JPH11289866A - Machine for inoculating spawn of mushroom - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a mushroom inoculating machine, capable of surely rotating various spawn bottles. SOLUTION: An elevating stand 116 is lowered by a driving mechanism in inoculation of spawn and a connecting body 152 is brought into contact with a stopper 156 in the course of lowering of the elevating stand 116 and lowering of the connecting body 152 is stopped and either one extending piece of a holding pawl 138 is brought into contact with the upper surface of a regulating plate and the other extending piece of the holding pawl 138 is rotated to the inside thereby and the spawn bottle 101 is held by the other extending piece and a rotating shaft is rotated. A spawn bottle 101 is rotated by centering the axial line while holding the spawn bottle by a holding pawl 138.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

TECHNICAL FIELD The present invention relates to a mushroom inoculum inoculator.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In artificial cultivation of mushrooms using cultivation bottles, a cultivation bottle is filled with a culture medium, and then the culture medium is inoculated with a seed fungus and proceeds to a culture step. Various automatic inoculators for inoculum in artificial mushroom cultivation are known. For example, JP-A-8-7
The inoculum automatic inoculator disclosed in Japanese Patent Publication No. 0697 has the following configuration. That is, a plurality of inoculum bottles containing the inoculum are supported in an inverted manner, and the inverted inoculum bottle is made to enter while rotating the scraping blade, and the inoculum is scraped down by a required amount and dropped downward, and this is put into a hopper. And a feeding mechanism for sequentially feeding the containers accommodating the cultivation bottles in rows of the cultivation bottles, and a cap for attaching and detaching the caps of the cultivation bottles in order to automatically perform this operation. Equipped with a detachable mechanism.

Further, it is necessary to rotate the seed bacteria bottle in a direction opposite to the direction of rotation of the scraping blade to increase the scraping efficiency. Therefore, a rotating mechanism for rotating various bacteria bottles supported by the support base about the axis thereof is used. Is provided. As shown in FIG. 21, a mechanism for rotating the seed germ bottle includes a row 4 supported by a support plate 3 on a lifting platform 2 raised and lowered by a cylinder 1.
A pressing support 5 is provided corresponding to each of the various bacterial bottles 4, and the pressing support 5 is rotated about an axis by a motor 7 via a chain 6. An elastic body 8 such as rubber is provided on the lower surface of the pressing support 5. 9 is a rotary blade. When the seeds are scraped, the lifting platform 2 is lowered by the cylinder 1 and the seed bottle 4 is pressed and supported by the pressing support 5 between the support plate 3 and the elastic body 8. When driven, the pressing support 5 is rotated about the axis, and the seed bottle 4 is rotated by the frictional force between the elastic body 8 and the bottom of the seed bottle 4.

[0004]

According to the above-mentioned conventional inoculum inoculating machine, the inoculum bottle 4 is pressed by the pressing support 5 via the elastic body 8, so that the inoculum bottle has a slight height. Even if there is variation (variation in size), the elastic body 8
Can absorb the difference in height, so that the inoculum bottle 4 can be rotated. However, it has been found that there are the following problems. That is, since the variation in the height of the inoculum bottle is absorbed by the compression deformation of the elastic body 8, the degree of compression of the elastic body 8 varies due to the variation in the height of the inoculum bottle. The difference in the frictional force between the and the inoculum bottle comes out. For this reason, a sufficient frictional force cannot be obtained between the inoculum bottle having a low height and the inoculum bottle receiving a reverse resistance from the scraping blade. Slip may occur between the seeds and the inoculum bottle may not rotate reliably.

Accordingly, the present invention has been made to solve the above-mentioned problems, and an object of the present invention is to enable mushrooms to be able to rotate various kinds of fungus bottles reliably even if the seed fungus bottles vary in height. It is intended to provide an inoculum inoculation machine.

[0006]

The present invention has the following arrangement to achieve the above object. That is, the container containing the cultivation bottles is intermittently fed, and the seeds are scraped downward by a required amount from the seed culture bottle held upside down. In a mushroom seed inoculum inoculating machine that inoculates all the cultivation bottles in a container by inoculating the obtained seed fungus, a support stand for the seed fungus bottle that inverts and supports the seed fungus bottle at various bacterial scraping positions, A lifting platform supported on a base that is positioned above and below the inoculum bottle that is set in the inoculum bottle, and a drive mechanism that raises and lowers the elevating platform; A rotating shaft rotatably supported corresponding to the bacteria bottle, a rotating mechanism for rotating the rotating shaft, a rotating plate provided at the lower end of each rotating shaft, and a substantially L-shaped In the shape of an L-shape A plurality of movably-supported gripping claws, a vertically movable rod penetrating through each of the rotating shafts, and a vertically movable rod, a coupling body to which an upper end of each of the vertically movable rods is coupled, A regulating plate fixed to the lower end of the up and down moving rod so that the upper surface faces one of the extending pieces of the gripping claw, and when the elevating platform descends so as to approach the bottom of the inoculum bottle, A stopper that stops the descent of the linked body by contacting the linked body that descends with the platform in the middle of the descent of the elevating platform is provided.
The elevator is lowered by the drive mechanism, the connector comes into contact with the stopper during the lowering of the elevator, and the lowering of the connector is stopped, and the elevator is still lowered by a required distance. One extension piece of the gripping claw abuts on the upper surface of the regulating plate, whereby the other extension piece of the gripping claw pivots inward and the seed germ bottle is gripped by the other extension piece,
By rotating the rotating shaft, the seed germ bottle is rotated about the axis while the seed germ bottle is held by the gripping claws.

As described above, since the gripping claw is lowered to a required position and the outer wall of the inoculum bottle is gripped at that position, the inoculum bottle can be gripped well regardless of the height of the inoculum bottle. It is possible to surely rotate around the axis.
By providing an adjusting screw with an adjustable protruding length on the lower surface on the tip side of the one extension piece, the gripping force of the gripping claw can be adjusted. Further, by arranging a plurality of the support bases so as to be movable along a rail supported to extend in the front-rear direction of the lift base, the empty seed bottle can be quickly and easily replaced. It can be carried out. It is preferable that the rail is provided with a chain movable along the rail, and the support is connected to the chain.

[0008]

Preferred embodiments of the present invention will be described below in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings. First, the general configuration and operation of the whole mushroom inoculum inoculator will be described. FIG. 1 shows a schematic external view of a mushroom inoculum inoculator. This mushroom inoculum inoculation machine is configured so that the cultivation bottle is housed in a container and is applied to the inoculation machine. In the figure, part A is a part for carrying in the container, part B is a part for inoculating the whole line of the container, part C. The part is a part for taking out the container after inoculation of the inoculum.

Since the cultivation bottle is set in the inoculator with the cap sealed, the operation of removing the cap from the cultivation bottle, the operation of dropping a certain amount of the inoculum into the cultivation bottle, and the capping of the cultivation bottle again are performed at the portion B for inoculating the seed bacterium. Perform the operation of putting on. The apparatus inoculates all the cultivation bottles in a row perpendicular to the direction of travel of the container at once. The container is intermittently fed at every bottle interval of the cultivation bottle, so that all the cultivation bottles in the container can be inoculated with the inoculum. Since the containers are automatically intermittently fed, the seeds can be continuously inoculated by sequentially feeding the containers following the previous container.

In FIG. 1, part D is a part for setting a bottle containing the inoculum. The bottle containing the inoculum is the same plastic bottle as the cultivation bottle. At the time of inoculation of the inoculum, a predetermined amount is inoculated each time by scraping the inoculum surface with a sharpening blade. Next, the configuration of the cap removal mechanism and the inoculum of the inoculum will be described with reference to FIGS. FIG. 2 shows a container 12 containing a cultivation bottle 10 on the container loading side of the inoculation machine.
Is a state viewed from the loading side. Reference numeral 14 denotes a base of the inoculation machine, and the container 12 is placed and transported on a chain 18 which circulates and moves on a support plate 16 attached to the base 14 in parallel with the transport direction. The support plate 16, the chain 18, a driving unit (not shown) of the chain 18, a sensor 90 described later, and the like constitute a container feeding mechanism.

Reference numeral 20 denotes a support frame installed above the container 12 at the transport position so as to straddle the transport surface in the width direction. The cultivation bottle 1 stored in the container 12
It is provided so as to straddle at a position slightly higher than the zero height position.
A bottle holding mechanism for holding the cultivation bottle 10 to be sent to the support frame 20 by a shoulder, and a cap 1 attached to the cultivation bottle 10
A cap attaching / detaching mechanism for attaching / detaching Oa is installed. The bottle holding mechanism holds the cultivation bottle, which has moved to the position where the inoculum is inoculated, with its shoulder, thereby preventing the cultivation bottle from lifting when the cap is removed, and supporting the cultivation bottle by standing upright. The cultivation bottle is accurately positioned so that the inoculum can be inoculated with certainty. If the cultivation bottle is slanted when inoculating the seed, the bottle mouth will shift from the inoculation position, and when the seed is dropped, it will not be able to enter the bottle mouth exactly and the seed will spill out of the cultivation bottle . In FIG. 2, reference numeral 80 denotes a hopper for guiding the seed bacteria scraped from the seed bottle to each of the cultivation bottles, 82, a shutter for removing the seed bacteria, and 84, which guides the seed bacteria to the bottle mouth and securely inserts the seed bacteria into the cultivation bottle. It is a shooter for dropping.

As shown in FIG. 2, the bottle holding mechanism presses the shoulder of the cultivation bottle 10 transferred to the seed inoculation position to the bottle holding plate 22.
To support the cultivation bottle 10. FIG. 4 shows a state where the cultivation bottle 10 is pressed by the bottle holding plate 22. The cultivation bottle 10 shown in FIG. 4 is in a state immediately below a shooter 84 inoculating a seed fungus. The bottle holding plate 22 is arranged so that the tip side extends from the container carrying side toward the cultivation bottle at the inoculation position because the cap removing mechanism is located above the cap position of the cultivation bottle 10 as described later. The bottle holding plate 22 is configured to hold the cultivation bottles on both sides with one sheet in the cultivation bottles adjacent to each other as described above, and to provide one outside cultivation bottle 10 for each cultivation bottle.
0 is also held down by the shoulders on both sides.

When the container 12 is fed in a fixed size, the bottle holding plate 22 is released so that the cultivation bottle 10 can pass freely. As described above, the bottle presser plate 22 presses the cultivation bottle 10 in synchronization with the inoculum inoculation. In this example, as a method of operating the bottle presser plate 22, the bottle presser plate 22 is placed on the support frame 20 as shown in FIG. The turning plate 26 is rotatably attached to the support shaft 24 provided, and the driving rod 28 is moved up and down to turn the turning plate 26 via the arm 30, whereby the turning plate 26 is attached to the turning plate 26. The attached bottle holding plate 22 was pushed. The bottle holding plate 22 is attached to the rotating plate 26 via a spring 32 so as to hold the cultivation bottle 10 with a certain elasticity. The bottle holding plate 22 sets an installation height position and an interval according to the size of the cultivation bottle, and changes the installation number according to the number of bottles.

The bottle holding mechanism serves to prevent the cultivation bottle from rising when inoculating the inoculum as described above, and to keep the cultivation bottle in an upright position. In addition to the function, it is equipped with a mechanism for placing the cultivation bottle in the correct position and reliably dropping the inoculum. Next, the cap attaching / detaching mechanism will be described. In FIG. 2, reference numeral 40 denotes a pressing roller provided in the cap attaching / detaching mechanism. The holding roller 40 is a cultivation bottle 1 transported together with the container 12.
A roller that presses the upper surface of the No. 0 cap 10 a is arranged corresponding to each of the cultivation bottles 10 in the container 12.
In the embodiment, since there are four cultivation bottles 10 in one row, four holding rollers 40 are provided. The pressing roller 40 has a rubber roller on its outer surface to press the cap by its elastic force and to prevent slippage.

The pressing roller 40 has a single support shaft 42.
, And both ends of the support shaft 42 are pivotally supported by a reversing arm 44 rotatably attached to the support frame 20 (FIG. 8).
One end of the reversing arm 44 is locked by the drive rod 45 and rotates in a vertical plane parallel to the transport direction of the container 12. FIG. 6 shows a state in which the pressing roller 40 presses the upper surface of the cap of the cultivation bottle 10. 46 is a pressing roller 40
Are support arms arranged on both sides of the support arm. Both ends of the support arm 46 are fixedly supported by the reversing arm 44. That is, the pressing roller 40 is supported by the support shaft 42 and the support arm 4.
6 and is installed so as to cross the transport surface at a predetermined height from the transport surface.

FIG. 7 is a top view of the support shaft 42 and the support arm 46 for supporting the pressing roller 40. The pressing roller 40 is fixed to and supported by the support shaft 42 as described above, but the support shaft 42 is constantly urged downward by a spring 50 attached to a connecting plate 48 that is mounted on the upper end surface of the support arm 46. Have been. As described above, the support shaft 42
Are mounted on the reversing arm 44. At the mounting position of the reversing arm 44, the support shaft 42 is supported by a long hole (FIG. 8), and is supported by the spring 50 to be slightly movable in the vertical direction. FIG. 6B shows a state in which the support arm 46 is slightly lifted in order to remove the cap. However, when the support shaft 42 is urged by the spring 50, the pressing roller is relatively moved with respect to the upward movement of the support arm 46. 40 indicates that the lower surface 40 acts to hold down the upper surface of the cap 10a.

As described above, the pressing roller 40 presses the cap 10a of the cultivation bottle from above to erect the cultivation bottle 10, and removes the cap 10a in the upright state. Therefore, it is necessary to prevent the cultivation bottle 10 from being inclined by the pressing operation of the pressing roller 40 when the upper surface of the cap 10a is pressed by the pressing roller 40. For this reason, in the apparatus of the embodiment, as described later, the pressing roller 40 is rotated in accordance with the transport direction of the cultivation bottle 10, and the moving speed and the peripheral speed of the pressing roller 40 when the culturing bottle 10 is transported are adjusted. It is set to match.

The bottle holding plate 22 presses the shoulder of the cultivation bottle 10 to erect the cultivation bottle 10 when the cultivation bottle 10 moves to the seed inoculation position. The height is set to the cap position of the stored cultivation bottle 10, and when the cultivation bottle 10 moves from the loading side to the inoculum inoculation position, ride on the top surface of the cap from the front edge of the cap 10a and roll on the top surface of the cap. It acts to press the cap 10a while moving. The position is set so that the press roller 40 presses the center of the upper surface of the cap when the cultivation bottle 10 has just moved to the seed inoculation position.

As shown in FIG. 2, the cultivation bottle 10 is
2 and is conveyed, it is unavoidable that it slightly swings due to vibration or the like during the conveyance. However, as described above, the cultivation bottle 10 is securely positioned at the inoculum inoculation position by holding down the shoulder of the cultivation bottle 10 with the bottle holding plate 22 and pressing the bottle by rolling the holding roller 40 on the upper surface of the cap. Can be supported upright.

The rotation speed of the pressing roller 40 is
Is a necessary condition for the cultivation bottle 10 to be able to move upright without being settled when the pressing roller 40 presses the upper surface of the cap. 2, reference numerals 54 and 56 denote gears for rotationally driving the support shaft 42 to which the pressing roller 40 is attached. Support shaft 4
2 is pivotally supported by the reversing arm 44 and connected to the gear 54 to rotate. The gear 56 is driven to rotate by a chain. When the pressing roller 40 is at a position pressing the upper surface of the cap 10a, the gear 54 meshes with the gear 56, and the pressing roller 40 is rotated. The peripheral speed of the pressing roller 40 is set so as to match the transport speed of the cultivation bottle by appropriately setting a gear ratio and the like.

In FIG. 6, reference numeral 60 denotes a holding claw attached to the lower surface of the support arm 46. The holding claw 60 is attached to the lower surface of the support arm 46 so as to be located between the caps 10a of the adjacent cultivation bottles as shown in the figure. Pressing nail 60 is cultivation bottle 10
When the cap is removed from the cap, the upper edge portion protruding to the side of the cap 10a comes into contact with the lower surface and acts to remove the cap. In the embodiment, the planar shape is formed to be slightly arcuate in accordance with the curvature of the outer periphery of the cap 10a so that the pressing claw 60 securely locks the cap. As shown in FIG. 2, the holding claws 60 are arranged on both sides of each cap for each cultivation bottle 10, and have a small diameter slightly lowered from the upper edge of the cap 10 a so as not to hit the cap when the cultivation bottle is transported. It is set to pass through the part.

Cultivation bottle 10 that has moved to the inoculum inoculation position
As shown in FIG. 6A, the upper surface of the cap 10a is pressed by the pressing roller 40, and stops when the pressing claws 60 are positioned on both sides of the cap 10a. It starts and starts to rise. The rotation of the press roller 40 is linked to the transport of the container 12, and when the container 12 is stopped in the state of inoculation with the inoculum, the press roller 4 is rotated.
0 indicates that the rotation is stopped. FIG. 6B shows a state in which the support arm 46 is slightly raised and the pressing claw 60 is in contact with the outer peripheral edge of the cap 10a. Pressing roller 4 as described above
Since 0 is urged downward by the spring 50, when the support arm 46 is raised, the pressing roller 40 presses the upper surface of the cap 10a, and the pressing claw 60 and the pressing roller 40 press and support the cap 10a.

As shown in FIG. 6 (b), by further raising the support arm 46 while the cap 10a is sandwiched between the holding claw 60 and the holding roller 40, the cultivation bottle 10 is held at its shoulder by the bottle holding plate 22. , The main body of the cultivation bottle remains on the container 12 and the cap 10
a is removed. At this time, the cultivation bottle 10 has its shoulder portion pressed by the bottle pressing plate 22, so that when the cap is removed, the cultivation bottle 10 is prevented from rising upward and the cap is securely removed. FIG. 8 shows the cultivation bottle 1 in the front row of the container 12.
Reference numeral 0 denotes a state in which the cap 10a is moved to the seed inoculation position and the cap 10a is just removed from the bottle opening when viewed from the side. The support shaft 42 supporting the pressing roller is supported by a long hole 43 of a reversing arm 44 as shown in the drawing, whereby the support shaft 42
Is movable up and down.

The reversing arm 44 is rotatably supported on a support frame 20 provided on a side surface of the transfer surface so as to be rotatable around a shaft 44a. The driving rod 45 is attached to the end of the reversing arm 44 on the side opposite to the side to which the support arm 46 is attached, and the driving rod 45 is pushed up and down so that the reversing arm 4 is moved.
4 moves in reverse. FIG. 8 shows a state in which a cap gripping mechanism such as a pressing roller and a support arm is positioned above the cap, and when the drive rod 45 moves downward from the state shown in FIG. 8, the reversing arm 44 starts rotating counterclockwise. As shown in (b), the cap 1 is formed by the holding claw 60 and the holding roller 40.
0a is grasped, the cap 10a is removed from the bottle mouth, and it rises upward.

FIG. 9 shows a state in which the reversing arm 44 has been reversed and the cap 10a has reached the upper position. The cap 10a is gripped by the pressing roller 40 and the pressing claw 60. FIG. 3 shows a state in which the cap 10a is in the upper position as viewed from the loading side. Cap 10a is a reversing arm 44
The cultivation bottle 10 is retracted to the side position of the cultivation bottle 10 as shown in FIG.
To inoculate the inoculum.

When inoculating the inoculum, the hopper 8 for introducing the inoculum is used.
0 and the shooter 84 are located immediately above the bottle mouth of the cultivation bottle 10. The shooter 84 is provided to reliably guide and drop the inoculum falling from the hopper 80 into the bottle mouth of the cultivation bottle 10.
When a is removed and the cap is retracted to the side, it is positioned just above the bottle mouth. As shown in FIG. 8, the shooter 8 is in a state before the cap is removed from the cultivation bottle 10.
4 is located on the container carry-out side away from the cultivation bottle 10. As shown in FIG.
Each of the shooters 84 is attached to the shooter support plate 70, and the shooter support plate 70 is supported by guide rods 72 which are supported at both sides thereof so as to be freely protruded. 74 is a shooter support plate 70 and a reversing arm 4
4 is a connecting rod connecting between the side surfaces.

The connecting rod 74 is provided to move the reversing arm 44 and the shooter support plate 70 in conjunction with each other. When the reversing arm 44 starts to be turned upward from the state shown in FIG. The shooter support plate 70 is pulled out toward the cultivation bottle 10 at the inoculum inoculation position by the connecting rod 74. By appropriately setting the inversion position of the inversion arm 44 and the arrangement positional relationship of the connecting rod 74 and the shooter 84, as shown in FIG.
When the cap 4a is turned upside down and the cap 10a is lifted, the shooter 84 can be supported by the guide rod 72 and pulled out to the mouth of the cultivation bottle 10.

Since the shooter 84 is set at a position slightly higher than the bottle position of the cultivation bottle 10 so as not to hinder the passage of the cultivation bottle, when the shooter 84 is pulled out to the bottle mouth of the cultivation bottle 10 as shown in FIG. There is a slight gap between the shooter 84 and the bottle mouth of the cultivation bottle 10. In order to prevent the inoculum from spilling from the cultivation bottle 10, it is necessary to eliminate the gap between the shooter 84 and the bottle mouth so that the inoculum does not spill out from the gap. For this reason, in the apparatus of the embodiment, the shooter 84 is slightly sunk when the inoculum is inoculated, so that the lower edge of the shooter 84 slightly enters the bottle opening.
The shooter 84 is formed in a funnel shape, and the diameter of the lower edge thereof is slightly smaller than the diameter of the bottle so that it can be inserted into the bottle. In addition, the shooter 84 of the present example is provided with a protruding edge 84a for introducing the inoculum in a half circumferential portion of one upper edge.

The mechanism for lowering the shooter 84 is shown in FIG.
L-arm 7 that rotates in conjunction with opening and closing of shutter 82
6, a push-down arm 78 provided between one end of the L-shaped arm 76 and a support 77 supporting the guide rod 72;
It is constituted by a push rod 79 that pushes down the support 77. As shown in FIG. 9, the shooter 84 pulled out by the reversal of the reversing arm 44 is supported by the guide rod 72 and located above the bottle mouth of the cultivation bottle 10, and then the tip side of the support 77 is lowered by the push-down rod 79. Depressed. When the support 77 is pushed down, the distal end side of the guide rod 72 descends, and the lower edge of the shooter 84 enters the bottle mouth as shown in FIG.

The lowering operation of the support 77 by the lowering rod 79 is performed through the lowering arm 78.
6 is rotated clockwise in FIG. L-shaped arm 76
A chain 85 for opening and closing the shutter 82
Is attached, and the L-shaped arm 76 is rotated, whereby the shutter 82 attached to the sprocket rotated by the chain 85 is rotated downward, and the hopper 80 is rotated.
The lower end drop port of is opened. FIG. 10 shows a state in which the shutter 82 is opened and the inoculum is inoculated into the bottle mouth. The chain attached to the L-shaped arm 76 is attached with some slack so that the shutter 82 opens slightly after the operation of lowering the shooter 84 by the push-down rod 79. In this manner, the shooter 84 can be guided to the inside of the bottle, and the seed can be reliably introduced into the bottle, so that the seed can be reliably inoculated.

FIGS. 11 to 13 show a seed cell detection sensor 92 attached to the seed cell drop opening of the shooter 84. FIG. A mounting plate 94 is fixed to the lower ends of the four shooters 84 and has through holes through which the lower ends of the shooters 84 pass. Reference numeral 96 denotes a sensor mounting plate having a through hole 97 corresponding to a drop port of each shooter 84. Sensors 92 each including a light emitting portion 92a and a light receiving portion 92b are attached to both sides of each through hole 97. Sensor mounting plate 96
Is detachably attached to the lower surface of the attachment plate 94.
That is, one end is rotatably locked to the mounting plate 94 (by the hook portion), and the other end of the mounting plate 94 is locked to the stopper 98 provided on the other end. By providing the sensor mounting plate 96 detachably in this manner,
When the sensor 92 breaks down, it can be replaced, and sterilization can be performed with the sensor 92 and the sensor mounting plate 96 removed.

The lower portion of the shooter 84 is provided so as to protrude downward through the through-hole 97 of the sensor mounting plate 96, so that the inoculum does not spill outside if it enters the bottle opening of the cultivation bottle 10. This is advantageous. In this case, a slit (not shown) is provided at a portion of the shooter 84 corresponding to the light emitting unit 92a and the light receiving unit 92b so that light from the light emitting unit 92a can enter the shooter 84. Sensor 9
According to 2, it can be detected whether the inoculum has passed (falled) through the lower end drop port of the shooter 84 and dropped into each cultivation bottle 10 without fail. When the shooter 84 in which the inoculum does not fall is detected, an alarm (buzzer or the like) is issued by a control unit (not shown). This allows the operator to check for anomalies such as whether the inoculum bottle has become empty or whether or not the inoculum is clogged on the falling passage and does not drop, and can cope with the abnormality. Since the sensor 92 is provided at the falling port of the shooter 84, which is the last part of the falling path of the seed, it is possible to reliably detect whether or not the seed has been supplied into the cultivation bottle. It is conceivable to provide the sensor at, for example, the site of the hopper 80, but in this case, for example, a problem occurs in that it is not possible to detect when the clogging occurs at the site of the shooter 84.

After inoculating the cultivation bottle with the inoculum as described above, the shutter 82 is closed, and the shooter 8
4 is lifted and the reversing arm 44 is returned to the original position and reversed, so that the shooter 84 moves back to the original position and the cap 10a is supported by the reversing arm 44 and descends to the bottle opening. The cap that has descended to the bottle mouth returns to the state in FIG. 8, and the cap is pressed to the bottle mouth, and the cap 10 a is attached to the cultivation bottle 10. The pressing roller 40 is shown in FIG.
As shown in (a), the cultivation bottle 1 after inoculation is pressed against the upper surface of the cap 10a while being pressed and rotated on the cap.
Forwards 0.

Thus, one inoculum inoculation operation is completed. The inoculum is scraped by a predetermined amount from the inoculum bottle at each inoculation, dropped into the hopper 80, and transferred from the hopper 80 into the cultivation bottle each time. The container 12 is sent in a fixed size according to the inoculation operation of the inoculum. The conveyance of the container 12 detects that the cultivation bottle 10 has come to the seed inoculation position by the sensor 9.
Controlled by sensing at zero. That is, after the seed inoculation, when the sensor 90 detects that the container 12 moves and the next cultivation bottle 10 comes to the seed inoculation position, the transport of the container 12 is temporarily stopped, and the seed is inoculated by the above-described series of operations. . Thus, the container 12 is automatically
While the seeds are intermittently fed, all the cultivation bottles 10 in the container 12 are inoculated with the inoculum.

Incidentally, the actual inoculum inoculation machine is the number of cultivation bottles 10 stored in the container 12 or the size of the cultivation bottles.
The arrangement position or the number of the bottle holding plates 22, the arrangement number or the arrangement position of the holding roller 40, the rotation speed of the holding roller 40, and the arrangement of the hopper 80 and the shooter 84 are appropriately set according to the diameter size of the cap and the like. It can be designed for various products.

Next, the mechanism of the seed bottle supply unit, the seed bottle setting unit, and the seed bottle rotating unit in FIG. 1D will be described.
In FIG. 14, reference numeral 100 denotes an inoculum bottle supply unit, and as shown, four rows of inoculum bottles 101 can be placed thereon.
Reference numeral 102 denotes a seed bottle setting portion, which is located above the hopper 80, rotates from a seed bottle 101 supplied line by line from the seed bottle supply portion 100, and is arranged below the seed bottle 101, and rotates about an axis, and The inoculum is scraped out by a required amount by the inoculum scraping unit 104 having a known mechanism provided with a scraping blade (not shown) capable of moving up and down into the inoculum bottle 101 and dropped into the hopper 80. Has become. The seed bottle setting unit 102 includes a seed bottle rotating unit 105 that rotates the seed bottle 101 about its axis.

Reference numerals 106, 106 denote rails, which are arranged above the container loading section A and the inoculum scraping section 104 and on both sides in parallel (FIG. 17). Rail 106
The portion located above the inoculum scraping portion 104 is provided substantially horizontally, and the portion located above the hopper 80 and the container loading portion A is inclined so as to become lower toward the container loading portion A. Is provided. Each rail 106,
Chains 108, 108 are arranged inside the rail 106 so as to be movable along the rail 106. Each chain 108,
A sprocket 109 rotatably provided on the base near the bent portion of the rail 106 is meshed with the sprocket 108. The sprocket 109 is rotated by a forward / reverse motor (not shown) so that the chains 108, 108 Reciprocating along the axis 106.

Reference numeral 110 denotes a support base, and both chains 10
Four are arranged in parallel between 8, 108. That is, both ends of each support 110 are connected to both chains 10
8, 108, and the chains 108, 108 move, so that each support 110 becomes a rail 106, 1
It becomes possible to move along 06. In addition, it is also preferable that the support stand 110 is detachably provided to the chain 108 via a connection fitting. In this case, the connection fitting can be constituted by, for example, a receiving fitting having a recess on the support base 110 side and a recess on the chain 108 side capable of receiving the protrusion pin from above (not shown). Alternatively, on the other hand, it may be configured to have a protruding pin on the chain 108 side and a concave portion for receiving the protruding pin from below on the support base 110 side.

In the above description, the chain 108 is connected to the rail 1
It is configured to reciprocate along 06, but each chain 1
08 may be provided endlessly to rotate.
In this case, a spatial obstacle can be eliminated by passing the return-side chain below the rail 106. At a position where the chain 108 runs below the rail 106, the support 110 is detached from the chain. Next, four through holes are formed in each support base 110, and a bearing 112 shown in FIG. 15 is fitted in the through holes. In this bearing 112, FIG.
The rotation ring 114 shown in FIG. 1 is detachably fitted therein, and the rotation ring 114 is smoothly rotated about an axis by a bearing 112.

[0040] The rotating ring 114 is provided with the inoculum bottle 101.
Can be inserted. Therefore, inoculum bottle 1
01 can be mounted on the rotating ring 114 by turning the bottle mouth downward. Therefore, the inoculum bottle 101 can be placed in four rows above the inoculum scraping section 104. Of course, the number of columns is not limited.

Next, the mechanism of the inoculum bottle setting unit 102 and the inoculum bottle rotation unit 105 will be described. Seed bottle set 1
02 and the inoculum bottle rotating unit 105 are located above the hopper 80 as described above. The inoculum bottle setting unit 102 stores the inoculum in the inoculum bottle 10
1 is a portion that is scraped off from the support base 11 as described above.
The inoculum bottle 101 placed on the top 0 is a part that is carried into the position along with the support base 110 by driving the chain 108. When the support 110 reaches the position, it is detected by a sensor (not shown),
8 is stopped, and the inoculum bottle 101 in a row is set at the position. At the position of the inoculum bottle setting unit 102, the inoculum bottle 101 is inclined and supported (FIG. 14).

Reference numeral 116 denotes a lift which forms a part of the seed germ rotation unit 105. The lift 116 is moved toward and away from the seed germ bottle 101 above the seed germ bottle 101 in the seed germ bottle setting unit 102 by a lifting mechanism described later. You. The rail 106 is supported by a base so as to extend in the front-rear direction of the lift 116. The lifting mechanism is as follows. That is, reference numeral 118 denotes a support plate located outside the both rails 106 and supported by the base. A guide pole 119 is provided inside each support plate 118.
The elevator 116 is connected via a stay 122 to a slide piece 120 slidably fitted to the outside of the slide 19.

One end of a connecting rod 124 is connected to the slide piece 120 through a vertically long hole 123 (FIG. 14) provided in a support plate 118. The other end of the connecting rod 124 is connected to the crank plate 126. It is understood that the lift base 116 is moved up and down via a crank mechanism by rotating the crank plate 126 by a motor 128 (FIG. 18). Crank mechanism, motor 128
The driving mechanism of the lift 116 is configured by the above-described operation.

On the lower surface side of the elevating table 116, a mechanism for gripping the inoculum bottle 101 is provided. First, a cylindrical rotary shaft 130 is placed on a position corresponding to each of the bacterial bottles 101 on the elevating table 116.
(FIG. 18) penetrates the elevating table 116 and is rotatably supported by the bearing 131 so as to be slightly movable in the axial direction. At the lower end of the rotating shaft 130, a rotating plate 132 is fixed with a slight gap from the lower surface of the lifting platform 116 (FIG. 1).
9). A spring 134 is elastically mounted (interposed) on the rotating shaft 130 between the rotating plate 132 and the lower surface of the elevator 116, and urges the rotating plate 132 in a direction away from the elevator 116.

A sprocket 136 is fitted to the other end of each rotating shaft 130. The sprocket 136 is in contact with the bearing 131 when the rotating plate 132 and thus the rotating shaft 130 are urged by the spring 134. The spring 134 is not necessarily a coil spring, but may be a leaf spring or other urging means.
Note that the spring 134 need not be provided.

The rotating plate 132 has three gripping claws 138.
They are arranged at intervals of 20 degrees (one is invisible). The gripping claw 138 is formed substantially in an L-shape, and a shaft 139 provided on the peripheral edge of the rotating plate 132 is inserted through a support piece 138a provided outwardly from both sides near the bent portion. Thus, it is rotatably supported on the shaft 139. One extension piece 138 c of the three gripping claws 138 is located above the bottom surface of the seed culture bottle 101, and the other extension piece 13
8b is located so as to surround the inoculum bottle 101 from the side.

Reference numeral 140 denotes a substantially U-shaped leaf spring, one of which is fixed on the rotating plate 132 and the other is fixed on the upper surface of one of the extending pieces 138c of the gripping claw 138. Usually, the other extension piece 138 of the three gripping claws 138
b is opened outward. Further, an adjustment screw 142 whose protruding length to the lower surface side can be adjusted with a nut is screwed into one extension piece 138c of the gripping claw 138. By changing the protruding length of the adjusting screw 142, the gripper 1
38 can adjust the gripping force of the inoculum bottle 101.

As shown in FIG. 17, a drive motor 144 is fixed to one end of the lift 116, and a chain 146 is wound around the sprocket provided at the end of the rotating shaft and the sprocket 136 via an idler sprocket as appropriate. , The rotation shaft 130 is rotated in the same rotation direction. These drive motor 144 and sprocket 13
6. A rotation mechanism of the rotation shaft 130 is constituted by the chain 146 and the like. Rotating plate 132, leaf spring 140, gripping claw 13
8, the adjusting screw 142, the spring 134 and the like constitute a seed bottle holding device. In the above description, the rotating shaft 130
Is driven by a chain, but can be rotated by a gear mechanism. In this case, the gap between the gears when the rotating shaft 130 is provided so as to be slightly movable in the axial direction as described above can be preferably covered by the thickness of the gears.

Reference numeral 150 denotes a vertical moving rod, and each rotating shaft 130
Are provided so as to be vertically movable. Vertical moving rod 15
The upper end of 0 is fixed to a connector 152 extending in a direction perpendicular to the rail 106. A regulating plate 154 is fixed to a lower end of the vertical moving rod 150. The upper surface of the regulating plate 154 faces the lower surface of one extension piece 138c of the gripping claw 138 with a space. Receiving plates 155 made of an elastic body are fixed to the lower surfaces of both ends of the connecting body 152. Support plate 11
8, a rod-shaped stopper 156 is provided on both sides of the elevating table 116, and an adjusting screw 156a is provided at the upper end of the stopper 156 so that the height of the stopper 156 can be adjusted. When the motor 128 is driven to lower the elevating table 116, the connecting member 152 abuts on the upper end of the stopper 156 via the receiving plate 155 during the lowering, and the lowering of the connecting member 152 is stopped.

The supply of the seed bottle 101 to the set position is performed as follows. That is, the lift 116 is first raised. When the drive motor (not shown) is driven, the chain 108 is moved along the rail 106, whereby the support table 110 is moved to a set position, which is a seed germ scraping position, and this position is detected by a sensor (not shown). As a result, the drive motor is stopped, so that the movement of the chain 108 is stopped, and the four inoculum seed bottles 101 placed on the support table 110 are set at the set position.

In this state, the motor 128 is driven to lower (move) the elevating table 116 toward the seed bottle 101 at the set position. As a result, the connecting body 152 also descends,
During the lowering, the receiving plate 155 comes into contact with the upper end of the stopper 156, and the lowering of the connecting body 152, that is, the vertically movable rod 150 and the regulating plate 154 connected to the connecting body 152 also stops. The stop position of the regulating plate 154 is set at a position slightly above the bottom surface of the seed bottle 101. On the other hand, the elevator 116 still descends the required distance. Therefore, the regulating plate 154 rises relatively to the gripping claws 138, and the lower end of the adjusting screw 142 of one extension piece 138 c of each gripping claw 138 is
54 contacts the upper surface. As a result, the other extension piece 138b of each gripping claw 138 rotates inward, and grips the outer wall of the inoculum bottle 101.

Even if there is a variation in the height of the various types of bacteria bottles 101, the gripping of the various types of bacteria bottles 101 by the gripping claws 138 is ensured only by different gripping positions. Some shock when the connecting body 152 contacts the stopper 156 is absorbed by the receiving plate 155, and some shock when the outer wall of the seed germ bottle 101 is gripped by the gripping claws 138 is absorbed by the spring 134.

In this way, the inoculum bottle 101 is
8 sandwiches and is gripped from three sides. After setting as described above, drive motor 1
44 is driven, whereby the inoculum bottle 101 is
8 is rotated about the axis while being gripped.
Since the mouth side of the inoculum bottle 101 is supported by the rotating ring 114 fitted in the bearing 112, the inoculum bottle 101 is rotated very smoothly without any axial deflection. A scraping blade (not shown) rises and enters into the thus-rotated inoculum bottle 101 from the inoculum scraping unit 104 side while being rotated by a known mechanism, and a predetermined amount of inoculum is scraped out and the hopper 80 is removed. It is dropped inside. The seed bacteria thus scraped are supplied into the cultivation bottle 10 as described above.

When the inoculum bottle 101 becomes empty, the inoculum is no longer supplied to the cultivation bottle 10. Therefore, the sensor 92 detects the inoculation and the scraping blade is lowered, and at the same time, the rotation of the inoculum bottle 101 is stopped. You. Then drive motor 128
Is driven to raise the elevator 116 to release the gripping of the inoculum bottle 101 by the gripping claws 138. Thereafter, the drive motor is driven to move the chain 108, and the inoculum bottle 101 in the next row is placed in the inoculum bottle setting section. It is set to 102. In this way, inoculation of the inoculum can be performed continuously.

The empty seed bottles 101 are successively sent to the container loading section A side. When all four rows of the inoculum bottles are empty, the drive motor is rotated in the reverse direction, and the four inoculated inoculum bottles are all returned to the horizontal position at the top of the base, which is part D in FIG. Is issued, and the operator can replace the inoculum bottle. Conventionally, it was necessary to form the hopper 80 and the shooter 84 with a transparent material, and to check the falling state of the inoculum by a blind eye from the front side. In the present embodiment, since the presence or absence of the supply of the inoculum can be reliably confirmed by the sensor 92 as described above, the space above the container carrying-in portion A does not need to be open, and the space is utilized and the empty space is utilized. In addition to being able to be used for the discharge space of the inoculated inoculum bottle 101, space efficiency is improved, and the inoculum bottles 101 in four or more rows can be prepared in advance, and the number of replacements is reduced accordingly, so that workability is improved. In addition, the support table 1
In the case where 10 is detachably provided on the chain 108, the inoculum bottle 101 may be set in advance on the detached support stand 110, and the support stand 110 on which the inoculum bottle 101 is set may be set on the chain 108.

Although the present invention has been described in detail with reference to the preferred embodiments, the present invention is not limited to these embodiments, and many modifications can be made without departing from the spirit of the invention. Of course.

[0057]

According to the mushroom inoculum inoculator according to the present invention, the gripping claw descends to a required position and grips the outer wall of the inoculum bottle at that position. Therefore, the seed bottle can be satisfactorily gripped and can be reliably rotated about the axis. By providing an adjusting screw having an adjustable protruding length on the lower surface on the distal end side of one extension piece of the gripping claw, the gripping force of the gripping claw can be adjusted. Further, by disposing a plurality of support stands movably along a rail supported to extend in the front-rear direction of the elevating stand, the empty seed bottle can be quickly and easily replaced. Can be.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is an external view showing an overall configuration of an embodiment of a seed inoculum incubator.

FIG. 2 is an explanatory diagram showing a state before inoculation of a seed bacterium by a seed bacterium inoculation machine as viewed from a loading side.

FIG. 3 is an explanatory view showing a state where a cap is removed by the inoculum inoculating machine.

FIG. 4 is an explanatory view showing a state in which a cultivation bottle is held down by a bottle holding plate.

FIG. 5 is an explanatory diagram showing a pressing operation by a bottle pressing plate.

FIG. 6 is an explanatory diagram showing a state in which a cap of a cultivation bottle is pressed by a pressing roller.

FIG. 7 is a top view of a holding roller and a support arm.

FIG. 8 is a side view showing a state immediately before the cap is removed by the inoculum inoculating machine.

FIG. 9 is a side view of the inoculum inoculating machine with a cap removed.

FIG. 10 is a side view showing a state in which the inoculum is inoculated with the inoculum.

FIG. 11 is a front view showing a portion of a sensor provided at a lower portion of the chute.

FIG. 12 is an explanatory view of a mounting / detaching mechanism of a sensor mounting plate.

FIG. 13 shows a bottom view of the sensor mounting plate.

FIG. 14 is a side view showing a seed fungus bottle supply unit.

FIG. 15 is an explanatory view showing a bearing and a rotating ring.

FIG. 16 is an explanatory diagram of a rotating ring.

FIG. 17 is a front view showing a seed bottle setting section and a rotating section.

FIG. 18 is a front view showing a seed bottle setting part and a rotating part.

FIG. 19 is an explanatory view showing a seed fungus bottle rotating unit.

FIG. 20 is an explanatory diagram of a state where a seed bottle is held.

FIG. 21 is an explanatory view showing a seed rotation mechanism in a conventional inoculator.

[Explanation of symbols]

 Reference Signs List 10 cultivation bottle 10a cap 12 container 18 chain 20 support frame 22 bottle holding plate 28 drive rod 32 spring 40 holding roller 42 support shaft 43 long hole 44 inversion arm 45 drive rod 46 support arm 50 spring 60 holding claw 70 shooter support plate 72 Guide rod 79 Push-down rod 80 Hopper 82 Shutter 84 Shooter 90 Sensor 92 Sensor 94 Mounting plate 96 Sensor mounting plate 97 Through hole 100 Seed bottle supply unit 101 Seed bottle 102 Seed bottle setting unit 104 Seed scraping unit 105 Seed bottle rotating unit 106 Rail 108 Chain 110 Support stand 116 Elevating stand 130 Rotating shaft 132 Rotating plate 134 Spring 136 Sprocket 138 Gripping claw 140 Leaf spring 144 Drive motor 146 Chain 150 Vertical movement 152 connecting member 154 regulating plate 156 stopper

Claims (4)

[Claims] 1. A container accommodating a cultivation bottle is intermittently fed, and a required amount of a seed bacterium is scraped downward from a seed culture bottle held upside down by a required amount. In a mushroom inoculum inoculating machine that inoculates all the cultivation bottles in a container by inoculating the scraped inoculum, a support stand for the inoculum bottle that inverts and supports the inoculum bottle at various scraping positions, An elevating platform that is supported by a base and is located above the inoculum bottle that is set on the support platform and that moves toward and away from the bottom of the inoculum bottle; a drive mechanism that moves the elevating platform up and down; A rotating shaft rotatably supported on the table corresponding to various bacterial bottles, a rotating mechanism for rotating the rotating shaft, a rotating plate provided at a lower end of each rotating shaft, It is almost L-shaped, and almost at the bent portion of the L-shape A plurality of gripping claws rotatably supported in a direction, a vertically movable rod penetrating through each of the rotating shafts, and a vertically movable rod, and a coupling body to which an upper end of each of the vertically movable rods is coupled. A regulating plate having an upper surface fixed to a lower end of each of the vertically movable rods so as to face one of the extending pieces of the gripping claw; and when the elevating platform descends so as to approach the bottom of the inoculum bottle. A stopper for stopping the descent of the connected body by abutting the descent of the elevating platform with the elevating platform during the descent of the elevating platform, wherein at the time of inoculum inoculation, the elevating platform is lowered by the drive mechanism; During the descent of the elevator, the connector comes into contact with the stopper to stop the lowering of the connector, and the elevator is still lowered by the required distance, so that one of the gripping claws is on the upper surface of the regulating plate. The extension piece abuts, and this causes the other extension piece of the gripping claw to By turning to the side, the inoculum bottle is gripped by the other extension piece, and the rotation shaft is rotated, so that the inoculum bottle is rotated about the axis while the inoculated vial is gripped by the gripping claws. Mushroom inoculum inoculator. 2. The inoculator for mushroom inoculation according to claim 1, wherein an adjusting screw for adjusting a protruding length is provided on a lower surface on a distal end side of the one extension piece. 3. The mushroom according to claim 1, wherein a plurality of the support bases are provided so as to be movable along a rail supported to extend in the front-rear direction of the lift base. Seed inoculation machine. 4. The inoculator according to claim 1, wherein the rail includes a chain movable along the rail, and the support is connected to the chain. .