Appeal No. 1999-1763
Application No. 08/834,931
BACKGROUND
Appellant’s invention relates to a high efficiency
process and apparatus for vermiculture (i.e., worm culture)
and vermicomposting utilizing thin beds. Vermicomposting
operates under the principle that worms consume, digest and
absorb largely organic matter, passing the remainder back to
the soil. Hence, worms aid in the breaking down of organic
matter within the material they consume. This promotes
bacterial and other microbial decomposition, as well as
ventilates the soil. This invention provides, as one of its
objectives, a system whereby a biomass is created which
minimizes worm stratification and promotes worm movement into
undigested material. To this end, a thin biomass layer is
loaded onto a conveying device which slowly moves the thin
layer from a loading point (5) which is formed of newly
introduced undigested biomass (6), to an unloading point (7)
at which digested biomass (8) is withdrawn. A worm mass,
i.e., the collective worms which are active in the biomass on
the conveyor, consume the limited food supply in the thin
layer of biomass on the conveyor bed surface (4), all the time
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