JP2016021944A - Harvester - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a harvester that performs harvest of plant functionally.SOLUTION: A harvester has: a reverse conveying rail 91 being a harvest part 9, and guiding so as to substantially reverse the upper and lower arrangement while supporting a plant holding cartridge 100 for holding cultivation target plant in a conveyable manner; a conveyance unit configured so as to convey the plant holding cartridge 100 supported by the reverse conveying rail 91; and a cutting unit 93 configured so as to cut a portion lower than the plant holding cartridge 100 of the plant in a state substantially reversed in the upper and lower arrangement. The reverse conveying rail 91 has a turn-around part 201 of a shape turning around substantially in an arc shape to the lower side. The conveyance unit has a locking part 313 capable of locking the plant holding cartridge 100 in the circumference part around the shaft. A rotary conveyance unit 92 is rotatably provided around a central axis in the inner diameter side of the turn-around part 201.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 8

Description

  The disclosed embodiments relate to a harvester.

  In recent years, hydroponic cultivation apparatuses that cultivate edible plants by hydroponic cultivation using natural light (sunlight) or artificial light (e.g., light emitted from fluorescent lamps or LEDs) have been proposed. Many such hydroponic cultivation apparatuses have a configuration in which plants are transported and moved in the apparatus according to the cultivation process (for example, see Patent Document 1).

JP 2011-87563 A

  For example, when only a part of the whole plant that grows like a leaf part of a leafy vegetable becomes a product part, only the product part is cut from other parts in the harvesting process, separated, collected and transferred. Work to do. However, in order to maintain the commercial value, it is desirable to prevent human hands, devices, etc. from directly touching the product part as much as possible. In recent years, it has become important to save time and labor in the harvesting process, and to efficiently harvest plants at low operating costs. Conventionally, the technique which performs a harvesting process from such a viewpoint was not proposed.

  This invention is made | formed in view of such a problem, and it aims at providing the harvester which can perform the harvest of a plant functionally.

  In order to solve the above-mentioned problem, according to one aspect of the present invention, a reversing device is a harvesting machine that guides a plant holding cartridge that holds a plant to be cultivated so as to be substantially inverted while supporting a plant holding cartridge to be transportable A lower part is cut from the plant holding cartridge of the plant in a state in which the transport rail, the transport unit configured to transport the plant holding cartridge supported by the reversal transport rail, and the vertical arrangement are substantially inverted. A harvesting machine having a cutting part configured as described above is applied.

  According to the present invention, it is possible to functionally harvest plants.

It is the figure represented with the perspective view of the whole external appearance of the hydroponic cultivation apparatus provided with the harvester for hydroponic cultivation of embodiment. It is the figure which represented the whole external appearance of the hydroponic cultivation apparatus with the side seen from the left. It is the figure which represented the whole external appearance of the plant holding cartridge by the perspective view. It is a figure showing the axial direction side cross section of a plant holding cartridge. It is the figure showing the axial direction side cross section of the plant holding cartridge of the state which the seed in a culture medium germinated. It is the figure showing the axial direction side cross section of the plant holding cartridge of the state in which the plant grew. It is a figure showing an example of the concrete composition of the circumference of the conveyance rail with which a hydroponic cultivation apparatus is provided with the perspective. It is the side view which looked at the specific structure in the rotation conveyance part periphery from the arrow A in FIG. It is a figure which shows the specific structure of the inversion conveyance rail periphery in the downstream from a folding | turning part.

  Hereinafter, an embodiment will be described with reference to the drawings. Note that the directions of “front”, “rear”, “left”, “right”, “upper”, and “lower” noted in each figure are “front (front)” and “rear (rear) in the description in the specification. ) ”,“ Left (left) ”,“ right (right) ”,“ upper (upper) ”, and“ lower (lower) ”. Moreover, below, for convenience of description of the configuration of a hydroponic cultivation apparatus including a harvester, directions such as up, down, left, and right are used as appropriate, but the positional relationship of each configuration such as the hydroponic cultivation apparatus is not limited.

<Schematic configuration of hydroponic cultivation device>
FIG. 1 shows the whole appearance of the hydroponic cultivation apparatus provided with the harvesting machine of the present embodiment as viewed from the front, and FIG. 2 shows the whole appearance of the hydroponic cultivation apparatus as viewed from the left side. Represents. In these FIG. 1, FIG. 2, the hydroponic cultivation apparatus 1 is the board | substrate part 2, the six main support | pillar parts 3, the top-plate part 4, the eight support plates 5A-5H, the linear rail part 6, A return rail portion 7, a line integration portion 8, and a harvesting portion 9 are provided. In addition, in these FIG. 1, FIG. 2, only the schematic structure for demonstrating the arrangement | positioning relationship of each said part mainly including each support plate 5A-5H, each conveyance rail, and each harvesting part is shown. In addition, the detailed configuration of the hydroponics apparatus 1 is illustrated and described later.

  On the base plate part 2, the same rectangular top plate part 4 and eight support plates 5A to 5H are laminated and arranged so as to overlap in the vertical direction at an appropriate interval. 3 is supported. The top plate portion 4 is located at the uppermost position, and the first to eighth support plates 5A, 5B, 5C, 5D, 5E, 5F, 5G, and 5H are arranged in this order downward. On the upper surfaces of the first to fourth support plates 5A to 5D, a linear rail portion 6 having a length extending over the entire longitudinal direction (left and right direction in the drawing) is provided in the width direction of each support plate 5A to 5D (front and rear direction in the drawing). 6) are provided side by side.

  Six folded rail portions 7 are juxtaposed between the right ends of the first support plate 5A and the second support plate 5B. These folding rail portions 7 project laterally from the right ends of the respective support plates 5A and 5B and are further folded back by 180 ° to connect the right ends of the two linear rail portions 6 in a combination corresponding to the vertical direction. Similarly, there are six folded rail portions 7 between the left ends of the second support plate 5B and the third support plate 5C and between the right ends of the third support plate 5C and the fourth support plate 5D. It is installed side by side.

  In the illustrated example, three folding rail portions 7 are juxtaposed between the left ends of the fourth support plate 5D and the fifth support plate 5E, and each of these three folding rail portions 7 has a line integration portion. 8 is provided. The line integration portion 8 is a portion where two adjacent linear rail portions 6 are merged, and is merged at an intermediate position of the three folded rail portions 7 (not shown). And the three linear rail parts 6 put together by the merge in the said line integration part 8 are arranged in parallel by the upper surface of the 5th-8th support plates 5E-5H, respectively, and the 5th support plate 5E and 6th support are provided. Between the right end of the plate 5F, between the sixth support plate 5F and the left end of the seventh support plate 5G, and between the right end of the seventh support plate 5G and the eighth support plate 5H, the three folded rail portions 7 are arranged in parallel. It is installed.

  In the above configuration, the whole of the linear rail portion 6 and the turn-back rail portion 7 corresponding to each other between the first support plate 5A to the eighth support plate 5H is connected to form the transport rail R. The transport rail R starts from the left end of the first support plate 5A and ends at the left end of the eighth support plate 5H, and is adjacent to the first to fourth support plates 5A to 5D. The two transport rails R are combined into one by the line integration part 8 in the turn-back rail part 7 between the fourth support plate 5D and the fifth support plate 5E. In the hydroponic cultivation apparatus 1 of the present embodiment, this configuration has three lines.

  The harvesting unit 9 collects a part to be harvested from a plant holding cartridge, which will be described later, that has reached the end of the transport rail R of each system, and separates and collects a part other than the target to be harvested from an empty plant holding cartridge, It is a part to collect. The harvesting section 9 is disposed on the lower side of the eighth support plate 5H from the terminal position of the transport rail R of each system (see the dashed line section in FIGS. 1 and 2). The harvesting unit 9 corresponds to a harvesting machine described in each claim, and this configuration will be described in detail later.

  The hydroponic cultivation apparatus 1 having the above-described configuration supports a plurality of plant holding cartridges that hold plants to be cultivated in a row until they are loaded from the start end and reach the end harvesting section in the transport rail R of each system. Transport. Further, the first to eighth support plates 5A to 5H are inclined so that the downstream side is lower than the upstream side of the transport rail R.

<Configuration example of plant holding cartridge>
Next, an example of the configuration of the plant holding cartridge used in the hydroponic cultivation apparatus 1 of the present embodiment will be described. In the example described below, a so-called leafy vegetable is assumed as a plant to be cultivated, but the present invention is not limited to this.

  FIG. 3 is a perspective view of the overall appearance of the plant holding cartridge, and FIG. 4 is an axial cross-section. 3 and 4, the plant holding cartridge 100 of this embodiment has a holder 101 and a culture medium 102.

  The holder 101 includes a cylindrical portion 121 having an inner diameter that is open at both ends, and a first flange portion 122 that is integrally provided with the cylindrical portion 121 at an end portion on one axial side (the upper side in the drawing) of the cylindrical portion 121. The second flange 123 provided integrally with the cylindrical portion 121 is provided at the end of the cylindrical portion 121 on the other axial side (the lower side in the drawing). In the example of this embodiment, the cylinder part 121 is formed in a cylindrical shape, and the axial length of the inner diameter and the dimension of the diameter are set according to the type of plant to be cultivated.

  The culture medium 102 is made of a gel material containing moisture, and is filled in the inner diameter of the cylindrical portion 121 of the holder 101. Here, a gel is a material in which colloidal particles form a certain systematic connection and cannot move freely, and it is assumed that it has moderate elasticity and viscosity. It is not limited.

  Here, as a plant cultivation process by general hydroponics, it is performed in the order of sowing, raising seedling, fixed planting, and harvesting. The sowing step is a step of planting seeds of a plant to be cultivated inside the medium 102. The seedling raising process is a process of germinating roots and leaves from seeds in the medium 102. The fixed planting step is a step of changing the arrangement relationship with the surroundings in units of individuals in accordance with the degree of growth of the plant in the growth process after raising seedlings. The harvesting process is a process in which a part to be shipped (a leaf portion in this example) is mainly cut from a sufficiently grown plant and collected. The conveyance rail R included in the hydroponic cultivation apparatus 1 of the present embodiment holds each plant by, for example, making the path order from supplying the plant holding cartridge 100 to the start end to taking out at the end correspond to the progress of the cultivation process. The plant of the cartridge 100 can be grown from seed to a harvestable stage.

  First, in the seed sowing step, as shown in the figure, the seed 131 to be cultivated is inserted and embedded in the medium 102 from the opening on one side of the tube 121. This sowing step may be performed separately before the plant holding cartridge 100 is loaded at the start end of the transport rail R, or may be performed immediately after loading. By this sowing step, as shown in FIG. 4, the medium 102 made of the gel material appropriately holds the seed 131, and the seedling seedling can be promoted by the moisture contained in the gel material. In this seedling process, even if the gel material does not contain organic nutrients, germination is possible by the nutrients that the seed 131 itself has, and in that case it is hygienic by preventing the generation of algae due to excess organic nutrients. desirable. Further, since the gel material has an appropriate viscosity, it is difficult to prevent the growth of the roots 132 and the leaves 133 during germination while maintaining the retention function for the seeds 131 (see FIG. 5).

  And after germination, as shown in FIG. 6, while immersing the root 132 in the organic nutrient solution W containing water, it is light L to the leaf 133 (sunlight may be sufficient, and artificial light by LED, a fluorescent lamp, etc. may be sufficient) By hitting, you can promote further growth of the plant. By promoting the growth of the plant in this way, the roots 132 and the leaves 133 grow so as to bulge from the openings on the opposite sides of the cylindrical part 121, respectively, and as a result, on the outer periphery of the stem located at the center of the whole plant. It will be in the state where the cylinder part 121 fits. By supporting the cylindrical portion 121 fixed at this position by the transport rail R, the entire plant can be held with an appropriate balance of the center of gravity without touching both the root 132 and the leaf 133. Further, in the state where the root 132 and the leaf 133 are expanded sufficiently larger than the inner diameter of the tube portion 121 after raising seedlings, the plant hardly detaches from the tube portion 121. Thereby, in the hydroponic cultivation apparatus 1 made into factory automation, the plant unit can be stably held and transported by the transport rail R having a simple configuration. In the example shown in FIG. 6, the entire plant is stably held by sandwiching a panel 124 having a thickness dimension substantially the same as the distance between the two flange parts 122 and 123 on the outer periphery of the cylinder part 121. ing.

<Specific configuration example of transport rail>
FIG. 7 is a perspective view showing an example of a specific configuration around the transport rail R included in the hydroponic cultivation apparatus 1 of the present embodiment. In FIG. 7, a hollow box 31 formed in a substantially rectangular tube shape and a fluorescent lamp 32 that is a light source of light L disposed above the box 31 are provided. At the central position in the width direction of the upper wall of the box 31, a long groove having the same width as the outer diameter of the cylindrical portion 121 is formed as a transport rail R along the longitudinal direction, and the plant holding cartridge 100 is formed on the transport rail R. The outer periphery of the cylinder part 121 is fitted and loaded. At this time, the upper and lower surfaces are sandwiched between the two edge portions of the transport rail R in which the upper and lower flange portions 122 and 123 are long grooves. Thereby, a plant is stably hold | maintained at the conveyance rail R. FIG. Then, the inside of the box 31 is filled with the organic nutrient solution W (or distributed in the longitudinal direction), and the organic nutrient solution W is supplied to the roots 132 of the plant. Plant growth is promoted by applying to the leaves 133. In addition, the fluorescent lamp 32 which is a light source is installed in the lower surface of said top-plate part 4 and 1st-7th support plates 5A-5G (Because there is no conveyance rail R under the 8th support plate 5H, a fluorescent lamp is provided. 32 is not installed).

  The plant holding cartridge 100 can move freely along the transport rail R while holding the plant. Thereby, each plant can be easily transferred from the upstream side to the downstream side in an individual unit using an appropriate conveying means (see arrow D in the figure). As the transport means, the entire transport rail R is inclined so as to become lower from the upstream side toward the downstream side, so that the weight of the plant and the plant holding cartridge 100 is used, or the water flow of the organic nutrient solution W is used. There are a method of using an appropriate mechanical transfer mechanism separately provided on the transfer rail R, a method of pushing only the cylinder part 121 manually by using an appropriate jig (not shown). As the cultivation process proceeds, the culture medium 102 collapses and breaks down as the plant grows, and falls mainly to the organic nutrient solution W. By performing an appropriate process on the organic nutrient solution W, the medium 102 is appropriately disposed. In addition, after the root 132 and the leaf 133 are separated by the harvesting unit 9, the holder 101 can be recovered and reused. For this reason, the waste as an inorganic solid matter is hardly taken out from the plant holding cartridge 100 through the cultivation process.

  In the leafy vegetables that are the cultivation targets of the hydroponics in the example described above, only the portion of the leaves 133 that grows upward is the harvest target as a product part. Thus, when only a part of the grown plant becomes a product part, it is desirable to perform a harvesting process in which only the product part is cut and separated from other parts. For example, when only the portion of the leaf 133 is cut and separated in the harvesting process, only the portion of the leaf 133 is collected and transferred. However, there are many cases where the product part is very fragile, such as the leaf 133 part in the above example, and in order to maintain the product value, as much as possible, human hands and devices should not touch the product part directly. Is desirable. Further, in recent years, it has become an important point how to save the labor in the harvesting process, efficiently harvesting the plant while reducing the operation cost.

<About the schematic configuration of the harvesting section>
Next, a schematic configuration of the harvesting unit 9 of the present embodiment will be described with reference to FIGS. 1 and 2. 1 and 2, the harvesting unit 9 is mainly composed of a reverse conveying rail 91, a rotary conveying unit 92, a cutting unit 93, a fluid ejecting unit 94, a collecting conveyor 95, and four auxiliary struts. A portion 96 is provided.

  The reverse conveying rail 91 is a rail having a configuration (a configuration of only the upper wall portion having a long groove in the box body 31) that supports the plant holding cartridges 100 so as to be able to convey a plurality of plant holding cartridges 100 in a single row in the same manner as the conveying rail R. In the arrangement in the order of the conveying direction, it has a folded portion 201, a twisted portion 202, and a terminal portion 203.

  The folded portion 201 is connected to the terminal end of the transport rail R and protrudes leftward from the left end of the eighth support plate 5H, and is substantially downward on a substantially arc-shaped track toward the lower position of the eighth support plate 5H. It is formed to be folded back. In addition, the folded portion 201 is disposed so that the substantially arc-shaped central axis is inclined (about 10 ° to 45 °) with respect to the horizontal direction. For this reason, the introduction side (upstream side directly connected to the terminal end of the conveyance rail R; the point P1 in FIG. 2) and the lead-out side (downstream side connected to the twisted part 202 described later; point in FIG. 2) In P2), the rails are arranged so as to be offset by a distance B in the horizontal direction without overlapping each other when viewed in the vertical direction.

  The twisted portion 202 extends from the lead-out side of the folded portion 201 on the lower side of the eighth support plate 5H and is formed in a shape twisted by 180 ° around the axis in the transport direction.

  The end portion 203 is an end portion of the reverse conveying rail 91 located on the downstream side of the twisted portion 202, and is configured to release the support of the plant holding cartridge 100 here.

  As described above, the reversal conveyance rail 91 supports the plant holding cartridge 100 introduced from the conveyance rail R so that the plant holding cartridge 100 can be conveyed, and the plant holding cartridge 100 is substantially vertically arranged at each of the folded portion 201 and the twisted portion 202. After guiding to reverse 180 °, the plant holding cartridge 100 is discharged at the end portion 203. Even when the plant holding cartridge 100 is inverted approximately 180 ° in each of the folded part 201 and the twisted part 202, either the first hook part 122 or the second hook part 123 of the holder 101 is the reverse conveying rail. Since it can be locked with respect to 91 from above, its support is maintained without dropping.

  The rotation conveyance unit 92 is a portion that is provided so as to be rotatable around the inner diameter side central axis of the folding unit 201 and has a function of conveying the plant holding cartridge 100 supported on the folding unit 201. The rotation axis of the rotary conveyance unit 92 coincides with the substantially arcuate central axis of the turn-back unit 201, and the axial direction of the rotation conveyance unit 92 is similarly inclined with respect to the horizontal direction. The rotary conveyance unit 92 corresponds to the conveyance unit described in each claim, and a specific configuration thereof will be described in detail later with reference to FIG.

  The cutting part 93 is a part having a function of cutting and separating a part to be harvested from a plant held in the plant holding cartridge 100, which is arranged on the lead-out side (lower side) of the folding part 201.

  The fluid ejecting unit 94 is disposed on the downstream side of the twisting unit 202 in the transport direction, and ejects fluid from above toward the plant holding cartridge 100, thereby remaining in the plant holding cartridge 100 other than the harvest target. This is a part having a function of removing.

  The collection conveyor 95 is a belt conveyor disposed below the cutting unit 93, collects harvested parts cut and separated by the cutting unit 93, and transfers them to an appropriate shipping work position (not shown). It is a part to do.

  The harvesting section 9 composed of the above-described reverse conveyance rail 91, the rotation conveyance section 92, the cutting section 93, the fluid ejection section 94, and the collection conveyor 95 corresponds to each of the three systems of the conveyance rail R. The three harvesting sections 9 are supported by four auxiliary support sections 96.

<Specific configuration of the rotation conveyance unit>
FIG. 8 is a diagram showing a specific configuration around the rotary conveyance unit 92 in the axial direction, that is, a side view seen from the arrow A in FIG. In FIG. 8, the rotary conveyance unit 92 located on the inner diameter side of the folded-back unit 201 includes a rotary ring unit 301, a plurality of movable spoke units 302, and a fixed cam unit 303.

  The rotating annular portion 301 is an annular member (a so-called cross-sectional donut-shaped member) having a smaller diameter than the curvature diameter in the arc-shaped portion of the folded portion 201 (the portion of the inner peripheral angle of 180 ° on the left side in the drawing). In particular, this is a part that is coaxially driven around the central axis on the inner diameter side of the folded portion 201 by a shaft driving unit such as a motor or a speed reducer (not shown).

  The movable spoke portion 302 is a substantially rod-like member as a single unit, and has flanges 311 and 312 in the vicinity of both ends thereof. The movable spoke portion 302 passes through the rotating ring portion 301 in the radial direction at a portion between the two flanges 311 and 312, and the rotating ring portion is spaced by a distance between the two flanges 311 and 312. The part 301 is supported so as to freely advance and retract in the radial direction. In the example shown in the drawing, the rotating annular part 301 supports 16 movable spoke parts 302 radially at equal intervals in the circumferential direction. In addition, a locking portion 313 that protrudes from the outer peripheral flange 311 to the outer peripheral side and can be fitted to the inner diameter of the cylindrical portion 121 of the plant holding cartridge 100 is formed at the outer peripheral end portion of each movable spoke portion 302. ing.

  The fixed cam portion 303 (cam) is fixedly disposed on the inner diameter central axis of the rotating annular portion 301 (that is, on the central axis of the arc-shaped portion of the folded portion 201), and each movable spoke is disposed on the outer peripheral side surface thereof. It is a member that defines the radial position of each locking portion 313 by bringing the inner diameter side end of the portion 302 into contact.

  In the rotary conveyance unit 92 configured as described above, the rotary ring portion 301 is rotated by the drive of the shaft driving portion, so that each movable spoke portion 302 is also rotated in the same rotational direction. On the other hand, the fixed cam portion 303 that is fixed without rotating is a plant holding member that is supported on the folded portion 201 with respect to each movable spoke portion 302 that is positioned in the inner peripheral angle range of the arc-shaped portion of the folded portion 201. The locking portion 313 is guided to the cylindrical portion 121 of the cartridge 100 to a position on the radially outer peripheral side where the locking portion 313 can be locked. As a result, the cylindrical portion 121 of the plant holding cartridge 100 supported by the arc-shaped portion of the folded portion 201 can be obtained simply by rotating the rotary conveyance portion 92 in the rotation direction (see arrow C in the figure) corresponding to the conveyance forward direction. Can be transported with the locking portions 313 of the movable spoke portions 302 locked.

  The fixed cam portion 303 is once pulled into the inner diameter side by its own weight with respect to the movable spoke portion 302 located in the inner peripheral angle range other than the arc-shaped portion of the turned-up portion 201, and then the introduction side of the turned-up portion 201. It guides to the radial direction outer peripheral side so that the latching | locking part 313 may be moved with the locus | trajectory which can be smoothly inserted with respect to the cylinder part 121 of the plant holding cartridge 100 which reached | attained (point P1 in FIG. 2, FIG. 8). At this time, each locking portion 313 locks the plant root 132 held in the plant holding cartridge 100 in a radial direction.

  Then, on the lead-out side of the folded portion 201 (point P2 in FIGS. 2 and 8), the vertical position of the whole plant held in the plant holding cartridge 100 is reversed so that the leaves 133 to be harvested are below the plant holding cartridge 100. Be placed. The cutting part 93 cuts and separates only the part below the plant holding cartridge 100, that is, the part of the plant leaves 133, from the plant in this state. As a result, the separated leaves 133 fall downward due to their own weight and are collected on the collecting conveyor 95. In addition, using a water jet for the cutting part 93 prevents contamination of metal pieces and is preferable in terms of hygiene, but a cutter or a wire that is sufficiently considered in this respect may be used.

<Concerning a specific configuration downstream from the folded portion>
FIG. 9 shows a specific configuration around the reversing conveyance rail 91 on the downstream side of the folding unit 201. The twisted portion 202 is shown in a simplified manner in order to avoid the complexity of illustration. As described above, the reverse conveying rail 91 has the twisted portion 202 and the terminal portion 203 in order in the conveying direction extending from the lead-out side of the folded portion 201.

  On the lead-out side of the turn-back portion 201, the portion of the plant leaf 133 located below the plant holding cartridge 100 is cut and separated by the cutting portion 93, and the plant holding cartridge 100 has only the plant root 132 portion above it. Will remain. By further transporting the plant holding cartridge 100 in this state and passing it through the twisted portion 202, the entire root arrangement can be inverted 180 ° again and the remaining roots 132 can be positioned below the plant holding cartridge 100. . Thereby, the root 132 can be dropped by its own weight and easily discarded. Further, the fluid ejecting section 94 ejects a fluid such as air or water at a high pressure toward the plant holding cartridge 100 from above the planned fall position, so that the root 132 can be more reliably dropped and removed. After that, the plant holding cartridge 100 becomes only an empty holder 101 that holds no plant, and the holder 101 can be dropped and discharged from the terminal end portion 203 that has been transported. The roots 132 and the holder 101 can be automatically separated by placing appropriate collection baskets 97 and 98 at a position below the fluid ejecting portion 94 and a position below the end portion 203, respectively.

<Effect of this embodiment>
As described above, the harvesting unit 9 that is the harvesting machine of the present embodiment has the reverse conveying rail 91 that guides the plant holding cartridge 100 so as to reverse the vertical position of the entire plant while supporting the plant holding cartridge 100 so as to be transportable. . The plant holding cartridge 100 loaded and supported on the reversing conveyance rail 91 is conveyed by the rotation conveying unit 92 so that the vertical position of the whole plant is reversed and the leaves 133 are arranged below the plant holding cartridge 100. . The cutting part 93 cuts and separates only the part below the plant holding cartridge 100, that is, the part of the plant leaves 133, from the plant in this state. Thereby, the separated leaf 133 falls downward due to its own weight and is collected.

  Until the portion of the leaf 133 is collected in the above harvesting process, it can be performed hygienically and automatically without touching any part of the portion of the leaf 133 which is a product portion with any equipment or jig. In addition, even when such harvesting units 9 are arranged in parallel, it can be realized with a simple configuration such that a single axis driving unit can drive the rotary conveyance unit 92 of each system. As a result, the harvesting unit 9 can functionally perform the harvesting process in hydroponics.

  In addition, the plant holding cartridge 100 used in the present embodiment can hold the entire plant with an appropriate balance of the center of gravity without touching the leaves 133 by being fitted to the outer periphery of the stem located at the center of the entire plant. . However, the configuration of the cartridge having the holder 101 is merely an example, and as long as the configuration has a similar holding function, the configuration is such that the stem portion is sandwiched by a piece of urethane or is held by winding. Also good.

  In this embodiment, in particular, the reverse conveying rail 91 has a folded portion 201 having a shape that is folded substantially downward. Thereby, the vertical arrangement | positioning can be substantially reversed by letting the plant holding cartridge 100 pass to the folding | returning part 201. FIG. Moreover, the installation length of the said harvesting part 9 can be shortened because it is a return | turnback shape. Instead of the folded portion 201, a shape twisted around an axis in the transport direction (a configuration equivalent to the twisted portion 202) may be used.

  In this embodiment, in particular, the folded portion 201 is formed so as to be folded in a substantially arc shape. The folded portion 201 is provided with a locking portion 313 that can be locked to the plant holding cartridge 100 on the outer peripheral portion around the axis. And a rotation conveyance unit 92 provided to be rotatable around the central axis on the inner diameter side. Thereby, it can convey by rotating the rotation conveyance part 92 to the conveyance forward direction, locking the latching | locking part 313 with respect to the plant holding cartridge 100 which reached | attained the folding | returning part 201. FIG. Thus, since the plant holding cartridge 100 can be conveyed individually, the conveyance of the cutting unit 93 to the cutting position and the operation timing of the cutting unit 93 can be easily synchronized. Moreover, the drive mechanism of the conveying means can be easily realized by one shaft output mechanism, and the installation area of the harvesting section 9 as a whole can be made efficient.

  In the present embodiment, in particular, the locking portion 313 locks the plant root 132 held by the plant holding cartridge 100 so as to be pressed. Thereby, it can fix so that a plant may not drop out from the plant holding cartridge 100 via the root 132, and an excess organic nutrient solution can be dehydrated from the root 132 previously immersed in the organic nutrient solution.

  Further, particularly in the present embodiment, the rotary conveyance unit 92 includes a fixed cam portion 303 configured to advance and retract the locking portion 313 in the radial direction of the rotary conveyance unit 92. Thereby, the latching | locking part 313 can be smoothly latched with the suitable circumferential direction position and timing with respect to the plant holding cartridge 100 which reached | attained the introductory part 201 return side.

  In the present embodiment, in particular, the folded portion 201 is disposed such that the substantially arc-shaped central axis is inclined with respect to the horizontal direction. Accordingly, the rails can be arranged so as to be offset in the horizontal direction without overlapping when viewed in the vertical direction on the introduction side (point P1 in FIG. 2) and the lead-out side (point P2 in FIG. 2) of the folded portion 201. For this reason, it is possible to prevent the water droplets dehydrated by the locking portion 313 of the rotary transport unit 92 on the introduction side while holding down the roots 132 of the plant, and dripping onto the plant located on the outlet side (substantially below), The commercial value of the plant can be maintained.

  Further, in the present embodiment, in particular, the reverse conveyance rail 91 is twisted around the axis in the conveyance direction so as to further reverse the vertical arrangement of the plant holding cartridge 100 further downstream in the conveyance direction than the cutting portion 93. Have Thereby, the top and bottom arrangement can be reversed again by passing the twisted portion 202 with respect to the plant holding cartridge 100 after the leaves 133 have been cut by the cutting portion 93, and the roots 132 remaining in the plant holding cartridge 100 can be reversed. Can be easily disposed of by dropping under its own weight.

  In the present embodiment, in particular, the fluid ejecting unit 94 configured to eject the fluid from above toward the plant holding cartridge 100 is provided on the downstream side in the transport direction from the twisted unit 202. Thereby, the fall removal of the root 132 from the plant holding cartridge 100 can be assisted by the fluid injection pressure. When water is used as the fluid, the empty holder 101 can be cleaned together.

  Further, particularly in the present embodiment, the reverse conveying rail 91 has a terminal portion 203 configured to release the support of the plant holding cartridge 100 on the downstream side in the conveying direction from the twisted portion 202. As a result, the plant holding cartridge 100 itself can be dropped and recovered by its own weight at the end portion 203, and can be separated at a position in the transport direction different from the plant root 132 falling at the twisted portion 202.

  In the present embodiment, in particular, a collection conveyor 95 is provided below the cutting portion 93. Accordingly, the portion of the leaf 133 to be harvested that has been cut and dropped by the cutting unit 93 can be automatically transferred to the position where the shipping operation is performed via the collection conveyor 95, and the leaf 133 can be manually moved. You can reduce the chances of touching directly and maintain product value.

  Note that “equal” in the above description does not have a strict meaning. In other words, “equal” means that “tolerance and error in manufacturing are allowed by design and is“ substantially equal ”.

  In addition to those already described above, the methods according to the above-described embodiments and modifications may be used in appropriate combination.

  In addition, although not illustrated one by one, the above-mentioned embodiment and each modification are implemented with various modifications within a range not departing from the gist thereof.

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Hydroponic cultivation apparatus 5A-5H 1st-8th support board 6 Straight rail part 7 Folding rail part 8 Line integration part 9 Harvesting part (harvesting machine)
91 Reverse conveyance rail 92 Rotation conveyance part (conveyance part)
93 cutting part 94 fluid ejecting part 95 collection conveyor 97, 98 collection basket 100 plant holding cartridge 101 holder 102 medium 121 cylindrical part 122 first ridge part 123 second ridge part 131 seed 132 root 133 leaf 201 turnback part 202 twist part DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 203 Terminal part 301 Rotating ring part 302 Movable spoke part 303 Fixed cam part 313 Locking part L Light W Organic nutrient solution P1 Return side of return part P2 Return side of return part R Conveying rail

Claims (10)

A harvester,
A reversing conveyance rail for guiding the plant holding cartridge that holds the plant to be cultivated so that the vertical arrangement is substantially reversed while supporting the conveyance of the plant holding cartridge;
A transport unit configured to transport the plant holding cartridge supported by the reverse transport rail;
A cutting part configured to cut a lower part of the plant holding cartridge of the state in which the vertical arrangement is substantially inverted;
Harvester characterized by having.   The harvesting machine according to claim 1, wherein the reverse conveying rail has a folded portion that is shaped to be folded substantially downward. The folded portion is
It is formed to be folded back in a substantially arc shape,
The transport unit is
It is a rotation conveyance part which has the latching | locking part which can be latched to the said vegetable holding cartridge in the outer peripheral part around the axis | shaft, and was provided rotatably around the internal-diameter side center axis | shaft of the said folding | turning part. Item 2. Harvesting machine. The locking portion is
The harvesting machine according to claim 3, wherein the harvesting machine is locked so as to hold down the root of the plant held in the plant holding cartridge. The rotary transport unit is
The harvesting machine according to claim 4, further comprising a cam configured to advance and retract the locking portion in a radial direction of the rotary conveyance unit. The folded portion is
6. The harvester according to claim 5, wherein the substantially arc-shaped center axis is arranged so as to be inclined with respect to the horizontal direction. The reverse conveying rail is
The harvester according to claim 6, further comprising a twisted portion twisted around an axis in the transport direction so as to further reverse the vertical arrangement of the plant holding cartridge further downstream in the transport direction than the cutting portion.   The harvester according to claim 7, further comprising a fluid ejecting unit configured to eject a fluid from above toward the plant holding cartridge on the downstream side in the transport direction from the twisted unit. The reverse conveying rail is
The harvesting machine according to claim 8, further comprising a terminal portion configured to release the support of the plant holding cartridge downstream of the twisted portion in the transport direction.   The harvesting machine according to claim 9, further comprising a collecting conveyor below the cutting portion.

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