JPH0365129A - Culture system - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To conduct efficient cultivation without waste by scraping up the plant bodies which grow from the liquid medium in the vessel with a scraper, selecting the plants by their sizes with a selector, they are conveyed, and excluding only the plants of large sizes outside. CONSTITUTION:The culture system comprises a vessel 1, 3 in which the plant bodies to be cultured are allowed to float or settle in the liquid medium; a scraping-up means 21 for scraping up the plants grown in the liquid medium and a selection means 8 for classifying the scraped-up plants by their size and returning the small plants 22 back to medium, while the large-size plants 22 are excluded out of the vessel 1 (driving shaft 8, spiral blade 12, screw 13, mesh 14, inlet 15, cover 16, exit valve 17 and exit tube 18).

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION Field of Industrial Application The present invention is suitable for use as a culturing device, particularly for bulbs, and is equipped with an internal sorting device for selecting bulbs that have grown over a certain size. Regarding equipment.

Conventional culture devices include those that use solid media such as agar;
There are some that use liquid media, and taking bulbs as an example, liquid media are generally used for culturing these.
During culturing, the culture is usually stirred to promote growth and ensure uniform growth. After a certain period of time has elapsed, the growth status is observed through a viewing window, and when the growth has progressed to a certain extent, the bulbs are discharged and taken out along with the medium.

Problems to be Solved by the Invention Stirring methods for this type of device include methods of rotating or rocking the container, aeration stirring methods of blowing air, and stirring methods using stirring blades. In addition, it is not possible to grow plants uniformly, such as bulbs.
Differences in growth rates and variations in size are unavoidable. Conventionally, those with varying sizes are discharged together with the culture medium, and those that are larger than a certain size are sorted outside, and then those that are larger than a certain size are removed. Small ones were either discarded or returned to the culture device and cultured again, but it is uneconomical to discard those that have grown to a certain extent, and it is also time-consuming to return them to the culture device and grow them again. It grows.

The present invention attempts to solve the above problem by internally sorting grown plants by size, leaving those smaller than a certain size in the culture device, and discharging those larger than a certain size to the outside. be.

Means for Solving the Problems The culture apparatus of the present invention therefore comprises: a container into which a liquid medium is immersed and in which the plants of the culture material float or settle; a scraping means for scraping up the plants grown in the medium; The apparatus is provided with a sorting means for sorting the plants scraped up by the means according to size, returning the small-sized plants to the culture medium, and discharging the large-sized plants to the outside of the container.

It is desirable to stir the liquid medium in which the plants of the culture material are suspended in order to promote growth and make it uniform. In the former case where the container rotates or swings, the lifting means is preferably attached to the container and rotates or swings together with the container. This is because a driving device can be omitted and the structure can be simplified.

The sorting means has a function of transporting the plants received from the raking means. To transport the plants, for example, a mechanism is used in which the transport path is tapered and the plants are moved by gravity, or a spiral feeding mechanism in which spiral blades are attached to the drive shaft is used. For example, a mesh or a slit for sorting out plants is provided in a part or the whole of the container. In the former mechanism in which the plant body slides due to gravity, it is particularly desirable to vibrate the mechanism to facilitate sorting.

The working raking means rakes up the plants and supplies them to the sorting means. The supplied plants are sorted by size while being transported by a sorting means, and small-sized plants are returned to the culture medium. On the other hand, large plants are excreted outside.

Embodiment Inside a cylindrical container 1, a container 3 having a mensch 2 on its outer peripheral surface is arranged concentrically and rotatably supported by a boss 4 of the container 1. The container 1 is rotatably driven by a motor 5 attached to the container 1 via a transmission mechanism including a chain 6.

The boss 4 is also equipped with a sorting device, which is designated by the reference numeral 8 in its entirety.
-19. This sorting device 8 includes a screw 13 with spiral blades 11112 wound around a drive shaft 11, a mesh 14 surrounding the lower half of the screw 13, a cover 16 surrounding the upper half excluding the inlet 15, and a discharge pulp 17. The drive shaft 11 is connected at its shaft end to the container 3 by a gear transmission mechanism 19, and is connected to the container 3 by the rotation of the container 3. It is designed to be rotated at a lower speed than the container 3.

In the figure, reference numeral 21 denotes a scraping plate attached to the mesh 2 of the container 3 so as to protrude inward at regular intervals in the circumferential direction. (indicated by bulbs) are picked up and carried to the entrance 15 to the sorting device 8.
We are trying to supply it to

23 is an inlet pipe equipped with an insertion valve 24, through which raw materials and liquid culture medium are supplied.

This apparatus is constructed as described above, and as the container 3 rotates, the liquid medium in which the plants are suspended is stirred. In the illustrated example, each time the container 3 rotates, the raking Fi
The bulbs 22 scraped up in step 21 are sent to the sorting device 8 from the inlet 15.
will be dropped on. However, the balls supplied to the sorting device were $12
2 is transported by the screw 13 towards the outlet.

During transport, small-sized bulbs are sorted out by a Metusses 14 and fall into the medium. On the other hand, larger bulbs are transported as they are to the outlet and sent to the discharge pipe 18. Thereafter, the pulp is discharged at any time or when a certain amount has accumulated in the discharge pipe 18 by opening the discharge pulp 17.

Effects of the Invention The present invention is configured as described above, and has the following effects.

According to the device according to claim 1, sorting is performed inside the container so that only plants larger than a certain size are discharged, and plants smaller than a certain size are returned to the medium to continue growing. Because of this, culture can be carried out efficiently without waste.

According to the apparatus of claim 2, growth can be promoted and homogenized by stirring the medium.

According to the apparatus according to the third aspect, the raising means can scrape up the plant body and also stir the culture medium.

According to the apparatus according to the fourth aspect, since the scraping means is attached to the rotating or swinging container, a device for driving the scraping means can be omitted, and the apparatus can be simplified.

If the raking board according to claim 5 is used, m of the raking means
power can be simplified.

In the sorting means according to claim 6, the plants are sorted through meshes or slits.

Plants can be transferred by the sorting means according to claim 7 or 9.

According to the sorting means according to the eighth aspect, sorting can be promoted by vibrating the conveyance path.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a schematic cross-sectional view of the culture device according to the present invention, and FIG.
The figure is a cross-sectional view taken along the line A--A in FIG. 1, and FIG. 3 is an enlarged cross-sectional view taken along the line B--B in the same figure. 1.3... Container 2... Metosh 5... Motor 8...
Sorting device t 13...Screw 14...Mesh
15... Inlet 18... Discharge pipe 21... Scooping plate 23...
・Feed pipe

Claims (9)

[Claims] (1) A container into which a liquid medium is immersed and in which the plants of the culture material are suspended or deposited, a scraping means for scraping up the plants grown in the medium, and a size for the plants scraped up by the means. A culture device comprising a sorting means for sorting small-sized plants by returning them to a culture medium, and discharging large-sized plants to the outside of the container. (2) The culture device according to claim 1, wherein the container rotates or swings around a fixed axis. (3) The culturing device according to claim 1, wherein the scraping means rotates or swings within the container. (4) The culturing device according to claim 2, wherein the scraping means is attached to the container and rotates or swings together. (5) The culturing device according to claim 4, wherein the scraping means is a scraping plate that projects inward from the container at regular intervals in the circumferential direction. (6) The culturing device according to claim 1, wherein the sorting means is provided with a mesh or a slit in a required portion or the entirety. (7) The culturing device according to claim 6, wherein the sorting means has a tapered conveyance path, and the grown plants are moved by gravity. (8) The culture device according to claim 1, wherein the transport path is vibrating. (9) The culture device according to claim 6, wherein the sorting means has a spiral feeding mechanism made of spiral blades.