JPH0767484A - 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 facilitating the automation of a harvest work by reducing the irregularity of positions for lodging the cultured vegetables to simplify a vegetable- recovering work, and to provide a device for harvesting the same. CONSTITUTION:In a water culture facility in which vegetables 300 are supported on a support belt 109 horizontally disposed above the flowing culture solution of a culture trough through pots 110, the cultured vegetables 300 placed on the support belt 109 are subjected to the action of a lodging force in a prescribed direction and simultaneously cut, when the cultured vegetables 300 are cut and harvested along the support belt 109.

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 support belt is arranged above a cultivation trough through which a culture solution flows, and the support belt holds cultivated vegetables (Patent No. 16304).
42), 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 this method, while holding the cultivated vegetable with one hand, the vicinity of the root of the cultivated vegetable is cut with a hand-held knife.

[0004]

[Problems to be Solved by the Invention] That is, conventionally, a large number of personnel are arranged at one end side of a harvesting trough, that is, a cultivation trough, and vegetables are manually harvested, resulting in poor work efficiency and labor cost. There was a problem that it took.

Therefore, it is possible to automate the work of harvesting cultivated vegetables. However, when the cultivated vegetables are cut and harvested as they are, the position of the center of gravity varies depending on the growth form of each vegetable. Since the laying position varies, the collection work is complicated and the automation of the harvesting work becomes troublesome.

The present invention has been made based on such a background, and an object thereof is to facilitate the automation of the harvesting work by reducing the variation in the lodging position of the cultivated vegetables and simplifying the collecting work. To do.

[0007]

In order to achieve the above-mentioned object, the invention according to claim 1 provides a support member horizontally arranged above a culture solution of a cultivation trough through which a culture solution flows, to cultivate vegetables through a pot. In the supported hydroponic cultivation facility, when cutting and harvesting the cultivated vegetables along the support member, the cultivated vegetables are applied while exerting a lodging force in a required direction on the cultivated vegetables located above the support member. Is designed to be cut.

[0008]

[Function] When cutting cultivated vegetables above the support belt, there is a large variation in the lodging direction of the cultivated vegetables. It is possible to reliably collect the cultivated vegetables cut in the predetermined direction by the lodging force using the above.

[0009]

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, leaf vegetables are harvested as cultivated vegetables, and this system is roughly classified into a hydroponic cultivation facility 100 and a harvesting device 200 for harvesting the cultivated vegetables grown in this facility 100. To be done.

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 its longitudinal direction. 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.

In this embodiment, the support belt 109 is used as the support member, but it is not limited to the belt shape and may be a sheet shape.

Returning to FIG. 1 again, an endless conveyor belt 111 that rotates in the 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, and the harvesting will be described later. 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 with an apparatus main body 201, a first conveyor 202 that is connected to the apparatus main body 201 and is parallel to the conveyor belt 111, and is also integrally provided with the apparatus main body 201 and conveys with the first conveyor 202. 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.

Although not shown, the pot removing device 20
On the upstream side of 8, a cutting blade for cutting off the root portion of the cultivated vegetable extending from the pot 110 is installed. By passing through this cutting blade portion, the pot 110 installed on the support belt 109 has a root portion. They are removed and become independent bodies.

The pot removing device 208 includes 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 a push-up roller 208c between the rollers 208a and 208b and in contact with the lower surface of the support belt 109.
The pot 110 is pushed upward by the support belt 10
It is designed to be removed from 9.

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, an oscillating 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, is provided inside the frame 205. 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 left and right about a central axis 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, there is provided a substantially ball-shaped carriage joint 225 which engages with a substantially ball-shaped trough joint 112 provided at the outlet side end of the cultivation trough 105. 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 a right angle 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 228a 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 operation lever 231 is normally in the solid line position, and when the cultivation trough 105 and the connecting portion 206 are to be connected, the operation lever 231 is rotated counterclockwise to the two-dot chain line position in FIG.

By the rotation of the operation lever 231, the support shaft 228 rotates against the spring force while bending the coil spring 228a so as to expand the diameter, and the pinion gear 229 rotates counterclockwise via the support shaft 228. Rotate around.

The pinion gear 229 is installed in 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 block diagram showing a lodging force imparting mechanism for cultivated vegetables according to the first embodiment.

In this embodiment, since the rotary cutter 207 is located above the support belt 109, the root of the cultivated vegetable 300 is cut near the root of the support belt 109. In this case, the cultivated vegetable 300 is placed in the vertical posture. When cut up to this point, the growth forms of the individual cultivated vegetables 300 are different, and the positions of the centers of gravity of the cultivated vegetables 300 are different.

Therefore, the inclined portion 2 of the guide member 210
The support belt 109 is moved to the first position by utilizing the inclination of 10a.
By tilting toward the conveyor 202 side, the lodging force is applied to the cultivated vegetable 300 by gravity. Then, the rotary cutter 207 is also tilted so as to be parallel to the support belt 109 by swinging the swing unit 220, and in this state, the rotary cutter 207 is used to cultivate the vegetables 3.
00 is disconnected.

By doing so, the cut cultivated vegetables 3
No. 00 surely falls on the first conveyor 202 regardless of variations in the position of the center of gravity due to its growth form, so that 00 is easy to collect. In addition, 240a is the rotary disc 20.
Motor unit for 7a, 240b is a rotating disk 207b
Motor unit for.

FIG. 9 shows a cultivated vegetable 300 according to the second embodiment.
It is a block diagram which shows the fallen force application mechanism with respect to.

In this embodiment, the inclined portion 210a formed on the guide member 210 in the above embodiment is not formed, but instead, the air 301 blown toward the first conveyor 202 side is cut on the support belt 109 at the time of cutting. Cultivated vegetables 30
A fall force is applied to the cultivated vegetable 300 by hitting 0. With this mechanism, the same effect as above can be obtained.

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 adjusted to 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, the pot 1 is provided only at a predetermined length of the tip portion of the support belt 109.
Since 10 is not installed and is left over, the support belt 109 of that portion is connected to the harvesting apparatus 200 in a connected state, and the tip of the support belt 109 is connected to the winding device 20.
The winding operation is stopped by the servo motor 216, and the harvesting work is started while winding the support belt 109.

In this harvesting operation, the cultivated vegetables 300 are successively conveyed to the position of the rotary cutter 207 and cut by the rotary cutter 207.

As mentioned above, the cut vegetables 300 are subjected to the lodging force by gravity (see FIG. 8) or by wind force (see FIG. 9), so that the cultivated vegetables 300 are accurately transferred to the first conveyor 202. It falls and is collected.

On the other hand, the pot 110 on the support belt 109 from which the cultivated vegetables 300 are cut off and the roots are cut off
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.

During such harvesting work, the trough 105
If a new support belt 109 is connected to the rear end of the support belt 109 mounted on the trough 105, the new support belt 109 can be mounted on the trough 105 by winding the support belt 109 by the harvesting work.

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.

Although the cultivated vegetables 300 are grown in the pot 110 in this embodiment, they may be grown directly on the support belt 109, or may be grown by a means other than the pot 110. In that case, as a matter of course, the pot removing device 208 becomes unnecessary.

[0055]

According to the inventions of claims 1 to 5,
Since the cultivated vegetables are cut while applying the lodging force in the required direction to the cultivated vegetables, variations in the lodging position of the cut cultivated vegetables are reduced, and the collection work is simplified and automation of the harvesting work is facilitated. Can be

[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 configuration diagram showing a lodging force imparting mechanism for cultivated vegetables according to the first embodiment.

FIG. 9 is a configuration diagram showing a lodging force imparting mechanism for cultivated vegetables according to a second embodiment.

[Explanation of symbols]

 105 Cultivation Trough 109 Support Belt (Support Member) 110 Pot 201 Device Main Body 202 First Conveyor (Conveyor for Transfer) 207 Rotary Cutter (Cutter) 210 Guide Member 210a Inclined Part 301 Wind

 ─────────────────────────────────────────────────── ─── 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 (5)

[Claims] 1. A hydroponic cultivation facility in which a cultivated vegetable is supported through a pot on a support member that is horizontally disposed above the culture solution of a cultivation trough through which the culture solution flows, and the cultivated vegetable is cut along the support member. The harvest of the cultivated vegetable in the hydroponic cultivation facility, wherein the cultivated vegetable located above the support member is cut while applying a lodging force in a required direction to the cultivated vegetable located above the support member. Method. 2. The hydroponic cultivation facility according to claim 1, wherein the cultivated vegetables are cut in a state in which the support member is inclined and the lodging force is applied to the cultivated vegetables by gravity. How to harvest cultivated vegetables. 3. The hydroponic cultivation facility according to claim 1, wherein the cultivated vegetables on the support member are cut while the vegetative vegetables are blown by the wind to exert the lodging force. How to harvest cultivated vegetables. 4. 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 member is composed of a belt-shaped support belt. , Cultivation in a hydroponic cultivation facility characterized in that the support belt is guided in a state of being inclined in the width direction by a guide member, and a cutter for cutting cultivated vegetables is arranged in the vicinity of the upper side of the supporting belt in the inclined state. Vegetable harvesting equipment. 5. The method for harvesting cultivated vegetables in a hydroponic cultivation facility according to claim 1, wherein the cultivated vegetables after cutting are collected by a transfer conveyor provided on the lodging side of the cultivated vegetables. Alternatively, the apparatus for harvesting cultivated vegetables in the hydroponic cultivation facility according to claim 4.