Plant growing room

Details Plant growing room Plant growing room

1997-03-10

2001-01-16

Carone, Michael J. (Department: 3643)

Plant husbandry

Receptacle for growing medium

Specific container material

Reexamination Certificate

active

06173529

ABSTRACT:

FIELD OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to a new and improved growing room and more particularly to an automated greenhouse for growing plantlets.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
Seeds and plantlets are individually planted in a soil medium and housed in a greenhouse for germination and hardening. During this process, the seeds or plantlets are planted in a soil medium contained in small plastic liners which are placed in a flat. These flats are then stored in the greenhouse, often on wooden supports such as tables or benches on the greenhouse floor. The plantlets are typically placed side by side at a common elevation in the greenhouse to form a mat of plants extending across the greenhouse on a common plane. By placing the plantlets together as described in the prior art, the plantlets tend to reduce the light that is available to adjacent plants and also cause dead air spaces adjacent the plants, thus inhibiting growth. Further, the liners, flats or pots are opaque and therefore do not transmit any available light therethrough.
A further disadvantage of prior art systems is that the liners must be manually moved from one location to another. In particular, to remove plantlets from the liners, the liners either need to be removed from the greenhouse or the laborer must work at the location of the liner.
Other objects and advantages of the invention will appear from the following description.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
The present invention includes an automatic growing room. The growing room includes a closed loop track suspended above the floor and extending throughout the room. A plurality of racks are movably supported on the track by a motorized mover system. The racks include a frame for supporting a plurality of growing sheets for supporting and growing the plants. The growing sheets are made of a translucent material and include a plurality of growing cells formed by affixing a plurality of lengths of membrane material to the sheet at predetermined locations. The growing cells are gas permeable, liquid impermeable, and translucent.


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