JP2627869B2 - Soilless cultivation equipment - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

The present invention relates to a soilless cultivation apparatus for growing plants with liquid fertilizer. More particularly, the present invention relates to a soilless cultivation apparatus capable of automatically applying a fixed amount of liquid fertilizer to a plant by utilizing a capillary phenomenon.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Heretofore, there has been known a soilless cultivation apparatus for cultivating plants with liquid fertilizer, which sucks liquid fertilizer with an absorbent sheet and supplies the liquid fertilizer to plants by utilizing a capillary phenomenon.

However, the liquid fertilizer decreases as the absorbent sheet absorbs the liquid fertilizer by the action of capillary action. That is, since the position of the water surface of the liquid fertilizer constantly changes (relatively decreases) with respect to the position of the absorbent sheet, the amount of the liquid fertilizer absorbed by the absorbent sheet also varies (decreases).

On the other hand, a cultivation floating bed is floated on a culture solution (liquid fertilizer), and a sheet for absorbing a culture solution (absorbent sheet) is hung in a state of covering the upper surface of the floating bed to immerse in the culture solution, thereby causing a capillary phenomenon. Discloses an apparatus utilizing the absorption of a culture solution by a culture solution absorption sheet by the action of, and supply to the root of a crop (plant) on the culture solution absorption sheet (Japanese Utility Model Laid-Open No. 4-94960). ). According to this, even if the amount of the liquid fertilizer is reduced by the absorption of the absorbent sheet, the cultivation floating floor supporting the crop is also reduced accordingly, and the relative position between the absorbent sheet and the water surface of the liquid fertilizer does not change.

[0005]

However, Japanese Utility Model Laid-Open No. 4-9.
According to the apparatus described in JP 4960, the whole plant descends as the amount of liquid fertilizer decreases, and the whole plant rises when liquid fertilizer is added. Thus, it is not preferable for the plant that the whole plant constantly fluctuates up and down, because the environment around the plant also fluctuates. In addition, it lacks stability.

The present invention has been made to eliminate the above-mentioned disadvantages of the prior art, and has an object to automatically apply a certain amount of liquid fertilizer to a plant without using a floating floor. It is to provide a soilless cultivation device that can be provided.

[0007]

A soilless cultivation apparatus according to the present invention is a soilless cultivation apparatus for growing plants with liquid fertilizer, wherein a hollow column having a longitudinally extending gap formed on an outer peripheral surface thereof and a gap extending therefrom are provided. Extending in the direction of the circular side of the hollow cylinder
A supporting member that rotatably supports the hollow cylinder around an axis fixed at the eccentric position , and that detachably supports the hollow cylinder;
A container for growing plants extending in parallel with the hollow cylinder, an absorbent sheet laid so as to form a layer with respect to the container, and one end inserted downward through the gap between the hollow cylinders and tilted downward inside the hollow cylinder,
The other end is in contact with the absorbent sheet, connects the gap between the hollow cylinders and the absorbent sheet horizontally, and a plurality of detachable thin tubes,
When a predetermined amount of liquid fertilizer, in which one end of a plurality of thin tubes is placed at least below the water surface, is placed in the hollow cylinder, the balance around the axis is balanced, and the hollow cylinder is pivoted in the direction in which the height increases in response to the decrease in liquid fertilizer. And a counterweight fixed to the hollow cylinder to be rotated around (claim 1).

Another soilless cultivation apparatus according to the present invention is a soilless cultivation apparatus for growing plants with liquid fertilizer, wherein a hollow column having a longitudinally extending gap is formed on an outer peripheral surface, and a hollow column extending in a direction in which the gap extends. Extending the hollow side of the circular cylinder
A supporting member that rotatably supports the hollow cylinder around an axis fixed at the eccentric position , and that detachably supports the hollow cylinder;
A container for growing plants extending parallel to the hollow cylinder, and laid in a roll shape with respect to the container, the tip of which penetrates through the gap between the hollow cylinders and hangs inside the hollow cylinder, and the gap between the hollow cylinders and the absorbent sheet. Absorbent sheet that is connected substantially horizontally, and when a predetermined amount of liquid fertilizer that puts the tip of the absorbent sheet at least below the water surface is placed in a hollow cylinder, take a balance around the axis, and hollow in response to the decrease in liquid fertilizer And a counterweight fixed to the hollow cylinder for rotating the cylinder about an axis in a direction in which the height increases.

[0009] In the above-described soilless cultivation apparatus, the absorbent sheet is preferably a sheet containing a superabsorbent polymer.

[0010]

According to the soilless cultivation apparatus of the present invention, when a predetermined amount of liquid fertilizer is put into the hollow cylinder, the gap formed on the outer peripheral surface of the hollow cylinder is formed by the action of the counterweight fixed to the hollow cylinder. Extends in the direction of extension , the circular side of the hollow cylinder
The hollow cylinder does not rotate because it is balanced about the axis fixed at the eccentric position of the surface . At this time, a plurality of detachable thin tubes horizontally connect the gap and the absorbent sheet laid in the container for growing plants, and one end of the thin tube is tilted downward inside the hollow cylinder through the gap to contact the liquid fertilizer. Since the other end is in contact with the absorbent sheet, the liquid fertilizer is absorbed by the absorbent sheet through a plurality of capillaries by the action of capillary action. Therefore, since the liquid fertilizer in the hollow cylinder decreases, the balance around the axis is lost, and the hollow cylinder rotates in the direction of increasing the height by the action of the counterweight. With this, the position of the water surface of the liquid fertilizer also rises, so that the relative position between one end of the plurality of capillaries and the water surface of the liquid fertilizer does not change.
Therefore, a certain amount of liquid fertilizer is automatically absorbed by the absorbent sheet.

Since the hollow cylinder is detachably supported by the supporting member, when the amount of the liquid fertilizer in the hollow cylinder is reduced, the hollow cylinder is easily replaced with a hollow cylinder containing a predetermined amount of liquid fertilizer prepared separately in advance. be able to. The remaining amount of the liquid fertilizer can be known from the tilt angle of the counterweight.

Further, since the plurality of thin tubes are detachable, by adjusting the number thereof, the amount of liquid fertilizer to be sent to the absorbent sheet can be adjusted. For example, as plants grow larger, the required amount of liquid fertilizer also increases, so that more liquid fertilizer can be sent to the absorbent sheet by increasing the number of tubules.

[0013]

An embodiment will be described with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 shows an appearance of a soilless cultivation apparatus 100 according to one embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 2 shows a cross section taken along line II-II of FIG. The soilless cultivation apparatus 100 includes a hollow column 1 and support members 2A and 2B.
And a container 3 for growing plants, an absorbent sheet 4, a plurality of thin tubes 5A, 5B, 5C, 5D, 5E, 5F, and counterweights 6A, 6B, and the hollow cylinder 1 is a support member 2A. , 2B, and the container 3 are respectively supported by a support table 7 and attached to corners in the room.

The hollow cylinder 1 is made of synthetic resin and has an outer peripheral surface 1.
A gap 1A extending in the longitudinal direction is formed in c, and a liquid fertilizer 8 is put inside. In addition, hollow cylinder 1
The shafts 9A and 9B extending in the direction in which the gap 1A extends are fixed to the side surfaces 1a and 1b, respectively. That is, the axis 9
A and 9B are fixed to eccentric positions of the circular side surfaces 1a and 1b.

The support members 2A, 2B receive the shafts 9A, 9B from below and rotatably support them. Thereby, the hollow cylinder 1 is horizontally supported. And the hollow cylinder 1 has a shaft 9
A and 9B are rotatably supported and detachably supported. The shafts 9A and 9B have flanges (not shown) so that the hollow cylinder 1 does not laterally shift with respect to the support members 2A and 2B.
Is attached.

The container 3 is made of a synthetic resin, has a cylindrical shape, and extends in parallel with the hollow column 1. Outer peripheral surface 3c of container 3
The upper half is cut out greatly. An absorbent sheet 4 wound in a roll shape is inserted from the side surface 3a of the container 3. That is, the absorbent sheet 4 is laid so as to form a layer on the container 3. It can be easily replaced. Cut portions 4a, 4b, 4c are formed in portions where the absorbent sheet 4 has come out of the outer peripheral surface 3c of the container 3,
The plant 20 is inserted into this cut. Examples of the absorbent sheet 4 include absorbent cotton, pulp, cloth and the like. In this embodiment, a sheet containing a highly absorbent polymer having excellent water absorption and water retention properties is used. The sheet containing the superabsorbent polymer is used for diapers and sanitary products.

A plurality of thin tubes 5A, 5B, 5C, 5D, 5
E and 5F connect the gap 1A of the hollow cylinder 1 and the absorbent sheet 4 horizontally, and have one ends 5Aa and 5B.
a, 5Ca, 5Da, 5Ea, and 5Fa penetrate the gap 1A of the hollow cylinder 1 and are slightly inclined downward inside the hollow cylinder. It is sufficient that the inclination is such that the entire end surface is below the surface of the liquid fertilizer 8, and the smaller the inclination, the better the point that the action of the capillary phenomenon is promoted. On the other hand, the other ends 5Ab, 5Bb, 5Cb, 5Db, 5Eb, 5F of the plurality of thin tubes
b is inserted into a hole 4 d provided in the absorbent sheet 4, and its end face is in contact with a part of the absorbent sheet 4. Note that the thin tubes 5A to 5F are detachable respectively, and another thin tube (not shown) is newly added to the six thin tubes 5A to 5F shown in FIG.
Can also be added. In addition, a straw having uneven folds may be used as a thin tube, and one end may be bent so as to be slightly inclined downward and inserted into the gap 1A of the hollow cylinder 1.

The counterweights 6A and 6B are hollow cylinders 1
It is stuck to. Specifically, it is fixed to the outer peripheral surface 1c of the hollow cylinder 1 at a position where the weight portions 6Aa and 6Ba come to the container 3 side from the perpendicular L1 lowered from the shafts 9A and 9B. The counterweights 6A and 6B are used to balance around the axes 9A and 9B when a predetermined amount of the liquid fertilizer 8 is put into the hollow cylinder 1, and are in a balanced state (a state shown in FIG. 2).
Then, the hollow cylinder 1 does not rotate. At this time, the positions of the shafts 9A and 9B are closer to the container 3 than the center line CL of the cross section of the hollow cylinder.
The counterweights 6A, 6B rotate the hollow cylinder 1 around the axes 9A, 9B in a direction of increasing the height thereof (clockwise in FIG. 2) in response to the decrease of the liquid fertilizer 8. It has become. Here, the predetermined amount of the liquid fertilizer 8 is one end 5Aa, 5Ba, of one of the plurality of thin tubes 5A to 5F.
5Ca, 5Da, 5Ea, and 5Fa are amounts at least under the water surface. In this embodiment, as shown in FIG.
The amount is such that the liquid fertilizer 8 does not spill from the gap 1A in a suspended state. That is, in a suspended state, the higher the position of the gap 1A, the more liquid fertilizer 8 can be put into the hollow column 1.

The diameter of the hollow cylinder 1 is 10 cm, the length in the longitudinal direction is 100 cm, the diameter of the container 3 is 12 cm, the length in the longitudinal direction is 120 cm, the diameter of the small tubes 5A to 5F is 0.5 cm, and the length is 0.5 cm. It was 10 cm.

The configuration of the embodiment of the present invention is as described above. Hereinafter, a series of operation states will be described with reference to FIG.

When the hollow column 1 is supported by the supporting members 2A and 2B and a plurality of thin tubes 5A to 5F are attached, the hollow column 1 is balanced around the shafts 9A and 9B (the state of FIG. 3A). After a while, the liquid fertilizer 8 is absorbed by the absorbent sheet 4 through the plurality of capillaries 5A to 5F by the action of the capillary phenomenon.

Therefore, since the liquid fertilizer 8 in the hollow cylinder is reduced, the balance around the shafts 9A and 9B is lost, and the height of the hollow cylinder 1 is increased by the action of the counterweights 6A and 6B (see FIG. 3). (Clockwise). Accordingly, the position of the water surface of the liquid fertilizer 8 also becomes higher ((b) → (c) → (d) in FIG. 3), so that the relative position between one end 5Ea of the thin tube 5E and the water surface of the liquid fertilizer 8 changes. do not do. Therefore, a certain amount of the liquid fertilizer 8 is automatically absorbed by the absorbent sheet 4.

When the amount of the liquid fertilizer 8 is reduced (the state shown in FIG. 3D), a hollow cylinder having a separately prepared replacement, that is, the liquid fertilizer 8 containing the liquid fertilizer 8 as shown in FIG. replace. The remaining amount of liquid fertilizer 8 is balance weight 6
It can be known from the inclination angles of A and 6B. In addition,
A limit switch that is turned on when the counterweights 6A and 6B come into contact with the state shown in FIG. 3D may be provided, and an alarm device such as a buzzer or a light that responds when turned on may be attached.

The cuts 4a formed in the absorbent sheet 4,
4b, 4c, the plant 20 inserted into the absorbent sheet 4
The roots 20a are spread widely between the layers and the liquid fertilizer 8 is sucked and grown. As the size of the plant 20 increases, the required amount of the liquid fertilizer 8 also increases. At that time, the number of the thin tubes can be increased and more liquid fertilizer 8 can be sent to the absorbent sheet 4.

In the embodiment of the present invention, the soilless cultivation apparatus 100 is mounted on a corner in a room. However, it can be mounted outdoors under a eave or the like. As shown in FIG. May be supported from below by the support member 21 and the support base 22 and installed on the floor.

The absorbent sheet 4 is rolled and inserted into the container 3. Instead, as shown in FIG. 5, the absorbent sheet 32 is wound around a core 31 one by one. Is also good.

Further, although the cylindrical one is used as the container 3, it is not limited to this, and a rectangular parallelepiped one 41 having an upper opening may be used as shown in FIG.

Further, an absorbent material may be put in the plurality of thin tubes 5A to 5F to increase the absorbing power. Further, FIG.
And like another soilless cultivation apparatus 101 shown in FIG. 8, the tip 4A of the absorbent sheet 4 laid in a roll shape with respect to the container 3 is extended toward the hollow cylinder 1 side and inserted into the gap 1A so as to be inserted into the hollow cylinder. The gap 1 </ b> A and the absorbent sheet 4 may be connected substantially horizontally by hanging down inside. According to this, the plurality of thin tubes 5A to 5F can be omitted, and a fixed amount of the liquid fertilizer 8 can be automatically sent to the container 3 side. In addition, the absorbing power can be increased.

[0029]

As described above, according to the soilless cultivation apparatus of the present invention, the relative position between one end of a plurality of thin tubes and the surface of the liquid fertilizer does not change, so that a certain amount of liquid fertilizer can be produced by the action of capillary action. It is automatically absorbed by the absorbent sheet.

Therefore, the plant can obtain a certain amount of liquid fertilizer from the absorbent sheet, so that stable growth can be achieved. At this time, unlike the conventional method, the floating plant is not particularly used, so that the whole plant does not fluctuate up and down. Therefore, there is no adverse effect on the plants due to environmental changes, and the stability is excellent.

Further, since the hollow cylinder is detachably supported by the support member, when the amount of liquid fertilizer in the hollow cylinder is reduced, the hollow cylinder can be easily replaced with a hollow cylinder containing a predetermined amount of liquid fertilizer prepared separately in advance. Can be replaced. It is convenient because the remaining amount of the liquid fertilizer can be known by the inclination angle of the counterweight.

Further, since the plurality of thin tubes are detachable, by increasing or decreasing the number thereof, the amount of liquid fertilizer to be sent to the absorbent sheet can be adjusted to be increased or decreased.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 shows a soilless cultivation apparatus 100 according to an embodiment of the present invention.
FIG.

FIG. 2 is a sectional view taken along line II-II of FIG.

FIG. 3 is a sectional view showing a state in which the hollow cylinder 1 rotates.

FIG. 4 is a side view showing a modification of the installation location of the soilless cultivation apparatus 100.

FIG. 5 is a cross-sectional view showing a modified example of the absorbent sheet 4.

FIG. 6 is a sectional view showing a modified example of the container 3.

FIG. 7 is a perspective view showing the appearance of another soilless cultivation apparatus 101.

8 is a sectional view taken along the line IV-IV in FIG. 7;

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Hollow cylinder 1A Gap 2A, 2B Support member 3 Container 4 Absorbent sheet 5A, 5B, 5C, 5D, 5E, 5F Capillary tube 6A, 6B Balancing weight 8 Liquid fertilizer 9A, 9B Shaft 20 Plant 100 Soilless cultivation apparatus 101 Without soil Cultivation equipment

Claims (3)

(57) [Claims] 1. A soilless cultivation apparatus for growing plants with liquid fertilizer, comprising: a hollow cylinder having a longitudinally extending gap formed on an outer peripheral surface; and an eccentricity of a circular side face of the hollow cylinder extending in a direction in which the gap extends .
A support member rotatably supporting the hollow cylinder around an axis fixed at a position and detachably supporting the hollow cylinder; a container for growing plants extending parallel to the hollow cylinder; forming a layer with respect to the container Absorbent sheet laid in such a way that one end passes through the gap between the hollow cylinders and tilts down inside the hollow cylinder, the other end contacts the absorbent sheet, and the gap between the hollow cylinder and the absorbent sheet A plurality of detachable thin tubes connected to each other, and when a predetermined amount of liquid fertilizer that puts one end of the plurality of thin tubes at least below the water surface is put into a hollow cylinder, the balance around the axis is taken to cope with the decrease in liquid fertilizer. And a counterweight fixed to the hollow cylinder for rotating the hollow cylinder about an axis in a direction in which the height of the hollow cylinder increases. 2. A soilless cultivation apparatus for growing plants with liquid fertilizer, comprising: a hollow cylinder having a longitudinally extending gap formed on an outer peripheral surface; and an eccentricity of a circular side face of the hollow cylinder extending in a direction in which the gap extends .
A support member that rotatably supports the hollow cylinder around an axis fixed at a position and detachably supports the hollow cylinder, a container for growing plants that extends parallel to the hollow cylinder, and a roll shape with respect to the container. An absorbent sheet that is laid and whose tip penetrates through the gap between the hollow cylinders and hangs inside the hollow cylinder, and connects the gap between the hollow cylinders and the absorbent sheet substantially horizontally; and the tip of the absorbent sheet is at least below the water surface. When a predetermined amount of liquid fertilizer to be placed in the hollow cylinder is balanced around the axis, the hollow cylinder is rotated around the axis in a direction in which the height increases in response to the decrease in the liquid fertilizer, into a hollow cylinder. A soilless cultivation apparatus comprising a fixed balance weight fixed to the soilless cultivation apparatus. 3. The soilless cultivation apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the absorbent sheet is a sheet containing a highly absorbent polymer.