JPH0133150Y2 - - Google Patents

Description

[Detailed description of the invention] [Industrial application field] The present invention relates to a diluting device for liquid fertilizer in hydroponic cultivation and the like.

[Prior art and its problems]

When adjusting the culture solution in hydroponic cultivation, if the nutrient solution is circulated and has a tank, adjustment can be done in batches. However, in the case of continuous feeding such as sand cultivation, it is desirable to be able to freely set any dilution ratio at any necessary time. Various types of liquid fertilizer diluting devices have been developed, but the simple and inexpensive ones have problems with accuracy. In order to improve accuracy, there is a method that detects the flow rate of the main pipe and pressurizes liquid fertilizer into the main pipe using an electric metering pump in proportion to the flow rate, but this method is expensive.

Therefore, instead of this electric metering pump, a third
As shown in the figure, an inexpensive and highly accurate diluting device has been proposed that uses a pump that uses water pressure as driving force to turn on and off the water in the main water supply pipe using a three-way solenoid valve. (Utility patent application No. 58-64841, unpublished) The principle of liquid fertilizer dilution using this device will be explained based on FIGS. 3 and 4.

In FIG. 3, a flowmeter 4 is equipped with a contact (not shown) that opens and closes each time a constant flow of water flows into the main pipe 1, and a relay (not shown) that operates in conjunction with the contact is connected to the flowmeter 4. It combines a three-way solenoid valve 7 that opens and closes with water pressure, and a metering pump 5 that is driven by water pressure.

Although not shown, the flowmeter 4 is, for example, a known rotary flowmeter, and includes a magnet fixed to a rotating shaft and a flowmeter installed on a glass plate facing the rotating magnet. A reed switch is provided, and the contacts of this reed switch open and close according to the amount of water in the main pipe 1. When the flow meter contact is open, the passage between the inflow path 6 from the main pipe 1 to the three-way solenoid valve 7 and the connecting member 8 passing through the pressurizing chamber of the metering pump 5 is open, so that the main pipe 1 is sent to the metering pump 5 through the inflow path 6, the three-way solenoid valve 7, and the connecting member 8 between the metering pump 5 and the three-way solenoid valve 7. Note that the drainage channel 9 is closed at this time.

The metering pump 5 is constructed and operated as shown in FIG. 4, for example.

This figure shows a state in which liquid fertilizer is supplied to the main pipe 1 via the supply path 23 by the water pressure from the connecting member 8 of FIG. From this state, the liquid fertilizer 3 contained in the container shown in FIG. 3 is sucked into the connecting cylinder 102 in the metering pump 5 from the suction pipe 22 by the repulsive force of the spring 101.

When water pressure from the main pipe 1 is applied to the pressurizing chamber 103 via the connecting member 8, the primary diaphragm 104 and the secondary diaphragm 105 provided in the front and rear
4 is pressed. When this pressure exceeds the repulsive force of the spring 101, the connecting rod 106 moves as indicated by the arrow
direction, so that the secondary diaphragm 105 delivers the liquid fertilizer in the connection cylinder 102 through the check valve 107 into the supply channel 23 . As a result, the liquid fertilizer 3 is sent to the confluence 2 of the water in the main pipe 1 and the liquid fertilizer 3,
The water in the main pipe 1 dilutes the liquid fertilizer 3.

Note that the moving length of the diaphragms 104 and 105 is
The pressing length is predetermined by the adjustment dial 110 depending on the amount of liquid fertilizer 3 required.

When a certain amount of water flows through the main pipe 1, the flow meter 4
The contact point attached to the valve is closed, and the detection signal from this opens the drain channel 9 of the three-way solenoid valve 7, and closes the inlet channel 6, so that the main pipe 1
There is no water pressure from the. For this reason, the metering pump 5
The spring 101 actuates the diaphragms 104 and 105 inside, and therefore the water in the pressurizing chamber 103 inside the metering pump 5 is discharged from the connecting member 8 through the three-way solenoid valve 7 to the drain 9, and the liquid The fertilizer 3 is sucked into the connecting cylinder 102 in the metering pump 5 via the suction pipe 22 and the check valve 111.

By repeating the above operations, a certain amount of liquid fertilizer will be injected into a certain amount of water.
This allows you to always obtain the desired dilution ratio.

However, according to this device, when trying to alternately dilute various types of liquid fertilizers, different types of liquid fertilizers come into contact with each other and mix, resulting in precipitation and clogging of the piping.

Therefore, each time the liquid fertilizer is replaced, it is necessary to flush the pipe with water, and it is impossible to dilute multiple types of liquid fertilizer at the same time.

Therefore, an object of the present invention is to provide an automatic dilution supply device for liquid fertilizer that can be applied to any flow rate and allows easy switching of the liquid fertilizer to be used. Therefore, multiple types of liquid fertilizers can be supplied at the same time with accurate dilution ratios.

[Means for solving problems]

In order to solve the above problems, this idea consists of a flowmeter that detects the flow rate of the water supply main, a plurality of three-way valves that open and close according to the detection signal of the flowmeter, and a water supply main that corresponds to the plurality of three-way valves. A plurality of inflow paths branching from the pipe and passing through respective three-way valves of the plurality of three-way valves, and provided corresponding to the plurality of inflow paths,
It has a plurality of liquid fertilizer containers each containing liquid fertilizer, a diaphragm that can respond to water pressure from an inflow channel at the front and rear, and a movement distance adjusting means for arbitrarily setting the movement distance of the diaphragm. a plurality of hydraulic drives provided corresponding to each of the plurality of inflow passages so as to discharge a fixed amount of fluid fertilizer according to a moving distance of the diaphragm responsive to water pressure from the inflow passage within a range set by the means; metering pump,
It is characterized in that it is configured to include a plurality of supply paths that supply liquid fertilizer from each of the plurality of hydraulically driven metering pumps to branch pipes branched in a plurality of directions downstream of the flow meter. The three-way valve, the inflow path, the liquid fertilizer container, the hydraulically driven metering pump, and the supply path are each arranged in parallel with the water supply main pipe.

[Effect]

This idea is structured as above, so
The interaction of multiple three-way solenoid valves, inflow channels, liquid fertilizer containers, water-pressure-driven metering pumps, and supply channels, each arranged in parallel with the water supply pipe, makes it possible to apply to any flow rate and easily switch the liquid fertilizer used.

〔Example〕

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. In the description, the same elements are denoted by the same reference numerals, and redundant description will be omitted.

FIG. 1 and FIG. 2 show an embodiment of the automatic dilution and supply device for liquid fertilizer of the present invention.

FIG. 1 shows three-way solenoid valves 7, 7', inflow passage 6,
6', liquid fertilizer containers 3, 3', water pressure driven metering pumps 5, 5', and supply channels 23, 23' are installed in parallel. It is operated by a panel 10.

In FIG. 1, the main pipe 1 branches into two directions midway, and then merges again. A flow meter 4 is provided upstream of the branch point B, and inflow channels 6 and 6' are further branched from the upstream side. The flow meter 4 is
The main pipe 1 is equipped with a contact (not shown) that opens and closes each time a constant flow of water flows, so that a detection signal can be sent to control the opening and closing of the electromagnetic three-way valves 7 and 7'. The electromagnetic three-way valve 7 is connected to an inflow passage 6, a connecting member 8, and a drainage passage 9. The electromagnetic three-way valve 7' is connected to an inflow passage 6', a connecting member 8', and a drainage passage 9'. There is. The metering pumps 5, 5' are
It is connected to electromagnetic three-way valves 7, 7' via connecting members 8, 8'. The metering pump 5 is connected to a storage container containing the liquid fertilizer 3 and a branch pipe through a suction pipe 22 and a supply path 23. Similarly, the metering pump 5' connects the storage container containing the liquid fertilizer 3' and the branch pipe to the suction pipe 22' and the supply channel 2.
3'.

This embodiment includes three-way solenoid valves 7, 7', an inlet passage 6,
6', liquid fertilizer containers 3, 3', water-pressure driven metering pumps 5, 5', and two supply lines 23, 23' are installed in parallel to one main pipe, a three-way solenoid valve 7 or 7', an inflow Route 6 or 6', liquid fertilizer container 3
3', the hydraulically driven metering pump 5 or 5', and the supply path 23 or 23' are the same as those described with reference to FIGS. 3 and 4 (unpublished), so their explanation will be omitted.

Next, another embodiment will be described based on FIG.
The difference from the above embodiment is that a solenoid valve 11 is provided upstream of the flow meter 4, and the main power source for opening and closing the three-way solenoid valves 7, 7' and the irrigation solenoid valve 11 is incorporated into the operation panel 10. be. On the operation panel 10, a daily schedule is determined by a 24-hour timer, and when the 24-hour timer is turned on, a delay relay with a separately provided timer (hereinafter referred to as sub-timer) is activated. Due to the operation of the sub-timer,
The irrigation solenoid valve 11 attached to the main pipe 1 is opened, and the main pipe 1 is irrigated.

A changeover switch (automatic-manual switch) is installed in this electric circuit, and by supplying power that bypasses the 24-hour timer to the sub-timer, automatic operation can be canceled and irrigation can be performed at will. The irrigation time can be changed as appropriate by setting a sub-timer. The liquid fertilizer injection metering pumps 5, 5' are configured so that whether or not to operate them can be selected by operating a separately provided power relay.

The operation of this embodiment will be explained below. When the irrigation/liquid fertilizer injection switch is set to the liquid fertilizer injection side, the power relay circuit, which has a circuit in series with the contacts attached to the flow meter 4, is connected to the sub-timer relay contacts for any desired time. Power is supplied. Therefore, the power relay performs on-off operation by opening and closing the contacts of the flowmeter 4, and the flowmeter 4
three-way solenoid valves 7, 7' electrically connected to the contacts of
performs opening and closing operations. Therefore, the metering pumps 5, 5' driven by water pressure act in response, and an arbitrarily set amount of liquid fertilizer can be injected into the water flowing in the main pipe 1, making it possible to supply liquid fertilizer at an appropriate dilution ratio. As shown in Fig. 2, when two metering pumps 5, 5' are installed in parallel and the metering pumps 5, 5' are operated alternately, the three-way solenoid valves 7, 7 are connected to the first and second contacts of the power relay. ′ are combined respectively. Further, when the metering pumps 5, 5' are operated simultaneously, the three-way solenoid valves 7, 7' may be connected to the first contact (or second contact) of the power relay.

When the metering pumps 5 and 5' are operated alternately (when the first and second contacts of the power relay are connected to the three-way solenoid valves 7 and 7', respectively), when a certain amount of water flows through the main pipe 1, the flow meter The contact attached to 4 will open. When the contact is opened, the drainage channel 9 and the connecting portion 8 of one of the three-way solenoid valves 7 are opened, and the inflow channel 6 is closed, so that water pressure from the main pipe 1 disappears. Therefore, the spring 101 of the diaphragm 104 in the metering pump 5 works, and the water in the metering pump 5 is discharged from the connection part 8 through the three-way solenoid valve 7 to the drain 9, and the liquid fertilizer 3 is sucked into the metering pump 5. be done. At this time, the drain passage 9' of the other three-way solenoid valve 7' is closed, and the inflow passage 6' and the connection part 8' are opened, so water pressure from the main pipe 1 is applied to the diaphragm 104 of the metering pump 5'. The liquid fertilizer 3' that has been sucked into the metering pump 5' is forced into the main pipe 1 from the confluence point 2'.

By repeating the above operations alternately, predetermined amounts of two types of liquid fertilizer can be injected into a constant flow of water. In addition, if the source of the main pipe 1 is a tank, for example, the water pipes 9, 9'
Water can be saved by returning the water to the tank.

When the metering pumps 5, 5' are operated at the same time (when the three-way solenoid valves 7, 7' are connected to one of the power relay contacts), the metering pumps 5, 5' perform the same operation at the same time. In this case, if the merging points 2, 2' are at least a certain distance away from the point C where the branch pipes rejoin, the liquid fertilizers 3, 3' are both diluted and there is no risk of them coming into contact and causing precipitation. Furthermore, when a large amount of liquid fertilizer is to be injected into the main pipe 1, a diluted liquid fertilizer with a low magnification can be obtained by using the same liquid fertilizers 3 and 3'.

As an example, the component ratio is 7% nitrogen - 20% phosphoric acid
- Same as potassium 0% liquid fertilizer, the ingredient ratio is 10% titanium.
% - Phosphoric acid 0% - Potassium 2% - Hard work 4% - Lime 10%
When a cultivation test was conducted using the device of the present invention to simultaneously dilute and mix liquid fertilizers, it was found that no precipitation occurred in the irrigation pipes at the end of the water supply line, and the crops grew better than before.
By using this device, various component elements can be precisely controlled, and therefore the desired dilution ratio can be obtained for each component, allowing for stricter control than before, making it easier to carry out hydroponic cultivation. The effect is extremely large.

As mentioned above, this device was devised for the purpose of hydroponic cultivation, but it goes without saying that it can also be used to fertilize general field crops or paddy fields with liquid fertilizer.

[Effect of idea]

Since the present invention is configured as described above, it is possible to provide an automatic liquid fertilizer dilution supply device that can be applied to any flow rate and that allows easy switching of the liquid fertilizer to be used. of liquid fertilizer can be supplied at the same time.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

Fig. 1 is a perspective view showing one embodiment of the liquid fertilizer automatic dilution supply device according to the present invention, Fig. 2 is a perspective view showing another embodiment of the present invention, and Fig. 3 is a perspective view showing an embodiment of the liquid fertilizer automatic dilution supply device according to the present invention. FIG. 4 is a perspective view of a dilution supply device using a constant current pump that is turned on and off by a three-way solenoid valve and uses water pressure as a driving force; FIG. 4 is a diagram for explaining the configuration and operation of a water pressure-driven metering pump. . The numbers used in the diagram are commonly used.
1 is the main pipe, 2, 2' are the confluence point, 3, 3' are the liquid fertilizer 4, the flow meter 5, 5' are the metering pump 6, 6' are the inflow channel 7, 7' are the three-way solenoid valves 8, 8' 11 is a solenoid valve, 22 is a suction pipe, 23 is a supply part, 101 is a spring, 102 is a connection part 9, 9' is a drainage channel 10 is an operation panel
1 is a connecting cylinder, 103 is a pressurizing chamber, 104 is a temporary diaphragm, 105 is a secondary diaphragm, 106 is a connecting rod, 1
07 and 111 are check valves, and 110 is an adjustment dial.

Claims (1)

[Claims for Utility Model Registration] 1. A flow meter that detects the flow rate of a water supply main, a plurality of three-way valves that open and close according to the detection signal of the flowmeter, and the water supply main that corresponds to the plurality of three-way valves. a plurality of inflow paths branching from the pipe and passing through respective three-way valves of the plurality of three-way valves; and a plurality of liquid fertilizer containers provided corresponding to the plurality of inflow paths and each containing liquid fertilizer. , having front and rear diaphragms that can respond to water pressure from the inflow channel, and a moving distance adjusting means for arbitrarily setting the moving distance of the diaphragm, and controlling the inflow within the range set by the moving distance adjusting means. discharging a fixed amount of liquid fertilizer according to the distance traveled by the diaphragm in response to water pressure from the road;
A plurality of water pressure driven metering pumps provided corresponding to each of the plurality of inflow channels, and a branch branching the liquid fertilizer from each of the plurality of water pressure drive metering pumps into a plurality of directions downstream of the flow meter. 1. An automatic dilution and supply device for liquid fertilizer, comprising a plurality of supply paths for supplying liquid fertilizer to a pipe. 2. The automatic dilution and supply device for liquid fertilizer according to claim 1, wherein the three-way valve opens and closes the valve for an arbitrary set time.