JPH0565129B2 - - Google Patents

Description

[Detailed description of the invention]

<Industrial Field of Application> The present invention relates to a plant cultivation device that can hydroponically cultivate substantially uniform plants in a systematic, efficient, and economical manner. <Prior Art> As a hydroponic cultivation apparatus according to the prior art, there is one disclosed in, for example, Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 49-91833. As shown in Fig. 5, plants are supported on a chevron-shaped panel 01 having many holes, sunlight is applied through a transparent bow-shaped roof 02, and a nutrient solution spraying mechanism as shown in Fig. 6 is used. From 03 onwards, plants are grown by spraying a nutrient solution onto the roots of the plants. <Problems to be solved by the invention> In the conventional hydroponic cultivation equipment as described above, since sunlight is used as it is, the weather or sunlight conditions (sunshine time, irradiation direction, irradiation amount)
These changes have caused problems such as uneven growth of the plants, resulting in different sizes and delayed harvest times. Therefore, the present inventor installed a chevron panel in a cultivation room that blocks sunlight, and provided a lighting device that irradiates light to the plants supported by the chevron panel.
We have previously proposed a hydroponic cultivation device having a reflector that reflects the light emitted from this lighting device toward the plants (Japanese Patent Application No. 59-244664). However, in such hydroponic cultivation equipment, the light energy and irradiation heat emitted from the lighting equipment are diffused throughout the cultivation room, resulting in poor irradiation efficiency and the need to raise the room temperature above the plant growth temperature. There is a problem in that the increased irradiation heat is discharged outside the cultivation room and the load for air conditioning the cultivation room increases, requiring a large amount of electric power, which is uneconomical. In view of these circumstances, the present invention provides a plant cultivation device that improves irradiation efficiency, reduces air conditioning load, and enables systematic, efficient, and economical hydroponic cultivation of almost uniform plants. With the goal. <Means for Solving the Problems> The plant cultivation device of the present invention that achieves the above object has a structure in which the upper ends of two panels are brought together and the roots of the plants are made to protrude inward of the panels. A plurality of rows of chevron panels having a large number of supporting holes are arranged in parallel, and a nutrient solution supply mechanism is provided for supplying nutrient solution etc. to the roots of plants from the inside of the chevron panels. A hydroponic cultivation device comprising a lighting device that irradiates light to the plants that are being placed, and a reflective surface that reflects the light irradiated from the lighting device toward the plants, wherein the upper ends of the adjacent chevron panels It has a canopy which connects the two adjacent chevron-shaped panels and covers a space having a generally inverted triangular cross section between these adjacent chevron-shaped panels, and is characterized in that an exhaust port is provided in the canopy. <Function> Since the internal volume occupied by the substantially sealed cultivation space with a substantially inverted triangular cross section in the above configuration is small, the light energy irradiated from the lighting equipment is repeatedly reflected diffusely within the cultivation space and is effectively applied to the plants. It is the minimum cultivation space that increases irradiation efficiency and has no wasted space, and since artificial light is irradiated from the top and exhaust is also exhausted from the top, the air conditioning load for temperature control is small. Become,
The amount of carbon dioxide required for fertilization also decreases. <Examples> Hereinafter, the present invention will be described in detail along with examples. FIGS. 1 and 2 show an example of a plant cultivation apparatus according to the present invention. As shown in both figures, a cultivation chamber 1
Inside, put the top edges of two panels together and plant 2.
A plurality of rows of chevron-shaped panels 3 having a large number of holes for supporting the plants 2 with their roots projecting inward of the panels are arranged, and both ends thereof are connected to the side wall 1a. The upper ends of the adjacent chevron panels 3 are connected by a canopy 4 having a chevron-shaped cross section to prevent upward diffusion of light, and the cross section surrounded by the adjacent chevron panels 3 and the canopy has a substantially inverted triangular cross section. A substantially sealed space is formed. An exhaust duct 5 as an exhaust means is attached to the center of the canopy 4.
A lighting fixture 6 is installed under the exhaust duct 5 on the chevron panel 3.
are arranged at approximately equal intervals in the column direction. Here, the material of the chevron panel 3 may be styrofoam, stainless steel, reinforced plastic, ceramics, etc., and from the viewpoint of both cultivation efficiency and irradiation efficiency, its angle of inclination with respect to the horizontal plane is
The temperature is preferably 40 to 70 degrees, preferably 60 degrees. In addition, the canopy 4 has a mountain-shaped cross section and an arc-shaped cross section so that heat tends to gather in one place on the lower side.
It is best to use materials with good heat exhaust efficiency, such as insulation materials such as styrofoam,
It is preferable to use a heat insulating material with a reflector such as a stainless steel plate or aluminum foil attached. On the other hand, as shown in FIG. 3, the lighting equipment 6 is composed of a lamp 6a such as a sodium lamp or a mercury lamp, and a cover 6b.
An exhaust port 7 communicating with the exhaust duct 5 is formed between the two. Here, the cover 6b is the lamp 6a.
This prevents the irradiated heat from diffusing, and a transparent material may be used. Further, the exhaust duct 5 communicates with a duct 8 outside the cultivation room 1, and a ventilation fan 9 inside this duct 8 exhausts heat from within the cultivation space. Further, an air intake port 10 is provided in the side wall 1a of the cultivation chamber 1. This intake port 10 is for introducing outside air, but by connecting it to air conditioning equipment, it can also send cold air to the cultivation space and can also supply insufficient carbon dioxide gas. Furthermore, it is also possible to connect the duct 9 and the intake port 10 to the same air conditioning equipment to create an air circulation system, which is economical because only the loss of carbon dioxide absorbed by the plants 2 needs to be replenished. It is.
Although it is desirable to provide the side wall 1a with the air intake port 10, both ends of the row of chevron panels 3 may be left open. Further, a nutrient solution spraying mechanism 11 is disposed inside the chevron panel 3 as a nutrient solution supply mechanism for supplying nutrient solution etc. to the roots of the plants 2. This nutrient solution spraying mechanism 11 is connected via a PVC pipe to a pressure pump (not shown) that pumps the nutrient solution stored in a nutrient solution tank 12 provided underground. As such a nutrient solution spraying mechanism 11, a fixed type that is disposed across the row direction of the chevron-shaped panels 3, or a mobile type that sprays the nutrient solution while moving in the row direction can be adopted. In addition, the nutrient solution that was sprayed and fell on the floor is collected in recovery path 1.
It is designed to be collected through 3. Also,
A heat insulating material 14 is placed on the inner surface of the ceiling 1b of the cultivation room 1. In such a plant cultivation apparatus, the irradiation efficiency can be further improved by providing a reflective surface on the surface of the chevron panel 3 in addition to the lower surface of the canopy 4. In the present invention, suitable plants to cultivate are leafy vegetables such as lettuce, Okayama salad greens, Japanese mustard spinach, garland chrysanthemum, and spinach. Next, a comparative test between a closed type electric lamp and an open type electric lamp according to the present invention will be shown. The term "closed type" as used herein refers to a plant cultivation apparatus having a canopy according to the present invention. As the test apparatus, those shown in FIGS. 4a and 4b are used, and each member is given the same reference numeral as in the above-mentioned embodiment, and a description thereof will be omitted. Incidentally, a reflective surface is provided on the lower surface side of the canopy 4 in FIG. 4a and the ceiling portion in FIG. 4b, respectively. In addition, lighting fixture 6 has a total luminous flux of 940 watts.
A 110,000 lumens reflector-type high-pressure sodium lamp was used. The cultivation conditions were a day length of 18 hours, a daytime temperature of 24℃, a night temperature of 18℃, and a carbon dioxide concentration of 1500ppm.
Seedlings of Okayama salad greens (4-5 true leaves, approx.
10g) were planted at positions A to K, cultivated for 10 days, and the individual weights were compared. Also, A~
The illuminance at position K was measured. These results are shown in the table below.

[Table] As shown in the table, the illumination intensity on the panel surface is higher in closed type lighting compared to open type lighting, and accordingly, the growth rate is faster and the amount of growth is larger. <Effects of the Invention> As specifically explained above with the examples, according to the present invention, the irradiation efficiency is improved and the air conditioning load is reduced, so the electricity bill can be significantly reduced, and the The plants can be cultivated systematically, efficiently, and economically. Further, by providing the exhaust port in the immediate vicinity of the light source as in the above embodiment, the heat can be exhausted before the irradiated heat is diffused, so that the air conditioning load can be further reduced.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

1, 2 and 3 are explanatory diagrams showing a plant cultivation apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention, FIG. 4 is an explanatory diagram of a test example, and FIGS. It is an explanatory view showing a cultivation device. In the drawing, 3 is a chevron panel, 4 is a canopy, 5 is an exhaust duct, 6 is a lighting fixture, 7 is an exhaust port, and 11 is a nutrient solution spraying mechanism.

Claims (1)

[Scope of Claims] 1. A plurality of rows of chevron-shaped panels are arranged in parallel, each having a large number of holes that support the plants by forcing the upper ends of two panels together and supporting the plants by allowing the roots of the plants to protrude inward of the panels. A nutrient solution supply mechanism is disposed to supply nutrient solution etc. to the roots of plants from the inside of the chevron panel, and a lighting fixture that irradiates light to the plants supported by the chevron panel and a light source irradiated from this lighting fixture are provided. A hydroponic cultivation device having a reflective surface that reflects light toward the plants, wherein the upper ends of adjacent chevron-shaped panels are connected to form a space between the adjacent chevron-shaped panels that has a generally inverted triangular cross section. 1. A plant cultivation device characterized in that the canopy covers the plant, and the canopy is provided with an exhaust port. 2. The plant cultivation device according to claim 1, wherein the canopy has an arcuate cross-section or a mountain-shaped cross-section. 3. The plant cultivation device according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the reflective surface is provided on the lower surface of the canopy. 4. The plant cultivation apparatus according to claim 1, 2, or 3, wherein the lighting fixture is disposed on the lower surface of the canopy, and the exhaust port is provided near the front fixture. 5. The plant cultivation device according to claim 4, wherein the lighting fixture has a cover surrounding the light source, and the exhaust port is provided between the light source and the cover.