Greenhouse with roll-up roof

Abstract: The greenhouse comprises at least one flexible sheet (4) which may be wound up, having one edge attached to a fixed bar (5) and the other edge to a roller (6) which may move along cross-members (2) between a position in which the sheet (4) is fully wound up and a position in which it is fully unwound; a geared motor (10) which may slide along one of said cross-members (2) is provided with a shaft attached to one end of the roller (6) so that the rotation of the geared motor (10) shaft in one direction or the other causes respectively the winding up or unwinding of the sheet (4) on the roller (6); an automatic recovery device (15) urges the roller (6) to the position in which the sheet (4) is fully unwound.

Description: The present invention relates to a greenhouse with a roll-up roof according to the preamble of claim 1. The object of the invention being to facilitate the opening and closing operations of the roof appropriate to the insolation and ventilation requirements with regard to the meteorological conditions at any one time. The document FR-A-2,494,957 refers to an apparatus for the winding of a sheet to cover a greenhouse; the apparatus comprises a geared motor mounted on a device sliding along one of the cross-members between which the sheet is extended; the geared motor is provided with a shaft, which is attached to one end of a wind-up roller that is fastened to a longitudinal edge of the sheet, so that rotation in one direction or another of the geared motor shaft respectively causes the winding up or unwinding of the sheet on or from the roller. The apparatus also comprises an automatic recovery device urging the roller to the position in which the sheet is fully unwound. Notwithstanding, this document does not disclose a device for retaining the roller in the position in which the sheet is fully unwound. Spanish patent nº 2023570 (application number 9002252) teaches a greenhouse comprising: a stable structure composed substantially of cross-members arranged transversely between supporting lateral uprights; at least one flexible sheet which may be wound up transversely relative to the roof, one of the longitudinal edges of which is attached to a fixed bar and the other longitudinal edge of which is attached to a wind-up roller movable along said cross-members between a position in which the sheet is fully wound up and a position in which it is fully unwound. Experience has shown that difficulties arise in the prior installation due mainly to the fact that it is hard to synchronize the action of the two motors driving the opening and closing functions of the roof, whereby the correct position of the flexible sheet with the desirable tension is not achieved. For the above reasons, a greenhouse of the type described above has been devised and it is characterized in that the roof is provided with anchorage members, each of which having a sliding ramp for the wind up roller, a mouth in which the roller may fall while moving to the position in which the sheet is fully unwound, a support bottom and a cavity for temporarily retaining the roller in the position in which the sheet is fully unwound. Further advantages and features of the invention will be appreciated from the following description in which there is described a preferred embodiment of the invention without any limiting nature and with reference to the accompanying drawings. Figure 1 is a part perspective view of a greenhouse structure provided with a wind-up flexible sheet covering half of the area of a longitudinal sector of the roof. Figure 2 is a side elevation view of the said greenhouse structure. Figure 3 is a view of the geared motor for driving the flexible sheet, the cross-member and sliding device being shown in section. Figure 4 is a perspective view, partly in section, of the automatic recovery device for winding up the sheet. Figure 5 is a part schematic elevation view of an anchorage member, the sheet, the wind-up roller, the guide bar and the rotating bar, showing three different positions of the wind-up roller. In the Figures there is shown a rigid structure for greenhouses, formed by uprights 1 and arcuate cross-members 2 for supporting the roof, the uprights 1 and cross-members 2 being connected by brackets 3, in such a way that the uprights 1 define the side walls of the greenhouse formed by fixed or mobile panels, depending on the different known types. Hereinafter, the transverse direction shall be the one extending along a cross-member and the longitudinal direction shall be the one extending between cross-members. The invention relates to a roof formed by the said transverse cross-members 2 and by wind-up flexible sheets 4 which may cover the whole of the area of said roof; for each longitudinal sector of the roof (i.e. the space comprised between two contiguous cross-members 2), there may be either a single sheet covering the whole of the sector, or two generally symmetrical sheets, each of which covers approximately the transverse half of the sector. In Figure 1 there is to be seen a longitudinal sector of a roof, half of which may be covered by a flexible sheet 4 having one longitudinal edge attached to a fixed central bar 5, the other longitudinal edge being attached to a roller 6 rotatably movable along the cross-members 2. The movement takes place between a position in which the sheet 4 is fully unwound (in which the latter extends between the centre bar 5 and the longitudinal edge of the roof) and a position in which the sheet 4 is fully wound up, i.e. between the centre bar 5 and the roller 6 situated adjacent the bar 5. Complementarily there is a preferably resilient draw member 8 which may be formed by one or more cables, cords or tapes, or a hat net. The draw member is preferably provided with a high number of discontinuities, through which it allows a high degree of insolation and/or ventilation of the interior of the greenhouse. One longitudinal edge of the draw member 8 is attached to a rotating bar 7a, around which the draw member 8 may be taken up or let off. The other longitudinal edge of the draw member 8 may be taken up or let off around the roller 6, simultaneously with the flexible sheet 4. A guide bar 7 guides the draw member 8 between the rotating bar 7a and the roller 6. Adjacent the longitudinal edges of the roof there are anchorage members 9 for retaining the roller 6 in the position in which the sheet 4 is fully unwound and for supporting (preferably with bearings, not shown) the guide bar 7. A geared motor 10 is provided with a shaft which is attached to one end of the roller 6, such that the rotation of the shaft causes rotation of the roller 6 and, depending on the direction of such rotation, the winding up or unwinding of the sheet 4 around the roller 6. This winding up or unwinding tends to cause the geared motor 10 to move in one direction or the other, to which end it is mounted on a sliding device 11 which moves along the cross-member 2, the said device being constituted (Figure 3) by a rigid surrounding frame 12 provided with balls or bearings 13 which engage the cross-member 2 and are provided with a protective hood 14. An automatic recovery device 15 (Figure 4) is housed between plates 16 in which there is mounted a primary drum 17 and a secondary drum 18, by way of shafts 19 and 20. A tape 21 has the ends thereof respectively attached to the two drums 17, 18 and there are conventional spring means urging the tape 21 to the position thereof in which it is fully wound up around the primary drum 17. The shaft 20 of the drum 18 carries a gear wheel 22 which is associated by way of an endless chain 23 with a pinion attached to the rotating bar 7a mounted in a support 24a, fixed to a cross-member 2. The position in which the sheet 4 is fully unwound corresponds to the position in which the tape 21 is fully wound up on the drum 17, while in the remaining positions of the sheet 4, a larger or smaller portion of the tape 21 is wound on the drum 18. The anchorage member 9 (Figure 5) consists of a flat bar attached to the cross-member 2, forming a sloping plane or sliding entry ramp 25 for the roller 6, a mouth 26 whereby the roller 6 falls under gravity into the section 9, a support bottom 27 and a cavity 28 opposing the path of the roller 6 in the movements thereof in which the roller 6 is temporarily retained in the position in which the sheet 4 is fully unwound. Hereinafter there is described the operation of the said installation. In the closed roof position, the flexible sheet 4 is fully extended and the roller 6, with the geared motor 10, is located adjacent the guide bar 7 at the lower portion of the arcuate cross-members 2, at the same time as the recovery device 15 has the tape 21 wound up on the primary drum 17. The draw member 8 is in the fully wound-up position around the rotating bar 7a. To open the roof, the geared motor 10 is set running so that the flexible sheet may be wound up on the roller 6, at the same time as the roller and the geared motor 10 move to the crest of the cross-members 2, whereby the sliding device 11 moves along the corresponding cross-member. Therewith, in the recovery device 15, the tape 21 is drawn by the action of the geared motor 10 and is wound around the secondary drum 18 overcoming the force of the spring means. In turn, the draw member is gradually unwound at one of the ends thereof from the rotating bar 7a, at the same time as the other end is wound on the roller 6 simultaneously with the flexible sheet 4. Conversely, to close the roof, rotation of the geared motor 10 is reversed and the flexible sheet 4 extends towards the lower portion of the cross-members 2, unwinding from the roller 6, in such a way that in the recovery device 15 the tape 21 passes to the primary drum 17. In this position, said primary drum retains the position in which the sheet 4 is fully unwound, i.e. the closed roof position. Correspondingly, the draw member 8 is unwound from the roller 6 at one of the edges thereof and is wound up on the rotating bar 7a at the other edge. At the start of the said closed roof position, the roller 6 enters in the anchorage member 9 along the ramp 25, occupying the position 6′ shown in Figure 5, with the sheet in the position 4′ and the draw member in position 8′. Thereafter, the roller reaches the mouth 26 and falls by gravity into the bottom 27, and is thereafter drawn into the cavity 28 in which it is temporarily retained in the position 6″ with the said draw member in the position 8″.

Claims: A greenhouse with roll-up roof comprising: a stable structure composed substantially of cross-members (2) arranged transversely between supporting lateral uprights (1); at least one flexible sheet (4) which is capable of being wound up transversely relative to the roof, one of the longitudinal edges of which is attached to a fixed bar (5) and the other longitudinal edge of which is attached to a wind-up roller (6) movable along said cross-members (2) between a position in which the sheet is fully wound up and a position in which it is fully unwound; a geared motor (10) mounted on a device (11) sliding along one of said cross-members (2), said geared motor (10) being provided with a shaft which is attached to one end of said wind-up roller (6), so that rotation in one direction or another of said geared motor (10) shaft respectively causes the winding up or unwinding of the sheet (4) on the roller (6); an automatic recovery device (15) urging the roller (6) to the position in which the sheet (4) is fully unwound; at least one draw member (8) which is attached at one of the ends thereof to said roller (6) around which it is capable of being wound up, and at the other end it is attached to a rotating bar (7a) around which it can be wound up; characterized in that the roof is provided with anchorage members (9), each of which having a sliding ramp (25) for the wind up roller (6), a mouth (26) in which the roller (6) falls while moving to the position in which the sheet (4) is fully unwound, a support bottom (27) and a cavity (28) for temporarily retaining the roller (6) in the position in which the sheet (4) is fully unwound. The greenhouse of claim 1, characterized in that said sliding device (11) comprises a frame (12) containing balls or bearings (13) engaging the cross-member (2) along which the device (11) slides. The greenhouse of any one of claims 1 to 2, characterized in that said automatic recovery device (15) comprises a primary drum (17) and a secondary drum (18), there being a tape (21) the ends of which are respectively attached to said drums (17, 18), there being spring means for urging said tape (21) to a fully wound up position around the primary drum (17). The greenhouse of claim 1 or 3, characterized in that said rotating bar (7a) and said secundary drum (18) are associated by a pinion (24) coaxial with and fixedly attached to said rotating bar (7a); a gear wheel (22) coaxial with and fixedly attached to said secondary drum (18); and an endless chain associating said pinion (24) with said gear wheel (22). The greenhouse of any one of claims 1 to 4, characterized in that said fixed bar (5) is located adjacent one of the longitudinal edges of the roof, whereby a single flexible sheet (4) is adapted to cover a longitudinal sector of the roof. The greenhouse of any one of claims 1 to 5, characterized in that said fixed bar (5) is situated in a centre portion of the roof, whereby one flexible sheet (4) is adapted to cover from the fixed bar (5) to one of the longitudinal edges of the roof and another flexible sheet (4) is adapted to cover from the fixed bar (5) to the other longitudinal edge of the roof.

Inventors: MONTERO CAMACHO JUAN I, MONTERO NUNEZ JOSE, MONTERO CAMACHO, JUAN I., MONTERO NUNEZ, JOSE, Montero Nunez, José
Applicants: INST RECERCA I TECNOLOGIA AGRO, INSTITUT DE RECERCA I TECNOLOGIA AGROALIMENTARIES
Application year: 1992
Main classification: A01G9
IPC codes: A01G9