IP Library Granted Patent US 12,660,763
Granted Patent B2
US 12,660,763 · App. 19/242,608 · Granted Jun 23, 2026

Automatic mechanical system in mass production indoor planting with soil

Inventor: Jing-Yau Chung (Houston, TX)
A01G9/143A01G9/0299
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Quick Facts
Patent No.
US 12,660,763
App. No.
19/242,608
Granted
Jun 23, 2026
Kind
B2
Abstract

The disclosure relates to a method for mass indoor production of vegetation, having the steps of: maintaining a train in a stationary position on a rail system inside an indoor enclosure during a growing period of the vegetation, wherein the train comprises a plurality of plant-pots interconnected by a plurality of push-pull bars, and wherein each of the plant-pots has at least one plant.

Claims (22)

1 . A method for mass indoor production of vegetation, comprising the steps of: maintaining a train in a stationary position on a rail system inside an indoor enclosure during a growing period of the vegetation, wherein the train comprises a plurality of plant-pots interconnected by a plurality of push-pull bars, and wherein each of the plant-pots has at least one plant,

moving the train of the plant-pots on the rail system in either direction by pushing or pulling the plurality of push-pull bars,

pulling the plurality of plant-pots out of the indoor enclosure during a time of harvesting the plant,

sequentially pulling the plurality of plant-pots out of the indoor enclosure by moving the plant-pots via the train of the plant-pots moving contemporaneously,

moving the plurality of plant-pots to a harvesting station after pulling the plant-pots out of the indoor enclosure,

knocking off at least one agricultural product from the plant during harvesting via at least one set of rotating sticks, wherein a combination of a number of the sets of rotating sticks and a rotational speed of the sets of sticks provides an optimum productivity for separating the agricultural product from at least one branch of the plant whilst minimizing damage of the agricultural product.

2 . The method for mass indoor production of vegetation according to claim 1 , further comprising the steps of:

after harvesting moving the plurality of plant-pots to a station for cleaning, refilling soil and sowing;

cleaning the plurality of plant-pots; and

refilling and renewing a pre-formed volume of soil with a plurality of seeds planted into the volume of soil in the plurality of plant-pots.

3 . The method for mass indoor production of vegetation according to claim 2 , further comprising the step of: placing the refilled plurality of plant-pots containing the plurality of seeds onto the rail system inside the indoor enclosure.

4 . The method for mass indoor production of vegetation according to claim 3 , further comprising the step of: conducting at least one of the foregoing steps via a computer-controlled mechanism.

5 . The method for mass indoor production of vegetation according to claim 3 , further comprising the steps of: wherein a base-line speed of the entire harvesting and replanting steps is defined as a length of time for pulling any number of the plurality of plant-pots from the indoor enclosure to the harvesting station;

optionally adjusting any length of time for the harvesting processing step or other individual down-stream processing step, by an adjustment time equal to or less than the base-line speed; and

optionally adjusting the harvesting processing step or the other individual down-stream processing step, if the length of time required for the harvesting processing step or the other individual down-stream processing step is longer than the baseline speed, wherein the adjusting step is made by duplicating, splitting, or bifurcating the harvesting processing step or the other individual down-stream processing step to speed up an overall time to accomplish the harvesting processing step or the other individual down-stream processing step.

6 . The method for mass indoor production of vegetation according to claim 5 , further comprising:

wherein any length of time for completing the harvesting processing step or the other individual down-stream processing step is equal to or less than the baseline speed.

7 . The method for mass indoor production of vegetation according to claim 5 ,

wherein the harvesting processing step or the other individual down-stream processing step are carried out on a continuous and sequential basis.

8 . The method for mass indoor production of vegetation according to claim 3 , wherein the entire harvesting and replanting steps are carried out on a continuous and sequential basis.

9 . The method for mass indoor production of vegetation according to claim 1 ,

wherein the plant is an edamame plant.