Rotating Plant Grower Panels with Asymmetric Light Containment
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Solution Overview
Problem
Indoor plant growers face challenges such as limited space, difficulty in exposing plants to natural light, uneven water supply, and light emission outside the growing container, leading to user discomfort and inadequate plant growth.
Innovation Solution
A plant grower design featuring rotatable growing panels with integrated lighting, wing structures to contain light, and a supply system for water and nutrients, allowing for natural or artificial light emission directly to plants while preventing light from escaping and ensuring consistent water supply.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Illumination intensity
If artificial lighting is used to solve the natural light problem, then plants can be grown indoors without natural light, but light is discharged to a space outside the plant grower causing user discomfort
Solution Approach 1:
The transparent window is positioned asymmetrically on only one side of the cylindrical container, allowing light to be directed outward from that specific direction while maintaining containment in other directions. This asymmetric placement resolves the contradiction by controlling light discharge to a specific external space rather than all directions.
Solution Approach 2:
The transparent window acts as an intermediary element between the internal lighting system and the external environment. It selectively transmits light to the outside while maintaining the containment function of the container walls, thus mediating the light discharge issue without compromising plant illumination.
2Productivity
If growing panels are fixed in position, then structure is simple, but plants cannot receive optimal light exposure and water distribution is uneven
Solution Approach 1:
The growing panels are made rotatable rather than fixed, allowing them to dynamically adjust their orientation. This enables the panels to rotate toward light sources for optimal photosynthesis and allows the irrigation system to dynamically target different panel positions for even water distribution, thus improving productivity despite increased mechanical complexity.
Solution Approach 2:
The rotatable panel mechanism serves multiple functions: it optimizes light exposure for plant growth, enables even water distribution through adjustable positioning during irrigation, and allows flexible arrangement adaptation. This multi-functionality justifies the increased device complexity by addressing multiple growth constraints simultaneously.
3Reliability
If water supply is manual and irregular, then system is simple, but plants do not grow appropriately due to uneven water supply
Solution Approach 1:
The irrigation system is designed to automatically supply water to the growing panels without requiring manual intervention. The system self-regulates water distribution timing and quantity, ensuring consistent and appropriate water supply for plant growth, thus improving reliability while accepting the complexity of automated control mechanisms.
4Area of stationary object
If container size is small for indoor placement, then space utilization is good, but plants have limited growth space and light distribution is insufficient
Solution Approach 1:
The system transitions from a static, single-level container to a multi-level stacked configuration with rotatable panels. This dimensional change allows vertical space utilization while maintaining compact footprint, and the rotation capability adds temporal dimension to light exposure, enabling small indoor containers to provide sufficient light distribution and growth space.
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
Enables efficient light distribution to plants, minimizes light loss, and ensures proper watering, allowing for effective indoor or outdoor plant growth with reduced power consumption and user management ease.
Implementation Method 1
a lighting bar extending vertically upwards from a center of the upper surface of the base to the upper cover, the lighting bar being configured to emit light in a direction in which the plurality of growing panels is disposed
Implementation Method 2
a plurality of growing panels rotatably disposed between a base and an upper cover
Implementation Method 3
a pair of wings disposed at opposite sides of the main body so as to be rotatable relative to the main body. The wings may cover opposite sides of the growing panel at which the growing holders are disposed. When the lighting bar emits light, therefore, it is possible to prevent the light from being discharged to the outside.
Data Source
AI summary
A plant grower includes a base, an upper cover having a surface parallel to an upper surface of the base, the upper cover being disposed above the base so as to be spaced apart from the upper surface of the base, a plurality of growing panels disposed along the circumference of the upper surface of the base, the plurality of growing panels being rotatably disposed at the base and the upper cover, and a lighting bar extending vertically upwards from the center of the upper surface of the base to the upper cover, the lighting bar emitting light in a direction in which the plurality of growing panels is disposed, and a plurality of growing holders, into each of which a plant is inserted, disposed at one surface of each of the plurality of growing panels.