HYDROPONIC-CULTURE SEEDED PAPER, AND APPARATUS FOR PRODUCING THE SEEDED PAPER
20200367423 ยท 2020-11-26
Assignee
Inventors
Cpc classification
International classification
Abstract
A long base sheet is a thin paper like toilet paper, made of water-decomposable paper, and is supplied from a base sheet supply section. A water-soluble adhesive is applied to a surface of the sheet at a predetermined interval in an adhesive applying section. Multiple seeds are placed on the surface of the sheet, and then the sheet is put up to non-adhering remove seeds. Thereafter, in a base sheet transportation/seed pressing section, the sheet is pressed by a pair of rollers and softer than the seed, producing a seeded paper. In the seeded paper, concave portions are on the long base sheet, and have a plane shape approximately equal to a shape of the target seed and depth of one tenth to equal to a height of the target seed, and the target seed adheres to an inside area of each of the concave portions by the water-soluble adhesive.
Claims
1-10. (canceled)
11. A hydroponic-culture seeded paper production apparatus comprising: a) a base sheet supply section configured to supply a long base sheet; b) an adhesive application section configured to apply a water-soluble adhesive to a surface of the long base sheet supplied from the base sheet supply section, at a predetermined interval; c) a seed placing section configured to place multiple seeds on the surface of the long base sheet; d) a removal section configured to remove, from the long base sheet, a seed that fails to adhere to the long base sheet; and e) a seed fixation section configured to transport the long base sheet that has passed through the removal section by rolling the long base sheet between a pair of rollers including a roller which is located on a side of the long base sheet and is softer than the seed, and a roller which is located on a side of the seed and is harder than the roller on the side of the long base sheet.
12. The hydroponic-culture seeded paper production apparatus according to claim 11, wherein the seed fixation section rotates so that the long base sheet is intermittently transported with a predetermined pitch.
13. The hydroponic-culture seeded paper production apparatus according to claim 11, further comprising a buffer section configured to allow the long base sheet to sag, between the base sheet supply section and the seed fixation section.
14. The hydroponic-culture seeded paper production apparatus according to claim 11, further comprising a base sheet holding section configured to suck the long base sheet to a transportation surface, between the base sheet supply section and the seed fixation section.
15. The hydroponic-culture seeded paper production apparatus according to claim 11, further comprising an active removal section configured to actively remove an unnecessary seed from the long base sheet, following the seed fixation section.
16. The hydroponic-culture seeded paper production apparatus according to claim 12, further comprising a buffer section configured to allow the long base sheet to sag, between the base sheet supply section and the seed fixation section.
17. The hydroponic-culture seeded paper production apparatus according to claim 12, further comprising a base sheet holding section configured to suck the long base sheet to a transportation surface, between the base sheet supply section and the seed fixation section.
18. The hydroponic-culture seeded paper production apparatus according to claim 13, further comprising a base sheet holding section configured to suck the long base sheet to a transportation surface, between the base sheet supply section and the seed fixation section.
19. The hydroponic-culture seeded paper production apparatus according to claim 12, further comprising an active removal section configured to actively remove an unnecessary seed from the long base sheet, following the seed fixation section.
20. The hydroponic-culture seeded paper production apparatus according to claim 13, further comprising an active removal section configured to actively remove an unnecessary seed from the long base sheet, following the seed fixation section.
21. The hydroponic-culture seeded paper production apparatus according to claim 14, further comprising an active removal section configured to actively remove an unnecessary seed from the long base sheet, following the seed fixation section.
22. A method for producing a hydroponic-culture seeded paper, comprising following successive processes: an adhesive application process configured to apply a water-soluble adhesive to a surface of a long base sheet at a predetermined interval; a seed placing process configured to place multiple seeds on the surface of the long base sheet; a seed removal process configured to remove, from the long base sheet, a seed that fails to adhere to the long base sheet; and a seed fixation process configured to transport the long base sheet that has passed through the removal section by rolling the long base sheet between a pair of rollers including a roller which is located on a side of the long base sheet and is softer than the seed, and a roller which is located on a side of the seed and is harder than the roller on the side of the long base sheet.
Description
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS
[0035]
[0036]
[0037]
[0038]
[0039]
[0040]
[0041]
[0042]
DESCRIPTION OF EMBODIMENTS
[0043] An embodiment of the hydroponic-culture seeded paper production apparatus according to the present invention is described, using
[0044] a base sheet supply section A for supplying a long base sheet 11 made of water-decomposable paper,
[0045] a first buffer section B for feeding the long base sheet 11 without applying an excess stress (tensile force) to the long base sheet 11 in response to the demand of intermittent transportation of the long base sheet 11 from the sections at the later stage, i.e., an adhesive printing section C and the base sheet transportation/seed pressing section E,
[0046] an adhesive printing section C for applying an adhesive 12 to the long base sheet 11 at a predetermined interval for fixedly attaching the seeds 13 to the long base sheet 11,
[0047] a seed adhesion section D for allowing the seeds 13 to adhere to adhesive points applied to the long base sheet 11,
[0048] a base sheet transportation/seed pressing section E performing (i) base sheet transportation in which the long base sheet 11 is intermittently transported with a predetermined distance so that the adhesive points are printed on the long base sheet 11 in the length direction at the predetermined interval (the predetermined distance is called a transportation pitch. It should be noted that the transportation pitch may be different from the aforementioned predetermined interval.), and (ii) seed press in which the seeds 13 adhering to the adhesive points are pressed into the long base sheet 11 for being fixedly attached to the long base sheet 11 without fail,
[0049] an active removal section F for removing, with a soft rotary brush or other tools, remaining seeds that still adhere to the long base sheet 11 due to static electricity or the like and excess seeds that adhere to a protruding adhesive,
[0050] a second buffer section G for buffering, without applying excess stress, the rapid movement of the long base sheet 11 in order to wind the seeded paper 15 that is intermittently transported, where the seeded paper 15 is the long base sheet 11 to which the seeds 13 adhere at the predetermined interval,
[0051] a base sheet winding section H for winding the seeded paper 15, and
[0052] base sheet holding sections J1 to J3 provided at appropriate positions for holding the long base sheet 11 (or the seeded paper 15) with an appropriate force using negative pressure when the transportation is stopped, while applying no excess stress to the long base sheet 11 (or the seeded paper 15) when the long base sheet 11 (or the seeded paper 15) moves.
[0053] As shown in
[0054] When the long base sheet 11 is placed from the base sheet supply section A to the base sheet winding section H over the respective sections B to G, and then the first buffer section B and the second buffer section G are operated, the fan 22 in the lower side of each of the buffer sections B and G rotates to suck the long base sheet 11 into the body 21. The sensor 24 detects the distance from the long base sheet 11 to the bottom face of the body 21.
[0055] When the bottom face of the long base sheet 11 is above the upper limit (UL) as shown by the dotted line, the long base sheet 11 is supplied by releasing the brake of the base sheet supply section A, or by driving a supply motor. When the lower end part of the long base sheet 11 reaches the lower limit (LL), the supplying of the base sheet from the base sheet supply section A is stopped. It should be noted that the supplied amount of the base sheet from the base sheet supply section A (the length of the long base sheet 11 supplied from the base sheet supply section A) at this time has no relation to the transportation pitch to be described later.
[0056] Although the sensor 24 is illustrated in the drawings and described in the description as an ultrasonic distance sensor, the same function can also be achieved by placing reflection optical sensors or transmission optical sensors on the positions indicated by LL (lower limit part) and UL (upper limit part) in the side wall of the body 21. Although
[0057] Although
[0058] As previously mentioned, the base sheet supply section A and the first buffer section B cooperate to supply, at the necessary timing, the long base sheet 11 with a length required in later steps. Here, the tension force applied from the first buffer section B to the long base sheet 11 is caused by weak suction force of the fan 22. In addition, there is no mass except for that of the long base sheet 11 that affects the inertia during the movement of the long base sheet 11. Accordingly, even if the adhesive printing section C in the later stage applies the intermittent force to the long base sheet 11, strong tension is not applied to the long base sheet 11. Accordingly, even if the long base sheet 11 is single-ply fragile toilet paper, it can be used in this hydroponic-culture seeded paper production apparatus.
[0059] Next, the operation of the adhesive printing section C is described with reference to
[0060] The seeded paper 15 according to the present invention is mainly used in the hydroponic culture of immature vegetables most of which grow in a short period. Thus, when used with the base sheet side facing upward, the seeded paper 15 is required to allow the emerging sprouts to easily penetrate the base sheet to grow upward, whereas when used with the base sheet side facing downward, the seeded paper 15 is required to allow the emerging roots to easily penetrate the base sheet to grow into the culture medium. For these reasons, a dimensionally and materially thin paper that is easily decomposed by water is suitable for the long base sheet 11. For example, a paper having the quality (the basis weight: 18 g/m.sup.2 or more, bursting strength: 78 kPa (10 sheets) or more, disentanglement: 100 s or less) defined in JIS P 4501-1993 in terms of toilet paper can be used, as mentioned earlier.
[0061] If a general adhesive is applied to such a thin and sparse paper, the adhesive quickly permeates the paper and diffuses in the paper, and only inadequate amount of adhesive remains on the surface of a paper, which lowers the bonding force of the seeds. Furthermore, the diffused adhesive broadens the adhesive area on the surface of the base sheet, causing excess seeds to adhere to the base sheet.
[0062] In order to solve these problems, it is necessary to accurately print an adhesive having high viscosity so as to not easily permeate a paper and/or diffuse in a paper, on an area corresponding to a single seed, without causing a plurality of seeds to adhere to such an area. For this, a silk-screen printing method is suitable.
[0063] According to the silk-screen printing, a mask 32 made from a thin metal plate or a plastic sheet, is prepared according to the size of the seeds or the pitch of the sowing. Thus, as shown in
[0064] Accordingly, when the adhesive 12 is printed on the long base sheet 11 by this method, a printer 31 and the mask 32 should have a certain size in the feeding direction. Accordingly, it is difficult for the printer 31 and the mask 32 to reduce their size to be smaller than the feeding amount (transportation pitch) of the long base sheet 11 in the intermittent transportation. If such a size is smaller than the feeding amount, the previously printed adhesive comes in contact with the mask 32 at the next printing. In order to prevent such contact, a push-up member 33 having substantially the same width (the size in the transportation direction) as that of the transportation pitch to push up the long base sheet 11 when printing is performed, as shown in
[0065] The structure of the printer 31 does not directly relate to the object of the present invention, and thus its details are not shown. Here, various structures are devised and produced for the printer in which an appropriate amount of adhesive is held on the top face of the mask 32, a squeegee is reciprocated in the width direction of the long base sheet 11 at every printing, to print the adhesive 12 on the long base sheet 11 through holes in the mask 32.
[0066] For the adhesive to be used in the adhesive printing section C, a water-soluble adhesive derived from a plant, such as starch glue or xanthan gum, is used. These glues are derived from plants, and thus are easily decomposed by microorganisms or other living creatures in water.
[0067] As mentioned earlier, the base sheet 11 in which the adhesive 12 is printed at the predetermined interval is continuously sent to the seed adhesion section D.
[0068] In the seed adhesion section D, a horizontal backboard 41 and a vertical backboard 42 are respectively provided in the horizontal direction and the vertical direction along the transportation direction of the long base sheet 11, and a suction plate 43 having multiple slits extending in the transportation direction for suction is provided between the both backboards 41 and 42. Guide plats 44 are respectively provided at the widthwise ends of these backboards. A base sheet holding section J2 is provided at the back of the suction plate 43.
[0069] The seeds 13 are first transported toward the left side of
[0070] The essential structure of the seed adhesion section D is that it includes, at its left and right sides, the guide plates 44 respectively, and that it changes the moving direction of the long base sheet 11 from the approximately horizontal direction to the approximately vertical direction. Other factors such as the angle or curve of changing the transportation direction of the long base sheet 11 are less important as the elements of the invention. The suction force by the fan is used in the present embodiment for more assuredly holding the long base sheet 11 in response to the change in its angle. However, even without the suction force by the fan, the lump of the seeds 13 can remain in the state shown in
[0071] Then, the long base sheet 11 to which the seeds 13 adhere reaches the base sheet transportation/seed pressing section E which is provided upward. The base sheet transportation/seed pressing section E performs the seed press for assuredly fixing the seeds adhering to the adhesive points, on the long base sheet 11, and the base sheet transportation for accurately moving the long base sheet 11 by the predetermined transportation pitch. The base sheet transportation/seed pressing section E is described with reference to
[0072] The seeds 13 that have been attached to the long base sheet 11 in the seed adhesion section D easily depart from the long base sheet 11, since only a part of each seed 13 contacts the adhesive 12 printed on the surface of the long base sheet 11, as shown in the enlarged view of
[0073] To solve such a problem, in the apparatus according to the embodiment, two rollers 51 and 52 made of a soft sponge-like material are pressed to each other and synchronously rotated (it should be noted that only one of the rollers can be driven by motor and the other one can follow the motor-driven roller), and the long base sheet 11 is passed between the rollers 51 and 52. Accordingly, as shown in the enlarged drawing of
[0074] It is preferable for the rollers 51 and 52 that the roller 51 in the base sheet side has the hardness E1 lower than the hardness E2 of the roller 52 in the seed side (E2E1), for further pressing the seeds 13 into the long base sheet 11. Here, if the hardness E2 of the roller 52 in the seed side is too high and the hardness of the long base sheet 11 is too low, a seed 13 may break through the long base sheet 11 and fall off. Accordingly, it is necessary for the hardness E2 of the roller 52 in the seed side to be appropriately soft depending on the kinds of target seeds 13.
[0075] Although the rollers 51 and 52 are used for both sides of the seeded paper 15 in this apparatus, the same function can be realized by using a belt for at least one of the sides.
[0076] With the aforementioned configuration, the seeds 13 firmly and fixedly adhere to the adhesive points in the long base sheet 11. It is possible that seeds may attach to the long base sheet 11 at a part out of the adhesive points due to static electricity or the like, or a few seeds may adhere to a single adhesive point due to the protruding adhesive. In view of such cases, it is preferable that the active removal section F using a soft brush or the like is provided for removing the excess seeds 13. Although
[0077] It should be noted that such an active removal section F may be unnecessary depending on the kind of seeds 13.
[0078] The base sheet holding sections J1 to J3, which use the suction force by the fan for holding the long base sheet 11, are placed at appropriate places of the seeded paper production apparatus according to the present embodiment.
[0079] Although
[0080] In the apparatus according to the aforementioned embodiment, the width of the long base sheet 11 can be freely determined in the range from the toilet-paper width or the like to several tens of cm, depending on the request from cultivation methods or apparatuses, without significantly changing the basic configuration of the apparatus.
[0081] Now, an example of the seeded paper produced by the seeded paper production apparatus according to the present embodiment, and an example of the cultivation using the seeded paper are described with reference to
[0082]
[0083] An example of the cultivation of baby leaves by the hydroponic culture, using a tray 71, as shown in
[0084] In recent years, vegetable factories have been increased, so that the labor relating to the cultivation itself can be significantly saved. However, manpower is required for seeding, harvesting, and controlling, and thus the profitability is not improved whatsoever. In particular, immature vegetables, such as baby leaves, have a small plant body, so that the seeding should be performed for many seeds. In addition, harvesting should be made for a large amount of crops. Thus, the labor productivity in terms of the seeding and harvesting is low, causing such immature vegetables to be traded at high prices.
[0085] However, the labor cost required for the seeding can be significantly reduced by cultivating the baby leaves by the hydroponic culture using the seeded paper according to the present invention.
[0086] For example, when the seeded paper 60 having the width w=110 mm shown in
[0087] For more efficient seeding, it is only required to increase the width of the seeded paper 60. If a seeded paper with the width of 570 mm is used, for example, the seeding to a tray 71 is completed only by placing a single seeded paper on the tray 71.
[0088] It is also possible to efficiently produce mixed baby leaves at a ratio in response to the marketing demand by appropriately setting each kind of seeded paper 60 (kinds of the vegetables) among the five seeded papers in
REFERENCE SIGNS LIST
[0089] 10 . . . Seeded Paper Production Apparatus [0090] A . . . Base Sheet Supply Section [0091] B . . . First Buffer Section [0092] C . . . Adhesive Printing Section [0093] D . . . Seed Adhesion Section [0094] E . . . Base Sheet Transportation/Seed Pressing Section [0095] F . . . Active Removal Section [0096] G . . . Second Buffer Section [0097] H . . . Base Sheet Winding Section [0098] 11 . . . Long Base Sheet [0099] 12 . . . Adhesive [0100] 13 . . . Seed [0101] 15 . . . Seeded Paper [0102] J1, J2, J3 . . . Base Sheet Holding Section [0103] 21 . . . Body of Buffer Section [0104] 22 . . . Fan of Buffer Section [0105] 23 . . . Motor of Buffer Section [0106] 24 . . . Sensor of Buffer Section [0107] 31 . . . Printer [0108] 32 . . . Mask [0109] 33 . . . Push-up Member [0110] 35 . . . Transportation Surface [0111] 36 . . . Hole, Slit [0112] 37 . . . Fan [0113] 41 . . . Horizontal Backboard [0114] 42 . . . Vertical Backboard [0115] 43 . . . Suction Plate [0116] 44 . . . Guide Plate [0117] 51, 52 . . . Roller [0118] 60 . . . Seeded Paper [0119] 61 . . . Base Sheet [0120] 62 . . . Seed [0121] 71 . . . Tray