Single-Piece Floating Tray for Hydroponic Cultivation
Find Innovative SolutionsGenerate Solutions
Solution Overview
Problem
Existing hydroponic cultivation supports are not suitable for housing bulbs or seedlings from germination to maturity, as they sink with the plant's increased weight, risking root rot and inadequate carbon dioxide venting, especially in hot periods where oxygen levels in water decrease.
Innovation Solution
A single-piece floating tray designed with buoyant portions and optimized dimensions to keep plants above water, allowing continuous carbon dioxide venting and oxygenation, made using blow-moulding for cost-effectiveness and ease of stacking.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Ease of manufacture
If traditional floating supports are used, then the support structure is simple and cost-effective, but the plant sinks as it grows, causing the bulb to become immersed in water and increasing the risk of rotting
Solution Approach 1:
The floating support is designed with adjustable buoyancy elements that allow the support to adapt its floating height dynamically. As the plant grows and gains weight, the support automatically adjusts to maintain the bulb above water level, preventing rotting while keeping the structure simple and cost-effective.
Solution Approach 2:
The support structure incorporates variable buoyancy parameters through adjustable air chambers or foam elements. By changing the volume or density of buoyant materials, the support can compensate for increasing plant weight throughout the growth cycle, maintaining optimal positioning without complex mechanical systems.
2Use of energy by moving object
If the plant is allowed to grow in direct contact with water surface, then oxygenation is improved, but carbon dioxide venting is prevented and root rotting increases
Solution Approach 1:
The support structure separates the plant's root zone from the water surface by creating distinct functional zones: an upper aerobic zone for bulb placement with ventilation channels, and a lower aquatic zone for root immersion. This segmentation allows simultaneous oxygenation and carbon dioxide venting through dedicated pathways.
Solution Approach 2:
The floating support acts as an intermediary structure between the plant and water, providing a platform that facilitates gas exchange. Ventilation channels and air gaps in the support structure serve as intermediary pathways for carbon dioxide to escape while allowing oxygen to reach the roots, resolving the conflict between oxygenation and gas venting.
3Reliability
If the support is designed to keep plants above water, then root rotting is prevented, but the support becomes more complex and less cost-effective
Solution Approach 1:
Multiple functions are merged into a single integrated floating support structure: buoyancy control, plant positioning, ventilation channeling, and root zone management are combined in one device. This integration achieves effective root rot prevention without proportionally increasing complexity, as the functions work together through a unified design rather than separate components.
4Reliability
If plants are removed from supports before maturity, then rotting risk is reduced, but productivity and cultivation continuity are decreased
Solution Approach 1:
The floating support is pre-designed with growth-accommodating features that anticipate and prepare for the plant's entire growth cycle. The structure includes expandable or adjustable elements that are ready to adapt as the plant grows, eliminating the need for premature removal and enabling continuous cultivation from germination to maturity without interruption.
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
The tray maintains plants above water throughout growth, preventing root rot and ensuring adequate oxygenation and carbon dioxide venting, while being cost-effective and easy to use, allowing for continuous cultivation without the need for frequent plant relocation.
Implementation Method 1
a floating tray (100) made of a single piece, which includes a platform (101) that defines a plurality of cultivation cells (1) shaped so as to receive and support a bulb or a seedling to be grown, and a buoyant portion (4) that supports the platform (101) so as to float on a water surface
Implementation Method 2
said tray comprising through-holes (3) arranged on said platform (101), said through-holes (3) being shaped so as to allow venting, from the cultivation cells (1) to an external environment, of a carbon dioxide produced by roots of plants to be grown
Implementation Method 3
Preferably, each single-piece tray is realized by means of blow-moulding
Data Source
Figure 1
Figure 2~3
Figure 4~5
AI summary
The present invention relates to a single-piece tray for hydroponic cultivation, composed of a plastic material shaped so as to define inside the tray a plurality of identical cultivation cells. Each cultivation cell has: a housing defining a raised plane and configured to house a bulb or seedling to be cultivated, with a hole having dimensions such as to support the bulb or seedling to be cultivated without letting it fall through, while allowing its roots to protrude below the tray; a buoyant portion, defining a lowered plane intended to sink below a waterline, and delimited by side walls, each buoyant portion defining: - a bottomside with a first height, intended to remain below the waterline, - a waterline zone with a second height, which remains above the waterline when the bulb or seedling to be cultivated is placed in the cultivation cell and is intended to sink completely below the waterline when the bulb or seedling to be cultivated has become a mature plant, - a topside with a third height, which remains above the waterline when the bulb or seedling to be cultivated has become a mature plant; the sum of the first, second and third heights corresponding to the height of the side walls which connect the raised plane to the lowered plane and wherein said side walls form a channel which communicates directly with the space outside that subtended by said tray.