Multilayer Gutter Farming Lateral Transfer Mechanism
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Solution Overview
Problem
Conventional multilayer plant growing systems, such as mobile gutter farming, face inefficiencies due to complex equipment, high maintenance needs, extensive floor space requirements, and bottlenecks in processing, particularly caused by the buffer storage principle and manual handling of cultivation gutters between processing stages.
Innovation Solution
Implementing a method where cultivation gutters are operated in side-by-side cultivation lines, using a transfer device to shift them laterally between lines for processing, allowing for automated handling of plants and gutters within the same plane, enabling simultaneous processing stages like harvesting, disinfecting, and re-sowing without moving gutters between processing stages, and integrating processing devices with lift-operated structures for efficient use of space.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Ease of operation
If cultivation gutters are moved manually between processing stages in conventional multilayer systems, then processing can be performed, but equipment complexity and maintenance needs increase significantly
Solution Approach 1:
The patent transitions from vertical multilayer movement to horizontal planar movement of cultivation gutters. Instead of moving gutters between elevated layers using complex lift mechanisms, the system lays out multiple cultivation lines horizontally in the same plane, allowing gutters to move laterally between adjacent lines. This dimensional change eliminates the need for vertical lifting equipment while maintaining multilayer processing capacity.
Solution Approach 2:
The cultivation space is divided into multiple independent cultivation lines arranged horizontally. Each line operates semi-independently with its own processing sequence, allowing parallel processing of multiple gutter batches simultaneously. This segmentation distributes the processing load across multiple lines rather than requiring all gutters to pass through a single bottlenecked vertical processing path.
2Productivity
If buffer storage is used to hold cultivation gutters between processing stages, then processing sequencing is enabled, but floor space requirements become extensive
Solution Approach 1:
The system maintains continuous gutter flow through the processing sequence by having multiple cultivation lines operating in parallel. Instead of stopping gutters in buffer storage between processing stages, the continuous lateral movement between adjacent lines keeps the system in constant motion, eliminating idle buffer storage time and reducing the space needed for storage areas.
Solution Approach 2:
The system uses dynamic lateral shifting of cultivation gutters between adjacent horizontal lines rather than static buffer storage areas. The gutters are continuously repositioned from one line to the next in a flowing sequence, replacing stationary buffer zones with dynamic lateral transitions that require minimal additional space.
3Volume of moving object
If cultivation gutters are lifted and lowered manually between layers, then multilayer cultivation is achieved, but processing efficiency decreases due to manual handling time
Solution Approach 1:
The patent replaces vertical layer transitions with horizontal planar transitions. Instead of lifting and lowering gutters between elevated layers (vertical dimension), the system moves gutters laterally between adjacent cultivation lines in the same plane (horizontal dimension). This eliminates the time-consuming vertical lifting and lowering operations while preserving multilayer processing capability through parallel horizontal line arrangements.
Solution Approach 2:
The system replaces manual lifting and lowering mechanical operations with automated lateral shifting mechanisms. Power-operated motion elements automatically move gutters between cultivation lines without requiring manual intervention, substituting the time-intensive manual handle system with automated mechanical transfer that operates continuously at higher speed.
4Volume of moving object
If complex lift assemblies are used to move cultivation gutters between layers, then vertical multilayer processing is enabled, but system reliability decreases due to numerous moving parts requiring maintenance
Solution Approach 1:
The patent fundamentally changes the movement dimension from vertical to horizontal. Instead of using lift assemblies that move gutters up and down between elevated layers, the system uses simple lateral shifting mechanisms that move gutters horizontally between adjacent lines on the same level. This dimensional change replaces complex vertical lifting mechanisms with simpler horizontal transfer systems that have fewer moving parts and lower maintenance requirements.
Solution Approach 2:
The invention extracts and removes the complex lift assembly subsystem from the overall system architecture. By eliminating the vertical lifting mechanism entirely and replacing it with horizontal lateral shifting between cultivation lines, the system removes the source of reliability problems associated with numerous moving parts while preserving the essential function of moving gutters between processing positions.
Data Source
AI summary
A method and a system for growing plants on multilayer principle in mobile gutter farming is described, whereby, in the process of growing plants planted in cultivation gutters, said plants are conveyed in cultivation layers present on top of each other in a cultivation space in a longitudinal direction of the cultivation space in one or opposite directions. The cultivation gutters and the plants contained therein, are treated in the cultivation space by means of a processing arrangement in a cultivation layer-specific manner, whereby the cultivation gutters and the plants contained therein are first of all conveyed by motion elements in each cultivation layer of the cultivation space in the longitudinal direction of the cultivation space in opposite directions and are treated by processing elements in each cultivation layer of the cultivation space separately, in a manner substantially independent of the other cultivation layers.