High speed solenoid valve cartridge for spraying an agricultural liquid in a field

• US 5,833,144 A
• Filed: 06/17/1996
• Issued: 11/10/1998
• Est. Priority Date: 06/17/1996
• Status: Expired due to Term

• Current Assignee: Trimble Navigation Limited (Trimble Inc.)
• Original Assignee: Patchen, Inc.
• Inventors: Kinter, Malcolm L.
• Primary Examiner(s): Kashnikow, Andres
• Assistant Examiner(s): Douglas, Lisa Ann
• Application Number:
  US08/664,600
• Time in Patent Office: 876 Days
• Field of Search: 239/159, 239/172-590, 239/590.3, 239/590.5, 239/575, 239/553, 239/553.3, 239/553.5, 239/462, 239/600, 210/222, 210/695
• US Class Current: 239/462
• CPC Class Codes: A01M 7/0089 Regulating or controlling systems the delivery being related to the movement of a vehicle B05B9/06
• CPC Class Codes: B05B 15/00 Details of spraying plant or spraying apparatus not otherwise provided for; Accessories

Abstract

An agricultural spray implement includes a plurality of removable valve/filter/nozzle cartridges. Each removable cartridge has a single housing that retains a magnetized filter, a high speed solenoid valve, and a spray nozzle. In the event the system filter of the spray implement is removed, fine particles which otherwise might clog the solenoid valves are stopped from entering the solenoid valves by the magnetized filters of the valve/filter/nozzle cartridges. Each cartridge has a clean-out purge valve so that its magnetized filter can be unclogged without removal of the magnetized filter from the cartridge housing. A light emitting diode of the cartridge provides a visual indication that the cartridge is dispensing agricultural liquid. The light emitting diode is turned on when the solenoid valve is controlled to be open. In some embodiments, the light emitting diode is not supplied with current until after the solenoid valve has opened and only a smaller holding current is needed to hold the solenoid valve open.

Claims

1. An agricultural spray assembly comprising:

a magnetized filter;

a solenoid valve capable of opening in less than 10 milliseconds;

a spray nozzle;

a housing retaining said magnetized filter, said solenoid valve and said spray nozzle, an agricultural liquid flowing into an inlet of said housing, through said magnetized filter, through said solenoid valve, and out of said spray nozzle at a flow rate of less than one gallon per minute when said solenoid valve is open;

wherein said housing forms a chamber into which said fluid passes before passing through said magnetized filter, said housing also forming a purge passage from said chamber such that fluid in said chamber can pass through said purge passage and from said agricultural spray assembly without passing through said magnetized filter.

2. The agricultural spray assembly of claim 1, wherein said housing comprises a spray nozzle extension portion having threads and also comprises a spray nozzle retaining portion having threads which engage the threads of the spray nozzle extension portion, a surface of the spray nozzle being held against a surface of the spray nozzle extension portion by said spray nozzle retaining portion when said threads of said spray nozzle retaining portion are tightly engaging said threads of said spray nozzle extension portion.

3. The agricultural spray assembly of claim 2, wherein said threads of said spray nozzle retaining portion can be loosened with respect to said threads of said spray nozzle extension portion to allow fluid to flow through said purge passage without flowing through said magnetized filter.

4. The agricultural spray assembly of claim 1, further comprising:

a light emitting diode which generates a visual indication of a state of said solenoid valve.

5. An agricultural spray assembly comprising:

a magnetized filter;

a solenoid valve capable of opening in less than 10 milliseconds;

a spray nozzle;

a housing retaining said magnetized filter, said solenoid valve and said spray nozzle, an agricultural liquid flowing into an inlet of said housing, through said magnetized filter, through said solenoid valve, and out of said spray nozzle at a flow rate of less than one gallon per minute when said solenoid valve is open, said agricultural liquid being from the group consisting of;

an herbicide, a pesticide, a growth regulator and a nutrient; and

a permanent magnet, said housing retaining said permanent magnet such that said permanent magnet magnetizes said filter, wherein said permanent magnet is donut-shaped and wherein said magnetized filter is disk-shaped.

6. The agricultural spray assembly of claim 5, further comprising:

a light emitting diode which generates a visual indication of whether said solenoid valve is being controlled to open and/or close.

7. The agricultural spray assembly of claim 5, further comprising:

means for generating an indication of whether the spray assembly is working properly.

8. An agricultural spray assembly comprising:

a magnetized filter;

a solenoid valve capable of opening in less than 10 milliseconds;

a spray nozzle; and

a housing retaining said magnetized filter, said solenoid valve and said spray nozzle, an agricultural liquid flowing into an inlet of said housing, through said magnetized filter, through said solenoid valve, and out of said spray nozzle at a flow rate of less than one gallon per minute when said solenoid valve is open, said agricultural liquid being taken from the group consisting of;

an herbicide, a pesticide, a growth regulator and a nutrient, wherein said housing forms an annular chamber bounded on one side by said magnetized filter, and wherein said housing also forms an axial passage extending axially through the center of said annular chamber from said solenoid valve to said spray nozzle, said fluid passing into said inlet, through said annular chamber, through said magnetized filter, through said solenoid valve when said valve is open, through said axial passage of said housing, and out of said nozzle.

9. An agricultural spray assembly comprising:

a magnetized filter;

a solenoid valve capable of opening in less than 10 milliseconds;

a spray nozzle;

a housing retaining said magnetized filter, said solenoid valve and said spray nozzle, an agricultural liquid flowing into an inlet of said housing, through said magnetized filter, through said solenoid valve, and out of said spray nozzle at a flow rate of less than one gallon per minute when said solenoid valve is open; and

an electrical connector retained by the housing, the agricultural spray assembly being fashioned to removably plug into a receiving portion of an agricultural implement such that the electrical connector of the agricultural spray assembly mates with a corresponding electrical connector of the agricultural implement.

10. An agricultural spray implement which applies an agricultural liquid to plants in a field when the spray implement is moved with respect to the plants, the implement having a plurality of removable cartridges, each removable cartridge plugging into an accommodating receiving portion of the implement, each removable cartridge comprising:

a magnetized filter;

a solenoid valve in flow communication with the magnetized filter;

a spray nozzle in flow communication with the solenoid valve;

a housing, wherein the solenoid valve, the magnetized filter, and the spray nozzle are retained by the housing; and

an electrical connector rigidly coupled with respect to the housing, wherein the electrical connector mates with a corresponding electrical connector on the implement when the removable cartridge is plugged into one of a number of accommodating receiving portions included in the implement, wherein during operation the magnetized filter filters the agricultural liquid and after filtering the agricultural liquid passes through the solenoid valve and through the spray nozzle onto the plants, the solenoid valve of each removable cartridge opening in less than 10 milliseconds and conducting the agricultural liquid at a flow rate of less than one gallon per minute when open.

11. The agricultural spray implement of claim 10 further comprising:

a system filter in flow communication with each cartridge, said agricultural liquid flowing through said system filter prior to flowing through said magnetized filter.

12. An agricultural spray assembly comprising:

a magnetized filter;

a solenoid valve capable of opening in less than 10 milliseconds;

a spray nozzle; and

a housing retaining said magnetized filter, said solenoid valve and said spray nozzle, an agricultural liquid flowing into an inlet of said housing, through said magnetized filter, through said solenoid valve, and out of said spray nozzle at a flow rate of less than one gallon per minute when said solenoid valve is open, said housing having a chamber into which said fluid passes before passing through said magnetized filter, said housing also having a purge passage from said chamber such that fluid in said chamber can pass through said pruge passage and from said agricultural spray cartridge without passing through said magnetized filter.