JP2021007359A - Culture apparatus - Google Patents

Abstract

To provide a culture apparatus equipped with an illumination device having low power consumption and long life.SOLUTION: A culture apparatus comprises: an LED illumination device which irradiates a culture chamber in which subjects are arranged with light; a freezing circuit having an evaporator which cools down gas that is sent at least to the culture chamber; and a blowing part which sends gas around the evaporator toward the LED illumination device.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 2

Description

The present invention relates to a culture apparatus.

There are known culture devices capable of growing plants, culturing plant cells, and breeding insects using an artificial light source such as a fluorescent lamp.

In recent years, as disclosed in Patent Document 1, a culture device including an LED lighting device as an artificial light source is being developed. When an LED lighting device is used instead of the fluorescent lamp, the power consumption of the culture device can be reduced.

Japanese Patent No. 4761729

However, the higher the temperature of the LED lighting device, the shorter the life of the LED lighting device.

The present invention has been made in view of such a situation, and an object of the present invention is to provide a culture device having low power consumption and having a long-life lighting device.

The culture apparatus according to the present invention includes an LED lighting device that irradiates a culture chamber in which an object is arranged, a refrigeration circuit having at least an evaporator that cools a gas sent to the culture chamber, and the LED lighting. It is provided with a blower that sends gas around the evaporator toward the device.

According to the present invention, it is possible to provide a culture device having a low power consumption and a long life of a lighting device.

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of an example of a culture apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 2 is a vertical cross-sectional view of the culture apparatus according to the embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 3 is a diagram showing an example of a temperature control system included in the culture apparatus according to the embodiment of the present invention.

Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings. The embodiment described below is an example, and the present invention is not limited to this embodiment.

By controlling the internal temperature, humidity, and illuminance, the culturing device 1 can grow plants, cultivate plant cells, tissues, and organs, and breed and raise insects. Hereinafter, an object for culturing, breeding, and raising in the culture apparatus 1 will be simply referred to as an object.

First, the appearance of the culture apparatus 1 will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 1 is a perspective view of the culture apparatus 1 according to the embodiment of the present invention. In the incubator 1, the side facing the user during use (the side with the front outer door and the front inner door, which will be described later) is the front, and the opposite is the back. In addition, the left and right are determined based on the case of looking from front to back.

The culture device 1 includes a main body 10, a front inner door 20, a front outer door 21, a left side outer door 31, a right side outer door 41, and an LED lighting device 101.

The main body 10 includes a ceiling portion 11, a culture chamber 12, a heat insulating portion 12a, a lower machine chamber 13, a left side machine room 14, a right side machine room 15, and rectifying plates 51 and 61. As will be described in detail later, the main body 10 includes a straightening vane 51 on the front side of the main body 10 and a straightening vane 61 on the left side, and a straightening plate on the right side, although not shown.

The ceiling portion 11 includes an operation panel 11a. The operation panel 11a is a display unit that displays an input button for the user to input information on the object to the culture device 1 and a screen including a notification to the user and information necessary for the user to perform an input operation. It has.

The ceiling portion 11 has a shape protruding forward. On the lower surface of the portion protruding forward of the ceiling portion 11, a ventilation port 11c (see FIG. 2) through which the gas inside the culture apparatus 1 is discharged to the outside is provided.

Discharge ports 11b are formed on the front surface and the left side surface of the ceiling portion 11 through which the gas inside the culture apparatus 1 passes when it is discharged to the outside. Although not shown, a discharge port is also formed on the right side surface of the ceiling portion 11.

The culture room 12 is a room in which an object is arranged. The upper, lower, and rear sides of the culture chamber 12 are covered with a heat insulating portion 12a filled with a heat insulating material 300 (see FIG. 2). The left and right sides of the culture chamber 12 are covered by the inner left side plate 30 and the inner right side plate 40, respectively. The front surface of the culture chamber 12 is open. The opening of the culture chamber 12 can be opened and closed by the front inner door 20. Inside the culture chamber 12, the temperature, humidity, and illuminance are controlled so as to be suitable for culturing the object. A plurality of shelf boards 12b on which objects are arranged are arranged in the culture chamber 12.

The lower machine room 13 is located below the culture room 12. In the lower machine room 13, equipment and the like constituting the refrigeration circuit 200 (see FIG. 3), which will be described in detail later, are arranged.

A discharge port 13c is formed on the front surface of the lower machine room 13. The gas in the lower machine room 13 flows toward the outside of the lower machine room 13 through the discharge port 13c.

The left side machine room 14 is arranged on the left side of the lower machine room 13, and the right side machine room 15 is arranged on the right side of the lower machine room 13. Inside the left side machine room 14 and the right side machine room 15, converters for stabilizing the lighting of the LED lighting device 101, which will be described later, can be arranged as needed. The converter in the left side machine room 14 stabilizes the lighting of the LED lighting device 101 on the left side outer door 31 side. The converter in the machine room 15 on the right side stabilizes the lighting of the LED lighting device 101 on the outer door 41 side on the right side. A converter for stabilizing the lighting of the LED lighting device 101 on the front outer door 21 side can be arranged inside the ceiling portion 11 as needed. The converter may be built in the LED lighting device 101 instead of being installed in the left side machine room 14, the right side machine room 15, and the ceiling portion 11.

A discharge port 14a is formed on the left side surface of the left side machine room 14. The gas in the lower machine room 13 flows toward the outside of the left side machine room 14 through the discharge port 14a. Although not shown, a discharge port is also formed on the right side surface of the right side machine room 15, and the gas in the right side machine room 15 goes to the outside of the right side machine room 15 through the discharge port. Flow.

An intake port 13b is formed on the rear surface of the culture device 1 and on the upper side of the lower machine room 13 (see FIG. 2). The outside air is taken into the inside of the duct 73 from the intake port 13b.

Ventilation ports 13a (see FIG. 2) are formed on the front side between the culture chamber 12 and the lower machine room 13, around the lowermost end of the inner left side plate 30, and around the lowermost end of the inner right side plate 40. The gas taken in between the culture chamber 12 and the lower machine chamber 13 from the intake port 13b, that is, in the duct 73 (see FIG. 2) flows through the ventilation port 13a into the air passage 74.

A straightening vane 51 is provided on the front side so as to face the ventilation port 13a on the front side. A straightening vane 61 is provided on the left side so as to face the ventilation port 13a of the inner left side plate 30. Further, a straightening vane is provided on the right side so as to face the ventilation port of the inner right side plate 40. In the present embodiment, the straightening vanes 51 and 61 have an L-shaped vertical cross-sectional shape that covers the ventilation port 13a from the front.

The front inner door 20 is attached to the inner right side plate 40 via a hinge so that the opening of the culture chamber 12 can be opened and closed. When the front inner door 20 is closed, the front inner door 20 closes the opening of the culture chamber 12. A window portion 20a for transmitting light from the outside or the inside of the culture chamber 12 toward the front inner door 20 is attached to the front inner door 20. The window portion 20a is made of a material that allows light to pass through, such as glass.

Windows 30a and 40a are attached to the inner left side plate 30 and the inner right side plate 40 of the culture chamber 12. Similar to the window portion 20a, the windows 30a and 40a also have a function of transmitting light from inside and outside the culture chamber.

The front outer door 21, the left outer door 31, and the right outer door 41 can be opened and closed, respectively. When the front outer door 21 is closed, the front outer door 21 covers the front inner door 20. When the left side outer door 31 is closed, it covers the inner left side plate 30, the left side machine room 14, and the left side surface of the ceiling portion 11. When the right side outer door 41 is closed, it covers the inner right side plate 40, the right side machine room 15, and the right side surface of the ceiling portion 11.

The front outer door 21 forms a gap that serves as an air passage 74 (see FIG. 2) with the front inner door 20. The left side outer door 31 forms a gap serving as an air passage 74 with the inner left side plate 30. The right side outer door 41 forms a gap serving as an air passage 74 with the inner right side plate 40. An LED lighting device 101 is arranged in these air passages 74.

The front outer door 21 and the left side outer door 31 each include a fixing portion 21b and a fixing portion 31b inside. A plurality of LED lighting devices 101 are fixed side by side to the fixing portions 21b and 31b. Although not shown, the right side outer door 41 is provided with a fixing portion similar to the fixing portions 21b and 31b inside. A plurality of LED lighting devices are fixed side by side to the fixed portion of the right side outer door 41. The LED lighting device may not be fixed to the culture device 1 by a fixing method of being fixed side by side with respect to the fixing portion, and there are various fixing methods of the LED lighting device to the culture device 1.

Above the front outer door 21, a discharge port 21a that penetrates the upper surface of the front outer door 21 in the vertical direction is formed.

Discharge ports 31a and 41a are formed above the left side outer door 31 and the right side outer door 41, respectively. The discharge port 31a is formed at a position facing the discharge port 11b formed on the left side surface of the ceiling portion 11 when the left side outer door 31 is closed. Further, the discharge port 41a is formed at a position facing the discharge port (not shown) formed on the right side surface of the ceiling portion 11 when the right side outer door 41 is closed.

The LED lighting device 101 emits light so that the inside of the culture chamber 12 has an appropriate brightness under the control of the control device 100 described later. The light emitted from the LED lighting device 101 passes through the windows 20a, 30a, and 40a and travels inside the culture chamber 12.

Next, the internal structure of the culture apparatus 1 will be described with reference to FIGS. 2 and 3. FIG. 2 is a vertical cross-sectional view of the culture apparatus 1 according to the embodiment of the present invention when viewed from the right side. In FIG. 2, the solid arrow indicates the flow of gas flowing around the LED lighting device 101, and the broken line arrow indicates the flow of gas flowing inside the culture chamber 12. FIG. 3 is a diagram showing an example of a temperature control system included in the culture apparatus 1 according to the embodiment of the present invention.

<Temperature control mechanism in the culture chamber>
As a main configuration for adjusting the temperature in the culture chamber 12, the culture apparatus 1 includes a compressor 81, a condenser 82, a pressure reducing device 83a, a cooling / heating device 84, a control valve 90a, and an indoor fan (first fan). ) 85, a duct 86b, a control device 100, and an indoor temperature sensor 110.

The cooling / heating device 84 includes a culture room evaporator (first evaporator) 84a and a heater 84b. The refrigerant of the refrigeration circuit 200, which will be described later, flows through the evaporator 84a for the culture chamber. Therefore, the culture chamber evaporator 84a cools the surrounding gas by exchanging heat between the refrigerant and the surrounding gas. The heater 84b is connected to the AC power supply 250. The heater 84b is, for example, a heating wire, and generates heat when a current is passed from the AC power source 250 to heat the surrounding gas.

The cooling / heater 84 is arranged in the air passage 86a arranged behind the culture chamber 12. The air passage 86a is a gas passage formed between the heat insulating portion 12a and the culture chamber 12.

The indoor fan 85 is arranged on the ceiling surface inside the heat insulating portion 12a and inside the duct 86b.

The duct 86b is arranged on the ceiling of the culture chamber 12 and guides the gas sent from the culture chamber 12 to the air passage 86a. The duct 86b is formed with a ventilation port 86c, which is an inlet for gas flowing into the duct 86b from the inside of the culture chamber 12.

The control device 100 controls the entire culture device 1 including the control of the temperature, humidity, and illuminance in the culture chamber 12. Although not shown, the control device 100 is arranged inside the ceiling portion 11.

The indoor temperature sensor 110 measures the temperature inside the culture chamber 12 and outputs the measurement result to the control device 100. Although not shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, the indoor temperature sensor 110 is arranged at a predetermined position in the culture chamber 12.

<Cooling mechanism of LED lighting device>
As a mechanism for cooling the LED lighting device 101, the culture device 1 includes a lighting evaporator (second evaporator) 71, an outdoor fan (second fan) 72, and a duct 73. The refrigeration circuit 200 and the control device 100 are also involved in cooling the LED lighting device 101.

The duct 73 is arranged below the culture chamber 12 and below the heat insulating portion 12a. A lighting evaporator 71 and an outdoor fan 72 are arranged inside the duct 73.

A refrigerant that circulates in the refrigeration circuit 200 flows inside the lighting evaporator 71 to cool the surrounding air.

The outdoor fan 72 rotates to take in outside air into the duct 73 through the intake port 13b, passes the taken in outside air around the lighting evaporator 71, and then sends it to the air passage 74 to the outside from the discharge port 11b. Discharge to.

Here, the gas is sent to the LED lighting device 101 (intake port 13b, duct 73, air passage 74, discharge port 21a, ventilation port 11c, ceiling portion 11, discharge port 11b) and into the culture chamber 12. It is structurally separated from the passage (culture chamber 12, ventilation port 86c, duct 86b, air passage 86a) through which the gas to be passed passes. That is, the outdoor fan 72 sends the gas around the lighting evaporator 71 to the LED lighting device 101 so as not to mix with the gas cooled by the culture room evaporator 84a. Further, the gas passages (intake port 13b, duct 73, air passage 74, discharge port 21a, ventilation port 11c, ceiling portion 11, discharge port 11b) sent to the LED lighting device 101 and the lower machine room 13 have a structure. Separated. That is, the gas taken in by the outdoor fan 72 does not mix with the gas in the lower machine room 13.

<Humidity control mechanism in the culture chamber>
The culture device 1 includes a humidifier 75, a humidifier duct 76, and a humidity sensor 112 as a humidity control mechanism. In addition, the control device 100 is involved in adjusting the humidity in the culture chamber 12.

The humidifier 75 generates steam. The humidifier duct 76 is, for example, a pipe, and guides the steam generated in the humidifier 75 to the culture chamber 12. The steam generated in the humidifier 75 merges with the gas from the air passage 86a toward the culture chamber 12, and is sent to the culture chamber 12 by the indoor fan 85.

The humidity sensor 112 is provided at a predetermined position in the culture chamber 12, measures the humidity in the culture chamber 12, and outputs the measurement result to the control device 100.

<Illuminance adjustment mechanism in the culture room>
The culture device 1 is provided with a known illuminance adjusting mechanism, and the control device 100 controls the output of each LED lighting device 101 to adjust the illuminance in the culture chamber 12 to a predetermined value.

<Refrigeration circuit>
Next, the refrigeration circuit 200 will be described with reference to FIG. The refrigeration circuit 200 includes a compressor 81, a condenser 82, decompressors 83a and 83b, an evaporator for a culture chamber 84a, an evaporator for lighting 71, and control valves 90a and 90b. The compressor 81 and the control valves 90a and 90b are controlled by the control device 100.

The compressor 81 compresses the sucked refrigerant and discharges it to the condenser 82. The condenser 82 is a device for cooling the refrigerant discharged from the compressor 81, and includes, for example, a meandering tube made of copper or aluminum.

The decompressors 83a and 83b are, for example, capillary tubes, and decompress and cool the refrigerant cooled by the condenser 82 to become a liquid phase.

The culture room evaporator 84a is a device for evaporating the refrigerant decompressed and cooled by the decompressor 83a, and includes, for example, a copper or aluminum tube. By evaporating the refrigerant inside the culture room evaporator 84a, the gas around the culture room evaporator 84a is cooled. The gas around the culture room evaporator 84a includes a gas that passes around the culture room evaporator 84a and is sent to the culture room 12.

The illumination evaporator 71 is an evaporator provided in parallel with the culture room evaporator 84a. The illumination evaporator 71 is a device for evaporating the liquid phase refrigerant decompressed and cooled by the decompressor 83b, and includes, for example, a tube made of copper or aluminum. The refrigerant evaporates inside the lighting evaporator 71 to cool the gas around the lighting evaporator 71. The gas around the illuminating evaporator 71 includes a gas that passes around the illuminating evaporator 71 and is sent to the LED illuminating device 101.

The refrigerant that has passed through the culture room evaporator 84a and the lighting evaporator 71 and has become a gas phase is sucked into the compressor 81.

The control valve 90b is controlled to open and close by the control device 100 to control whether or not the refrigerant flows into the decompressor 83b and, by extension, the lighting evaporator 71. The control valve 90a adjusts the amount of the refrigerant flowing into the culture chamber evaporator 84a. The opening degree of the control valve 90a is controlled by the control device 100. When the opening degree of the control valve 90a is large, the amount of the refrigerant circulating in the refrigeration circuit 200 increases, so that the cooling effect of the culture chamber evaporator 84a is enhanced. On the other hand, when the opening degree of the control valve 90a is small, the amount of the refrigerant circulating in the refrigerating circuit 200 is reduced, so that the cooling effect of the culture chamber evaporator 84a is reduced.

Next, the operation of the culture apparatus 1 will be described.

The control device 100 adjusts the temperature, humidity and illuminance in the culture chamber 12 as described above. The amount of electric power consumed for temperature adjustment and humidity adjustment of the culture chamber 12 is about the same as the conventional one. In the present embodiment, since the LED lighting device 101 is used as the lighting device, the power consumption P2 is compared with the power consumption P1 when the conventional fluorescent lamp is used. Is small (P1> P2).

Therefore, in the present embodiment, a part of the power consumption P4 (<P3) of the power consumption P3 (= P1-P2) that can be reduced by changing the lighting device to the LED lighting device is used for cooling the LED lighting device 101. It is devoted.

When the information of the object is input from the operation panel 11a, the control device 100 uses the refrigerating circuit 200 and the heater so that the temperature, humidity and illuminance inside the culture chamber 12 become desired values based on the input information. It controls 84b, an LED lighting device, and the like.

The control device 100 compares the target temperature in the culture chamber 12 with the actual temperature in the culture chamber 12. The output value from the room temperature sensor 110 is used as the actual temperature in the culture room 12. Then, the control device 100 determines whether or not the target temperature and the actual temperature satisfy a predetermined condition. The predetermined condition is that the target temperature TP in the culture chamber 12 and the actual temperature TA in the culture chamber 12 satisfy the relationship of TP ≧ TA + ΔT. Here, ΔT is a constant value, for example, 20 ° C.

When the predetermined condition is not satisfied, that is, when TP <TA + ΔT, the control device 100 performs a temperature adjustment operation utilizing the cooling action of the refrigeration circuit 200. At this time, since the refrigeration circuit 200 is operating, the outside air taken into the incubator 1 by the outdoor fan 72 is cooled by the lighting evaporator 71. Then, the gas cooled by the illuminating evaporator 71 is supplied to the LED illuminating device 101 by the outdoor fan 72.

For example, when the target temperature of the culture chamber 12 is lower than the actual temperature in the culture chamber 12, that is, when it is necessary to lower the temperature in the culture chamber 12, it can be said that the above-mentioned predetermined conditions are not satisfied. .. In this case, the control device 100 operates the compressor 81 and controls the opening degree of the control valve 90a to bring the refrigeration circuit 200 into a predetermined operating state. Further, the control device 100 operates the indoor fan 85 to send the air cooled by the culture room evaporator 84a into the culture room 12.

At this time, the air around the lighting evaporator 71 is also cooled. The control device 100 operates the outdoor fan 72 to send the gas around the lighting evaporator 71, that is, the air cooled by the lighting evaporator 71 to the periphery of the LED lighting device 101. At this time, the gas sent to the LED lighting device 101, that is, the cooled air, is guided toward the LED lighting device 101 by the action of the straightening vanes 51 and 61. Therefore, the LED lighting device 101 is cooled, and the life of the LED lighting device 101 can be extended.

When the target temperature in the culture chamber 12 is higher than the actual temperature in the culture chamber 12 (however, when the above-mentioned predetermined conditions are not satisfied), the control device 100 operates the heater 84b. Further, the compressor 81 is operated and the opening degree of the control valve 90a is controlled to bring the refrigeration circuit 200 into a predetermined operating state. Then, the control device 100 operates the indoor fan 85 to send the air that has been heated by the heater 84b and cooled by the culture room evaporator 84a into the culture room 12.

At this time, the control device 100 opens the control valve 90b, operates the outdoor fan 72, and sends the air of the outside air temperature to the periphery of the LED lighting device 101. The outside air is cooled around the illumination evaporator 71. Then, the cooled air is guided toward the LED lighting device 101 by the straightening vanes 51 and 61. Therefore, the LED lighting device 101 is cooled, and the life of the LED lighting device 101 can be extended.

As described above, even when the temperature in the culture chamber 12 is raised, if the above-mentioned predetermined conditions are not satisfied, the refrigerating circuit 200 operates, so that the temperature is adjusted using both the refrigerating circuit 200 and the heater 84b. ..

When a predetermined condition is satisfied, that is, when TP ≧ TA + ΔT, the control device 100 performs a temperature adjustment operation that does not utilize the cooling action of the refrigeration circuit 200. At this time, since the refrigeration circuit 200 is not operating, the outside air taken into the incubator 1 by the outdoor fan 72 is not cooled by the lighting evaporator 71. That is, the outside air taken in by the outdoor fan 72 is directly supplied to the LED lighting device 101.

For example, when the target temperature of the culture chamber 12 is 50 ° C., the actual temperature in the culture chamber 12 is 30 ° C., and the constant value ΔT is 20 ° C., the control device 100 operates the heater 84b. If the refrigeration circuit 200 is operating, it is stopped. Further, the control device 100 operates the indoor fan 85 and sends the air heated by the heater 84b into the culture chamber 12.

At this time, since the refrigeration circuit 200 is not operating, the air around the illumination evaporator 71 is not cooled. The control device 100 operates the outdoor fan 72 to send the gas around the lighting evaporator 71, that is, the outside air not cooled by the lighting evaporator 71 to the periphery of the LED lighting device 101. At this time, the air around the illuminating evaporator 71 flows out from the duct 73 and then is guided toward the LED illuminating device 101 by the rectifying plates 51 and 61. Here, since the outside air is not cooled around the illumination evaporator 71, the air around the illumination evaporator 71 remains at the outside air temperature. However, the outside air temperature is relatively low. Therefore, the LED lighting device 101 is cooled, and the life of the LED lighting device 101 can be extended.

When it is necessary to gradually bring the inside of the culture chamber 12 closer to the target temperature, the control device 100 puts the refrigerating circuit 200 into a predetermined operating state and operates the heater 84b. Further, the control device 100 operates the indoor fan 85 and sends air adjusted to an appropriate temperature by the culture chamber evaporator 84a and the heater 84b into the culture chamber 12.

On the other hand, the air around the lighting evaporator 71 is cooled. The control device 100 operates the outdoor fan 72 and sends the air cooled by the lighting evaporator 71 to the periphery of the LED lighting device 101. At this time, the cooled air is guided toward the LED lighting device 101 by the action of the straightening vanes 51 and 61. Therefore, the LED lighting device 101 is cooled, and the life of the LED lighting device 101 can be extended.

The culture device 1 does not necessarily have to include the straightening vanes 51 and 61. For example, a duct or a tube through which gas passes may be provided from the vicinity of the illuminating evaporator 71 to the vicinity of the LED illuminating device 101. Such a duct or tube can effectively guide the gas to the LED illuminator 101.

On the contrary, the temperature of the gas after cooling the LED lighting device 101 increases, but the degree of increase is small, and the temperature may be sufficiently lower than that of the outside air. In this case, the air after cooling the LED lighting device 101 may be sent to the periphery of the lighting evaporator 71 again, recooled, and then sent toward the LED lighting device 101. That is, the gas for cooling the LED lighting device 101 may be circulated. By doing so, the degree of cooling required for the lighting evaporator 71 can be reduced, and further energy saving of the compressor 81 and the culture device 1 can be achieved.

In this embodiment, the gas sent to the LED lighting device 101 and the gas sent to the culture chamber 12 are not mixed. That is, the gas passage sent to the LED lighting device 101 and the gas passage sent into the culture chamber 12 are separated. However, both passages may intersect. For example, (1) the air passage 74 and the duct 86b are connected so that the gas flowing through the air passage 74 flows into the duct 86b, and (2) the duct 86b is connected to the air passage 86a at one end. Is connected to an additional duct connected to the duct 73, and the gas flowing out of the duct 86b may be configured to flow to both the duct 86b and the additional duct.

In this case, the temperature of the culture chamber 12 and the cooling of the LED lighting device 101 can be performed only by the evaporator 84a for the culture chamber. Further, the gas around the evaporator 84a for the culture chamber can be sent to the inside of the culture chamber 12 and the periphery of the LED lighting device 101 only by the indoor fan 85.

From the viewpoint of cooling the LED lighting device 101, the lighting evaporator 71 and the culture room evaporator 84a do not necessarily have to be connected in parallel in the refrigeration circuit 200. That is, the illumination evaporator 71 may be provided in series with the culture room evaporator 84a and on the downstream side of the culture room evaporator 84a.

Further, the illuminating evaporator 71 may be arranged above the LED illuminating device 101, for example, inside the ceiling portion 11. The gas cooled by the illuminating evaporator 71 is heavier (has a higher specific gravity) than the uncooled gas. Therefore, according to such an arrangement, the cooled gas can flow through the inside of the air passage 74 from the upper side to the lower side along the LED lighting device 101 without using a fan such as the outdoor fan 72. Can be done. In this case, it is preferable to open the lower part of the air passage 74 to the atmosphere in order to promote the flow of the cooled air. In this case, the members constituting the air passage 74 (for example, the outer door 21, the inner door 20, the left side outer door 31, the inner left side plate 30, the right side outer door 41, and the inner right side plate 40) are LED lighting devices. It constitutes a blower unit that sends gas to 101.

According to this embodiment, the LED lighting device 101 is used as a device for irradiating the culture chamber 12 with light. Therefore, the power consumption required for adjusting the illuminance of the incubator 1 can be kept low as compared with the case where a fluorescent lamp is used. Further, the gas around the illumination evaporator 71 constituting the refrigeration circuit 200 is sent to the LED illumination device 101. Here, when the refrigeration circuit 200 is operating, the gas around the illuminating evaporator 71 is cooled, so that the LED illuminating device 101 can be cooled. When the refrigeration circuit 200 is not operating, the uncooled gas, that is, the outside air is sent to the LED lighting device 101 as it is. The LED lighting device 101, which generates heat and is in a high temperature state, can be cooled even if it is not cooled by the lighting evaporator 71. That is, the LED lighting device 101 can be cooled by sending the gas around the lighting evaporator 71 to the LED lighting device 101. Therefore, the life of the LED lighting device 101 can be extended.

Further, according to the present embodiment, the cooled gas is obtained only by allocating the power consumption P4, which is smaller than the power consumption P3 that can be reduced by changing the lighting device to the LED lighting device, to the cooling operation of the LED lighting device 101. Can be sent to the LED lighting device 101.

Therefore, according to the present embodiment, it is possible to provide a culture device having low power consumption and having a long life lighting device.

Since the culture device 1 includes the rectifying plates 51 and 61, the air around the lighting evaporator 71 can be effectively guided toward the LED lighting device 101.

In the embodiment, the straightening vanes 51 and 61 are plate members having an L-shaped vertical cross section, but they do not necessarily have to be such members. For example, it may be a flat plate extending diagonally from the vicinity of the ventilation port 13a toward the LED lighting device 101. In this case, the gas can be easily guided by the LED lighting device 101.

When the gas passage sent to the LED lighting device 101 and the gas passage sent into the culture chamber 12 are not structurally separated, when the heater 84b is activated, the heated gas is sent to the LED lighting device 101. Will be done. However, in this embodiment, the two passages are structurally separated. Therefore, the gas warmed by the heater 84b is not sent to the LED lighting device 101.

Further, in the present embodiment, the gas used for cooling the LED lighting device 101 does not circulate. Therefore, when the refrigeration circuit 200 is not operating, the cooling effect of the LED lighting device 101 is higher than that in the case where the gas once used for cooling is circulated and reused.

In the refrigeration circuit 200 of the present embodiment, the illumination evaporator 71 is provided in parallel with the culture room evaporator 84a. That is, the pipe connected to the lighting evaporator 71 and the pipe connected to the culture room evaporator 84a are separated. Thereby, the flow rate of the refrigerant flowing through the lighting evaporator 71 and the flow rate of the refrigerant flowing through the culture room evaporator 84a can be controlled separately. Therefore, the degree of the cooling effect of the lighting evaporator 71 and the culture chamber evaporator 84a, that is, the temperatures of the lighting evaporator 71 and the culture chamber evaporator 84a can be controlled separately. Therefore, as long as the refrigeration circuit 200 is operating, the temperature in the culture chamber 12 and the cooling operation of the LED lighting device 101 can be controlled separately.

<Note>
In addition, all of the above embodiments are merely examples of embodiment of the present invention, and the technical scope of the present invention should not be construed in a limited manner by these. That is, the present invention can be implemented in various forms without departing from its gist or its main features.

INDUSTRIAL APPLICABILITY The present invention is suitably used as a culturing device for growing plants, culturing plant cells, breeding insects, and the like.

1 Culture equipment 10 Main body 11 Ceiling part 11a Operation panel 11b, 13c, 14a, 21a, 31a, 41a Outlet 11c, 13a, 86c Ventilation port 12 Culture room 12a Insulation part 12b Shelf board 13 Lower machine room 13b Intake port 14 Left side Surface machine room 15 Right side machine room 20 Front inner door 20a, 30a, 40a Window part 21 Front outer door 21b, 31b Fixed part 30 Inner left plate 31 Left side outer door 40 Inner right plate 41 Right side outer door 51,61 rectification Plate 71 Evaporator for lighting 72 Outdoor fan 73,86b Duct 74,86a Air passage 75 Humidifier 76 Humidifier duct 81 Compressor 82 Condenser 83a, 83b Decompressor 84 Cooler / heater 84a Evaporator for culture room 84b Heater 85 Indoor fan 90a, 90b Control valve 100 Control device 101 LED lighting device 110 Indoor temperature sensor 112 Humidifier sensor 200 Refrigerator circuit 250 AC power supply 300 Insulation material

Claims (7)

An LED lighting device that irradiates the culture chamber in which the object is placed with light,
A refrigeration circuit having at least an evaporator for cooling the gas sent to the culture chamber, and
A blower that sends gas around the evaporator toward the LED lighting device, and
A culture device comprising. The culture apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the blower further sends a gas around the evaporator into the inside of the culture chamber. The evaporator has a first evaporator that cools the gas sent to the culture chamber and a second evaporator that cools the gas sent to the LED lighting device.
The blower unit has a first fan that sends the gas cooled by the first evaporator into the inside of the culture chamber, and the gas around the second evaporator is cooled by the first evaporator. The culture apparatus according to claim 1 or 2, which includes a second fan that sends the LED lighting apparatus so as not to mix with the gas. The culture device according to claim 3, wherein the second fan takes in gas from the outside, sends the taken-in gas toward the LED lighting device, and further discharges the gas to the outside. When the target temperature in the culture chamber is equal to or higher than the temperature in the culture chamber by a certain value or more, the blower sends a gas that has not been cooled by the second evaporator to the LED lighting device. The culture according to claim 3 or 4, wherein when the target temperature is less than the constant value higher than the temperature in the culture chamber, the gas cooled by the second evaporator is sent to the LED lighting device. apparatus. The culture apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 5, further comprising a rectifying plate that guides the gas sent to the LED lighting device by the blower unit to the LED lighting device. Further equipped with a heater to heat the surrounding gas,
The culture apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 6, wherein the blower further sends a gas heated by the heater to the inside of the culture chamber.

Images