JP2014233231A - Multistage shelf type plant growth device and plant growth system - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a multistage shelf type plant growth device capable of efficiently radiating heat from an artificial illuminator to an atmosphere, and preventing temperature rise of a nutrient liquid flowing a tray right above the artificial illuminator and the rhizosphere part of a plant placed on the tray, and a plant growth system comprising the multistage shelf type plant growth device.SOLUTION: In each of multistage shelf type plant growth devices 3 to 6, an artificial illuminator 13 is installed on the bottom surface of a shelf. The artificial illuminator 13 is provided with a box 13a installed on the bottom side of an irrigation tray 31 of the shelf, a fluorescent lamp 13c and a power supply unit 13g. The power supply unit 13g is installed on a bottom plate 13e of the box 13a, and is separated from a top plate 13d. The bottom plate 13e serves as a reflector plate of the fluorescent lamp 13c.

Description

  The present invention relates to a multi-stage shelf type plant growing apparatus such as a seedling raising apparatus having an artificial illuminator, and more particularly to a multi-stage shelf type plant growing apparatus having an improved structure of the artificial illuminator. The present invention also relates to a plant growing system provided with this multistage shelf type plant growing apparatus.

  Multistage shelf-type plant breeding where shelves are arranged in multiple stages, trays are installed on the upper surface of each shelf, seedlings are placed on the trays, water is irrigated, and light is emitted from an artificial illuminator such as a fluorescent lamp. The apparatus is described in patent documents 1-3. The artificial illuminator is installed on the lower surface side of each shelf, and is configured to irradiate light on the plants on the shelf on the lower side of the shelf. In addition, light is irradiated to the plant on the uppermost shelf from an artificial illuminator installed on the top surface portion of the multistage shelf-type plant growing device.

  Heat is generated from the artificial illuminator. In order to prevent the growth environment temperature of the plant from rising above the set range due to this heat, Patent Document 1 discloses that heat from the artificial illuminator is transferred to the nutrient solution flowing in the tray immediately above the artificial illuminator. And providing a nutrient solution cooling unit in the nutrient solution circulation path. However, this method requires a cooling unit and increases the equipment cost. In addition, when growing a plant by supplying a nutrient solution intermittently, when the supply of the nutrient solution is stopped, the heat transmitted from the artificial illuminator increases the temperature of the root zone of the plant through the tray. The plant growth tends to be adversely affected.

  In order to prevent the heat from the artificial illuminator from being transferred to the tray immediately above, it is conceivable to separate the tray and the artificial illuminator, but in this case, the vertical distance between the shelves increases, The number of growing plants per unit space will decrease.

JP 2009-34064 A JP2003-52253A WO2004 / 026023

  The present invention efficiently dissipates heat from the artificial illuminator to the atmosphere, and can prevent an increase in the temperature of the nutrient solution flowing through the tray directly above the artificial illuminator and the temperature of the root zone of the plant on the tray. It is an object of the present invention to provide a multistage shelf type plant growing apparatus and a plant growing system having the multistage shelf type plant growing apparatus.

  The multi-stage shelf type plant growing apparatus of the present invention is a multi-stage shelf type plant growing apparatus in which plant growing shelves are arranged in upper and lower stages, and provided with an irrigation device for flowing nutrient solution on each shelf. In a multi-stage shelf type plant growing apparatus in which an artificial illuminator for irradiating light on plants on the shelf is installed on the lower surface of the shelf, the artificial illuminator includes a box installed on the lower surface side of the shelf, A light emitter disposed on the lower surface side of the box, and a light emitter operating power supply unit installed in the box, the box having a top plate and a bottom plate, and the power supply unit Is installed on the bottom plate, and the power supply unit and the top plate are separated from each other.

  In this multi-stage shelf type plant growing apparatus, it is preferable that an air flow forming means for forming an air flow is provided in an upper space of each shelf.

  In the present invention, it is preferable that the box is in contact with the lower surface of the shelf. Moreover, it is preferable that the bottom plate of the box is a reflection plate for reflecting light from the light emitter.

  In the plant growing system of the present invention, such a multi-stage shelf type plant growing apparatus is installed in a closed building structure.

According to the present invention, the following effects are exhibited.
(1) In the multistage shelf-type plant growing device of the present invention, an artificial illuminator installed on the lower surface side of the shelf includes a box, a light emitter disposed on the lower surface side of the box, and the box. The power supply unit is installed on the bottom plate of the box, and the power supply unit is separated from the top plate of the box. Therefore, the heat of the power supply unit of the artificial illuminator is mainly radiated downward from the bottom plate of the box, and the heat transferred to the upper shelf of the artificial illuminator is small. Thereby, it is prevented that the nutrient solution which flows on a shelf (on a tray) and the rhizosphere part of the plant mounted on the tray are warmed by the heat of the artificial illuminator, and the plant is efficiently grown. Moreover, a cooling unit for cooling the nutrient solution becomes unnecessary, and the equipment cost can be reduced. In addition, the nutrient solution said here means the water containing a fertilizer, fresh water, etc.

  In addition, since the plant can be grown by stopping the nutrient solution flowing in the tray, the amount of water given to the plant can be limited by shortening the time for flowing the nutrient solution to the tray per day. It is possible to cultivate good quality seedlings that are resistant to drying even after transplanting in a field or greenhouse.

  In general, for raising seedlings, it is preferable to shorten the time during which the root zone of the seedling is immersed in the nutrient solution in order to prevent “too much water” for the seedling. For this reason, it is preferable to appropriately adjust the flow time of the nutrient solution on the tray according to the type of seedling to be cultivated, and to keep the root zone as dry as possible.

(2) By flowing an airflow through the space above the shelf, air warmed by the heat of the artificial illuminator can be discharged from the space, and the temperature of the space can be kept more constant.

(3) In the present invention, even if the artificial illuminator is brought into contact with the lower surface of the shelf, the heat transmitted from the artificial illuminator to the shelf is small. In this way, by bringing the artificial illuminator into contact with the lower surface of the shelf, the height of the multi-stage shelf type plant growing apparatus can be lowered without reducing the height of the space, or the height of the multi-stage shelf type plant growing apparatus can be reduced. The number of shelves can be increased without increasing the size.

(4) By making the bottom plate of the box of the artificial illuminator a reflecting plate that reflects the light from the light emitter, the light from the light emitter can be efficiently used for plant growth.

It is a top view of the plant cultivation system provided with the multistage shelf type plant cultivation device concerning an embodiment. It is the II-II sectional view taken on the line of FIG. It is a front view of the multistage shelf type plant growing device concerning an embodiment. It is the IV-IV sectional view taken on the line of FIG. It is a top view of the tray of the multistage shelf type plant growing device concerning an embodiment. It is a perspective view of the tray of FIG. It is the VII-VII sectional view taken on the line of FIG. It is a bottom view of an artificial illuminator. It is the IX-IX sectional view taken on the line of FIG. It is sectional drawing of the tray of the multistage shelf type plant growing apparatus which concerns on another embodiment.

  A preferred embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS. As shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, a plurality of box-shaped (four in the illustrated example) multi-stage shelf-type plants are grown in a room of a closed building structure 1 surrounded by a heat-insulating wall and made completely light-shielding. Devices 3, 4, 5, 6 are installed. In this embodiment, the plant growing device is a seedling raising device.

  In FIG. 1, two multi-stage shelf type plant growing apparatuses 3 and 4 are arranged in a row so that their open front faces in the same direction, and the two multi-stage shelf type plant growing apparatuses 5 and 6 are also arranged. One row is arranged so that the open front faces in the same direction, and two rows are arranged in the room so that the open front faces each other. In addition, a working space that allows one or more workers to work is provided between these two rows. A space having a width of about 50 to 500 mm is provided between the wall surface of the room and the back of each multi-stage shelf type plant growing apparatus 3 to 6 to form an air passage through the multi-stage shelf type plant growing apparatus 3 to 6. To do.

  It is preferable to install an air curtain inside the door 2 for entering / exiting the room because the outside air can be prevented from entering when the operator enters / exits.

Air conditioners 7 to 10 having a function of adjusting the temperature of the air in the room and circulating the temperature-controlled air according to the set conditions are installed on the upper surface of the wall surface of the room.

  As shown in FIGS. 3 and 4, each of the multi-stage shelf type plant growing apparatuses 3 to 6 includes a pedestal 3c, left and right side panels 3a, a back panel 3b on the back, and a top panel 3e on the zenith, and the front is open. It has a box-shaped structure. Inside the box-shaped structure, a plurality of seedling racks 12 are arranged in multiple stages at regular intervals in the vertical direction.

  The height of each multi-stage shelf type plant growing apparatus 3 to 6 is about 2000 mm, which is a height at which an operator can work, and the width of the seedling rack 12 is a grid of tens to hundreds of cells (small bowls). A plurality of resin cell trays arranged in a line can be placed side by side, and the temperature and humidity of the upper space of each shelf 12 can be adjusted to be constant, for example, about 1000 mm to 2000 mm, and the depth of the seedling rack 12 is 500 mm to The thickness is preferably 1000 mm. A plurality of cell trays 40 (see FIG. 1) are placed substantially horizontally on each seedling shelf 12. The dimensions of one cell tray are generally about 300 mm in width and about 600 mm in length.

  The lowermost nursery rack 12 is placed on the pedestal 3c. The adjuster (not shown) provided on the pedestal 3c is configured so that the level of the seedling rack 12 can be adjusted.

  Each seedling shelf 12 is provided with a watering device 30 described later.

  Artificial illuminators 13 are installed on the lower surfaces of the seedling shelves 12 and the top panel 3e that are the second and higher tiers from the bottom, and light is emitted to the plants that grow on the cell tray 40 of the seedling shelves 12 directly below each artificial illuminator 13. It is configured to In this embodiment, the artificial illuminators 13 other than the uppermost part are attached to the lower surface of an irrigation tray 31 described later.

  As the light emitter of the artificial illuminator 13, a fluorescent lamp, an LED, or the like is preferable. In this embodiment, a straight tube fluorescent lamp is used as the light source.

  Details of the configuration of the artificial illuminator 13 are shown in FIGS. 8 is a bottom view of the artificial illuminator 13, and FIG. 9 is a cross-sectional view taken along the line IX-IX in FIG. The artificial illuminator 13 has a plurality of pairs (six pairs in this embodiment) of sockets 13b attached to the lower surface of the box 13a, and both ends of the fluorescent lamp 13c are attached to the sockets 13b and 13b. A switch 13s is installed on the lower surface of the box 13a.

  The box 13a is a box-like body having a top plate 13d and a bottom plate 13e, and the bottom plate 13e also serves as a reflecting plate that reflects the light from the fluorescent lamp 13c. In this box 13a, a power supply unit 13g incorporating an electric circuit member 13f such as a ballast, an inverter, a constant current circuit, a constant voltage circuit, and a current limiting resistor is installed. In this embodiment, three power supply units 13g are provided between the fluorescent lamps 13c, that is, between the first and second fluorescent lamps 13c, between the third and fourth fluorescent lamps 13c, and 5th. It arrange | positions between the fluorescent lamps 13c of the row | line | column and the 6th row | line. Each power supply unit 13g is attached to the bottom plate 13e of the box 13a. A gap of about 3 to 30 mm is provided between each power supply unit 13g and the top plate 13d of the box 13a. In this artificial illuminator 13, heat generated by the power supply unit 13g is transmitted to the bottom plate 13e and is dissipated from the bottom plate 13e. That is, it is transmitted to the air flowing through the nursery space below the artificial illuminator 13. The heat from the fluorescent lamp 13c is also transmitted to this air flow.

  Since there is a gap between the power supply unit 13g and the box top plate 13d, the heat transmitted from the power supply unit 13g to the top plate 13d is remarkably small. Therefore, the nutrient solution flowing on the irrigation tray 31 and the rhizosphere part of the plant planted in the cell tray 40 are prevented from being heated by the heat of the artificial illuminator 13.

  As shown in FIG. 4, vents are provided in the rear panel 3 b behind each of the nursery shelves 12 and between the uppermost nursery shelves 12 and the top panel 3 e (nursing seedling space). An air fan 15 is attached to each. By operating the air fan 15, a circulating air flow as shown by the arrow in FIG. 2 is generated in the room. That is, the air whose temperature is controlled by the air conditioners 7 to 10 is sucked into the nursery space of each stage of the nursery shelf 12 from the open front side of the multi-stage shelf type plant growing apparatuses 3 to 6, and the rear panel 3b from the vent hole. After being discharged to the rear of the rear panel 3b and rising between the back of the back panel 3b and the wall of the building, sucked into the air conditioners 7 to 10 and temperature-controlled, and then again the multistage shelf type plant growing devices 3 to 6 Is blown out to the open front side.

  As shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, when two rows of multi-stage shelf type plant growing apparatuses 3 and 4 and multi-stage shelf type plant growing apparatuses 5 and 6 are arranged so that a work space is formed between them, The work space also functions as an air circulation path, and an effective circulation flow is formed.

  When the circulating flow passes through each nursery space of the multi-stage shelf type plant growing devices 3 to 6, water vapor evaporated from the irrigation device, medium, plant, etc., or heat released from the artificial illuminator 13 is accompanied by the circulating flow, The room can be kept in a temperature-humidity environment optimal for plant growth by continuously adjusting the temperature of the circulating flow with the air conditioners 7 to 10 and continuously circulating it. The flow rate of the air flowing through the nursery space is preferably 0.1 m / sec or more, more preferably 0.2 m / sec or more, and further preferably 0.3 m / sec or more. If the air flow rate is too high, there is a possibility that a problem may occur in plant growth, and therefore it is generally preferably 2.0 m / sec or less.

  In this embodiment, the airflow is passed from the front of the nursery space through the fan 15 to the back side of the shelf in a negative pressure state, but conversely, the airflow may be passed from the back side of the shelf to the front side in a positive pressure state. However, the airflow in the nursery space becomes more uniform when flowing from the front side to the back side of the shelf in a negative pressure state.

  In this embodiment, a shelf plate of each seedling shelf 12 is configured by the irrigation tray 31 of the irrigation device (bottom irrigation device) 30, and irrigation is performed from the bottom surface of the cell tray 40 placed on the irrigation tray 31. ing. The structural example of this irrigation apparatus 30 is demonstrated with reference to FIGS. 5 is a plan view of the irrigation apparatus, FIG. 6 is a perspective view, and FIG. 7 is a sectional view taken along line VII-VII in FIG.

  The irrigation apparatus 30 includes a rectangular irrigation tray 31 having a bottom plate 31d with side walls 31a, 31b, 31c erected on the rear side and the left and right sides. A drainage groove 32 is provided on the front side of the irrigation tray 31 without a side wall and connected to the bottom plate 31 d, and a drainage port 32 a is formed at one end of the drainage groove 32. The drainage groove 32 and the bottom plate 31 d are partitioned by a weir 34, and the nutrient solution flows into the drainage groove 32 from the notches 34 a at both ends of the weir 34. A water supply pipe 33 for supplying nutrient solution into the irrigation tray 31 is provided along the side wall 31 a on the rear side of the irrigation tray 31, and the nutrient solution is supplied to the tray from a plurality of small holes 33 a provided in the water supply pipe 33. 31 is supplied.

  A plurality of ribs 35 having a height of about 7 mm extend in parallel to each other toward the drainage grooves 32 on the upper surface of the irrigation tray bottom plate 31d, and the cell tray 40 is placed on these ribs 35. ing.

  In this irrigation device 30, as shown in FIG. 4, when the irrigation tray 31 is placed on the seedling rack 12 of the multi-stage shelf type plant growing device 3-6, the drainage groove 32 protrudes from the open front surface of the growing device 3-6. It is a dimension. By projecting the drainage groove 32 from the open front surface of the growing device, the nutrient solution discharged from the drainage port 32a of the drainage groove 32 of the irrigation tray 31 placed on each stage of the seedling rack 12 is collected to the outside of the building structure 1 It becomes easy to discharge.

  When the nutrient solution is continuously supplied from the small holes 33a provided in the water supply pipe 33 of the irrigation apparatus 30, the nutrient solution is blocked by the weir 34 and accumulated to a predetermined water level to be in a pool state. While supplying the nutrient solution from the water supply pipe 33, the nutrient solution gradually flows out from the notch 34 a into the drainage groove 32. It is preferable to maintain a pool state of a water level of about 10 to 12 mm in the irrigation tray 31 by adjusting the nutrient solution supply amount and the outflow amount from the notch 34a. Water is sucked up by the capillary action from the cell hole 42 formed on the bottom surface of each cell 41 of the cell tray 40 placed on the rib 35 to the medium in the cell, and the medium in all the cells 41 becomes water in a short time. It becomes saturated.

  An artificial illuminator 13 is attached to the lower surface of the bottom slab 31 d of the irrigation tray 31. In this embodiment, the top plate 13d of the box 13a of the artificial illuminator 13 is in direct contact with the lower surface of the irrigation tray 31, but a spacer or a heat insulating material may be interposed.

  In the irrigation apparatus 30, the upper surface of the bottom plate 31 d of the irrigation tray 31 is inclined toward the drainage groove 32 as shown in FIG. 7. Thereby, the nutrient solution can be discharged to the drain groove 32 in a short time when irrigation is stopped. Further, when the upper surface of the bottom plate 31d is inclined, the height of the rib 35 is changed so that the top portion 35a of the rib becomes horizontal, whereby the cell tray 40 placed on the rib 35 is horizontally placed. Can be retained.

  FIG. 10 shows another example of the irrigation apparatus used in the present invention, and the same members as those in FIGS. 5 to 7 are denoted by the same reference numerals. In this irrigation apparatus 30 ′, when the cell tray 40 is placed on the irrigation tray bottom plate 31 d, the under tray 50 is interposed between the irrigation tray bottom plate 31 d and the cell tray 40. The under tray 50 has such a rigidity that it can support the cell tray 40 in which the culture medium is put in each cell 41. A plurality of small holes 51 are formed on the bottom wall surface, and a plurality of small holes 51 are formed on the back surface. The projection 52 is formed. These protrusions 52 function as gap holding means for holding a gap between the irrigation tray bottom plate 31d and the bottom surface of the cell tray 40 when the cell tray 40 is accommodated in the irrigation tray together with the under tray 50.

  Also in the irrigation apparatus 30 ′ of FIG. 10, when the nutrient solution is supplied from the water supply pipe 33 and becomes a pool state at a predetermined water level, the nutrient solution is guided into the under tray 50 from the small hole 51 of the under tray 50. Water is sucked up by the capillary action from the cell hole 42 formed on the bottom surface of each cell 41 of the cell tray 40 to the medium in the cell.

  Also in FIG. 10, the artificial illuminator 13 is attached to the lower surface of the irrigation tray bottom plate 31d.

  As described above, the cell tray 40 placed on the irrigation tray 31 is formed by arranging several tens to several hundreds of cells 41 in a lattice shape and integrating them into a tray shape. Although it is set as 300 mm and length is about 600 mm, it is not limited to this.

  In order to artificially supply the carbon dioxide consumed by the seedling in photosynthesis, as shown in FIG. 1, a liquefied carbon dioxide cylinder 16 is installed outside the building structure 1 and the inside of the room measured by the carbon dioxide concentration measuring device is used. Carbon dioxide gas is supplied from the carbon dioxide gas cylinder 16 so that the carbon dioxide gas concentration is constant.

  By growing seedlings using this seedling raising device, it is possible to automatically adjust environmental conditions such as light quantity, temperature, humidity, carbon dioxide gas, and moisture suitable for seedling growth. Moreover, since all the seedlings in each nursery shelf can grow under the same environment, the uniformity of the obtained seedling quality can be enhanced.

  In this multistage shelf type plant growing device, the heat of the artificial illuminator 13 is transmitted to the box bottom plate 13e which also serves as a reflector, and is transmitted from the bottom plate 13e to the air flowing through the seedling raising space. The heat transferred from the artificial illuminator 13 to the upper irrigation tray 31 is extremely small. Therefore, the temperature of the nutrient solution on the irrigation tray 31 is controlled within a predetermined range.

  The above embodiment is an example of the present invention, and the present invention is not limited to this. For example, the size of the room and the number of installed multistage shelf type plant growing devices may be other than those described above. The air conditioner may be installed on the ceiling.

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Closed-type building structure 3,4,5,6 Multistage shelf type plant growing apparatus 3a Side panel 3b Rear panel 3c Base 3e Top panel 7-10 Air conditioner 12 Nursery rack 13 Artificial lighting device 13a Box 13b Socket 13c Fluorescent lamp 13d Top plate 13e Bottom plate 13f Electric circuit member 13g Power supply unit 13s Switch 15 Air fan 16 Carbon dioxide gas cylinder 30, 30 'Irrigation device 31 Irrigation tray 31d Bottom plate 32 Drain groove 32a Drain port 33 Water supply pipe 33a Small hole 34 Weir 34a Notch 35 Rib 40 Cell tray 41 Cell 42 Cell hole 50 Under tray 51 Small hole 52 Projection

Claims (5)

The plant growth shelf is arranged in multiple upper and lower stages, and is a multi-stage shelf type plant growth apparatus provided with an irrigation device for flowing nutrient solution on each shelf, and irradiates light on the plants on the lower shelf side In a multi-stage shelf type plant growing device in which an artificial illuminator is installed on the lower surface of the shelf,
The artificial illuminator includes a box installed on the lower surface side of the shelf, a light emitter disposed on the lower surface side of the box, and a power supply unit for operating the light emitter installed in the box,
The box includes a top plate and a bottom plate, the power supply unit is installed on the bottom plate, and the power supply unit and the top plate are separated from each other.   2. The multi-stage shelf type plant growing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein an air flow forming means for forming an air flow is provided in a space above each shelf.   The multi-stage shelf type plant growing device according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the box is in contact with a lower surface of the shelf.   The multi-stage shelf type plant growing device according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein a bottom plate of the box is a reflecting plate for reflecting light from the light emitter.   A plant growing system in which the multi-stage shelf type plant growing apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 4 is installed in a closed building structure.

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