JP7138834B2 - Plant display rack with automatic irrigation - Google Patents

Description

The present invention relates to a plant display shelf with an automatic watering function.

To display and sell green leafy plants in a garden shop, various kinds of potted green leafy plants are displayed and displayed on a display shelf. It is not only time-consuming and time-consuming for a store clerk to water many pots on such a display shelf, but sometimes forgets to do so. Therefore, there is a great demand to be able to automatically water the plants displayed on the display shelf with water containing plant nutrients.

Therefore, devices for automatically watering plants on display have been conventionally known. Among them, there are those disclosed in Utility Model Registration No. 3097215 (Patent Document 1), Utility Model Registration No. 3111985 (Patent Document 2), and Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2017-063662 (Patent Document 3). .

Patent Document 1 is a utility model for a display shelf for potted plants. and water is supplied to the upper display tray 11. After about 3 minutes, the valve 16 is opened to drop the water in the upper display tray 11 onto the middle display tray 11 and store it there. A technique is disclosed for watering plants in pots placed on the display trays 11 of each stage by dropping water from the display tray 11 to the lower display tray 11, storing it, and finally returning it to the water storage tank 20. - 特許庁. Further, according to paragraph 0023, it is proposed that the opening/closing control of the opening/closing valve 16 may be automatically controlled by the detection signal of the liquid level detection sensor. However, this Patent Document 1 does not disclose a technique for watering by timer control.

Further, in Patent Document 2, water is automatically supplied to each of the shelves 1, 2, and 3, and according to paragraphs 0026 to 0029 of FIG. A mechanism is disclosed in which the water in the lowermost shelf 3 is circulated by a pump 43 . 9, paragraph 0029 explains that flowerpots 10 are placed on the shelves 1, 2, and 3 and water is supplied. However, Patent Document 2 does not disclose a technique for preventing root rot by lowering the water level after watering.

Next, Patent Document 3 is a plant cultivation apparatus, not a display shelf, but according to paragraphs 0021 to 0024, trays 3 are placed in multiple stages, plant pods 4 are placed in each tray 3, and each tray 3 describes supplying a nutrient solution through a nozzle 14 and cultivating plants in a plant pod 4 . Further, it is also described that the amount of water supplied to each receiving tray 3 is adjusted by controlling the opening and closing of the valve 14a of the nozzle 14. However, this patent document 3 is a technology of hydroponic cultivation, and does not describe a technology of watering the mounting tray by timer control in order to prevent drying of the soil of the flowerpots on the display shelf.

Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 8-140508 (Patent Document 4) discloses a device for automatically watering the soil of a flowerpot by detecting the lack of moisture in the soil. The water supply pump is controlled by the controller to circulate and irrigate the mounting trays for a period of time sufficient to make the soil in each flowerpot sufficiently moist, and when the irrigation is completed, the water in the mounting trays is drained. It does not disclose a technology for emptying and preventing root rot.

Japanese Patent No. 3097215 Japanese Patent No. 3111985 JP 2017-063662 A JP-A-08-140508

The present invention has been made in view of such conventional technical problems. The water supply pump is operated only for the first time, and water is circulated for a period of time that allows the soil in each flowerpot lined up in the irrigation container to be sufficiently moistened. To provide a plant display shelf with an automatic watering function, which is also equipped with a function of emptying the plants and preventing root rot.

The present invention comprises a multi-level display shelf, a water storage container for storing water for irrigation, an irrigation container installed on at least one level of the display shelf, and an irrigation container protruding substantially horizontally inside the irrigation container. a pump for sucking up irrigation water from the water storage container at a constant flow rate and discharging the irrigation water from the water discharge port into the irrigation container to circulate the water in the irrigation container; A controller that operates the pump for a predetermined time at a predetermined time, a drainage hose that is connected to the water storage container from a drainage port provided at the bottom of the watering container, and a drainage flow rate that is installed in the drainage hose. A flow regulating valve that adjusts the flow rate of drainage from the irrigation container so that the irrigation water circulating in the irrigation container is maintained at a predetermined water level of 2 to 3 cm during operation of the pump. It features a plant display shelf with an automatic watering function with a flow control valve .

In the plant display shelf with an automatic watering function of the above invention, the watering containers are installed in a plurality of stages, and a plurality of the pumps and controllers are installed for each watering container, and the plurality of the plurality of units are controlled by each of the plurality of controllers. of pumps can be individually controlled.

According to the plant display shelf with automatic watering function of the present invention, water can be supplied to the soil in the pot of the foliage plant by automatic watering, and excess water can be drained without retaining it in the soil of each flowerpot. No fear of rotting. In addition, since watering can be performed automatically by timer control, there is no fear that the plant, which is a commercial product, will wither due to forgetting to water, and the foliage plant can be displayed on the display shelf all day long.

The perspective view seen from the back side of the plant display shelf of one embodiment of the present invention. The perspective view seen from the front side of the plant display shelf of the said embodiment. The block diagram of the water supply/drainage mechanism of the spot display shelf of the said embodiment.

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings.

1 to 3 show a plant display shelf with an automatic watering function (hereinafter sometimes simply referred to as "plant display shelf") according to an embodiment of the present invention. In the plant display shelf 1 of the embodiment, box-shaped irrigation containers 41 and 42 are installed on the upper shelf plates 31 and 32 of the shelf frame 2, and a machine storage shelf 33 is installed below them. there is A pump/tank housing container 43 is set in the machine housing shelf 33 .

Drainage ports 10A and 10B are provided in the irrigation containers 41 and 42, respectively, so that the water that has flowed into the containers 41 and 42 can be drained naturally.

A water storage tank 6 for storing irrigation water is installed in the pump/tank storage container 43 on the machine storage shelf 33. Pumps 5A and 5B are provided in the water storage tank 6 for pumping up and circulating water for water supply. is also installed. Controllers 11A and 11B for time-controlling the operation and stoppage of the pumps 5A and 5B are also installed at appropriate locations. Reference numeral 20 denotes a power supply for supplying necessary power to the controllers 11A and 11B and the pumps 5A and 5B.

By activating the pumps 5A and 5B, the respective pumps 5A and 5B suck water from the water storage tank 6 and pump it up to the upper irrigation container 41 and the middle irrigation container 42 through the water supply hoses 8A and 8B. Water is discharged inside from the water outlets 12A and 12B at the rear portions of the irrigation containers 41 and 42, respectively. The discharged water stays in the irrigation containers 41 and 42 and part of it flows back from the drain ports 10A and 10B to the water storage tank 6 below through the drain hoses 9A and 9B.

The water discharged from the water discharge port 12A at the rear of the uppermost irrigation container 41 circulates in the container 41 to raise the water level to a certain degree, for example, about 2 to 3 cm, and the water in the irrigation container 41 serves to wet the bottoms of many flowerpots housed in When the timer of the controller 11A expires, the water in the irrigation container 41 naturally gathers at the drain port 10A, flows down through the drain hose 9A, and is returned to the water storage tank 6.

The water discharged from the water discharge port 12B at the rear part of the watering container 42 in the middle stage is also circulated in the watering container 42 to raise the water level to a certain extent, for example, 2 or 3 cm, and is stored in the watering container 42. It works by wetting the bottom of many flowerpots. Then, when the timer of the controller 11B expires, the water in the irrigation container 42 gathers at the drain port 10B, flows down through the drain hose 9B, and is returned to the water storage tank 6.

The pumps 5A and 5B are operated only for a predetermined operating time, for example, 2 or 3 minutes, by the timer control of the controllers 11A and 11B. 41, continue pumping through the hoses 8A, 8B to each container 42 for sprinkling water in the middle stage, water is supplied to the respective containers 41, 42, and the inside is circulated. During this time, the soil in the flowerpots absorbs water from the holes in the bottoms of the numerous flowerpots accommodated in the watering containers 41 and 42, respectively, and overdrying can be prevented.

When the timer control is completed, the circulating water supply of water is stopped, and all the water in the irrigation containers 41 and 42 is returned to the water storage tank 6 through the drain ports 10A and 10B through the drain hoses 9A and 9B. The inside will be dry again.

The drain hoses 9A and 9B are provided with flow control valves 13A and 13B for adjusting the flow rate of drain water, respectively. By throttling or opening the flow control valves 13A, 13A, the instantaneous drainage flow rate can be adjusted. Therefore, even if the instantaneous flow rate of water supplied from the water storage tank 6 through the water supply hoses 8A and 8B to the irrigation containers 41 and 42 by the pumps 5A and 5B is constant depending on the pump rating, the flow rate control valves 13A and 13B The instantaneous drainage flow rate is adjusted by adjusting the opening degree of , and as a result, the water level of the water accumulated in the irrigation containers 41 and 42 can be adjusted and set to a constant water level according to the difference. For this reason, even if the pumps 5A and 5B are high-performance and therefore expensive because they can adjust the amount of discharge, watering can be performed by simply adjusting the opening of each of the flow control valves 13A and 13B. There is an advantage that the water level of the container 41, 42 can be adjusted and set to a desired height.

In this way, in the plant display shelf 1 with an automatic watering function of the present embodiment, a large number of flowerpots arranged on the watering containers 41 and 42 are watered at an appropriate timing and for a required time set in advance. By doing so, the soil in the flowerpot can be moderately moistened so as not to dry out, and the plant can be displayed while protecting the plant from dying. In addition, since the plurality of controllers 5A, 5B can control the water supply time to each of the plurality of watering containers 41, 42, the type of plant in the flowerpot displayed in each of the watering containers 41, 42 can be controlled. It is possible to individually change the water supply timing or change the water supply time accordingly, and it is possible to easily and flexibly cope with the long-term display of flowerpots of many kinds of plants.

In the case of this embodiment, the soil is made to absorb water from the holes in the bottom of the flowerpots housed in the watering containers 41 and 42, so that the plants planted in the flowerpots are not directly exposed to water. Therefore, the plants can be displayed for a long period of time without trouble.

The timer setting by the controllers 11A and 11B can be flexibly set according to the type of plant to be displayed and the season, such as frequent setting in summer and low frequency in winter. At the same time, since the water level in each of the watering containers 41 and 42 can be adjusted by adjusting the opening of the flow control valves 13A and 13B, the types of plants displayed in the watering containers 41 and 42 and the number of pots can be adjusted. The water level, water supply time, and water supply time zone can be individually adjusted according to the implementation environment, such as the size of the diameter.

1 Plant display shelf 2 Frames 31, 32 Shelves 41, 42 Sprinkling containers 5A, 5B Pump 6 Water storage tanks 8A, 8B Water supply hoses 9A, 9B Drainage hoses 10A, 10B Drainage ports 11A, 11B Controllers 12A, 12B Water discharge port 13A , 13B flow control valve

Claims (2)

multi-tier display shelves,
a water storage container for storing irrigation water;
an irrigation container installed on at least one level of the display shelf;
a water discharge port installed so as to protrude substantially horizontally inside the irrigation container;
Water for irrigation of the water storage containerSucking up at a constant flow rate, from the water outletSaid irrigation containerto circulate inside the irrigation containera pump;
a controller that operates the pump for a predetermined time at a predetermined time;
From the drain port provided at the bottom of the irrigation containerso as to drain into said reservoira connected drain hose;
A flow regulating valve installed in the drainage hose for adjusting the flow rate of drainage water, the irrigation water being circulated in the irrigation container during operation of the pump being maintained at a predetermined water level of 2 to 3 cm. Flow control valve that adjusts the flow rate of water discharged from the containerand a plant display shelf with an automatic watering function. The irrigation container is installed in a plurality of stages,
A plurality of pumps and controllers are installed for each irrigation container,
2. The plant display shelf with an automatic watering function according to claim 1, wherein the operation of the plurality of pumps is individually controlled by each of the plurality of controllers.

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