JPS5881719A - Method and apparatus for automatically supplying solution to multistage liquid tank - Google Patents

Abstract

(57) [Summary] This bulletin contains application data before electronic filing, so abstract data is not recorded.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION The present invention provides a multi-stage system in which the dead weight flow of a solution into multi-stage liquid tanks related by overflow means is controlled by an adjusting means that is influenced by the liquid level of the liquid tank at the lowest stage. The present invention relates to a method and device for automatically supplying a solution to a liquid tank.

Today's living environment has become more complex, and as a reaction to this, home gardening has become more popular.From the standpoint of making effective use of a relatively small footprint, this type of home gardening requires the use of a plant medium. Many are used that are formed in multiple stages in the vertical direction.

Taking into consideration the busy lives of the people involved and the fact that they are unfamiliar with gardening, a solution containing appropriate moisture and nutrients essential for seed germination and plant growth is placed in a multi-tiered plant medium. Some have additional means for automatic supply.

Conventionally, such means have used pumps and (
Japanese Patent Application Publication No. 53-58342, Utility Model Publication No. 55-113053)
, which utilizes vaporization using electric heat (Special Publication Publication 1986-30)
325) etc. However, it is a waste of energy to use pumps or electric heating means when automatically supplying solutions to multi-tiered plant culture media.

On the other hand, as a means for automatically supplying a solution to a plant medium, there are methods that utilize capillary action (Utility Model Application No. 55-12342, same <55-14421, same <55-17836).
No. 5, etc.). All of these systems are based on connecting the plant culture medium and the solution tank with a material that has capillary action, and do not require any particular supply energy when automatically supplying the solution, and are convenient for general users. It is excellent in that it can be easily used with any material that has capillary action, such as fabrics and papers. However, in order to apply this type of means when the plant culture medium is formed in multiple stages in the vertical direction, it is necessary to automatically supply the solution evenly to the multi-stage plant culture medium without forcing the physical movement of the solution by capillary action. When it is assumed that
Multi-tiered liquid tanks are prepared separately, as if they were arranged in parallel with the multi-tiered plant culture medium, and the amount of solution in each tank is always maintained within a certain range, and in particular, no energy is required to maintain the solution. Something is required that cannot be added.

The present invention provides a method and device for automatically supplying a solution to a multi-stage liquid tank that meets such demands, and its purpose is to minimize the dead weight flow of the solution into the multi-stage liquid tank connected by an overflow means. By controlling with an adjusting means that is affected by the liquid level in the lower liquid tank, the amount of solution in the multi-stage liquid tank can be automatically maintained within a constant range at all times without particularly applying any energy. The purpose of this invention is to enable the user to easily connect and use a multi-tiered plant culture medium, which has conventionally been widely used in home horticulture, with some kind of capillary action material.

Hereinafter, the configuration of the present invention will be explained in detail based on the drawings.

FIG. 1 is a schematic cross-sectional view illustrating the implementation state of the method according to the present invention. Liquid tank 11.21.31.41.
51 are arranged in five stages, and each of these liquid tanks is connected to the overflow pipe 12.
．． 22.32.42. On the other hand, a flat and wide solution supply tank 13 is provided at the top, a part of the upper part of this solution supply tank 13 is open, and a flow outlet 14 is bored at the bottom. 14
The solution 15 in the solution supply tank 13 flows down by its own weight to the uppermost liquid tank 11 via a downflow pipe 16.

The method according to the present invention is a method for automatically supplying a solution to multi-stage liquid tanks in the vertical direction in which the flow of the solution is related by an overflow means, and the method minimizes the dead weight flow of the solution to the uppermost liquid tank. It is controlled by an adjustment means that is affected by the liquid level in the lower liquid tank. In the case of the drawing, such adjustment means is the lowest liquid tank 5.
1 is formed to have a substantially concave cross section, and one side formed in this concave shape is connected to the downstream port 14 through a connecting pipe 26, and the float 1 is disposed below the connecting pipe 26 inside the connecting pipe 26.
7 is floated, and a valve 37 is attached above the float 17 via a connecting rod 27, and this valve 37
can be attached to and removed from the flow outlet 14 to open and close the flow outlet 14. Therefore, the float 17 moves up and down depending on the liquid level in the lowermost liquid tank 51, and the valve 37 opens and closes the flow port 14 under the influence of this up and down movement.

In the case of the drawing, for safety's sake, the flow pipe 1 is designed to prevent the inconvenience of the solution 15 flowing backwards in the direction of the connecting pipe 26 when the flow port 14 is in an open state and the solution 15 flows down from the flow port 14 under its own weight.
A cylinder 36 is fixed to the inner circumferential surface of the connecting pipe 26 at a position including the extension of the downstream pipe 16 so as to flow downward in only six directions. has been done.

When starting the automatic solution supply, first, the solution supply tank 13 is filled with the solution 15 containing water, nutrients, etc.

This is all that is required to carry out the method according to the invention. In this state, each of the liquid tanks including the lowest liquid tank 51 is not filled with the solution 15, the float 17 is at the lowest position, and the flow port 14 is open. Therefore, the solution 15 flows down from the solution supply tank 13 through the flow-down port 14 and the flow-down pipe 16 to the uppermost liquid tank 11 under its own weight. When the liquid tank 11 is filled with the solution 15, the excess solution 15 flows down by its own weight to the second stage liquid tank 21 via the overflow pipe 12. mosquito.

Thus, the solution 15 sequentially overflows into liquid tanks 11, 21, and 31.
．． 41, and finally flows down by its own weight via the overflow pipe 42 to the lowest liquid tank 51. When the liquid level of the solution 15 in the liquid tank 51 rises, the float 17 rises accordingly, and the valve 37 further rises via the connecting rod 27. When the liquid level of the solution 15 in the liquid tank 51 reaches a predetermined position, the valve 37 closes the flow port 14 and the supply of the solution 15 is stopped.

When the multi-stage plant culture medium that the user separately has and the above-mentioned multi-stage liquid tank are appropriately connected with some kind of material with capillary action, the solution 15 in each liquid tank is transferred through the material and the plant medium. It is absorbed by, for example, plants planted in a plant medium, or a part of it evaporates and is consumed. When the liquid level including the lowest liquid tank 51 decreases due to such consumption, the float 17 descends, and as a result, the connecting rod 27
The valve 37 is lowered to open the flow port 14, and each liquid tank is again filled with the solution 15 in the above order.

This process is repeated, and eventually a certain range of solution 15 is always held in each multi-stage liquid tank.

FIG. 2 is a schematic cross-sectional view with the intermediate portion omitted, illustrating another implementation state of the method according to the present invention. A cylindrical recess 14c including an outlet 14a is formed in the bottom of the solution supply tank 13a, and a through hole 14b is formed in the cylindrical recess 14C at a position communicating with the outlet 14a. Shape 37
A is slid into place. And, in this cylindrical body 37a,
A stopper 37b is attached to stop the cylindrical body 37a at a position where the flow outlet 14a and the through hole 14b communicate with each other. It is hanging down. The float 17a moves up and down under the influence of the liquid level in the lowermost liquid tank 51a, and accordingly the cylindrical body 37a rotates to open the outlet 14.
A and the through hole 14b are repeatedly connected and disconnected, and as a result, a certain range of solution is always held in the multi-stage liquid tank (not shown).

FIG. 3 is a schematic cross-sectional view with the intermediate portion omitted, illustrating still another implementation state of the method according to the present invention. Solution supply tank 1
A flow port 14d is bored in the bottom surface of the valve 3b, and a valve 37c can be attached to and removed from the flow port 14d.

This valve 37c is connected to the fulcrum 2 through the connecting rods 27a and 27b.
7c is associated with a weight 17c that maintains a certain balance with the liquid volume (ie, liquid level) in the lowest liquid tank 51b. The weight 17c moves up and down under the influence of the liquid level in the lowest liquid tank 51b, and accordingly, the connecting rods 27b and 27
The valve 37c is repeatedly attached to and detached from the flow port 14a via a,
After all, a certain range of solution is always held in the multistage liquid tank (not shown).

There are various other types of adjustment means that are affected by the liquid level in the lowest liquid tank for automatic solution supply.

However, the most preferred use of such means is
There is a device described below that utilizes pneumatic balance and is directly used to carry out the method according to the invention.

FIG. 4 is a schematic cross-sectional view showing one embodiment of the device according to the present invention. A sealable solution supply tank 23 is provided at the top, and below this solution supply tank 23, four stages of liquid tanks 61.71.81.91 are connected to overflow pipes 52.62.72.
They are arranged in the vertical direction while being related to each other. In this embodiment, the downstream pipe 46 having the adjustment cock 19 is
The tip opening 18 of the control tube 56 is positioned to the liquid tank 61 on the uppermost stage, and the other end opening 28 is connected to the bottom side of the solution supply tank 23. The solution 25 is positioned slightly above the inner surface of the bottom of the liquid tank 91 and the other end opening 48 is connected to the upper side of the solution supply tank 23. Overflow state of the solution 25 into each liquid tank in this embodiment is the same as in the case of FIG. 1 above. However, in this example, solution 25
Pneumatic balance is used as a means of regulation for the automatic supply of air.

(1) to (3) of FIG. 5 are schematic views from the east illustrating the operating state of the right side of the main body for automatic supply of solution. The same figure (1
), when starting the automatic supply of the solution 25, the solution 25 is sequentially filled into each liquid tank, and then finally flows down by its own weight to the lowest liquid tank 91 via the overflow pipe 72. . At this stage, the tip opening 38 is not affected by the liquid level of the solution 25 in the liquid tank 91, and air flows from the tip opening 38 to the control tube 56.
The solution 25 is sucked into the solution supply tank 23 through the
continues to flow down due to its own weight.

However, as illustrated in FIG. 2 (2), as the solution 25 continues to flow down and the liquid level in the liquid tank 91 continues to rise, the tip opening 38 becomes buried in the solution 25, and as a result, the air is sucked in. After that, the solution 2 gradually enters the control tube 56.
5 is sucked up and its liquid level rises, while the degree of depressurization in the solution supply tank 23 increases, and finally the dead weight of the solution 25 from the solution supply tank 23 reaches the lower blade and the depressurization in the solution supply tank 23. The levels are balanced and the flow of solution 25 is stopped.

As illustrated in FIG. 1 (3), the user applies this example to a multi-tiered plant culture medium, as in the case of FIG.
When the solution 25 including the lowest liquid tank 91 is consumed and its liquid level decreases, the solution 25 in the tip opening 38 and the liquid tank 91
The liquid level becomes approximately the same as the liquid level, air is sucked in, and as a result, the degree of vacuum in the solution supply tank 23 becomes low, and the solution 25 flows down again. The following is a repetition of this process, and in the end,
Each multi-stage liquid tank always holds a certain range of solution 25. Since each multi-stage liquid tank always holds a certain range of solution 25, the user has a separate multi-stage plant culture medium and each of the liquid tanks. When using a material that has capillary action to connect the two, it is possible to easily prevent the physical movement of the solution due to capillary action.
The solution can be automatically supplied to the multi-tiered plant culture medium as uniformly as possible, and the solution retention in each liquid tank and the supply of the solution from each tank to the multi-tiered plant culture medium are all done consistently without any energy being applied. It can be done without any problems.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

1 to 3 are schematic cross-sectional views illustrating different implementation states of the method according to the present invention, FIG. 4 is a schematic cross-sectional view showing one embodiment of the apparatus according to the present invention, and FIG. (1) to (3) are schematic views of essential parts illustrating the operating state of the embodiment shown in FIG. 4. 11.21,...-191,51a, 51b -Liquid tank, 12.22,...,72...Overflow pipe, 13.1
3a, 13b, 23 ---solution supply tank, 15
．． 25...solution, 16.46...downflow tube, 26
...Connecting pipe, 56...Control pipe, 17.17a
- Float, 17b, 17c - Weight, 27.27a
, 27b - connecting rod, 37.37 c - valve, 37
a...Cylindrical body, 38...Tip opening, Patent applicant: Kagome Co., Ltd. Agent, Patent attorney Hiroshi Iriyama Figure 1 Figure 2 Figure 3 Figure 4-99=

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. A method in which the solution is automatically supplied to multi-stage liquid tanks in the vertical direction connected by an overflow means, so that the self-weight flow of the solution to the uppermost liquid tank is reduced to the lowermost liquid tank. A method for automatically supplying a solution to a multi-stage liquid tank controlled by an adjustment means that is influenced by the liquid level in the liquid tank. 2. A sealable solution supply tank provided at the top, a multi-stage liquid tank arranged vertically below the solution supply tank and each connected by an overflow pipe, and a tip opening. a down-flow pipe positioned in the liquid tank at the top level and having its other end opening connected to the bottom side of the solution supply tank; and a control pipe whose other end opening is connected to the upper side of the solution supply tank.