JP2632120B2 - Plant cultivation equipment - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a plant cultivation apparatus for cultivating plants by artificially controlling air conditioning conditions such as temperature suitable for a plant growing environment. TECHNICAL FIELD The present invention relates to a plant cultivation apparatus in which air conditioning environment adjustment such as cooling is performed using compressed air energy.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Some researchers have conducted research on so-called plant factories in which plants are cultivated by artificially controlling air-conditioning conditions such as lighting conditions and temperatures suitable for plant growth environments. Publications about the factory are also being distributed. Although the plant factory has great potential in theory, it is said that the factors that hinder its development are the electricity costs required for lighting and air conditioning. This power cost exceeds half of the production cost, and the ratio between lighting and air conditioning is about 2 to 1. Therefore, it is necessary to reduce the power cost by half in order to put the plant factory on track as a business. It is said that. In order to solve this problem, various researches such as the development of a high-efficiency lamp and the development of a fast-growing plant have been promoted, but at present, this problem has not been solved.

In addition, the present inventor has disclosed in Japanese Patent Application No. 2-174532.
According to the method and apparatus for producing compressed air disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 4-63970 and further disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Nos. 3-210462 and 3-210463, a large amount of compressed air can be produced at low cost. It is possible to get at.

[0004]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates to a plant factory.
By using compressed air energy as an alternative to electric energy for cooling means that accounts for a part of the large cost, it is necessary for air conditioning control such as cooling, which is an obstacle to getting a plant factory on track as a business. An object of the present invention is to provide a plant cultivation apparatus that solves the problem of power cost.

[0005]

Plant cultivation device of the present invention for achieving the above object, according to an aspect of the plant cultivation device through the septum and configured to be divided into a plant growth chamber and the cooling chamber, the cooling chamber
To the outside of the cooling chamber via the first introduction pipe with the jet port directed to
High pressure to blow compressed air into the cooling chamber
A compressed air filling container filled with compressed air is provided,
From the compressed air-filled container via the spout of the first inlet pipe
Compressed air is blown into the cooling chamber,
The compressed air itself expands and the internal space inside the cooling chamber
As a result of energy expenditures associated with forced mixing with qi
Cooling air in the cooling chamber by
Air cooling means and the internal pressure of the cooling chamber
Keep the pressure slightly higher than the internal pressure of the plant growing room
The flow rate of the compressed air injected into the cooling chamber can be adjusted.
The first adjusting valve is attached to the first inlet pipe.
By adjusting the air cooling means and the first control valve.
The pressure is maintained at a level slightly higher than the internal pressure of the plant growing room.
The cooled air in the cooling chamber
The second introduction pipe which introduces naturally using the internal pressure difference in the growth room
And the plant introduction from the cooling chamber to the second introduction pipe.
Second control for controlling the flow rate of cooling air introduced into the nursery
A valve is attached .

Furthermore, a movable wall is formed in the cooling chamber so as to be extendable and contractible so that the volume of the cooling chamber can be changed in accordance with the pressure of the compressed air introduced into the cooling chamber. It is characterized by being configured to control the expansion and contraction movement of the supported movable wall so that the internal pressure of the cooling chamber can be maintained at a predetermined pressure condition slightly higher than the internal pressure of the plant growth chamber by a spring pressure. .

[0007]

[Action] compressed air injected into the cooling chamber, the injection
The high-pressure compressed air itself expands upon exit and the cooling chamber
Energy Consumption Due to Forced Mixing with Internal Air
The reduced pressure cooling effect resulting from
Let cool. Also, the compressed air jetted into the cooling chamber
The air flow rate is adjusted by the first control valve, and the internal pressure of the cooling chamber is adjusted.
Is controlled to a pressure slightly higher than the internal pressure of the plant growing room.
I do. In this way, the pressure is slightly higher than the internal pressure of the plant growing room.
Cooled air in a cooling chamber controlled to a high degree of pressure
Qi utilizes the internal pressure difference from the cooling chamber to the plant growth chamber.
It controls the air-conditioning conditions such as cooling inside the plant growing room by natural introduction .

[0008]

Embodiments will be described with reference to the drawings.
In FIG. 1, a plant cultivation apparatus 1 in which a plant is cultivated by artificially controlling air conditioning conditions such as a temperature suitable for a plant growth environment is provided. And the cooling chamber 4 in the above. The cooling chamber 4 is provided with a first introduction pipe 5 having an ejection port directed into the cooling chamber 4.
Compressed air from outside the cooling chamber 4 into the cooling chamber 4 through
Compressed air filled with high-pressure compressed air
An air-filled container 6 is provided. In this first introduction pipe 5,
First control for controlling the flow rate of the compressed air injected into the cooling chamber 4
A control valve 7 is attached. When the first control valve 7 is opened, the high-pressure compressed air filled in the compressed air filling container 6 flows from the ejection port of the first introduction pipe 5 into the cooling chamber 4.
Is ejected, and the high-pressure compressed air itself expands at the time of ejection
Together with the forcible mixing with the internal air in the cooling chamber 4
With the reduced pressure cooling effect resulting from the accompanying energy consumption,
The air in the cooling chamber 4 is cooled to lower the temperature in the cooling chamber.
Let it down . The internal pressure of the cooling chamber 4 is set so as to be maintained at a level slightly higher than the internal pressure of the plant growing chamber 3. In this embodiment, the internal pressure of the cooling chamber 4 is always controlled to be slightly higher than the internal pressure of the plant growing chamber 3 by adjusting the first control valve 7. The cooled air in the cooling chamber 4 is supplied to the second control valve 8.
The internal pressure in the plant growing room 3 in an internal pressure state lower than the internal pressure of the cooling chamber 4 through the second introduction pipe 9 whose flow rate is controlled by
The plant is naturally introduced by utilizing the difference, and the inside of the plant growing room 3 is cooled by the introduced cooling air, and is set to a temperature condition suitable for the plant growing environment. For temperature control, the first control valve 7 and the second control valve 8 are directly operated or incorporated into an environmental control device for plant growth. In FIG.
Is artificial light using general power supply. Note that sunlight (not shown) may be used in combination with the artificial light 10. In FIG. 1, reference numeral 11 denotes a plant to be cultivated.

[0009] For the embodiment of FIG. 1, the compressed air filled container 6
Ru is ejected to the first control valve 7 to the cooling chamber 4 via the
When the high-pressure compressed air is blown out, the high-pressure compressed air itself
Expands and forcibly mixes with the internal air in the cooling chamber 4
Depressurized cooling as a result of energy consumption associated with moving
With this, the air in the cooling chamber 4 is cooled ,
Decrease temperature.

In the embodiment shown in FIG. 2, a movable wall 14 is provided in the cooling chamber 4 so as to be capable of changing its volume in accordance with the pressure of the compressed air introduced into the cooling chamber 4. And a spring body 16 for supporting the movable wall 14 from below.
The vertical pressure of the movable wall 14 supported by the spring body 16 is maintained so that the internal pressure of the cooling chamber 4 can be maintained at a predetermined pressure condition slightly higher than the internal pressure of the plant growth chamber 3 by the spring pressure of the spring body 16. It is configured to control the expansion and contraction movement. As described in the embodiment of FIG. 1, the internal pressure of the cooling room 4 is controlled to be slightly higher than that of the plant growing room 3 so that the cooled air can be naturally introduced into the plant growing room 3. In this embodiment, since the internal pressure of the cooling chamber 4 is always set slightly higher than the internal pressure of the plant growing chamber 3, the movable body supported by the spring body 16 having a spring pressure corresponding to the internal pressure of the cooling chamber 4 to be held. The volume of the cooling chamber 4 can be changed by the expansion and contraction movement of the wall 14 so that the gas pressure in the cooling chamber 4 is kept balanced. As described above, the movable wall 14 and the spring body 16 having a spring pressure corresponding to the internal pressure of the cooling chamber 4 to be held cooperate to change the volume of the cooling chamber 4 according to the internal pressure of the cooling chamber 4. Therefore, the first control valve 7 and the second control valve 8
There is an advantage that the operation of is easy. The other description of the embodiment of FIG. 2 is the same as that of FIG.

[0011]

As described in the section of the prior art, although the research on plant factories has a great potential in theory, the high cost of electric power such as air-conditioning is a major obstacle to the development. Has been hindered. The present invention provides a plant cultivation that can significantly reduce the power cost required for air conditioning control such as cooling, which is an obstacle to putting a plant factory on track as a business by using the energy of compressed air as a substitute for electric energy. Equipment can be provided,
Increase the scope of practical use of plant factories limited to roots
Can be developed.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a vertical sectional side view showing a plant cultivation apparatus of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a vertical sectional side view showing another embodiment of the plant cultivation apparatus of the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Plant cultivation apparatus 2 Partition wall 3 Plant growth room 4 Cooling room 5 1st introduction pipe 6 Compressed air filling container 7 1st control valve 8 2nd control valve 9 2nd introduction pipe 10 Artificial light 11 Plant 14 Movable wall 16 Spring body

Claims (2)

(57) [Claims] 1. A plant cultivation apparatus for cultivating plants by artificially controlling air conditioning conditions such as temperature suitable for a plant growth environment, wherein the plant cultivation apparatus is connected to a plant growth room and a cooling room via a partition. And squirt into the cooling chamber
The cooling chamber from outside the cooling chamber through a first inlet pipe with its mouth directed
High-pressure compressed air that blows out compressed air into the closed chamber
A compressed air filling container in which the compressed air is filled.
The cooling from the filling container through the spout of the first introduction pipe
Compressed air is blown into the room, and high-pressure compression
As the air itself expands, the air inside the cooling chamber
Decompression resulting from energy expenditure associated with anti-mix movement
The cooling function cools the air in the cooling chamber.
Air cooling means and the internal pressure of the cooling chamber
So that the pressure can be kept slightly higher than the internal pressure of the nursery
The flow rate of compressed air injected into the cooling chamber can be adjusted.
The first control valve is attached to the first introduction pipe,
Adjusting the air cooling means and the first control valve to the plant
Cooling room maintained at a pressure slightly higher than the internal pressure of the growth room
The cooled air in the inside of the plant growing room is removed from the cooling room.
If you install a second inlet pipe that introduces naturally using the internal pressure difference
In both cases, the second introduction pipe is inserted into the plant growing room from the cooling room.
A second control valve for controlling the flow rate of the introduced cooling air;
A plant cultivation device characterized by being attached . 2. A movable wall which is extendable and contractible in the cooling chamber so that the volume of the cooling chamber can be changed in accordance with the pressure of the compressed air introduced into the cooling chamber. 2. The structure according to claim 1, wherein the spring pressure controls the expansion and contraction of the supported movable wall so that the internal pressure of the cooling chamber can be maintained at a predetermined pressure condition slightly higher than the internal pressure of the plant growth chamber. The plant cultivation apparatus according to the above.