KR102091765B1 - Container Farm using Horizontal Circulation of Vertical Growing Unit - Google Patents

Abstract

The present invention relates to a container farm using horizontal circulation of vertical cultivation stands. The container farm comprises: a rail installed around the ceiling inside a container in order to form a closed curve; a plurality of moving members coupled to the rail in order to move; a plurality of vertical cultivating stands having a plurality of port mounting grooves with a port containing a cultivated plant mounted thereon formed at regular intervals; and a movement regulating means moving the moving members coupled to the rail. The vertical cultivating stands are mounted in each of the moving members such that each of the vertical cultivating stands circulates in a horizontal path along the rail as the moving members move. Therefore, the container farm using horizontal circulation of vertical cultivation stands can cultivate plants with the vertical cultivating stands circulating in the internal space of a container and thus, can utilize the small internal space of the container as a cultivation space as much as possible, thereby increasing plant cultivation density. In addition, the container farm using horizontal circulation of vertical cultivation stands can manage all plants in a working space without entering the cultivation space and thus, can ensure convenient operation including harvest and management of crops and cultivate plants with a small number of workers.

Description

Container Farm using Horizontal Circulation of Vertical Growing Unit}

The present invention relates to a container farm, and more particularly, to a container farm that can efficiently use a limited space inside the container by using the horizontal circulation of the vertical cultivation table, and conveniently manage the cultivated plants.

The technology for cultivating crops, which artificially controls the cultivation environment such as light / temperature / humidity in a container, to grow plants, is attracting attention. Using container cultivation technology, farming can be done regardless of the weather, so year-round production is possible, and an increase in production and stable supply effects can be expected.

In this regard, Patent Publication No. 10-2017-0004403 discloses a plant cultivation device formed of a container that can be mounted on a transportation vehicle.

In the plant cultivation apparatus using the container, a supporting means is installed in a lattice form inside the receiving space of the container, and a plurality of moving rails are installed in the longitudinal direction inside the supporting means.

As a moving rail, a plurality of pairs of seating portions having a shape of "△" in the longitudinal direction are provided inside the support means, and a plurality of seating preventing portions having a "b" shape are formed in the lengthwise direction of the seating portions on both sides of the seating portion. On the seating part of the moving rail, a large number of mother boards containing plants such as vegetables are seated, and since the lower end of the mother board is seated on the upper edge of the "△" shape, the friction area is small and the plurality of mother boards can be easily moved.

However, the technology disclosed in Patent Publication No. 10-2017-0004403 moves a plurality of mother boards accommodated inside the container along a moving rail made of a "△" type support, but only the force required to move the mother board is reduced. Because it is a person's movement, it takes a lot of time and effort.

Especially. Considering the container environment where the size of the interior space is limited, it is very difficult for the worker to go around and check the bed in need of management, and move it to a desired location.

In addition, since it is necessary to secure a worker's moving space or working space between the mother boards in order to allow a worker to manage a large number of mother boards, the utilization of the original narrow container space is more limited, and the plant cultivation area is inevitably reduced. .

As described above, the plant cultivation technology using the conventional container has various problems in terms of utilization of the space inside the container and management of the cultivated plant.

(1) Republic of Korea Patent Publication No. 10-2017-0004403 (Publication date: 2017.01.11)

Accordingly, the present invention has been devised to solve the above problems, and uses a cultivation space in a container efficiently by using horizontal circulation of a vertical cultivation table, and a container farm that allows an operator to conveniently manage cultivated plants. The purpose is to provide.

In order to achieve the above object, the container farm according to the present invention, the rail is installed to form a closed curve near the ceiling inside the container; A plurality of movable members movably coupled to the rail; A vertically long vertically grown planter in which a plurality of pot mounting grooves in which a planted planted plant is mounted are formed at regular intervals; Moving control means for moving the moving member coupled to the rail; And a cultivation environment control means for adjusting the cultivation environment inside the container, and the vertical cultivation table is mounted on each of the moving members.

Then, as the moving member moves, each vertical cultivation table circulates in a horizontal path along the rail.

An electronic code in which at least plant-related information received by the user is recorded may be displayed on each of the vertical planters.

The cultivation environment control means, a nutrient supply unit for supplying water and nutrients to the plants accommodated in the vertical cultivation; An illumination unit that supplies light to the plants accommodated in the vertical cultivation table; A temperature control unit that controls the temperature inside the container; A humidity control unit that controls humidity inside the container; An air conditioning unit that supplies fresh air into the container and discharges contaminated air inside the container; A first camera unit for photographing the electronic code displayed on the vertical cultivation table; A second camera unit for photographing each plant accommodated in the vertical cultivation table; And a control unit for controlling the cultivation environment using at least one of electronic code information photographed by the first camera unit and plant state information photographed by the second camera unit.

The vertical cultivation table is configured in the form of a hollow container, and the nutrient supply unit may be configured to supply water and nutrients from the top of the empty container. Then, water and nutrients can be supplied to the plants through the holes formed in each port while flowing along the inner space of the vertical cultivation table.

The container farm according to the present invention cultivates plants using a vertical cultivation table circulating the inner space of the container.

The small inner space of the container can be utilized as a cultivation space as much as possible, thereby increasing the density of plant cultivation. In addition, since each plant accommodated in the vertical cultivation zone continues to circulate, various factors that can affect growth, such as light, temperature, and humidity, are evenly influenced, thereby ensuring a uniform cultivation state as a whole.

The interior space of the container is divided into a cultivation space and a work space, and since the vertical cultivation space continuously cycles through the cultivation space, an operator can manage all plants in the work space without entering the cultivation space.

Crop harvesting and management are convenient, and crops can be grown with a small number of people, which can increase farm income.

1 is an embodiment of a container farm according to the present invention,
Figure 2 is an example for explaining that a number of vertical cultivation is installed along the rail forming the closed curve, circulating the horizontal path,
Figure 3 is an example of the port is formed on one side of the vertical cultivation port and the port detachable to the port mounting groove,
Figure 4 is an embodiment of a means for adjusting the cultivation environment,
5 is an example of a method of supplying water and nutrients to each cultivated plant,
6 is an example of the arrangement of the second camera unit.

The present invention can be applied to a variety of transformations and may have various embodiments, and specific embodiments will be illustrated in the drawings and described in detail in the detailed description. However, this is not intended to limit the present invention to specific embodiments, and should be understood to include all conversions, equivalents, and substitutes included in the spirit and scope of the present invention.

In the description of the present invention, when it is determined that a detailed description of known technologies related to the present invention may obscure the subject matter of the present invention, the detailed description will be omitted.

The terms used in this application are only used to describe specific embodiments, and are not intended to limit the present invention. Singular expressions include plural expressions unless the context clearly indicates otherwise.

In this application, the terms "include" or "have" are intended to indicate the presence of features, numbers, steps, actions, components, parts or combinations thereof described herein, one or more other features. It should be understood that the existence or addition possibilities of fields or numbers, steps, operations, components, parts or combinations thereof are not excluded in advance.

Terms such as first and second may be used to describe various components, but the components should not be limited by the terms. The terms are used only for the purpose of distinguishing one component from other components.

1 and 2, the container farm 100 according to the present invention cultivates various plants using the inner space of the container 100-1.

The inner space of the container 100-1 may be divided into a cultivation space where plants are cultivated and a work space where workers manage plants, and the vertical cultivation 140 is circulated in the cultivation space.

A rail 110 is installed near the inner ceiling of the container. In particular, the rail 110 is installed to form a closed curve to form a circulation path.

A plurality of movable members 120 are movably coupled to the rail 110, and vertical cultivation beds 140 are mounted to each movable member 120.

Since the rail 110 is installed to form a closed curve, the moving member 120 coupled to the rail 110 circulates along the rail 110, and eventually the vertical cultivation 140 mounted on each moving member 120 Will cycle through the horizontal path.

The closed curve formed by the rail 110 in FIG. 2 includes a path surrounding the outside in a 'c' shape, and a straight path that reciprocates two or more times inside the path surrounding the outside, but of the closed curve formed by the rail 110. The form may be variously configured in consideration of various factors such as proper plant cultivation density and convenience of work.

The rail 110 and the moving member 120 may be variously configured in the form, structure, coupling method, and movement method.

1 shows an example of a movement control means 130 for moving the moving member 120 coupled to the rail 110, the moving member 120 is coupled along the rail 110, and each moving member A vertical cultivation bed 140 is mounted at 120.

The movement adjusting means 130 may be configured such that the chain 132 wound between the rotating shafts 131 rotates as the rotating shaft 131 rotates by a motor (not shown). The protrusion 133 may be formed.

Each protrusion 133 formed on the chain 132 is arranged to continuously push the moving member 120 in one direction as the chain 132 rotates.

That is, the chain 132 rotates according to the rotation of the motor (not shown), and the protrusion 133 pushes the moving member 120 according to the rotation of the chain 132, so that the moving member 120 continuously moves in one direction. If it does, circulation can be made in that direction.

The movement adjusting means 130 may be variously controlled as necessary. As a specific example, if the chain 132 is driven at regular time intervals, the time during which the vertical cultivation 140 cycles through the entire closed curve is determined accordingly.

The movement adjustment means 130 of FIG. 1 is only an example to help understanding of the description, and the movement adjustment means 130 may be configured in various ways.

The coupling structure of the movable member 120 and the vertical cultivation 140 may also be variously configured, and the vertical cultivation 140 may be configured to be detachably attached to the movable member 120.

As a specific example, if a hook is formed at the bottom of the moving member 120, and a hook portion for hanging the hook is provided at the top of the vertical cultivation unit 140, the hook portion of the vertical cultivation unit is hooked to the ring of the moving member or You will be able to pull it out of the ring. At this time, a hole may be formed on the lower surface of the rail 110 so that the ring formed at the bottom of the moving member 120 protrudes downward and moves.

The vertical cultivation 140 is configured to have a vertically long shape, and in the vertical cultivation 140, a port mounting groove is formed so that a plurality of pots in which plants to be cultivated are planted can be accommodated at regular intervals along a vertical direction. .

The vertical cultivation 140 may be variously configured, and as an example, the vertical cultivation 140 may be configured in the form of a hollow visual tube.

FIG. 3 shows an example of a port mounting groove 143 formed on one surface of the vertical cultivation bed 140 and a port 50 detached from the port mounting groove 143.

Plants 50 to be cultivated, such as lettuce, are planted in the port 50, and the port mounting grooves 143 are spaced at regular intervals so that the port 50 on which the plant 53 is planted is detachable on one surface of the vertical cultivation 140. Is formed. The port 50 may be variously configured, and the port mounting groove 143 may also be variously configured according to the port 50 to be used.

The vertical cultivation stand 140 may be made of various materials, and may be made of plastic material as a specific example.

The port 50 may be mounted at a right angle to the port mounting groove 143 of the vertical cultivation bed 140, or may be configured to be mounted at a different angle.

The vertical cultivation 140 shown in FIG. 3 is only an example to help understand the description, and the specific shape of the vertical cultivation 140 may be variously configured.

The cultivation environment control means 170 controls the cultivation environment inside the container. The cultivation environment controlled by the cultivation environment control means 170 and a method of adjusting various cultivation environments may be variously configured.

Examples of the cultivation environment controlled by the cultivation environment control means 170 include water and nutrients, light, temperature, humidity, air, and the like, and the cultivation environment control means 170 controls at least one of these cultivation environments. Can be configured.

In relation to the adjustment of the cultivation environment, each vertical cultivation unit 140 may display an electronic code 141 in which plant-related information accommodated therein is recorded.

Various codes may be used as the electronic code 141, and a QR code may be used as a specific example.

The electronic code 141 displayed on the vertical cultivation 140 may include various information such as the number, type, and start date of cultivation of the plants accommodated in the vertical cultivation 140, and this information is used for plant cultivation and management. Can be used.

4 is an embodiment of the cultivation environment control means 170, a nutrient supply unit 171, a lighting unit 172, a temperature control unit 173, a humidity control unit 174, air conditioning unit 175, the first It may include a camera unit 176, a second camera unit 177, the control unit 179.

The nutrient supply unit 171 supplies water and nutrients to the plants accommodated in the vertical cultivation unit 140. Water and nutrients may be supplied separately, or nutrients may be supplied in water.

5 shows an example of the nutrient supply unit 171, the tank 171-7 for storing water containing nutrients, and the water containing nutrients from the tank 171-7 to the main ship 171-1 Position corresponding to the pump portion (171-5) to be supplied to the branch line (171-2) branched from each point of the main line (171-1), and each vertical cultivation (140) of the branch line (171-2) In may include a tap (171-3) for supplying water containing nutrients.

The tap 171-3 may be located at the top of each vertical cultivation 140. If the vertical cultivation 140 is configured in the form of a hollow container, water containing nutrients supplied from the tap 171-3 at the top of the container flows down along the interior space of the vertical cultivation 140 Plants 53 may be supplied through holes formed in each port 50.

At this time, the bottom of the container 100-1 may be configured to collect water containing the dropped nutrients into one place and return it to the tank 171-7 again.

The lighting unit 172 serves to supply light to the plants accommodated in each vertical cultivation unit 140, and may be variously configured to uniformly provide appropriate light to each densely arranged plant.

As a specific example, the lighting unit 172 may be configured using LEDs to provide wavelengths and luminosities suitable for cultivated plants.

When the closed curve formed by the rail 110 is arranged side by side like a straight path reciprocating the inside of the path surrounding the outside in the example shown in FIG. 2, the plants accommodated in the two vertical cultivation rows passing the side-by-side path are mutually Face to face.

At this time, the LED for irradiating the light is disposed in the middle of the vertical cultivation column arranged side by side, it may be configured to irradiate light to both plants.

The temperature controller 173 may be variously configured to maintain the temperature inside the container at a temperature suitable for a plant to be cultivated, and may include various devices necessary for temperature control, such as a heater, a warm air fan, a cooler, and a cold air fan.

The humidity control unit 174 serves to control the humidity inside the container, and may include various devices necessary for humidity control, such as a humidifier and a ventilator.

The air conditioning unit 175 may be variously configured to supply fresh air into the container and discharge contaminated air inside the container. As a specific example, the air conditioning unit 175 may filter outside air and supply it into the container.

The first camera unit 176 serves to photograph the electronic code 141 displayed on the vertical cultivation unit 140. A plurality of first camera units 176 may be provided as necessary, but since each vertical cultivation unit 140 circulates, only one may be provided.

The second camera unit 177 serves to photograph each plant accommodated in the vertical cultivation 140. Since the vertical cultivation 140 continues to circulate, the second camera unit 177 need not be provided corresponding to all the vertical cultivation 140.

The first camera unit 176 and the second camera unit 177 are not necessarily physically separated, and one of them may perform the role of the other.

Since the plurality of ports 50 are accommodated in the vertical cultivation unit 140, the number of second camera units 177 to be provided may be determined according to a degree capable of clearly distinguishing the state of each plant.

For example, as in the example shown in FIG. 6, nine ports 50 are accommodated in one vertical cultivation unit 140, and an area in which one second camera unit 177 can shoot at a time If it is an area occupied by three ports, three second camera units 177 should be installed at corresponding positions in a vertical length direction.

The control unit 179 for controlling the cultivation environment can provide a nutrient supply unit 171, a lighting unit 172, a temperature control unit 173, a humidity control unit 174, an air conditioning unit 175 in various ways for best plant cultivation. Can be controlled.

In particular, the controller 179 is configured to control the cultivation environment using at least one of electronic code information photographed by the first camera unit 176 and plant state information photographed by the second camera unit 177. Can be.

As a specific example, the control unit 179 may determine the type of a plant that is currently cultivated through an electronic code photographed by the first camera unit 176 and control the plant to an appropriate cultivation environment.

In addition, by analyzing the image taken by the second camera unit 177, it is possible to grasp the photosynthesis state of the plant, and perform necessary measures (control of water, nutrients, temperature, humidity, light, etc.) according to the identified plant state. have.

In addition, the first camera 176 and the second camera 177 may transmit the captured image to the manager to help the manager monitor the cultivation environment and take appropriate measures. To this end, the first camera unit 176 and the second camera unit 177 may be configured using a web camera.

In the above, the present invention has been illustrated and described in relation to a specific preferred embodiment, but the present invention may be variously modified and changed within the limits that do not depart from the technical features or fields of the present invention provided by the following claims. Being able is obvious to those of ordinary skill in the art.

50: Plant cultivation port 53: Plant
100: Container Farm 100-1: Container
110: rail 120: moving member
130: moving control means 131: rotating shaft
132: chain 133: projection
140: vertical cultivation stand 141: QR code
143: port mounting groove 170: cultivation environment control means
171: nutrient supply unit 171-5: pump unit
171-7: tank 172: lighting unit
173: temperature control unit 174: humidity control unit
175: air conditioning unit 176: first camera unit
177: second camera unit 179: control unit
171-1: Main Line 171-2: Branch Line

Claims (3)

A rail installed to form a closed curve near the ceiling inside the container;
A plurality of movable members movably coupled to the rail;
A pot-mounting groove in which a pot in which a cultivated plant is planted is mounted, vertically elongated vertically-shaped vertically formed in plural at regular intervals;
Moving control means for moving the moving member coupled to the rail; And
It comprises a cultivation environment control means for controlling the cultivation environment inside the container,
The vertical cultivation table is mounted on each of the moving members, and as the moving member moves, each vertical cultivation table circulates in a horizontal path along the rail,
The closed curve formed by the rail includes a path surrounding the outside in a 'c' shape, and a straight path that reciprocates two or more times inside the path surrounding the outside,
Each vertical cultivation unit is displayed with an electronic code that records at least the information related to the plant,
The cultivation environment control means,
A nutrient supply unit that supplies water and nutrients to the plants accommodated in the vertical cultivation table;
An illumination unit that supplies light to the plants accommodated in the vertical cultivation table;
A temperature control unit that controls the temperature inside the container;
A humidity control unit that controls humidity inside the container;
An air conditioning unit that supplies fresh air into the container and discharges contaminated air inside the container;
A first camera unit for photographing the electronic code displayed on the vertical cultivation table;
A second camera unit for photographing each plant accommodated in the vertical cultivation table; And
It comprises a control unit for adjusting the cultivation environment using at least one of the electronic code information photographed by the first camera unit and the plant state information photographed by the second camera unit,
The vertical cultivation unit is configured in the form of a hollow container, and the nutrient supply unit is configured to supply water and nutrients from the top of the empty container, so that water and nutrients flow down the inner space of the vertical cultivation unit to each port. Container farm characterized in that it is supplied to the plant through the formed hole. delete delete

Images