KR20100059376A - Seed sprouting vessel kit for using in space environment - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE: A plant culturing container kit is provided to easily observe a plant growing process for children, and to easily perform a sprouting and a growing experiments of a seed with a space experiment. CONSTITUTION: A lower container(20) includes a storage space inside. An upper cover(10) is detachably combined to the lower container. A hole(12) is formed on the top of the upper cover, and includes a cap(14). A plant culturing container(1) includes a germinating and growing medium(30) which is arranged on the storage space of the lower container. A first unit box surrounds the entire surface of the plant culturing container. A second unit box surrounds the outer surface of the plant culturing container. A kit box accepts the plant culturing container wrapped by the first unit box and the second unit box.

Description

Seed sprouting vessel kit for using in space environment

The present invention relates to a plant culture container kit that can be used during the scientific experiment mission of observing the growth of plants in space, as well as children and adolescents can easily observe the germination and growth of seeds.

Since the mid-twentieth century, with the competitive space development efforts centered on the great powers, the frequency and duration of human dwelling on spacecraft and space stations have been continuously increasing, and in the near future, the construction of space bases where humans live on the moon and Mars Plan is also being promoted.

In order for humans to stay in space for a long time, there is a need to build a self-sustaining plant cultivation system in a closed space such as a spaceship and a space base. The necessity of plant cultivation in space aims to improve the quality of space life by providing fresh food that can satisfy the taste, not processed food stored for a long time, as well as its own food supply.

In addition, it is necessary to solve the emotional instability of astronauts, which are likely to occur in the closed space, and to establish a sustainable life-environmental ecosystem including water, nutrients and gases in the closed space.

In addition, spacecraft in the space environment is exposed to different environments than the Earth, such as microgravity, space radiation, vacuum and weak earth magnetic field, it is necessary to build a plant cultivation system suitable for this space environment. There is also the potential for physiological and / or genetic changes in living organisms that have been adapted and evolved over millions of years in the global environment.

 Accordingly, in the United States, Russia, European countries, and Japan, human and unmanned spacecraft are used to characterize the growth of plants in space, and to produce bio-ecosystem maintenance systems for living in space, and to produce food and biological resources in space. Research on system development has also been conducted. Researchers in China are pushing for the development of mutant varieties of various plants by experimenting with the exposure of plants to space environments using breeding spacecraft.

The Russian module (Zvezda) of the International Space Station (ISS) is equipped with a small plant growth chamber called Radaon Room, which automatically adjusts the temperature, humidity and light intensity in the chamber and monitors the moisture state with a moisture sensor in the root medium. It is equipped with a hydroponic cultivation system that detects and supplies water automatically. JAXA of Japan also developed a growth chamber equipped with such an automatic control device and a CCD camera and used it for space experiments.

However, since such a plant growth chamber is heavy and requires a lot of development costs, it is difficult to make it for the purpose of experimenting by astronauts in countries that do not have a dedicated module in the ISS for a short period of time. To date, 37 countries have produced astronauts. In recent years, short-term seed germination experiments conducted by space astronauts have made simple germination kits.

In 2004, a Dutch astronaut conducted a Delta Mission in which a compartment was divided into a rocket-shaped container chamber to give light and dark conditions, respectively, and seed germination experiments were conducted. In 2006, Brazil's first astronaut Marcos C. Pontes The germination test of the seeds of the Brazilian legume (Astronium fraxinifolium) was carried out in the module. Each of the five seeds was placed in a row in the middle of the square spread filter paper, and a flat kit sealed with a plastic pack was used.

A Korean astronaut, who has been selected for the Korean space development company and is currently selected for the "Korea's First Space Emission Project," which is being promoted to spread the scientific mind of the people, boarded the Russian manned spaceship Soyuz in ISS in 2008. They will return home after a week of scientific experiments. Therefore, it is necessary to develop a kit for seed germination experiments to be performed by the first Korean astronaut at the ISS. In particular, the seed germination experiment in the space environment will be conducted at the same time as the seed germination experiment in the earth so that youths can dream science. There is a need to develop an improved plant culture kit.

The purpose of the present invention is to facilitate the same plant seed germination and growth experiments at the same time during the scientific experiment to be performed by the Korean astronauts who were finally selected according to the "Korea's first astronaut discharge project" in ISS in 2008. An object of the present invention is to provide a plant culture container kit.

In particular, the plant culture container kit should be invented so that even adolescents can easily carry out plant seed germination and growth experiments.

In addition, considering the size, weight and functional characteristics, such as a number of plant culture vessels to form a variety of experimental groups according to the purpose of the experiment, it should be conveniently produced so that adolescents can easily experiment.

Plant culture vessel kit according to an embodiment of the present invention for achieving the above object, the lower container and a storage space formed therein, is detachably coupled to the lower container, opening and closing the hole and the hole formed on the upper surface A plant culture container including an upper cover including a stopper and a pedestal having at least one through hole formed on a germination growth medium or an upper surface thereof disposed in a storage space of the lower container; and the plurality of plants. Some plant culture vessels of the culture vessel, the first unit box surrounding the entire outer surface of the plant culture vessel; and the remaining plant culture vessels of the plurality of plant culture vessels, the entire outer surface of the plant culture vessel is wrapped A second unit box having a window formed on a portion of its upper surface; And a kit box accommodating the plant culture container packaged in the first unit box and the plant culture container packaged in the second unit box.

In addition, the plant culture container kit according to another embodiment of the present invention, the lower container and the lower container is formed therein storage space, the stopper is coupled to the lower container detachably coupled to the opening and closing the hole formed on the upper surface And a plant culture container including an upper cover and a pedestal having at least one through hole formed on the germination growth medium or an upper surface thereof disposed in the storage space of the lower container. The first cover, the third cover and the second cover are sequentially formed in each of the three consecutive edges of the open upper surface, respectively, in the space divided by the partitions disposed therein, and the first cover includes the plurality of A plant culture container bag having at least one window for exposing the upper surface of some plant culture containers to the outside of the plant culture container; By made.

And the plant culture vessel according to the present invention can be formed in a square cross-sectional shape of the lower container and the upper cover, the combination of the lower container and the upper cover is the expansion opening formed on the side of the open lower portion of the upper cover It can be made by fitting in the lower container.

Here, the lower container and the upper cover is preferably formed of a transparent synthetic resin material, in particular a polycarbonate material.

In addition, the diameter of the hole is formed to be equal to or larger than the diameter of the syringe inlet, it is particularly preferable to form the hole protruding from the upper surface of the upper cover and to interconnect the plug with the protruding hole and the strap.

In one embodiment of the present invention, the germination growth medium may be made of any one selected from rock wool, sponge or floral foam (floral foam), the groove on which the seed of the plant can be placed on the upper surface of the germination growth medium At least one may be formed.

And in another embodiment of the present invention, the pedestal is formed on each of the engaging projections protruding on the surface of the two opposite sides of the inner surface of the lower container, or respectively formed along the four corners of the inner surface of the lower container It can be supported by the hook, a plurality of through holes formed in the upper surface of the pedestal may be formed to form a grid.

In addition, the kit box, the perforated line is formed on both sides with a diagonal line so that the front surface is exposed, the perforated line connecting the perforated line of both sides may be formed on the front side, and wing parts extending from the upper side of both sides of the kit box A cuttable ruler may be formed therein.

The plant culture vessel according to the present invention is designed to be used during a scientific experiment to be performed by a Korean astronaut who was finally selected according to the "Korean first astronaut discharge project" in 2008. Therefore, the plant culture container of the present invention is not only useful for constructing a self-sustainable plant cultivation system in a closed space such as a spaceship and a space base, but also to obtain fresh food that can satisfy the taste by allowing the plant to be grown directly in space. To help. In addition, it is possible to improve the quality of space life by solving the emotional instability of astronauts in the closed spaces through the plant cultivation process. It is used to build a sustainable ecosystem of life environment, including the like.

And the plant culture vessel is invented so that children or adolescents can easily perform plant seed germination and growth experiments, so that the same plant seed germination and growth experiments can be easily performed at the same time as the space experiment, and also the end of the space experiment. Later, it can be used as a general plant culture vessel for learning, it was produced to configure a variety of experimental groups according to the purpose of the experiment by configuring a plurality of plant culture vessel as a kit.

Hereinafter, with reference to the accompanying drawings, it will be described in detail an embodiment of the plant culture vessel according to the present invention. Here, the reference numerals used for the respective components included in the above embodiments, even if the embodiment is different, it should be noted that the same reference numerals are used for the same components to help the understanding of the invention.

1 to 3 is a view showing an embodiment of the plant culture vessel (1) used in the plant culture vessel kit 100 according to the present invention.

The plant culture container 1 is detachably coupled to the lower container 20 having a storage space formed therein, and detachably coupled to the lower container 20, and opening and closing the hole 12 and the hole 12 formed at an upper surface thereof. It comprises a top cover 10 including a stopper 14 and a germination growth medium 30 disposed in the storage space of the lower container 20.

The plant culture container 1 of the present invention is combined with the lower container 20 and the upper cover 10 to form a case to protect the plant seeds to be cultured therein. At this time, the lower container 20 and the upper cover 10 are detachably coupled so that the germination and growing seeds can be observed in more detail as necessary, or the germination growth medium 30 can be newly replaced. It is desirable to. In particular, the combination of the lower container 20 and the upper cover 10 is formed in such a way to form an expansion opening 11 along the side of the open lower portion of the upper cover 10 and to fit the lower container 20 therein. It is preferable that this is, in order to maintain the moisture in the surface of the micro-gap existing in the coupling portion of the lower container 20 and the upper cover 10 which can escape the moisture inside the plant culture vessel (1) toward the ground This is because it is more advantageous.

There is no particular limitation on the cross-sectional shape of the lower container 20 and the upper cover 10, but it is preferable that the cross-sectional shape of the lower container 20 and the upper cover 10. This is because a plurality of plant culture vessels (1) can be efficiently arranged in a limited space when configuring a variety of experimental groups according to the purpose of the experiment.

In addition, the lower container 20 and the upper cover 10 is preferably made of a transparent synthetic resin material, so that the germination and growth process of the seed can be easily observed from the outside. In particular, the transparent synthetic resin material is preferably a polycarbonate, because it is not only excellent transparency of the polycarbonate material but also excellent impact resistance to effectively protect the rock wool medium 30 or seeds therein.

Germination growth medium 30 to be put in the storage space in the lower container 20 is to play a role of soil in which seeds can germinate and grow, it is preferably made of rock wool (岩 綿, rock wool) material Do. Rock wool is also called rock fiber, and it is made of rock mixed with andesite and basalt, limestone mixed with nickel and manganese slag, and melted at high temperature of 1,500 ~ 1,600 ℃ in an electric furnace. ) It is a fiber made by blowing air from the nozzle at the bottom with compressed air. Since the germination growth medium 30 has sufficient voids therein, the seeds can retain moisture necessary for germination and growth for a long time. However, the germination growth medium 30 provided in the present invention does not necessarily need to be made of a rock wool material, and a material having a sufficient pore to hold moisture, for example, a floral foam (floral) widely used as a support for sponges or flower arrangements. foam, trade name oasis).

In addition, at least one concave groove 32 may be formed on an upper surface of the germination growth medium 30 in which seeds of a plant may be placed. Particularly, the plurality of grooves 32 are regularly arranged in a checkered shape. To help maintain the seed's growth density uniformly.

The upper surface of the upper cover 10 is formed with a hole 12 for injecting water or for supplying air, and a stopper 14 for opening and closing the hole 12 is provided. Plant culture vessel (1) of the present invention is to inject water through the hole 12, when the water is injected mainly to use a syringe, so that the diameter of the hole 12 and the inlet diameter of the syringe end It is preferable to be equal or larger.

In addition, in order to prevent the loss of the stopper 14 for opening and closing the hole 12, the hole 12 is formed to protrude from the upper surface of the upper cover 10 and the stopper 14 is protruded hole 12 It is more desirable to interconnect with a flexible strap 16).

In addition, scales 18 and 18 ′ may be formed at one side of the lower container 20 and the upper cover 10, respectively. This is to make it easy to check the length of the seed growth with the naked eye from the outside without separating the lower container 20 and the upper cover 10, in particular using a plurality of plant culture vessel (1) In this case, it is very effective in identifying the difference in growth amount between the comparison groups.

And in another embodiment of the present invention, the plant culture vessel (1 ') is a lower container 20 and a storage space formed therein, the lower container 20 is coupled to the lower container 20 detachably coupled to the hole formed on the upper surface (12) and the upper cover 10 including a stopper 14 for opening and closing the hole 12, and at least one through hole in the upper surface of the storage space of the lower container (20) 42 is formed, including the base 40 is formed.

Plant culture container 1 'according to another embodiment of the present invention, all other configurations are the same as in the case of the embodiment described above, but the germination growth medium 30 used in the embodiment The difference is that instead of using a pedestal 40 formed with at least one through hole 42 on the upper surface. The pedestal 40 is supported by the locking projections 44 protruding from the inner surfaces of the lower container 20 on two opposite surfaces, respectively, and at least one through hole 42 is formed on the upper surface thereof. . The through hole 42 is used as a space in which the roots of germinated seeds can extend. In particular, it is preferable that the plurality of through holes 42 are formed in a lattice shape, which is a checkerboard shape on the germination growth medium 30 in that it helps to keep the growth density of seeds growing on the pedestal 40 uniformly. It is the same as the case of the concave groove 32 formed by this.

The rest of the configuration except for the configuration of the pedestal 40 and the locking step 44 is the same as in the case of the above-described embodiment, a description of the overlapping configuration will be omitted.

In addition, the plant culture vessel 1 ′ of another embodiment of the present invention may be made of a modified plant culture vessel 1 ″ having a different configuration of the hooking jaw 44. The modified plant culture vessel 1 ″. Instead of the configuration of the locking step 44, may include a hook 46 formed to protrude along the four corners of the inner surface of the lower container 20, respectively. As illustrated in FIG. 5, the hook 46 is minutely protruded to a height up to a height at which the hooking jaw 44 is formed along four corners of the inner surface of the lower container 20. Thus, the pedestal 40 is supported across the upper end of the hook 46.

An advantage of the plant culture vessel 1 "adopting the configuration of the hook 46 is that it is easy to replace it with the germination growth medium 30 instead of the pedestal 40. In other words, the hook The lower container 20 in which the 46 is formed can be used in common for both the germination growth medium 30 and the pedestal 40.

One plant culture vessel kit 100 may be configured by combining a plurality of plant culture vessels 1, 1 ′, 1 ″ having the structure as described above, in particular four.

Plant culture container kit 100 according to an embodiment of the present invention, the unit box (110 ', 110 ") surrounding the entire outer surface of each plant culture container (1, 1', 1") and the unit box It consists of a kit box 120 for receiving four plant culture containers 1, 1 ', 1 "packed in (110', 110").

The unit boxes 110 ′ and 110 ″ have a universal box shape, and according to an embodiment of the present invention, the unit boxes 110 ′ and 110 ″ are made of cardboard paper. The unit boxes 110 ′ and 110 ″ are made of two types. The first unit box 110 ′ is a box in which all six faces are closed, and the second unit box 110 ″ is a box in which a window 112 is formed on a part of the upper surface. The reason for configuring the two types of unit boxes 110 'and 110 "is that the first unit box 110' is for a no-light experiment, and the second unit box 110" is a light bulb. Since the plant culture container kit 100 of the present invention basically includes two first unit boxes 110 ′ and two second unit boxes 110 ″, two types of plant seeds may be used. The dark and dark experiments can be performed simultaneously.

Kit box 120 to accommodate the four unit boxes (110 ', 110 ") also has a general box shape, in the present embodiment is made of a cardboard box of cardboard material similar to the unit boxes (110', 110"). The kit box 120 is for forming one experimental group, and easy to distinguish from other experimental groups, and at the same time to facilitate storage and management.

In addition, in this embodiment, the kit box 120 is added to the convenient configuration that can be used more suited to the plant culture experiment.

First, it is possible to more easily manage the unit boxes (110 ', 110 ") by cutting a part of the front and side of the kit box 120. As shown in Figure 7, the kit box Both sides of the 120 are cut diagonally to expose the front side and the front side is subsequently cut off along the cut ends of both sides, thereby exposing approximately half of the kit box 120. Thus, within the kit box 120 The handling and observation of the received unit boxes 110 'and 110 "becomes easy. At this time, it is preferable that the cutting line 122 is made in advance so that the kit box 120 can be easily cut.

And the upper surface of the kit box 120, that is, the cover surface for putting the unit boxes (110 ', 110 ") into the kit box 120, the rear of the kit box 120 so as not to fall off by the above cut When the top surface of the kit box 120 is folded in half and inserted into the rear surface, half of the top surface rises upwards, so that confusion with other experimental groups can be avoided by filling in the necessary information.

Second, by utilizing the wing portion 124 extending from the upper end of both sides of the kit box 120, to create a cuttable ruler 126 on the wing portion 124. The ruler 126, like the scales 18, 18 'formed on the plant culture vessels 1, 1', 1 "described above, is used as an auxiliary tool that can easily measure the degree of plant growth.

In addition, in another embodiment of the present invention, a combination of several, especially four, plant culture vessels (1, 1 ', 1 ") having the structure as described above and one by receiving in the plant culture vessel bag 200 Plant culture vessel kit (100 ') may be configured.

Features of the plant culture vessel kit 100 'according to another embodiment, such as the plant culture vessel kit 100 described above, without making the unit box 110', 110 "and the kit box 120, respectively, One plant culture container bag 200 directly receives a plurality of plant culture containers 1, 1 ', 1 ".

As shown in FIG. 8, the plant culture container bag 200 includes a plurality of plant culture containers 1, 1 ′, and 1 ″ in a space divided by a cross-shaped partition wall 210 disposed therein. The first cover 220, the third cover 240, and the second cover 230 are sequentially formed at each of three consecutive edges of the open upper surface.

At this time, the first cover 220 has a window 222 for exposing the upper surface of some of the plant culture vessel (1, 1 ', 1 ") of the plurality of plant culture vessel (1, 1', 1") to the outside At least one is formed, and no window is formed on the second cover 230. Therefore, some of the plant culture vessels 1, 1 ′, 1 ″ exposed to the outside by the window 222 formed on the first cover 220 are subjected to photosphere experiments, and the remaining plant culture vessels 1, 1. ', 1 ") is the subject of cancer experiments.

The third cover 240 covers the first and second covers 220 and 230, and the entire upper surface of the plant culture container bag 200 when the plant culture container kit 100 ′ is stored without performing an experiment. It is prepared to cover. Velcros 250 provided on portions of the first and second lids 220 and 230 are for detachably fixing the lids 220 and 230 to each other, and the third lid 240 and the plant culture container bag. Velcros 250 provided in a portion of the 200 are for detachably fixing the third cover 240 to the plant culture container bag 200.

While the invention has been shown and described in connection with specific embodiments, it is conventional in the art that various changes, modifications and variations are possible without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention as indicated by the appended claims. Anyone who knows the knowledge of is easy to know.

1 is a perspective view showing a plant culture vessel according to an embodiment of the present invention.

Figure 2 is an exploded perspective view of the plant culture vessel of Figure 1;

3 is an enlarged view of portion “A” of FIG. 1.

Figure 4 is a perspective view showing a plant culture vessel according to another embodiment of the present invention.

5 is a perspective view showing a modification of the plant culture vessel shown in FIG.

Figure 6 is a perspective view of a plant culture vessel kit comprising a kit box for receiving a plurality of plant culture vessel of the present invention.

FIG. 7 is a perspective view of a state in which part of the front and both sides are cut along the cut line formed in the kit box of FIG. 6; FIG.

Figure 8 is a perspective view of a plant culture vessel kit comprising a plant culture vessel bag containing a plurality of plant culture vessel of the present invention.

** Description of the symbols for the main parts of the drawings **

1,1 ', 1 ": Plant culture vessel 10: Top cover

11: extension opening 12: hole

14: stopper 16: strap

18,18 ': Scale 20: Lower Container

30: germination growth medium 32: home

40: base 42: through hole

44: jam jaw 46: jam

100, 100 ': Plant culture container kit 110': the first unit box

110 ": Second unit box 112: Window

120: kit box 122: perforation

124: wing 126: ruler

200: plant culture container bag 210: partition wall

220: first cover 222: window

230: second cover 240: third cover

250: Velcro

Claims (17)

An upper cover including a lower container having a storage space formed therein, a removable cover coupled to the lower container, a hole formed on an upper surface thereof, and a stopper for opening and closing the hole, and a germination growth disposed in the storage space of the lower container. A plurality of plant culture vessels comprising a medium for the preparation; A first unit box surrounding the entire outer surface of the plant culture vessel, for some plant culture vessels of the plurality of plant culture vessels; A second unit box surrounding the entire outer surface of the plant culture container, wherein a window is formed on a portion of the upper surface of the plurality of plant culture containers; And A kit box accommodating the plant culture container packaged in the first unit box and the plant culture container packaged in the second unit box; Plant culture vessel kit comprising a. A lower container having a storage space formed therein, an upper cover including a hole detachably coupled to the lower container and a cap formed on an upper surface of the lower container, and a stopper for opening and closing the hole, the upper container being disposed in the storage space of the lower container A plurality of plant culture vessel including a pedestal formed with at least one through hole in the; A first unit box surrounding the entire outer surface of the plant culture vessel, for some plant culture vessels of the plurality of plant culture vessels; A second unit box surrounding the entire outer surface of the plant culture container, wherein a window is formed on a portion of the upper surface of the plurality of plant culture containers; And A kit box accommodating the plant culture container packaged in the first unit box and the plant culture container packaged in the second unit box; Plant culture vessel kit comprising a. An upper cover including a lower container having a storage space formed therein, a removable cover coupled to the lower container, a hole formed on an upper surface thereof, and a stopper for opening and closing the hole, and a germination growth disposed in the storage space of the lower container. A plurality of plant culture vessels comprising a medium for the preparation; And The plurality of plant culture vessels are each accommodated in a space divided by a partition wall disposed therein, wherein a first cover, a third cover, and a second cover are sequentially formed at each of three consecutive edges of the open upper surface. The first cover may include a plant culture container bag having at least one window for exposing an upper surface of some plant culture containers of the plurality of plant culture containers to the outside; Plant culture vessel kit comprising a. A lower container having a storage space formed therein, an upper cover including a hole detachably coupled to the lower container and a cap formed on an upper surface of the lower container, and a stopper for opening and closing the hole, the upper container being disposed in the storage space of the lower container A plurality of plant culture vessel including a pedestal formed with at least one through hole in the; And The plurality of plant culture vessels are each accommodated in a space divided by a partition wall disposed therein, wherein a first cover, a third cover, and a second cover are sequentially formed at each of three consecutive edges of the open upper surface. The first cover may include a plant culture container bag having at least one window for exposing an upper surface of some plant culture containers of the plurality of plant culture containers to the outside; Plant culture vessel kit comprising a. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 4, Plant culture container kit, characterized in that the cross-sectional shape of the lower container and the upper cover is square. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 4, The lower container and the upper cover is a plant culture container kit, characterized in that the transparent synthetic resin material. The method according to claim 6, The transparent synthetic resin material is a plant culture container kit, characterized in that the polycarbonate. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 4, The expansion opening is formed along the side of the open lower portion of the upper cover, plant expansion container kit, characterized in that the upper cover and the lower container is detachably coupled to the lower container by fitting. The method according to claim 1 or 3, The germination growth medium is a plant culture container kit, characterized in that made of any one selected from rock wool, sponge or floral foam (floral foam). The method according to claim 1 or 3, The plant culture container kit, characterized in that at least one concave groove in which the seeds of the plant can be placed on the upper surface of the germination growth medium. The method according to claim 2 or 4, Plant culture vessel kit, characterized in that a plurality of through holes formed in the upper surface of the pedestal formed in a grid shape. The method according to claim 2 or 4, Plant culture container kit, characterized in that further comprising a locking projection protruding on the surface of the two opposite surfaces of the inner surface of the lower container. The method according to claim 2 or 4, Plant culture container kit further comprises a hook formed to protrude along each of the four corners of the inner side of the lower container. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 4, The hole is protruding from the upper surface of the top cover, the stopper is plant culture container kit, characterized in that interconnected with the protruding hole and the strap. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 4, Plant culture container kit, characterized in that the graduation is formed on one side of the lower container and the upper cover. The method according to claim 1 or 2, A cut line is formed on both sides of the kit box so that the front of the kit box is exposed, and a cut line connecting the cut lines of both sides is formed on the front side. The method according to claim 1 or 2, Plant culture container kit, characterized in that the cut ruler is formed in the wing portion extending from the top of both sides of the kit box.

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