JPH03201918A - Incubation of plant and system therefor - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To provide a plant incubation technique intended to prevent leaves from entanglements, so designed that plural carriers to be moved in parallel with one another in a unidirectionally controlled manner on a culture solution are formed and planted with plants to be incubated and the distances between carriers are made larger as the plants grow. CONSTITUTION:Firstly, plural carriers to be moved in parallel with one another in a unidirectionally controlled manner on a culture solution 3 are formed. These carriers are each planted with one plant 5 to be put to culture growth, and as the plants grow, the distance between the carriers adjacent to each other is made larger and the carriers are moved on the culture solution 3. Thus, the magnifying leaves of the growing plants are prevented from entanglements, and plants grown on the downstream side in their moving direction are reaped.

Description

[Detailed Description of the Invention] [Industrial Use of Bone 'JIF] The present invention replaces the conventional method of cultivating plants using soil.
The present invention relates to a plant culturing method and apparatus for cultivating plants using nutrients in a culture solution in a culture tank.

[Prior Art] Generally, as shown in FIGS. 7 and 8, a conventional plant culturing device stores a culture solution 3 containing nutrients necessary for cultivating plants in a culture tank 2. A plastic culture bed 4 is fixed to the upper part of the culture tank 2 so as to cover the stored culture solution 3.

This culture bed 4 has a plurality of planting holes 6 opened at predetermined intervals depending on the number of plants 5 to be cultivated. A porous sponge-like seedbed 7 is provided above the hole 6 to hold and plant the plants 5.

The roots 5a of the plants 5 are planted in this nursery bed 7 so that they penetrate through the holes 6 and are sufficiently immersed in the culture solution 3 to absorb nutrients. In addition, pressers 8 are provided on top of each other above the seedbed 7 to support the plants 5 planted in the seedbed 7 so that they do not fall over.

The planting of the plants 5 and the harvesting after they have grown sufficiently were carried out by reaching out from the periphery of the culture tank 2.

[Problem to be solved by the invention] However, as described above, in the conventional culture apparatus, the culture bed 4 is fixedly provided on the culture solution 3 of the culture tank 2 so as to cover it. Because of this, plants must be planted and harvested from the periphery after they grow, which naturally limits the size of the culture tank, so in order to increase mass production, a large number of relatively small tanks are installed. There was a need.

In addition, culturing using such a large number of culture tanks 2 is complicated because the culture solution 3 must be managed for each tank. On the other hand, providing a large number of culture tanks has the problem that effective use of the work site cannot be achieved.

In addition, the culture bed 4 is fixed to the culture tank 2, and the planting holes are fixedly provided at a predetermined pitch. In order to prevent this, there was the trouble of having to transplant the plants many times to the culture bed 4, which has holes set at intervals according to the growth.

The present invention has been made in order to effectively solve the above-mentioned drawbacks, and aims to provide a culture method and a culture device that reduce labor and have high productivity.

[Means for Solving the Problems] In order to solve the above-mentioned problems, the first invention forms a plurality of carriers that move in parallel and regulated in one direction on a culture solution, and This is a plant culturing method in which one plant to be cultured is planted, and as the planted plant grows, the distance between the carriers in contact with each other is increased and the carriers are moved on the culture solution. 2. The invention provides a culture tank containing a culture solution, a culture solution transfer means for flowing the culture solution in the culture tank in one direction, and a plurality of guide members provided in parallel along the flow direction of the culture solution. and a carrier that engages with these guide members and plants the plant to be cultured by immersing its root part in the culture solution, and a carrier that moves along the guide member by the flow of the culture solution, and a carrier that moves along the guide members according to the growth of the planted plant. This is a culture device equipped with a mooring control means for mooring carriers by changing the distance between them. Further, the third invention is constructed in that the carriers described in 1 are connected to each other by a sheet-like light shielding member covering the surface of the culture solution.

[Function] With the above configuration, in the first invention, a plurality of carriers are formed that move in parallel on a culture solution and are regulated in one direction, and a plant to be cultured and grown is placed on these carriers. By planting the carriers one by one and increasing the distance between adjacent carriers as the planted plants grow and moving them over the culture solution, the downstream side in the direction of movement while preventing entanglement of leaves that grow and expand as the plants grow. You can harvest plants grown in Further, in the second invention, a carrier for planting plants is engaged with a plurality of guide members provided in parallel, and a culture solution is flowed in one direction along the guide members to cause the carrier to grow the plants. By moving the carrier accordingly and greatly changing the distance during which the carrier is moved by the mooring control means according to the growth of the plant, an apparatus for concretely carrying out the method of the first invention is constructed.

In addition, the third invention prevents the generation of blue-green algae by connecting the carriers in the second invention with a sheet-like light shield and covering the culture solution surface with the light shield to block the light irradiating the culture solution surface. This makes it possible to prevent

[Example 1] Hereinafter, an example of the present invention will be described in detail based on the accompanying drawings.

FIG. 1 shows a culture device 1 of the present invention, which is placed in a building in a plant factory where air conditioning and lighting can be controlled. This culture apparatus 1 mainly has a culture tank 2 having a rectangular opening formed in the upper part.

This culture tank 2 contains fertilizer and P necessary for the growth of the plants 5.
A culture solution 3 having a set H value is stored therein, and a culture solution transfer means 9 for flowing the culture solution 3 in one direction is provided.

This culture solution transfer means 9 is composed of a pump 10 and a culture solution transfer pipe system 11 connected to the pump 10, and is connected to a culture solution supply header 12 attached to one end of the culture tank 2 and the opposite side thereof. Culture solution collection header 13 provided as
It is mainly composed of.

This culture solution transfer pipe system 11 includes a fertilizer supply device 14 for supplying fertilizer necessary for culturing the plants 5 into the culture solution 3, and a PH adjustment solution supply device 1 for maintaining the pH value of the culture solution 3 at an appropriate level.
5 etc. are provided, and after the culture solution 3 flows in one direction from the culture solution supply header 12 to the culture solution recovery header 13 by the amount reflected by the pump 10, it is placed at the bottom of the tank so that it can be circulated.

Furthermore, inside this culture tank 2, there are seven tubes arranged so that the culture solution surface is divided into six equal parts in parallel along the flow direction of the culture solution 3 from the culture solution supply header 12 side to the culture solution recovery header 13. Guide members 16 are provided in parallel, and the culture! ? They are each supported by a plurality of columns 17 from the bottom of the tank 2 .

As shown in FIG. 2, a carrier 19 on which one plant 5 is planted and held is placed on the two guide members 16 so that the carrier 19 holds a plant 5 thereon, and its both ends are engaged with the carrier 19, and the roots of the plant 5 are engaged with the carrier 19. 2
A predetermined number of cells 7 are placed so as to be immersed in the culture solution 3.

This carrier 19 is made of a square plastic base 2.
0, and a plastic drive plate 21 is provided at the bottom of the base 20 so as to hang down so as to be immersed in the culture solution 3.

Cutouts 22 are formed at both ends of the base 20, that is, the portions to be placed on the guide member 16, and an iron piece 23 is embedded inside one end of the cutouts 22.

In addition, a hole 24 is opened in the center of the base 20 for planting to an extent that does not hinder the growth of the plant 5;
A recess 26 into which the seedbed 25 is fitted is bored around hole 4, and in this planting, the roots 27 are fed into the culture medium 3 from below the hole 24.
A porous sponge-like seedbed 25 is fitted into the recess 26 so as to extend inward, and is integrated with the base 20.
In order to prevent the plant 5 from falling, a weight 28 is attached from the top of the plant 5.
The seedbed 25 is fixedly provided.

This weight 28 is a metal disk with a hole in the center that does not hinder the growth of the plants 5, and is configured so that it can be divided into two to facilitate the installation and removal of the seedbed 25. It becomes.

Further, as shown in FIG. 3, a hook 30 is provided at one end of the base 20 in the flow direction of the culture solution 3, and a roller 32 supported by a bearing 31 is provided at the other end. A light shielding member 33 having the same width as the width of the roller 32 is wound around the roller 32 .

This light shielding body 33 is formed of a thin plastic sheet coated with aluminum foil.

The end of the light shield 33 is engaged with a hook 30 similarly provided on the pond carrier 19, and tension is applied by a spring (not shown) to prevent the light shield 33 from loosening.

Note that this level of tension only takes up the slack in the light shielding body 33 and does not affect the movement of the carrier 19.

On the other hand, the guide member 16 has a strip shape made of plastic, and has two electromagnets 18 embedded therein as mooring control means for temporarily mooring the carrier 19 at a predetermined interval. It is provided.

Furthermore, the distance between the electromagnets 18 is set between the kite members 1 and 1.
6, that is, from the upstream side to the downstream side of the culture solution 3, they are gradually spaced apart from each other.

This mooring control means 29 is constructed by an electromagnet 18 provided on the guide member 16 and an iron piece 23 provided on the carrier 19.
! t4, and the carrier 19 is moored to the guide member 16 by attracting the iron piece 23 by the magnetic force of the electromagnet 18.

An excitation control circuit (not shown) is connected to the electromagnets 18 so that they are each independently excited.

Next, the operation of this embodiment will be explained with reference to FIG.

In the case of this embodiment, the distance between the carriers 19 on which the plants 5 are planted gradually increases depending on the growth level (growth stage I@) of the plants 5, and It is divided into three zones.

As shown in the figure, in the first zone, the plants 5 are at a small stage, and the carriers 19 are closely spaced from each other. Also,
In the second zone, as the plant 5 grows to a certain extent and becomes larger, the distance between its carriers 19 is slightly wider.The third zone is the state of the plant 5 at the harvest time when it has grown to its maximum size, and its carriers 19 A state in which the mutual distance is set to be larger than that of the second zone according to the size of the plant 5 is shown.

In order to harvest the fully grown plants 5 in the third zone, first, by operating the pump lO of the culture solution transfer means 9 and discharging the culture solution 3 from the culture solution supply header 12,
A flow of the culture solution 3 is generated in the culture tank 2 from the ladder 12 for supplying the culture solution to the culture solution recovery header 13rpJ.

The carrier 19 on which the plants 5 are planted is transferred to the culture solution collection header 1 by the driving plate 21 receiving the flow of the culture solution 3.
However, all the carriers 19 are still moored at that position because the electromagnet 18, which is the mooring control means 29, is attracting the iron pieces 23 embedded in the carriers 19.

While maintaining this, the three electromagnets 18 installed at the X position in the 1.3.5 row are turned off and demagnetized, and then moored at the After removing the light shielding bodies 33 that extend from the respective carriers 19 and are engaged with the hooks 30 of the carrier #19 at the position X of the 1.3.5 row, The 3-gear carrier 19 at the position of X is taken out and the plants 5 are harvested.

Next, when the three electromagnets 18 provided at the IX position in the 2.4.6 row are turned off and demagnetized, the attractive force that moored the carrier 19 is lost, so the position of the IX in the 2.4.6 row is The three-gear carrier 19 moored thereon receives the flow of the culture solution 3 by the drive plate 21, is guided by the guide member 16, moves toward the culture solution outlet header 13, and is taken out in the same manner.

By repeating this operation and work up to the carrier 19 moored at the position (■), all the carriers 19 in the third zone
By taking out the harvesting work is completed.

Next, while the electromagnets 18 located at positions IX to ■ remain turned off, the electromagnets 18 located at position X are turned on and energized. Then, the electromagnet 18 installed at the position of 1.3.5 row ■
When the switch is turned off and demagnetized, the three carriers 19 at the position (■) are unmoored, the drive plate 21 receives the flow of the culture solution 3, and the carriers 19 are guided by the guide body 16 to the position (X). It moves to a point where it is attracted to the electromagnet 18 at that position and is moored there.

Next, after turning on the switch of the electromagnet 18 installed at the position IX to excite it, turn off the switch of the electromagnet 18 installed at the position ■ to demagnetize it, and it will be moored at the position V in the same way as above. The three-geared carrier 19 is flown to the position IX, and is attracted and moored by the electromagnet 18.

By repeating this operation up to the carrier 19 moored at the position (■), all carriers #1 in the second zone are moved to the third zone.

Then, in a similar manner, all carriers 19 moored in the first zone are moved to positions in the second zone, leaving the first zone empty.

Next, the electromagnet 18 installed at the position ■ in row 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6 of the first zone is turned on and energized, and the 6-gear carrier 19 on which the new plant 5 is planted is placed. Place it at the X position. Then, the light shielding body 33 of this carrier 19 is extended and engaged with the hook 30 of the carrier 19, which is a mooring, at the position marked with ■ in the second zone.

Next, six carriers 19 planted with new plants 5 are similarly moored at position I.

This means that the planting and harvesting work of all the plants 5 has been completed, and this state is continued until the plants 5 in the third zone have grown sufficiently.

According to such a method, the carrier 19 changes depending on the growth of the plant 5.
Since the minimum spacing of [1, 12, L3] increases, the plants 5 can be efficiently cultured in the minimum space without contacting each other.

Furthermore, even if the distance between the carriers 19 increases in the same row, the space between the carriers 19 is automatically covered by the light shielding body 33, blocking light from reaching the culture solution surface, which causes algae to occur in the culture solution. You can prevent it from happening.

In other words, if the surface of the culture solution is directly exposed to light, there is a risk that blue-green algae (blue powder), which is a type of blue-green algae, will develop in that area. Once this blue-green algae adheres to a product, it is difficult to remove even when washed. In particular, lettuce and other vegetables that are shipped with roots and eaten raw in order to extend their shelf life and maintain freshness look unsightly if they have blue-green algae, reducing their product value. Therefore, by covering the culture solution surface with the light shielding body 33 as described above, the occurrence of blue-green algae is suppressed.

Next, FIG. 5 shows another mooring control means for the carrier 19.

In this case, the carrier 19 is directly floated on the culture solution 3. In this case, the mooring method using magnetic force is the same as the mooring method described above, but the carrier 19 is floated directly on the culture solution 3 and moved by riding the flow. Therefore, the driving plate 21 shown in the first embodiment is unnecessary.In order to maintain sufficient buoyancy even when the plant 5 grows and increases in weight, the carrier 19 is hollow. A ring-shaped air chamber 50 is formed.

Furthermore, in the above two mooring methods, the carrier 19 is directly attracted and moored by the magnetic force of the electromagnet 18, but in FIG. It shows one.

As shown, this mooring means 29 is provided within the guide member 16, and an electromagnet 18 is fixedly provided at one end within the casing 61. A pin 62 is fixed at the center and both ends of a plate spring 63 curved in the opposite direction to the electromagnet 18 are fixed to the upper part.

The tip of this pin 62 normally protrudes from the guide member 16 and serves as a stopper to restrict movement of the carrier 19.

That is, when the switch of the electromagnet 18 is turned on, the leaf spring 63
is attracted, and the pin 62 fixed thereto is attached to the casing 6.
By being drawn into the carrier 1, the restriction on movement of the carrier 19 is released.

Therefore, this mooring method can also provide the same effect as the above-described embodiment, and it goes without saying that the same effect can be obtained even if air pressure or water pressure is used instead of electromagnetic force.

On the other hand, an electromagnet 18 is mounted on a carrier 19 within each guide member 16.
By arranging a large number of plants at an even pitch a in the moving direction of the culture tank 2 and using electromagnets 18 at the necessary locations according to the types of plants with different growth rates, it is possible to efficiently produce various plants in one culture tank 2. .

[Effect of the invention〕 According to the present invention, the following excellent effects are achieved.

(1) Cultivate the planting and harvesting of plants! Since it is now possible to use only both edges of the I41I, it is possible to set up a larger culture tank, and the structure efficiently places carriers on the surface of the culture solution, improving the effective utilization rate of the site. Production costs are lower.

(2) The minimum space necessary for the growth of M-products is secured, and there is less interference with the growth of other plants and damage to leaves, resulting in higher commercial value.

(3) Furthermore, since the liquid surface is shielded from light between the individual carriers by sheet-like light shielding bodies, it is possible to prevent the occurrence of blue-green algae and to prevent a decrease in commercial value.

4

[Brief explanation of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a sectional view showing the system of the culture device of the present invention, FIG. 2 is a sectional view showing the state in which the carriers of the present invention are held, and FIG. 3 is a side sectional view showing the state of connection between the carriers. Fig. 4 is a plan view showing the control state of the culture tank and carriers in Fig. 1, Fig. 5 is a sectional view showing a modified embodiment of the carrier, Fig. 6 is a sectional view showing a carrier mooring device, and Fig. 7. 5 is a partially cutaway perspective view showing a conventional culture apparatus, and FIG. 8 is an enlarged sectional view showing a seedbed portion of the culture bed shown in FIG. 7. In the figure, 1 is a culture device, 2 is a culture tank, 3 is a culture solution, 5 is a plant, 9 is a culture solution transfer means, 16 is a guide member, 19 is a carrier, 29 is a mooring control means, and 33 is a light shielding body.

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. Form a plurality of carriers that move in parallel and regulated in one direction on a culture solution, plant one plant to be cultured on these carriers, and move adjacent plants as the planted plants grow. 1. A method for culturing plants, characterized in that the distance between the carriers is increased and the carriers are moved on a culture solution for culturing. 2. A culture tank containing a culture solution, a culture solution transfer means for flowing the culture solution in the culture tank in one direction, and a plurality of guide members provided in parallel along the flow direction of the culture solution. , a carrier that engages with these guide members and plants the plant to be cultured by immersing its root part in the culture solution, and moves along the guide member with the flow of the culture solution, and a carrier that follows the growth of the planted plant. 1. A plant culturing device comprising a mooring control means for mooring while changing the mutual distance. 3. The culture device according to claim 2, wherein the carriers are connected to each other by a sheet-like light shielding member that covers the surface of the culture solution.