Abstract:
The present invention relates, in general, to an water cooled horticultural growing light and a method of using the same. More particularly, the present invention relates to a water cooled horticultural growing light and method wherein water flows through outer glass tubes to cool the light source which sits inside an inner chamber of the invention. This invention allows for the light source to be placed in close proximity to the plants. This invention can be used in nurseries and other growing facilities to increase productivity by allowing plants to receive increased solar rays without the damaging effects of heat.

Description:
FIELD OF THE INVENTION 
       [0001]    The present invention relates, in general, to a water cooled horticultural growing light and a method of using the same. 
       BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
       [0002]    Horticultural growing lights have been used for centuries. One drawback of these lights has been that they produce excessive heat and must be positioned distances away from the plants due to the heat which is produced. If one of these lights is placed too close to the plants it may burn leaves or harm the plant. 
         [0003]    There are other horticultural growing lights which have been manufactured in such fashions to reduce the amount of heat production. These previous horticultural growing lights have many drawbacks. One major drawback of these lights is that they are manufactured from plastic, thus cannot maintain 1000 watt bulbs, and crack after periods of time due to the excessive exposure of heat and UV rays. An additional drawback of previous water-cooled lights was the fact that they were huge, heavy and difficult to handle. These lights constantly leaked and were difficult to take apart for cleaning. These lights were not durable. They were prone to cracking and meltdown, breaking and very expensive to manufacture. The current invention has overcome these drawbacks. 
         [0004]    There is, thus, a need for a horticultural growing light which generates maximum light, can maintain a 1000 watt or greater capacity bulb, and can be placed in close proximity to plants. 
       SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
       [0005]    Accordingly, an aspect of the invention involves a method for manufacturing a horticultural growing light which is water cooled. The method includes providing two cylindrical pyrex glass tubes. These tubes are heat resistant and not affected by UV. One tube is placed inside of the other, the interior tube houses a light bulb. Water flows between the two tubes and is pumped into one end of the space between the interior and exterior tube and comes out of the other end of the space between the interior and exterior tube. An air gap exists between the bulb and the wall of the interior tube allowing maximum thermal transfer. The water which runs through the exterior tube absorbs the heat from the light thus allowing the outside of the exterior tube to be cool to the touch. The water which flows into this apparatus can be obtained from a reservoir, a swimming pool a lake, stream or any other water source. The water then flows through the tube and is heated in the process. The heated water then exits the tube at the opposite end from its enterence and is placed back into the reservoir where the water is then cooled. The light bulbs which can be used in this apparatus are standard high pressure sodium (HPS) lamps which can vary in size and include 250, 400, 600, 750, 1000 and greater watt lamps. 
         [0006]    Water-cooled lights offer many advantages such as:
       (1) greater productivity at all times in a proper built growing chamber;   (2) increased efficiency of CO2 enhanced operations;   (3) reduced volume of ventilation, which maintains desired air composition;   (4) enables year-round operation during any weather conditions.       
 
     
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
         [0011]    The accompanying drawings, which are incorporated in and constitute a part of the specification, illustrate embodiments of the invention and, together with the description, serve to explain the objects, advantages, and principles of the invention. In the drawings, 
           [0012]      FIG. 1  is a perspective view looking up from the bottom of an embodiment of an water cooled horticultural light; 
           [0013]      FIG. 2  is a cross section view of the tubes and end plates of the water cooled horticultural growing light shown in  FIG. 1 ; 
           [0014]      FIG. 3  is a plan view of the inside facing side of the end plate which has the electrical and intake water tube connections of the growing light shown in  FIG. 1 ; 
           [0015]      FIG. 4  is an outside facing side of the end plate which has the exit water tube connection; 
           [0016]      FIG. 5  is a perspective view of the tubes and end plates with on end plate removed of a growing light shown in  FIG. 1 . 
       
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS 
       [0017]    After reading this description it will become apparent to one skilled in the art how to implement the invention in various alternative embodiments and alternative applications. However, all the various embodiments of the present invention will be described herein, it is understood that these embodiments are presented by way of an example only, and not limitation. As such, this detailed description of various alternative embodiments should not be construed to limit the scope or breadth of the present invention as set forth below. 
         [0018]    With reference to  FIG. 1  a water cooled growing light  100  is shown and displayed. This light  100  is composed of two glass tubes an interior and exterior tube, two end plates on either end, two compression rods and a light source. Each end plate is configured with a connection for a hose, the one end plate is further configured with a bracket to hold electrical socket. The interior tube  FIG. 2  ( 210 ) which has a smaller circumference than the exterior tube, is placed inside the exterior tube  FIG. 2220  and each tube is the same length. The end plates  120  and  130  are fitted onto the ends of the tubes. The end plates each contain a connector bracket  122  which has holes for hooks so that the same may be hung or mounted to either a ceiling or a wall either vertically or horizontally. A standard light hood can be attached to the connector brackets  122  to direct the light toward the plants. In an alternate embodiment this light comes equipped with an interior light reflector which fits inside the inner tube and is constructed of a metal substance. A light bulb or other light source  170  is inserted into the inner tube  210 . This light source  170  connects to a prepurchased all system socket  180  which feeds through the end plate  120  at one end of the tubes. The socket is bracketed onto a metal plate  185  (the bracket) on the outside surface of the intake end plate  120 . An intake water tube  150  connects to the connector on the outside surface of intake endplate  120 . 
         [0019]    The inside surface of each end plate have two circular channels  FIG. 5  ( 190  and  195 ) into which the glass tubes fit. The inner tube  210  inserts into the interior channel  190  which circles the entire circumference on the inside surface of each end plate. The inner tube  210  is inserted into the inside of the outer tube  220 . The outer tube  220  fits into the outer channel  195  which circles the entire circumference on the inside surface of each end plate. Two metal compression rods  140  are installed to secure the end plates  120  and  130  and the tubes  210  and  220 . The metal compression rods  140  are fed through a hole in the intake end plate  120  and through a hole in the output end plate  130 . Either end of these metal compressor rods  140  is threaded. A nut  145  twists on to each end of the rod  140  on the exterior surface of each end plate  120  and  130 . Twisting the nuts on either end of the rod press the end plates  120  and  130  into the glass tubes  210  and  220  and hold the water cooled growing light together. The connection between the tubes and the end plates are water tight, a custom made square o-ring  240  fits in each channel  190  and  195  of the inside surface of the end plates  120  and  130  to seal the connection with the ends of the glass tubes  210  and  220 . 
         [0020]    There are hose connections on each end plate  120  and  130  which feed into the space between the inner and the outer tube  210  and  220 . An input hose  150  is threaded onto one end plate, while an output hose  160  is threaded onto the opposite end plate. Water is passed by the input hose  150  into the space between the interior glass tube  210  and exterior glass tube  220 . This water passes through the growing light and the heat from the light source is thermally absorbed by the water. The water then passes out the opposite end of the tube through the output hose  160 . The water that exits the growing light passes back into a water chamber where it is cooled by mixing with existing water or by a cooling source before entering back into the water cooled growing light. In the center the bulb or other light source  170  is shielded from the water by the air space which exists between the bulb  170  and the interior face of the inner glass tube  210 . The exterior of the water cooled light  100  is cool to the touch due to the fact that the water is passing between the light and exterior of the tube which cools the growing light and causes the exterior not to exude heat. The coolness of this light allows it to be placed closer to plants thus increasing the potential growth and productivity of the plants. 
         [0021]      FIG. 2  is a cross section view of the inner and outer glass tubes  210  and  220  and the end plates  120  and  130  of the water cooled horticultural growing light. In this diagram it can be seen that the connection to the light bulb occurs through the right hand input end plate  120 . The input water tube  150  connects on the right hand side of  FIG. 2  and passes water into the interior space between the inner  210  and the outer glass tubes  220 . This water exits the output hose  160  shown on the left hand side. The glass tubes are securely fitted in the channels in either end plate with custom o-rings  240 . The end plates are pressed into the glass tubes holding the growing light together by the metal compression rods  140  that are displayed on the top and the bottom with the nuts  145  are fed on either end of the compression rods  140 . 
         [0022]      FIG. 3  shows the interior end plate  120  which has the opening for the light and all system socket  180  to pass through. This endplate also has a hole  125  between the two channels where the hose connector attaches to the exterior surface. This hole through entire plate allows the water to pass into the space between the two tubes. Both end plates have two channels  190  and  195 , one to hold the inner tube  210  and one to hold the exterior tube  220 . The channels are clearly shown in  FIG. 3 . The two holes for the compression rods  140  are shown at the top and the bottom of this end plate. 
         [0023]      FIG. 4  is the output end  130  plate for the light  100  where the output hose connects to expel the heated water. As can be seen from  FIG. 4 , the exterior face of this end plate is solid with no channels. On the exterior face there is a connection for the output water tube  160  and two holes on opposite sides of the plate for the compression rods  140  to pass through. 
         [0024]      FIG. 5  is a perspective view of the tubes  210  and  220  and end plates  120  and  130  with on end plate removed. This Figure shows how the two glass tubes fit snuggly into the two channels  190  and  195  on either end of the end plates. This Figure further shows the two holes  148  on each end plate which line up with one another so that the compression rods  140  can be fed through to the hold the fixture together by tightening the nuts  145 . Lastly,  FIG. 5  shows the holes  125  on either end plate where the water enters the interior space between the two tubes and the water exits the interior space between the two tubes on the opposite end. 
         [0025]    The water cooled growing light  100  creates a method for cooling a light source so that heat is not exuded from a light placed close to plants. The method by which this is done is water is taken from a hose outlet or other water source and run through an input hose  150  into a space between the interior and exterior tube of the light  100 . The water flows through the interior space and absorbs heat from the light source  170  so it is not transferred to the exterior tube  220  which is closer to the plants. The water runs between the inner  210  and outer  220  glass tubes and flows out of the output hose  160 . This water is then dumped into a drain, lake, stream or other body of water. In other embodiments of this invention the water can be taken from the same lake, stream or other water source and run through the light tubes and exuded back into the water source. The water source needs to be large enough so that the water has time to cool before it is repumped through the light. In a preferred embodiment the water flows at a rate of 3 to 30 gallons per minute through the growing light  100 . If the user is utilizing a set body of water for the feed and output of the water this water body should contain at least 50 gallons of water, in the alternative if the water has a cooling system then the body can be as small as 10 gallons, to allow sufficient time for the water to cool before it is passed through the light. 
         [0026]    The above description of disclosed embodiments is provided to enable any person skilled in the art to make or use the invention. Various modifications to the embodiments will be readily apparent to those skilled in the art, the generic principals defined herein can be applied to other embodiments without departing from spirit or scope of the invention. Thus, the invention is not intended to be limited to the embodiments shown herein but is to be accorded the widest scope consistent with the principals and novel features disclosed herein.