Hothouse

In conjunction with the cultivation of plants in hothouses, it is known in this art to carry out the cultivation in hotbed trays or wagons which are moved along a cultivation corridor in the hothouse. Thus, U.S. Pat. No. 3,824,736 shows a hothouse in which the plants are started at one end of a cultivation corridor, while the cultivation of the plants is effected as these hotbed trays are moved along the cultivation corridor. Harvesting is then carried out at the other end of the corridor, that is to say the cultivated plants are replanted in other pots or are packaged in some other manner for delivery. In connection with the cultivation of, for example, tomatoes and lettuce, there is a need in the art to be able to harvest the tomatoes or thin the lettuce plants during the cultivation period, for which reason a hothouse of the above-disclosed type is not particularly well-suited to this purpose. One major aspect of the present invention is, therefore, to realize a hothouse which is intended primarily for the cultivation of tomatoes or lettuce and in which the cultivation cycle may progress continuously while individual hotbed trays or cultivation wagons are removed in a rational manner from the hothouse.

To this end, the hothouse according to the invention comprises at least two elongate, co-extensive cultivation corridors, the cultivation wagons of the hothouse being disposed in transverse relationship to the elongate cultivation corridors, the ends of the corridors being interconnected by means of a transfer apparatus in the form of a reciprocal transfer wagon which carries a corridor section designed for receiving the cultivation wagons and which is movable into alignment positions with this corridor section in register with each cultivation corridor. Moreover, the hothouse is provided with at least one plant treatment area which is disposed outside the extent of the elongate cultivation corridors, either in association with at least one of the transfer wagons at the ends of the cultivation corridors or in association with a further transfer wagon which carries a corridor section designed for receiving cultivation wagons and which is movable between a cultivation wagon reception point in the plant treatment area and a rest position in one of the cultivation corridors, the corridor section of this further transfer wagon forming part of the above-mentioned one cultivation corridor.

The nature of the present invention and its aspects will be more readily understood from the following brief description of the accompanying drawings, and discussion relating thereto.

In the accompanying drawings:

FIG. 1 is a top plan view of a hothouse according to the invention;

FIG. 2 is a view taken along the line II--II in FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a section taken along the line III--III in FIG. 1;

FIG. 4 is a side elevation of a cultivation wagon in a hothouse according to the invention;

FIG. 5 is an end elevation of the same cultivation wagon;

FIG. 6 shows a corner portion of the cultivation wagon;

FIG. 7 is a section taken along the line VII--VII in FIG. 1 and shows a transfer wagon included in the hothouse;

FIG. 8 is a schematic top plan view of another example of a hothouse according to the invention;

FIG. 9 illustrates a third example of a hothouse according to the present invention; and

FIG. 10 schematically illustrates a fourth example of the hothouse according to the invention.

The hothouse 1 illustrated in FIG. 1 is based on a frame of conventional design but has, within its hothouse section 2, two parallel cultivation corridors 3 and 4. Cultivation wagons 5 are movable along these cultivation corridors, the cultivation wagons being moved in opposite directions along the two corridors, as illustrated by means of arrows in FIG. 1. A transfer apparatus 6, 7, whose nature will be described below, is provided at each end of the hothouse. The purpose of this transfer apparatus is to receive a cultivation wagon 5 from one corridor and transport it transversely to the second corridor, as illustrated by means of arrows in FIG. 1.

In the embodiment according to FIG. 1, the hothouse is provided with a plant treatment area 9 which is disposed along the longitudinal side of the house. This plant treatment area is used for harvesting and thinning and, to this end, a transfer apparatus 7 of the type described below is provided. The hothouse section 2 may be partitioned-off from the hothouse section 9 by means of doors 40.

As is apparent from FIGS. 4 and 5, the cultivation wagons have a cultivation tray 15 which is disposed at the bottom of a frame comprising a cross-beam 19, a U-beam 20, angle irons 22 and a retainer yoke 23. Wheels 21 are journaled in the U-beam 20. Moreover, the cultivation wagon is provided with a tubular framework 16 which allows for the tying-up of the plants. The framework 16 also serves for water supply in that it is provided with a water receptacle 17. Water distribution pipes 18 project from the framework and discharge above the cultivation trays 15.

The wheels of the cultivation wagons run on triangular rails 41 which form the tracks in the two cultivation corridors 3 and 4.

As is apparent from FIGS. 1, 2 and 7, the transfer apparatus 6 is provided with a transfer wagon 12 which carries on its upper side triangular rails 42 in register with the rails 41 in the cultivation corridors. The transfer wagon has cross-beams 26, U-beams 27 and wheels 28 journaled in the U-beams. The wheels 28 run on rails 43 which extend transversely of the cultivation corridors 3 and 4. The transfer wagons 12 may be advanced by means of a motor 30 which drives a pinion 31 which, in turn, engages with a rack 32 on the floor of the house.

As is apparent from FIG. 7, ramp stops 29 are provided at the end of the rails 41 and at both ends of the rails 42. These ramp stops prevent unintentional running of the wheels 21 of the cultivation wagons over the ends of the rails 41 and 42. Thus, a positive force is required to shift the cultivation wagons 5 out onto the transfer wagons 12.

The transfer wagons 12 are shiftable between positions opposite the two cultivation corridors 3 and 4 so that the wagons may be conveyed from one corridor to the other.

As was mentioned above, a plant treatment area 9 is provided along the longitudinal side of the hothouse section 2. The transfer apparatus 7 including a transfer wagon 11 is provided for conveying the cultivation wagons out to this area. The transfer wagon 11 is constructed in the same manner as the above-described transfer wagon 12. Thus, as will be apparent from FIG. 3, the transfer wagon 11 may be shifted between a position out in the area 9 and a position within the cultivation corridor 3, the transfer wagon serving as a section of this cultivation corridor in that it mounts transverse rails.

As is apparent from FIG. 1, the transfer apparatus 6 may be provided with an extended corridor section 13 which protrudes from the hothouse proper, in order that it be possible to remove from the hothouse the transfer wagon with a cultivation wagon placed thereon, for example, for earth replacement.

FIG. 8 shows another embodiment of a hothouse according to the invention. In this instance, the two cultivation corridors 3 and 4 have been placed in separate sections 2a, 2b of a hothouse, the two sections being interconnected via the transfer apparatuses 6 which, in this case, are accommodated in two transverse areas 8 and 10 and in which area 14 forms a plant treatment area and area 10 forms a transfer area which may be partitioned-off from the sections 2a and 2b of the hothouse and contain equipment for processing the material on the cultivation wagons, for example, equipment for the vapor-disinfection of earth.

FIG. 9 shows a further embodiment in which several hothouses according to the invention have been placed in series with each other, the plant treatment area 8 being common to two hothouse lengths, like the earth processing area 10.

FIG. 10 shows a similar arrangement.

Thus, it will be apparent from the drawings and the body of the specification that the hothouse includes at least two elongate, co-extensive cultivation corridors 3 and 4, the cultivation wagons 5 being disposed in transverse relationship to the elongate cultivation corridors. The ends of the elongate cultivation corridors are, thus, interconnected by means of a transfer apparatus 6, 7 in the form of a reciprocally movable transfer wagon 12 which carries a corridor section 42 designed for receiving cultivation wagons and which is movable into alignment positions with this corridor section 42 placed opposite each cultivation corridor 2, 3, 41. Moreover, the hothouse has at least one plant treatment area 8, 9, 10 which is disposed outside the extent of the elongate cultivation corridors. In one case, the plant treatment area is placed in association with at least one of the transfer wagons at the ends of the cultivation corridors (FIGS. 8-10); in a second case, the plant treatment area is provided in association with a further transfer wagon 11 which also carries a corridor section 42 designed to receive cultivation wagons, and which is movable between a cultivation wagon reception point in the plant treatment area and a rest position in the one cultivation corridor 3, the corridor section of this further transfer wagon forming part of this cultivation corridor.

In the embodiment according to FIG. 1, the plant treatment area 9 is provided with a carrier device 11a which may be raised and lowered for receiving the transfer wagon 11 with the cultivation wagon 5 located thereon. This device 11a may also be provided with a personnel carrier unit which is movable with respect to the transfer wagon and the cultivation wagon and which may be raised and lowered and/or movable longitudinally or transversely with respect to the cultivation wagon.

The embodiment according to FIG. 10 shows another advantage inherent in the present invention, namely that the hothouse sections 2a, 2b which include the cultivation corridors 3 and 4 may be made considerably longer than the spaces 8 and 10 included in the hothouse for plant treatment and transfer, respectively.