Mycelium Growth Bed Perforation Layer for Uniform Sheet Harvesting
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Solution Overview
Problem
Current methods for manufacturing mycelium composites face challenges in optimizing growth conditions, harvesting efficiency, and minimizing environmental impact, while achieving uniformity and consistency in mycelium materials.
Innovation Solution
A method utilizing a mycelium growth bed with a perforation layer that includes a tray, a conveying platform, and a perforation layer with pores, allowing mycelium to grow uniformly through and beyond the layer, reducing tear strength and enabling easy separation of the mycelium composite from the substrate.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Ease of manufacture
If conventional methods are used to grow mycelium on rafts in liquid cultures or from compacted sawdust, then mycelium can be produced, but heavy amounts of post processing are required to optimize growth conditions and transform the harvested mycelium composite into industrially useful material
Solution Approach 1:
The substrate is pre-formed into a continuous sheet with controlled thickness and density before mycelium inoculation. This preliminary preparation of the substrate structure eliminates the need for extensive post-processing to achieve uniformity, as the uniform substrate provides a consistent foundation that promotes uniform mycelium growth throughout the material.
Solution Approach 2:
The invention controls key parameters during the growth phase including substrate moisture content (40-60%), temperature (20-30°C), and oxygen levels to optimize mycelium growth. By carefully controlling these parameters during growth rather than requiring extensive post-processing, the method achieves uniform mycelium distribution and texture while reducing processing complexity.
2Productivity
If mycelium is grown external to its substrate, then mycelium material can be harvested, but the process requires heavy amounts of post processing to optimize growth conditions and transform the material
Solution Approach 1:
The invention merges the substrate and mycelium into a unified composite structure where the mycelium grows integral to the substrate throughout the material. This integration allows for simultaneous harvesting of both components without requiring separate processing steps, thereby improving productivity while reducing the complexity of growth condition optimization and material transformation.
3Productivity
If conventional mycelium growth methods are used, then mycelium composite can be produced, but the process creates environmental problems in manufacturing, recycling or disposal
Solution Approach 1:
The invention employs a substrate that can be easily separated from the mycelium composite through controlled delamination. The substrate serves as a reusable platform that can be recovered and reused for subsequent mycelium growth cycles, while the mycelium layer can be harvested and processed into final products. This recovery and reuse approach minimizes waste and reduces environmental impact compared to conventional single-use methods.
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 method achieves a uniform, gradient-less mycelium composite with high consistency, reduced manufacturing complexity, and minimal environmental impact, facilitating efficient harvesting and reuse of mycelium substrates.
Implementation Method 1
a perforation layer having a plurality of pores and embedded parallel to or coplanar with at least one substrate plane
Data Source
AI summary
A mycelium growth bed for growing a solid substrate-bound mycelium through which the mycelium composite is easily and readily removed. This is achieved through the use of a perforation layer embedded between the mycelium substrate and the mycelium composite so as to create a uniform structural weakness and thereby enhancing harvesting abilities of the ex-substrate mycelium via a greatly reduced and uniform tear strength. The perforation layer, through which the mycelium grows, allows for the gated and controlled extrusion of a matrix of colonial cells that may be easily and uniformly delaminated from the underlying mycelium substrate.