JP2016111947A - Plant growth hydroponic device - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a plant growth hydroponic device in which distance between a plant and a lighting device can be automatically adjusted so that proper intensity of the lighting for the plant is given according to a growth state of the plant.SOLUTION: In a plant growth hydroponic device, a projection 2a is formed on an undersurface of a cultivation plate 2. Two kinds of regions having different water levels are formed at a cultivation bed 1. A first region is a cultivation part 5 where water is held to dip a plant root at a high water-level, and a second region is a receiving columnar part 6 where the projection of the cultivation plate is held through water at a low water-level. As total weight of the cultivation plate 2 increase by growth of the plant, the projection 2a of the cultivation plate is submerged into water in the second region and the water-level of the first region is decreased, thereby sinking the cultivation plate 2 into the receiving columnar part 6 according to the growth of the plant so that a distance between a lighting device and the plant is adequately maintained.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 1

Description

  The present invention relates to a plant-growing hydroponic that automatically changes the distance between the plant and the lighting to a suitable distance according to the growth of the plant in a plant factory that artificially grows the plant indoors using artificial light. It relates to cultivation equipment.

  Conventionally, in a cultivation shelf used in a plant factory, since the distance between the cultivation plate and the illumination is constant, the distance between the illumination and the plant is long and the illumination efficiency is low when the plant is small. For this reason, there is a case where a plant is grown on a cultivation shelf having a low height while the plant is small, and transplanted to a shelf having a wide distance between the lighting and the cultivation plate in the process of growth. Moreover, as a method of changing the distance between the cultivation plate and the lighting in the same place, generally, the method of draining the circulating water is a structure that overflows and flows out from the water in the cultivation shelf to the water pipe protruding upward. There is a method of adjusting the water level by adjusting the height of this water pipe. This is because the cultivation plate uses a light material such as styrofoam and floats on the cultivation water, so that the position of the cultivation plate is adjusted by changing the depth of the water. (For example, refer to Patent Document 1).

  Specifically, as shown in FIG. 6, the water 100 in the bed 1 overflows from the upper surface of the water level adjusting pipe 102 of the drain port 101 and enters and drains, and then is circulated and supplied. By making the water level adjusting pipe 102 longer, that is, by raising the upper surface, the position where water overflows and enters the water level adjusting pipe 102 becomes higher, so that the water depth becomes deeper and the water level can be increased. As a result, the position of the cultivation panel can be increased. Moreover, when making it low, a water level becomes low by exchanging the water level adjustment pipe 102 for a short thing, and the distance of a cultivation plate and illumination becomes long. When the water 100 flows into the water level adjusting pipe 102, the opening 103 of the cultivation plate above the water level adjusting pipe 102 shown by the broken line of the cultivation plate 2 in FIG. 6 is cut out. That is, since the cultivation plate 2 and the water level adjustment pipe 102 do not overlap, the cultivation plate 2 and the water level adjustment pipe 102 do not stick and the water 100 does not flow to the drain port 101.

Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 1-265832

  However, in the above-described conventional configuration, the water level can be adjusted by replacing the water level adjusting pipe 102 with a different length or adjusting the length to be longer. However, the water level adjusting pipe 102 has a different length. In the case of replacement, the water 100 is drained when the water level adjusting pipe 102 is removed. In addition, since it is necessary to perform the work by judging the time and height based on the growth state of the plant, a large-scale plant factory requires a lot of time and labor, which increases the cost, It's not a natural way.

  In addition, there is a method to increase the illumination according to the distance between the plant and the illumination by changing the intensity of the illumination itself, but if the distance is large, the illumination must be increased, so the energy consumption for that Will increase the cost. Regarding the increase rate, the amount of light is proportional to the square of the distance, so it may reach several times.

  Accordingly, an object of the present invention is to solve the above problem, and automatically adjust the distance between the plant and the lighting so that the lighting intensity is appropriate for the plant according to the growth state of the plant. The object is to provide a plant-cultivating hydroponic apparatus.

  In order to achieve the above object, the present invention is configured as follows.

  According to one aspect of the present invention, in a plant-growing hydroponic device having a bed that holds water, a cultivation plate that holds a plant and floats on the bed, and illumination that gives light to the plant from above, The cultivation plate has a protruding portion on the lower surface, the bed has at least two kinds of areas having different water levels, the first area is an area for holding water to be immersed in the roots of the plant, and the second area is It is the structure which hold | maintains the said protrusion part of the said cultivation plate, and it grows by the protrusion part of the said cultivation plate being submerged in the water of a said 2nd area | region with the increase in the whole weight of the said cultivation plate by the growth of a plant. A plant-growing hydroponic apparatus characterized in that the plate descends and the distance between the illumination and the cultivation plate is increased.

  As described above, according to the plant-growing hydroponic cultivation apparatus of the present invention, as the plant grows and grows and the weight increases, the cultivation plate that holds the plant sinks, automatically lighting and The distance between the plants can be adjusted to achieve the appropriate lighting intensity for the plants.

  Thereby, the growth of a plant can be promoted without increasing the consumption of illumination energy.

Schematic sectional view of the plant growing hydroponics apparatus in Embodiment 1 of the present invention The enlarged view of the drainage part in Embodiment 1 of this invention The top view of the cultivation plate for demonstrating the structure of this invention The figure which shows the example of the vertical cross-sectional shape of the protrusion part in embodiment of this invention Schematic sectional view of the plant growing hydroponics apparatus in Embodiment 2 of the present invention Schematic sectional view showing the structure of a conventional plant breeding hydroponics device described in Patent Document 1

  Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.

(Embodiment 1)
FIG. 1 is a schematic cross-sectional view of a plant growing hydroponic cultivation apparatus according to Embodiment 1 of the present invention.

  In FIG. 1, reference numeral 1 denotes a bed, which is made of a material such as polystyrene foam, and stores and holds water necessary for plant growth. Reference numeral 2 denotes a cultivation plate, which holds plants. Since the cultivation plate 2 is a low-density material such as polystyrene foam, it floats in water, and can thereby maintain a state in which the roots 4a of the plants 4 are immersed in the water. The cultivation plate 2 has a protruding portion 2a at the lower portion, and obtains buoyancy by sinking the lower portion of the protruding portion 2a in water. 3 is illumination, supplies light to a plant, and is being fixed to the cultivation shelf (not shown). The water held in the bed 1 is divided into two regions, the first region is the cultivation unit 5, and the plant root 4 a is in a state of being immersed in the water of the cultivation unit 5. FIG. 1 shows a state where water is held in the cultivation unit 5. The bottom surface of the cultivation bed 2 is not sunk on the water surface of the cultivation unit 5, and the water surface and the bottom surface of the cultivation plate 2 may be opened by about 10 mm. When the root 4a of the plant 4 to be immersed in water is above the water surface, the exposed portion may be covered with a sponge 4b containing water.

  A 2nd area | region is the receiving pillar part 6, FIG. 1 has shown the state in which the water is also contained in the receiving pillar part 6, and the submerged part 7 of the protrusion part 2a of the cultivation plate 2 is in water. In this state, the cultivation plate 2 is held at a position where the total weight of the plant 4 and the cultivation plate 2 and the buoyancy obtained by the submerged portion 7 are balanced. Reference numeral 11 denotes a partition wall, which is formed of, for example, a bellows-like cylinder, and the upper portion is in contact with the cultivation plate 2. The partition wall has a flexible structure so that it can be shrunk even when a slight force is applied from the cultivation plate 2, but it can withstand water pressure because of its cylindrical bellows structure.

  Further, a water passage hole 12 is formed in the vicinity of the upper end of the partition wall 11 (portion in contact with the cultivation plate 2). FIG. 2 shows an enlarged view around the water passage hole 12. When the water surface comes above the water passage hole 12, the water of the cultivation unit 5 above the water passage hole 12 is drained to the receiving column part 6 through the water passage hole 12. For this reason, even when the cultivation plate 2 sinks, the water surface of the cultivation unit 5 does not contact the upper end of the partition wall 11, that is, the lower surface of the cultivation plate 2, and the cultivation plate 2 obtains buoyancy from the water of the cultivation unit 5. There is nothing.

  In FIG. 1, a drainage channel 8 is formed at the upper part of the receiving column part 6, and when the water surface becomes higher than the position of the drainage channel 8, the water above the drainage channel 8 is automatically drained. Thereby, since the water which entered the support pillar part 6 from the cultivation part 5 is also drained, the water level of the support pillar part 6 is kept constant. Even when there is no drainage portion 8, the cultivation plate 2 sinks due to the increase in weight and the distance from the illumination 3 increases, but the water level of the receiving column portion 6 also rises with the sinking, so the sinking amount decreases.

  Hereinafter, an example about the magnitude | size of the protrusion part 2a which obtains buoyancy is described.

FIG. 3 is a plan view of the cultivation plate 2 and shows a position 13 of the plant 4 and a position 14 of the protrusion 2a that obtains buoyancy by immersing in the water. When the length of one side of the cultivation plate 2 is 60 cm, the number of the plants 4 is 16, and the interval between the adjacent plants 4 is about 15 cm. Considering the case where the plant 4 grows and weighs 100 g, the height is 10 cm, and the distance between the upper end of the plant 4 and the lighting 3 is constant, the total weight increase of the plant 4 is 1600 g. The volume of the protrusion 2a that enters the water when it sinks 10 cm may be 1600 cm ³ in total. As shown in FIG. 3, when the positions 14 of the protrusions 2a are formed between the positions 13 of the plant, the number is 9, and assuming that the shape of the protrusions 2a is a cylinder, the area per protrusion 2a. Is 17.8 cm, that is, 4.75 cm in diameter. Needless to say, the shape of the protruding portion 2a need not be a cylinder, and the position may be concentrated on the outer peripheral portion. Moreover, what is necessary is just to make it the magnitude | size of the protrusion part 2a which considered the resistance, when there exists some resistances, such as friction, when the cultivation plate 2 moves to a depth direction.

  Further, when the ratio of the growth height and the weight increase greatly differs with the growth of the plant 4 or when the distance from the optimal illumination in each growth stage (weight) changes, the cross-sectional area of the protruding portion 2a is changed. By changing in the depth direction (for example, the vertical cross section is trapezoidal), it can be freely set according to the plant 4. Some examples of the cross-sectional shape of the protrusion 2a in this case are shown in FIG. 4A shows the case where the height growth is larger than the weight increase accompanying the growth, and FIG. 4B shows the case where the growth in the height direction decreases in the latter half of the growth and the weight increase is large. It is an effective shape. FIG. 4C shows, for example, a case where the elongation in the height direction is remarkable at the end of the growth.

  According to the above configuration, when the plant 4 grows and grows in weight, the cultivation plate 2 sinks as the weight increases, so that the distance between the lighting 3 and the plant 4 can be kept at an appropriate distance. is there. Since this action continuously and automatically occurs due to the weight increase accompanying the growth of the plant 4, the distance between the lighting 3 and the plant 4 can be automatically adjusted according to the growth of the plant 4.

  In the first embodiment, the partition wall 11 has a bellows shape, but may have another shape as long as it can be easily contracted by the force from the cultivation plate 2.

  Moreover, although the cross-sectional view in which the two protrusions 2a of the cultivation plate 2 are shown in FIG. 1 is shown, in fact, as shown in FIG. Therefore, the optimal number may be selected according to the area of the cultivation plate 2.

(Embodiment 2)
FIG. 5 is a schematic cross-sectional view of the plant-growing hydroponic apparatus in Embodiment 2 of the present invention, and shows an enlarged view of the drainage section.

  The second embodiment differs from the first embodiment in the flow path and the structure in which the water in the cultivation unit 5 flows out to the receiving column unit 6. A water passage 15 is formed inside the cultivation plate 2 that has subsided with the increase in the weight of the plant 4, and the water of the cultivation unit 5 flows into the receiving column part 6 through the water passage 15. The contact surface between the bed 1 and the cultivation plate 2 has a sealing agent 16 made of, for example, a water-insoluble fixing gel, and receives water from the cultivation unit 5 while minimizing friction between the bed 1 and the cultivation plate 2. It can prevent flowing into the column part 6. Others are the same as those of the first embodiment, and are omitted.

  In the first embodiment and the second embodiment, the areas where the water of the bed 1 is held are two different in water level, but the effect is the same even if there are three or more areas.

  In a plant factory that artificially cultivates plants indoors using artificial light, the present invention automatically adjusts between the plant and the lighting so that the lighting intensity is appropriate for the plant according to the growth state of the plant. The plant cultivation hydroponic cultivation device that can adjust the distance is useful for plant factories and the like.

1. Bed 2. Cultivation plate 2a. 2. Protruding part Illumination 4. Plant 4a. Plant root 4b. 4. Sponge Cultivation part6. Receiving column part 7. Submerged part 8. Drainage channel 11. Septum 12. Water hole 13. Plant position14. Projection position 15. Waterway 16. Sealant 100. Water 101. Drain port 102. Water level adjustment pipe 103. Opening of cultivation plate

Claims (3)

In the plant cultivation hydroponics apparatus which has a bed which holds water, a cultivation plate which holds a plant and floats on the bed, and lighting which gives light to a plant from above, the cultivation plate has a projection part on the lower surface The bed has at least two types of regions with different water levels, the first region is a region for holding water to be immersed in the roots of the plant, and the second region is for holding the protrusions of the cultivation plate. With the increase in the overall weight of the cultivation plate due to the growth of the plant, the cultivation plate descends due to the protrusion of the cultivation plate submerged in the water of the second region, and the illumination and the cultivation A plant-cultivating hydroponics apparatus characterized by having a structure in which the distance between plates increases. A part of the side surface of the first region is constituted by a partition wall that can be expanded and contracted in the height direction, and the partition wall has a structure in which an upper end portion is in contact with the cultivation plate and contracts with the settlement of the cultivation plate, and 2. The plant-growing hydroponic according to claim 1, wherein the plant-growing hydroponic has a water passage hole opened below an upper end portion, and the water in the first region is discharged through the water passage hole. Cultivation equipment. The water in the second region is discharged from a drain port formed so as to penetrate the outside of the bed from an upper part of a side surface constituting the second region. The plant cultivation hydroponics apparatus of description.

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