WO2020096445A1 - Vertical growing system - Google Patents
Vertical growing system Download PDFInfo
- Publication number
- WO2020096445A1 WO2020096445A1 PCT/MY2019/050083 MY2019050083W WO2020096445A1 WO 2020096445 A1 WO2020096445 A1 WO 2020096445A1 MY 2019050083 W MY2019050083 W MY 2019050083W WO 2020096445 A1 WO2020096445 A1 WO 2020096445A1
- Authority
- WO
- WIPO (PCT)
- Prior art keywords
- load carrying
- carrying unit
- growing system
- vertical growing
- vertical
- Prior art date
Links
Classifications
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- A—HUMAN NECESSITIES
- A01—AGRICULTURE; FORESTRY; ANIMAL HUSBANDRY; HUNTING; TRAPPING; FISHING
- A01G—HORTICULTURE; CULTIVATION OF VEGETABLES, FLOWERS, RICE, FRUIT, VINES, HOPS OR SEAWEED; FORESTRY; WATERING
- A01G31/00—Soilless cultivation, e.g. hydroponics
- A01G31/02—Special apparatus therefor
- A01G31/04—Hydroponic culture on conveyors
- A01G31/042—Hydroponic culture on conveyors with containers travelling on a belt or the like, or conveyed by chains
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- A—HUMAN NECESSITIES
- A01—AGRICULTURE; FORESTRY; ANIMAL HUSBANDRY; HUNTING; TRAPPING; FISHING
- A01G—HORTICULTURE; CULTIVATION OF VEGETABLES, FLOWERS, RICE, FRUIT, VINES, HOPS OR SEAWEED; FORESTRY; WATERING
- A01G31/00—Soilless cultivation, e.g. hydroponics
- A01G31/02—Special apparatus therefor
- A01G31/06—Hydroponic culture on racks or in stacked containers
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- A—HUMAN NECESSITIES
- A01—AGRICULTURE; FORESTRY; ANIMAL HUSBANDRY; HUNTING; TRAPPING; FISHING
- A01G—HORTICULTURE; CULTIVATION OF VEGETABLES, FLOWERS, RICE, FRUIT, VINES, HOPS OR SEAWEED; FORESTRY; WATERING
- A01G9/00—Cultivation in receptacles, forcing-frames or greenhouses; Edging for beds, lawn or the like
- A01G9/24—Devices or systems for heating, ventilating, regulating temperature, illuminating, or watering, in greenhouses, forcing-frames, or the like
- A01G9/249—Lighting means
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- Y—GENERAL TAGGING OF NEW TECHNOLOGICAL DEVELOPMENTS; GENERAL TAGGING OF CROSS-SECTIONAL TECHNOLOGIES SPANNING OVER SEVERAL SECTIONS OF THE IPC; TECHNICAL SUBJECTS COVERED BY FORMER USPC CROSS-REFERENCE ART COLLECTIONS [XRACs] AND DIGESTS
- Y02—TECHNOLOGIES OR APPLICATIONS FOR MITIGATION OR ADAPTATION AGAINST CLIMATE CHANGE
- Y02P—CLIMATE CHANGE MITIGATION TECHNOLOGIES IN THE PRODUCTION OR PROCESSING OF GOODS
- Y02P60/00—Technologies relating to agriculture, livestock or agroalimentary industries
- Y02P60/20—Reduction of greenhouse gas [GHG] emissions in agriculture, e.g. CO2
- Y02P60/21—Dinitrogen oxide [N2O], e.g. using aquaponics, hydroponics or efficiency measures
Definitions
- the present invention relates to vertical growing systems. More particularly, the present invention relates to vertical growing systems with customizable multileveled loading units for cultivating agricultural products, with each level integrated with a lighting system in a controlled environment.
- Vertical farming is typically conducted indoors.
- the stacking of crop trays or shelves utilizes the air space that is normally wasted in conventional open field farming.
- vertical farming is much more productive and space efficient when compared to conventional open field farming.
- US 2012279122 A1 discloses a rotating plant cultivator with a close-looped conveyor system for transporting a plurality of cradles.
- the cradles are supplied with growth- sustaining liquid and LED lights to control and nurture the produce.
- the cradles are not customizable to include multiple levels. Cradles are therefore required to be harvested row by row, which is time-consuming and potentially increases the required manpower.
- US 2017055471 A1 discloses a rotatable rack system for growing plants.
- the rotatable rack system comprises of a frame with a plurality of mobile tray arranged around the frame, with each mobile tray chain linked to each other.
- the prior art transports the mobile trays to an elevated height to provide uniform sunlight to the loaded plants.
- the cultivation of plants using the rotatable rack system would be limited to the availability of the sunlight, thus limiting the growth of the produce.
- each individual rack has to be accessed and worked on separately, which decreases productivity.
- CN 250284508 U discloses a hydroponic device with interactive function, based on the design principles of the Ferris Wheel.
- the prior art features a rotating shaft driven by a driving mechanism to rotate a plurality of attached cultivation tanks. Due to the Ferris Wheel design of the prior art, the prior art has a comparatively large footprint with a smaller cultivation area. The prior art is therefore not ideal for dense, urban areas.
- An object of the present invention is to provide a vertical growing system with a rotating feature for accommodating multilevel growing shelves for the cultivation of agricultural products.
- Another object of the present invention is to provide a vertical growing system with integrated lighting for supplying agricultural crops with a constant light source.
- an object of the present invention is to provide an irrigation solution for providing a consistent water source to agricultural crops.
- the vertical growing system of the present invention comprises at least one load carrying unit for growing plants.
- the at least one load carrying unit comprises a plurality of customizable shelves for growing plants.
- the at least one load carrying unit is attached to a rotary chain, wherein the rotary chain is for transporting the at least one loading unit.
- the vertical growing system further comprises a lighting system for providing light to the growing plants.
- the at least one load carrying unit can be moved by the rotary chain to the desired level to be worked on.
- the at least one load carrying unit comprises of multiple levels, with each level integrated with the lighting system.
- the load carrying unit of the vertical growing system comprises multiple levels for growing plants. Each level of the load carrying unit is integrated with the lighting system to provide lighting to the growing plants. With multiple levels, a bigger amount of plants could be grown and harvested from the vertical growing system at a time, which cuts down on operational time, especially during harvest.
- the vertical growing system further comprises of an irrigation system for providing water to the growing plants.
- the irrigation system provides water to the top most shelf of an elevated loading unit, through which the water will flow through to the lower shelves until it exits to the top shelf of the subsequent lower positioned load carrying unit until it reaches the lowest unit, wherein the water will be discharged into a storage tank to be reused .
- the load carrying units of the vertical growing system is customizable to accommodate different crops or livestock and aquaculture.
- Fig. 1 shows the front view of an embodiment of the vertical growing system.
- Fig. 2 shows the front view of a second embodiment of the vertical growing system.
- Fig. 3 shows the perspective view of the load carrying unit of an embodiment of the vertical growing system.
- Fig. 4 shows the side view of a vertical growing system setup in a customized multistoried controlled-environment building.
- the vertical growing system (100) comprises at least one load carrying unit (10) for growing plants with an integrated lighting system for providing a light source to the growing plants.
- the vertical growing system (100) further comprises a rotary chain (20) for transporting the at least one load carrying units (10).
- Fig. 3 illustrates the load carrying unit (10) of an embodiment of the present invention.
- the load carrying unit (10) comprises multiple levels, with each level capable of growing a number of plants.
- the lighting system is integrated with each level of the load carrying unit (10), preferably on the underside of each level. With that arrangement, each level of the load carrying unit (10) provides a light source to the subsequent level of the load carrying unit (10).
- the load carrying unit (10) further comprises attaching members (40) to attach the load carrying unit (10) to the rotary chain (20).
- each load carrying unit will then provide lighting to the top most level of the next load carrying unit, thereby providing continuous lighting to all levels.
- the concept of a multilevel load carrying unit (10) is for reducing the operational time, especially during harvest as the crop can be easily rotated to your location. Further, the multilevel load carrying unit (10) provides more usable growing areas for growing crops or livestock, which improves cost and land usage efficiency.
- Each load carrying unit (10) comprises of multiple levels, with each level integrated with a lighting system.
- the lighting system is preferably arranged at the underside of each level, thus each level provides a light source to each subsequent, lower level.
- the rotary chain (20) forms a close-loop around the vertical growing system (100), allowing the arranged load carrying units to travel continuously around the vertical growing system (100).
- the underside of the lowest level of each load carrying unit (10) will therefore provide lighting to the highest level of the subsequent load carrying unit (10), thereby providing continuous lighting to all load carrying units.
- the rotary chain (20) transports the required load carrying unit (10) to the desired working level.
- the ability to transport the load carrying unit (10), when required, to a staff is to reduce or eliminate the accessibility difficulties associated with higher positioned load carrying units. This feature, dubbed Crop-to-man (CTM), significantly reduces walking or climbing required by the staff to access a specific load carrying unit (10).
- CTM Crop-to-man
- the vertical growing system (100) is capable of further expansions upwards, as long as it is commercially viable.
- each load carrying unit (10) is customizable according to the amount and size of the desired produce. For example, crops such as romaine lettuce and spinach could require a shelf height of 45 cm, whilst other crops such as tomatoes and peppers could require a shelf height of 65 cm.
- Fig. 4 shows an embodiment of the present invention, wherein the vertical growing system (100) setup in a multistoried building, where groups of the vertical growing system (100) occupy their designated levels.
- the setup is expandable and is only limited to the vision of the owner as well as by financial and structural constraints.
- each level of the load carrying unit (10) of the vertical growing system (100) is customized to feature at least one coop or cage for the cultivation of poultry.
- each level of the load carrying unit (10) is customized to feature water tanks for the cultivation of aquaculture products, such as fishes or shell fish such as abalone.
- the vertical growing system (100) comprises a minimum of 3 load carrying units (10).
- the vertical growing system (100) further comprises an integrated irrigation system.
- the irrigation system provides water at an elevated end of the vertical growing system (100) to the top shelf of an elevated load carrying unit. The water will then flow through subsequent lower shelves until it exits the load carrying unit when it will then flow to the next lower positioned load carrying unit, and then on to the next lower positioned load carrying unit, and so on, thereby providing water to all lower attached load carrying units without engaging the rotary chain (20).
- the shelf depth of the vertical growing system is scalable depending on the product requirement, cost constraint as well as technical and operational limitation.
- the shelf depth of a standard vertical growing system could be 1.8 m (6 feet) whilst the width of the shelf is 6 m (20 feet).
- the integrated lighting system comprises an array of lighting members.
- the lighting members are preferably LEDs.
- the shelf levels of the load carrying unit (10) can be customizable.
- the shelf levels of the load carrying unit (10) can be adjustable in increments of 2.5 cm.
- the vertical growing system (100) further comprises a motor for driving the rotary chain (20).
- the vertical growing system (100) is capable of manual operation.
- the vertical growing system (100) features a fluid dispensing system for dispensing water and nutrient to each multilevel load carrying unit (10).
- the at least one load carrying unit (10) is removable.
- the vertical growing system (100) further comprises a working platform at an elevated level from the ground of the vertical growing system (100) for providing additional multiple access points to the shelves of the load carrying unit (10).
- An example of the elevated level is shown in Fig. 4.
Landscapes
- Life Sciences & Earth Sciences (AREA)
- Environmental Sciences (AREA)
- Hydroponics (AREA)
- Cultivation Receptacles Or Flower-Pots, Or Pots For Seedlings (AREA)
Abstract
Description
Claims
Applications Claiming Priority (2)
Application Number | Priority Date | Filing Date | Title |
---|---|---|---|
MYPI2018704212A MY201432A (en) | 2018-11-09 | 2018-11-09 | Vertical growing system |
MYPI2018704212 | 2018-11-09 |
Publications (1)
Publication Number | Publication Date |
---|---|
WO2020096445A1 true WO2020096445A1 (en) | 2020-05-14 |
Family
ID=69024567
Family Applications (1)
Application Number | Title | Priority Date | Filing Date |
---|---|---|---|
PCT/MY2019/050083 WO2020096445A1 (en) | 2018-11-09 | 2019-11-08 | Vertical growing system |
Country Status (2)
Country | Link |
---|---|
MY (1) | MY201432A (en) |
WO (1) | WO2020096445A1 (en) |
Citations (7)
Publication number | Priority date | Publication date | Assignee | Title |
---|---|---|---|---|
US20100236147A1 (en) * | 2009-03-23 | 2010-09-23 | Terrasphere Systems Llc | Apparatus for growing plants |
US20120124904A1 (en) * | 2002-11-19 | 2012-05-24 | Betty Storey | Plant growing apparatus and method |
US20120279122A1 (en) | 2011-05-06 | 2012-11-08 | Non-Industrial Manufacture, Inc. | Method and apparatus for growing plants |
US20160192607A1 (en) * | 2013-08-14 | 2016-07-07 | Yugenkaisha Japan Tsusyo | Hydroponic cultivation system, and plant factory comprising hydroponic cultivation system and expanded polystyrene foam greenhouse |
US20170055471A1 (en) | 2014-02-13 | 2017-03-02 | Sky Urban Ip Pte Ltd | Rotatable rack system |
US20170118922A1 (en) * | 2015-10-30 | 2017-05-04 | Seros LLC | Power and Lighting System for Vertical Growing Carousel |
US20170202162A1 (en) * | 2016-01-20 | 2017-07-20 | Stephen A. Dufresne | Automated mobile terrace growing system |
-
2018
- 2018-11-09 MY MYPI2018704212A patent/MY201432A/en unknown
-
2019
- 2019-11-08 WO PCT/MY2019/050083 patent/WO2020096445A1/en active Application Filing
Patent Citations (7)
Publication number | Priority date | Publication date | Assignee | Title |
---|---|---|---|---|
US20120124904A1 (en) * | 2002-11-19 | 2012-05-24 | Betty Storey | Plant growing apparatus and method |
US20100236147A1 (en) * | 2009-03-23 | 2010-09-23 | Terrasphere Systems Llc | Apparatus for growing plants |
US20120279122A1 (en) | 2011-05-06 | 2012-11-08 | Non-Industrial Manufacture, Inc. | Method and apparatus for growing plants |
US20160192607A1 (en) * | 2013-08-14 | 2016-07-07 | Yugenkaisha Japan Tsusyo | Hydroponic cultivation system, and plant factory comprising hydroponic cultivation system and expanded polystyrene foam greenhouse |
US20170055471A1 (en) | 2014-02-13 | 2017-03-02 | Sky Urban Ip Pte Ltd | Rotatable rack system |
US20170118922A1 (en) * | 2015-10-30 | 2017-05-04 | Seros LLC | Power and Lighting System for Vertical Growing Carousel |
US20170202162A1 (en) * | 2016-01-20 | 2017-07-20 | Stephen A. Dufresne | Automated mobile terrace growing system |
Also Published As
Publication number | Publication date |
---|---|
MY201432A (en) | 2024-02-21 |
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