Agricultural product applicator implement
First Claim
1. In an agricultural implement for dispensing agricultural product to the ground through a plurality of product dispensing units, the improvement comprising:
- a control system for controlling a rate of flow of said agricultural product from at least a portion of said product dispensing units in response to data received by said control system relating to a prior application of said agricultural product.
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Accused Products
Abstract
A control system is disclosed for an agricultural implement, such as an agricultural sprayer, used to dispense a product to the ground wherein the dispensing units for the product are provided with control valves that can reduce the flow rate of product through selected dispensing units to zero. By controlling the rate of flow through the dispensing units, overlap of the application of the product to the ground can be substantially eliminated. In alternative embodiments of the invention, the control mechanism can receive data from a remote source, such as a central controller or another implement operating in the field, to define where the product needs to be applied to the ground. The application of the product can also be controlled through or in conjunction with a prescription map. Preferably, each dispensing unit is provided with a control valve operably associated with the control system so that each dispensing unit can be independently controlled to provide a variable flow rate of the product to the ground.
36 Citations
27 Claims
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1. In an agricultural implement for dispensing agricultural product to the ground through a plurality of product dispensing units, the improvement comprising:
a control system for controlling a rate of flow of said agricultural product from at least a portion of said product dispensing units in response to data received by said control system relating to a prior application of said agricultural product. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6)
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7. In a control system for an agricultural implement for applying agricultural product to the ground thorough product dispensing units, the improvement comprising:
said control system being operable to control a rate at which said agricultural product is being dispensed from each of said product dispensing units in response to data received by said control system relating to a prior application of at least one agricultural product to the ground. - View Dependent Claims (8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21)
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16. An agricultural product applicator implement comprising:
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a plurality of dispensing units for dispensing a product to a field;
a flow control device associated with each respective said dispensing unit to control the rate of flow through each dispensing unit independently;
control system operatively associated with said flow control devices to control the rate of flow through each corresponding said dispensing unit such that any one said dispensing unit can have a flow rate of said product therethrough at a rate which is different than any other of said dispensing units.
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22. A method of applying agricultural product to the ground from an agricultural implement having a plurality of transversely oriented product dispensing units from which said agricultural product is dispensed and a control system for controlling a rate of product flow through said product dispensing units, comprising the steps of:
controlling the rate of product flow through at least one of said product dispensing units corresponding to data received by said control system relating to a prior application of at least one agricultural product to the ground. - View Dependent Claims (23, 24, 25, 26, 27)
Specification