JPH0767483A - Method for harvesting cultured vegetable in water culture facility and device for harvesting the same - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To provide a method for harvesting cultured vegetables, capable of reducing dependency on man power and of efficiently performing a harvesting work in the harvesting work in a water culture facility. CONSTITUTION:In a water culture facility in which cultured vegetables 300 are supported on a support belt 109 horizontally disposed above the flowing culture solution of a culture trough through pots 110, the roots of the cultured vegetables 300 are cut together with the pots 110 below the support member to separate off the cultured vegetables 300 for their harvest.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

INDUSTRIAL APPLICABILITY The present invention is applied to a hydroponic cultivation facility in which a supporting member, for example, a belt-shaped supporting belt is arranged on the upper part of a cultivation trough through which a culture solution flows, and the supporting belt holds cultivated vegetables. Harvesting method and harvesting device.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art A hydroponic cultivation facility has been proposed in which a belt-shaped support belt is arranged above a cultivation trough through which a culture solution flows, and the support belt holds cultivated vegetables (Patent No. 16).
No. 30442), which has already been put to practical use.

In a hydroponic cultivation facility in which cultivated vegetables are supported by using a support member such as this support belt, the cultivated vegetables are to be manually harvested, and the manual harvesting operation is performed above the support member. In, the cutting is performed by cutting the vicinity of the root of the cultivated vegetable with a hand-held knife.

[0004]

As described above, the prior art is as follows.
Since vegetables are manually harvested, there are problems that work efficiency is low and labor costs are high.

In addition, since the roots of adjacent cultivated vegetables are entangled with each other by growing the cultivated vegetables and the roots are in a continuous state below the support member, it is necessary to perform an additional operation of removing the roots from the support member after harvesting.

The present invention has been made on the basis of such a background, and it is possible to reduce the dependence on human hands in the harvesting work in this type of hydroponic cultivation facility and to perform the harvesting work efficiently. An object is to provide a harvesting device for a hydroponic cultivation facility.

[0007]

In order to achieve the above object, in the invention according to claim 1, cultivated vegetables are placed through a pot on a support member horizontally arranged above the culture solution of a cultivation trough through which the culture solution flows. In the hydroponic cultivation facility supporting the above, the root portion of the cultivated vegetables is cut together with the pot below the support member, and the cultivated vegetables are separated from the support member and harvested.

Further, in the invention according to claim 2, in a hydroponic cultivation facility in which a cultivated vegetable is supported through a pot on a support member horizontally arranged above the culture solution of a cultivation trough through which the culture solution flows, the support is provided. A cutter for separating the cultivated vegetables is arranged at a position directly below the member substantially in parallel with the support member.

Further, in the invention according to claim 3,
The cutter is composed of a rotary cutter that partially press-contacts the edges of two rotating discs having a blade on the periphery and transfers and cuts the root of the cultivated vegetable to be cut into the pressed parts. It is a thing.

[0010]

According to the first aspect of the invention, the roots of the cultivated vegetables are cut and harvested together with the pots below the support member. It should be noted that the cut roots fall in a continuous state, so cleaning work of the support member after harvesting is easy.

According to the second aspect of the invention, the root portion of the cultivated vegetable is cut by the cutter arranged directly below the support member.

According to the third aspect of the invention, the root portion of the cultivated vegetables is cut by the rotary cutter.

[0013]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 1 is a schematic plan view of the entire hydroponic cultivation and harvesting system according to the embodiment.

In this embodiment, leafy vegetables are harvested as cultivated vegetables, and this system is provided in a hydroponic cultivation facility 100 and a harvesting device 200 for harvesting cultivated vegetables cultivated in this facility 100. Be separated.

First, since hydroponic cultivation facilities are known, only a brief explanation will be given. When the culture solution is supplied from the culture solution tank 101 to the supply pipe 103 by the pump 102, the culture solution is branched into three and supplied to one end (inlet side) of the cultivation trough 105 via the valve 104. There is. Cultivation trough 105 provided with a valve 104
As is clear from the figure, the cells are divided into a large number of three blocks arranged in parallel, and as long as the valve 104 is kept open, the culture solution simultaneously flows into all the cultivation troughs 105 of the three blocks.

The long trough-shaped cultivation trough 105 is supported by a pedestal 106 provided at appropriate intervals at right angles to the longitudinal direction thereof. In addition, the culture fluid flowing in the cultivation trough 105 joins at the other end (exit) side of the cultivation trough 105,
It is adapted to be recovered in the culture solution tank 101 by a recovery pipe 107.

FIG. 2 is a vertical sectional side view of the cultivation trough 105.

In the guide grooves 108 formed on both sides of the upper part of the cultivation trough 105, both side edges of a support belt 109 made of, for example, Teflon tape are slidably locked in the longitudinal direction, and the length of the support belt 109 is long. Openings are formed at appropriate intervals in the direction, and a pot 110 for growing and holding cultivated vegetables is fitted into the opening from above.
Although the support belt 109 is used as the support member in this embodiment, it is not limited to the belt shape and may be a sheet shape. The pot 110 is formed by forming a thin flexible plastic film into a container shape.

Returning to FIG. 1 again, an endless conveyor belt 111 that rotates in a direction perpendicular to the longitudinal direction of the cultivation trough 105 is arranged near the end of the cultivation trough 105 on the side of the culture solution outlet. The harvested cultivated vegetables are finally placed on the conveyor belt 111 by the device 200, and conveyed to a downstream process position (arrow direction in FIG. 1), for example, a boxing process position.

The harvesting apparatus 200 is provided integrally with the apparatus main body 201, the apparatus main body 201, the first conveyor 202 parallel to the conveyor belt 111, and the apparatus main body 201. The second conveyor 203 that relays between the belts 111 and the apparatus main body 201 are sequentially opposed to the outlet side end of each cultivation trough 105,
It is composed of a pair of rails 204 that move and guide the cultivation trough 105 in a direction perpendicular to the longitudinal direction.

Next, the main body 201 of the main part will be described in detail.

FIG. 3 is a plan view of the apparatus main body 201, FIG. 4 is a front view thereof, and FIG. 5 is a right side view thereof.

In FIG. 3, the apparatus main body 201 is a frame 2
At one end of 05, a connecting portion 206 that is connected to (the end portion on the outlet side) of the cultivation trough 105 is provided, and inside the frame body 205, there are two rotating discs 207a, 207 having blades on the periphery.
Part of the edges of b is pressed against each other, and the rotary cutter 207, the pot removing device 208, and one end of the support belt 109 of a mechanism for cutting the transfer vegetables by inserting the roots of the cultivated vegetables to be cut into the pressed parts. The winding device 209 for winding
They are arranged in order from the connecting portion 206 side.

The pot removing device 208 has a support belt 109.
Roller 2 that presses the upper part of the table with its entrance side and exit side
08a and 208b and push-up rollers 208c between the rollers 208a and 208b, which are in contact with the lower surface of the support belt 109.
The pot 110 is pushed up by c to support the support belt 1
It is designed to be removed from 09.

Reference numeral 210 is a guide member provided from the connecting portion 206 to the downstream side of the rotary cutter 207 (as viewed from the conveying direction of the support belt 109).
9 is guided by this guide member 210. Further, 210a is an inclined portion for inclining the cultivated vegetables in the pot 110 toward the first conveyor 202 side.
211 is a support belt 109 by the rotary cutter 207.
An induction brush for smoothly guiding the cultivated vegetables cut from the first conveyor 202, 212 is a pot removing device 2
A cleaning nozzle 213 on the downstream side of 08 for removing dust and the like adhering to the support belt 109, a brush 213, and a pinch roller 214 for guiding the support belt 109. Reference numeral 215 is a winding drum that constitutes the winding device 209, and as shown in FIG.
Is driven via the drive transmission belt 217.

As shown in FIG. 4, inside the frame 205, there is provided a swing unit 220, one end of which is supported by a rolling support 218 and the other end of which is pivotally supported by a mounting plate 219. The rotary cutter 207, the pot removing device 208, the pinch roller 214, the winding device 209, etc. are integrally attached to the swing unit 220,
As shown in FIG. 5, the swing unit 220 can swing right and left around a center line passing through the center of the cross section of the support belt 109 in the range of the pair of arc grooves 219a formed in the mounting plate 219. ing. Thereby, as described later, the rotary cutter 207 can be tilted in accordance with the tilt of the cultivated vegetables tilted by the action of the tilt portion 210a.

Next, the mechanism of the connecting portion 206 will be described in detail.

FIG. 6 is a plan view of the connecting portion 206, and FIG. 7 is the same.
It is a front view.

As shown in FIG. 6, the connecting portion 206 is provided with guide rails 221 on both sides thereof, and four carriage rollers 222 roll on the guide rails 221 so that the guide rails 221 are provided on the upstream side and the downstream side. A moving carriage 223 is provided. Reference numeral 224 is a bracket that connects the front (upstream side) and the rear (downstream side) of the guide rail 221 respectively.

At the front part of the carriage 223, a substantially ball-shaped carriage joint 225 which engages with the substantially ball-shaped trough joint 112 provided at the outlet side end of the cultivation trough 105 is provided. The surface of the carriage joint 225 facing the trough joint 112 is fitted with the arcuate portion of the outer periphery of the trough joint 112.
It is an arc portion 225a. In addition, one side of the carriage joint 225 is provided with a locking claw 226 that is always biased inward by a leaf spring, and the other side is a joint that is always biased inward by another leaf spring. Roller 22
7 is provided.

On the other hand, on one side of the trough joint 112, a locked portion 11 for locking with the locking claw 226.
2a is formed. The joining roller 227 contacts the outer peripheral surface of the trough joint 112, and when the carriage joint 225 moves forward, that is, in the direction of approaching the trough joint 112, by a mechanism described later,
After rolling on the outer peripheral surface of the trough joint 112 and overcoming the dead point of the maximum diameter, the carriage joint 225 is vigorously drawn into the trough joint 112 by the urging force directed inward, so that the circular arc portion 225a and the trough joint 112 are pulled. Abut. At this time, the locking claw 226
Also goes over the outer peripheral surface of the trough joint 112 and is locked to the locked portion 112a. This makes the cultivation trough 105
And the connection unit 206 are connected.

Next, a mechanism for moving the carriage 223 back and forth will be described.

A pinion gear 229 is provided at the center of a support shaft 228 which is pivotally supported between both sides of the carriage 223, that is, which is pivotally supported at right angles to the moving direction. The pinion gear 229 includes front and rear brackets 224. It engages with a rack 230 supported between them.

A coil spring 228a is attached to the support shaft 228, and the coil spring 228 is attached.
One end of a is fixed to the support shaft 228, and the other end is fixed to a locking pin 223a installed on the side portion of the carriage 223 so that the carriage 223 is normally positioned at the retracted position by the spring force of the coil spring 228a. I am biased.

One end of the operating lever 231 is fixed to one end of the support shaft 228.

Therefore, the operating lever 231 is normally in the solid line position, and when the cultivation trough 105 and the connecting portion 206 are to be connected, more specifically, when the trough joint 112 and the carriage joint 225 are to be connected. , And is rotated counterclockwise to the position indicated by the two-dot chain line in FIG.

The pinion gear 229 is provided on the rack 23.
Since it meshes with 0, the pinion gear 229 moves relative to the rack 230, and as a result, the carriage 223 moves forward and the trough joint 112 and the carriage joint 225 abut.

Reference numeral 232 is an auxiliary roller for contacting the guide rail 221 from the opposite side of the carriage roller 222 to prevent the carriage 223 from falling off.

FIG. 8 is a perspective view showing how the cultivated vegetables are cut in the rotary cutter, and the support belt 109 and the pot 11 are also provided by the inclined portion 210a of the guide member 210.
0, the whole cultivated vegetables 300 inside thereof are inclined toward the first conveyor 202 side in the cutter unit. By this,
Gravity acts on the cultivated vegetable 300 as a lodging force.

Further, the rotary cutter 207 arranged below the support belt 109 is also inclined by the same angle as this inclination. That is, since the disc surface of the rotary cutter 207 and the support belt 109 are parallel to each other, the pot 110 is cut horizontally below the support belt 109.

The cultivated vegetables 300 are laid down by the inclination of the inclined portion 210a and can be surely dropped onto the first conveyor 202.

The rotary cutter 207 is attached to the motor unit 240. And pot 11
If the peripheral speed ratio of the rotating disks 207a and 207b is selected by changing the gear train in the motor unit 240 corresponding to the moving speed of 0, the pot 110 can be accurately and instantaneously moved by the rotary cutter 207. Can be cut.

FIG. 9 is a front view in which the inclination of the rotary cutter is neglected, and the upper portion 110a of the pot 110 cut by the rotary cutter 207 is still locked to the support belt 109 after the cutting. As described above, the pot removing device 208 removes the powder on the downstream side in the transport direction.

As shown in FIG. 9, the roots 300a of adjacent cultivated vegetables 300 are intertwined with each other, but the roots 300 together with the pot 110 are below the support belt 109.
By cutting a, the cultivated vegetables 300 become 110 in each pot.
The cultivated vegetables 300 can be efficiently harvested by separating them. Since the cut roots 300a drop in a continuous state with each other, the subsequent cleaning operation is easy.

Next, the operation of the harvesting device 200 will be described.

First, the cultivation trough 105 to be harvested
The apparatus main body 201 is moved to the position. This is done by a motor (not shown).

Then, the center position of the connecting portion 206 is aligned with the center position of the trough joint 112, and the operating lever 231 is moved.
By moving the carriage 223 forward and connecting the trough joint 112 and the carriage joint 225, the connecting portion 206 is connected to the cultivation trough 105.

At this time, in this embodiment, since the pot 110 is not installed in the tip portion of the support belt 109 but only in a portion of a predetermined length, the support belt 109 in that portion is left over. The support belt 109 is connected to the take-up device 20.
The harvesting work is started while engaging with the winding drum 215 of No. 9 and rotating the winding drum 215 by the servo motor 216 as it is to wind up the support belt 109.

In this harvesting operation, the support belt 109
The pots 110 attached to the rotary cutter 2
The inclined portion 210 of the guide member 210 is conveyed to the 07 position.
In the state of being inclined by a (see FIG. 8), the upper part 110
It is cut by the rotary cutter 207 with a left behind (see FIG. 9).

The cultivated vegetable 300 separated from the support belt 109 in this way falls on the first conveyor 202 or is guided to the first conveyor 202 by the action of the guiding brush 211, as shown in FIG. Further, it is transferred onto the second conveyor 203 orthogonal to the first conveyor 202 and finally transferred onto the conveyor belt 111,
It is carried to the next process position.

On the other hand, the upper part 110 of the pot 110 remaining on the support belt 109 from which the cultivated vegetables 300 have been cut off.
The a is removed by being pushed up from the support belt 109 by the push-up roller 208c of the pot removing device 208. The support belt 109 is then attached to the cleaning nozzle 21.
2. The upper and lower surfaces are cleaned by the brush 213 and wound on the winding drum 215.

Therefore, cultivated vegetables 3 according to this embodiment
In the harvesting work of No. 00, the work to be performed manually is few, less reliance on the manual labor than in the past, and the harvesting work can be performed efficiently.

That is, in this embodiment, since the roots of the cultivated vegetables 300 are cut under the support belt 109 in the pots 110, the cultivated vegetables 300 are harvested in a state of being separated into each pot 110. You can
Further, below the support belt 109, the cut root portion is in a continuous state across the pots 110, and therefore falls in the continuous state, so that the cleaning operation of collecting and discarding the root portion is efficiently performed. be able to.

Since the cutter for cutting the root below the support belt 109 is the rotary cutter, there is an advantage that the root of the pot 110 can be surely cut.

In the harvesting operation using the harvesting apparatus 200 as described above, if a new support belt 109 is connected to the rear end of the support belt 109 attached to the trough 105, the support belt 109 for the harvesting operation is formed. The new support belt 109 can be attached to the trough 105 by winding the.

Therefore, this new support belt 109
By inserting the new pot 110 containing seedlings into the trough 105 while performing the work, the new support belt 109 is used immediately after the harvest of the cultivated vegetables 300 from the previous support belt 109 is completed. Hydroponics can be started.

[0058]

According to the inventions of claims 1 and 2,
Even if the roots of adjacent cultivated vegetables are intertwined with each other, the cultivated vegetables can be efficiently harvested by cutting the roots of the cultivated vegetables together with the pot below the support member.

According to the third aspect of the present invention, by using the rotary cutter, it is possible to reliably cut the roots of the cultivated vegetables with the pot formed of a thin material such as plastic attached to the root.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a schematic plan view of an entire hydroponic cultivation and harvesting system according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a vertical sectional side view of a cultivation trough.

FIG. 3 is a plan view of the device body of the harvesting device according to the embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a front view of the device body of the harvesting device according to the embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 5 is a right side view of the device body of the harvesting device according to the embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 6 is a plan view of a connecting portion of the apparatus body.

FIG. 7 is a front view of a connecting portion of the apparatus body.

FIG. 8 is a perspective view showing how the cultivated vegetables are cut in the cutter unit.

FIG. 9 is a front view of a state in which the inclination of the cutter unit is ignored.

[Explanation of symbols]

 105 Cultivation Trough 109 Support Belt (Supporting Member) 110 Pot 201 Device Main Body 207 Rotary Cutter (Cutter) 208 Pot Removal Device 209 Winding Device

 ─────────────────────────────────────────────────── ─── Continuation of the front page (72) Inventor Toru Uchida 5-37 Kasashi-cho, Sakaide-shi, Kagawa (72) Inventor Sadanori Ohkita 4345 Zentsuji-cho, Zentsuji-shi, Kagawa (72) Inventor Tomio Yamamoto Kagawa 1343 Hayashimachi, Takamatsu City

Claims (3)

[Claims] 1. In a hydroponic cultivation facility in which a cultivated vegetable is supported through a pot on a support member horizontally arranged above the culture liquid of a culturing trough through which the culture liquid flows, the potted vegetables are grown together with the pot below the support member. A method for harvesting cultivated vegetables in a hydroponic cultivation facility, characterized in that the root portion of the cultivated plant is cut and the cultivated vegetables are separated from the support member to be harvested. 2. A hydroponic cultivation facility in which a cultivated vegetable is supported via a pot on a support member horizontally arranged above the culture solution of a cultivation trough in which the culture solution flows, and at the position directly below the support member. A harvester for cultivated vegetables in a hydroponic cultivation facility, which is characterized by arranging a cutter for separating cultivated vegetables almost in parallel with the above. 3. The cutter is cut by partially pressing the edges of two rotating discs having blades on the peripheral edges with each other, and transferring and inserting the root of the cultivated vegetable to be cut into the pressing parts. The harvesting device for cultivated vegetables in a hydroponic cultivation facility according to claim 2, wherein the harvester is constituted by a rotary cutter.