KR20170124230A - Automatic System For Earth Cultivation - Google Patents

Abstract

The present invention relates to an automatic system for cultivation soil which enables various plants to be unmannedly soil-cultivated using an automated line. The automatic system for cultivation soil comprises: a plurality of shelves vertically and horizontally arranged at a predetermined interval and stacked in the vertical direction; a plurality of pots of soil placed on the shelves to contain the soil for plant growth; an irrigation device supplying water to the pot placed on the shelves; a carrier device placing a flower pot placed in an insertion position on any one of the shelves or taking out the flower pot from the flower pot and placing the flower pot in a take-out position; a greenhouse enclosing the shelve for blocking with outside air; and a temperature and humidity controller for controlling temperature and humidity inside the greenhouse.

Description

[0001] Automatic System For Earth Cultivation [

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a plant cultivation system, and more particularly, to a soil cultivation automation system that enables an unmanned soil cultivation of various plants using an automated line.

Plants are becoming more and more difficult to cultivate due to problems such as reduced arable land, deteriorating ecological conditions, and frequent fluctuations in the weather. Although the greenhouse system can provide a cultivating environment that is less influenced by the external environment, it is not profitable due to the heavy consumption of the labor force, and the cultivation area is limited, so the production can not be expanded as desired.

In order to solve these problems, there has been proposed a technique for improving the cultivation effect by providing an optimized plant cultivation environment. For example, the Korean Utility Model Registration Application No. 20-2014-0004682 is an example, but the prior art is not an automation system for mass production, so there is a limit to maximizing the production amount. When a large amount of plant is grown, the installation cost of the plant increases greatly due to the increase in the size of the plant, resulting in an increase in the production cost.

Korean Utility Model Registration Application No. 20-2014-0004682

It is an object of the present invention to overcome the above problems by providing an automated plant cultivation system capable of cultivating soil of various edible crops such as chrysanthemum, lettuce, pepper, sesame leaf, And minimizing the influence of external environmental factors, thereby producing environmentally friendly agricultural products more beneficial to health.

The above object is also achieved by a plurality of shelves which are stacked vertically and horizontally at a predetermined interval and stacked vertically in multiple layers; A plurality of pots of soil placed on the shelf to contain the soil for plant growth; An irrigation device for supplying water to the pot placed on the shelf; A carrier device for placing a flower pot placed in an insertion position on one of the shelves or taking out a flowerpot therefrom and positioning the flower pot in an unloading position; A greenhouse enclosing the shelf for blocking against outside air; And a temperature and humidity control device for controlling temperature and humidity inside the greenhouse.

According to an aspect of the present invention, the carrier device includes: a horizontal rail installed in a space between the shelves; A bogie running along the horizontal rail; A vertical rail mounted on the bogie and horizontally moving along the bogie; A base mounted on the vertical rail so as to be vertically movable up and down; An elevating mechanism for moving the base up and down; And a pick-up mechanism installed on the base plate for putting pots on the shelf or removing pots from the pots.

According to an aspect of the present invention, the pick-up mechanism may further include a carry-out conveyor for taking out pollen picked up from the shelf to the carry-out position.

According to another aspect of the present invention, there is provided an apparatus for supplying a pollen to an injection position,

According to another aspect of the present invention, the watering device is installed on the outside of the shelf, and includes: a collection conveyor for conveying pollen taken out from the shelf; A spray nozzle for supplying water to the pot collected along the collection conveyor; And a water supply unit for supplying water to the spray nozzle.

According to another aspect of the present invention, the watering device is installed on the outside of the shelf, and includes: a collection conveyor for conveying pollen taken out from the shelf; A spray nozzle for supplying water to the pot collected along the collection conveyor; And a water supply unit for supplying water to the spray nozzle;

Wherein the collection conveyor supplies the pollen to an input portion of an input conveyor into which pollen is input; The injection nozzle may be installed on the input conveyor.

According to still another aspect of the present invention, the pollen body comprises a pollen body; And a pallet serving as a pedestal supporting the pollen body; A barcode containing plant information planted in the flowerpot body may be attached to the pallet.

According to another aspect of the present invention, the pick-up mechanism may be provided with a bar code scanner capable of scanning the bar code, so that the carrier device can take out the flower pots according to the information of the bar codes, .

According to the present invention, a system for automatically cultivating a plant in soil is constructed. According to the present invention, it is possible to provide a plant system capable of cultivating plants in the soil, which is simple in construction and does not require a large installation cost, can be cultivated tailored to the characteristics of plants, A soil cultivation system is provided.

1 is a plan view of a soil cultivation automation system according to an embodiment of the present invention.
2 is a side view of a soil cultivation automation system according to an embodiment of the present invention.
3 is a side elevational view of a lifting unit of a soil cultivation automation system according to an embodiment of the present invention.
4 is a side view of a pick-up unit of a soil cultivation automation system according to an embodiment of the present invention.
5 is a side view of an irrigation system of a soil cultivation automation system according to an embodiment of the present invention.
6 is a perspective view of a rearing unit of the soil cultivation automation system according to the embodiment of the present invention.

Hereinafter, the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying FIGS. 1 to 4 at the same time. Other drawings are to be quoted where necessary.

A soil cultivation automation system according to an embodiment of the present invention includes a shelf unit 5 for providing a plurality of shelves 3 for vertically and vertically stacking a large number of pollen 1, 1 for taking out the pollen 1 laid on the shelf 3 and a greenhouse 9 for shutting off outside air so as to adjust the atmospheric environment. Greenhouses can be made of vinyl, transparent acrylic or glass so that sunlight can pass through them. The greenhouse 9 may include a shading means for blocking light as needed.

The pollen (1) contains soil for growing various crops. Soils are placed in pots (1) in such a degree that the roots of the crops can be properly stretched. The plant (1) may be planted with two or more plants (F), depending on the size of the crop.

As shown, the shelf unit 5 is composed of four unit shelf units 11 for constituting four rows. Between the unit shelf units 11, there are provided a carrier device 7 and a passageway 13 through which a manager can pass. As shown, each unit shelf 11 is provided on a scale capable of stacking the pollen 1 in nine layers. However, it is not so limited and may be stacked higher or vice versa.

According to the drawings, two carrier devices 7 are provided. That is, one carrier device 7 is arranged to take charge of two unit shelf units 11 disposed on both the left and right sides.

The carrier device 7 includes a bogie 15 for horizontal movement, a lift mechanism 17, and a pick-up mechanism 19 which is vertically raised and lowered by the lift mechanism 17. Horizontal rails 21 may be provided in the passageway 13 of the shelf for the carriage 15 and horizontal rails 21 and 21 'may be provided on the floor E and the upper greenhouse, respectively. The bogie 15 is started along the horizontal rails 21 and 21 'and can be started by the horizontal movement motor 23. A vertical rail 25 is provided in the vertical direction in the truck 15. The pick-up mechanism 19 is adapted to move up and down along the vertical rails 25. The elevating mechanism 17 includes a sheave 27, a wire rope 29, a driving sheave 31, and an elevating motor 33, which are provided at the upper end of the carrier device 7.

In the present invention, the horizontal moving motor 23 and the elevating motor 33 are preferably servo motors for precise position control.

The pick-up mechanism 19 includes a base plate 35 coupled to the vertical rail 25 and raised and lowered along the vertical rail 25 and a base plate 35 supporting the bottom surface of the planter 1, And a pickup driving unit for moving the arm 37 horizontally.

The pick-up driving section includes a pickup motor 39 and gear 41 (or sprocket) engaged with the rotation shaft of the pickup motor and a rack gear 43 (or chain) connected to the gear 41 and provided on the arm 4 (a), (b)). The pickup driving unit causes the arm 37 to protrude to the left (FIG. 4 (a)) or the right (see FIG. 4 (b)). So that the pollen 1 can be taken out or loaded from the shelf of the unit shelf unit 11 on both the left and right sides. The pick-up motor is driven so that the arm 37 protrudes toward the pollen 1 to be positioned directly under the pollen, and then the elevation motor 33 is driven to move the pick- Let it be heard. Then, when the pickup motor 39 rotates in the opposite direction, the pollen 1 is positioned directly above the base plate 35, and then the pollen is moved to a desired position by driving the elevating motor and the horizontal moving motor.

A plate-shaped support plate 45 may be fixed to the upper surface of the arm 37. This support plate 45 comes into direct contact with the bottom surface of the pollen 1. The upper surface of the support plate 45 or the lower surface of the pollen 1 may be provided with a rubber pad or the like for preventing slip. The arm 37 may have a configuration that protrudes like a scope antenna in two or three stages. A rack gear may be provided directly on the bottom surface of the receiving plate 45 in place of the arm 37. [

Although not shown, the carrier device 7 of the present invention should include various kinds of automation equipment for accurately positioning the pickup driver in a predetermined position. A typical example would be a position sensor. The position of the pick-up mechanism 19 can be precisely controlled so that the pollen 1 placed on the specific shelf 3 can be moved. The shelf unit 5 may detect whether or not the flowerpot 1 is installed and apply it to the control unit.

1, which is a plan view, will be mainly described.

On both sides of the shelf device (3), a pot introduction part (47) and a pot delivery part (49) are installed. The charging and discharging of pollen is carried out using the charging conveyor 51 and the discharging conveyor 53, respectively.

The pollen 1 to be introduced is supplied to the charging position P1 by the charging conveyor 51. The pollen (1) is put into the putting conveyor (51) in a state in which seedling plants are planted. Then, the carrier device 7 lifts the loaded pollen 1 and transfers it to a predetermined shelf on the shelf unit 3. [

The pollen 1 thus cultivated is taken out by the carrier device 7 and transferred to the carry-out position P2. Then, the carry-out conveyor 53 horizontally feeds the pollen 1 to the harvesting position P3. In the harvesting position (P3), the crop is harvested from the pots (1) arranged and supplied by the operator, and the empty pots are distributed to the subsequent process. Of course, empty pots can be reused as they are or reused after regenerating the soil.

According to an embodiment of the present invention, an irrigation device is further provided for supplying water to the pots. An irrigation device is a device for supplying water to the crops planted in the pollen (1). According to the present embodiment, the watering apparatus takes out the pollen 1 from the shelf unit 3 one by one and takes a method of supplying water at a separate place. This is effective in reducing overall equipment costs by simplifying the irrigation system and is advantageous for adjusting the humidity inside the greenhouse 9. In many cases, various kinds of crops are mixed in the shelf unit 5, and the preference of the water will be different depending on the type of the crop. Therefore, the present invention adopts a method of supplying water individually according to the growing characteristics of crops. As a result, there is no need to provide a pipe for pipes, a drainage facility need not be provided, and the humidity of the entire greenhouse can be easily controlled.

The watering apparatus includes the above-described carrier device 7 and a collection conveyor 57 for supplying a flower pot 1 to be taken out by the carrier device 7 to the watering portion 55. As shown in FIG. 5, the water supply unit 55 is of a tunnel type through which the collection conveyor 57 passes, and water is supplied while the flowerpot 1 is continuously passed. The water supply unit 55 may include a jetting nozzle 61 installed inside the tunnel 59 and the tunnel 59 and a water supply unit 63 supplying water to the jetting nozzle 61. The cycle of supplying the water to the watering part 55 will be different depending on the crop.

The water supply portion 55 can be installed on the input conveyor 51. [ Therefore, water can be supplied immediately before being put into the lathe apparatus 5. [ The recovery conveyor 57 may be connected to the inlet of the charging conveyor 51. Therefore, the pollen 1 recovered for supplying water is supplied to the input conveyor 51, and is moved again to the position of the shelf unit 5 already provided on the same route as the newly introduced pollen 1.

According to the present invention, measurement means for measuring temperature and humidity can be provided in various places in the greenhouse (9). By using the digital measurement means, the temperature and humidity information can be used by the control unit. The control unit can automatically control the heater, the air conditioner, the humidifier, and the dehumidifier to selectively operate according to information of the supplied temperature and humidity. The control panel can be installed inside the greenhouse or remotely.

According to another feature of the present invention, the frame 3a of each shelf constituting the shelf unit can be provided with a lighting device 65 for irradiating light toward the pollen 1 as shown in Fig. 6 . The illumination device 65 is preferably provided with LED light for energy saving and supply of natural light to individually supply light to each pot. Each lighting device installed on the shelf can be controlled so as to be controlled individually so that the lighting time varies depending on whether the plant is a single plant or a long-term plant.

According to another embodiment of the present invention, the pollen 1 may be composed of a pollen body 1a and a pallet 1b supporting the pollen body 1a as shown in Fig. The pallet 1b is separated from the pollen main body 1a and serves as a pedestal for supporting the pollen main body 1a. A bar code 67 is attached to the front surface of the pallet 1b so that the bar code scanner can identify the pollen body 1a. The barcode scanner can be installed in the carrier device 7 so that it can automatically supply or discharge water when the water is supplied to the specific pollen 1 by judging the time point when the cultivation is completed and taken out. On the other hand, a camera (not shown) is installed in the carrier device 7 so that the operator can visually confirm the development status of the plant. The carrier device 7 can be started continuously for 24 hours, and the barcode 67 in the flowerpot can be scanned while vertically and laterally running along the arranged shelves to determine whether the barcode is taken out or taken out and automatically started.

The configuration shown and described above is merely a preferred embodiment based on the technical idea of the present invention. It will be understood by those skilled in the art that various changes and modifications may be made without departing from the scope of the present invention. The above embodiments may be implemented in any combination, and all combinations thereof should be construed as being within the scope of the present invention.

1: Pot 3: Shelf
5: Shelf device 7: Carrier device
9: Greenhouse 11: Unit Shelf
17: Lift mechanism 19: Pickup mechanism
21, 21 ': Horizontal rail 23: Horizontal movement motor
25: vertical rail 29: wire rope
31: driving sheave 33: elevating motor
35: base plate 37: arm
39: pick-up motor 41: gear
43: rack gear 45:
47: pot introduction part 49: pot delivery part
51: Feeding conveyor 53: Feeding conveyor
55: Irrigation section 57: Collecting conveyor
59: tunnel 61: injection nozzle
63: Water supply part 65: Lighting device
67: Bar code F: Plants

Claims (8)

A plurality of shelves stacked vertically and horizontally at a predetermined interval and stacked vertically in multiple layers; A plurality of pots of soil placed on the shelf to contain the soil for plant growth; An irrigation device for supplying water to the pot placed on the shelf; A carrier device for placing a flower pot placed in an insertion position on one of the shelves or taking out a flowerpot therefrom and positioning the flower pot in an unloading position; A greenhouse enclosing the shelf for blocking against outside air; And a temperature and humidity control device for controlling temperature and humidity inside the greenhouse. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the carrier device comprises:
A horizontal rail installed in the spacing space between the shelves; A bogie running along the horizontal rail; A vertical rail mounted on the bogie and horizontally moving along the bogie; A base mounted on the vertical rail so as to be vertically movable up and down; An elevating mechanism for moving the base up and down; And a pick-up mechanism installed on the base plate for placing a flower pot placed at a putting position on a specific shelf or placing a flowerpot therefrom at a take-out position.
3. The method of claim 2,
And a carry-out conveyor for picking up the pick-up mechanism from the shelf and taking the pots placed at the carry-out position to the harvesting position.
3. The automated plant cultivation system according to claim 2, further comprising an input conveyor for supplying an outside-supplied pollen to the input position.
[2] The apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the watering device is installed outside the shelf, and comprises: a collection conveyor for conveying pollen taken out from the shelf; A spray nozzle for supplying water to the pot collected along the collection conveyor; And a water supply unit for supplying water to the spray nozzle.
[2] The apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the watering device is installed outside the shelf, and comprises: a collection conveyor for conveying pollen taken out from the shelf; A spray nozzle for supplying water to the pot collected along the collection conveyor; And a water supply unit for supplying water to the spray nozzle;
Wherein the collecting conveyor supplies the pots to an input portion of an input conveyor into which pots are inputted into the lathe; Wherein the injection nozzle is installed on the input conveyor.
The method of claim 1, wherein the flowerpot comprises:
A potted body containing soil; And a pallet serving as a pedestal supporting the pollen body;
And a barcode containing plant information planted in the pot body is attached to the pallet.
The method of claim 1, wherein the flowerpot comprises:
A potted body containing soil; And a pallet serving as a pedestal supporting the pollen body;
Wherein the carrier device is provided with a barcode scanner capable of scanning the barcode, so that the carrier device takes out pollen according to the information of the barcode, and watering or harvesting the pollen.

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