PLANT DRAW-IN DEVICE AND PLANT BODY TRANSPLANTATION SYSTEM

Abstract

To provide a plant draw-in device and a plant body transplantation system that can draw roots of plant bodies into holes reliably with a simple structure, so that there is no need of monitoring or manual operation for roots insertion and the production efficiency can be improved. The plant draw-in device 110 includes a draw-in tube 111 that can be disposed below a hole 121, a draw-in member 113 provided such as to be capable of protruding from the draw-in tube 111, and a drive unit 114 that reciprocally moves the draw-in member 113 such as to come out from, and retract into, the draw-in tube 111. The draw-in member 113 is formed such that a portion thereof protruding from the draw-in tube 111 deforms and spreads outward.

Claims

1. A plant draw-in device for drawing roots of plant bodies into holes, the plant draw-in device comprising a draw-in tube that can be disposed below a hole, a draw-in member provided such as to be capable of protruding from the draw-in tube, and a drive unit that reciprocally moves the draw-in member such as to come out from, and retract into, the draw-in tube, the draw-in member being formed such that a portion thereof protruding from the draw-in tube deforms and spreads outward.

2. The plant draw-in device according to claim 1, wherein the draw-in member has a plurality of ribs disposed along an inner circumference of the draw-in tube to extend along a protruding direction, the plurality of ribs being imparted with resilience so that each of the ribs spreads radially outward of the draw-in tube.

3. The plant draw-in device according to claim 2, further comprising a lateral member provided between adjacent ribs, the lateral member allowing the ribs to spread outward.

4. The plant draw-in device according to claim 3, wherein the lateral member is formed in a film shape.

5. A plant body transplantation system comprising a cultivation panel provided with a plurality of holes that vertically penetrate the cultivation panel and can hold plant bodies, and a plant draw-in device for drawing roots of plant bodies into the holes, the plant draw-in device being the plant draw-in device according to claim 1, and the draw-in tube having an inner diameter that is not greater than an inner diameter of each of the holes in the cultivation panel.

6. The plant body transplantation system according to claim 5, wherein the draw-in tube has a distal end part formed in a shape such that the distal end part can be inserted into each of the holes of the cultivation panel from below.

7. The plant body transplantation system according to claim 5, wherein the holes in the cultivation panel each have an upper end portion with an inner diameter that is larger than an inner diameter of a lower end portion thereof.

8. The plant body transplantation system according to claim 5, wherein a maximum diameter of the draw-in member when the draw-in member spreads outward above the cultivation panel is not greater than a pitch of the plurality of holes in the cultivation panel.

Description

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS

[0027] FIG. 1 is a schematic illustrative diagram of a plant body.

[0028] FIG. 2 is a schematic illustrative diagram of a cultivation panel.

[0029] FIG. 3 is a perspective view of a plant draw-in device according to one embodiment of the present invention.

[0030] FIG. 4 is a cross section viewed from one side of FIG. 3.

[0031] FIG. 5 is a perspective view of the plant draw-in device according to one embodiment of the present invention when the draw-in member is protruded.

[0032] FIG. 6 is a cross section viewed from one side of FIG. 5.

REFERENCE SIGNS LIST

[0033] 101 Plant body [0034] 102 Cultivation pot [0035] 103 Root [0036] 110 Plant draw-in device [0037] 111 Draw-in tube [0038] 112 Distal end part [0039] 113 Draw-in member (ribs) [0040] 114 Drive unit [0041] 120 Cultivation panel [0042] 121 Hole [0043] 122 Inner circumferential surface

DESCRIPTION OF EMBODIMENTS

[0044] The plant draw-in device of the present invention resides in a plant draw-in device for drawing roots of plant bodies into holes and includes a draw-in tube that can be disposed below a hole, a draw-in member provided such as to be capable of protruding from the draw-in tube, and a drive unit that reciprocally moves the draw-in member such as to come out from, and retract into, the draw-in tube, wherein the draw-in member is formed such that a portion thereof protruding from the draw-in tube deforms and spreads outward. The plant body transplantation system according to the present invention resides in a plant body transplantation system including a cultivation panel provided with a plurality of holes that vertically penetrate the cultivation panel and can hold plant bodies, and a plant draw-in device for drawing roots of plant bodies into the holes, wherein the plant draw-in device is the plant draw-in device described above, and the draw-in tube has an inner diameter that is not greater than an inner diameter of each of the holes in the cultivation panel. The device and system may have any specific configuration as long as roots of plant bodies can be drawn into holes reliably with a simple structure, so that there is no need of monitoring or manual operation for roots insertion and the production efficiency can be improved.

[0045] All the drawings to be used for the description below are simplified and do not indicate the actual arrangements, shapes, dimensional ratios and the like.

[0046] First, schematics of one example of a plant body and a cultivation panel handled in the plant draw-in device and plant body transplantation system of the present invention will be described.

[0047] Plant bodies 101 are cultivated each in one cultivation pot 102 as shown in FIG. 1 and their stems and leaves grow into the space above the cultivation pots 102, while their roots (including rhizomes) grow into the space below.

[0048] The cultivation pots 102 are inserted and held in holes 121 formed in a cultivation panel 120, so that the plant bodies 101 are handled by the cultivation panel 120 and cultivated in various cultivation equipment in a plant factory or the like.

[0049] A plurality of holes 121 are formed in the cultivation panel 120 as shown in FIG. 2. Predetermined types of panels varying in the number, spacing, and the like of the holes 121 are prepared in accordance with the spreading of the stems and leaves of the plant bodies 101, and the plant bodies are transplanted from one to another of the cultivation panels 120 with the cultivation pots 102 in accordance with the plants' growth.

EMBODIMENT 1

[0050] The plant draw-in device 110 according to a first embodiment of the present invention includes, as shown in FIG. 3 to FIG. 6, a draw-in tube 111 that can be disposed below a hole 121 in the cultivation panel 120, a draw-in member 113 provided such as to be capable of protruding from the draw-in tube 111, and a drive unit 114 that reciprocally moves the draw-in member 113 such as to come out from, and retract into, a distal end part 112 of the draw-in tube 111.

[0051] The draw-in member 113 is made up of a plurality of ribs disposed along the inner circumference of the draw-in tube 111 to extend along the protruding direction.

[0052] The plurality of ribs that make up the draw-in member 113 are imparted with resilience so that the portions thereof protruding from the distal end part 112 of the draw-in tube 111 deform and spread radially outward.

[0053] The draw-in tube 111 has an inner diameter that is not greater than the inner diameter of the holes 121 in the cultivation panel 120, and the distal end part 112 of the draw-in tube 111 is formed in a shape such that the distal end part 112 can be inserted into the hole 121 of the cultivation panel 120 from below.

[0054] Although the illustrated drive unit 114 adopts a form of a fluid cylinder, any drive means may be used.

[0055] The draw-in member 113 may include a lateral member such as a link member or a flexible film member and the like that allows the plurality of ribs to spread outward and restricts the maximum spreading radius.

[0056] The maximum radius of the draw-in member 113 when it spreads outward above the cultivation panel 120 may be set equal to or smaller than the pitch p of the plurality of holes 121 in the cultivation panel 120, so that the roots 103 of the plant body 101 that should be drawn into an adjacent hole 121 are less likely to be drawn in.

[0057] While various mechanisms for carrying out a transplantation operation such as a handling mechanism that grips or moves the plant bodies 101 (or cultivation pots 102), a mechanism that moves and positions the cultivation panels 120, a mechanism that brings the draw-in tube 111 of the plant draw-in device 110 into and out of contact with the underside of the cultivation panel 120, and the like, are not shown, these mechanisms may be laid out in any arrangement, and operations of some or all of these mechanisms may be performed manually by an operator.

[0058] A plant body transplantation system may be configured to include the various mechanisms mentioned above such that a plurality of plant draw-in devices 110 are arranged corresponding to the pitch p of the cultivation pots 102 so that the roots 103 of a plurality of plant bodies 101 are simultaneously drawn into the holes 121 of the cultivation panel 120.

[0059] Although the plurality of holes 121 in the cultivation panel 120 shown in FIG. 1 to FIG. 6 have a cylindrical inner circumferential surface 122, the holes may have any shape.

[0060] For example, the holes may have a conical trapezoid shape wherein the upper end portion has a larger diameter than that of the lower end portion, so that the roots 103 of plant bodies 101 gripped by the draw-in member 113 can be drawn into the holes 121 in the cultivation panel 120 even more smoothly.

[0061] Optionally, a taper or the like of a shape conforming to the outer diameter of the distal end part 112 of the draw-in tube 111 may be provided only at and around the lower end portion where the distal end part 112 of the draw-in tube 111 is inserted.

[0062] According to the embodiment of the present invention configured as described above, roots of plant bodies can be reliably drawn into the holes with a simple structure, so that there is no need of monitoring or manual operation for roots insertion and the production efficiency can be improved. While the embodiment described above is for drawing the plant roots into the holes 121 of the cultivation panel 120, it may be carried out for exchanging the cultivation pot 102 with another empty cultivation pot.