Systems and devices for controlling and monitoring liquid applications of agricultural fields

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-11337366-B2
Application number	US-202016859561-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Apr 27, 2020
Priority date	Sep 28, 2015
Publication date	May 24, 2022
Grant date	May 24, 2022

Abstract

Described herein are systems and devices for controlling and monitoring liquid applications of agricultural fields. In one embodiment, a flow device for controlling flow during an agricultural operation includes an offset ball valve having multiple openings that rotate in position to control flow of a liquid through the offset ball valve to an outlet passage. The flow device also includes a first passage that provides a first flow path from an inlet to at least one opening of the offset ball valve and second passage that provides a second flow path from the inlet to at least one opening of the offset ball valve.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A flow device for controlling flow during an agricultural operation, comprising:
an inlet;
an outlet passage;
an offset ball valve having multiple openings that are offset relative to each other and rotate in position to control flow of a liquid through the offset ball valve to the outlet passage during the agricultural operation;
a first passage to provide a first flow path from the inlet to enter a first opening of the offset ball valve to the outlet passage;
a second passage to provide a second flow path from the inlet to enter the first opening of the offset ball valve to the outlet passage; and
wherein the first flow path and the second flow path merge together flowing through the offset ball valve and exiting a second opening of the offset ball valve after separately entering the first opening of the offset ball valve for one of multiple positions of the offset ball valve.

2. The flow device of claim 1 , wherein the multiple openings of the offset ball valve each comprise a cylindrical shaped bore that are positioned in relation to each other with a configurable angle other than 180 degrees.

3. The flow device of claim 2 , wherein the configurable angle is 10 to 40 degrees.

4. The flow device of claim 2 , wherein the configurable angle is 20 to 30 degrees.

5. The flow device of claim 1 , wherein the offset ball valve includes a plurality of partial ranges of motion with each range of motion corresponding to a position of the multiple positions of the offset ball valve comprising:
a first position in which the first passage and the second passage are not in fluid communication with the outlet passage;
a second position in which the first passage includes the first flow path through the first opening of the offset ball valve to the outlet passage and the second flow path through a second opening of the offset ball valve;
a third position in which the second passage includes the first flow path at a first flow rate through the first and the second openings of the offset ball valve to the outlet passage; and
a fourth position in which the first passage includes the first flow path at the first flow rate through the first opening of the offset ball valve to the outlet passage and the second passage includes the second flow path at a second flow rate through the first opening and the second opening of the offset ball valve to the outlet passage.

6. The flow device of claim 5 , wherein in operation, the offset ball valve rotates through different partial ranges of motion and corresponding different positions consecutively.

7. The flow device of claim 1 , wherein the offset ball valve rotates to change a flow rate through the offset ball valve and the outlet passage based on receiving soil nutrient data from sensors with the soil nutrient data indicating a measured value of nutrients in soil of a field during the agricultural operation.

Assignees

• Prec Planting Llc

Inventors

• Schlipf Ben
• Wiegand Brent
• Mcmenamy Justin
• Stoller Jason

Classifications

• F16K11/0873

  the plug being only rotatable around one spindle · CPC title

• F16K11/056

  with ball-shaped valve members · CPC title

• F16K5/08

  Details · CPC title

• F16K5/06

  with plugs having spherical surfaces; Packings therefor · CPC title

• A01C23/005

  Nozzles, valves, splash plates · CPC title