JPH10155377A - Water culture device - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide the water culture device of a liquid surface up/down system capable of easily exchanging a tray, moving the tray and diverting the tray to another use. SOLUTION: This device is provided with the tray 10 where the root R of a plant P is installed at an upper part in the inside, a liquid pump 16 for sending out a culture solution to the tray 10, a culture solution supply pipe 14 attachable and detachable to/from the tray 10 whose one end 14a is disposed near a bottom part inside the tray 10 and other end 14b is connected to the liquid pump 16, a culture solution discharge pipe 18 provided so as to be branched from the culture solution supply pipe 14 from the middle position of the culture solution supply pipe 14 and a solenoid valve 22 provided on the middle position of the culture solution discharge pipe 18 for opening and closing the flow passage of the culture solution discharge pipe 18. The solenoid valve 22 is at the almost same height as one end 14a of the culture solution supply pipe 14 or below the one end 14a.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a hydroponic cultivation apparatus for cultivating plants such as vegetables and flowers without soil, and more particularly, to cultivating cultivation on plant roots by changing the level of a culture solution. The present invention relates to a so-called liquid level up / down type hydroponic cultivation apparatus for selectively supplying liquid and air.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, there is a hydroponic cultivation apparatus of this type which employs a liquid level up and down method as shown in FIG. In the figure,
Reference numeral 40 denotes a tray.
Is held. A culture solution supply pipe 42 is provided in the tray 40.
The culture medium supply pipe 42 is connected to a culture medium storage tank 44 storing the culture medium 30 and a tray 4.
0, and the liquid pump 46
Is provided. A discharge pipe 48 is connected to a bottom hole 40 a provided at the bottom of the tray 40, and the discharge pipe 48 is provided between the culture solution storage tank 44 and the tray 40, and an electromagnetic valve is provided in the middle thereof. 50 are provided.

When a predetermined time is set by a timer (not shown), the liquid pump 46 is operated for a certain period of time, and the culture medium 30 is sucked out of the culture medium storage tank 44 and passed through the culture medium supply pipe 42 to the tray. Spilled to. Thus, the roots of the plant can absorb the nutrients of the culture solution 30. After a certain period of time, the electromagnetic valve 50 is opened, and the culture solution 30 in the tray 40 returns to the culture solution storage tank 44 through the culture solution discharge pipe 48, so that the culture solution 30 circulates.

[0004]

However, in such a conventional hydroponic cultivation apparatus, the electromagnetic valve 5 is provided at the bottom of the tray 40.
A culture solution discharge pipe 48 provided with 0 is piped, and is generally piped with a vinyl chloride pipe or the like. Therefore, there is a problem that replacement of the tray 40 and movement of the tray 40 are difficult.

[0005] The required depth of the tray is determined by the size (length) of the roots of the plant. Plants with long roots, such as burdock and radish, require deep trays, and plants with relatively short roots, such as plants. A shallow tray is sufficient for salads and lettuce, but if it is difficult to change trays, different plants must be cultivated on the same tray. There is a problem in that the tank must be provided with an unnecessarily large tank, which is not an optimal device for plants.

[0006] Further, there is a case where it is desired to change the cultivation place, and there is a problem that the piping must be broken in order to move the tray, and the labor and cost for doing so become enormous. Further, since the tray 40 is provided with the bottom hole 40a, the tray becomes a tray dedicated to the hydroponic cultivation apparatus, and the tray is diverted to another use (for example, as a container for storing a liquid). There is a problem that you can not.

[0007] The present invention has been made in view of such a problem, and the inventions according to claims 1 to 3 easily exchange trays, move trays, and convert trays to other uses. It is an object of the present invention to provide a hydroponic cultivation device capable of performing the above-mentioned.

[0008]

Means for Solving the Problems In order to achieve the above-mentioned object, the invention according to claim 1 of the present invention provides a method in which a culture solution and air are supplied to a plant root by changing the level of the culture solution. A hydroponic cultivation apparatus for selectively supplying, wherein a root of a plant is installed at an upper inside thereof, and a tray capable of storing the culture solution to be supplied to the root of the plant, and the culture solution is directed toward the tray. A pump for feeding, a culture solution supply pipe having one end disposed near the bottom in the tray and the other end connected to the pump, and a culture solution supply pipe detachable from the tray, and the culture solution from a middle position of the culture solution supply pipe. A culture medium discharge pipe provided so as to branch off from the supply pipe, and a valve provided at an intermediate position of the culture liquid discharge pipe to open and close a flow path of the culture medium discharge pipe; At approximately the same height as the one end of the supply pipe or below the one end And wherein the Rukoto.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, in the first aspect, the hydroponic cultivation apparatus further includes a liquid level sensor attached to a tray for outputting a signal relating to a liquid level of the culture solution. And a controller connected to the liquid level sensor, wherein the controller controls the pump or the valve based on an output from the liquid level sensor.

According to a third aspect of the present invention, in the first aspect, the hydroponic cultivation apparatus includes a controller for controlling the pump and the valve, and the controller further measures time. And a control unit that controls the pump or the valve based on the output of the time counting unit. According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, in the device according to any one of the first to third aspects, an uppermost portion of the culture solution supply pipe is higher than an uppermost portion of the tray, and the culture solution supply tube is The tray is inserted from above the tray toward the vicinity of the bottom of the tray.

When the culture solution is supplied, the culture solution is pumped out from the pump, supplied to the tray through the culture solution supply pipe, and stored in the tray. Can be immersed in. The culture solution supply pipe is
Since one end is disposed near the bottom of the tray, the culture solution is in a state in which the culture solution is filled in the entire conduit of the culture solution supply tube, and the valve is at substantially the same height as one end of the culture solution supply tube. When the valve is opened, the culture medium in the tray is discharged from one end of the culture medium supply pipe through the culture medium supply pipe and the culture medium discharge pipe, and the root is respired. can do.

[0012]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is a block diagram illustrating an embodiment of the present invention. In the figure, reference numeral 10 denotes a tray, and a plant holding plate 12 made of styrene foam or the like is placed on the upper edge of the tray. On the plant holding plate 12,
A plurality of holes 12a are provided at predetermined intervals, the plant P is inserted into each hole 12a, and the root R of each plant P is installed above the inside of the tray 10.

Another hole 1 provided in the plant holding plate 12
A culture solution supply pipe 14 is inserted into 2 b, and one end 14 a of the culture solution supply pipe 14 is arranged close to the bottom of the tray 10. The other end of the culture solution supply pipe 14 is connected to a hole 1 through one end 14a disposed near the bottom of the tray 10.
After passing through 2b and once protruding above the upper edge, which is the uppermost portion of the tray 10, it goes down and the other end 14b is connected to the liquid pump 16. One end 1 of culture solution supply pipe 14
4a is detachable from the tray 10 by being pulled out or inserted from the hole 12b.

The liquid pump 16 is connected to a culture solution storage tank 20 for storing a culture solution 30. The culture solution storage tank 20 is installed at substantially the same height as the one end 14a of the culture solution supply pipe 14 or at a position lower than that. One end 18a of the culture solution discharge pipe 18 is connected to the middle position of the culture solution supply pipe 14 so as to branch off from the culture solution supply pipe 14. ,
An electromagnetic valve 22 for opening and closing the flow path of the culture solution discharge pipe 18 is provided, and the electromagnetic valve 22 is also installed at substantially the same height as the culture solution supply pipe 14 or at a position lower than that. The other end 18 b of the culture solution discharge pipe 18 communicates with a culture solution storage tank 20.

On the side wall surface inside the tray 10, a position approximately the same height as the plant roots of the tray 10, or the tray 10
A liquid level sensor 24 is attached near the upper edge of the culture medium 30. When the liquid level of the culture solution 30 crosses the sensor 24, the liquid level sensor 24 senses this and sends a detection signal to the controller 26. Things. Controller 2
6 controls the operation of the liquid pump 16 and the solenoid valve 22;
The command to open and close is output. The controller 26 further includes a timer (time measuring means) 28 for measuring time, and the timer 28 can measure the elapsed time from when the solenoid valve 22 is opened and closed.

The operation of the thus constructed hydroponic cultivation apparatus will be described with reference to the processing of the controller 26 shown in FIG. 2. First, when supplying the culture solution 30, the electromagnetic valve 22 is closed. (Step S
1) The controller 26 controls the operation of the liquid pump 16
When a command to output N is output (step S2), the liquid pump 16 is operated to suck up the culture medium 30 stored in the culture medium storage tank 20, pass through the liquid supply pipe 14, and then transfer the culture medium to the tray 10. Discharge 30. When the culture solution 30 is stored in the tray 10 and the detection signal from the liquid level sensor 24 is output to the controller 26 (step S3), a command to turn off the operation of the liquid pump 16 is output from the controller 26 (step S4). ), The liquid pump 16 is stopped and kept at this water level for a predetermined time. In this state, nutrients in the culture solution are absorbed from the root R of the plant P. However, if the root R is constantly immersed in the culture solution 30, the root R cannot die and die, so that the root R can breathe.
It is necessary to lower the water level. Therefore, the timer 28
The elapsed time from when the operation of the liquid pump 16 is turned off is measured (step S5), and the controller 26
Determines whether the elapsed time is longer than a predetermined time T1 (step S6), and
When the value becomes 1 or more, a signal is output to the electromagnetic valve 22 to open the electromagnetic valve 22 (step S7). One end 14 a of the culture solution supply pipe 14 is disposed close to the bottom of the tray 10, and the culture solution 3
When the solenoid valve 22 is opened, the culture solution 30 in the tray 10 is discharged according to the siphon principle, and the discharged culture solution passes through the culture solution discharge pipe 18. It is returned to the culture solution storage tank 20. In this state, the root R of the plant P is exposed to the air, and the root R can fully breathe. The amount of the returned culture solution 30 depends on the elapsed time T2 or the distance from the liquid level sensor 24 to one end 14a of the culture solution supply pipe 14.

The timer 28 measures the elapsed time since the solenoid valve 22 was opened (step S8), and the controller 2
6 determines whether the elapsed time is longer than a predetermined time T2 (step S9), and outputs a signal to the electromagnetic valve 22 to close the electromagnetic valve 22 when the elapsed time becomes equal to or longer than the time T2. (Step S10). The time T2 may be set so that the discharge ends before the one end 14a of the culture solution supply tube 14 is exposed to the outside air, or when the one end 14a of the culture solution supply tube 14 is exposed to the outside air. Since the discharge is automatically terminated, the time may be set such that the electromagnetic valve 22 is closed after being exposed to the outside air. Alternatively, another liquid level sensor is attached to the side wall surface of the tray 10 at the same height as the bottom of the tray 10, and when the liquid level sensor detects the liquid level, the detection signal is received by the controller 26. And the controller 26 controls the solenoid valve 22
A signal may be output to the electromagnetic valve 22 so as to close.

Further, the timer 28 measures an elapsed time from when the solenoid valve 22 is closed (step S11),
The controller 26 determines whether the elapsed time is longer than a predetermined time T3 (Step S1).
2) When the elapsed time is equal to or longer than the time T3, a command to turn on the operation of the liquid pump 16 is output again (step S2).

By repeating the above cycle, a completely automated cultivation method using a liquid level up and down method can be realized. In the present embodiment, the controller performs control using both the liquid level sensor and the timer. However, instead of determining whether or not the detection signal of the liquid level sensor is present in step S3 in FIG. The operation of the liquid pump 16 is O
It is also possible to determine whether or not a predetermined time has elapsed since N, and to perform a process of turning off the operation of the liquid pump 16 after the predetermined time has elapsed.

For example, when it is desired to replace the tray 10 when a plant has grown or for cultivating another plant, the culture solution supply pipe 14 is simply inserted into the tray 10 and can be easily prepared. Since it can be removed from the tray 10,
Can be easily replaced. Also, when it is desired to change the cultivation place, the culture solution supply pipe 14 is once removed from the tray 10, the tray 10 is moved, and then the culture solution supply pipe 1
4 can be simply inserted into the tray 10, so that the moving operation can be easily performed.

Further, since it is not necessary to make a hole or the like at the bottom of the tray 10, the tray 10 can be easily diverted to another use. Conversely, a tray for another use can be diverted as the tray of the present apparatus. Can also.

[0022]

As described above, according to the first aspect of the present invention, the culture solution is supplied into the tray from one end of the culture solution supply pipe disposed near the bottom of the tray. In addition, since the culture solution in the tray is discharged from the one end and the culture solution supply pipe can be detachably attached to the tray, the tray can be easily replaced and the tray can be easily moved. Therefore, the tray can be appropriately replaced with a tray having an optimum depth according to the growth of the plant or the type of the plant, and the cultivation place can be easily moved. Also, since it is not necessary to make a hole or the like at the bottom of the tray, the tray can be easily diverted to other uses,
Conversely, a tray for another use can be diverted as the tray of the present apparatus.

According to the second aspect of the present invention, the supply and discharge of the culture solution can be automated by controlling the pump or the valve based on the output of the liquid level sensor. According to the third aspect of the present invention, the supply or discharge of the culture solution can be automated by controlling the pump or the valve based on the output of the timer. According to the fourth aspect of the present invention, since the culture solution supply pipe is merely inserted into the tray from above the tray toward the vicinity of the bottom of the tray, the culture solution supply pipe can be easily attached to and detached from the tray. It can be carried out. In addition, a general container can be used as a tray.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram illustrating an embodiment of a hydroponic cultivation apparatus of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a flowchart illustrating control of a controller.

FIG. 3 is a block diagram illustrating an embodiment of a conventional hydroponic cultivation apparatus.

[Explanation of symbols]

 Reference Signs List 10 tray 14 culture liquid supply pipe 14a one end 14b other end 16 liquid pump (pump) 18 culture liquid discharge pipe 20 culture liquid storage tank 22 solenoid valve (valve) 24 liquid level sensor 26 controller 28 timer (time measuring means)

Claims (4)

[Claims] 1. A hydroponic cultivation apparatus for selectively supplying a culture solution and air to a root of a plant by changing a height of a liquid surface of the culture solution, wherein the root of the plant is installed in an upper part inside, A tray capable of storing the culture solution to be supplied to the roots of the plant, a pump for sending the culture solution toward the tray, one end disposed near the bottom of the tray, and the other end connected to the pump. A culture solution supply pipe detachable from the tray, a culture solution discharge pipe provided so as to branch off from the middle position of the culture solution supply tube to the culture solution supply tube, and a culture medium discharge tube provided at a middle position of the culture solution discharge tube. A valve for opening and closing the flow path of the culture solution discharge pipe, wherein the valve is substantially the same height as the one end of the culture solution supply pipe or lower than the one end. Cultivation equipment. 2. The hydroponic cultivation apparatus further includes a liquid level sensor attached to the tray for outputting a signal relating to the liquid level of the culture solution, and a controller connected to the liquid level sensor. The hydroponic cultivation apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the controller controls the pump or the valve based on an output from the liquid level sensor. 3. The hydroponic cultivation apparatus includes a controller that controls the pump and the valve. The controller further includes a timer that measures time, and the pump or the pump is controlled based on an output of the timer. The hydroponic cultivation device according to claim 1, wherein the valve is controlled. 4. The top of the culture solution supply tube is higher than the top of the tray, and the culture solution supply tube is inserted into the tray from above the tray toward near the bottom of the tray. The hydroponic cultivation apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 3, characterized in that: