Method and apparatus for placing dry or liquid materials into the soil subsurface without tillage tools
First Claim
1. In turf maintenance apparatus, the improvement comprising:
- an injection head for directing periodic jets of liquid and additive into the ground as the apparatus is moving along a path of travel;
a liquid supply system for supplying pressurized liquid to the injection head;
an additive supply system for introducing additive to the liquid within the injection head; and
a control system for causing said jets to discharge from the injection head at spaced intervals along said path of travel of the apparatus,said control system including a controller, a distance sensor operable to provide ground traversing distance information to the controller, and a valve operable by the controller to admit successive bursts of pressurized liquid into the injection head as a function of the distance information provided to the controller by said sensor,said additive supply system including a dispenser for the additive and a mechanism for metering the additive from the dispenser at a predetermined rate,said metering mechanism being operable to deliver additive to the nozzle at a variable rate of delivery,said controller being operably coupled with said metering mechanism for driving the metering mechanism at a rate that varies as a function of distance traversed by the apparatus.
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Accused Products
Abstract
In order to place dry granular materials into the subsurface of the soil without mechanical tillage, minute charges of the material are carried by high pressure jets of liquid, such as water, down into the ground from a series of side-by-side nozzles that simultaneously fire the jets toward the ground at regular intervals as the nozzles advance along a path of travel. Instead of passing through the water pump and the sensitive jet-producing nozzles, the granular materials remain separated from the water until the jets have issued from their nozzles and are passing through a ceramic mixing chamber in which a venturi is located. During the short pauses between successive blasts from the nozzles, material is continuously fed into a collecting chamber for each nozzle to form a small charge. As the water blast takes place, the charge is automatically drawn into the venturi and carried out of the machine by the high pressure jet. A metering conveyor continuously delivers material to the collecting chambers at a speed that can be correlated with the speed with which the nozzles are moved along the application path, and the firings of the nozzles are likewise coordinated with the distance traversed by the nozzles along the path so that the concentration of materials applied per unit of area can be very precisely controlled. An onboard computer controls firing of the nozzles in relation to speed, distance and desired application rate, as well as other variables, and an optional embodiment provides a similar degree of control and precision for liquid additive materials.
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Citations
33 Claims
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1. In turf maintenance apparatus, the improvement comprising:
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an injection head for directing periodic jets of liquid and additive into the ground as the apparatus is moving along a path of travel; a liquid supply system for supplying pressurized liquid to the injection head; an additive supply system for introducing additive to the liquid within the injection head; and a control system for causing said jets to discharge from the injection head at spaced intervals along said path of travel of the apparatus, said control system including a controller, a distance sensor operable to provide ground traversing distance information to the controller, and a valve operable by the controller to admit successive bursts of pressurized liquid into the injection head as a function of the distance information provided to the controller by said sensor, said additive supply system including a dispenser for the additive and a mechanism for metering the additive from the dispenser at a predetermined rate, said metering mechanism being operable to deliver additive to the nozzle at a variable rate of delivery, said controller being operably coupled with said metering mechanism for driving the metering mechanism at a rate that varies as a function of distance traversed by the apparatus. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10)
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11. In turf maintenance apparatus, the improvement comprising:
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an injection head for directing periodic jets of liquid and additive into the ground as the apparatus is moving along a path of travel; a liquid supply system for supplying pressurized liquid to the injection head; an additive supply system for introducing additive to the liquid within the injection head; and a control system for causing said jets to discharge from the injection head at spaced intervals along said path of travel of the apparatus, said control system including a controller, a distance sensor operable to provide ground traversing distance information to the controller, and a valve operable by the controller to admit successive bursts of pressurized liquid into the injection head as a function of the distance information provided to the controller by said sensor, said controller including means for selectively adjusting the distance interval between successive operations of the valve, said additive supply system including a dispenser for granular additive material, mechanism for metering the granular additive material from the dispenser at a predetermined rate, and a collecting chamber disposed to receive granular additive material from the metering mechanism and to accumulate successive charges thereof, said injection head communicating with said collecting chamber and having means for drawing the accumulated charge of granular material into the liquid jet during each discharge from the injection head, said metering mechanism being operable to deliver granular material to the collecting chamber at a variable rate of delivery, said controller being operably coupled with said metering mechanism for driving the metering mechanism at a rate that varies in relation to distance traversed by the apparatus, said dispenser having a discharge orifice, said metering mechanism including a conveyor disposed to gravitationally receive granular material from the orifice and to transport the received granular material away from the orifice when the conveyor is operating, and to prevent gravitational discharge from the orifice when the conveyor is stopped. - View Dependent Claims (12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21)
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22. In turf maintenance apparatus, the improvement comprising:
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an injection head for directing periodic jets of liquid and additive into the ground as the apparatus is moving along a path of travel; a liquid supply system for supplying pressurized liquid to the injection head; an additive supply system for introducing additive to the liquid within the injection head; and a control system for causing said jets to discharge from the injection head at spaced intervals along said path of travel of the apparatus, said injection head including a liquid nozzle connected with said liquid supply system for producing a jet of liquid when pressurized liquid is supplied to the nozzle, an outlet for the liquid jet downstream from the nozzle, and a mixing region between the nozzle and the outlet, said mixing region having an inlet connected with said additive supply system for admitting additive to the mixing region for combination with the liquid jet produced by the nozzle, said discharge head having a venturi for creating negative pressure within the mixing region to draw additive through the inlet as the jet is discharged from the outlet, said apparatus further including a common support for said injection head, liquid supply system, additive supply system and control system and means for propelling said support along the path of travel, said propelling means being operable to continue movement of the support along said path of travel during a time said liquid jets are discharging from the injection head, said control system including a controller, a distance sensor operable to provide ground traversing distance information to the controller, and a valve operable by the controller to admit successive bursts of pressurized liquid into the injection head as a function of the distance information provided to the controller by said sensor.
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23. In turf maintenance apparatus, the improvement comprising:
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a dispenser for dry granular material, said dispenser having an outlet orifice through which the material is discharged; a variable speed metering conveyor beneath said orifice for receiving discharging material from the dispenser and transporting the material to a point of delivery, said conveyor being operable to stop the discharge of material from the dispenser when the conveyor is stopped and to permit discharge of material from the dispenser at a rate determined by the speed of the conveyor when the conveyor is moving along a path of travel; and a control system operably coupled with said conveyor for controlling the speed of the conveyor. - View Dependent Claims (24, 25, 26)
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27. In a method of injecting additive material into the ground, the improvement comprising:
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producing successive jets of pressurized liquid; directing successive jets of the liquid toward the ground at spaced intervals along a path of travel; producing successive charges of additive material; maintaining each charge of additive material isolated from the liquid until a corresponding jet has been produced; and introducing a charge of material into a jet as the jet is directed toward the ground, the intervals between successive jets being a function of the distance traversed along said path of travel, said step of producing successive charges of additive material including the step of adjusting the rate of production of the charges as a function of distance traversed along said path of travel. - View Dependent Claims (28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33)
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Specification