Soil moisture sampler and controller
First Claim
1. A moisture sampling and controlling apparatus comprisingat least one probe comprising a transfer means for transferring energy at a rate determined by its moisture content, energy sensing means for sensing the energy level of at least a part of said transfer means, energy supplying means for supplying energy to said transfer means, said sensing means producing a signal indicative of the sensed energy level;
- timing means for actuating said energy supplying means to cause said energy supplying means to supply a preselected quantum of energy to said transfer means, said timing means operatively connected with said energy supplying means;
storage means for storing a signal from said sensing means before said energy supplying means supplies said preselected quantum of energy to said transfer means, said storage means operatively connected with said sensing means;
means for combining the stored signal with a signal from said sensing means when said energy supplying means has supplied said preselected quantum of energy to said transfer means thereby producing an adjusted signal, said combining means being operatively connected with said storage means and said sensing means;
comparing means for comparing the adjusted signal with a selectable reference, said comparing means operatively connected with said combining means; and
means for controlling the flow of an irrigating fluid, said flow control means operatively connected with said comparing means.
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Accused Products
Abstract
Periodically, the soil moisture sampler and controller automatically activates in-ground probe(s) to measure the soil moisture. The resulting output signal indicative of the soil moisture is adjusted for soil ambient temperature and compared to a pre-set soil moisture value. When the signal indicates that the soil moisture is less than a pre-set value, an irrigation timer is activated which causes the soil to be irrigated for a preselected time interval.
58 Citations
14 Claims
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1. A moisture sampling and controlling apparatus comprising
at least one probe comprising a transfer means for transferring energy at a rate determined by its moisture content, energy sensing means for sensing the energy level of at least a part of said transfer means, energy supplying means for supplying energy to said transfer means, said sensing means producing a signal indicative of the sensed energy level; -
timing means for actuating said energy supplying means to cause said energy supplying means to supply a preselected quantum of energy to said transfer means, said timing means operatively connected with said energy supplying means; storage means for storing a signal from said sensing means before said energy supplying means supplies said preselected quantum of energy to said transfer means, said storage means operatively connected with said sensing means; means for combining the stored signal with a signal from said sensing means when said energy supplying means has supplied said preselected quantum of energy to said transfer means thereby producing an adjusted signal, said combining means being operatively connected with said storage means and said sensing means; comparing means for comparing the adjusted signal with a selectable reference, said comparing means operatively connected with said combining means; and means for controlling the flow of an irrigating fluid, said flow control means operatively connected with said comparing means. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8)
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9. A soil moisture sampling and controlling apparatus comprising:
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a soil moisture sampling probe adapted for totally subterranean placement, said probe including a temperature sensing means for sensing the temperature of at least a part of the probe and a heating means for heating at least a part of the probe, said sensing means producing a signal indicative of the temperature of at least a part of said sensing means; storage means for storing at least one of said temperature indicating signals; said storage means operatively connected with said sensing means; timing means for actuating said heating means for a selected period and for causing said storage means to store a signal whereby the storage means stores the signal indicative of the temperature of the sensing means substantially at the beginning of the selected period, said timing means operatively connected with said heating means and said storage means; means for subtractively combining the stored signal in said storage means with the signal from said sensing means to produce an adjusted signal, said subtractive combining means operatively connected with said sensing means and said storage means; comparator means for comparing said adjusted signal with a reference signal, said comparator means operatively connected with said subtraction means; and means for controlling a flow of fluid, said flow controlling means operatively connected with said comparator means.
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10. A soil moisture sampling and controlling system comprising:
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a plurality of soil moisture sensing probes adapted for subterranean placement, each probe including a heat transfer means for transferring heat at a rate determined by its moisture level, temperature sensing means positioned to sense the temperature of at least a part of said heat transferring means, and heating means positioned to heat at least a part of said heat transferring means, each said sensing means producing a signal indicative of the temperature of said each sensing means; indexing means operatively connected to said plurality of probes for indexing said probes sequentially in groups of at least one probe; storage means operatively connected with said indexing means for storing the signals from the sensing means of each indexed probe; timing means operatively connected with said indexing means and said storage means, said timing means actuating each indexed heating means for a selected period and causing said storage means to store the signal from each indexed sensing means generally at the beginning of said selected period; subtraction means operatively connected with said indexing means and said storage means, said subtraction means subtractively combining the stored signal from each sensing means with the signal from the same sensing means to produce an adjusted signal; comparator means for comparing each said adjusted signal with a reference, said comparator means operatively connected with said subtraction means; control means adapted to provide a flow of irrigating fluid, said control means operatively connected with said comparator. - View Dependent Claims (11, 12)
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13. The method of sampling and controlling moisture in soil comprising:
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determining an energy characteristic of at least a first part of a moisture absorptive energy transfer means, said energy transfer means being positioned in moisture communication with the soil whereby the moisture content of the transfer means is indicative of moisture availability from the soil; electronically storing the first determination; supplying at least a second part of the energy transfer means with a quantum of energy; automatically determining the energy characteristic of the at least first part of the energy transfer means when the quantum of energy has been supplied; electronically combining the stored determination and the second determination to ascertain the variation in the energy characteristic from the quantum of energy; electronically comparing the variation with a reference moisture level to determine if the reference moisture level is met; and providing for the flow of irrigating fluid to the soil when the reference moisture level is not met. - View Dependent Claims (14)
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Specification