Patent Application
20180064041
The present invention relates to plant growing systems and in particular to self-watering systems for growing potted plants.
Self watering systems are beneficial for growing potted plants in commercial environments. For example, these systems are useful for growing seedlings and plants for retail sale or growing consumable plants, such as herbs, vegetables, etc. By providing a self-watering system, labor intensive management of the growing system may be reduced. Self-watering systems are also used by hobby and domestic gardeners.
Existing self watering systems can be complex and costly and provide little flexibility. What is required is an improved watering system.
In one aspect of the present invention, there is a provided a watering system comprising a trough system and at least one pot. The trough system may include a trough section that is able to retain a level of fluid within the trough section. The trough section may have an input end that connects to a fluid source. A control valve may be disposed toward the input end of the trough section. The control valve may control a fluid level within the trough. A plurality of engagement sites may be spaced along a length of the trough section. The at least one pot may include one or more walls that define a receptacle for receiving a growing medium and at least one plant. A channel may be formed in the lower section of the pot that is configured to straddle the trough at an engagement site. A wicking system may extend into the channel such that when the pot straddles the trough at the engagement site, the wicking system facilitates wicking of fluid within the trough to the receptacle.
In one aspect, there is provided a pot for use with a trough of a watering system. The pot may include one or more walls that define a receptacle for receiving a growing medium and at least one plant. A channel may be formed in the lower section of the pot that is configured to straddle the trough at an engagement site of the trough. A wicking system may extend into the channel such that when the pot straddles the trough at the engagement site, the wicking system facilitates wicking of fluid within the trough to the receptacle.
The above description sets forth, rather broadly, a summary of one embodiment of the present invention so that the detailed description that follows may be better understood and contributions of the present invention to the art may be better appreciated. Some of the embodiments of the present invention may not include all of the features or characteristics listed in the above summary. There are, of course, additional features of the invention that will be described below and will form the subject matter of claims. In this respect, before explaining at least one preferred embodiment of the invention in detail, it is to be understood that the invention is not limited in its application to the details of the construction and to the arrangement of the components set forth in the following description or as illustrated in the drawings. The invention is capable of other embodiments and of being practiced and carried out in various ways. Also, it is to be understood that the phraseology and terminology employed herein are for the purpose of description and should not be regarded as limiting.
In the following detailed description of the preferred embodiments, reference is made to the accompanying drawings, which form a part of this application. The drawings show, by way of illustration, specific embodiments in which the invention may be practiced. It is to be understood that other embodiments may be utilized and structural changes may be made without departing from the scope of the present invention.
In various embodiments, the present invention is able to provide plants with a passive, compact, self watering irrigation system that can be utilized by a multitude of growing modalities, including traditional potting soil, light weight organic super soil, and soil-less media. This extremely water efficient system can provide the ideal amount of hydration to plants without requiring electricity, and can work with both traditional water line hook ups, or with independent freestanding reservoirs. A reservoir can be used in spaces where a conventional house spigot or water line is not convenient, or in situations where natural water sources are preferred (i.e., spring water, pond water, rain water, etc.).
In
Trough 20 has a trough cap 22 with holes or apertures formed along it. Pots 40 are disposed over the trough with a watering element of the pot, described in more detail below, extending into the holes of the trough cap to allow soil or similar media in the pot to contact the fluid and conduct the fluid into the pot by osmosis.
The water trough 20 is shown in more detail in
Base 21 and cap 22 may be made using a wide variety of materials and methods. In one embodiment, base 21 is extruded plastic, such as polyethylene or polypropylene, and end caps 29 are welded onto the ends of the trough. In another embodiment, all of the components are injected molded plastic.
The trough cap 22 has holes or cutouts 24 spaced along the length of the trough cap 22. These holes 24 provide engagement sites for receiving and engaging with a pot as will be described in further detail below. The holes 24 may be irregularly spaced or customizable though in one particular embodiment, the holes are evenly spaced. Various trough caps with differently spaced holes may be provided to allow flexibility in the number and spacing of pot engagement sites according to the particular plant requirements. This allows for an extremely efficient layout of planting sights to maximize growth space, thereby saving lighting energy. In a further embodiment, the trough cap 22 may be comprised of individual sections that can be individually placed on the trough base to provide a variable hole width and variable hole spacing.
The modular trough system 20 has a water input end 28 that connects to a fluid source via a fluid supply line 30. The fluid source may be water pipe supply or fluid reservoir such as a tank. The fluid source may provide water only or may be a supply of water that contains additives, such as nutrients.
At the opposite end to the water input end, the trough 20 is provided with a water tight insert end cap 29 that closes the trough 20 to seal the fluid within the trough. The end cap 29 is removable and the trough system 20 is configured at the end for modular assembly of additional lengths of the trough system, thereby allowing a single trough to be expanded to a large custom system encompassing hundreds of troughs and planting sights that can meet the needs of various plant growing operations, both domestic and commercial.
Toward the water inlet end 28, the trough is provided with a control valve 32 that controls the flow of fluid into the trough 20. In one embodiment, the control valve 32 is a manual float valve that can disposed anywhere between the water inlet end 28 and the first opening 24 along trough 20. The float valve is configured to open when the float falls below a configurable level within the trough 20 to allow additional fluid from the fluid source 30 to enter the trough 20.
As outlined above, the engagement sites provided at the cutout locations 24 allow engagement with pots 40. A single pot 40 is shown in
The base section 44 of the pot is shaped to create a channel 48 in the exterior surface of the base 44 that accepts the trough 20 within the channel. The channel 48 is defined by two inner straight side walls 444, 445 that extend upwards of the lower surface 442 of the pot to an upper wall 446 that forms a portion of the bottom of the receptacle 43. The side walls of the channel 444, 445 allow the pot 40 to straddle the trough 20 with the trough passing through the channel 48. The channel side walls 444, 445, base surface 442 and pot side wall 42 form legs 410 that allow the pot to rest on a surface of the ground, making the pot 40 stable after being filled with soil or other planting media. Legs 410 may not extend all the way to the ground and the pot 40 may be supported only by trough 20. The wall 446 may extend across the entire bottom of the receptacle 43 between the side walls 42 to close off the legs 410 from the receptacle space 43. Alternatively, wall 446 may extend only between the channel side walls 444, 445 to leave the internal spaces defined by the legs 410 open, allowing these spaces to be filled with additional plant media and the root systems of the plants. Legs 410 may abut walls 212 and 214 of trough 20 to support the trough and to prevent relative movement between the pot and the trough.
In the middle of the channel 48, the base is provided with a wicking system. In one embodiment, the wicking system includes a support structure 50 that extends below a hole 52 in the upper surface 446 of the channel that extends from the channel through to the receptacle. The support structure is able to support plant media from the receptacle 43 that falls through the hole 52. The support structure may be flexible or rigid and may be attached to or integrally formed with the base 44. In one embodiment, the support structure may be a flexible webbing, net or basket with holes or perforations that allows fluid from the trough to enter. In an alternative embodiment, the support structure may be a rigid perforated support structure that is molded as a part of the base.
A particular embodiment of the support structure is depicted in
At the junction between the walls 56 and flange 54, the space between the walls is narrower than the hole 52, thereby allowing the basket 50 to be lowered into the pot 40 through the receptacle with the flange coming to rest against the inner surface of the wall 446 that defines the hole 52 and with the basket walls 56 extending below the pot wall 446 and into the channel 48. While it is not essential to secure the basket 50 to the pot 40, the flange 54 and wall 446 may be provided with alignable holes 57, 449 that allows the basket to be secured to the pot using rivets, screws or similar fasteners. Alternatively, the basket 50 may be secured to the pot 40 using adhesives. Once the basket 50 is located within the pot 40, the pot receptacle 43, including the space within the basket 50, may be filled with a plant growing medium and one or more plants may be planted in the plant growing medium.
The wicking system is configured so that when the pot straddles the trough, the support structure 50 and the plant medium it contains passes into the trough through a hole 24 in the trough cap 22. The fluid in the trough passes through the holes in the support structure to flood the plant medium up to the height of the fluid within the trough. A capillary action causes fluid to be transited through the receptacle of pot 40 where it can be absorbed by the root system of the plant. As the water in the trough is consumed the water level in the trough lowers. When the water is depleted to a preset level, the float valve automatically activates to refill the trough to an upper preset level, maintaining a suitable level of water.
In a further embodiment, the wicking system may include a physical wicking member that hangs into the channel to pass into the trough and also contacts the plant media in the pot receptacle so that the wicking member can wick moisture from the trough to the plant media.
The presently described system provides substantial advantage over prior art watering systems. For example, a single float valve can control a large number of plant sites. This is less expensive and more efficient than systems that require a control valve at every plant site. A further advantage is that the present invention is less likely to be clogged because the trough is wide and the control valve is upstream of all plant sites. Fluid is able to flow past each of the plant sites to reach all of the plants. A further advantage is that the pots can be easily removed, replaced and reorganized because there is no physical coupling between the pot and the watering system.
The system herein described provides the benefits of self-watering hydroponic systems without the need for electricity. The enclosed trough system helps to maintain proper humidity in the room by limiting the ability of excess water vapor from escaping the trough system. The pot design may further incorporate a bucket cap that limits transpiration of water vapor from the soil to the environment, thereby conserving water.
In addition to its value of providing the hobby gardener with an easy to use self-watering growing method, this system can save commercial facilities tremendous amounts of labor and electricity.
Although the description above contains many specifications, these should not be construed as limiting the scope of the invention but as merely providing illustrations of some of the embodiments of this invention. Thus, the scope of the invention should be determined by the appended claims and their legal equivalents rather than by the examples given.
| Number | Date | Country | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 62383109 | Sep 2016 | US |
