Position-responsive control system and method for sprayer
First Claim
1. A position-responsive system for controlling a spray apparatus including a sprayer vehicle, a spray tank mounted thereon and storing a spray liquid, a spray discharge assembly communicating with said tank to discharge said liquid therefrom at a selected spray pressure, and a plurality of spray nozzles mounted in spaced relation on said vehicle and communicating with said spray discharge assembly, each of said nozzles having a nozzle orifice and a nozzle valve movable between open and closed positions to control flow through said orifice, and said system comprising:
- (a) a memory storing map coordinates defining a boundary of a field to be sprayed;
(b) a field position sensor operative to sense positions of said nozzles relative to said map coordinates; and
(c) an application controller interfaced to said spray discharge assembly, each nozzle valve, said memory, and said field position sensor;
said controller being operative to adjust said spray pressure from said spray discharge assembly in response to a detected position of each nozzle relative to said map coordinates to change the droplet size of spray discharged from said nozzles.
2 Assignments
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
A flow rate and droplet size control system for a spray system including a spray liquid source, a pump, a spray liquid line and a nozzle assembly. The control system includes a setpoint conversion subroutine for independently controlling the flow rate and volume median droplet size setpoints. The control system also includes performance envelopes for various nozzle tips. An independent flow rate and droplet size control method is provided for use with the control system. A position-responsive control system receives information pertaining to the boundaries of spray zones and spray conditions, such as application rates and volume median droplet diameters associated with the spray zones. The position-responsive control system monitors the position of a spray vehicle, which can comprise a ground vehicle or an aircraft. The position-based control system changes the spray system operating conditions in response to the sprayer vehicle position. A position-based method of controlling the spray system utilizes the position-based control system.
193 Citations
31 Claims
-
1. A position-responsive system for controlling a spray apparatus including a sprayer vehicle, a spray tank mounted thereon and storing a spray liquid, a spray discharge assembly communicating with said tank to discharge said liquid therefrom at a selected spray pressure, and a plurality of spray nozzles mounted in spaced relation on said vehicle and communicating with said spray discharge assembly, each of said nozzles having a nozzle orifice and a nozzle valve movable between open and closed positions to control flow through said orifice, and said system comprising:
-
(a) a memory storing map coordinates defining a boundary of a field to be sprayed; (b) a field position sensor operative to sense positions of said nozzles relative to said map coordinates; and (c) an application controller interfaced to said spray discharge assembly, each nozzle valve, said memory, and said field position sensor;
said controller being operative to adjust said spray pressure from said spray discharge assembly in response to a detected position of each nozzle relative to said map coordinates to change the droplet size of spray discharged from said nozzles. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18)
-
-
19. A position-responsive method for controlling a spray apparatus including a sprayer vehicle, a spray tank mounted thereon and storing a spray liquid, a spray discharge assembly communicating with said tank to discharge said liquid therefrom at a selected spray pressure, and a plurality of spray nozzles mounted in spaced relation on said vehicle and communicating with said spray discharge assembly, each of said nozzles having a nozzle orifice and a nozzle valve movable between open and closed positions to control flow through said orifice, a memory, a field position sensor, and an application controller interfaced to said spray discharge assembly, each nozzle valve, said memory, and said field position sensor, and said method comprising the steps of:
-
(a) storing map coordinates defining a boundary of a field to be sprayed in said memory; (b) sensing positions of said nozzles relative to said map coordinates by said field position sensor; and (c) adjusting said spray pressure from said spray discharge assembly in response to a detected position of each nozzle relative to said map coordinates to change the droplet size of spray discharged from said nozzles. - View Dependent Claims (20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31)
-
Specification