JPH10248552A - Charging of cultivation raw material to rotary disk solid cultivation apparatus and charging apparatus - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To enable easy and accurate control of a charging apparatus for uniformly charging a cultivation raw material to a cultivation bed in the form of multiple thin layers. SOLUTION: A cultivation raw material is charged on a circular cultivation bed 6 from a charging port 4 of a charging chute 3 to form a thin layer of the cultivation raw material on the circular cultivation bed 6. The thin layers are laminated to form a laminate of layers having a prescribed thickness. The charging chute 3 is composed of an arm 5 having a vertically opened charging port 4 at the front part and a swinging shaft 2 at the rear part. The charging port 4 is reciprocated along an arc orbit directing in nearly radial direction of the circular cultivation bed 6 by reciprocating the charging chute 3 in horizontal direction while rotating the circular cultivation bed 6. A definite amount of the cultivation raw material per unit time is vertically dropped from the charging port 4 to the surface of the cultivation bed.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a method and an apparatus for loading a culture material into a circular culture bed in a rotating disk solid culture device.

[0002] In the following text, the rotating disk solid culturing apparatus is abbreviated as "culturing apparatus", the circular culturing bed is referred to as "culturing bed", and the method for charging the culture material is referred to as "filling method" or simply "method". I do. Also, the “fall position” is the position where the culture material starts to fall,
The “loading position” indicates a position where the dropped raw material reaches the culture bed and is deposited.

[0003]

2. Description of the Related Art In a culturing apparatus, it is important to uniformly incorporate a culture material into a culture bed at a predetermined thickness, and non-uniform loading causes deterioration in quality. Conventionally, from the idea that the deposited layer as a result of embedding should be a predetermined thickness and uniform, a small amount of culture material is deposited little by little on each section of the culture bed virtually divided in the deposition direction or radial direction. Many implement a common approach in different ways. 53
JP-A-42640, JP-A-3-240481, JP-B-7-108214, JP-A-6-327466 are examples thereof.

[0004]

[Problems to be solved by the invention] Japanese Utility Model Publication No. 53-42640
The culture material is uniformly loaded from the tip of a conveyor (eg, a conveyor) that moves in the radial direction at a speed inversely proportional to a different peripheral speed on the inner and outer peripheries of the rotating culture bed. this is,
By keeping the micro area where the tip of the conveyor (corresponding to the filling port) that moves back and forth integrally in the radial direction and the rotating culture bed per unit time constant on the orbit of the transporter, It is assumed that if the culturing raw materials to be included are equal, a deposited layer having a predetermined thickness can be formed. In order to quantitatively determine the culturing raw materials to be included from the conveyor per unit time, the layer thickness of the culturing raw materials on the conveyor must be constant. The operation space becomes extremely large because the conveyor is moved back and forth in the radial direction of the culture bed, and the conveyor drive unit and control mechanism are complicated because the layer thickness of the culture material on the moving back and forth conveyor must be constant. This leads to a problem that manufacturing, operation or maintenance costs increase.

[0005] Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 3-240481 discloses a method in which a reciprocating distributor is provided on a transporter arranged in the radial direction of a rotating culture bed,
The dispenser drops the culture raw material from the carrier onto the culture bed so as to extrude the culture material, and successively laminates the thin layers formed. This is a method in which the dropping position and the filling position are matched as much as possible by dropping the culture material on the carrier fixed on the culture bed to the culture bed while moving the distributor. However, the loading amount of the culture material is proportional to the relative speed between the moving speed of the distributor and the transport speed of the culture material on the transporter. There is a disadvantage that it is difficult to obtain a predetermined filling amount, and irregularities are easily generated on the surface of the deposited layer.

[0007] Japanese Patent Publication No. Hei 7-108214 discloses that a rotating culture bed is virtually divided into donut-shaped sections each having a concentric circumference having almost the same area, and a fixed amount of culture material per unit time is supplied from a filling apparatus to each section. This is a method of forming a deposited layer having a predetermined thickness by dropping. In order to drop the culture material specified for each section,
Although the quantitative uniformity in the sedimentary layer of each section is ensured, the disadvantage is that the surface of the sedimentary layer is inclined in the radial direction in the same section and the temperature difference of the culture material in each section becomes large. there were.

[0007] Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. Hei 6-327466 discloses a method in which a thin layer is formed by dropping a culture material in an amount corresponding to the peripheral speed of a culture bed corresponding to the current position of the transfer machine from a moving conveyor which advances and retreats in a radial direction of a rotating culture bed. Then, this thin layer is laminated. This does not vary the moving speed of the moving conveyor,
Considering the deviation between the drop position where the culture material falls naturally and the loading position, the belt speed of the moving conveyor is adjusted to change the loading amount of the culture material, and a uniform predetermined thickness of the deposited layer is obtained. be able to. However, there is a problem in that the moving direction of the moving conveyor or the speed of the moving conveyor or the adjustment of the belt speed is interrelated with the loading amount of the culture material, and the calculation required for the control becomes complicated.

Therefore, the following points have been noted and the above-mentioned problems have been solved. First, charging means including the above-described conveyor (a charging conveyor, a charging screw, a charging chute, etc.)
(This means a means for transporting the culture material and discharging it from the filling port to the culture bed. The same applies hereinafter.) A fixed amount of the culture material is incorporated per unit time to facilitate the control of the entire apparatus. Second, in order to shorten the loading time, the culture material is loaded by simultaneously rotating the culture bed while displacing the loading means, but the influence of the difference between the falling position of the culture material and the loading position. Want to remove. Third, the apparatus configuration is simple and small, and the installation area is reduced as much as possible. In view of the above, the present invention has particularly studied a filling port.

[0009]

Means for solving the problem The thing developed as a result of the study is that a culture material is poured into the culture bed from the filling port of the filling means, a thin layer of the culture material is formed on the culture bed, and the thin layer is formed. A method of laminating to form a sedimentary layer of a predetermined thickness, wherein the filling means is provided with a vertically-opened filling port at the front, and comprises a transport path having a swinging shaft arranged rearward, and the culture bed is formed. The loading port is reciprocated on a substantially radial circular orbit on the culture bed by swinging the loading means in the horizontal direction while rotating,
This is a method for loading a culture material of a rotating disk solid culture device in which a fixed amount of a culture material is dropped in a vertical direction per unit time from the loading port and is loaded. Note that the swing in the present invention means that the filling port rotates repeatedly in a circular orbit with respect to the swing axis, and the filling means does not necessarily connect the swing shaft and the filling port. It is not necessary that the swing axis is virtual with respect to the filling port, for example.

[0010] Since the cultivation raw material is reduced in a fixed amount per unit time and incorporated, the moving speed of the injection port is inversely proportional to the peripheral speed of the culture bed, and the thickness of the layers formed on the outward path and the return path is made constant. However, for example, the moving speed of the filling port on the outward path may be constant, and the moving speed of the filling port on the return path may be adjusted so as to compensate for the excess or deficiency of the culture material loaded on the outward path with respect to the basic. The thin layer is laminated on the entire surface of the culture bed, and the combination of the number of rotations of the culture bed and the number of reciprocations of the filling port in forming the thin layer is free. Usually, the feeding port is reciprocated several times during one rotation of the culture bed to form one thin layer, and the multi-layer feeding operation is completed during several rotations of the culture bed.

In this filling method, the occupied area of the filling means during operation is reduced by making the trajectory of the filling port an arc-shaped trajectory. In particular, as seen in a setting device using a setting chute described later, when the swinging shaft is arranged near the wall of the culture room, most of the setting means is accommodated in the culture room,
There is an advantage that an installation area as an embedding device is hardly required separately from the culture bed. In addition, if the swing radius is reduced by increasing the radius of the circular arc despite the circular orbit, the circular orbit can be regarded as a linear orbit. Calculations are also easier.
Then, the culture material that has been transported in the horizontal direction is turned in the vertical direction and dropped. Preferably, in addition to the direction change, a vertical force is applied to the material to drop the material in the vertical direction and incorporate it into the culture bed. This eliminates the discrepancy between the drop position and the filling position due to the advance / retreat speed of the transfer device and the like seen in the conventional filling device.

As the loading means, existing transport modes such as a loading conveyor, a loading screw, and a loading chute can be used. However, the culture material is changed from a horizontal transport direction to a vertical direction, and a loading port is provided. Drop after removing the effects of moving.
Since the culture material falls in the vertical direction, that is, the shortest distance to the culture bed, the fall time is reduced. Furthermore,
If a vertical force is applied to the culture material to drop it, the fall time will be almost negligible. It can be incorporated into the culture bed, and the thickness of the thin layer to be formed can be easily controlled.

Regardless of the type of charging means, the method of transporting the culture material to the charging port is preferably air transport. When using a filling conveyor or a filling screw as the filling means,
The culture material that has been transported is hit by an inclined plate or the like arranged in the filling port to change the direction, or a mechanism that separately discharges the culture material downward is configured in the filling port, and the culture material is dropped vertically. become. However, in the former, the falling speed is slow, and in the latter, the cost is high. On the other hand, when a loading chute is used as the loading means, the transport medium (normal air)
By discharging the culture material fed under pressure from the filling opening whose open end is bent in the vertical direction, the culture material can be dropped in the vertical direction at a sufficient falling speed. As the transport medium, other gases and liquids can be considered in addition to air. However, air that is inexpensive and easily used without adding an extra liquid component to the culture raw material is optimal. In addition, in a filling chute using air conveyance, a cyclone may be attached to an open end in the horizontal direction to form a filling port. The cyclone can release air, which is a transport medium, upward while removing the horizontally moving components of the culture material, and can drop only the culture material in the vertical direction.

[0014] In the apparatus to which the above-mentioned filling method is applied, the filling means is a filling chute provided with a vertically opened filling port at the front and a swing axis provided at the rear, on a rotating circular culture bed. The rocking shaft is arranged near the wall surface of the culture chamber so that the charging chute is swung in the horizontal direction so that the charging port reciprocates on a substantially radial circular orbit on the circular culture bed. Device. The oscillating shaft is arranged in a culture room that does not hinder the rotation of the culture bed or in a range that does not project much from the culture room, that is, in the vicinity of the wall surface of the culture room. As described above, the arc trajectory drawn by the filling port may be skewed in the radial direction of the culture bed as long as it can be regarded as a straight trajectory.

Further, while the culture bed is being rotated, the filling port is reciprocated while being stopped intermittently on a substantially radial orbit on the culture bed, and a fixed amount of culture material per unit time is vertically transferred from the filling port. An embedding method of dropping in the direction and embedding may be used. The thickness of the thin layer formed by the culture material to be incorporated is determined mainly by the culture material that falls from the stop in the stopped state. Can be controlled,
Since the amount of the culture material to be fed from the inlet in the stopped state is determined per unit time, a thin layer having a substantially uniform layer thickness can be formed.

There is a correlation between the stop time of the filling port and the stop interval, and generally (the amount of filling per unit time × stop time) / (the peripheral speed of the culture bed at the stop position × stop interval) is constant. I just need to be. For example, if the stop interval is constant, the stop time is lengthened in proportion to the radial direction. If the downtime is fixed,
The stop interval is shortened in inverse proportion to the radial direction. Alternatively, the trajectory may be equally divided, and the stop interval may be constant on the inner circumference and the stop time may be constant on the outer circumference, and the same trajectory may be controlled separately. This embedding method can be applied to the above-described existing embedding methods in addition to the embedding method in which the embedding means swings in the horizontal direction.

The “substantially radial direction of the culture bed”, which is a trajectory on which the filling port reciprocates, refers to not only a linear trajectory in the radial direction of the culture bed, but also a circular orbit extending in the radial direction or an oblique trajectory intersecting in the radial direction. It is a meaning including. When the radius of the arc is large and the swing angle is small, the arc trajectory may be considered to be the same as the radial direction in calculating the control variable. In addition, when the crossing angle with the radial direction is θ, the linear skew track can be converted into the position of the skew track × cos θ = the position in the radial direction.
In calculating control variables, it can be regarded as a straight line trajectory in the radial direction. It should be noted that an arc-shaped oblique path can be treated as a radial direction by the same conversion as described above only when it can be regarded as an arc path or a linear path in the oblique direction.

[0018]

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described.
This will be described with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is a plan view of a setting device in which a dropping port of a setting chute 3 having a swinging shaft 2 arranged on a wall surface 1 of a culture room is set as a setting port 4 and the setting port 4 is reciprocated on an arc-shaped orbit. , FIG. 2 is a side view of the same, FIG. 3 is a schematic diagram corresponding to FIG. 1 simplified to show the principle of the embedding device, and FIG. 4 is a schematic diagram corresponding to FIG. As can be seen in FIG.
The arm 5 of the loading chute 3 is bent in the horizontal direction so that the arm 5 does not interfere with the wall 1 even when the loading port 4 approaches the wall 1 of the culture chamber (in FIG. 3, the explanation is simplified). The swing shaft 2 and the filling port 4 are connected by a straight line for the purpose of realization. In addition, as shown in FIG. 5, a cyclone 12 is used instead of the filling port 4 in which the filling chute 3 is bent downward.
May be used.

In the embedding apparatus of this embodiment, a rocking shaft 2 is arranged on a wall 1 of an octagonally assembled culture chamber, a shaking chute 3 is rocked on a culture bed 6, and a mounting port 4 at the tip end. Is reciprocated on a substantially circular arc orbit of the culture bed 6. An inverter-controlled cylinder 7 as a driving means has a rear end pivotally supported on the wall 1 of the culture chamber near the oscillation shaft 2 and a distal end pivotally mounted on the arm 5 near the loading port 4 from the oscillation shaft 2. I have. In addition, in order to make the swing of the loading chute 3 smooth, as shown in FIG. 1 and FIG.
The vicinity of the filling port 4 is hung from above the culture chamber by a hanger 8 and the rear of the swing shaft 2 is extended to achieve balance. As is clear from FIG. 1, the embedding device of the present invention does not require a large installation area and is compact.

The feeding chute 3 rotates a fixed amount of the culture material per unit time in a vertical direction from the feeding port 4 moving on an arc orbit in inverse proportion to the peripheral speed of the culture bed 6 using the arm 5 as a transport path. Drop onto culture bed 6. In this example, by dropping the culture material in the vertical direction, the relationship of the falling position from the filling port 4 / the filling position is realized, so that the filling amount and the filling position can be easily and accurately controlled. I have.
As can be seen in FIG. 1 or FIG.
A thin layer is formed in the area where the culture bed 6 extends from the central cylinder 9 to the outer peripheral wall 10.

An example of the control is shown in the schematic diagrams of FIGS. In this example, the arm 5 is swung in proportion to the amount of expansion and contraction of the cylinder 7 per unit time, and the moving speed of the filling port 4 is controlled. Specifically, the reciprocating movement of the filling port 4 is controlled by continuously changing the amount of expansion and contraction by adjusting the inverter frequency which is a control parameter of the cylinder 7. In addition, when the expansion and contraction of the cylinder 7 is intermittently stopped, a mounting method of intermittently stopping the charging port 4 can be applied to the apparatus configuration of this example. As described above, the filling method for intermittently stopping the filling port is almost the same as the filling method of the present invention in which the filling means is swung in the horizontal direction and the device configuration of the conventional filling method.

Now, for convenience, when the loading port 4 moves from the central cylinder 9 of the culture bed 6 toward the outer peripheral wall 10, as shown in FIG. It is assumed that a thin layer 11 having a shape is formed. In the filling method in which the filling means is swung in the horizontal direction, a fixed amount of culture material is dropped per unit time from the filling port 4, so that the small area ΔS of a substantially sector shape in which the moving filling port intersects with the culture bed is always present. If constant
The thickness of the partial thin layer formed by the incorporated culture material in the small area ΔS is constant, and the thickness of the final thin layer 11 is constant. Therefore, in this example, the filling port 4 is moved on an arc orbit in inverse proportion to the peripheral speed of the culture bed 6, and ΔS
Is approximately constant.

Usually, the rotation speed (= angular speed) of the culture bed is constant (in contrast, the peripheral speed is the product of the rotation speed and the radius corresponding to the position of the inlet 4, The above-mentioned small area ΔS is obtained from the movement start position on the orbit of the filling port 4 (determining the upper side of the approximate sector) and the moving distance (determining the lower side and the height of the approximate sector), Since the movement start position is obtained by the sum of the movement distances so far, the small area ΔS is a function of the movement distance. For this reason, the cylinder 7 that adjusts the moving distance of the filling port 4 per unit time
It can be understood that the thickness of the thin layer 11 formed by the culture raw material can be determined by controlling the amount of expansion and contraction, that is, the inverter frequency.

In the filling method in which the filling port is intermittently stopped, the control of the movement of the filling port is simplified by dropping a fixed amount of culture material per unit time from the filling port in the vertical direction, and (1) ) Stopping interval is adjusted to make ΔS constant, and the thickness of the partial thin layer formed in the small area ΔS is made constant, or (2) The stopping interval is made constant, and the cultivation raw material is produced at a stopping time proportional to ΔS. , The final thickness of the thin layer 11 is constant.

Conventionally, the falling time from the filling port to the culture bed is long, and the small area ΔS is a function of the moving distance. The amount had to be varied over time. The present invention drops the culture material in the vertical direction,
Furthermore, the falling time is made negligibly small by applying a force in the vertical direction to cause the culture material to be included in a fixed amount per unit time, thereby simplifying the control (1) and (2) The uniformity of the thin layer formed by the incorporated culture material was also ensured.

[0026]

EXAMPLE According to the control example in which the filling means is swung in the horizontal direction, the following miso raw material was loaded. With the target area of the culture bed of 112 m ² (diameter of the culture bed of 12 m), the miso raw material was air-conveyed at a rate of 0.28 m ³ / min, with the target of the sedimentary layer thickness of 500 mm. The reciprocating time at the inlet of the setting chute is 78 seconds, the time required for one rotation of the culture bed is 50 minutes, and the addition is completed during the four rotations of the culture bed.

In order to judge the quality of the embedding, after the embedding is completed, six points, points A, B and C are arranged at equal intervals from the inner circumference to the outer circumference.
A list of the average values of the results obtained by measuring the thickness of the sedimentary layer at points D, D, E, and F (see FIG. 1) 25 times each two minutes while rotating the culture bed, that is, in the circumferential direction of the culture bed. Are shown in Table 1. As is clear from Table 1, the target thickness of the deposited layer is 500m
With respect to m, the error in the radial direction of the culture bed is within ± 10 mm, which indicates that the deposited layer obtained by stacking thin layers accurately reaches the predetermined thickness.

[0028]

[Table 1]

[0029]

According to the filling method of the present invention and a filling apparatus to which the present invention is applied, the filling means is driven by relatively simple control to load the culture material into the culture bed, and a thin layer is laminated to a predetermined thickness. And it is possible to form a uniform deposition layer of the culture material, compared to the conventional, it is possible to reduce the effort of determining and setting parameters leading to control (compared to the embedding device of JP-A-6-327466, About 1/5). In addition, it is possible to easily change parameters by changing the specifications of the culture room and the filling device. Furthermore, there is an advantage that the embedding device itself is very compact and does not occupy more installation space than necessary.

Above all, there is no difference in the filling time on the inner and outer peripheries of the culture bed, and a uniform amount of culture material can be loaded with a constant sedimentary layer thickness, so that the quality of the product is extremely high. But,
This is an effect of the embedding method of the present invention. And because it is compact and easy to control and the unit price of the device can be reduced, it can be installed and operated even in relatively small factories and stores where the installation of conventional large and difficult control devices could not be completed. A small culture device can be provided.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a plan view of a setting device for swinging a setting chute in a horizontal direction.

FIG. 2 is a side view of the embedding device.

FIG. 3 is a simplified diagram showing the principle of the embedding device.
It is a considerable schematic diagram.

FIG. 4 is a simplified diagram showing the principle of the embedding device.
It is a considerable schematic diagram.

FIG. 5 is a perspective view of a filling port made of a cyclone.

FIG. 6 is a perspective view showing a thin layer formed by a culture material dropped from a reciprocating filling port.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Wall surface of a culture room 2 Oscillating axis 3 Injection chute 4 Injection port 5 Arm 6 Incubation bed 7 Cylinder 8 Hanger 9 Central cylinder 10 Outer peripheral wall 11 Thin layer to be incorporated in one way of injecting port 12 Cyclone

Claims (4)

[Claims] 1. A culture material is poured from a filling port of a filling means onto a circular culture bed to form a thin layer of culture material on the circular culture bed, and the thin layers are stacked to form a sedimentary layer having a predetermined thickness. In the method, the loading means is provided with a loading port opened in the vertical direction in the front, and comprises a transport path with a swinging shaft arranged rearward, and rotates the circular culture bed while moving the loading means in the horizontal direction. The inlet is reciprocated on a circular orbit in a substantially radial direction on a circular culture bed by rocking the plate, and a fixed amount of culture material per unit time is dropped vertically from the inlet and incorporated. A method for incorporating a culture material into a rotating disk solid culture device. 2. A culture material is poured into the circular culture bed from a filling port of the filling means, a thin layer of the culture material is formed on the circular culture bed, and the thin layers are laminated to form a sedimentary layer having a predetermined thickness. In this method, the filling port is reciprocated while being stopped intermittently on a substantially radial trajectory on the circular culture bed while rotating the circular culture bed, and quantitative culture per unit time is performed from the filling port. A method for charging a culture material of a rotating disk solid culture device, wherein the material is dropped in a vertical direction and then charged. 3. The method according to claim 1, wherein the method of transporting the culture material to the filling port is air conveyance. 4. A culture material is poured into a circular culture bed from a filling port of a filling means, a thin layer of culture material is formed on the circular culture bed, and the thin layers are laminated to form a sedimentary layer having a predetermined thickness. A loading means in which a loading means provided in the vertical direction is provided at the front, and a swing axis is provided at the rear, and the loading chute is horizontally moved on a rotating circular culture bed. Wherein the rocking shaft is arranged near the wall surface of the culture chamber so that the filling port reciprocates on a circular orbit in a substantially radial direction on the circular culture bed by rocking in the direction. Equipment for feeding culture material of the equipment.