JPH0449374B2 - - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION [Industrial Application Field] The present invention relates to a method for forcing crops under artificially controlled environmental conditions.

[Conventional technology]

Conventional equipment of this kind, as described in JP-A No. 55-2400, is a one-stage flat equipment, making it difficult to increase the number of cultivated plants or production volume on the same cultivation surface. .

[Problem that the invention seeks to solve]

In the above conventional technology, in order to increase the number of cultivated plants per cultivation area, the interval between cultivation tanks is increased according to the growth of the crops, but in order to further increase production, the cultivation area must be increased. For this purpose, artificial lighting equipment, heating and cooling equipment to maintain optimal environmental conditions, and buildings must be expanded accordingly, and these equipment costs will significantly reduce cultivation costs. A difficult problem arose.

An object of the present invention is to provide a crop forced cultivation device that increases the yield of crops without increasing the amount of power consumed for necessary lighting and air conditioning.

[Means for solving problems]

The present invention was made by focusing on the characteristic that the growth rate of crops is not reduced by half when light is irradiated at 12 hour intervals compared to the growth rate of crops when they are continuously irradiated with light. In other words, by setting the cultivation surface to two levels, doubling the number of crops that can be cultivated at the same time, continuously irradiating only the cultivation surface in the upper layer, and replacing all the crops being cultivated in the upper and lower layers every 12 hours, the cultivation surface can be grown for 12 hours. The photoperiod is as follows.

[Effect]

For some leafy vegetables, after the seedling stage is over and they are planted to promote growth, maintaining optimal conditions such as temperature and humidity for the crop and continuously irradiating it with light without a break can cause rapid growth. It has the property of growing. Taking advantage of this property, crops are forcedly cultivated in plant factories. However, even if the light irradiation time is halved, the growth rate does not decrease much.

On the other hand, by making the cultivation surface two-tiered, the cultivation area can be doubled without doubling the floor area of the building, and therefore the number of cultivated plants can be doubled. Additionally, by replacing all the crops in the upper and lower rows every 12 hours every day, the crops will receive light irradiation every 12 hours.

Although the growth rate slows down slightly with 12 hours of light irradiation per day, the number of cultivated plants doubles, making it possible to greatly increase production in a building with the same floor space. In addition, since the cultivation surface that must be irradiated with light remains the same as before, the cost of irradiation equipment and lighting power costs will not change.Furthermore, since the lighting power does not change, the air conditioning load will not change, and the power consumption will also decrease. It doesn't change.

Therefore, the production amount increases, and the equipment costs and power consumption for irradiation and air conditioning are left unchanged, making it possible to significantly reduce cultivation costs.

〔Example〕

An embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to FIGS. 1 and 2.

When some crops, especially leafy vegetables, are grown under artificial environmental conditions, the growth is shown in Figure 2. Generally, for forced cultivation, light is irradiated 24 hours a day every day. For example, 10g of seedlings are forced to produce 130g of
If we were to harvest the seeds using continuous irradiation, we would be able to harvest them in 10 days, but if we provide light every 12 hours (the remaining 12 hours are dark), it would take 15 days.

However, even if the lighting time is halved, the cultivation period for harvesting has not doubled.

The present invention has been made with attention to this point.

In FIG. 1, reference numeral 1 denotes a conveyor frame of the cultivation apparatus, and conveyors 2 and 3 are provided above and below.

The upper roller conveyor slopes downward from the right side to the left side in the figure. The lower conveyor slopes downward from the left side to the right side in the figure. The conveyors 2 and 3 are roller conveyors, and transport the cultivation boxes 5 by their own weight.

The conveyor 2 and the conveyor 3 are separated by a partition plate 6. Furthermore, in the figure, the front and rear sides of the conveyor 3 are surrounded by partition plates. Also, doors that can be opened and closed are provided on the left and right sides of the conveyor 3.
These make the area around the conveyor 3 a dark room. Lifters 8 and 9 are provided at the left and right ends of the frame, respectively, to move up and down between the conveyors 2 and 3. Conveyors similar to the conveyors 8 and 9 described above are installed in the lifters 8 and 9. 11 is conveyor 2
This is a lighting device installed above.

The operation of such a device will now be explained. The lifter 8 side is the harvesting side, and the lifter 9 is the planting side.

In the state shown in the figure, after 12 hours of irradiation, the 15th-day cultivation box at the left end of conveyor 2 is taken out and moved to the harvesting area. After moving this to conveyor 8,
It may be taken out by lowering it. As a result, the plurality of cultivation boxes 5 on the conveyor 2 move to the left on the conveyor 2, creating a space at the right end. Therefore, a new cultivation box in which seedlings to be forced to cultivate were planted was brought in.

Next, the cultivation box 5 at the right end of the conveyor 3 at the lower end is transferred to the conveyor 9. This creates a space at the left end of the conveyor 3. There, the lifter 8 receives the cultivation box 5 from the conveyor 2 and transfers it to the space of the conveyor 3. This creates a space at the right end of the upper conveyor 2, so the cultivation boxes 5 on the conveyor 9 are moved to the conveyor 2.

In this way, all the cultivation boxes 5 on the conveyor 2 are transferred to the conveyor 3, and all the cultivation boxes 5 on the conveyor 3 are transferred to the conveyor 2.

Then, irradiation is performed in this state for 12 hours. After 12 hours, the above operation is repeated. In other words,
The upper and lower levels are changed twice a day.
In addition, harvesting and planting should be done once a day.

The conveyors on the lifters 8 and 9 are conveyors 2,
This is to facilitate transportation between the two.
In addition, a stopper is provided at the left end of the conveyor 2 to prevent the cultivation boxes of the conveyor 2 from falling while the lifter 8 is moving up and down. A stopper is similarly provided at the right end of the conveyor 3 side.

According to this example, the number of days to grow a 10g crop to 130g is 15/10 = 1.5 times compared to the case of 24-hour light irradiation, but the number of cultivated plants is two-tiered cultivation surface. It will double, and the production amount will be 2/1.5=
This is a 1.33-fold increase in production, representing an approximately 33% increase in production. On the other hand, the light irradiation area and irradiation time on the cultivation surface remain the same as before, and therefore the specifications of the air conditioning equipment to lower the environmental temperature that rises due to artificial lighting also remain unchanged, and the lighting and air conditioning power required for cultivation remains the same. There is no increase in production, only the amount of production increases, which has the effect of significantly reducing cultivation costs.

In the above embodiment, a partition plate 6 or the like is provided to make the area around the lower conveyor 3 a dark room, but this is not necessary if the cultivation box 5 on the upper conveyor 2 sufficiently blocks light. Also, the partition plate on the side is not necessary if it comes into contact with the wall of the building or if it is blocked from light by installing the devices side by side.

[Effects of the Invention] According to the present invention, production costs can be increased and cultivation costs can be significantly reduced without increasing equipment depreciation costs and power consumption costs for air conditioners and lighting equipment, which account for the majority of cultivation costs. This has a great effect of greatly improving the economic effects of crop production in plant factories and promoting the practical application of plant factories.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

FIG. 1 is a front view of an embodiment of the cultivation apparatus of the present invention. FIG. 2 is a diagram showing the production curve of leafy vegetables under the optimum environment. 2, 3...conveyor, 6...partition plate, 11...
lighting equipment.

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. A roller conveyor for conveying cultivation boxes, which is tilted in opposite directions to each other and provided in two stages, upper and lower;
Left and right lifters are provided at the left and right ends between the two upper and lower conveyors, and move up and down between the two upper and lower conveyors; hand
A lighting device set up to illuminate for 12 hours, and two
The cultivation boxes on the tiers are replaced every 12 hours, and a light shielding means is provided between the conveyors on the lower tier so that the cultivation boxes do not receive irradiation from the lighting device during the remaining time after 12 hours of irradiation. Crop forced cultivation equipment.