Apparatus and method for transporting growing plants

Claim 1

Apparatus for supporting, positioning and transporting plants in a hydroponic growing system, the apparatus including a plurality of elongated troughs, each trough having an inlet end, an opposite outlet end, a bottom portion, and at least one longitudinally extending external rib depending from said bottom portion; means for supporting said troughs in spaced parallel relation so that the inlet end of each trough is at a first level and the outlet end is at a second level lower than the first level; means for delivering a flow of liquid nutrient to the inlet end of each trough; and means for collecting a flow of liquid nutrient from the outlet end of each trough, wherein the improvement comprises said means for supporting, positioning and transporting said troughs in spaced parallel relation including: at least two spaced apart rails extending under the troughs transversely to the longitudinal axes thereof; a multiplicity of wheels rotatably mounted on each rail, the axes of rotation of the wheels perpendicularly intersecting at spaced intervals a longitudinal axis of the rail such that part of the rim of each wheel extends above the top of the rail; and at least two elongated spacer bars disposed end-to-end on each rail, each spacer bar having a longitudinal bottom groove engaged by the rims of a plurality of the wheels, such that the bar makes rolling contact with the wheels and is guided thereby along the rail, and at least one upright rib extending longitudinally along the top of the bar, said rib having at least one notch in the upper edge thereof for transversely receiving the bottom rib of a respective trough, whereby the spacer bars maintain the troughs in spaced relation.