WO2013021074A1

WO2013021074A1 - Floating structure for floating cultures

Info

Publication number: WO2013021074A1
Application number: PCT/ES2011/070591
Authority: WO
Inventors: Vicente Torres Junco
Original assignee: Macrofitas Sl
Priority date: 2011-08-10
Filing date: 2011-08-10
Publication date: 2013-02-14

Abstract

The invention relates to a floating structure for floating cultures, comprising supporting sections (10) that support the structure and the cultures on the surface of the water, said sections forming a substantially reticular assembly. The structure is characterised in that it also comprises at least one built-in support (11) suitable for at least one receiving basket (2) for seeds, plants or parts of same, said built-in supports (11) being formed as a single part with the supporting sections (10).

Description

Floating structure for floating crops

The present invention relates to a floating structure for floating crops.

STATE OF THE PREVIOUS TECHNIQUE

Flotation culture systems are known in which plant species grow on the surface of the water, without soil. In particular, some of these systems are used in water purification, since some plants (macrophytes), cultivated in this way, are effective in filtering and oxygenating the water.

A difficulty that arises in this type of crops is to guarantee the health and growth of the plants, so that they can correctly perform their function; for this, systems have been developed and perfected in which the plants are arranged in floating structures on the surface of the water. Patent application WO 201 1/036317 describes such a system comprising floating structures, to which supports are anchored in the form of cross-linked flat structures. These reticulated structures have a housing in which a basket or cone is inserted and fixed with the seeds, plants, seedlings, cuttings, rhizomes, bulbs or the like, coming from the nurseries and destined to grow in the water.

In the aforementioned WO201 1/036317, the structures and baskets are configured so that they properly support the seeds, cuttings, plants etc. both at the time of planting and during growth and also allow the development of roots. However, although this system works satisfactorily, it has been found that in some cases its assembly is slower than would be desirable, especially when performing a new and extensive installation.

It would be desirable to improve the performance of known flotation crop systems, at least partly facilitating their assembly and reducing their cost.

EXPLANATION OF THE INVENTION

According to one aspect, a floating structure is provided for floating crops comprising support profiles of the structure and of the crops on the surface of the water, in which these profiles form a substantially reticular assembly, and the structure is characterized by the fact that it also comprises at least one integrated support suitable for at least one recipient basket of seeds, plants or parts thereof, the integrated supports being formed in a single piece with the support profiles.

That the integrated supports are formed in a single piece with the support profiles implies that they are attached to the profiles in a fixed and permanent way, that is, they cannot be disassembled.

Throughout the present description and claims, the term "substantially cross-linked set" is not limited to any specific geometric shape, but refers to any type of structure that includes profiles, bars, arms, or similar elements, joined together in some points and leaving spaces or gaps so that they form a network of any shape, regular or irregular, and of any number of meshes, including the case of a single mesh as shown, for example, in Figures 4 and 5. The configuration of the integrated brackets, formed in one piece with the support profiles, allows to reduce the cost and assembly time of an installation; therefore the structure can be particularly advantageous in projects of certain dimensions.

In addition, the integrated supports can help stiffen and solidify the structure, and this can be, at least partially, more stable because it is not necessary to use anchor points and / or handles to support supports.

In some embodiments, the structure may be constituted by at least one molded part comprising the support profiles and at least one integrated support.

Obtaining the structure by molding in one piece is simple and economical. Depending on the shape of the support profiles, for example if they are tubular, it may be convenient to make two molded parts that subsequently join with each other to form the finished structure.

In some embodiments, the integrated supports may comprise at least one opening for insertion therein of at least one receiving basket.

Preferably, the opening may be devoid of protrusions inwards. In this way, the impediments to the insertion of a receiving basket in the floating structure are reduced and, consequently, the risk of the roots or the plant being damaged is reduced.

Preferably, the integrated supports may have an annular shape.

In some cases, at least one of the integrated brackets can be attached to at least two support profiles. In others, at least one of the integrated brackets can be attached to at least four support profiles. In addition, the same structure can have integrated brackets attached to two or three profiles, and integrated brackets attached to four lift profiles or more.

In embodiments, each integrated support may comprise fixing means of a recipient basket of seeds, plants or parts thereof. The fixing means of a receiving basket can comprise a pressure joint, a thread made in the integrated support, or a shape with recesses and projections for a half-turn connection, said form being able to be in the integrated support. In some embodiments, the structure may further comprise appropriate coupling means for joining floating structures adjacent to each other. Preferably, these means may comprise tongue and groove pressure coupling elements. In some cases, the lift profiles may be tubular. In others, they can present a section in the form of "C", which entails saving material. There may also be cases in which the same structure comprises a combination of tubular profiles and profiles with a "C" shaped section.

In embodiments, the lift profiles may be straight or curved, or a combination of straight and curved profiles.

In some cases, the support profiles may comprise areas for the coupling of removable auxiliary supports for receiving baskets of seeds, plants or parts thereof.

Other objects, advantages and features of embodiments of the invention will be apparent to the person skilled in the art from the description, or can be learned with the practice of the invention.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS Particular embodiments of the present invention will now be described by way of non-limiting example, with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which:

Figures 1 to 6 show plan views of floating structures according to different embodiments;

Figure 7 shows a perspective of a detail of a floating structure, for example, a structure like that of Figure 1;

Figure 8 schematically shows a section according to line A-A of Figure 7; Figure 9 shows a floating structure according to another embodiment.

DETAILED EXHIBITION OF MODES OF EMBODIMENT

Figures 1 to 6 show plan views of a floating structure for floating crops according to different embodiments. The same reference numbers will be used for matching or similar items.

The floating structure 1 may comprise support profiles 10 of the structure and of the crops on the surface of the water. The structure 1 may comprise a plurality of integrated supports 1 1 suitable for coupling a receiving basket (reference 2 of Figure 7) of seeds, plants or parts thereof and the integrated supports 1 1 may be formed in one piece with the support profiles 10. In this way, the time and cost of mounting in the water of a purification system comprising at least one floating structure as described above and baskets with plants can be substantially reduced, because the task of manually coupling, and one by one, the supports for the baskets to the floating structure is eliminated. The reduction of time and cost will depend on the size of the structure that you want to assemble, being obviously larger in projects of certain dimensions.

The structure 1 may also comprise coupling means to adjacent floating structures. Said coupling means may comprise tongue and groove pressure coupling elements 12, 13. These tongue and groove elements 12, 13 may be attached to the integrated supports 1 1, as shown in Figures 1 to 6, or they may be attached to lift profiles 10 (not shown). In any case, there may be more than one tongue and groove element in each support profile or in each integrated support. In some embodiments, a floating structure may comprise some tongue and groove elements that may be attached to the integrated supports 1 1 and others to the support profiles 10.

Figures 1, 2, 5 and 6 show examples of floating structures 1 in which the support profiles 10 can be straight. On the other hand, Figures 3 and 4 show floating structures 1 in which the support profiles 10 can be curved. In alternative embodiments (not shown), the floating structures may comprise a combination of straight and curved lift profiles. In this way it is achieved that the floating structures have infinite forms such as, grid shape, circular shape, triangular shape, etc. and even irregular shapes.

In Figures 1 to 6 it is shown that the integrated supports 1 1 can comprise an opening 1 1 1 where a receiving basket 2 can be coupled. Preferably, the integrated supports 1 1 can be rings (see reference 1 12 of Figure 7 ) devoid of protrusions inwards.

In this way, the impediments to the insertion of a receiving basket 2 in the floating structure 1 are reduced and therefore the risk is reduced that the roots or the plant itself are damaged. In other embodiments, the integrated brackets can have more than one opening and in each opening a basket can be attached. In the following, some possible forms of a floating structure will be described in detail, by way of non-limiting example only. As can be seen in the figures, the support profiles can form a substantially reticular assembly, in the sense that they are elongated elements joined to each other at some points and defining at least one mesh.

Figure 1 shows a floating structure with twenty-four support profiles 10 and sixteen integrated supports 1 1, distributed forming a regular grid-like grid assembly, in which the integrated supports 1 1 can act as knots, that is to say that at each end of each support profile 10 may have an integrated support 1 1.

In addition, the integrated brackets 1 1 arranged in the center of the structure 1 can be attached to four support profiles 10, while the integrated brackets 1 1 arranged in the perimeter of the structure 1 can be attached to two or three lift profiles 10.

In turn, to each of the integrated perimeter supports 1 1, at least one tongue and groove member 12, 13 of pressure coupling can be attached to an adjacent floating structure. And two tongue and groove elements 12, 13 of pressure coupling to adjacent floating structures can be attached to the integrated supports 1 1 located at the corners of the reticular structure. In Figure 2, the floating structure 1 comprises eighteen support profiles 10 and sixteen integrated supports 1 1 that form a reticular assembly comprising substantially parallel rows with each other. encompassed in a rectangular (or square) frame. In this case, only the tongue and groove elements 12, 13 are attached to the integrated supports 1 1 located in the corners. In this case some integrated supports are connected to two support profiles 10, others to three profiles, and others to four profiles.

Figure 3 shows a floating structure 1 with twelve curved support profiles 10 and nine integrated supports 1 1 that can form a grid type assembly. In turn, two tongue and groove elements 12, 13 of pressure coupling to adjacent floating structures are connected to the integrated supports 1 1 located at the corners of the structure 1.

Figure 4 shows a floating structure 1 with four curved support profiles 10 and four integrated supports 1 1 forming a single mesh grid assembly in which each of the integrated supports 1 1 can be attached to a tongue and groove element 12, 13 pressure coupling to an adjacent floating structure and can be attached to two lift profiles 10.

Figure 5 shows a floating structure 1 with six straight support profiles 10 and six integrated supports 1 1 that can form a reticular assembly with a single triangular mesh; each of the integrated supports 1 1 located at the corners of the reticular structure may be connected to two tongue and groove elements 12, 13 of pressure coupling to an adjacent floating structure. Each integrated support 1 1 can be connected to two support profiles 10.

Figure 6 shows a floating structure 1 with eight straight support profiles 10 and five integrated supports 1 1 that can form a square reticular assembly with four triangular meshes. The integrated supports 1 1 located at the corners of the reticular structure may be joined to two tongue and groove elements 12, 13 of pressure coupling to an adjacent floating structure and three support profiles 10, while the integrated support 1 1 located in the center of the structure 1 can be connected to four support profiles 10.

From the examples shown in Figures 1 to 6 it is clear that a floating structure such as that described can have any number of support profiles and any number of integrated supports. In all cases, it will be understood that other additional profiles 10 can be provided between the different integrated supports 1 1, for example, if the structure is to be given greater rigidity or strength; the reticular assembly will be formed in each case by one or several meshes, which may all have the same shape or that may have different shapes. The profiles and supports can also be arranged so that they form a totally irregular reticular assembly.

The coupling means between adjacent structures could also be formed directly on the profiles 10 or on the integrated supports 1 1.

Each of the floating structures according to embodiments of the invention may constitute a module of an installation; several structures, equal to each other or different, can be coupled to each other to cover a surface of any size and shape. New structures can also be added to expand an existing flotation crop facility.

Structures can be provided with coupling means at the edge of a pond, reservoir or the like, which if appropriate may be different from the coupling means to other adjacent structures.

Figure 7 shows a perspective of a detail of a floating structure in which the construction in a single molded part of an integrated support 1 1 and four support profiles 10 is shown. In Figure 7 it is clearly seen that the integrated support 1 1 can be in the form of a ring 1 12 with an opening 1 1 1 from which a receiving basket 2 can be attached, suitable for plants.

One end 101 of each support profile 10 may comprise, for example, a leg 102 attached to the ring 1 12. The leg 102 provided at the end 101 of each profile can be flexible or rigid, and both the shapes and dimensions of the support integrated 1 1 and legs 102 may be any, according to the requirements of each specific case. For example, in cases where an integrated support 1 1 is attached only to two profiles 10, the legs 102 may become more solid, for example wider. In other cases, the support can be attached directly to the end of each support profile without the presence of a separator such as the leg described above.

Furthermore, in figure 7 it is shown that the ring 1 12 can act as a fixing means of the receiving basket 2 to the integrated support 1 1 in combination with fixing means present in the receiving basket 2. These fixing means present in the receiving basket 2 can be, for example, hooks 21 that can be integrated in a coupling frame 22 of the receiving basket 2 through, for example, pins 23 protruding outwardly from said coupling frame 22 of the basket receiver 2. In this way, a pressure connection is achieved between the receiver basket 2 and the integrated support 1 1.

In alternative embodiments, the means for attaching the basket to the integrated support can comprise a female thread made inside the ring of the integrated support and a male thread on the outside of the coupling frame of the receiving basket, or vice versa. Or, the inside of the integrated support ring could comprise a shape with recesses and protrusions that in combination with a complementary shape outside the frame of the receiving basket could lead to a half-turn joint. In these cases, neither the thread nor the shape with recesses and projections made inside the ring protrude into the support 1 1 in a way that can damage the roots or the plants themselves.

Figure 8 shows a section along line A-A of Figure 7 in which the pressure connection between the receiving basket 2 and the ring 12 of the integrated support 1 1 described above can be seen. Thus, in figure 8 it is shown how the hooks 21 surround the side of the ring 1 12 of the integrated support so that they hold the receiving basket 2 in position, within the opening 1 1 1 of the integrated support 1 1.

The baskets receiving seeds, plants or parts thereof can be of any type; in each case the support and the receiving basket to be used will have compatible forms.

Figure 9 shows another embodiment of floating structure 1 similar to that of Figure 1, but further comprising a removable auxiliary support 3 arranged in an area 103 of the profiles, suitable for coupling this type of support. The removable auxiliary support can be of any type, such as the support described in ES2277537.

Thus, a floating structure according to embodiments of the invention can comprise integrated supports 1 1 and also be suitable so that other auxiliary supports can be added at any time, in different positions, which, being removable, can also be repositioned if necessary. For this, some areas 103 of the profiles can be provided with adapted shapes for coupling; alternatively, the profiles can have an equal shape or section along their entire length (as the case shown in the figures), and the auxiliary supports can be configured suitably to fit the profiles. Although only some particular embodiments and examples of the invention have been described herein, the person skilled in the art will understand that other alternative embodiments and / or uses of the invention are possible, as well as obvious modifications and equivalent elements. In addition, the present invention encompasses all possible combinations of the specific embodiments that have been described. The numerical signs relating to the drawings and placed in parentheses in a claim are only intended to increase the understanding of the claim, and should not be construed as limiting the scope of the claim's protection. The scope of the present invention should not be limited to specific embodiments, but should be determined only by an appropriate reading of the appended claims.

Claims

one . Floating structure (1) for flotation crops comprising support profiles (10) of the structure and of the crops on the water surface, these profiles forming a substantially reticular assembly, characterized by the fact that it also comprises at least one support integrated (1 1) suitable for at least one receiving basket (2) of seeds, plants or parts thereof, the integrated supports (1 1) being formed in one piece with the support profiles (10).

2. Structure according to claim 1, characterized in that it is constituted by at least one molded part comprising the support profiles (10) and at least one integrated support (1 1).

3. Structure according to any one of claims 1 or 2, characterized in that the integrated supports (1 1) comprise at least one opening (1 1 1) for insertion therein of at least one receiving basket (2 ).

4. Structure according to claim 3, characterized in that the opening (1 1 1) is devoid of projections inwards.

5. Structure according to any one of claims 3 or 4, characterized in that the integrated supports (1 1) have an annular shape (1 12).

6. Structure according to any one of claims 1 to 5, characterized in that at least one of the integrated supports (1 1) is connected to at least two support profiles (10).

7. Structure according to any one of claims 1 to 6, characterized in that at least one of the integrated supports (1 1) is attached to at least four lift profiles (10).

8. Structure according to any one of claims 1 to 7, characterized in that each integrated support (1 1) comprises means for fixing a receiving basket (2) of seeds, plants or parts thereof.

9. Structure according to claim 8, characterized in that the fixing means of a receiving basket (2) comprise a pressure joint.

10. Structure according to claim 8, characterized in that the fixing means of a receiving basket (2) comprise a thread made in the integrated support (1 1).

eleven . Structure according to claim 8, characterized in that the fixing means of a receiving basket (2) comprise a form with recesses and projections for a half-turn joint, said form being practiced in the integrated support (1 1).

12. Structure according to any one of claims 1 to 1 1, characterized in that it further comprises suitable coupling means for joining floating structures adjacent to each other.

13. Structure according to claim 12, characterized in that the coupling means comprise tongue and groove elements (12, 13) of pressure coupling.

14. Structure according to any one of claims 1 to 13, characterized in that the support profiles (10) are tubular.

15. Structure according to any one of claims 1 to 14, characterized in that the support profiles (10) have a "C" shaped section.

Structure according to any one of claims 1 to 15, characterized in that the support profiles (10) are straight.

17. Structure according to any one of claims 1 to 1 6, characterized in that the support profiles (10) are curved.

18. Structure according to any one of claims 1 to 17, characterized in that the support profiles (10) comprise zones (103) for the coupling of removable auxiliary supports (3) for receiving baskets (2) of seeds, plants or parts thereof.