Trellis Panels for Sunlight Delivery and Canopy Zoning
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing trellis systems for grapevines suffer from labor-intensive canopy division, increased harvest costs, and inefficient sunlight delivery, leading to issues like cluster thinning, berry thinning, and poor fruit maturity.
Innovation Solution
The introduction of trellis panels that collect and direct sunlight, position shoots, and divide canopies to create distinct fruiting zones, reducing the need for manual labor and improving light management, while protecting plants from adverse weather and enhancing fruit quality.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Ease of operation
If manual canopy division or moveable wire-assisted canopy division is used, then canopy management is achieved, but cluster thinning, berry thinning, and increased harvest costs occur
Solution Approach 1:
The trellis system is divided into multiple vertical panels that create distinct zones within the canopy. Each panel segment independently manages a specific portion of the vine, allowing sunlight to be delivered to specific zones without requiring manual intervention for the entire canopy. This segmentation enables automated zone-based management rather than whole-canopy manual division.
Solution Approach 2:
Vertical panels are introduced as intermediary structures between the traditional trellis wires and the vine canopy. These panels act as mediators that physically divide and organize the canopy into distinct zones, eliminating the need for manual wire-assisted division. The panels serve as a fixed intermediary structure that permanently establishes zone boundaries without requiring repeated manual adjustment.
2Device complexity
If traditional T-trellis with evenly spaced foliage wires is used, then structural simplicity is maintained, but inefficient sunlight delivery and poor fruit maturity occur
Solution Approach 1:
Instead of uniform evenly-spaced foliage wires throughout the canopy, the invention introduces vertical panels at specific locations to create localized zones with differentiated light exposure. Each panel zone has tailored light delivery characteristics, with some zones receiving more direct sunlight than others. This local quality approach allows optimized sunlight delivery to specific fruiting zones without complicating the entire trellis structure.
Solution Approach 2:
The invention adds a vertical dimension to the traditional two-dimensional wire-based trellis system. By introducing vertical panels that extend from the ground upward, the system creates three-dimensional zones within the canopy. This dimensional addition allows sunlight to be delivered from multiple angles and creates distinct vertical layers for improved fruit maturity without requiring complex wire arrangements.
3Ease of operation
If moveable wire-assisted canopy division is used, then canopy organization is achieved, but labor-intensive operations and increased harvest costs result
Solution Approach 1:
The vertical panels are installed during vine establishment to pre-organize the canopy into distinct zones before the vine grows. This preliminary action of zone establishment eliminates the need for subsequent manual canopy division operations. The panels permanently maintain zone organization throughout the growing season and into harvest, preventing the need for time-consuming re-organization operations.
Solution Approach 2:
The vertical panel structure automatically maintains canopy organization without requiring human intervention. As the vine grows, the panels self-organize the canopy into designated zones through their physical presence and structure. This self-service organization system eliminates the need for labor-intensive manual division and maintains consistent zone boundaries throughout the growing season without human input.
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 panels enhance crop production, improve fruit maturity and quality, reduce labor costs, and minimize spray drift, while maintaining optimal light and temperature conditions for plant growth and fruit development.
Implementation Method 1
the one or more panels are configured to collect light energy and to direct the collected light energy to the plants
Implementation Method 2
the one or more reflective panels are configured to reflect the collected light energy to the plants
Implementation Method 3
the one or more translucent panels are configured to diffuse the collected light energy to the plants
Data Source
AI summary
Provided herein are devices, systems, and methods for sunlight delivery, shoot positioning, canopy division, positioning fruit into distinct zones, managing fruit maturity and quality, rain, wind, and hail protection, and reducing canopy management and harvest labor of one or more plants on a trellis comprising one or more panels and a standoff, wherein the panels divide the growth of plant shoots on the trellis, thereby modifying growth or development of the plants. In some embodiments, the panels collect light energy and direct the collected light energy to the plants, thereby modifying growth or development of the plants and their producing of fruit.