JPH0564523A - Fix planting in water culture and apparatus therefor - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To automate processes from raising of seedlings to growth by extending the width of spacings between stocks in correspondence with growth of the seedlings. CONSTITUTION:A sponge-state expanded urethane block 11 in which seeds are sown and germinated is nipped by fingers 9. The fingers 9 are moved and positioned in the directions of X, Y and Z by a running mechanism 4, a transversal movement mechanism 6 and an elevator mechanism 7 and the urethane block is inserted into the pot part 15 of culture bars 14 aligned and arranged on a conveyor 17. The above-mentioned processes are repeated, thus carrying out fix planting.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a method and apparatus for planting seedlings after germination in hydroponics in pots for cultivation.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, planting work (transferring a foamed urethane block to a pot) has been performed manually.

[0003]

[Problems to be Solved by the Invention] In hydroponic cultivation, when an economic effect such as effective use of the area required for the cultivation or efficient use of input energy is to be achieved, the There is a way to increase the distance between hydroponic stocks. As a method to widen the intervals of this hydroponic plant, try to realize it by inserting the foamed urethane blocks with the plants planted into pots provided at multiple locations on the cultivation bar and moving the cultivation bar (widening the intervals). There is a method to do this and a device to achieve this. According to this device, it is possible to expand the occupied area according to the growth by periodically moving the cultivation bar, and automation is achieved by automatic control. However, the work of "inserting the urethane foam block into the pot of the cultivation bar" in the previous step still depends on human labor, and the planting work of the seedlings after raising the seedlings is not automated. However, even if a device that automatically adjusts the occupied area is used, it is difficult to obtain the economic effect (labor saving) due to the automation.

[0004]

In order to solve the above-mentioned problems, the following means are adopted. As a method of planting in hydroponics, in the state where a plurality of sponge-like urethane foam blocks and the like are aligned and arranged (for example, pallet) and germinated, one foam urethane block at a time or one In this method, a plurality of seedlings are taken out and one block is inserted into each pot portion of a cultivating bar having a plurality of pots, whereby planting is carried out from the seedling raising pallet to the cultivating bar. In addition, as a device that realizes this, it has one or a plurality of fingers that hold the urethane foam block, and positions and positions each finger in each of the aligned pallets, and removes it from the cultivation bar. Arrangement of a movement and handling mechanism having a movement axis (X, Y, Z axes) of a three-dimensional space for positioning and inserting in a pot portion, a stand for collectively aligning urethane foam blocks, and a cultivation bar. It is a device that combines a gantry or a conveyor for supply.

[0005]

According to the present invention, the planted seeds that have been sown and germinated are set in a seedling pallet in which sponge-like urethane foam blocks are aligned, and then planted automatically in a cultivating bar having a plurality of pots. It is possible. Therefore, it is possible to automate the planting work that has been carried out by hand until now, the seedling raising pallet and cultivation bar can be applied the conventional seeding, sponge-like urethane foam blocks raised by the germination method, and, Since it can be applied to planar hydroponic cultivation using a cultivation bar that automatically expands hydroponic cultivation along with raising seedlings, it is economical as a whole system (without introducing a special or heterogeneous system). Hydroponics can be realized.

[0006]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS An embodiment of the present invention will be specifically described with reference to FIGS. 1 to 3 are a plan view, a front view, and a right side view showing the entire planting device of the present invention, respectively.
4 to 7 are partial detailed views of the grip portion. FIG. 8 and FIG. 9 are views showing a state in which the sprouted urethane block holds the germinated seedlings. 10 to 12 are detailed views of the cultivation bar. 13 to 16 are explanatory views of inserting the urethane foam block into the pot of the cultivation bar.

Reference numeral 1 is the main body of the planting device. There are two orthogonal guides 3 supported by the column 2, and a traveling mechanism 4 that travels along the orthogonal guides (moves in the Y direction in FIG. 1).
The traveling mechanism 4 is integrated with the transverse guide 5. There is a traverse mechanism 6 that traverses (moves in the X direction in FIG. 1) along the traverse guide 5, and this traverse mechanism 6 is provided with an elevating mechanism 7. The elevating mechanism 7 raises and lowers the finger frame 8 (see FIG. 2). Z
Move in the direction). One or a plurality of fingers 9 are attached to the finger frame 8. (6 fingers are shown in this example.)

By operating each of the above mechanical parts, FIG.
The fingers 9 can be moved and positioned in the X, Y, and Z directions as shown in FIG.

On the other hand, there is provided a seedling raising pallet rack 10 fixed so that the relative position thereof does not change with respect to the main body 1 of the planting apparatus, and the seedling raising pallet rack 10 has sponges arranged as shown in FIGS. 8 and 9. The pallets 13 are set and arranged in a state where the seedlings 12 sown and germinated on the urethane foam block 11 are held.

The cultivation bar 14 shown in FIGS.
Has pots 15 at regular intervals, and has a hanger portion 16 used for handling such as widening stocks.

The cultivation bar 14 is arranged on the conveyor 17 in an aligned manner so that the cultivation bar 14 moves in synchronization with the progress of the planting operation. As a method not using the conveyor 17, although not shown, they may be collectively arranged on a pallet. In this case, when a fixed amount of the urethane foam block 11 is inserted into the pot portion 15 of the cultivation bar 14 (after planting), it is necessary to carry it together with the pallet manually, but the whole system becomes simple.

Next, details of the finger portion 9 shown in FIGS. 4 to 7 will be described. Two inverted U-shaped plates 18 of spring quality having a wide tip of the tweezers are arranged at 90 ° so as to be fixed to the finger frame 8. Set the gripping frame 19 with a slight clearance on the outer circumference, and reverse U-shaped plate 1
Between the apex of 8 (the part fixed to the finger frame 8) and the gripping frame 19 is held a linearly movable actuator such as the pneumatic cylinder 20. Finger 9 having such a structure
According to FIG. 13, when the pneumatic cylinder 20 or the like is driven to lower the grip frame 19, the tip portion of the inverted U-shaped plate 18 becomes narrower and the urethane foam block 11 can be gripped.

Next, a method of inserting the foamed urethane block 11 holding the seedlings 12 planted, that is, sown and germinated into the pot portion 15 of the cultivation bar 14 using this planting apparatus will be described.

As shown in FIG. 1, a urethane foam block 11 is provided.
The seedlings 12 held in the above are aligned on the seedling pallet 13 and set on the stand 10. The cultivation bars 14 are arranged on the conveyor 17 in an aligned manner. In this state, the finger 9 is positioned by the traveling mechanism 4 of the planting device body 1 and the traverse mechanism 6 and the elevating mechanism 7 to a position where the foamed urethane block 11 of the nursery pallet 13 can be gripped. Finger 9 in this state
The pneumatic cylinder 20 is driven to lower the grip frame 19 to narrow the tip portion of the inverted U-shaped plate 18, and the urethane foam blocks 11 are sandwiched from four sides.

The urethane foam block 11 for holding the seedlings 12 held by the fingers 9 in this way is attached to the main body 1 of the planting device.
Cultivation bar 14 which is arranged on conveyor 17 by driving traveling mechanism 4, traverse mechanism 6 and lifting mechanism 7 of
It is inserted in the pot portion 15 of. (FIGS. 13 and 14) At this position, the grip frame 19 of the finger 9 is raised to raise the inverted U-shaped plate 1.
The tip portion of 8 is expanded to release the grip of the urethane foam block 11. By this operation, the urethane foam block 11
The side surface of the sponge contacts the inner surface of the pot portion 15 of the cultivation bar 14 by the repulsive force of the sponge. (Figs. 15 and 16)

When the fingers 9 are raised from this state, the urethane foam block 11 holding the seedlings 12 becomes the cultivation bar 1.
4 is held in a state of being inserted in the pot portion 15. The planting operation is realized by controlling the above operation by a control device (not shown) and sequentially repeating the cultivation bar 14 while feeding it by the conveyor 17.

When the present apparatus is implemented by using a plurality of fingers 9, the pot portion 15 and the pot portion 1 of the cultivation bar 14 are used.
Foam urethane block 1 holding seedlings 12 at intervals of 5
If the interval of the aligned arrangement of 1 is set to an integer multiple, the planting work can be efficiently realized by a simpler operation.

EFFECTS OF THE INVENTION According to the present invention, seedlings germinated with a sponge-like urethane foam block can be planted in the pot portion of the cultivation bar without manual labor, and the growth of the seedling can be performed using the cultivation bar. It is suitable for efficient (economical) hydroponics that widens the space between plants, and automation from seedling raising to growth can be realized.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a plan view of a planting device according to a first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a front view of the planting device according to the first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a right side view of the planting device according to the first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 4 is an explanatory diagram of a finger portion according to the first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 5 is a detailed view of a finger portion according to the first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 6 is a view of a finger portion according to the first embodiment of the present invention.
It is an arrow detail view from the B direction.

FIG. 7 is a view of a finger portion according to the first embodiment of the present invention.
It is an arrow detail view from the C direction.

FIG. 8 is a detailed view of a urethane foam block and a seedling according to the first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 9 is a detailed view of the urethane foam block and the seedling according to the first embodiment of the present invention as seen from the direction of FIG. 8D.

FIG. 10 is a detailed view of the cultivation bar according to the first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 11 is a view of a cultivation bar according to the first embodiment of the present invention, FIG.
It is an arrow detail view from the E direction.

FIG. 12 is a view of the cultivation bar according to the first embodiment of the present invention.
It is an arrow detail view from the E direction.

FIG. 13 is an explanatory diagram of this operation.

FIG. 14 is an operation explanatory diagram of a cross section taken along line GG of FIG.

FIG. 15 is an explanatory diagram of this operation.

FIG. 16 is an operation explanatory view of the section HH-H in FIG.

[Explanation of symbols]

 1 Planting Device Main Body 4 Traveling Mechanism 6 Traverse Mechanism 7 Lifting Mechanism 8 Finger Frame 9 Finger 10 Nursery Pallet Stand 11 Foam Urethane Block 12 Seedling 13 Nursery Pallet 14 Cultivation Bar 15 Pot Part 17 Conveyor 18 Inverted U-shaped Plate 19 Gripping Frame 20 Pneumatic Pressure Cylinder

 ─────────────────────────────────────────────────── ─── Continuation of front page (72) Hiroshi Shimoyama 2-1-1, Niihama, Arai-cho, Takasago-shi, Hyogo Prefecture Takasago Research Laboratory, Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, Ltd. (72) Masato Fujimoto 2-1-1, Niihama, Arai-cho, Takasago, Hyogo Prefecture No. 1 Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, Ltd. Takasago Plant (72) Inventor Makoto Sogabe 2-1-1 Niihama, Arai-cho, Takasago-shi, Hyogo Mitsubishi Heavy Industries Ltd. Takasago Plant

Claims (2)

[Claims] 1. In hydroponic cultivation, one block is sown and sprouting is carried out at once with a sponge-like urethane foam block or the like, and one block is inserted into each pot portion of a cultivation bar having a plurality of pots. A method for planting in hydroponics. 2. A finger for holding a plurality of urethane foam blocks, a moving mechanism capable of moving and positioning the fingers in a three-dimensional space in the X, Y, and Z directions, and a gantry for collectively arranging the urethane foam blocks. And a planting apparatus comprising a gantry or a conveyor on which a cultivation bar is arranged or supplied.