Self propelled field irrigator
First Claim
1. An irrigation unit comprising a mobile carrier having traction wheels,a drum supported on the carrier,a strip of plastic material adapted to be wrapped about the drum for transport and adapted to be unreeled and formed into a water-carrying tube for distribution over the terrain, anddrive means providing a variable torque slip drive transmitted through said strip wound on the drum for automatically varying the speed of rotation of the drum in a direction wrapping the strip onto the drum as the strip-covered diameter of the drum increases to maintain constant tension on the strip.
0 Assignments
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
A mobile irrigator with a ribbon of plastic wound on a drum which is frictionally driven by wheels engaged with the ribbon, the wheels being adapted to slide on the plastic to compensate for varying diameters of the drum resulting from more or less windings of the ribbon, the drive for the drum being designed to hold the ribbon taught for passing through guides which shape the ribbon from flat to tube and vice versa. A control is provided for the pump to prevent loss of prime by limited feeding of air into the pump. A supply source of water has an electronic monitoring receiver operating a supply pump discharging into the tube to provide sufficient pressure and attendant fluid level to hold the prime in the irrigator or discharge pump. A pressure sensitive sending command unit is provided at the inlet of the irrigator pump for actuating the supply pump at the water source.
48 Citations
25 Claims
-
1. An irrigation unit comprising a mobile carrier having traction wheels,
a drum supported on the carrier, a strip of plastic material adapted to be wrapped about the drum for transport and adapted to be unreeled and formed into a water-carrying tube for distribution over the terrain, and drive means providing a variable torque slip drive transmitted through said strip wound on the drum for automatically varying the speed of rotation of the drum in a direction wrapping the strip onto the drum as the strip-covered diameter of the drum increases to maintain constant tension on the strip.
-
5. An irrigation unit comprising a mobile carrier
having traction wheels, a drum supported on the carrier, a strip of plastic material adapted to be wrapped about the drum for transport and adapted to be unreeled and formed into a water-carrying tube for distribution over the terrain, and drive means for transmitting a drive through said strip to turn the drum in a direction wrapping the strip onto the drum, and said traction wheels operatively connected in consonant relation with said drive means for travel substantially proportional to the peripheral speed of the drum, and said drive means comprising driving wheels in frictional sliding engagement with the strip wound on the drum.
-
7. An irrigation unit comprising a mobile carrier having traction wheels,
a drum supported on the carrier, a strip of plastic material adapted to be wrapped about the drum for transport and adapted to be unreeled and formed into a water-carrying tube for distribution over the terrain, and drive means for transmitting a drive through said strip to turns the drum in a direction wrapping the strip onto the drum, and means for shaping said strip into a tube in one direction of movement of the carrier with attendant unwinding of the strip from said drum, said shaping means operative to reshape said tube into a flat strip for winding upon the drum, said shaping means comprising a plurality of shaping guides passing said strip serially therethrough, and means including a cradle suspending said guides for vertical floating movement attendant to the cradle traversing.
- 8. In an irrigation apparatus comprising of an ambulatory support, a ribbon of water-impermiable material, a drum on the support for stowing said ribbon, means for converting said ribbon into a tube having a free end connectable to a source of water, means for shaping said ribbon into a trough in a predetermined location, water-distributing means on the support having an intake portion extending into said trough portion and including sprinkler means and pump means for discharging water upon the surrounding terrain, and means for regulating the amount of water pumped by said pumping means without loosing prime comprising of an air valve connected to said intake portion and having inlet means positioned at a predetermined elevation within the tube for communicating with the atmosphere to deliver a metered quantity of air into the pump means attendant to the water in the tube falling below a certain level.
-
11. In an irrigation apparatus comprising of an ambulatory support, a ribbon of water-impermiable material, a drum on the support for stowing said ribbon, means for converting said ribbon into a tube having a free end connectible to a source of water, means for shaping said ribbon into a trough in a predetermined location, water-distributing means on the support having an intake portion extending into said trough portion and including sprinkler means and pump means for discharging water upon the surounding terrain, and means for regulating the amount of water pumped by said pumping means without loosing prime comprising of an air valve connected to said intake portion and having inlet means positioned at a predetermined elevation within the tube for communicating with the atmosphere to deliver a metered quantity of air into the pump means attendant to the water in the tube falling below a certain level, and traction wheel means on the support, and
means providing a correlated drive between said wheel means and the drum through said ribbon wound on the drum for winding said ribbon onto the drum as the support is driven toward an associated water source, and said drive comprising of wheels in slidable frictional engagement with the ribbon wound on the drum.
-
13. An irrigator comprising an ambulatory carrier, a strip-carrying drum mounted on a carrier, a strip of water-impermiable material wound on the drum having lateral edges with means for converting said strip into a water-holding tube, means for driving said drum for winding said strip thereon,
said strip being unwindable from the drum, means for separating said edges attendant to the strip being wound onto the drum and securing said edges upon forming of the tube, means for driving said drum through engagement with the strip and imposing a tensile pull on the unwound portion of the strip to effect a tight and compact winding of the strip on the drum, said driving means comprising driven wheels in frictional engagement with the strip, means yieldably biasing said driven wheels in driving engagement with the strip wound on the drum, and a water supply source connectible to a tube end formed from the strip, said tensile pull maintaining said tube straight between te carrier and said water source, and means for steering the carrier in guided engagement with the tube.
-
21. An irrigator comprising a field traversing mobile unit including a discharge pump,
means for delivering water from an associated source to said discharge pump, a supply pump at said source for supplying water from said source through said delivering means to said discharge pump, and means including signal transmission and receiving means for correlating the pumping rate of said supply pump to provide a supply of water at minimum pressure to the discharge pump and to maintain prime in the latter.
-
22. An irrigator comprising a fieldtraversing mobile unitincluding a discharge pump,
means for delivering water from an associated source to said discharge pump, a supply pump at said source for supplying water from said source through said delivering means to said discharge pump, and means for correlating the pumping rate of said supply pump to provide a supply of water at minimum pressure to the discharge pump and to maintain prime in the latter, and said delivering means comprising a flexible tube, and a plug slidable within the tube, and said correlating means comprising of a pressure sensitive electronic signal sending unit on the plug and a receiving unit operatively connected to said supply pump for controlling the operation thereof.
-
24. A field irrigator comprising a mobile carrier, a strip of water retaining material stowed on the carrier means for converting said strip into a tube for connection at one end to pressurized source of water,
a supply pump at said source for filling said tube with water, a discharge pump on the carrier comprising inlet means having an inlet end extending into the other end of the tube, and a plug slidably fitted within the other end of said tube in a location beyond said inlet means with reference to said source for maintaining a water level within said tube sufficient to effect self-priming of said discharge pump.
-
25. An irrigator comprising an ambulatory support, a drum carried thereupon, means for driving the drum, a strip of material adapted to be wound on the drum and unwound therefrom, said strip having lateral edges, securing means on said lateral edges for releasably securing said edges to each other to form a tube, means for releasing said securing means to form a flat strip, guide means on the support comprising a series of guides sequentially passing the strip therethrough for unfolding the material to form a strip and for folding the material to form a tube as the material is wound onto and unwound from the drum, said guides having top and bottom portions engaging the top and bottom sides of the strip and having end portions interconnecting the top and bottom portions and providing means engaging the lateral edges of the strip to prevent the edges from creeping one ahead of the other and spiraling of the strip.
Specification