Irrigation system for controlling irrigation in response to changing environmental conditions
First Claim
1. A method for establishing an irrigation schedule for a vegetation area over an irrigation period, comprising the steps of:
- determining an appropriate irrigation cycle time and a number of irrigation cycles to be used for an irrigation day of the irrigation period; and
thereafter identifying one or more of said irrigation days during said irrigation period to maintain a quantity of water within a root zone of the vegetation area within a predetermined water profile.
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Accused Products
Abstract
An irrigation system having an irrigation controller, a means for detecting changes in environmental conditions, a valve, and a sprinkler connected to a irrigation supply. The controller controls the operation of the valve and the sprinkler in accordance with an irrigation schedule to selectively irrigate a specified number of vegetation areas. The irrigation schedule is adjusted automatically in response to changing environmental conditions. The irrigation schedule is created based on a number of input parameters including the number of cycles to be executed each day, the duration of each cycle, and the number of days in the irrigation period. After receiving the appropriate input parameters, the controller then automatically determines the days within the irrigation period on which irrigation should occur.
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Citations
26 Claims
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1. A method for establishing an irrigation schedule for a vegetation area over an irrigation period, comprising the steps of:
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determining an appropriate irrigation cycle time and a number of irrigation cycles to be used for an irrigation day of the irrigation period; and
thereafteridentifying one or more of said irrigation days during said irrigation period to maintain a quantity of water within a root zone of the vegetation area within a predetermined water profile.
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2. A method for altering an irrigation schedule for a vegetation area over an irrigation period established for a particular environmental condition of the vegetation area, the irrigation schedule including a predetermined number of irrigation water days, a predetermined irrigation cycle time and a predetermined number of irrigation cycles to be used for an irrigation water day of the irrigation schedule, the method comprising the step of:
modifying a number of irrigation water days for the irrigation schedule based upon a modified environmental condition to maintain a quantity of water within a root zone of the vegetation area within a predetermined water profile. - View Dependent Claims (3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 17)
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9. A method for altering an irrigation schedule for a vegetation area over an irrigation period established for a particular environmental condition of the vegetation area, the irrigation schedule including a predetermined number of irrigation water days, a predetermined irrigation cycle time and a predetermined number of irrigation cycles to be used for an irrigation water day of the irrigation schedule, the method comprising the step of:
modifying the irrigation schedule based upon a modified environmental condition to maintain a quantity of water within a root zone of the vegetation area within a predetermined water profile. - View Dependent Claims (10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 19, 20)
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18. A method for altering an irrigation schedule for a plurality of vegetation areas over an irrigation period established for a particular environmental condition of the vegetation areas, the irrigation schedule including a predetermined irrigation cycle time and a predetermined number of irrigation cycles for each vegetation area to be used for an irrigation day of the irrigation schedule, the method comprising the step of:
modifying a number of irrigation days for the irrigation schedule of each of the plurality of vegetation areas based upon a modified environmental condition of each of the vegetation areas to maintain a quantity of water within a root zone of each of the vegetation areas within a predetermined water profile.
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21. An irrigation controller, comprising:
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a valve, responsive to a control signal, for controlling water flow to a vegetation area;
a controller, coupled to said valve, for producing said control signal to operate said valve to irrigate said vegetation area according to an irrigation schedule over an irrigation period established for a particular environmental condition of said vegetation area, said irrigation schedule including a predetermined irrigation cycle time and a predetermined number of irrigation cycles to be used for an irrigation day of said irrigation schedule; and
an environmental condition change detector, coupled to said controller, for detecting a change in said particular environmental condition, such that said controller modifies a number of irrigation days for said irrigation schedule of said vegetation area based upon said change in said particular environmental condition to maintain a quantity of water within a root zone of said vegetation area within a predetermined water profile. - View Dependent Claims (22, 23, 24, 25, 26)
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Specification