JP2014082996A - Gutter shaped member and plant cultivation device - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a gutter shaped member for plant cultivation to inhibit the growth of algae, and a plant cultivation device with the gutter shaped member.SOLUTION: A gutter shaped member 20 on which a plurality of cultivation trays 10 including one hole or more to cultivate a plant which are adjacently mounted, is installed to be slanted in a longer direction so that nutritious liquid given to the plant flows along an inner surface thereof. The gutter shaped member 20 comprises: a placement area 22 in which the cultivation trays 10 are mounted and which is central thereof in the longer direction; an upper end area and a lower end area 24 in which the cultivation trays 10 are not mounted and which are both endpoints in the longer direction; a drain hole 25 which is arranged at a lowermost part of the placement area 22 to discharge the nutritious liquid; and an inclined plate 26 which is arranged in the inner surface of the lower end area 24 and extends from the drain hole 25 upward.

Description

  The present invention is a plant cultivation device provided with a planting rod-shaped member on which a plurality of cultivation trays are placed and a nutrient solution for immersing the roots of the plant extending from the cultivation tray is flowed along the inner surface. About.

  As one type of hydroponics, thin film hydroponics (NFT) is known. NFT is a cultivation method in which a nutrient solution is poured thinly on a flat surface having a gentle gradient of about 1%. The nutrient solution that has flowed down is stored in a tank and then pumped up again for reuse. For this reason, it is possible to cultivate with less material costs.

  For example, a plurality of rain gutters are arranged in parallel, a cultivation tray on which plants are planted is placed, a nutrient solution is pumped up from a tank by a pump, and gradually supplied to the upstream side of each inclined gutter, There has been proposed an apparatus for creating a shallow flow of nutrient solution in a gutter and supplying nutrients to the roots of a plant extending downward in a cultivation tray (see, for example, Patent Document 1). In addition, in this apparatus, it discharges | emits through the drainage part from the lowest part of a rain gutter, and returns to a tank.

JP 2006-197843 A

  A cultivation panel with holes for planting plants is placed on the multiple rain gutters where the nutrient solution flows, and the upper part is covered with this cultivation panel. Does not enter. For this reason, generation | occurrence | production of algae is suppressed. By the way, when algae are generated, microorganisms are buried and an unsanitary environment is formed. In addition, algae and microorganisms are carried to the roots of plants by circulation of nutrient solution, and when they adhere to the roots, diseases and the like are caused.

  Generally, since the same plant is planted in one cultivation panel, all the plants of this cultivation panel are harvested simultaneously. For this reason, even if the algae described above are generated, it is possible to stop the circulation of the nutrient solution at the time of harvesting and to wash and remove the inside of a plurality of rain gutters. However, if only one cultivation panel is placed on a plurality of rain gutters, plant production efficiency is low.

  Therefore, the production efficiency can be improved by increasing the length of the plurality of rain gutters, placing a plurality of cultivation panels with different growth, and varying the harvest time. However, when the cultivation tray is lifted at the time of harvesting, light hits the rain gutter, and algae are generated by repeating this.

  In view of the above-described problems, the present invention provides a nutrient that is provided to a plant by placing a plurality of cultivation trays having one or more holes for planting the plant adjacent to each other and being inclined in the longitudinal direction. It is a rod-shaped member in which the liquid flows along the inner surface, and the rod-shaped member includes a mounting region in the central portion in the longitudinal direction on which a plurality of cultivation trays are mounted and both longitudinal ends on which the cultivation trays are not mounted. The upper end region and the lower end region of the mounting region have a discharge port for discharging the nutrient solution at the bottom, and an inclined plate extending upward from the discharge port is provided on the inner surface of the lower end region A saddle-like member is provided.

  According to the present invention, even if a plurality of cultivation panels are placed, generation of algae can be reliably prevented. Moreover, since plants with different harvest times can be grown, the production efficiency of plants can be improved.

The figure which illustrated the rain gutter which can be used as a gutter-shaped member of this invention. The figure which illustrated the cross-sectional shape of the gutter. The figure which illustrated the cultivation tray mounted on a bowl-shaped member. The figure which showed the place which mounted the several cultivation tray on the several hook-shaped member arranged in parallel. The figure which showed the place which has mounted several cultivation trays and is flowing the nutrient solution along the inner surface of a bowl-shaped member. The figure which showed the place which pushed out in order to add the new cultivation tray and to transfer the cultivation tray in which the plant of the harvest time was planted to the harvest place. The figure which illustrated one composition of the lower end field of a bowl-shaped member. The schematic block diagram of a plant cultivation apparatus provided with a some cocoon-shaped member.

  The cocoon-shaped member of the present invention is a nutrient that is provided to a plant by placing a plurality of cultivation trays having one or more holes for planting the plant adjacent to each other and inclining in the longitudinal direction. It is a cocoon-shaped member for planting along which the liquid flows along the inner surface. As an example, the gutter-like member can be a rain gutter 1 having a round cross-section as shown in FIG.

  As shown in FIG. 2 (a), the rain gutter 1 has a round cross section formed by cutting a cylinder elongated in one half in the longitudinal direction as shown in FIG. 2 (a). The cross section may be rectangular. The rain gutter shown in FIG. 2 (b) includes two opposing side plates 2, 3 and a bottom plate 4 continuing to the side plates 2, 3. Here, the two side plates 2 and 3 are substantially parallel to each other, but they may be close to each other as they go downward rather than in parallel.

  In addition, as shown in FIG.2 (c), the baseplate 4 may have a level | step difference. That is, the bottom plate 4 is located between the two first bottom surfaces 5 and 6 that are continuous with the side plates 2 and 3 and the first bottom surfaces 5 and 6 of the two, and from the first bottom surfaces 5 and 6. It has the 2nd bottom face 7 which exists below.

  In the present invention, since it is desirable to flow the nutrient solution thinly and in a uniform thickness, it is preferable that the bottom surface is flat as shown in FIG. 2 (b) or FIG. 2 (c). Moreover, in order to make it flow with predetermined thickness, reducing the quantity which flows nutrient solution, what has a level | step difference in a bottom face as shown in FIG.2 (c) is more preferable. When the rain gutter shown in FIG. 2C is employed, the nutrient solution is allowed to flow only on the second bottom surface 7.

  The rain gutter can be manufactured from a plastic resin such as hard vinyl chloride, a metal such as aluminum, stainless steel or copper, or a composite material thereof. In addition, when using a rain gutter, the closing member called the stop 8 as shown in FIG. 1 is attached using an adhesive etc. so that the nutrient solution which flows along an inner surface from both ends may not fall.

  A cultivation tray is demonstrated with reference to FIG. The cultivation tray 10 uses a rectangular plate-like material made of plastic resin such as polyethylene, polypropylene, polyvinyl chloride, fiber reinforced plastic (FRP), ceramics, or the like, and holes 11 having a predetermined diameter are formed at regular intervals. be able to. For example, as shown to Fig.3 (a), it can be set as the rectangular plate-shaped object provided with the several hole 11 formed in the zigzag form.

  Plants are planted in the holes 11 of the cultivation tray 10 by sowing seeds on a cubic, rectangular parallelepiped or cylindrical polyurethane sponge, sprinkled with water, and sown into the holes 11. FIG. 3 (b) is a view showing the plant 12 planted in each hole 11 of the cultivation tray 10. The plant has a leaf 13 on the upper side of the cultivation tray 10, a sponge 14 in close contact with the hole 11, and a root 15 spreading on the lower side.

  Examples of the plant include, but are not limited to, salad vegetables, sunny lettuce, leaf lettuce, chingen vegetables, komatsuna, sweet basil, periwinkle, tomato, strawberry, green onion and the like.

  As shown in FIG. 4A, a plurality of gutter-like members 20 such as rain gutters are installed in parallel. Moreover, as shown in FIG. 4B, the cultivation tray 10 shown in FIG. 3 is placed on each cocoon-shaped member 20 so as to straddle the plurality of cocoon-shaped members 20. Although plants are not illustrated in FIG. 4, the cultivation tray 10 in which the plants 12 as shown in FIG. 3B are actually planted has roots 15 of the plants 12 in the rod-shaped members 20. It is mounted so that it may be accommodated.

  As shown in FIG. 5, a plurality of cultivation trays 10 are placed adjacent to each other in the longitudinal direction of the bowl-shaped member 20. Each bowl-shaped member 20 is installed so as to incline with a gradient of about 1% in the longitudinal direction thereof. Here, although it is about 1%, in order to set it so that it may become a desired flow velocity, about 0.5%, about 2%, etc. can be set suitably. Incidentally, the gradient of 1% is a gradient when the vertical direction is increased by 1 m with respect to the horizontal direction of 100 m. Since the gradient is provided in this way, the nutrient solution 30 passes through the inner surface 21 of the bowl-shaped member 20 whose upper portions are closed by the plurality of cultivation trays 10 from the higher side at one end to the lower side at the other end. It flows toward.

  Below the cultivation tray 10, the root 15 of the plant 12 extends, and the nutrient solution 30 is flowed thinly enough to immerse the tip of the root 15. This is because the root part of this root absorbs moisture and nutrients from the nutrient solution 30. The nutrient solution 30 contains water, nitrogen, phosphoric acid, potassium, calcium, magnesium, and the like necessary for plant growth.

  A lighting (not shown) for supplying light necessary for the growth of the plant 12 is attached above the bowl-shaped member 20. Light is needed to illuminate the leaves 13 of the plant 12 and grow the plant 12, but when it hits the nutrient solution 30, it generates algae and forms an unsanitary environment. However, since the plurality of cultivation trays 10 are placed adjacent to each other in the upper portion of the rod-shaped member 20 through which the nutrient solution 30 flows, and the light is blocked, generation of such algae can be prevented.

  When placing a plurality of cultivation trays 10 on the cocoon-shaped member 20, a plurality of cultivation trays 10 on which plants 12 have grown in order are placed from one end of the cocoon-shaped member 20 to the other end. While adding a cultivation tray, the cultivation tray in which the plant which grew most from the other end was planted can be transferred to a harvesting place. Thereby, continuous harvesting can be realized.

  In order to add this new cultivation tray and to transfer the cultivation tray to the harvesting place, it is necessary to place at least one cultivation tray 10 on each of the longitudinal ends of the rod-shaped member 20. A space (area) that can be created is required. This is to realize these while preventing the light from being applied to the nutrient solution 30 flowing in the bowl-shaped member 20 when the cultivation tray 10 is added and transferred.

  If it demonstrates with reference to FIG. 6, when neither cultivation tray 10 is added nor transferred, it will become as shown to Fig.6 (a). The cocoon-shaped member 20 has a placement area 22 where a plurality of cultivation trays 10 are placed at the center in the longitudinal direction, and has a non-placement area where the cultivation trays 10 are not placed at both ends thereof. Yes. The bowl-shaped member 20 is installed at an inclination, and the nutrient solution 30 is flowed from the upstream side of one end toward the downstream side of the other end. For this reason, the non-mounting area is composed of an upper end area 23 on the upstream side and a lower end area 24 on the downstream side.

  The stage of growth differs depending on the cultivation tray 10, and the plant grows from the upstream side to the downstream side. For this reason, when the plant in the most downstream cultivation tray 10b reaches the harvest time, a new cultivation tray 10a is placed in the upper end region 23 as shown in FIG. Then, the new cultivation tray 10a is pushed toward the downstream side. Then, the entire cultivation tray 10 including this new cultivation tray 10a slides on the bowl-shaped member 20, and the most downstream cultivation tray 10b that has reached the harvest time is the lower end region 24 as shown in FIG. 6 (c). Pushed up. The cultivation tray 10b pushed onto the lower end region 24 is transferred to a harvesting place using a transporting machine such as a lift.

  By providing the upper end region 23 and the lower end region 24 in this manner, continuous harvesting can be realized while preventing light from entering the rod-shaped member 20. When the nutrient solution 30 is exposed to light, it generates algae in the rod-shaped member 20, so that it should not be exposed to light. Therefore, a nozzle for supplying the nutrient solution 30 is provided at the uppermost part of the placement region 22 of the bowl-shaped member 20, and the excess nutrient solution 30 is provided at the lowermost part of the placement region 22, as shown in FIG. Can be provided with a discharge port 25.

  However, the discharge port 25, which is a simple hole, cannot discharge all of the flowing nutrient solution 30, but may pass over the discharge port 25 and flow to the lower end region 24 on the downstream side. is there. In this lower end region 24, there is no outlet for discharging the nutrient solution 30, and the nutrient solution 30 is stored, and algae are generated by this storage. Therefore, an inclined plate 26 extending upward from the discharge port 25 can be provided on the inner surface of the lower end region 24. Thereby, even if it reduces the quantity which the nutrient solution 30 passes on the discharge port 25, and it passes, since it flows backward toward the discharge port 25, storage of the nutrient solution 30 is lost and generation | occurrence | production of algae is prevented. Can be prevented.

  Note that the upper end region 23 and the lower end region 24 are not covered with the cultivation tray 10, but are not irradiated with illumination, so only weak ambient light is applied. Although the weak ambient light hits the nutrient solution 30 on the inclined plate 26, it is immediately discharged from the discharge port 25, so that the generation of algae can be prevented. The inclined plate 26 may have any inclination angle as long as it is inclined upward from the drain port 33.

  The surface of the inclined plate 26 with which the nutrient solution 30 comes into contact may be coated with a photocatalyst. Examples of the photocatalyst include titanium dioxide. The photocatalyst generates OH radicals from the water in the nutrient solution 30 when exposed to light, and decomposes algae generated by the strong oxidizing power of the OH radicals.

  In the embodiment described above, the bowl-shaped member 20 includes the placement area 22, the upper end area 23, and the lower end area 24, and the upper end area 23 and the lower end area 24 are configured to be detachable from the placement area 22. It can also be removed and washed. For this reason, the part of the mounting area | region 22 and the part of the upper end area | region 23 and the lower end area | region 24 can be connected using a joint.

  Having described the rod-shaped member 20 of the present invention, a plant cultivation apparatus in which the rod-shaped member 20 is used will be described next. FIG. 8 is a schematic configuration diagram of the plant cultivation apparatus. This plant cultivation apparatus 40 is installed indoors.

  The plant cultivation device 40 includes a plurality of cocoon-shaped members 20, a cultivation shelf 41 configured to support and fix the plurality of cocoon-shaped members 20 to be inclined, and a plurality of cocoon-shaped members 20. It comprises a plurality of cultivation trays 10 placed on top and illumination 42 as illumination means for irradiating light to the plants planted on the cultivation tray 10. Moreover, the plant cultivation apparatus 40 includes a circulation pump 43 as a nutrient solution supply means for supplying nutrient solution to each rod-shaped member 20, a tank 44 as a storage tank for storing the nutrient solution, and the nutrient solution In order to raise the dissolved oxygen concentration to a predetermined value, it further includes an air pump 45 as gas supply means for blowing oxygen, air or the like into the nutrient solution.

  In FIG. 8, the cultivation shelf 41 is composed of five stages, and a plurality of basket-like members 20 are arranged in parallel in each stage. A plurality of cultivation trays 10 are placed adjacent to each other so as to straddle the plurality of basket-like members 20 arranged in parallel. And each saddle-shaped member 20 is for putting the cultivation tray discharged | emitted from the cultivation shelf 41 by pushing the upper end area | region for placing a new cultivation tray and the new cultivation tray in the cultivation shelf 41 And a lower end region. These areas protrude from the cultivation shelf 41.

  For example, a fluorescent lamp or a light emitting diode (LED) lamp can be used as the illumination 42. Note that the LED lamp is preferable in that it can emit light of a specific color, has low power consumption, and has a long life. The circulation pump 43 may be any type of pump as long as it can transport a liquid. For example, a diaphragm pump or a plunger pump can be adopted.

  The tank 44 has a capacity capable of storing an amount of nutrient solution required to be supplied into each bowl-shaped member 20, and the shape thereof may be any shape. The tank 44 may be a container manufactured from a plastic resin such as polyethylene, polyvinyl chloride, or FRP, or a metal such as carbon steel or stainless steel.

  In addition, the plant cultivation apparatus 40 includes a fan as an air circulation means for circulating indoor air, an air conditioner as a temperature adjustment means for adjusting indoor temperature, and humidity adjustment for adjusting indoor humidity. A humidifier or a dehumidifier as a means, a filter as a floating substance removing means for removing floating substances such as bacteria and dust floating in the air, and the like can be provided. The fan cools the heat generated by the lighting 42 by the circulating air and makes it possible to keep the room at a constant temperature. In addition, ventilation means can be provided in order to release indoor heat to the outside. This ventilation means can be used together with the floating substance removing means.

  These are all used to create an optimal environment for plant growth, and can be used as necessary. Other devices can also be installed as necessary. Is.

  So far, the cocoon-shaped member of the present invention and the plant cultivation apparatus provided with the cocoon-shaped member have been described in detail with the above-described embodiments, but the present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiments, and other implementations. It is possible to make changes within the scope that can be conceived by those skilled in the art, such as forms, additions, changes, and deletions. It is.

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 ... Rain gutter, 2, 3 ... Side plate, 4 ... Bottom plate, 5, 6 ... 1st bottom face, 7 ... 2nd bottom face, 8 ... Stop, 10, 10a, 10b ... Cultivation tray, 11 ... Hole, 12 ... Plant, 13 ... leaf, 14 ... sponge, 15 ... root, 20 ... bowl-shaped member, 21 ... inner surface, 22 ... mounting area, 23 ... upper end area, 24 ... lower end area, 25 ... outlet, 26 ... inclined plate , 30 ... nutrient solution, 40 ... plant cultivation device, 41 ... cultivation shelf, 42 ... lighting, 43 ... circulation pump, 44 ... tank, 45 ... air pump

Claims (7)

A plurality of cultivation trays having one or more holes for planting are placed adjacent to each other, and the nutrient solution to be given to the plant is flowed along the inner surface by being inclined in the longitudinal direction. A bowl-shaped member,
It has a placement area at the center in the longitudinal direction where the plurality of cultivation trays are placed, and an upper end area and a lower end area at both ends in the longitudinal direction where the cultivation trays are not placed, at the bottom of the placement area A bowl-shaped member having a discharge port for discharging the nutrient solution, and provided with an inclined plate extending upward from the discharge port on an inner surface of the lower end region.   The saddle-shaped member includes two opposing side plates and a bottom plate continuing to the two side plates, and the bottom plate has two first steps formed on the inner surface of each of the side plates with a step. And a second bottom surface located between the two first bottom surfaces and below the two first bottom surfaces, wherein the nutrient solution is allowed to flow only on the second bottom surface. Item 2. A bowl-shaped member according to item 1.   The bowl-shaped member according to claim 1 or 2, wherein a surface of the inclined plate is coated with a photocatalyst.   The saddle-shaped member according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein the placement area, the upper end area, and the lower end area are detachable.   The cocoon-shaped member according to any one of claims 1 to 4, a plurality of cultivation trays placed on the cocoon-shaped member, and a nutrient solution supply means for supplying nutrient solution to the rod-shaped member. Including plant cultivation equipment.   The plant cultivation apparatus is installed indoors, and lighting means for irradiating light to the plants planted in the plurality of cultivation trays, and a gas for raising the dissolved oxygen concentration in the nutrient solution to a predetermined value The plant cultivation apparatus according to claim 5, further comprising supply means. An air circulating means for circulating the indoor air, a temperature adjusting means for adjusting the temperature of the room, a humidity adjusting means for adjusting the humidity of the room, and a floating substance floating in the room. The plant cultivation apparatus according to claim 6, further comprising floating matter removing means for removing.