope of the present invention.

(Description of Examples)
Fig.1 (a) is a vertical sectional view for demonstrating the structure of the hydroponic container 1 (henceforth abbreviated as "container 1") according to the present invention.
The container 1 is a container made of glass or resin having an opening 2 in the upper part 100 and a plurality of ventilation openings 3 in the side wall 101. The container 1 allows light radiated from the LED 4 installed to allow the plant that is hydroponically cultivated inside the container 1 to be visually recognized from the outside of the container 1 and to promote cultivation. However, it is desirable to be transparent in order to provide auxiliary lighting in the room. In addition, since the size is set indoors, a height of about 30 cm and a diameter of about 30 cm are appropriate (in this embodiment, the container 1 is substantially cylindrical, but is not limited thereto, and may be a rectangular parallelepiped, for example).

  In addition, a plurality of light irradiation units 5 are attached to the container 1 in order to irradiate light to the plants that are hydroponically cultivated inside the container 1. The light irradiation unit 5 includes one or a plurality of LEDs 4 and has a structure that is locked to the vent hole 3 or removable (for example, as illustrated in FIG. 1, light irradiation is performed). The shape of the part 5 is formed in a reverse concave shape so that it can be locked to the side wall 101 of the container 1). By doing in this way, it can change easily to the light irradiation part 5 provided with LED4 which emits the light of the optimal wavelength (color) according to the plant to be hydroponically cultivated and according to the growth stage. .

  When the light irradiation unit 5 is locked to the ventilation port 3, the ventilation port 3 and the light irradiation unit 5 are arranged so that a space is provided in the ventilation port 3 so that air can pass between the inside and the outside of the container 1. You may decide the size. In addition to the ventilation 103 from the outside to the inside of the container 1, the ventilation opening 3 also serves as a passage for supplying water to the inside of the container 1 as will be described later.

  Moreover, you may comprise the ventilation port 3 so that the whole or one part can be opened and closed. For example, the air vent 3 is provided with a shutter (not shown) that is movable left and right or up and down, and is operated manually (which may be electrically operated by a motor or the like). This is because when the ventilation opening 3 is in a state where ventilation is possible at all times, when the humidity becomes low due to indoor heating or the like, evaporation of water contained in the container 1 is accelerated, and a rainy season with high humidity. At the time of heating or at the time of heating described above, the indoor humidity rises, and there is a risk of causing condensation in the room, so that it is possible to limit the air inside the container 1 containing moisture to the outside. is there.

  In addition, it is not necessary to attach the light irradiation part 5 to all the vent holes 3, and the number of the light irradiation parts 5 is determined according to the plant to hydroponic cultivation. FIG. 2 shows an A1-A2 cross-sectional view of FIG. 1A when there are eight ventilation openings 3 and the light irradiation sections 5 are installed in four of the vent holes 3.

  On the bottom surface 104 inside the container 1, a heater 6 for keeping the water 105 for hydroponics enclosed in the container 1 is laid, and the water temperature of the water 105 is measured on the inner surface 102 of the container 1. A thermometer 8 is installed. And the control part 9 which controls the heater 6 grade | etc., Latches to the ventilation hole 3 similarly to the light irradiation part 5, or is comprised so that removal is possible.

  Furthermore, the measurement value M1 of the thermometer 8 is transmitted to the control unit 9 (in FIG. 1A, the drawing of the communication line 106 that transmits the measurement value M1 is omitted), and based on the measurement value M1 The output M2 from the control unit 9 to the heater 6 via the power line 107 is adjusted, and the water 105 is set to a water temperature suitable for hydroponics.

  In the case of actually hydroponically cultivating a plant in the container 1, a sponge 108 or the like is placed inside the container 1, and this is a portion that contains water and is rooted.

  In order to irradiate the LED 4 of the light irradiation unit 5, it is necessary to supply electricity, and therefore, the power line 107 must be provided. However, since the light irradiation unit 5 can be individually attached to the vent 3, the wire storage groove 11 is provided in the container so that the power line 107 (and the communication line 106) is not mixed or arranged around the container 1. The power line 107 and the like may be stored along the electric wire storage groove 11.

  FIG. 3 shows a front view of the hydroponic container 1 described above.

  Furthermore, a receiver 12 with a recess 13 is provided at the upper end of the side wall 101 of the container 1 so that the hydroponics container 1 can be stacked. Then, in FIG. 1 (a), by placing the lower end of the side wall 101 of another container 1 indicated by a dotted line on the upper part of the receiver 12, a considerable number of containers 1 can be stacked in a stable manner. Is possible. Further, as shown in FIG. 1 (b), a lid 7 may be placed on the receiver 12.

  In FIG. 1, only one LED 4 is provided in one light irradiation unit 5, but a plurality of LEDs 4 may be provided. FIG. 4C is a view of the vent 3 and the light irradiation unit 5 as viewed from the inside of the container 1 (viewed from the direction of the arrow in FIG. 4A). The wavelength LEDs 4 may be arranged in a plane so that the switch 14 can select the wavelength. For example, as shown in FIG. 5, blue (B), green (G), yellow (Y), and red (R) LEDs 4 are arranged in an oblique direction as shown in FIG. (FIG. 5 shows four colors for each color), and it may be possible to irradiate evenly what is hydroponically cultivated.

  Moreover, in the case of the light irradiation part 5 which arrange | positioned LED4 surface, since a dimension becomes large compared with the case where one LED4 is shown, as shown to Fig.4 (a), the vent hole 3 is compared with the case of FIG. Therefore, the air vent 3 is also enlarged. FIG. 4B shows a part of the B1-B2 cross section of FIG.

  Furthermore, water supply to the inside of the container 1 is not performed by human hands, but the water supply pipe 17 is conducted from the pump 16 to the inside of the container 1 through the vent 3 of the container 1 as shown in FIG. Alternatively, the pump 16 provided in the water tank 15 can be operated. In addition, although not shown in the figure, the water supply pipe 17 is similarly conducted from the water pipe to the inside of the container 1, an electromagnetic valve is provided in the middle of the water supply pipe 17, and the electromagnetic valve is operated to supply water into the container 1. You can also

In the description so far, the heater 6, the LED 4, and the pump 16 are operated semi-automatically, but this can be made fully automatic. In the above description, the control unit 9 has been described as exclusively controlling the heater 6. However, the control unit 9 adds a comprehensive control function.

  As shown in the development view of FIG. 7, the input unit 18 and the storage unit 19 are linked to the control unit 9 of the hydroponic cultivation container 1. The user of the container 1 inputs the plant species to be hydroponically cultivated at the input unit 18. Then, the input data is transmitted to the storage unit 19 via the control unit 9. The input unit 18 may be removable (for example, the terminal of the input unit 18 composed of an input terminal having a liquid crystal screen can be connected to the interface terminal of the control unit 9 via a cable, Enter the necessary information from the input terminal).

  In the control unit 9, based on the plant species input from the input unit 18, the growth data for the plant species (specifically, the lighting method, Water supply method, heat retention method, etc.) are read, and the light irradiation unit 5, pump 16, heater 6 and the like are controlled based on the read method.

  For example, the storage unit 19 stores information that the plant A gives only water for the first three days and then irradiates with red light, so that good germination can be expected for each plant. The controller 9 intermittently operates the pump 16 for the first three days to supply water into the container 1, and selects the red LED 4 in the light irradiation unit 5 having the multi-colored LEDs 4 on the fourth day. Irradiation is possible.

  Moreover, a sensor for measuring illuminance, humidity, temperature, and the like may be provided in the hydroponic container 1 and reflected in the control by the control unit 9 (for example, when the humidity is high, water supply is suppressed).

1 hydroponics container, 2 opening part, 3 ventilation opening 4 LED, 5 light irradiation part,
6 Heater, 7 Lid, 8 Thermometer, 9 Control section, 11 Wire storage groove,
12 A receiver at the upper end of the side wall of the container, 13 A recess in the receiver,
14 switch, 15 water tank, 16 pump, 17 water supply pipe,
18 input unit, 19 storage unit, 100 upper part of container, 101 side wall of container,
102 inner surface of container, 103 ventilation, 104 bottom surface of container,
105 Water enclosed in the container, 106 Communication line for transmitting measured values,
107 power line, 108 sponge, 109 outer surface of the container,
M1 Thermometer measurement value, M2 Current for heating the heater

Claims (1)

A hydroponics container (1) having an opening (2) in the upper part (100) and a plurality of ventilation openings (3) in the side wall (101),
The light irradiation part (5) provided with the ventilation opening (3) and the LED (4) has a structure in which the light irradiation part (5) is locked to the ventilation opening (3) or is removable,
A heater (6) is laid on the bottom surface (104) inside the container (1), and the water (105) to be put inside the container (1) on the side surface (102) inside the container (1). Install a thermometer (8) to measure the temperature,
The measured value (M1) of the thermometer (8) is transmitted to the controller (9) of the heater (6), and the heater (6) is transmitted by the controller (9) based on the measured value (M1). Adjusting the current (M2) for heating to
Hydroponics container (1) characterized by

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