Irrigation controller

• US 20060116792A1
• Filed: 12/01/2004
• Published: 06/01/2006
• Est. Priority Date: 12/01/2004
• Status: Abandoned Application

• Current Assignee: Aqua Conserve Incorporated, John W. and Betty J. Addink Living Trust
• Original Assignee: Aqua Conserve Incorporated, John W. and Betty J. Addink Living Trust
• Inventors: Addink, John W.
• Application Number:
  US11/001,982
• Publication Number:
  US 20060116792A1
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 700/284
• CPC Class Codes: A01G 25/16 Control of watering

Abstract

An irrigation controller modifies sophisticated irrigation protocols using an extremely simple user control. In one aspect of a particularly preferred class of embodiments, the user control includes a simple “more/less” (increase/decrease) adjustment. In another aspect of preferred embodiments, the controller automatically determines appropriate irrigation amounts, start times, durations, and frequencies. Such automatic determination may advantageously be based in part on the more/less adjustment.

Claims

1. A method of controlling irrigation to irrigated zones, comprising:

providing water to be applied to more than one irrigated zone at an irrigated site;

providing an irrigation controller that controls watering amounts to plurality of irrigation zones, to provide a total watering amount below a maximum watering amount;

a user operating a more/less adjustment mechanism to increase the first watering amount; and

the controller automatically adjusting the watering amounts to all irrigation zones such that the total watering amount remains below the maximum watering amount.

2. The method of claim 1, further comprising the irrigation controller executing an irrigation schedule to the irrigated site.

3. The method of claim 2, further comprising examining the irrigated site to determine the effect of irrigating according to the irrigation schedule.

4. The method of claim 3, further comprising operating the more/less adjustment mechanism to modify the irrigation schedule to arrive at a new irrigation schedule that is at least partly based on the examination of the irrigated site.

5. The method of claim 4, further comprising the irrigation controller executing the new irrigation schedule to the irrigated site.

6. The method of claim 1, wherein the step of operating a more/less adjustment mechanism comprises operating a first button corresponding to increasing the amount of water provided to at least one irrigated zone and a second button corresponding to decreasing the amount of water provided to at least one irrigated zone.

7. The method of claim 1, wherein the step of operating a more/less adjustment mechanism comprises operating a slide control.

8. The method of claim 1, wherein the step of operating a more/less adjustment mechanism comprises operating a rotating control knob.

9. An irrigation controller that controls irrigation to first and second irrigation zones, comprising;

a user input;

a microprocessor that receives a signal from the user input, and that executes a program that implements the user input as a function of relative watering times of the first and second irrigation zones at a irrigated site.

10. The irrigation controller of claim 9, further comprising the irrigation controller deriving irrigation schedules at least partly from reference evapotranspiration (ETo) data.

11. The irrigation controller of claim 10, further comprising the irrigation controller executing the irrigation schedules to the irrigated site.

12. The irrigation controller of claim 11, further comprising examining the irrigated site to determine the effect of irrigating according to the irrigation schedules.

13. The irrigation controller of claim 12, further comprising operating the more/less adjustment mechanism to modify an irrigation schedule to arrive at a new irrigation schedule that is at least partly based on the examination of the irrigated site and the ETo data.

14. The irrigation controller of claim 13, further comprising the irrigation controller executing the new irrigation schedule to the irrigated site.

15. The irrigation controller of claim 9, wherein the operating of the more/less adjustment mechanism comprises operating a first button corresponding to increasing the amount of water provided to at least one irrigated zone and a second button corresponding to decreasing the amount of water provided to at least one irrigated zone.

16. The irrigation controller of claim 15, wherein the operating of the more/less adjustment mechanism comprises operating a slide control.

17. The irrigation controller of claim 15, wherein the operating of the more/less adjustment mechanism comprises operating a rotating control knob.

18. A method of controlling irrigation to irrigated zones, comprising:

providing an irrigation controller that controls a first watering amount to a first one of the irrigation zones and a second watering amount to a second one of the irrigation zones;

a user operating a more/less adjustment mechanism to modify the first watering amount; and

the controller automatically thereafter modifying both the first and second watering amounts in an opposite direction from that induced by the user'"'"'s operating the more/less adjustment mechanism.