Plant growing apparatus
AssigneeBG Technologies Inc
InventorLeslie David Howe
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A plant growing apparatus is provided that comprises a transport and positioning system, the transport and positioning system comprising a mobile plant container with a first set of wheels configured to allow selective movement of the mobile plant container to engage with or disengage from the growing chamber; and a track assembly configured to guide movement of the mobile plant container along a pathway from outside the growing chamber to inside the growing chamber.
Claims26
A plant growing apparatus configured to increase plant inflorescence yield per unit area, improve plant respiration, improve plant photosynthesis, and to reduce pathogen propagation, the plant growing apparatus comprising:
- at least one mobile plant container configured to support a plant growth medium and one or more plants that have a maximum lateral width W;
- a growing chamber, comprising:
- an integrated duct configured to selectively engage or disengage with the at least one mobile plant container, and when engaged, to simultaneously limit lateral plant growth, provide plant side-lighting, and provide airflow to the one or more plants, the integrated duct comprising:
- two opposing, rigid, inwardly facing vertically-oriented light-emitting diode (LED) panels arranged on opposite sides of the integrated duct, wherein the LED panels are spaced apart by a lateral distance X that is smaller than W, wherein X defines a width of a plant growing region therebetween, and limits the lateral plant growth of the one or more plants grown in the plant growing region to the lateral distance X;
- and
- a first fan fluidly coupled with the integrated duct and configured to pressurize the air in the integrated duct by forcing air through the growing chamber.
A method of assembling a plant growing apparatus, the method comprising:
- assembling at least one mobile plant container configured to support a plant growth medium and one or more plants;
- and
- assembling a growing chamber, comprising:
- an integrated-duct configured to selectively engage or disengage with the at least one mobile plant container, and when engaged, to simultaneously limit lateral plant growth, provide plant side-lighting, and provide airflow to the one or more plants, the integrated duct comprising:
- two opposing, rigid, inwardly facing vertically-oriented light-emitting diode (LED) panels arranged on opposite sides of the integrated duct, wherein the LED panels define a maximum lateral distance therebetween, forming a plant growth barrier configured to confine maximum lateral growth of the one or more plants during a mature phase of plant growth within the maximum lateral distance to promote development of a substantially flat vertical plant canopy.
A method of growing one or more plants to increase inflorescence yield per unit area, improve plant respiration, improve plant photosynthesis, and to reduce pathogen propagation, the method comprising:
- receiving at least one mobile plant container configured to support a plant growth medium and one or more plants;
- receiving a growing chamber, comprising:
- an integrated duct configured to selectively engage or disengage with the at least one mobile plant container, and when engaged, to simultaneously limit lateral plant growth, provide plant side-lighting, and provide airflow to the one or more plants, the integrated duct comprising:
- two opposing, rigid, inwardly facing vertically-oriented light-emitting diode (LED) panels arranged on opposite sides of the integrated duct, wherein the LED panels define a maximum lateral distance therebetween, forming a plant growth barrier configured to confine maximum lateral growth of the one or more plants during a mature phase of plant growth within the maximum lateral distance;
- irradiating the one or more plants with LED panels;
- and
- forcing air through the growing chamber.
A plant growing apparatus configured to increase plant inflorescence yield per unit area, comprising:
- at least one mobile plant container configured to support plant growth medium and one or more plants, the at least one mobile plant container comprising one or more conveyance devices;
- an integrated duct system comprising one or more elongated vertical growing chambers, each growing chamber comprising two opposing, rigid, inwardly facing, vertically-oriented light-emitting diode (LED) panels arranged on opposite sides and configured to provide light to the one or more plants from two opposing sides, wherein the mobile plant container selectively engages with or disengages with the one or more elongated vertical growing chambers of the integrated duct system.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.