Abstract:
A vegetable preservation and growing case includes a thermally-insulated case body. The thermally-insulated case is provided therein with at least one vegetable carrying box for use in vegetable growing or preservation. The vegetable carrying box bearing case ( 1 ) and the thermally-insulated case body have a pluggable electrical connection and a pluggable water-path connection and allow for disassembly, thus effectively increasing the degree of use convenience.

Description:
FIELD OF THE INVENTION 
       [0001]    The present invention relates to the field of vegetable growing or preservation technologies, and in particular, to a vegetable preservation and growing case and a pipe connection control method for the vegetable preservation and growing case. 
       BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
       [0002]    An existing water plating box is generally provided with a container for carrying a plant; however, the container for carrying a plant is generally fixedly connected to the water planting box, which is adverse to disassembly and causes inconvenience in use. 
         [0003]    In addition, studies find that there is a certain relationship between the freshness of vegetables and illumination. Therefore, some existing refrigerators are provided with illumination apparatuses to illuminate vegetables, so as to retain the freshness of the vegetables. In the existing refrigerator, the illumination apparatus is generally disposed at the top of or on a side wall of the refrigerator. However, there exists the following problems: the interior of the refrigerator is a closed hexahedral storage space, but light emitted by a light source straightly illuminates vegetables at a constant illumination angle; therefore, illumination distribution is uneven in the whole space, and in addition, considering radiation distances and obstacles, some positions are not illuminated, and light utilization is low. Besides, it is of great technical difficulty to dispose a fixed light source inside a thermal insulation case body, and therefore, the structure is usually relatively complicated. 
       SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
       [0004]    To solve the foregoing problems, the present invention provides a vegetable preservation and growing case and a pipe connection control method for the vegetable preservation and growing case, which can effectively improve usage convenience. 
         [0005]    The present invention provides a vegetable preservation and growing case, including a thermal insulation case body, where at least one vegetable carrying box for vegetable growing or preservation is disposed in the thermal insulation case body, and the vegetable carrying box is connected to the thermal insulation case body by means of a pluggable electric connection and a pluggable water connection. 
         [0006]    The present invention further provides a pipe connection control method for the foregoing vegetable preservation and growing case, including: connecting a vegetable carrying box and a thermal insulation case body by means of a pluggable electric connection and a pluggable water connection, and when the electric connection between the vegetable carrying box and the thermal insulation case body is disconnected, disconnecting the water connection simultaneously. 
         [0007]    In the vegetable preservation and growing case provided in the present invention, a vegetable carrying box and a thermal insulation case body are connected by means of a pluggable electric connection and a pluggable water connection, and can be disassembled, thereby effectively improving usage convenience. 
     
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
         [0008]      FIG. 1  is a partial schematic structural diagram of an embodiment of a vegetable preservation and growing case according to the present invention. 
           [0009]      FIG. 2  is an exploded diagram of some components in the vegetable preservation and growing case in  FIG. 1 . 
           [0010]      FIG. 3  is a schematic structural diagram of a thermal insulation case body in the vegetable preservation and growing case in  FIG. 1 . 
           [0011]      FIG. 4  is a schematic structural diagram of a vegetable carrying box, a first illumination component, a second illumination component, and a thermal insulation case body in a vegetable preservation and growing case according to the present invention. 
           [0012]      FIG. 5  is a schematic structural diagram of the vegetable carrying box in  FIG. 4 . 
           [0013]      FIG. 6  is an exploded diagram of some components in the vegetable preservation and growing case in  FIG. 4 . 
           [0014]      FIG. 7  is a schematic structural diagram of an embodiment of a light source and a light guide plate in the vegetable preservation and growing case in  FIG. 4 . 
       
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION 
       [0015]    Embodiments of the present invention are described below with reference to the accompanying drawings. Elements or features described in one figure or one implementation manner of the present invention may be combined with elements and features shown in one or more other figures or implementation manners. It should be noted that, for the purpose of clarity, representations and descriptions of parts and processing that are irrelevant to the present invention and known to one of ordinary skill in the art are omitted in the accompanying drawings and illustration. 
         [0016]    Embodiment of a vegetable preservation and growing case: 
         [0017]    As shown in  FIG. 1 , a vegetable preservation and growing case provided by this embodiment includes a thermal insulation case body  1 , where at least one vegetable carrying box  2  for vegetable growing or preservation is disposed in the thermal insulation case body  1 , and the vegetable carrying box  2  is connected to the thermal insulation case body  1  by means of a pluggable electric connection and a pluggable water connection. 
         [0018]    The vegetable carrying box  2  and the thermal insulation case body  1  are connected by means of a pluggable electric connection and a pluggable water connection, and can be disassembled. A user can pull out the vegetable carrying box  2 , so as to put vegetable seedling into the vegetable carrying box  2 , thereby effectively improving usage convenience. 
         [0019]    Specifically, a back portion of thermal insulation case body  1  is provided with a circulation pipeline for circularly supplying a nutrient solution to each vegetable carrying box  2 , a water tank is disposed below the thermal insulation case body  1 , the water tank contains the nutrient solution, and the nutrient solution is delivered to the circulation pipeline by using a water pump. 
         [0020]    As shown in  FIG. 2 , the vegetable carrying box  2  includes a solution carrying case  23  provided with a high-level liquid inlet  21  and a low-level liquid outlet  22  that are opposite to each other; an area, which is between the high-level liquid inlet  21  and the low-level liquid outlet  22 , of the solution carrying case  23  is provided with protruding diversion partitions  24  to form a zigzag flow passage  25 ; and an atomizer  26  is disposed in the flow passage  25 . The high-level liquid inlet  111  and the low-level liquid outlet  112  are in communication with the circulation pipeline. 
         [0021]    The circulation pipeline includes a nutrient solution feed branch and a nutrient solution backflow branch, where the feed branch is in communication with the high-level liquid inlet  21 , and the backflow branch is in communication with the low-level liquid outlet  22 . 
         [0022]    The thermal insulation case body  1  is provided with a first water swivel  105  for supplying the nutrient solution to the vegetable carrying box  2  and a second water swivel  106  for discharging the nutrient solution. The first water swivel  105  is connected to the high-level liquid inlet  21  in a pluggable manner, and the low-level liquid outlet  22  is connected to the second water swivel  106  in a pluggable manner. The first water swivel  105  and the second water swivel  106  are in communication with the feed branch and the backflow branch, respectively. The nutrient solution flows out of the first water swivel  105 , enters into the solution carrying case  23  through the high-level liquid inlet  21 , flows along the zigzag flow passage  25  under the action of gravity, and fills up the entire flow passage  25 , until being discharged from the low-level liquid outlet  22 . The nutrient solution flows along the zigzag flow passage  25 , so that the nutrient solution flows through every corner of the solution carrying case  23 , ensuring the freshness and nutrition uniformity of the nutrient solution throughout the entire solution carrying case  23 . 
         [0023]    The nutrient solution flows out from the low-level liquid outlet  22 , flows to the backflow branch through the second water swivel  106 , and finally flows into the water tank under the action of gravity. 
         [0024]    As an optional implementation manner, the high-level liquid inlet  21  and the low-level liquid outlet  22  are correspondingly provided on a same side of the vegetable carrying box  2 . 
         [0025]    An inner wall of the solution carrying case  23  is provided with an elastic sheet  107  corresponding to the high-level liquid inlet. In a free state, the elastic sheet  107  can cover the high-level liquid inlet  21  to prevent the nutrient solution in the vegetable carrying box  2  from flowing out, and when the first water swivel  105  is inserted into the high-level liquid inlet  21 , the elastic sheet  107  is pushed aside, and the first water swivel  105  is in communication with the interior of the solution carrying case  23 ; when the first water swivel  105  is separated from the high-level liquid inlet  21 , the elastic sheet  107  is restored and covers the high-level liquid inlet, so as to prevent the nutrient solution in the solution carrying case  23  from flowing out. 
         [0026]    As an optional implementation manner, a circuit component is disposed in the thermal insulation case body  1 ; an atomizer  26  is disposed in the solution carrying case  23 , where the atomizer  26  is configured to atomize the nutrient solution in the vegetable carrying box  2 , so that the nutrient solution uniformly volatilizes to an upper space of the vegetable carrying box in a form of mist, to facilitate absorption by a vegetable, and meeting a nutrition requirement of vegetable growth. In addition, the atomizer  26  may be used to control an atomization amount of the nutrient solution, so as to control a growth speed of the vegetable, so that the vegetable is correspondingly in a regular growth state, a slow growth state, or a zero growth state, to extend a preservation time of the vegetable. Especially, when the vegetable is in the zero growth state, the freshness of the vegetable can be retained for a longer time. 
         [0027]    As shown in  FIG. 2  and  FIG. 3 , the thermal insulation case body  1  is provided with a first electromagnetic connection portion  109 , and the vegetable carrying box  2  is correspondingly provided with a second electromagnetic connection portion  110 . The second electromagnetic connection portion  110  and the first electromagnetic connection portion  109  are connected in a pluggable manner, and the circuit component is controlled, according to a plug/unplug state between the first electromagnetic connection portion  109  and the second electromagnetic connection portion  110 , to be connected to or disconnected from the atomizer  26 . When the second electromagnetic connection portion  110  and the first electromagnetic connection portion  109  are connected, an electric connection between the circuit component and the atomizer  26  is established. 
         [0028]    As shown in  FIG. 2 , a first solenoid valve  111  is cooperatively connected to the first water swivel  105 . The first solenoid valve  111  is in linkage with the first electromagnetic connection portion  109  and the second electromagnetic connection portion  110 . According to the plug/unplug state between the first electromagnetic connection portion  109  and the second electromagnetic connection portion  110 , the circulation pipeline is controlled to be connected to or disconnected from the nutrient solution feed branch of the corresponding vegetable carrying box  2 . When the second electromagnetic connection portion  110  is separated from the first electromagnetic connection portion  109 , that is, when the vegetable carrying box  2  is pulled out, the first solenoid valve  111  is closed, and the first water swivel  105  stops supplying the nutrient solution to the solution carrying case  23 ; on the contrary, when the first electromagnetic connection portion  109  and the second electromagnetic connection portion  110  are connected, the first solenoid valve  111  is open, to supply the nutrient solution to the corresponding solution carrying case  23 . 
         [0029]    In addition, a second solenoid valve  112  corresponding to the low-level liquid outlet  106  is disposed in the solution carrying case  23 . The second solenoid valve  112  is in linkage with the second electromagnetic connection portion  110  and the first electromagnetic connection portion  109 . According to the plug/unplug state between the first electromagnetic connection portion  109  and the second electromagnetic connection portion  110 , the nutrient solution backflow branch from the corresponding vegetable carrying box to the circulation pipeline is controlled to be on/off. When the first electromagnetic connection portion  109  is separated from the second electromagnetic connection portion  110 , that is, when the vegetable carrying box  2  is pulled out, the second solenoid valve  112  is closed, so as to prevent the nutrient solution in the vegetable carrying box  2  from flowing out. 
         [0030]    When the vegetable carrying box  2  is pulled out, the water connection and electric connection to the thermal insulation case body  1  are disconnected, which can prevent the nutrient solution in the circulation pipeline and the solution carrying case  23  from flowing out, thereby ensuring electric insulation inside the thermal insulation case body  1 , and effectively improving the safety. 
         [0031]    As an optional implementation manner, the first water swivel  105  includes a first steel-core joint  113  and a flexible material layer  114  that is wrapped around the first steel-core joint. The flexible material layer  114  can fill a gap between the first steel-core joint  113  and the high-level liquid inlet  21 , to prevent water leakage and fine-tune a plugging position when there is a slight mismatch during a plugging process. 
         [0032]    As an optional implementation manner, the second water swivel  106  includes a second steel-core joint  115  fitting the low-level liquid outlet  22 . 
         [0033]    As an optional implementation manner, as shown in  FIG. 1 , slides  3  are symmetrically disposed on two sides in the thermal insulation case body  1 , where a tray  4  slidable along the slides  3  is disposed on the slides  3  cooperatively. The vegetable carrying box  2  is disposed on the tray  4  in a separable manner, and the vegetable carrying box  2  is disposed on the tray  4  and can slide on the slides  3  along with the tray  4 . When a user needs to take out the vegetable carrying box  2 , the user may drag the tray  4 , which is relatively labor-saving. 
         [0034]    In the vegetable preservation and growing case provided in this embodiment, a vegetable carrying box  2  and a thermal insulation case body  1  are connected by means of a pluggable electric connection and a pluggable water connection, and can be disassembled, so that the vegetable carrying box  2  can be conveniently drawn out from the thermal insulation case body  1 , which facilitates pick-and-place of vegetables and maintenance, thereby effectively improving usage convenience. When the vegetable carrying box  2  is pulled out, the water connection and electric connection to the thermal insulation case body  1  are disconnected, which can prevent a nutrient solution in a circulation pipeline and a solution carrying case from flowing out, thereby ensuring electric insulation inside the thermal insulation case body, and effectively improving safety. In addition, each vegetable carrying box  2  is enabled to work independently, and after one vegetable carrying box is taken out of the thermal insulation case body  1 , normal operation of other vegetable carrying boxes is not affected. An atomizer  26  is used to atomize the nutrient solution, which facilitates nutrition absorption by vegetables, and by setting a tray  4 , it is more labor-saving when a user takes out the vegetable carrying box  2 . 
         [0035]    As shown in  FIG. 4 , at least two vegetable carrying boxes  2  are disposed in parallel at intervals in a vertical direction. The vegetable preservation and growing case further includes a first illumination component  5 , which is disposed at the bottom of an upper vegetable carrying box  2  and is configured to illuminate a lower vegetable carrying box  2 . 
         [0036]    Vegetable preservation and growth need illumination, and the illumination component at the bottom of the upper vegetable carrying box  2  is used to illuminate the lower vegetable carrying box  2 , so that sufficient light is radiated to the lower vegetable carrying box  2 , which effectively improves light utilization, reduces difficulty of setting a light source in the thermal insulation case body, simplifies the structure, and facilitates illumination regulation for vegetable preservation or growing. 
         [0037]    As shown in  FIG. 5 , the vegetable carrying box  2  further includes a vegetable shelf  27  disposed above the solution carrying case  23 , and the vegetable shelf  27  is disposed overhead relative to the top of the zigzag flow passage  25 . 
         [0038]    As shown in  FIG. 6 , as an optional implementation manner, the first illumination component  5  includes a light source  51  and a light guide plate  52 , where the light guide plate  52  is disposed on a light emergent path of the light source  51 , and the light guide plate  52  is configured to make light emitted by the light source  51  distributed uniformly. 
         [0039]    The light source  51  includes multiple groups of linear light sources that are symmetrically disposed on two sides of the light guide plate  52 . 
         [0040]    The linear light source includes multiple unit light sources  53  that are arranged linearly. 
         [0041]    As shown in  FIG. 7 , as an optional implementation manner, the light source  51  includes two groups of linear light sources: a first linear light source  55  and a second linear light source  56 , which are separately disposed on two sides of the light guide plate  52 . 
         [0042]    When the first linear light source  55  or the second linear light source  56  emits light, light is guided by the light guide plate  52 , so that the whole light guide plate  52  emits light uniformly, that is, the linear light source is converted into a planar light source. In this way, light utilization can be improved by a maximum degree, and energy consumption can be reduced, thereby effectively saving energy. 
         [0043]    As an optional implementation manner, all of the multiple unit light sources  53  may be white light sources; or the multiple unit light sources  53  include at least one red light source and at least one blue light source; or the multiple unit light sources  53  include at least one red light source, at least one blue light source, and at least one white light source. Different groups of people respond differently to red and blue light, and therefore, proportions of light sources can be selected flexibly; a red-blue light source that is most suitable for growth of green plants may be switched to a white light source that is acceptable to most people, or a color composition of a light source at each layer may be set separately, to implement switch between an exhibition state and a state where there is no one around. 
         [0044]    As an optional implementation manner, the multiple unit light sources  53  are disposed at the bottom of the vegetable carrying box in a detachable manner, and when a problem occurs in a particular unit light source  53 , the unit light source  53  is easy to replace; the user may further set a color of the unit light source according to a requirement. 
         [0045]    As an optional implementation manner, the unit light source  53  is a light-emitting diode (LED). The LED does not generate heat when emitting light, and does not affect a temperature in the thermal insulation case body; moreover, the LED has low energy consumption and a long service life, and therefore can effectively save electric energy. 
         [0046]    As shown in  FIG. 5 , to ensure growth of vegetables, humidity in the thermal insulation case body  1  is generally relatively high. To avoid water condensation on a surface of the unit light source  53 , the illumination component  5  further includes a lamp shade  57  disposed at a periphery of the light source  53  and the light guide plate  52 , where the lamp shade  57  is configured to protect the light source, and is preferably made of a material having high transmittance. 
         [0047]    In addition, a second illumination component  6  for illuminating a first-layer vegetable carrying box is further disposed on an inner wall at the top of the thermal insulation case body  1 , the quantity of linear light sources and colors of unit light sources in the second illumination component  6  may be the same or different from those of the first illumination component  5 . 
         [0048]    Different growth stages of vegetables have different requirements on illumination. Therefore, as an optional implementation manner, the vegetable preservation and growing case provided by this embodiment further includes a controller  7  for controlling light source luminance. The controller  7  is separately electrically connected to the first illumination component  5  and the second illumination component  6 , and is configured to adjust luminance of the corresponding illumination component  5  or  6  according to an acquired illumination control signal. Light sources of first illumination components  5  disposed at the bottom of different vegetable carrying boxes  2  may be adjusted separately, and the second illumination component  6  may also be adjusted separately. 
         [0049]    In the vegetable preservation and growing case provided by the present invention, an illumination component  5  at the bottom of an upper vegetable carrying box  2  and an illumination component  6  are used to illuminate a lower vegetable carrying box  2 . Light can be fully and uniformly radiated to the lower vegetable carrying box  2 , thereby effectively improving light utilization. A linear light source is converted into a planar light source by using a light guide plate, which is beneficial to energy saving, and in addition, can reduce the difficulty of disposing a light source in a thermal insulation case body. 
         [0050]    The present invention further provides a pipe connection control method for the foregoing vegetable preservation and growing case, including: connecting a vegetable carrying box  2  and a thermal insulation case body  1  by means of a pluggable electric connection and a pluggable water connection, and when the electric connection between the vegetable carrying box  2  and the thermal insulation case body  1  is disconnected, disconnecting the water connection simultaneously. 
         [0051]    Although the present invention and its advantages have been described in detail, it should be understood that various changes, substitutions and alterations can be made herein without departing from the spirit and scope of the present invention as defined by the appended claims. Moreover, the scope of the present invention is not intended to be limited to the particular embodiments of the process, devices, means, methods and steps described in the specification. As one of ordinary skilled in the art will readily appreciate from the disclosure of the present invention, processes, devices, means, methods, or steps, presently existing or later to be developed that perform substantially the same function or achieve substantially the same result as the corresponding embodiments described herein may be utilized according to the present invention. Accordingly, the appended claims are intended to include within their scope such processes, devices, means, methods, or steps. 
         [0052]    While there has been shown several and alternate embodiments of the present invention, it is to be understood that certain changes can be made as would be known to one skilled in the art without departing from the underlying scope of the present invention as is discussed and set forth above and below including claims. Furthermore, the embodiments described above and claims set forth below are only intended to illustrate the principles of the present invention and are not intended to limit the scope of the present invention to the disclosed elements.