Patent ID: 8533993

Claim:
A Modular Vertical Farm Cell comprising a continuous-loop conveyor moving and cultivating potted sugar cane, corn, sorghum, switch-grass, other perennial crops, or other crops on a towering framework comprising of: a. A framework; b. Perennial crops or other crops in pots arrayed along reversing traverses and circulating through stages of maturation upon the framework, c. Mature crops in pots positioned at an accessible point on the framework for automatic harvesting by robots or other mechanisms, d. New seedlings or fresh-cut perennials in pots positioned for circulation back through the said conveyor and framework, e. A conveyor configuration for conveying said pots along said reversing traverses in which individual plants are moved in a zigzag fashion through the reversing traverses comprising a course of ascending and descending helical traverses upon the framework for which the pitch of and vertical spacing between traverses are constructed in a manner which follows the a normal growth curve and affords ideal accessibility at the a point of optimal harvest, f. In said conveyor configuration pots including seeds, seed-pieces, seedlings, or freshly clipped perennial root masses start on the framework at the beginning of a lower, horizontal traverse, at a point of ideal accessibility, freshly initiated plants travel across the lower, horizontal traverse, where they ascend the conveyor along the reversing traverses and helical path of a vertical column on the framework as they mature into adolescent plants, the adolescent plants cross over along an upper, horizontal traverse on the framework to a second vertical column on the framework, where they descend the conveyor along the reversing traverses and helical path of said second vertical column until they reach final maturation at the starting position, where they are harvested, the freshly cut plants are then replaced if aged or recycled through the same path again as described if said plants continue to be vital after harvest.