JP2009089631A - Plant cultivating device - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a plant cultivating device having a plurality kinds of artificial light sources which irradiate light of different wavelength, and having a simple electric circuit of a light emitting part and free from the need of a heat generating measurement of the light source, in spite of capable of controlling a wavelength of light to be irradiated to a plant. <P>SOLUTION: This plant cultivating device has a light emitting part which has a plurality kinds of light sources which irradiate light of different wavelength, and a driving part which makes the light emitting part perform repetitive motion. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2009,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention is a plant cultivation apparatus provided with a plurality of types of artificial light sources that irradiate light of different wavelengths, and is capable of controlling the wavelength of light that irradiates the plant, while the electric circuit of the light emitting unit is The present invention relates to an apparatus that is simple and does not require measures against heat generation of the light source.

  Recently, plant cultivation devices using artificial light sources have been put into practical use because they are less susceptible to external factors (weather, climate, pests, etc.).

On the other hand, it has been clarified that the wavelength of light influences the growth, differentiation, etc. of plants. For example, by irradiating blue light having a photon flux density of 10 μmol / m ² / s or more, It is known that flower bud formation is promoted (see Patent Document 1).

In addition, a method is known that promotes flowering of a plant by irradiating a substantially blue-green color with a photon flux density of 15 to 200 μmol / m ² / s after the plant reaches a living weight of 1.5 g (Patent Document). 2).

Furthermore, as described in Non-Patent Document 1 and Non-Patent Document 2, it is known that red light contributes to the promotion of plant elongation.
JP 2001-258389 A JP 2004-97082 A “Plant Factory Handbook” (Masataka Takatsuki, Tokai University Press 1997) 80-82 "Laser Research (Special Issue on Laser Plant Factory) vol.25, No.12" (1997, Laser Society) 832-835

  However, if the wavelength of light irradiating the plant is controlled by turning on and off the light source, the electrical circuit of the light emitting part becomes extremely complicated, and the apparatus becomes expensive.

  In addition, even if an LED has a lower calorific value than other artificial light sources, when used in an apparatus for plant cultivation that needs to be lit for a long time, the light source will adversely affect the plant. Measures against heat generation are required separately.

  Therefore, the present invention is a plant cultivation apparatus provided with a plurality of types of artificial light sources that irradiate light of different wavelengths, and is capable of controlling the wavelength of light that irradiates the plant, while the electric circuit of the light emitting unit It is an object of the present invention to provide a device that is simple and does not require measures against heat generation of the light source.

  That is, the plant cultivation apparatus according to the present invention includes a light emitting unit having a plurality of types of light sources that emit light of different wavelengths, and a drive unit that repeatedly moves the light emitting unit.

  In such a case, switching of the wavelength of the light irradiated to the plant can be achieved by moving the light emitting part, and can be performed without turning on and off the light source, so that the light source remains turned on. Well, the electrical circuit of the light emitting part can be made simple. In addition, since the light source is cooled by the movement of the light emitting part, no special measures against heat radiation of the light source are required. For this reason, since the structure of a plant cultivation apparatus can be made simple, manufacturing cost can be suppressed and it can make it hard to break down.

  In such a plant cultivation apparatus according to the present invention, the drive unit includes, for example, a rotatable disk connected to the light emitting unit at an eccentric position, and the light emitting unit is rotated by rotating the disk. May be configured to repeatedly move in the horizontal direction.

  In this case, it is preferable that the plurality of disks are configured to rotate in synchronization with each other in view of operational stability.

  Moreover, it is preferable that the said drive part can rotate the said disk at a non-uniform speed, and it is preferable to have a motor control part which can control the said drive part in this way. If it is such, control, such as irradiating a plant with light of a predetermined wavelength for a longer time than light of other wavelengths, becomes possible.

  The light source is not particularly limited, and examples thereof include artificial light sources such as LEDs, semiconductor lasers, high-pressure sodium lamps, low-pressure sodium lamps, xenon lamps, metal halide lamps, mercury lamps, microwave lamps, incandescent lamps, and fluorescent lamps. Of these, LEDs are preferably used.

  The LED has no emission line spectrum emission or ultraviolet or infrared radiation seen in other light sources, can be irradiated close to a plant, and can irradiate monochromatic light with a small spectral half width, The emission color can be selected almost freely. In addition, it is relatively inexpensive and consumes less than one-fifth of the light bulb and has a lifetime that is ten times longer than that of a light bulb. Therefore, the economy is high and the running cost can be suppressed.

  According to the present invention as described above, it is possible to control the wavelength of light radiated on a plant, while allowing the electrical circuit of the light emitting unit to have a simple configuration, and to provide special heat dissipation for the light source. No countermeasure is required.

An embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.
As shown in FIG. 1, the plant cultivation apparatus 1 according to the present embodiment controls a light emitting unit 2 that emits light to a plant 5, a driving unit 3 that moves the light emitting unit 2, and the driving unit 3. And an information processing apparatus 4 that performs the processing.

  Each part will be described in detail. As shown in FIG. 2, the light emitting unit 2 is configured by laying a plurality of types of LEDs 21 that emit light of different wavelengths on one surface of a flat substrate 22. These LEDs 21 are, for example, cannonball type.

  The drive unit 3 includes a motor 31 and a rotatable disk 33 connected to the light emitting unit 2. The disk 33 is connected to the light emitting section 2 via a support bar 34 in an eccentric position, and is connected to the motor 31 via a shaft bar 32 positioned at the center. The support bar 34 and the disk 33 and Each of the connecting portions with the light emitting portion 2 is configured to be rotatable. In the present embodiment, as shown in FIG. 3, four disks 33 are provided in the drive unit 3, the four disks 33 are connected by a belt 35, and the motor 31 is one of the disks 33. When the shaft rod 32 is rotated, the four disks 33 are configured to rotate synchronously.

  The drive unit 3 can rotate the disk 33 at a uniform speed, but can also rotate at a non-uniform speed. For example, FIGS. 4A to 4D are views showing a state in which the same plant 5 arranged below the light emitting unit 2 is seen through a part of the light emitting unit 2, but FIG. As shown in FIG. 4, when the red LED 211, the blue LED 212, the green LED 213, and the white LED 214 are laid on the substrate 22, the color (wavelength) of the light irradiated to the plant 5 is red (for example, red) a) → blue (b) → green (c) → white (d) For example, when the disk 33 rotates at a uniform speed, the light of each color (wavelength) emitted from each LED 211, 212, 213, 214 is evenly applied to the plant 5 located below the predetermined portion of the light emitting unit 2. However, when the disk 33 rotates at a non-uniform speed, the light of each color (wavelength) emitted from each LED 211, 212, 213, 214 is irradiated to the plant 5 positioned below the predetermined portion of the light emitting unit 2. The time spent is unequal. By controlling the rotation speed of the disk 33 in this way, for example, it is possible to irradiate a plant with light of a specific wavelength for a long time.

  As shown in FIG. 5, the information processing apparatus 4 is a general purpose or dedicated device including a memory 402, an input / output channel 403, an input unit 404 such as a keyboard, an output unit 405 such as a display, etc. in addition to the CPU 401. The input / output channel 403 is connected to an analog-digital conversion circuit such as an A / D converter 406, a D / A converter 407, and an amplifier (not shown).

  Then, the CPU 401 and its peripheral devices cooperate to operate according to a program stored in a predetermined area of the memory 402, whereby the information processing apparatus 4 includes a determination unit 41 and a motor control unit 42 as shown in FIG. And so on. The information processing apparatus 4 does not have to be physically integrated, and may be divided into a plurality of devices by wire or wireless.

  The discriminating unit 41 discriminates the growth status of the plant 5 to be cultivated, for example, by an operator input.

  The motor control unit 42 generates an external control signal for setting the rotation speed of the disk 33 in accordance with the growth status of the plant 5 and transmits the external control signal to the drive unit 3. Specifically, for example, the control signal specifying data storage unit D1 that stores a pair of an identifier indicating the growth status of the plant 5 and the identifier of the external control signal is accessed to correspond to the growth status of the plant 5 and the like. The external control signal is specified and the external control signal is transmitted to the drive unit 3.

  Next, a method for cultivating a plant using the plant cultivation apparatus 1 according to the present embodiment configured as described above will be described with reference to a flowchart shown in FIG.

  First, the operator inputs an identifier indicating the growth status of the plant 5 to be cultivated (step S1).

  Then, the discrimination | determination part 41 discriminate | determines the growth condition of the plant 5 based on the input (step S2).

  Next, the motor control unit 42 specifies an external control signal for setting the rotation speed of the disk 33 in accordance with the growth state of the plant 5 with reference to the contents of the control signal specifying data storage unit D1 (step S3). Then, the external control signal is transmitted to the drive unit 3 (step S4).

  Then, the motor 31 rotates the disk 33 at a rotation speed based on the external control signal (step S5), and the light emitting unit 2 repeats the horizontal movement while drawing a circular locus (step S6).

  According to the plant cultivation apparatus 1 according to the present embodiment as described above, the switching of the wavelength of the light irradiated to the plant is achieved by the movement of the light emitting unit 2, and is performed without controlling the on / off of the LED 21. Therefore, the LED 21 can be kept lit, and the electric circuit of the light emitting unit 2 can be configured simply. Moreover, since LED21 is cooled by the light emission part 2 moving, the special countermeasure with respect to the heat dissipation of LED21 becomes unnecessary. For this reason, since the structure of the plant cultivation apparatus 1 can be simplified, it is possible to suppress the manufacturing cost and make it difficult to break down.

  The present invention is not limited to the above embodiment.

  The number of installed disks 33 is not particularly limited as long as it is plural, and is not limited to four, and may be two or three.

  Moreover, the drive part 3 should just have the mechanism in which a light-projection part can be repeatedly moved in a horizontal direction, and is not limited to the mechanism using the disk 33. FIG. Furthermore, the mode of the repetitive movement of the light emitting unit 2 is not limited to the one that draws a circular locus, and the locus may be a straight line or an ellipse.

  In addition, for example, the light emitting unit 2 has a plurality of types of light sources laid on the outer surface of the cylindrical substrate 22, and the light emitted to the plant by rotating around the axis of the cylinder The wavelength may be changed.

  The color (wavelength) of light emitted from the LED 21 used as the light source is not particularly limited, and is not limited to red, blue, green, and white, and may be, for example, infrared, orange, yellow, blue-green, purple, or the like.

Furthermore the plant cultivation device according to the present invention, the temperature adjustment unit for adjusting the temperature, humidity adjusting unit that adjusts the humidity, may be provided with a CO ₂ concentration adjusting unit for adjusting the CO ₂ concentrations.

  In addition, it is needless to say that some or all of the above-described embodiments and modified embodiments may be combined as appropriate, and various modifications may be made without departing from the spirit of the present invention.

  According to the present invention, the structure of a plant cultivation apparatus capable of controlling the wavelength of light irradiated on a plant can be simplified, so that the manufacturing cost can be kept low and the plant can hardly be broken down. .

The typical block diagram which shows the plant cultivation apparatus which concerns on one Embodiment of this invention. The top view which shows the light emission part in the embodiment. The typical top view which shows the disk and its peripheral member in the embodiment. The figure showing transition of the light (light source) irradiated to a plant. The equipment block diagram of the information processing apparatus in the embodiment. The flowchart which shows the plant cultivation method in the embodiment.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 ... Plant cultivation apparatus 2 ... Light emission part 21 ... LED
3 ... Drive unit

Claims (5)

  A plant cultivation apparatus comprising: a light emitting unit having a plurality of types of light sources that emit light of different wavelengths; and a drive unit that repeatedly moves the light emitting unit.   The drive unit includes a rotatable disk connected to the light emitting unit at an eccentric position, and is configured to repeatedly move the light emitting unit in the horizontal direction by rotating the disk. Item 1. A plant cultivation apparatus according to Item 1.   The plant cultivation apparatus according to claim 2, wherein the plurality of disks are configured to rotate synchronously.   The plant cultivation device according to claim 2 or 3, further comprising a motor control unit capable of controlling the drive unit so that the disk rotates at a non-uniform speed. The plant cultivation apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the light source is an LED.