Apparatus and method for subsurface application

• US 6,029,590 A
• Filed: 10/03/1996
• Issued: 02/29/2000
• Est. Priority Date: 02/24/1995
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: Arriola D. Martin, James M. Arriola
• Original Assignee: Arriola D. Martin, James M. Arriola
• Inventors: Arriola, James M., Arriola, D. Martin
• Primary Examiner(s): BATSON, VICTOR D
• Application Number:
  US08/725,424
• Time in Patent Office: 1,244 Days
• Field of Search: 111/118, 111/119, 111/124, 111/123, 111/7.4, 111/129, 111/147, 111/150, 111/926, 111/924, 172/724
• US Class Current: 111/124
• CPC Class Codes: A01C 23/023 for liquid or gas fertilisers
• CPC Class Codes: A01M 17/002 Injection of toxic gases or fluids into the soil special arrangements for delivering fertilising liquids directly into the soil A01C23/02

Abstract

The invention comprises an apparatus and method for the subsurface application of chemicals such as fertilizer, pesticides and fumigants in soil. A frame is shown, capable of being pulled across a field, the frame having a plurality of shanks with a shovel and an downward facing nozzle mounted at the end of each shank. The shovels all lie in a single plane, substantially horizontal to the soil'"'"'s surface. Means are provided for delivering the chemical from a reservoir of such to the nozzles. The chemical is thereby applied in a single pass at a depth of up to 12 inches, and allowed to migrate upward in the soil, thereby achieving application of the chemical in a discreet layer of the soil, without unduly disturbing the soil'"'"'s surface.

Claims

1. A method of applying metham sodium in a discrete layer of soil, beneath the surface of the soil, using a plurality of plates, each of the plates mounted at an end of a shank, and each of the shanks having a rock shield mounted at a terminal portion of the end of the shank, the plates being in substantially the same horizontal plane and located at a depth sufficient to break up the subsurface without disturbing the surface of the soil, the shanks mounted to a first frame, each of the shanks having a nozzle mounted thereon proximate to and behind the respective plate with respect to a direction of travel of the plate, the rock shield disposed below the nozzle relative to the surface of the soil, each of the nozzles having a substantially rearward oriented opening therein and means for communicating with a source of the metham sodium, the method comprising the steps of:

forcing the plates horizontally through the soil in a first direction; and

injecting the metham sodium in a jet under pressure through the opening in the nozzles while the plates are being forced through the soil, the jet of the metham sodium directed substantially rearward and in a wide angle flat spray pattern below the surface of the soil.