JPH1094334A - Plant growing equipment - Google Patents

Abstract

(57) [Summary] [Problem] By eliminating stagnation of air in a growth room,
Provided is a plant cultivation apparatus capable of maintaining good distribution of environmental factors such as temperature, preventing variation in plant growth, and easily performing maintenance and replacement of an artificial light source in a light source room. The circulation of air in the present apparatus is performed by first introducing cooling coils, electric heaters, etc., from a plurality of blow-out holes provided over substantially the entire area of a floor plate of a growing room into the growing room. As a result, air adjusted to desired conditions is blown out, and the air in the growth chamber 20 is discharged outside through a plurality of suction holes 24 provided over substantially the entire area of the ceiling plate 23.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a plant cultivation apparatus for use in agriculture research and experiments such as breeding or cultivation of plants, which comprises a growing room for growing plants and an artificial light source for growing plants. The present invention relates to a plant cultivation apparatus comprising a light source chamber disposed therein, wherein at least temperature-adjusted air is circulated in the cultivation chamber to control environmental factors artificially.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, as a plant growing device of this kind,
For example, the one shown in FIG. 7 is known. In this plant growing apparatus 1, a growing room 2 partitioned by respective face walls is arranged in a machine body, a ceiling surface of the growing room 2 is formed of a transparent glass plate 2a, and a plurality of lamps 3a are provided above the transparent glass plate 2a. The light source room 3 provided is provided.

A plurality of blowout holes (not shown) are formed in the floor plate 2b of the breeding room 2 over the entire area, and one suction opening 2d is formed in the upper part of one side wall 2c. 2 d communicates with a machine room 4 provided on the side of the growth room 2. The temperature of the air discharged through the suction opening 2d to the outside of the growth chamber 2 is adjusted by the cooling coil 5 and the electric heater 6 arranged in the machine chamber 4,
b, the air was sent to the air blowing space below, the humidity was adjusted by the humidifier 8, and the air was blown into the growth chamber 2 again from the blowing holes in the entire area of the floor plate 2b.

The light source room 3 is isolated from the growing room 2 by a glass plate 2a. However, for maintenance and replacement of the lamp 3a, the glass plate 2a can usually be slid or removed horizontally. I have. Note that a heat ray cut filter (not shown) for preventing heat generated by the lamp 3a from entering the growth chamber 2 was attached to the glass plate 2a.

[0005]

However, in the conventional plant growing apparatus 1 as described above, as schematically shown in FIG. 8, the air blown out from the floor plate 2b into the growing chamber 2 does not generate the air shown in FIG. As shown by the arrow in the middle, since the air flows obliquely upward toward the suction opening 2d above the one side wall 2c, the air near the upper part of the other side wall 2e located on the opposite side of the suction opening 2d hardly flows and stagnates. (A region in the figure).

[0006] Such stagnation of air adversely affects the distribution of temperature and humidity in the growing room 2.
There is a problem that the growth of the plants in the plant tends to vary, and errors in the results of the growth test increase. A method of periodically changing the position of the plant in the breeding room 2 in order to prevent variations in the growth of the plant is also known, but it is a very laborious and complicated operation.

The glass plate 2a that separates the growing room 2 from the light source room 3 has a considerable size, so that the lamp 3a
Opening and closing the glass plate 2a during maintenance and replacement is troublesome and troublesome, and cleaning the glass plate 2a is also difficult. Furthermore, since the heat ray cut filter to be attached to the glass plate 2a cannot be made with a technically large area, the glass plate 2a
In addition, there is a problem that the work of attaching the cut ends of the heat ray cut filter one by one takes time and causes an increase in cost.

The present invention has been made in view of the above-mentioned problems of the prior art. By eliminating the stagnation of air in a growth room, the distribution of environmental factors such as temperature can be maintained well. It is an object of the present invention to provide a plant cultivation apparatus capable of preventing variation in plant growth and easily performing maintenance and replacement of an artificial light source in a light source room.

[0009]

The gist of the present invention to achieve the above-mentioned object lies in the following items.

[1] A growing room (2) for growing plants
0), and a light source chamber (30) in which an artificial light source (31) for cultivating plants is arranged, and at least temperature-controlled air is circulated in the cultivation chamber (20) to artificially reduce environmental factors. In the controllable plant growing apparatus (10), a plurality of blowout holes (22) for blowing regulated air into the growing room (20) over substantially the entire bottom surface (21) of the growing room (20). And a suction hole (24) for discharging air in the growth chamber (20) to the outside over almost the entire upper surface (23) of the growth chamber (20) bordering the light source chamber (30). ) Provided with a plant growing device (1)
0).

[2] An air circulation path for circulating the air discharged from the suction hole (24) through the light source chamber (30) to the discharge hole (22) is formed, and at least the temperature of the air is set in the air circulation path. The plant growing apparatus (10) according to claim 1, further comprising an air adjusting means (41 to 44) that adjusts and sends the adjusted air in a predetermined direction.

[3] The upper surface portion (2) of the growth chamber (20)
3), the same number of openings as the artificial light source (31) arranged in the light source chamber (30) above the light source room (30) are provided, and the light irradiation site side of each corresponding artificial light source (31) is inserted into each opening. A gap formed between the inner peripheral edge of the opening and the middle of the outer periphery of the artificial light source (31) is set as the suction hole (24). Item 10. The plant growing apparatus according to item 8.

[4] The artificial light source (31) is formed of a lamp with a reflective shade, and a translucent plate (35) is attached to the lower end opening of the shade with the reflective shade so as to be able to open and close. The plant growing apparatus (10) according to claim 3, characterized in that:

[5] The light-transmitting plate (35) of the artificial light source (31), wherein a heat ray cut filter (37) for preventing heat release to the growth chamber (20) side is stuck. Plant growing device (10).

Next, the operation based on the above-mentioned solution will be described. According to the plant growing device (10) of the first aspect, the air in the present device is supplied to the bottom (21) of the growing room (20).
The air adjusting means (41 to 41) to be described later is introduced into the growth chamber (20) from a plurality of blowout holes (22) provided over substantially the entire area of the growth chamber (20).
44) is blown out in a state adjusted by the growth room (2).
The air in 0) is discharged out of the room through a plurality of suction holes (24) provided substantially over the entire area of the upper surface (23).

As a result, in the growing chamber (20), the air circulates vertically in the growing chamber (20) from almost the entire area of the bottom surface (21) to almost the entire area of the upper surface (23). In addition, unlike the conventional apparatus, the air does not flow locally and stays in the growing room, and the distribution of environmental factors such as temperature in the growing room (20) can be favorably maintained. Therefore, it is possible to prevent a variation in plant growth due to uneven environmental factors in the growing room (20).

According to the plant growing apparatus (10) according to item 2, the air discharged from the suction hole (24) to the outside of the growing chamber (20) is supplied to the light source chamber (30) in the air circulation path.
And air adjusting means (41 to 4) in the air circulation path.
In a state where the temperature is adjusted at least by 4), the circulation is continued so as to be blown out again from the blowing hole (22) into the growth chamber (20).

As described above, since the light source chamber (30) forms a part of the air circulation path, the artificial light source (3) in the light source chamber (30) is formed.
Excess heat generated from 1) is constantly discharged to the outside of the light source chamber (30) together with air flowing through the air circulation path, and the excess heat is cooled by the air conditioning means (41 to 44). Therefore, there is no need to provide a refrigerator exclusively for the light source chamber (30),
The cost can be suppressed, and the temperature of the air in the growing room (20) and the temperature of the air in the light source room (30) become almost equal, so that the occurrence of dew condensation can be surely prevented.

According to the plant growing apparatus (10) according to item 3, the same number of openings as the artificial light sources (31) arranged in the light source chamber (30) above the growing room (20) are provided on the upper surface (23) of the growing room (20). A portion is provided, and the light irradiation site side of each corresponding artificial light source (31) is inserted into each opening to protrude inside the growth chamber (20). Thereby, it becomes possible to irradiate the plant directly without the light of the artificial light source (31) penetrating the upper surface part (23).

Since the light-irradiated portion of the artificial light source (31) is exposed in the growing room (20), the light-irradiated portion of the artificial light source (31) can be opened and closed without opening and closing the upper surface (23). 20) It is possible to inspect and replace from inside. Furthermore, by setting a gap created between the inner peripheral edge of the opening and the middle of the outer periphery of the artificial light source (31) as the suction hole (24), the structure can be easily utilized in the form of using the above configuration as it is. A plurality of suction holes (24) can be provided over substantially the entire upper surface portion (23) of the chamber (20).

According to the plant growing apparatus (10) of the fourth aspect, the artificial light source (31) is formed of a lamp with a reflective shade, and a light-transmitting plate is provided at a lower end edge of the shade, which is a light irradiation part side of the lamp with the reflective shade. Since (35) is mounted so as to be openable and closable, dust and dirt hardly adhere to the lamp, and a decrease in light intensity due to dirt can be prevented. Further, according to the plant growing apparatus (10) according to item 5, the light transmitting plate (3) of the artificial light source (31) is provided.
5) A heat ray cut filter (37) was attached to
Excessive heat release to the growth chamber (20) can be prevented.

[0022]

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS One embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. 1 to 5 show one embodiment of the present invention. As shown in FIG. 1, the plant growing apparatus 10 includes a growing room 20 in a box-shaped machine body 10a.
And a light source room 30 divided from the breeding room 20,
This is a device for circulating air of which temperature and humidity are adjusted in the breeding room 20 to artificially control environmental factors and perform a plant growth test.

The cultivation room 20 is a room for cultivating plants, the bottom surface of which is formed by a floor plate 21 provided in parallel with the bottom wall of the machine body 10a, and the upper surface portion thereof is provided with the machine body 10a.
The ceiling plate 23 is provided parallel to and separated from the upper surface wall of the main body 10a, and the periphery is surrounded by the outer wall of the machine body 10a and the partition plate 29. The space between the bottom wall of the machine body 10a and the floor plate 21 is an air blowing space 20a for blowing air whose temperature and humidity are adjusted into the growing room 20. The pots and the like in which the plants are planted are placed on the floor plate 21.

As shown in FIG. 3, the floor plate 21 is formed by drilling a large number of blowout holes 22 over the entire area of the flat plate so as to be regularly arranged. Here, the opening ratio of the blowing holes 22 is set to such an extent that the flow of the air blown out from the entire area of the floor plate 21 into the growing room 20 can be made uniform. The outlet 22
The specific size, shape, and arrangement thereof are not limited to those illustrated.

FIG. 4 shows a modified example of the floor panel. The floor plate 25 according to the present modification is formed by a plurality of concave steps 26 extending in the same direction and arranged in parallel, and is formed on the same opposing surface 26a on the same one side of the two opposing surfaces 26a and 26b of each concave step 26. A large number of blowout holes 27 are formed. The operation of the modification will be described later.

On the other hand, the ceiling plate 23 forms a boundary between the growth room 20 and the light source room 30 installed above the growth room 20, and as shown in FIG.
One and the same number of openings are provided. Here, in each opening, the corresponding lower end opening (light irradiation part) side of the cap 32 of each lamp 31 is inserted so as to protrude toward the inside of the growth chamber 20, and the inner peripheral edge of the opening and the middle of the outer periphery of the cap 32. There is a gap between them. This ring-shaped gap is set as a suction hole 24 for discharging the air inside the growth chamber 20 to the outside of the room. Here, the opening ratio of the suction hole 24 is determined by the
It is good to set to about the same as 2.

The surface of the ceiling plate 23 facing the inside of the growth chamber 20 is painted white or mirror-finished with a thin metal plate in order to increase the light reflectance of the lamp 31. The specific size and shape of the suction hole 24,
In addition, the arrangement is not limited to the illustrated one.
For example, the ceiling plate 23 is made of a translucent glass plate (not shown), and the lamp 31 is kept in the light source chamber 30 without providing an opening through which the lamp 31 is inserted.
A large number of suction holes (see FIG. 3) may be formed in the glass plate so as to be regularly arranged.

The light source chamber 30 is located between the upper wall of the machine body 10a and the ceiling plate 23, and also serves as an air suction space for discharging the air circulated in the growth chamber 20 to the outside.
In the light source room 30, a plurality of lamps 31 with reflecting caps as artificial light sources that protrude partially toward the breeding room 20 are arranged at regular intervals as described above. The lamp 31 is the light bulb 3
It is preferable to use a sodium lamp as 3. As shown in FIG. 6, a light-transmitting plate 35 is attached to a lower end opening of a shade 32 on the side of the light irradiation part of the lamp 31 via a hinge 34 so as to be openable and closable.

Further, a heat ray cut filter 37 for preventing heat release to the growth chamber 20 side is attached to the light transmitting plate 35. The heat ray cut filter 37 is specifically, for example,
What is necessary is just to comprise the glass etc. which were excellent in infrared absorption which mainly consisted of a phosphate. Note that an incandescent lamp 38 as a work lamp used when the lamp 31 is turned off is attached to the ceiling plate 23.

One end of the light source chamber 30, which is also an air suction space, communicates with the upper end of the machine chamber 40, and the lower end of the machine chamber 40 communicates with the air blowing space 20a. Forms an air circulation path for circulating the air discharged from the suction hole 24 through the light source chamber 30 to the blowout hole 22. An air filter 39 for removing dust and dirt in the air is interposed between the light source room 30 and the machine room 40 in the air circulation path. The air filter 39 can be easily replaced by sliding in the horizontal direction.

The machine room 40 is arranged beside the growing room 20. In the machine room 40, air adjusting means for adjusting the temperature and humidity of the air and sending the air in a certain direction is arranged. .
Here, the air adjusting means is specifically formed by combining a blower 41, a cooling coil 42, an electric heater 43, and a humidifying nozzle 44. The operation of the components of the air adjusting means such as the blower 41 is controlled by a control device (computer). The air adjusting means is not limited to the above-described configuration, and may be configured without the humidifying nozzle 44, for example.

Next, the operation will be described. Airframe 1 of this device 10
In the air chamber 0a, the air is first adjusted to a desired temperature by the cooling coil 42 and the electric heater 43 in the machine room 40, and adjusted to the desired humidity by the humidification nozzle 44, and then the blower 41 is operated to move the air below the growth chamber 20. Air blowing space 2
0a. The conditioned air passes through a large number of blowout holes 22 in the entire area of the floor plate 21 of the growing room 20 and the growing room 2
It is blown into 0.

In the case of the floor plate 25 shown in FIG. 4, the direction in which the respective concave steps 26 extend is substantially perpendicular to the direction of circulation of the air flowing in the air blowing space 20a (perpendicular to the plane of FIG. 1). Are arranged such that the opposed surface 26a provided with the blowout hole 27 is located on the machine room 40 side (left side in the drawing) with respect to the other opposed surface 26b. Then, the air flowing through the air blowing space 20a first collides with the facing surface 26b and is blown out from the blowing hole 27. Therefore, the air blowing space 20
The air velocity distribution of the air blown into the growth chamber 20 can be made uniform without being affected by the directionality of the airflow in the area a.

On the other hand, the light source room 30 above the ceiling plate 23 of the growing room 20 is under negative pressure due to the operation of the blower 41, and the air in the growing room 20 is supplied to the suction holes 24 in the entire area of the ceiling plate 23. The air is sucked and discharged to the outside without unevenness in the horizontal direction. That is, the air in the growing room 20
The growth room 2 extends from the entire area of the floorboard 21 to almost the entire area of the ceiling panel 23.
Since the air circulates uniformly in the vertical direction in the inside of 0, the air does not flow locally and stay in the growing chamber unlike the conventional apparatus.

As a result, the distribution of environmental factors such as temperature and humidity in the breeding room 20 can be well maintained.
Variations in plant growth due to uneven environmental factors in the breeding room 20 can be prevented. Along with this, a complicated operation of periodically changing the position of the plant in the breeding room 20 becomes unnecessary. Further, according to the present apparatus 10, it is possible to eliminate the temperature difference between the both sides in the growth chamber 20.

As shown in FIG. 1 and FIG.
Of the lamp 31 on the side of the ceiling plate 2
3, the light from the bulb 33 can be directly radiated to the plant without passing through the ceiling plate 23. Also lamp 31
Since the lower end opening of the shade 32 is exposed in the growing room 20, the light bulb 33 is moved to the growing room 2 without opening and closing the ceiling plate 23 at all.
It is easy to replace or inspect from inside.

In the present embodiment, since the gap between the inner peripheral edge of the opening and the middle of the outer periphery of the shade 32 of the lamp 31 is used as the suction hole 24, the opening for inserting the lamp 31 is used as it is. The ceiling panel 23 can be easily used.
A plurality of suction holes 24 can be provided over the entire area of the above.

Also, at the lower end opening of the shade 32 of the lamp 31,
Since the light-transmitting plate 35 is mounted to be openable and closable via the hinge 34, dust and dirt do not directly adhere to the light bulb 33, and a decrease in light intensity due to dirt can be prevented. Further, since the heat ray cut filter 37 is attached to the light transmitting plate 35, excessive heat release to the growth chamber 20 side can be prevented, the cooling load is reduced, and the heat rays hardly affect plants.
Furthermore, since the outer periphery of the light source chamber 30 has no vent hole for sucking and discharging the outside air and is closed from the outside, external dust and dirt do not easily enter the light source chamber 30.

One end of the light source chamber 30 communicates with the upper end of the machine chamber 40, and the lower end of the machine chamber 40 communicates with the air blowing space 20a. These continuous spaces form an air circulation path. . That is, the air discharged from the suction hole 24 of the ceiling plate 23 to the outside of the growth chamber 20 is directly introduced into the light source chamber 30 and passes therethrough, and is again desired by the cooling coil 42 and the electric heater 43 in the machine chamber 40. Circulates to the air blowing space 20a side, for example, by adjusting the temperature to the above.

As described above, since the light source chamber 30 also becomes a part of the air circulation path, excess heat generated from the lamp 31 in the light source chamber 30 is constantly discharged to the outside of the light source chamber 30 together with the air flowing through the air circulation path. Excess heat is cooled mainly by the cooling coil 42 of the air conditioning means. Therefore, it is not necessary to provide a refrigerator specifically for the light source room 30, and the cost can be reduced. In addition, since the temperatures of the air in the growth room 20 and the light source room 30 are almost equal, the occurrence of dew condensation is reliably prevented. can do.

The plant growing apparatus according to the present invention is not limited to the specific configuration according to the above-described embodiment. For example, the ceiling plate is made of a translucent glass plate, and the lamp is kept in the light source room without providing an opening for inserting the lamp, and a large number of suction holes are drilled in the glass plate so as to be regularly arranged. You may comprise.

[0042]

According to the plant growing apparatus of the present invention, the circulation of air in the apparatus is performed by adjusting the air adjusted into the growing chamber from a plurality of blowout holes provided substantially over the entire bottom surface of the growing chamber. Air is blown out, and the air in the growing chamber is discharged to the outside from a plurality of suction holes provided over almost the entire area of the upper surface, so that the air in the growing chamber moves from almost the entire area of the bottom area to almost the entire area of the upper area. Circulates vertically throughout the growing room. Therefore, unlike the conventional apparatus, the air does not flow locally in the growth chamber and does not stagnate, the distribution of environmental factors such as temperature in the growth chamber can be maintained well, and the environmental factors in the growth chamber can be unevenly distributed. Variations in the growth of the plant based on it can be prevented.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a front view showing the internal structure of a plant growing device according to one embodiment.

FIG. 2 is a front view schematically showing an internal structure and an air flow of the plant growing apparatus according to one embodiment.

FIG. 3 is an enlarged perspective view showing a floor plate of a growing room of the plant growing apparatus according to one embodiment.

FIG. 4 is an enlarged perspective view showing a modified example of a floor plate of a growing room of the plant growing apparatus according to one embodiment.

FIG. 5 is an enlarged perspective view showing a ceiling plate of a growing room of the plant growing apparatus according to one embodiment.

FIG. 6 is an enlarged sectional view showing a ceiling plate and a lamp of a growing room of the plant growing apparatus according to one embodiment.

FIG. 7 is a front view showing the internal structure of a conventional plant growing device.

FIG. 8 is a front view schematically showing the internal structure and air flow of a conventional plant growing device.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 10 ... Plant growing apparatus 10a ... Machine body 20 ... Growing room 21 ... Floor plate (bottom part) 22 ... Blow-out hole 23 ... Ceiling plate (top part) 24 ... Suction hole 30 ... Light source room 31 ... Lamp with reflective shade (artificial light source) 40 ... Machine room 41 ... Blower 42 ... Cooling coil 43 ... Electric heater 44 ... Humidifier nozzle

Claims (5)

[Claims] 1. A growth room for growing plants, and a light source room provided with an artificial light source for growing plants, wherein at least temperature-controlled air is circulated in the growth room to artificially reduce environmental factors. In a plant growing apparatus that can be controlled to, a plurality of blowout holes for blowing the adjusted air into the growing room are provided over substantially the entire bottom surface of the growing room, while the growing room forming a boundary with the light source room is provided. A plant growing apparatus characterized by having a plurality of suction holes for exhausting air in the growing room to the outside over substantially the entire area of the upper surface. 2. An air adjusting means for forming an air circulation path for circulating the air discharged from the suction hole to the outlet through the light source chamber, and adjusting at least the temperature of the air in the air circulation path to send the air in a predetermined direction. The plant growing apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising: 3. The same number of openings as the artificial light sources disposed in the light source chamber above the growth chamber are provided on the upper surface of the growth chamber, and the light irradiation site side of each corresponding artificial light source is inserted into each of the openings. 3. The plant growing apparatus according to claim 2, wherein a gap formed between the inner peripheral edge of the opening and the outer periphery of the artificial light source is set as the suction hole. 4. The artificial light source comprises a lamp with a reflective shade, and a light-transmitting plate is openably and closably attached to an opening at a lower end of the shade, which is a light irradiation part side of the lamp with the reflective shade. Plant growing equipment. 5. The plant growing apparatus according to claim 4, wherein a heat ray cut filter for preventing heat release to the growing room is attached to the light transmitting plate of the artificial light source.