Abstract:
A system for indoor plant cultivation is disclosed. The system is low cost, simple system that may be used for example at homes, in restaurants, and in schools to grow vegetables and flowers.

Description:
PRIORITY 
       [0001]    This application claims priority of U.S. provisional application No. 62/154,752, filed on Apr. 30, 2015, and the content of which are incorporated herein by reference. 
     
    
     FIELD OF THE INVENTION 
       [0002]    The present invention relates to the field of plant growing systems. 
       BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
       [0003]    Known indoor garden systems require expensive, complex pumps, harsh lights, large footprints, and constant calibration of multiple expensive sensors as well as dosing with chemical fertilizers, which many consumers and professional chefs find unappealing. 
         [0004]    For example, China utility model CN203327646 describes hydroponic indoor plant cultivation shelf including water circulating system. The problem of such cultivation system is that it does not allow regulating growing conditions according to the actual needs. 
         [0005]    The problem of well-known hydroponic, aeroponic, aquaponics, soil cultivation systems is that it is not possible to regulate the pH, temperature, humidity, amount of water, light and nutrients and other growing conditions according to the specific plants&#39; needs. Due the complex systems it is impossible to regulate growing conditions without specific knowledge and thereby some of the conditions may be regulated too much, and some of the conditions too little. 
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION 
       [0006]    The aim of the present invention is to provide a low-cost, ultra-efficient system for indoor plant cultivation to remove the hurdles known from prior art, so anyone without specific knowledge can grow hyperlocal, fresh food in their home, school, restaurant, office or community center with minimal management and easy scalability. The result is higher quality plants, herbs, fruits and vegetables (for example strawberries, tomatoes, basil, lemon balm, thyme, salad rocket, chili peppers, stevia, lettuce, parsley, cilantro and other plants) at a lower cost to the consumer and the environment. 
         [0007]    The aim of the present invention is achieved by a system wherein the growing conditions are automatically measured, compared with previously collected growing information and regulated according to the specific plants&#39; needs. 
         [0008]    With the seed cartridges of the present disclosure with proprietary growth medium, grow lights and electronic precision irrigation (EPI), the present invention automatically provides plants with the perfect amount of water, light and nutrients at up to 80 percent less than the cost to set up a comparable hydroponic or aeroponic system. The present invention also comprises a connected mobile device application, allowing users to easily adjust growth parameters through the EPI technology to meet custom growing needs. 
         [0009]    With various options, the present invention can be set up to fit in any space. In alternative embodiments the present system comprises for example a smaller freestanding enclosed unit to grow 64 plants at once on four shelves and fit a space similar to a small refrigerator unit, and for heavier demands, a larger freestanding enclosed unit for the prosumer will allow people to grow for example 250 individual plants at once. The shelves of the present invention will work independently, allowing use in open-design projects to customize any space. 
         [0010]    It is an object of this invention to provide a system for indoor plant cultivation comprising: a frame having at least one first lifting means and at least one second lifting means; at least one lighting system comprising a light panel, multiple grow lights, and at least one sensor block; at least one growth rack comprising water inlet, one or more cells for plant capsules; and a control system comprising a main water inlet, a pump/valve, water pipes and flow sensors for each growth rack, a control center, an analytic center, and control device. 
     
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
         [0011]    The present invention is explained more precisely with references to the appended figures, where 
           [0012]      FIG. 1  illustrates the system according to the present invention; 
           [0013]      FIG. 2  illustrates the system according to an alternative embodiment of the present invention; 
           [0014]      FIG. 3 a    illustrates an alternative embodiment of the lighting module of the present invention in front view; 
           [0015]      FIG. 3 b    illustrates the alternative embodiment of the lighting module of the present invention in side view; 
           [0016]      FIG. 4 a    illustrates the alternative embodiment of the lighting module of the present invention in front view and in upper lens up position; 
           [0017]      FIG. 4 b    illustrates the alternative embodiment of the lighting module of the present invention in front view and in lens down position 
           [0018]      FIG. 4 c    illustrates the alternative embodiment of the lighting module of the present invention in side view; 
           [0019]      FIG. 5  illustrates the system and movement of lighting system and growth rack shown on  FIG. 1  in side view; 
           [0020]      FIG. 6  illustrates the alternative embodiments of the lighting module of the present invention is side view shown on  FIG. 3 a    to  FIG. 4   c.    
       
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION 
       [0021]    The system according to present invention for indoor plant cultivation comprises frame  101  including at least one first lifting means  102  and at least one second lifting means  103 ; at least one lighting system comprising a light panel  201 , multiple grow lights  202 , at least one sensor block  210 ; at least one growth rack  300  comprising water inlet  301 , multiple cells  302  for plant capsules and a control system  400  comprising main water inlet  401 , a pump/valve  402 , water pipes  403  and at least one flow sensor  404  for each growth rack  300 , a control center  405 , an analytic center  406  and a control device  407 . 
         [0022]    The at least one sensor block  210  comprises at least one humidity, temperature, moisture and/or pH sensor. 
         [0023]    The growth rack  300  is formed of a tank-like container for the preferably stabilized, fertilized and pre-seeded plant capsules which have great water absorbing capabilities and contains air pockets to provide roots with oxygen. 
         [0024]    The pump/valve  402  regulates water supply exactly according to the amount necessary to specific plant in specific environmental conditions. The flow meter  404  records the amount of water supplied. The soil moisture sensor detects soil moisture. In an alternative embodiment the moisture is calculated based on the flow meter readings, plant age, growth stage, temperature, and air humidity. 
         [0025]    The control center  405  and the analytic center  406  comprise database of growing information and condition needs of different plants provide suitable growth programs for the plants, as some plants require specific day lengths or specific soil moisture to enter flowering or fruiting stages. Based on the collected sensor data and information in the database regarding the specific plant, the pH and necessary amount of water, air and nutrients for the plants are calculated. The data exchange between the sensor blocks  210  and the control center  405 , the control center  405  and the analytic center  406 , the analytic center  406  and the control device  407  is a wired or a wireless connection  408 . 
         [0026]      FIG. 1  illustrates the system according to the present invention wherein the system comprises the first and second lifting means  102  and  103 , which are movable up and down manually or automatically and are attached to the frame  101 ; at least one lighting system comprising light panel  201  and multiple grow lights  202 , wherein the lighting system is connected to the first lifting means  102 ; at least one growth rack  300  comprising water inlet  301 , multiple cells  302  for plant capsules and at least one sensor block  210  comprising multiple sensors, wherein the growth rack  300  is connected to the second lifting means  103 ; control system  400  comprising main water inlet  401 , pump/valve  402 , water pipes  403  and at least one flow sensors  404  for each growth rack  300 , control center  405 , analytic center  406  and control device  407 , wherein the main water inlet is connected to the flow sensors  404  of control system  400  and flow sensors  404  are connected via water pipes  403  to growth racks  300  and via wired or wireless connection  408  to control center  405 . The control center  405  is connected via wired or wireless connection  408  to each lighting system, growth rack  300 , sensor block  210 , and analytic center  406 . 
         [0027]    The analytic center  406  comprises for example growth statistics, information regarding the growing conditions, etc. 
         [0028]    The lighting system comprises eye friendly grow lights  202 . The growth lights are for example energy efficient and eye-friendly ultra-efficient preferably cool white light emitting diodes (LEDs) which can be turned on/off from the control device to provide plants with suitable day-night cycles. Lighting system of the present invention is 40% more energy efficient as High Pressure Sodium (HPS) growth lamps. 
         [0029]    Position and height of the growth rack  300  and the lightning module and the distance between the growth rack and lightning module to provide optimal light for the plants is calculated based on sensor data and information regarding the growth condition. Necessary position of the growth rack  300  and lightning module is achieved by moving the rack and lightning module up or down manually or automatically controlled via the control device  407 . For the more convenient exploitation the growth rack  300  and lightning module are movable backward and forward manually or automatically controlled via the control device  407 . 
         [0030]    In a working regime the present system is connected to the public waterworks of home, school, restaurant, office or community center via main water inlet  401  and regular tap water is used for the plants. 
         [0031]    In alternative embodiments, shown on  FIG. 3 a   ,  FIG. 3 b    and  FIG. 4 a    to  FIG. 4 b   , the lighting system comprises light panel  201 , LEDs  202  and lens module  203  comprising concave lenses, convex lens, lenses shaped like shown on  FIG. 3 b      FIG. 4 c    to focus the light beam in a best suitable angle for the plants depending on the plant size. 
         [0032]    The lens module  203  shown on  FIG. 3 a    and  FIG. 3 b    moves from left to right, the lens module shown on  FIG. 4 a    to  FIG. 4 b    moves up and down to adjust the light beam. 
         [0033]    The analytics center  406  is for example cloud-based interface which enables the user to control via control device (for example smartphone, personal or portable computer, or any other programmable device) every aspect of the growing system from long distances over the internet, including to adjust plant growth speed and environmental conditions by regulating soil moisture and daylight length and light intensity. 
         [0034]    The regulation of the necessary amount of water, air, nutrients is calculated based on the flow meter readings; soil moisture readings; plant age and size; temperature; user input; air by altering substrate porosity; fans and cooling element. 
         [0035]    Nutrients are dependent on substrate manufacturing process or can also be added during growth by automatic or manual means. 
         [0036]    In an alternative embodiment, shown on  FIG. 2 , the present system comprises an airtight over-pressurized casing  500  to prevent insect infestation, to keep harmful insects and disease vectors outside and to remove excess heat from the growth area. The casing forms an air-tight growth chamber comprising fans  510 , humidity, temperature sensors to further adjust the growing environment. 
         [0037]      FIG. 5  illustrates the motion of lifting means  102  and  103 , lighting system and growth rack  300  of the present invention shown on  FIG. 1  and  FIG. 2 . The lifting means  102 ,  103  are movable up and down, either manually or automatically via the analytic center  406  and the control center  405  by the control device  407 . The lighting system and the growth rack  300  are movable up and down with lifting means  102  and  103  and also movable backward and forward. This helps to optimize growing conditions regarding lighting as per the plant&#39;s needs. 
         [0038]      FIG. 6  illustrates the alternative embodiment of the present invention wherein the lens module  203  is attached to the lighting system. This enables to regulate the light conditions exactly according to each plant&#39;s needs. The light conditions are regulated by moving the light system up and down and the growth rack  300  back and forward and/or moving the lens module  203  up and down, and left to right.