JPS62163647A - Hydroponic apparatus - 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] Industrial applications The present invention relates to a hydroponic cultivation apparatus.

Conventional technology In recent years, hydroponic cultivation, which is the cultivation of plants without using soil, has become popular, and households are now practicing hydroponic cultivation using hydroponic cultivation bags. .

Such hydroponic cultivation equipment used for home use, etc., is one in which multiple cultivation dishes are stacked in multiple tiers at predetermined intervals and water containing fertilizer (nutrient solution) is supplied into each cultivation dish. is common. Also.

Some systems supply nutrient solution from a nutrient solution tank installed at the bottom to the top cultivation dish, and then circulate the nutrient solution from the top cultivation dish to the cultivation dishes and nutrient solution tank below. The nutrient solution supply pipe for supplying the nutrient solution from the nutrient solution tank to the uppermost cultivation dish is generally installed adjacent to the holding member that holds the cultivation dish.

Problems to be Solved by the Invention It is necessary to secure a piping space for installing the nutrient solution supply pipe, which leads to an increase in the size of the device and reduces the space for cultivating plants.

Means for Solving the Problem A plurality of cultivation dishes each having a discharge hole at the bottom are held in multi-tiered form by a cylindrical support. A nutrient solution supply pipe for supplying the nutrient solution in the nutrient solution tank to the uppermost cultivation dish is inserted into the hollow part of the support.

The nutrient solution is supplied from the working nutrient solution tank to the top cultivation vessel through a nutrient solution supply pipe piped into the hollow part of the support. The nutrient solution supplied to the top cultivation vessel sequentially flows down from the discharge hole to the cultivation vessel or nutrient solution tank located below and is refluxed.

Embodiment A first embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS. 1 to 7. A substrate 2 having casters 1 at the four corners of its lower end is provided parallel to the ground surface 3. This substrate 2 has a fitting hole 4 in the center thereof, and a base tube 5 is fitted and fixed into this fitting hole 4. Further, a support tube 6, which is a support body having a smaller diameter than the base tube 5, is rotatably fitted into the base tube 5 and extends upward. At the upper end of the base tube 5, a plurality of rotary tubes 7 rotatably fitted into the support tube 6 are vertically stacked via bearings 8. Those rotating tubes 7
An axle-shaped holding member 9 is attached to each of the lower parts. These holding members 9 include four supports 10 protruding from the rotary tube 7 in a cross direction, and these supports 1.
It consists of a ring 11 fixed to the end of the 0, and is mounted horizontally. An umbrella-shaped ceiling member 12 is attached to the upper end of the support tube 6 on the plate, and a bowl-shaped cap 1 having a hole 13 attached to the center portion is attached to the upper part of the ceiling member 12.
4 is fixed.

Next, on the substrate 2, a donut-shaped nutrient solution tank 16 that stores the nutrient solution 15 therein is arranged with its axis aligned with the base tube 5. The nutrient solution tank 16 has a support 17 on its upper surface that supports a large number of seedlings (not shown), and has a heater 18 and a porous air generator 19 inside. or,
A filter 2o is also provided inside the nutrient solution tank 16 to cover one corner of the inside.

A plurality of cultivators 21 and a plurality of water flowers 22 are arranged on the nutrient solution tank 16 in a staggered manner. That is, two holding plates 23 for one holding member 9 are attached to the holding member 9 on a circumference centered on the rotary tube 7, and the cultivator 21 is attached to each of the holding members 9. is placed on top. On the other hand, the water flow device 22 is a donut-shaped housing having an opening on the top surface and two water flow holes 24 positioned on the circumference on the bottom surface at equal intervals, and is fitted and fixed to the top of each of the rotary tubes 7. The water flow holes 24 are connected to the cultivator 21, respectively.
It is formed at a position opposite to the inner edge of.

Here, the holding plate 23 has a depression in the center, and this part serves as the water distribution body 15. These water distribution bodies 25
A discharge hole 26, which can be opened and closed, is formed on the lower surface of the inner end of the drain hole 26, and is located opposite to the opening on the upper surface of the water flower 22 directly below. Further, inside the outer end of the water distribution body 25, a lower end of a water distribution device 27 as a water distribution section attached to the cultivation device 21 is located. That is, cylindrical supports 28 are formed at the outer end of the cultivator 21 and project vertically from the bottom surface, and cylindrical adjustment tubes 29 are rotatably fitted into the inner peripheral surfaces of these supports 28. The ends of these adjusting pipes 29 are located within the water distribution body 25. Here, a vertically long water distribution hole 30 is formed in the support 28,
The adjustment pipe 29 has an oblique adjustment hole 31 formed at a position overlapping the water distribution hole 30 thereof. Therefore, when the regulating pipe 29 rotates, the water distribution hole 30
The height of the overlapping portion of the adjustment hole 31 and the cultivation device 21 is
The level adjustment mechanism 32 is configured here. FIG. 4 shows this leveling mechanism 32 with the support column 28 and the adjustment tube 29 expanded, and the cultivator 21 is provided with a cutoff filter 33 that surrounds the adjustment tube 29 inside. , the support body 17 is disposed on the upper surface.

Regarding the cultivation device 21 and the holding plate 23, those held by the lowermost holding member 9 are the cultivation device 21a and the holding plate 23a, respectively, and these cultivation devices 2
1a and retaining plate 23a are basically the same, but differ in the following points. That is, (1) the cultivator 21a has the porous support 1 inside;
7 are arranged, and these supports 17 are not present on the upper surface.

(2) The holding plate 23a has a donut shape that fits into the rotary tube 7, and the discharge hole 26 is connected to the nutrient solution tank 1.
6 (the shape of the holding plate 23a is shown in FIG. 5).

It is different from many others in this respect.

Next, the board 2 has a control box 3 on the side.
4 is installed. This control box 34
has a built-in air pump 35 and a liquid supply pump 36,
An operation plate 37 containing a circuit (not shown) is attached to the top surface. Here, in the circuit, the heater 18.
The air pump 35 and the liquid supply pump 36 are connected.

Further, for the air pump 35, the air generation pair 1
9 is connected. The control box 34 is formed with an insertion hole 38 through which wiring to the heater 18 and piping to the air generating pair 19 are inserted. This insertion hole 38 is covered with a flexible waterproof cover 39 to which only the upper end is fixed. Further, a cover 40 is attached to the control box 34 to cover the operation panel 37 located on the upper surface. This cover 40 is made of a transparent material. The ends are fixed with pins 41 and can be opened and closed.

On the other hand, the liquid supply pump 36 has a water supply side and a water distribution side. The water supply side is connected to the nutrient solution tank 16 via a solution supply pipe 42 . What is the connection position?

This is a corner within the nutrient solution tank 16 that is covered with the filter 20. Further, a nutrient solution supply pipe 43 is connected to the water distribution side. The nutrient solution supply pipe 43 is guided along a path that passes through the base pipe 5 from below the substrate 2 and exits to the upper end of the support pipe 6. And the end of the nutrient solution supply pipe 43.

It is disposed opposite to the opening on the top surface of the water sink 22 located on the uppermost stage. Here, a supply section 44 supplies the nutrient solution 15 in the nutrient solution tank 16 to the water flower 22 at the uppermost stage.
is formed.

Next, a cooling fan 45 is provided below the bottom opening of the base tube 5 . This cooling fan 45 is
It is placed on the ground surface 3 and placed in a position where air can be blown upward. Further, a blower fan 46 is also arranged above the upper opening of the support tube 6. This blower fan 4
6 is held by a hook 47 provided at a predetermined position on the ceiling member 12, and is positioned at a position where air can be blown downward. The cooling fan 45 and the blower fan 46 are the same and have a built-in drive unit and power source (not shown). In addition, when the cooling fan 45 and the blower fan 46 are driven by electric power from an external power source, the electric wire for supplying power to the blower fan 46 disposed above is wired inside the hollow part of the support tube 6. Furthermore, since the cooling fan 45 and the blower fan 46 are the same, it is also possible to provide only one of them and replace them with each other depending on the situation.

Next, a transparent heat-insulating cover 48 that completely covers the cultivation device 21, the water flow device 22, etc. is provided in a detachable manner.

The heat retaining cover 48 is a bag-like member with an opening at the bottom, which is attached from the ceiling member 12 side, positioned and held by the holding member 9 and the cap 14, and whose lower end is fixed in the nutrient solution tank 16. Note that the above-mentioned mounting hole 1 is provided at the top.
A hole is drilled to fit 3.

In such a configuration, each support 17 holds a seedling. Then, the nutrient solution tank 16 is supplied by the supply section 44.
The nutrient solution 15 inside is supplied to the uppermost water sink 22. This is achieved by driving the nutrient solution tank 16 by driving the solution supply pump 36.
This is done by supplying the nutrient solution 15 inside to the solution supply pump 36, and sending the supplied nutrient solution 15 through the nutrient solution supply pipe 43 to the water dispenser 22 at the top stage. Then, the nutrient solution 15 flows down from the water hole 24 in the water flow vessel 22, and the nutrient solution 15 is supplied to the cultivator 21 in the second most stage. Here, the nutrient solution 15 is supplied to the roots of the seedlings existing in those cultivators 21, and the nutrient solution 15 passes through the water distributor 27 to the water distribution body 25.
The water is discharged from the discharge hole 26 and flows down into the water sink 22 directly below. In this way, the nutrient solution 15 sequentially flows downward along the same path.

The nutrient solution 15 discharged from the discharge hole 26 located at the lowest stage returns into the nutrient solution tank 16. The nutrient solution 15 returned to the nutrient solution tank 16 is passed through a filter 20 to remove impurities, and is again supplied to the uppermost streamer 22 by the supply section 44. In this way, the nutrient solution 15 is constantly circulated within each cultivation dish 21 and the like. Therefore, the circulating nutrient solution 15 is supplied together with oxygen to the roots of the seedlings, promoting their growth.

or.

As the seedlings grow, the area occupied by the roots of the seedlings in the cultivation dish 21 increases, but even if the roots grow, they are blocked by the cutoff filter 33 and do not enter the water distributor 27. do not have. Therefore, normal circulation of the nutrient solution 15 is always ensured.

Here, the heat retaining cover 48 is attached or detached depending on the IA humidity and temperature. A heat insulating cover 48 is attached during the cold season. If necessary, the nutrient solution 15 is heated with a heater 18. On the other hand, if the outside temperature is high, the heat insulating cover 48 is removed. If necessary, the cooling fan 45 cools the nutrient solution 15 falling from the lowermost water distribution body 25 to lower the temperature of the nutrient solution 6. This keeps the area around the seedlings at an appropriate temperature, creating a good cultivation environment.

In addition, when seeds are sown on the support 17 and seedlings are grown from one seed, the nutrient solution 15 is placed in the cultivation dish 21 where the support 17 where the seeds are sown is located.
The water hole 24 through which water flows is closed, and fresh water is supplied to the cultivation dish 21. This is because fresh water is better for seed germination than nutrient solution 15.

At this time, if the water flow hole 24 is open, the other cultivation dish 2
1 is supplied with a nutrient solution 15, so that seedlings and seeds can be grown at the same time.

Furthermore, by rotating the cultivation dish 21 as a whole or individually, each image can be exposed to sunlight evenly.

The overall rotation is performed by rotating the support tube 6 and rotating all the holding members 9 integrally.

Individual rotation is performed by rotating any holding member 9, and each cultivation dish 21 can be easily attached and detached simply by being placed on the holding plate 23.

The positions of the cultivation dishes 21 can be exchanged even within one holding member 9. As a result, even if the seedlings grow, the cultivation tray 21
By changing the position of the leaves, it is possible to prevent the leaves from buffering each other. Furthermore, the cultivated ff121 can be individually taken out to any location.

On the other hand, a large amount of oxygen is mixed into the nutrient solution 15 during its distribution process. This is because the nutrient solution is exposed to air for a long time. That is, the nutrient solution 15 is
The water drops from the cultivation dish 21 and the water distribution body 25 to the water flower 22. At this time, the nutrient solution 15 is exposed to air. Moreover, the shock of the fall also generates blisters, further increasing the amount of oxygen mixed in. Also, in the distribution route of the nutrient solution 15.

The flow from the water hole 24 to the water distributor 27 to the discharge hole 26 is in a zigzag pattern. Therefore, the time spent in contact with the air becomes longer. In this way, if a large amount of oxygen is mixed into the a liquid 15, the roots of the seedlings will be supplied with oxygen at both ends along with the nutrient solution 15, and the seedlings will grow well.

Further, the water level of the nutrient solution 15 supplied into the cultivation dish 21 can be adjusted to an arbitrary level by the level adjustment mechanism 32 of the water distributor 27.
In other words, the nutrient solution 15 in the cultivation dish 21 flows into the water distribution body 25 through the overlapping portion of the water distribution hole 30 and the adjustment hole 31 . Therefore, the height of the 0-overlapping portion, which can vary the water level of the nutrient solution 15 by changing the height of the overlapping portion, is made by rotating the adjustment tube 29. In this way, by setting the water level appropriately according to the growth state of the roots of the seedlings, the roots can be exposed to air.

The roots are supplied with a large amount of oxygen along with the nutrient solution 15.

Therefore, when the heat insulating cover 48 is attached, if the blower fan 46 is driven, an air flow will be generated inside each cultivation dish 2.
1) The surrounding temperature becomes uniform, and the boundary layer of still air on the leaves of plants is removed, promoting their growth.

On the other hand, since the control box 34 is provided with a waterproof cover 39 and a cover 40, waterproofness is maintained and the device can be installed both indoors and outdoors.

In addition, in implementation, a support column 5o that protrudes in the outer circumferential direction may be attached to the holding member 9. As an example of connecting the support columns 50 to each other, the support columns 50 may be connected to each other by a W-shaped member 51. hold it in place. The connected state is shown in FIG. Thereby, the grown plants can be entangled around the support pillars 50.

A second embodiment of the present invention will be described based on FIGS. 8 and 9. The same parts as in the first embodiment are denoted by the same reference numerals and explanations are omitted. In this embodiment, the cap 14 is attached to the hole 1.
A cylindrical connecting rod 60 is bolted to 3, and this connecting rod 6
A cover frame 61 surrounding the y1 head of the entire apparatus was bolted to the upper end of the y1 head of the entire apparatus. This cover frame 61 is covered with a large heat-insulating cover 63 having an entrance/exit 62 which can be opened and closed.

Effects of the Invention The present invention makes effective use of dead space by inserting and piping the nutrient solution supply pipe that supplies the nutrient solution from the nutrient solution tank to the uppermost cultivation dish through the hollow part of the support. This makes it possible to reduce the size of the device, and because there is no need to provide a new support member to support the nutrient solution supply pipe, it is possible to reduce the number of parts. This has effects such as being able to secure a sufficiently large cultivation space.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

FIG. 1 is an overall side view with a part cut away showing a first embodiment of the present invention, FIG. 2 is a perspective view of a holding member and a holding plate,
Figure 3 is a longitudinal side view of the water distributor, Figure 4 is an expanded side view of the water distributor showing the level adjustment mechanism, Figure 5 is a perspective view of the lowermost retaining plate, Figure 6 is a plan view of the control box, 7th
The figure is a plan view showing the connected state of the support columns, FIG. 8 is a side view of the entirety of the second embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 9 is a perspective view thereof. 6... Support tube (support body), 15... Nutrient solution, 16...
・Nutritional solution tank, 26...Discharge hole, 43...Nutritional solution supply pipe volume Applicant Shingo Daiwa Co., Ltd. Komatsu Ltd. yD Takumi

Claims (1)

[Claims] A nutrient solution tank that stores a nutrient solution and a plurality of cultivation dishes that are held in a multi-tiered manner by a cylindrical support installed vertically above the nutrient solution tank and have a discharge hole at the bottom are provided. A nutrient solution supply pipe is provided for supplying the nutrient solution from the nutrient solution tank to the cultivation dish located at the top, and this nutrient solution supply pipe is inserted into the hollow part of the support. Hydroponic cultivation equipment.