Patent Application
20180199526
The present application generally relates to apparatus and method for plant production, and more particularly the application relates to apparatus and method for hydroponic/aeroponic plant production with improved use of space and stableness.
Hydroponic plant production, for example hydroponic production of vegetables, is favored not only by traditional plants supplier but also service providers like restaurants due to the avoidance of shipping and instant harvest.
Due to the limited space of, for example, a restaurant who wants to serve freshest vegetable to its customers, efficiency of space usage is very important to hydroponic plant production. Also, some users may want to combine plant production area with daily business operation area. In that case, appearance and stableness of hydroponic production apparatus are also important factors to be considered.
The present disclosure provides an apparatus and method with improved use of space and stables which well addresses the above described needs of users.
The present application provides an apparatus for hydroponic plant production, comprising a plant production space configured to accommodate media material for plant production, enclosed by a plurality of surfaces including a first surface, wherein there are a plurality of columns of holes in the first surface, and holes of a column and holes of an adjacent column are arranged in a staggered manner; an irrigation system, configured to load nutrient solution and convey the nutrient solution to the plant production space to irrigate plants.
Specifically, the plurality of surfaces includes a second surface which is substantially in parallel with the first surface; there are a plurality column of holes in the second surface and in the second surface holes of a column and holes of an adjacent column are arranged in a staggered manner; wherein holes of a column in the first surface and holes of a corresponding column in the second surface are arranged in a staggered manner.
Specifically, the first and the second surfaces are each formed by a single panel.
Alternatively, the apparatus includes a number of cells that are separable from each other, wherein each of the cells has a first panel including a column of holes and a second panel including a column of holes, and the first surface is collectively formed by the first panels of the cells and the second surface is collectively formed by the second panels of the cells.
Specifically, the apparatus further comprises a cap coupled to the plant production space, wherein the cap is coupled to the first and second surfaces through connectors and the connectors are secured with the cap and the first and second surfaces through fastening mechanism.
Specifically, the irrigation system comprises a base configured to load the nutrient solution, a pump configured to pump the nutrient solution to top of the plant production space through a pipe, and an irrigation path configured to deliver the nutrient solution from the base to top of the plant production space, wherein the irrigation path includes nozzles configured to deliver the nutrient solution into the plant production space.
Specifically, the apparatus further comprises a frame configured to receive the base, wherein upper edges of the base are coupled to the frame by fitting into space of cross section poles of the frames.
Specifically, the first and second surfaces and the frame are coupled through connectors, and the connectors are secured with the first and second surfaces and the frame through fastening mechanism.
The present application further provides a method for hydroponic plant production comprises providing an apparatus for hydroponic plant production which includes a plant production space enclosed by a plurality of surfaces including a first surface and a second surface, wherein there are a plurality of columns of holes in the first surface and second surface, and holes of a column and holes of an adjacent column are arranged in a staggered manner; inserting media material into the plant production space; and positioning plant seeds or seedlings into the media material through the holes.
The description of figures only provides further understanding of the present disclosure, constituting a part of the present disclosure. The illustrative embodiments and their description are for the purpose of explaining, and the present disclosure should not be limited to such description. In the figures:
To further clarify the problem to be solved, the technical solution and the advantageous effects of the present disclosure, the present disclosure is described in details in view of the embodiments and figures. It should be understood that embodiments herein are only for the purpose of explaining rather than limiting the present disclosure.
A hydroponic/aeroponic plant production apparatus 100 according to one embodiment of the present application is illustrated in
In one embodiment as illustrated in
In one embodiment as illustrated in
In another embodiment as illustrated in
Similar to the apparatus illustrated in
Apparatus 100 illustrated in
Accordingly, with holes available on both sides of apparatus 110, the plant production rate per unit volume is improved. Also, due to the staggered manner of holes 102 distribution, each plant is given more surrounding space for its growth.
In another embodiment, the density of holes 102 may be determined based on the space required for growth of a certain type of plants. For example, any of the holes 102 in panels/surfaces 110A and 110B may be covered so that no plants can grow through that particular hole. This means users of the apparatus 100 can customize the position of plants.
With variable number of holes, apparatus 110 is adapted for planting of various types of plants and provides more options to users to fulfill their agricultural and aesthetical needs. For example, users may intentionally open/close some holes 102 to form a pattern for decoration purpose, or to save more space for plants are relatively greater in size.
In one embodiment, holes 102 may have a diameter of 2 to 3 inches, particularly 2.5 inches. In another embodiment, the spacing between two adjacent holes 102 in one column may be 6 to 8 inches, specifically 7 inches. In one embodiment, the spacing between two adjacent columns may be 8 to 10 inches, specifically 9 inches. Of course, the distances can be customized according to users' preference.
In one embodiment as illustrated in
In one embodiment, media material used for plants to grow may be foam or similar materials. Seeds/seedlings of desired plants may be inserted in the media material before the media material is positioned in apparatus 100. In another example, media material may be inserted into apparatus 100 first, and users may put the seeds/seedlings into the media material through holes 102 in surfaces 110A and 1106. In this way, users may accurately determine the position of plants, which offers more control over physical position of the plants.
In one embodiment, panels 110A, 110B, 120A and 120B or cells 100′ may be made of PVC and may be opaque. In other embodiments, other types of materials with different kind of opacity, colors or patterns may be used according to the planting requirements or aesthetical needs.
In one embodiment as illustrated in
As illustrated in
In one example as illustrated in
In other embodiments as illustrated in
In another embodiment, there may be an opening (not shown) on both ends of base 150 so that when necessary, a plurality of apparatus 100 may be connected via the openings of base 150 forming an integrated irrigation system. In one example, covers for both ends of base 150 are removable so that nutrient solution may be drained without affecting the plant production space.
In one embodiment, there may be a set of wings (not shown) attached to base 150, which are configured to collect nutrient solution dripped down from plants protruding from the holes, which can help recycling nutrient solution. The angle of the wings in relative to surfaces 110A and 110B are designed according to the type of plants and in one embodiment, the angle may be variable.
In a further embodiment as illustrated in
In one example as illustrated in
In one embodiment as illustrated in
In one embodiment as illustrated in
In one embodiment as illustrated in
In one embodiment, the supporting fame may be made of aluminum alloy or similar material, and base 150 may be made of plastic, metal or other type of appropriate material.
Regarding the above described apparatus, surfaces 110A and 110B are fastened with supporting frame 190 which improves stability of apparatus 100 and therefore offers more flexibility in choosing materials of panels 110A, 110B, 210A, and 2108 or cells 100′ in terms of weight of the materials.
Also, users may arrange cells 100′ in a side by side manner without worrying about base 150 not being able to handle the weight of the cells. Unlike some conventional designs, the stability of surface 110A and 110B does not rely on base 150 which provides more flexibility in design of base 150.
Above description provides illustration and description of preferred embodiments of the present disclosure. However, it should be understood that the present disclosure should not be limited to what is disclosed herein, and should not be seen as exclusion of other embodiments, but as being able to be applied to various other combinations, modifications and environment, and as being able to change based on the above teachings or technologies and knowledge in relevant fields without deviating from the scope of the present inventive idea. Changes and modifications made by people skilled in the art without deviating from the spirit and scope of the present disclosure should be included in the protection scope of claims of the present disclosure.
