PLANT WATERING SYSTEM

• US 20090293354A1
• Filed: 08/11/2009
• Published: 12/03/2009
• Est. Priority Date: 03/29/2006
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Federal Pacific Trading, Inc.
• Original Assignee: Federal Pacific Trading, Inc.
• Inventors: Goldberg, Leonard, Feketa, John J., Romano, James P.
• Granted Patent: US 8,408,229 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 47/66.6
• CPC Class Codes: A01G 25/167 Control by humidity of the soil itself or of devices simulating soil or of the atmosphere; Soil humidity sensors
• CPC Class Codes: A01G 27/001 with intermittent watering means
• CPC Class Codes: A01G 27/003 Controls for self-acting watering devices
• CPC Class Codes: A01G 27/008 Component parts, e.g. dispensing fittings, level indicators
• CPC Class Codes: A01G 27/02 having a water reservoir, the main part thereof being located wholly around or directly beside the growth substrate A01G27/06 takes precedence
• CPC Class Codes: Y10T 137/189 Soil moisture sensing

Abstract

An automatic plant watering apparatus having a cavity for receiving a standard houseplant pot, a reservoir for holding water, a pump for removing water from the reservoir, a host for delivering water from the pump to a plant positioned in the cavity. The pump is operated by a microcontroller that is programmed to measure a first time period during which the pump is not operated, and a second time period during which the pump is operated. According, the apparatus can be programmed to automatically water a house plant at predetermined intervals, as well as deliver a predetermined amount of water.

Claims

1. An apparatus for providing fluid to plants planted in soil, the apparatus comprising:

a fluid providing structure adapted to selectively provide fluid to the soil;

a probe structure, comprising an end, a first conductor including a first conductor portion and a second conductor comprising a second conductor portion, the probe structure being adapted to maintain the first conductor portion and the second conductor portion in a spaced apart relationship proximate to the end so that soil surrounds the first conductor portion and the second conductor portion when the end of the probe structure is placed in the soil;

a resistance measuring structure adapted to effectively determine the electrical resistance between the first conductor portion and the second conductor portion;

an input structure adapted to allow a user to choose a calibration point in time; and

a controller structure adapted to;

control the selective provision of fluid by the fluid providing structure,

at the calibration point, control the resistance measuring structure to effectively determine a calibration resistance to be received by and stored in the controller structure,

subsequent to the calibration point, control the resistance measuring structure to effectively determine a subsequent resistance to be received by the controller structure, and

compare the subsequent resistance to the calibration resistance to determine information about the soil moisture level.

2. The apparatus of claim 1 wherein the probe structure further comprises:

a rigid frame, with the first conductor and the second conductor are affixed to the frame portion to maintain the spaced apart relationship between the first conductor portion and the second conductor portion;

a flexible cable mechanically connected to the frame and electrically connected to at least the first conductor structure; and

a probe connector mechanically connected to the cable and electrically connected to at least the first conductor, with the connector portion being adapted to be detachably electrically connectable to mating connectors.

3. The apparatus of claim 1 wherein:

the end of the probe structure is substantially cylindrical in shape comprising a peripheral exterior surface and defining a central axis;

the first connector portion is substantially shaped as a band around the peripheral exterior surface of the end; and

the second connector portion is shaped as a band around the peripheral exterior surface of the end spaced apart from the first connector portion along the direction of the central axis.

4. The apparatus of claim 1 wherein the fluid providing structure comprises:

a reservoir structure adapted to hold fluid away from the soil;

a fluid conduit structure adapted to guide fluid from the reservoir structure to the vicinity of the soil; and

a pump structure adapted to selectively pump fluid through the fluid conduit structure under control of the controller structure.

5. The apparatus of claim 4 wherein the reservoir structure is shaped to extend at least partially around a peripheral wall of a flowerpot.

6. The apparatus of claim 5 further comprising:

a substantially fluid tight pump chamber located beneath the reservoir structure and defining an interior space; and

a battery electrically connected to the pump structure and adapted to provide electrical power to the pump structure to power the pumping operation of the pump structure;

wherein the pump structure and the battery being located within the interior space of the pump chamber.

7. The apparatus of claim 5 further comprising an umbrella adapted and located to substantially prevent precipitation from falling on the plants in the soil of the apparatus.

8. The apparatus of claim 1 wherein the user input structure is a user actuatable switch electrically connected to the controller structure.

9. The apparatus of claim 1 wherein the resistance measuring structure comprises:

a voltage source structure electrically connected to at least the first conductor and adapted to cause a voltage difference between first conductor and the second conductor.

10. The apparatus of claim 9 wherein the resistance measuring structure further comprises:

a resistor electrically connected in series between the voltage source structure and the first conductor; and

a voltage detector structure adapted to determine a voltage level of the first conductor in order to effectively determine the resistance between the first conductor portion and the second conductor portion.

11. The apparatus of claim 10 wherein:

the second conductor is electrically connected to an electrical ground; and

the first conductor will have a voltage level close to ground level when the soil is moist; and

the first conductor will have a voltage level close to the level of the voltage supply structure when the soil is moist.

12. The apparatus of claim 9 wherein the voltage supply structure comprises:

a battery; and

voltage regulation circuitry electrically connected to the battery and the first connector structure.

13. The apparatus of claim 1 wherein the controller structure is further adapted to control the fluid providing structure to provide fluid to the soil when the comparison operation determines that the subsequent resistance is greater than the calibration resistance by at least a predetermined threshold amount.

14. The apparatus of claim 13 wherein the predetermined threshold amount is zero.

15. The apparatus of claim 13 wherein the controller structure further comprises a timer structure adapted to measure intervals of time and the point in time at which the subsequent resistance is controlled to be effectively determined by the resistance measuring structure at a predetermine interval of time measured by the timer structure.

16. The apparatus of claim 1 wherein the controller structure comprises at least a portion of a microcontroller.

17. The apparatus of claim 1 further comprising an indicator structure adapted to indicate the information about the soil moisture level to users.

18. The apparatus of claim 17 wherein the indicator structure comprises a first light and a second light wherein:

the controller structure is adapted to control the first light to be on when the comparison operation determines that the subsequent resistance is greater than the calibration resistance by at least a predetermined first threshold amount; and

the controller structure is adapted to control the second light to be on when the comparison operation determines that the subsequent resistance is less than the calibration resistance by at least a predetermined second threshold amount.

19. The apparatus of claim 18 wherein:

the predetermined first threshold amount is zero; and

the predetermined second threshold amount is zero.

20. An apparatus for providing fluid to plants planted in soil, the apparatus comprising:

a reservoir structure adapted to hold fluid away from the soil;

a fluid providing structure comprising a fluid conduit structure adapted to guide fluid from the reservoir structure to the vicinity of the soil and a pump structure adapted to selectively pump fluid through the fluid conduit structure from the reservoir structure to the vicinity of the soil;

a reservoir level detector structure, comprising a first conductor comprising a first conductor portion and a second conductor comprising a second conductor portion, the reservoir level detector structure being adapted to maintain the first conductor portion and the second conductor portion in a spaced apart relationship so that fluid surrounds the first conductor portion and the second conductor portion when the reservoir structure has at least a predetermined volume of fluid held therein;

a resistance measuring structure adapted to effectively determine the electrical resistance between the first conductor portion and the second conductor portion; and

a controller structure adapted to;

control the selective pumping of fluid by the pump structure,

control the resistance measuring structure to effectively determine a reservoir resistance between the first conductor portion and the second conductor portion, and

compare the reservoir resistance to a predetermined threshold value to determine whether the fluid level in the reservoir is low.

21. The apparatus of claim 20 further comprising:

a substantially fluid tight pump chamber located beneath the reservoir structure and defining an interior space; and

a battery electrically connected to the pump structure and adapted to provide electrical power to the pump structure to power the pumping operation of the pump structure;

wherein;

the reservoir structure is shaped to extend at least partially around a peripheral wall of a flowerpot; and

the pump structure and the battery the located within the interior space of the pump chamber.

22. The apparatus of claim 20 wherein the resistance measuring structure comprises:

a voltage source structure electrically connected to at least the first conductor and adapted to cause a voltage difference between first conductor and the second conductor;

a resistor electrically connected in series between the voltage source structure and the first conductor; and

a voltage detector structure adapted to determine a voltage level of the first conductor in order to effectively determine the resistance between the first conductor portion and the second conductor portion.

23. An apparatus for providing fluid to plants planted in soil, the apparatus comprising:

a reservoir structure adapted to hold fluid away from the soil;

a fluid providing structure comprising a fluid conduit structure adapted to guide fluid from the reservoir structure to the vicinity of the soil and a pump structure adapted to selectively pump fluid through the fluid conduit structure from the reservoir structure to the vicinity of the soil;

a battery electrically connected to the pump structure and adapted to provide electrical power to the pump structure to power the pumping operation of the pump structure;

a battery level detector structure adapted to generate a battery level signal corresponding to the remaining capacity of the battery;

a controller structure adapted to control the selective pumping of fluid by the pump structure, receive the battery level signal from the battery level detector structure; and

an indicator structure adapted to indicate battery level to users under control of the controller structure based on the battery level signal.

24. A switch assembly comprising:

a switch housing defining an interior space, a key slot having a key insertion direction and a channel having a length, a first end and a second end, the length of the channel running between the first end and the second end, the first end of the channel being located in proximity to at least a portion of the key slot, the second end being open to the interior space, and the length of the channel being oriented substantially perpendicular to the key insertion direction of the key slot;

a printed circuit board assembly located in the interior space and comprising a push button located in proximity to the open second end of the channel;

a channel magnet slidably engaged within the channel and slidably movable in the length direction of the channel between a first position and a second position, with the channel magnet not pushing the push button in the first position and pushing the push button switch in the second position; and

a magnetic key shaped to be removably inserted into the key slot in either of a first angular orientation and a second angular orientation so that;

when the magnetic key is inserted in the key slot in the first angular orientation the magnetic interaction between the magnetic key and the channel magnet causes the channel magnet to move to the first position, and

when the magnetic key is inserted in the key slot in the second angular orientation the magnetic interaction between the magnetic key and the channel magnet causes the channel magnet to move to the second position.

25. An apparatus for providing fluid to plants planted in soil, the apparatus comprising:

a planter adapted to hold the soil;

a fluid providing structure adapted to selectively provide fluid to the soil; and

an umbrella adapted and located to substantially prevent precipitation from falling on the plants in the soil of the apparatus.