JPH027003A - Light supplying device for culturing plant - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To efficiently and uniformly supply light to plant by providing means for taking the light from natural light sources or artificial light sources and means of projecting the taken light toward the plant. CONSTITUTION:Optical fibers 7, 8 are made by using a polymethyl methacrylate (PMMA) material as a core. Since this PMMA material has an effect of absorbing the IR component of the light, only the IC component is attenuated from the natural light and is sent to a lighting chamber 1. The quantity of the natural light is detected by an optical sensor. The sodium lamps of lighting devices 6 are hardly lighted when the natural light is relatively strong. The sodium lamps are properly lighted when the natural light is weakened by a bad weather or the like. The light is supplied always adequately into the culture chamber 1 in such a manner. Since the light supplied at this time hardly contains the IR rays, the heating up in the culture chamber is obviated.

Description

[Detailed Description of the Invention] [Object of the Invention] <Industrial Application Field> The present invention provides a method for supplying a required amount of light from a light source to plants to be cultivated in a hermetically insulated cultivation room. The present invention relates to a light supply device.

<Prior Art> Conventionally, there has been known a technique for efficiently cultivating edible plants and the like by adjusting temperature, humidity, internal atmosphere, light ω, etc. in a sealed enclosure.

For example, plants to be grown are placed in a cultivation room that is sealed from the outside, and instead of natural light that is affected by weather, an artificial light source such as an electric light is installed inside the cultivation room and the amount of light is adjusted. In particular, efforts are being made to suitably supply plants with the necessary amount of light.

However, since it is necessary to supply light evenly to each of the plants in the cultivation room, it is difficult to arrange the plants in multiple tiers in the form of shelves, and the utilization efficiency of the space in the cultivation room tends to be poor. In addition, since artificial light sources such as electric lights generate a relatively large amount of heat, air conditioning inside the cultivation room becomes complicated. Furthermore, it is preferable to manage the internal atmosphere of the cultivation room by constantly filling it with carbon dioxide for the purpose of promoting photosynthesis of plants, but if the cultivation room is frequently communicated with the outside air for the purpose of air conditioning, Problems affecting this atmosphere control also arise.

On the other hand, it has also been proposed to use both natural light and the amount of light from an artificial light source. That is, the cultivation room is covered with a transparent material that allows natural light to enter, and an electric light or the like is installed inside the cultivation room as an auxiliary light source. However, in such cultivation rooms, the indoor temperature tends to rise due to the action of infrared rays contained in natural light, which, together with the heat generated by the artificial light source mentioned above, makes air conditioning and internal atmosphere management complicated. The problem becomes even more serious. Furthermore, it is necessary to secure a place for installing an artificial light source in the cultivation room, and the problem that the utilization efficiency of the space in the cultivation room is reduced cannot be avoided.

<Problems to be Solved by the Invention> In view of the problems of the prior art, the main purpose of the present invention is to efficiently utilize the cultivation indoor space when cultivating plants in a hermetically insulated cultivation room. It is an object of the present invention to provide a light supply device that can be used and does not complicate air conditioning management.

[Structure of the Invention] <Means for Solving the Problems> According to the present invention, in order to cultivate plants in a hermetically insulated cultivation room, a required amount of light is directed toward the plants. The light supply device for plant cultivation necessarily includes a means for collecting light from a natural light source or an artificial light source, and a means for directing the collected light to the plants in the cultivation room. This is achieved by providing a light supply device for plant cultivation, characterized in that it has: and a second lighting means for collecting light from an artificial light source;
The lighting means preferably includes means for adjusting the amount of light from the artificial light source, and at least one of the lighting means, the light projecting means, and the optical fiber controls the amount of light from the light source. It is preferable to have a means for attenuating the infrared component of.

<Function> In this way, even if the plants to be cultivated are arranged in multiple tiers in the form of shelves, it becomes possible to efficiently and uniformly supply light to the plants. In addition, if plants to be cultivated are supplied with a combination of an externally installed artificial light source and natural light with only the infrared component removed (1), the power cost of the artificial light source can be reduced and the plant can be cultivated. This prevents the indoor temperature from rising unnecessarily and makes air conditioning management easier. Furthermore, if the light emitting side of the optical fiber, that is, the side surface near the end in the cultivation chamber is cut off, the core of the optical fiber is exposed, and the light is emitted from the exposed portion in the side direction. is diffused, and there is no need to provide a separate lens or the like.

<Embodiments> Hereinafter, preferred embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings.

FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram showing the configuration of a plant cultivation installation to which the present invention is applied. The cultivation chamber 1 is sealed from the outside and shielded from light by a heat insulating partition 2, and the interior thereof is always filled with carbon dioxide to promote photosynthesis of the plants to be cultivated. Inside the cultivation room 1, a plurality of cultivation plants 411I3 are arranged in multiple stages, and a light projecting device 4 is arranged above each of the cultivation plants 411I3. Each light projecting device 4 is connected via optical fibers 7 and 8 to a natural light daylighting device 5 provided externally and to a plurality of daylight devices 6 also provided externally and each receiving light from an individual artificial light source. It is connected. Here, the optical fiber 7.8 uses polymethyl methacrylate (PMMA) as its core, and this PMMA material has the ability to absorb infrared components of light.
Therefore, only the infrared component from the natural light is attenuated and sent to the lighting room 1. Furthermore, since the lighting device 6 is connected to the cultivation device 1 through an optical fiber 8, its arrangement can be relatively freely performed.

The daylighting device 6 is attached with a jacket l-, which will be described later, and cooling water is circulated through the jacket by a pump 11 via a pipe line 10. A part of this conduit 10 is connected to a radiator 12 provided inside the cultivation chamber 1 and a radiator 13 provided outside the cultivation chamber 1 on three sides.
connected via. Note that an optical sensor (not shown) is provided near the lighting device 5, so that priority of natural light can be detected.

FIG. 2 is a sectional view showing an enlarged main part of the daylighting device 5. As shown in FIG. The side parts 14 and bottom part 15 of the box-shaped lighting device 5 are covered with a methyl methacrylate (MMA) board, and aluminum@16 is adhered to the inner surface of the board. Further, the upper lighting section 17 in FIG. 2 is composed of a milky white acrylic plate 18 and a plurality of Fresnel lenses 19 provided inside. The light-receiving end of the optical fiber 7 is inserted into the bottom 15 from the outside, and a fisheye lens 2 is attached to the end.
1 is set. Note that reference numeral 20 is a reinforcing rib made of a transparent MMA plate.

Natural light from the outside is focused on the end fisheye lens 21 of each optical fiber 7 via the milky white acrylic plate 18 and the Fresnel lens 19, and is sent to the lighting room 1. Here, the milky white acrylic plate 18 is used to diffuse light from the outside and let the Fresnel lens 19 at the bottom take in a wide range of light, and the aluminum foil 16 is used to diffuse light inside the lighting device 5. This is a reflective plate for efficient use.

FIG. 3 is a longitudinal sectional view showing the lighting device 6 in an enlarged manner. This lighting device 6 has a jacket member 24 in the shape of a cylinder with a bottom, and a high-pressure sodium lamp 23 as a light source is received in the center of the inner hole 24a. The light-receiving end of the optical fiber 8 is inserted into a part of the side surface of the jacket member 24 from the outside, so that the end surface 8a and the sodium lamp 23 face each other. A sodium lamp 2 is installed at the right end of the jacket member 24 in FIG.
M25 is provided for replacing 3. Aluminum foil 26 is adhered to the entire surface of the inner surface of the jacket member 24 other than the part where the end of the optical fiber 8 is inserted, so that the light from the sodium lamp 23 can be efficiently directed into the cultivation room 1.
It is supposed to be sent to

Here, since the wavelength range of the light attenuated by the optical fiber 8 made of PMMA material and the wavelength range of the light generated by the sodium lamp 23 are different, the light generated by the lamp is hardly attenuated and is therefore efficient. The light will be sent to the lighting room 1.

Between the inner hole 24a in which the sodium lamp 23 is received in the jacket member 24 and the outside, the above-mentioned pipe line 1 is connected.
A water jacket 27 communicating with 0 is provided. By this water jacket 27, the jacket member 2
4 is prevented from being heated by the heat generated by the sodium lamp 23. In reality, instead of cooling the inside of the daylighting device 6 with water using a water jacket, fins may be provided on the outside of the daylighting device 6 to air-cool the device, or the daylighting device 6 may be cooled with air.
The air itself in the inner hole 24a may be forcibly circulated through a pipe line for cooling.

FIG. 4 is a sectional view showing an enlarged main part of the light projecting device 4. As shown in FIG. The light projecting device 4 has a box shape that generally covers the upper surface of the cultivation shelf 3. The end of the optical fiber 7.8 is located at the lower part of the light projecting device 4 in FIG. The connector 29 is held so as to be exposed. Further, a protection plate 30, which may be a transparent acrylic plate or an MMA plate, is provided to cover the optical fiber ends 7b, 8b.・Actually, this protective plate 30 may be made of a material that absorbs the infrared component of light.

Further, an aluminum foil 31 is provided on the surface of the bottom of the light projector 4 facing the cultivation shelf 3 other than the exposed portions of the optical fiber end faces 7b and 8b, so that the light reflected from the cultivation shelf 3 is provided with aluminum foil 31. The light is reflected back toward the cultivation shelf 3.

Next, the operating procedure of the light supply device will be explained.

First, an optical sensor (not shown) detects the maximum amount of natural light. When the natural light is relatively strong, the sodium lamp 23 of the daylighting device 6 is hardly turned on, and when the natural light becomes weak due to bad weather, etc., the sodium lamp 23 is turned on. It is turned on as appropriate to always supply light to the cultivation room 1 in a suitable manner. At this time, since the supplied light contains almost no infrared components, the temperature inside the cultivation room does not rise. In addition, the pipe line 10 is normally connected to the radiator 13, but if the temperature inside the cultivation room drops below the required temperature, the pipe line 10 is connected to the radiator 12 by driving the three-way cock 9. It is preferable to communicate the heat generated by the lighting device 6 into the room.

In fact, if the lighting device 5 is made to respond to the movement of the sun, natural light can be brought in more efficiently.

In addition, in this embodiment, aluminum foil was attached to the inner wall surface of the daylighting device 5.6 and the surface of the lighting device 4 facing the plants, etc., in order to utilize light efficiently. Chrome plating may be applied instead of foil.

FIG. 5 shows an embodiment in which the light projecting device of the above embodiment is partially modified, and shows the structure of the light projecting end of the optical fiber 7.8 of the light projecting device 4 in the above embodiment.

According to this embodiment, the side surface of the optical fiber 7.8 near the end on the light emitting side is partially cut off, so that the core 35 is exposed from the side surface. Therefore, the light from the lighting devices 5 and 6 is evenly projected laterally from the exposed side surface portion 35a of the core 35. If this side part 35a is provided so as to face the plants on the cultivation shelf 3, the distance between the light projector 4 and the cultivation 1113 can be further narrowed, and the efficiency of space utilization in the cultivation room 1 is further improved.

[Effects of the Invention] As described above, according to the present invention, by guiding light from an external light source into the cultivation room using optical fibers, it is possible to efficiently arrange the plants to be cultivated in multiple tiers in the form of shelves. It becomes possible to supply light to plants evenly and uniformly. Furthermore, if the light source has an artificial light source, the light source can be freely arranged. Furthermore, if the plants to be cultivated are supplied with a combination of an artificial light source installed outside and natural light with only infrared components removed, the power cost of the artificial light source can be reduced, and at the same time The temperature will not rise unnecessarily, making air conditioning management easier.

In addition, if the light emitting side of the optical fiber, that is, the side surface near the end in the cultivation chamber, is cut off to expose the core of the optical fiber, and the light is emitted from the exposed portion in the side direction, the light can be effectively is diffused, and there is no need to provide a separate lens or the like.

From the above, the effects of the present invention are significant.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram showing the configuration of plant cultivation equipment to which the present invention is applied. FIG. 2 is an enlarged cross-sectional view of only the main parts of the natural light lighting device shown in FIG. 1. FIG. FIG. 3 is an enlarged vertical cross-sectional view showing only the lighting device for the sodium lamp light shown in FIG. 1. FIG. 4 is an enlarged sectional view of a main part of only the light projecting device shown in FIG. 1. FIG. 5 is a perspective view showing the structure of a main part of a light projecting device showing a modified embodiment of the embodiment based on the present invention. 1...Cultivation room 2...Partition wall 3...Cultivation shelf 4...Lighting device 5.6...Lighting device
7.8...Optical fibers 8a, 7b, 8b-...End face 9...3-way socket 10...Pipe line 11...Pump 12.13...Radiator 14...Side part 15.・・Bottom part 16−・・Aluminum @
17... Lighting section 18... Acrylic board 19...
Fresnel lens 20...Reinforcement rib 21...Fisheye lens 23...High pressure sodium lamp 24...Jacket member 24a...Inner hole 25...
Lid 26...Aluminum foil 27...Two-piece jacket

Claims (4)

[Claims] (1) To grow plants in a sealed and insulated cultivation room,
A light supply device for plant cultivation that supplies a required amount of light to the plant, the device comprising: a means for collecting light from a natural light source or an artificial light source; and a means for collecting light from a natural light source or an artificial light source; 1. A light supply device for plant cultivation, comprising: means for projecting light toward; and an optical fiber that connects the two means to each other. (2) The lighting means includes a first lighting means that receives light from a natural light source, and a second lighting means that receives light from an artificial light source.
2. The plant cultivation light according to claim 1, wherein the second lighting means includes means for adjusting the amount of light from the artificial light source. Feeding device. (3) At least one of the lighting means, the light projecting means, and the optical fiber has means for attenuating the infrared component of the light from the light source. Alternatively, the light supply device for plant cultivation according to item 2. (4) The light projecting means has a light projecting surface that extends in the axial direction and is cut out to expose the core of the side portion of the optical fiber located in the cultivation chamber. The light supply device for plant cultivation according to any one of items 1 to 3.