Mushroom Cultivation Rack With Movable Platform
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Solution Overview
Problem
Large-scale mushroom cultivation facilities face challenges in managing optimal conditions and efficient harvesting due to space constraints and the vulnerability of mushrooms, leading to potential damage and size variation during harvesting.
Innovation Solution
A cultivation arrangement with two adjacent racks and a moveable operator platform allows for alternating support of cultivation packages between the racks, enabling better ventilation, climate control, and ergonomic harvesting, with the option to move packages between racks for enhanced access and operation.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Area of stationary object
If mushrooms are cultivated in stacked racks at various heights to save space, then space efficiency is improved, but access for harvesting and condition management becomes more difficult
Solution Approach 1:
The patent introduces a movable platform that can be vertically adjusted to different heights, allowing the operator to dynamically change their working height to match the mushroom bed height. This dynamic adjustment enables easy access to mushrooms at various stacking heights without requiring the operator to physically reach high places or work in confined spaces.
Solution Approach 2:
The movable platform acts as an intermediary between the operator and the mushroom beds at different heights. Instead of the operator directly accessing high-mounted beds, the platform serves as a movable workstation that brings the operating surface to the required height, mediating the interaction between the human operator and the elevated cultivation beds.
2Reliability
If manual harvesting is used to avoid damage to vulnerable mushrooms, then mushroom quality is improved, but labor intensity and time consumption increase
Solution Approach 1:
The movable platform enables efficient manual harvesting by dynamically positioning the operator at the optimal height and angle for harvesting operations. This ergonomic positioning reduces the physical strain and time required for manual harvesting, allowing operators to work more efficiently while maintaining the gentle handling needed to preserve mushroom quality.
3Area of stationary object
If cultivation beds are stacked at high positions to maximize space usage, then space efficiency is improved, but ventilation and climate control become more difficult
Solution Approach 1:
The movable platform allows operators to dynamically access different heights for ventilation and climate control operations. Instead of being fixed at a single working height, the operator can adjust the platform to reach any desired level, enabling effective monitoring and adjustment of ventilation and climate parameters throughout the entire stacked cultivation structure.
Data Source
AI summary
The invention relates to a cultivation arrangement. A first and a second rack are arranged adjacent and aligned with each other, providing a working space therebetween. Each rack comprises support structures arranged at support heights for supporting cultivation packages at a plurality of heights. The support heights are aligned with each other. The support structures comprises one or more guiding members and the arrangement comprises moving means arranged for moving packages from the first to the second rack or back, via the working space. Cultivation packages can be supported such that at most a single package is supported at each of the aligned support heights. This enables the packages to be alternatingly supported in either the first or the second rack across the support heights. The arrangement further includes an operator platform contiguous to the working space which is moveable in a vertical direction to enable working at different heights.