PLANT GROWING SYSTEM, METHOD OF ITS OPERATION AND GROWING TRAY Russian patent published in 2023 - IPC A01G31/04 

FIELD: agriculture.

SUBSTANCE: system comprises: (a) a frame having an upstream end of the frame and a downstream end of the frame spaced horizontally from the upstream end of the frame; (b) a plurality of vertically stacked conveyor assemblies mounted on the frame, each of which includes at least one gravity conveyor passing between the upstream end of the frame and the downstream end of the frame along the axis of the conveyor, and the axis of the conveyor is inclined downward relative to the horizontal plane from the upper along the end of the frame to the lower along the end of the frame; and (c) a plurality of plant growing trays rollably supported on each gravity conveyor and movable along the axis of the respective conveyor toward the downstream end of the frame by gravity. Each tray has: (i) a tray body having a tray top and a tray bottom opposite the top of the tray vertically, and a front part directed towards the downstream end, a back part located opposite the front part in the axial direction and directed towards the upper end. the end of the frame, and a pair of lower surfaces spaced laterally from each other and extending from the rear to the front parallel to the axis of the conveyor; (ii) a plurality of plant cavities disposed in the tray body and open towards the top of the tray, the plant cavities for holding plants; and (iii) a nutrient chamber within the tray body and in fluid communication with the plant cavities, wherein the nutrient chamber is configured to contain a plant nutrient solution, the nutrient chamber being bounded from below by the bottom wall of the nutrient chamber of the body the tray, wherein the bottom wall of the nutrient chamber is in a plane of the bottom wall parallel to the horizontal plane to maintain a constant depth of the plant nutrient solution along the bottom wall of the nutrient chamber. The tray comprises: (a) a tray body having a tray top, a tray bottom vertically opposite the tray top, a tray front and a tray rear axially opposite the tray front. Moreover, the tray body contains: (b) a plurality of cavities for plants located in the tray body for holding plants and open to the top of the tray body; and (c) a nutrient chamber within the tray body and in fluid communication with the plant cavities, the nutrient chamber being configured to contain a plant nutrient solution, the nutrient chamber being bounded from below by the bottom wall of the nutrient chamber of the body tray, while the bottom wall of the chamber with the nutrient is in the plane of the bottom wall; (d) wherein the tray body has a pair of laterally spaced bottom surfaces for engagement with the inclined gravity conveyor, the pair of bottom surfaces being inclined downward relative to the bottom wall plane from the rear of the tray body to the front of the tray body to maintain the plane of the bottom wall parallel to the horizontal plane. and maintaining a constant depth of the plant nutrient solution along the bottom wall of the nutrient chamber when the tray rests on the gravity conveyor. The method for operating the plant growing system includes: (a) rollingly supporting a plurality of plant growing trays containing plants on a gravity conveyor; (b) supplying air, plant nutrient solution and light to plants to stimulate plant growth; and (c) rolling the growing trays supported on the gravity conveyor along the axis of the conveyor toward the downstream end of the frame by gravity.

EFFECT: more efficient, simple, economical and/or reliable plant growing system.

17 cl, 24 dwg