JPH03198717A - Device for raking out culture medium - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To miniaturize and simplify a device for raking out a culture medium by providing a pressing device for sliding culture bottles housed in a container on rails and carrying the bottles to the next station in the aforementioned device equipped with at least carrying in, raking out and taking out stations. CONSTITUTION:Plural rails 35 having an interval capable of contacting and supporting both shoulder parts of culture bottles inverted in the longitudinal direction of a conveying rail frame are fixed. The culture bottles are housed and supported in the inverted state in each container 12 by a suitable means on the rails 35. When a cylinder 44 is driven and a slide lever 42 is moved to the right, the culture bottles in the last row of each station are pressed in a so-called milling state with pressing rods (40a) to (40d) connected to L- shaped connecting rods 41 from the slide lever 42, slid on the rails 35 and moved onto a station in the next stage. The pressing rods (40a) to (40d) are moved into gaps (Y) of pressing plates 37 and 37 between the previous station and the station next time.

Description

[Detailed description of the invention] (Industrial application field) The present invention relates to a culture medium scraping device.

(Background Art) In the artificial cultivation of mushrooms using cultivation bottles, in order to reuse the cultivation bottles, there is a work to remove the medium after the mushrooms have grown from the cultivation bottles.

In this work of removing the culture medium, various types of medium scraping devices have been conventionally used to scrape out the culture medium from a plurality of cultivation bottles housed in a container at once. A typical culture medium scraping device supports a cultivation bottle in an inverted state while being housed in a container, and scrapes out the culture medium by rotating a scraping blade into and out of the cultivation bottle. However, the medium after mushroom cultivation is dry and hard, and if the scraping blade is rotated while entering the medium, the medium will rotate together with the scraping blade, making it difficult to cut efficiently. was difficult.

Therefore, prior to scraping with the scraping blade, the inventor made a hole in the culture medium with a drill, then scraped out the culture medium with the scraper blade, and then rubbed the inner wall of the bottle with a brush to culture the medium without completely scraping out the medium. Developed a base scraping device and applied for a patent (Patent application Hei 1-16793.5)
issue). Specifically, this device includes a single-shell loading station where cultivation bottles are carried in upside down while still being housed in a container, a perforation station where holes are drilled with a drill, a scraping station where the cultivation bottles are swept with a scraping blade, a brush station where the cultivation bottles are scraped with a brush, and a second extraction station. They are arranged in this order, and containers and cultivation bottles are transported between stations by an endless flat conveyor that is circulated in a vertical plane.

However, if the transport mechanism for containers and cultivation bottles is configured with an endless flat conveyor like this,
There is a problem in that an empty conveyor section is required to return from the unloading station to the loading station, which increases the size and complexity of the device and increases the cost.

It is an object of the present invention to solve the above-mentioned problems and to provide a cleaning device which can be made smaller and simpler.

(Means for Solving the Problems) The present invention according to the object 1 includes a loading station where cultivation bottles housed in a container are brought in upside down together with the container; There is a scraping station where a scraping blade provided below each cultivation bottle rotates and enters into the cultivation bottle from the bottle opening to scrape out the culture medium, and the cultivation bottle with the culture medium scraped out is placed together with the container. In a culture substrate scraping device equipped with at least three unloading stations that are transferred in an inverted manner, as a transport mechanism for containers and cultivation bottles between each station, a system for transporting containers and cultivation bottles that are inverted over the space above each station is used. A plurality of rails are installed in parallel to support the cultivation bottles by contacting both shoulders, and the rails contact the cultivation bottles located in the last row of each station except for the unloading station and push them in the conveyance direction, so that they are stored in the container. The present invention is characterized in that a pressing device having a pressing rod is provided for sliding the cultivation bottle on the rail to carry it to the next station.

(Function) The cultivation bottle housed in the container is supported in an inverted manner on the rails of the carry-in stage gin and scraping station with both shoulders abutting against each other. The pressing device is driven to move the pressing rod in the transport direction of the cultivation bottles, pushing the cultivation bottles in the last row in the container, and thereby all the cultivation bottles in the container are connected by the container.
They slide on the rails under pressure, and are conveyed in line from the carry-in station to the next station, such as a scraping station, and from the scraping station to the carry-in station, where they are conveyed in line to the next station, for example, a carry-out station. In this case, the cultivation bottles housed in the container are transported in a new state upside down using appropriate means.

Further, from the carry-out station, the cultivation bottle with the culture medium scraped out is taken out together with the container.

(Embodiments) Hereinafter, preferred embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail based on the accompanying drawings.

1 to 3, 10 is a frame, the width of which is approximately one container 12, and the length approximately 5 times the container 12.
It is formed to be the size of an individual.

From one end of the frame 10 to the other, there are a loading station A, a punching station B, a punching station C, a brush station D, and a loading station E.

At the bottom of the drilling station B, a drill 14 made of, for example, 16 wood is installed so that it rotates upward and around its axis in accordance with the arrangement of the cultivation bottles 13 which are supported upside down while being accommodated in the container 12 by a mechanism to be described later. It is arranged. It is preferable that the drill 14 has a large diameter and an outer diameter that is approximately the same as the inner diameter of the bottle mouth of the cultivation bottle 13.

Container 1 is also located at the bottom of scraping station C.
For example, 16 scraping blades 15 are arranged to rotate upward and around an axis in accordance with the arrangement of the cultivation bottles 13 housed in the cultivation bottles 2 .

The scraping blade 15 is a known one (for example, Japanese Patent Publication No. 57-93
No. 23) may be used, but in this embodiment, each seeding blade 15 is composed of two blades, as clearly shown in FIG. Each of the moons 15a, 15b is formed into an L-shape, and a cutting edge is formed at the front end of one bent part, and at the base of the other bent part (shaft), the rotating base 15c is attached to a rotating base 15c, and they are pushed outward from each other by a spring 15d. It is supported by one force in the opening direction.

Note that the tips of each of the moons 15a and 15b are adapted to come into contact with the inner wall of a guide cylinder provided on a lifting platform, which will be described later.

At the bottom of brush station D, there is also a container 12.
For example, 16 brushes 16 are arranged to rotate upward and around an axis in accordance with the arrangement of cultivation bottles 13 housed in the container.

The rotation mechanism of the drill 14, scraping blade 15, and brush 16 can be a known one. For example, a chain (not shown) is connected to a sprocket (not shown) provided at the bottom of the drill 14, etc., and the motor (not shown).

Reference numeral 20 denotes a lifting platform, which is located above each drill 14, scraping blade 15, and brush 16 of the drilling station B, scraping station C1, and brush station D.
It is designed to move up and down as you are guided by it. This elevating table 20 is moved up and down by a drive device such as a crank device 22.

Each drill 14, scraping blade 15, and brush 16 can enter the lifting table 20, and a through hole 23 having the same diameter as the inner diameter of the bottle mouth of the cultivation bottle 13 is formed, and surrounding each of the through holes 23, A receiving tube 24 into which the opening of the cultivation bottle 13 can be fitted is provided. The upper inner wall of the receiving tube 24 is tapered outwardly to guide the bottle opening. Furthermore, as shown in FIG. 5, on both sides of this receiving tube 24, when the bottle opening enters into the receiving tube 24, it comes into contact with the shoulder of the cultivation bottle 13, and the cultivation bottle 1
A spacer 25 made of rubber or the like is fixed to prevent rotation of 3. The spacer 25 located between the two receiving tubes 24 has contact portions formed in circular arcs so as to simultaneously contact the shoulders of the two cultivation bottles 13 whose bottle openings have entered both receiving tubes 24.

In addition, on the other side of the spacer 25, a metal support piece 26 that also serves as a support for the spacer 25 is attached to the spacer by insert molding or the like so that the end surface does not reach the circular arc part.
It is integrally fixed to 25.

The guide tube 27 described above is fixed to the lower surface of the lifting table 20 corresponding to the scraping station C, surrounding the through hole 23. The length of the guide tube 27 is set so that the scraping blade 15 does not come off from the guide tube 27 even if the lifting platform 20 rises.

Next, reference numeral 30 denotes a transport rail frame arranged above the lifting table 20.

The transport rail frame 30 is supported by four wooden cylinders 31a, 31b, 31c, and 31d provided between it and the lifting table 20, and the cylinders expand and contract to move the lifting table 2.
It is possible to move toward and away from zero within a predetermined range. Although not shown, the transport rail frame 30 is guided by guide pins and moves up and down.

As specifically shown in FIG. 6, the transport rail frame 30 is constructed such that two U-shaped rail supports 32 that open upward are located at the boundaries of each of the stations described above. The plurality of rail supports 32 are connected on both sides by connecting rods 33, 33 to form a basic frame body. Rail support 3
Five rails 35 extending in the longitudinal direction of the transport rail frame 30 are fixed between the rails 32 and 2, supported by support rods 34 erected on the lower bar of the rail support 32.

The interval between each rail 35 is such that the neck of the inverted cultivation bottle 13 can enter and the rails 35 can come into contact with both shoulders of the cultivation bottle 13 to support the cultivation bottle 13. In addition, the height of the support 34 prevents the lip of the cultivation bottle 13 from hitting the lower bar of the rail support 32 when the cultivation bottle 13 supported upside down between the rails 35 is transported by sliding on the rail 13. The height should be such that there is enough space for the

Correspondingly above the drilling station, two pressure plates 37, 37 are fixed between the rail supports 32a, 32b. A predetermined gap X is formed between the two pressing plates 37, 37 at the center in the width direction of the transport rail frame 30.

Above each of the scraping station C1 and the brush station D, two pressing plates 37 are placed between the rail supports 32c, 32d and the rail supports 32e, 32.
．． 37, a pressing plate 37.37 is fixed.

40a, 40b, 40c, and 40d are pressurized o and 7 de, and are arranged to the left of each loading station A, perforating station shore B, scraping station C1, and brush station D (upper part of Fig. 2), and each has 17 characters. It is connected to the slide bar 42 by a connecting ring 41 having a shape. The slide par 42 is slidably supported within the guide member 43, connected to a rod of a cylinder 44, and reciprocated in the longitudinal direction of the frame 10. As a result, the cultivation bottle 13 supported upside down on the rail 35 is pressed by the pressing rod 40 and moved to the next station. The coupling ring 41 then passes through the gap X between the pressure plates 37, 37. A crank device may be used as the reciprocating mechanism for the slide par 42.

The carry-in station A is provided with a reversing carry-in device 50 that turns the cultivation bottles 13 housed in the container 10 upside down together with the container from the side of the carry-in station Δ, and carries them into the carry-in station A.

The reversing loading device 50 will be explained with reference to FIG.

Reference numeral 51 denotes a reversing table, which is provided on the frame frame 10 so as to be reversible about an axis 52 over a position above the loading station Δ and on a side thereof. A sprocket (not shown) is fixed to the shaft 152, a chain (not shown) is hooked to the sprocket, and the reversing table 51 is driven in reverse by a forward/reverse motor (not shown).

Further, 53 is in contact with the neck of the cultivation bottler 3 and the container 10
A support rod 54 is a pressure plate that pinches the cultivation bottle 13 from both sides of the support rod 54 which is pivotally supported by the inversion table 51 on which the container 10 is placed.
is fixed to the top of the The lower end of the support rod 54 is connected to the inversion table 5
1, and the tip of a drive rod 56 of an air cylinder 55 is pivotally attached to the extending end. A semicircular recess is formed in a portion of the pressure plate 53 that comes into contact with the neck of the cultivation bottle 13 to match the outer shape of the neck. The air cylinder 55 operates to project drive rods 56 extending from both sides into and out in opposite directions. By projecting the drive rods 56, the pressure plate 53 is brought into contact with the neck of the cultivation bottle 13 by a lever mechanism. By touching and pressing the neck, the cultivation bottle 13 housed in the container 10 is pressed and held within the container 10. In this way, 2- Holding the container 10 and the cultivation bottle 13, the inversion table 51
By inverting the container 10 and cultivation bottle 1
3 can be inverted and supported on the rail 35 of the 1-bulk station A from the side.

The carry-out station D is also provided with a carry-out device having a configuration similar to that described above.

Next, the operation will be explained.

A description will be given starting from a state in which cultivation bottles 13 that have completed work at each station are supported on the rails 35 above each of the carry-in station A, perforation station B, scraping station C, brush station D, and carry-out station E. The cultivation bottle 19 is housed in the container 10 and supported on the rail 35 in an inverted state.

Here, the cylinder 44 is driven, and the slider 42 moves to the right in FIG. 2. As a result, the cultivation bottles 13 in the last row of each station are pressed by each pressing rod 40,
The cultivation bottles in the container are pressed all at once, slide 19 4 on the rail 35, and are moved together with the container 10 to the next stage of each station. Each pressing rod 40 has moved to a position located within the gap Y between the pressing plates 37 and the pressing plates 37 between the previous and next stations. Next, the cylinders 31a, 31b, 31c, and 31d are driven to retract, and thereby the transport rail frame 30 descends with the cultivation bottle 13 placed on the rail 35. The neck of the cultivation bottle 13 enters the receiving tube 24 and continues to descend, so that the shoulder of the cultivation bottle 13 comes into contact with the upper end surface of the spacer 25 and is supported. When the transport rail frame 30 continues to descend, the rail 35 descends leaving the cultivation bottle 13 on the space 4J-25, and the perforation station B, fi! At the extraction station C and the brush station D, the pressure plate 37.37
The culture bottle 13 is clamped and fixed between the container 10 and the upper end surface of the spacer 25. At this time, the conveyor rail frame 30 is pressed against the upper surface of a buffer member 60 (FIG. 3) made of rubber or the like provided on the upper surface of the elevator platform 20, and the conveyor rail frame 30 and the elevator platform 20 are integrated.

Next, the crank device 22 is driven to lower the lifting platform 20 together with the transport rail frame 30, and at the same time, the drill 14,
The scraping blade 15 and the brush 16 are rotated simultaneously.

As a result, at the drilling station B, the drill 14 enters the culture medium of the cultivation bottle 13, makes a hole in the culture medium, and the corresponding culture medium falls downward and is discharged. Scraping station C
Now, the two blades 15a and 15b enter while rotating into the culture medium that has been previously drilled and has a large hole formed in the center. The two blades 15a and 15b are urged outward by a spring, and due to centrifugal force, their tips contact the inner wall of the bottle while rotating and rising inside the bottle, cutting the culture medium with the blades. This is done by cutting and scraping it off. The cut culture base falls downward from the bottle mouth and is discharged.

At the brush station D, the brush 16 enters the cultivation bottle 13 while rotating, scrapes off some of the culture medium adhering to the inner wall of the bottle, and cleans the inside of the bottle.

5 On the other hand, by lowering the lifting platform 20, the pressing rod 4
0 comes out upward from the gap Y between the pressing plates 37 between the stations and is positioned above the pressing plates 37. Here, the cylinder 44 is driven, the slider 42 is driven to the left in FIG. 2, and the pressing rod 40 returns to the standby position.

Next, the lifting platform 20 rises, and the cylinders 31a, 31,
b, 31c, and 31d are expanded, and the transport frame 30 is raised and returned to the standby position.

As described above, the loading station A is loaded with the inverting table 5 while holding the container 10 placed on the inverting table 51.
1 is inverted and the container 10 and cultivation bottle 13 are carried onto the rail 35.

Note that a carry-in conveyor may be connected to the inversion table 51 to automatically feed the container onto the inversion table 51.

Further, from the carry-out station E, the cultivation bottle 13 whose culture medium has been scraped out is held together with the container 10 on an inversion table 51 by a pressure plate 53, and then the inversion table 51 is inverted and taken out to the side 6 of the carry-out station E. . An unloading conveyor can be connected to the reversing table 51, and the container 10 can be transferred from the reversing table 5I to the unloading conveyor to be unloaded.

At the drilling station B and scraping station C, as the drill 14 and scraping blade 15 rotate, the cultivation bottle 13 attempts to rotate in the same direction due to resistance from the culture medium, but as shown in FIG. When the cultivation bottle 13 tries to rotate, the spacer 25 made of rubber or the like tends to bite into the gap between the cultivation bottle 13 and the support piece 26, and the reaction force thereof prevents the cultivation bottle 13 from rotating.

In the above embodiment, loading station A, perforating station B1, scraping station C, and brush station D
Although five stations, one unloading station E, are provided, in the present invention, it is sufficient to have at least three stations: a loading station, a scraping station, and an unloading station, and it is not necessary to provide a perforating station and a brushing station.

Further, in the above embodiment, the lifting platform 2 on which the cultivation bottle 13 is fixed is
Although the zero side is raised and lowered, the drill 14, scraping blade 15, and brush 16 sides may be raised and lowered, or both may be moved toward and away from each other. In this case, the pressing rod 4
0 does not appear above the press plate 37, add a mechanism to further move the press rod up and down, and reciprocate the press rod in a downward U-shape in the vertical plane until the press rod is in the standby position. It is preferable to avoid spatial obstacles from the pressing plate 37 and the like when returning to the position.

Alternatively, as shown in FIG. 8, the transport rail frame 30 (including the pressing plate) may be formed into a U-shape that opens laterally.
The pressing rod 40 may be inserted into the transport rail frame 30 from this U-shaped opening. In this case, if a plurality of pressing rods 40 are connected to an endless chain (not shown) at regular intervals and rotated in a vertical plane, a reciprocating mechanism for the pressing rods 40 is not required. Such a circulation drive mechanism using only the pressing rod can avoid making the device larger and more complicated than the conventional circulation drive of the flat conveyor itself.

The present invention has been variously explained above with reference to preferred embodiments, but the present invention is not limited to these embodiments, and it goes without saying that many modifications can be made without departing from the spirit of the invention. That's true.

(Effects of the Invention) As described above, according to the medium scraping device according to the present invention, the cultivation bottle supported upside down on the rail is pushed by the pressing rod of the pressing device, and is slid on the rail. Since the material is conveyed, the device can be made smaller and simpler, and the cost can be reduced, compared to a conveyance mechanism using an endless flat conveyor.

In addition, since the cultivation bottles are supported upside down on the rail while housed in the container, by pressing the cultivation bottles in the last row with the pressing rod, you can easily move to the next station while keeping multiple cultivation bottles lined up. It is so effective that 11 people can participate in the training.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a front view showing an embodiment of the culture medium scraping device, FIG. 2 is a plan view thereof, and FIG. 3 is a longitudinal cross-sectional view. 9 Fig. 4 is an explanatory diagram showing one embodiment of the scraping blade, Fig. 5 shows the receiver and the spacer, (a) is a plan view, (b)
is a sectional view. FIG. 6 is a perspective view schematically showing the transport rail frame, and FIG. 7 shows a reversing and loading device for containers. FIG. 8 is an explanatory diagram showing another embodiment of the transport rail frame. A... Loading station, B... Punching station, C... Scraping station, D... Brush station, E... Carrying out station, 10... Frame, 12... Container, 13
...Cultivation bottle, 14...Drill, 15...Scraping blade, 16...Brush, 20...Elevating platform,
24... Receiving tube, 25... Spacer -30...+
Rule frame, 35... Rail, 37... Pressing plate, 40... Pressing rod, 41... Connecting culm, 50
...Reversing loading device. 0 Figure 4 ( ) 6 4 4 5 ( ) 4 3

Claims (1)

[Scope of Claims] 1. A carry-in station where the cultivation bottles housed in the container are carried in upside down together with the container, and the cultivation bottles housed in the container are supported upside down together with the container,
There is a scraping station where a scraping blade installed at the bottom of each cultivation bottle rotates and enters into the cultivation bottle from the bottle opening to scrape out the culture medium, and the cultivation bottle with the culture medium scraped out is transferred upside down together with the container. In a culture medium scraping device comprising at least three unloading stations,
As a transportation mechanism for containers and cultivation bottles between each station, multiple rails are provided in parallel across the space above each station to support the cultivation bottles by contacting both shoulders of the inverted cultivation bottles. A press having a pressing rod that comes into contact with the cultivation bottles located in the last row of each station except for the station and pushes them in the transport direction, and slides the cultivation bottles housed in the container on the rail to carry them to the next station. A culture medium scraping device characterized by being provided with a device.