Fluid distribution manifolds in an assembly line grow pod and methods of providing fluids via fluid distribution manifolds

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-11096342-B2
Application number	US-201815983839-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	May 18, 2018
Priority date	Jun 14, 2017
Publication date	Aug 24, 2021
Grant date	Aug 24, 2021

Abstract

An assembly line grow pod includes a fluid source and a fluid distribution manifold. The fluid distribution manifold includes a fluid inlet, a plurality of fluid outlets, a plurality of valves coupled within the fluid outlets and movable between an open position and a closed position, a plurality of biasing assemblies coupled to the of valves to bias the valves in the closed position, and a plurality of tension rings coupled to the biasing assemblies to adjust an amount of biasing force applied by the biasing assemblies. Fluid from the fluid source having a fluid pressure that exceeds the biasing force causes the valves to move to the open position such that a specific amount of the fluid is ejected from the fluid outlets.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. An assembly line grow pod comprising:
a fluid source; and
a fluid distribution manifold comprising:
a body defining a cavity, the body comprising:
a fluid inlet fluidly coupled to the fluid source,
a plurality of fluid outlets fluidly coupled to the fluid inlet,

a plurality of valves, each one of the plurality of valves coupled within a fluid outlet of the plurality of fluid outlets and movable between an open position and a closed position,
a plurality of biasing assemblies, each one of the plurality of biasing assemblies coupled to each one of the plurality of valves to bias each one of the plurality of valves in the closed position, and
a plurality of tension rings, each one of the plurality of tension rings coupled to each one of the plurality of biasing assemblies to independently adjust an amount of biasing force applied by each one of the biasing assemblies,
wherein fluid delivered from the fluid source results in a fluid pressure within the cavity of the fluid distribution manifold that exceeds the biasing force applied by at least one of the biasing assemblies causes the at least one of the plurality of valves to move to the open position for a particular amount of time such that a specific amount of the fluid is ejected from the at least one of the plurality of fluid outlets, the particular amount of time based on an amount of time necessary for the fluid pressure within the cavity to be reduced below the biasing force of at least one of the biasing assemblies.

2. The assembly line grow pod of claim 1 , wherein the amount of biasing force applied by each one of the biasing assemblies is independently adjustable by each one of the tension rings such that the biasing force applied by each one of the biasing assemblies are different from one another.

3. The assembly line grow pod of claim 1 , wherein the amount of biasing force applied by the at least one of the biasing assemblies is adjustable by each one of the tension rings such that the biasing force applied by each one of the biasing assemblies is the same.

4. The assembly line grow pod of claim 1 , further comprising:
a track;
a cart supported on the track and movable along a length of the track; and
a tray supported on the cart, the tray comprising one or more cells that hold seeds, shoots, or plants.

5. The assembly line grow pod of claim 4 , wherein the fluid distribution manifold is positioned adjacent to the track such that, when the cart, when moving along the length of the track, passes the fluid distribution manifold, the one or more cells of the tray are aligned with the plurality of fluid outlets such that the specific amount of the fluid is ejected into the one or more cells based on a predetermined amount of fluid needed for plant material contained in each of the one or more cells.

6. The assembly line grow pod of claim 1 , further comprising a fluid line fluidly coupled between the fluid source and the fluid inlet of the fluid distribution manifold.

7. The assembly line grow pod of claim 1 , further comprising one or more flow control valves fluidly coupled between the fluid source and the fluid inlet of the fluid distribution manifold, the one or more flow control valves controlling a flow of fluid from the fluid source and the fluid inlet.

8. The assembly line grow pod of claim 1 , further comprising one or more pumps fluidly coupled between the fluid source and the fluid inlet of the fluid distribution manifold, the one or more pumps controlling a pressure and a flow of the fluid from the fluid source to the fluid inlet.

9. The assembly line grow pod of claim 8 , further comprising a control component communicatively coupled to the one or more pumps and the plurality of tension rings, the control component transmitting signals to the one or more pumps and the plurality of tension rings to control the pressure and flow of fluid into the fluid distribution manifold and the specific amount of the fluid that is ejected from each one of the plurality of fluid outlets.

10. The assembly line grow pod of claim 1 , wherein the fluid source is a fluid holding tank containing one or more of the following: water, a mixture of water and nutrients, or nutrients.

11. The assembly line grow pod of claim 1 , wherein the fluid source is a watering component that supplies one or more of the following: water and nutrients to plants that are grown in the assembly line grow pod.

12. The assembly line grow pod of claim 1 , wherein the specific amount of the fluid that is ejected from each one of the plurality of fluid outlets is predetermined according to a fluid supply recipe.

13. The assembly line grow pod of claim 1 , further comprising a computing device configured to:
control an amount of fluid provided to the cavity via the fluid inlet; and
independently adjust a tension of at least one of the plurality of the plurality of tension rings.

14. The assembly line grow pod of claim 1 , wherein the computing device controls the amount of fluid provided to the cavity via the fluid inlet and independently adjusts the tension of at least one of the plurality of tension rings to provide the specific amount of fluid to one or more cells within a tray containing plant material.

15. A water distribution manifold in an assembly line grow pod, the water distribution manifold comprising:
a body defining a cavity;
a fluid inlet fluidly coupled to the cavity, the fluid inlet receiving fluid from a fluid source;
a plurality of fluid outlets fluidly coupled to the cavity;
a plurality of valves, each one of the plurality of valves coupled within a fluid outlet of the plurality of fluid outlets and movable between an open position and a closed position;
a plurality of biasing assemblies, each one of the plurality of biasing assemblies coupled to each one of the plurality of valves to bias each one of the plurality of valves in the closed position; and
a plurality of tension rings, each one of the plurality of tension rings coupled to each one of the plurality of biasing assemblies to independently adjust an amount of biasing force applied by each one of the biasing assemblies,
wherein fluid that is received via the fluid inlet results in a fluid pressure within the cavity that exceeds the biasing force applied by at least one of the biasing assemblies, which causes each one of the plurality of valves to move to the open position for a particular amount of time such that a specific amount of the fluid is ejected from the at least one of the plurality of fluid outlets, the particular amount of time based on an amount of time necessary for the fluid pressure within the cavity to be reduced below the biasing force of at least one of the biasing assemblies.

16. The water distribution manifold of claim 15 , wherein the amount of biasing force applied by the at least one of the biasing assemblies is independently adjustable by each one of the tension rings such that the biasing force applied by each one of the biasing assemblies are different from one another.

17. The water distribution manifold of claim 15 , wherein the amount of biasing force applied by the at least one of the biasing assemblies is adjustable by each one of the tension rings such that the biasing force applied by each one of the biasing assemblies is the same.

18. The water distribution manifold of claim 15 , wherein the fluid inlet is fluidly coupled to the fluid source via one or more fluid lines.

19. The water distribution manifold of claim 18 , wherein one or more pumps fluidly coupled to

Assignees

• Grow Solutions Tech Llc

Inventors

• Millar Gary Bret

Classifications

• A01G27/003 Primary

  Control of self-acting watering devices (Hydroponic system controls A01G31/008) · CPC title

• A01C23/042 Primary

  Adding fertiliser to watering systems · CPC title

• A01C23/007

  Metering or regulating systems · CPC title

• A01G27/001

  with intermittent watering means · CPC title

• A01G9/247

  Watering arrangements · CPC title