Spray monitoring systems, devices, and methods

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-12369575-B2
Application number	US-202217811031-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Jul 6, 2022
Priority date	Jul 21, 2021
Publication date	Jul 29, 2025
Grant date	Jul 29, 2025

Abstract

A method of monitoring agricultural spray performance includes spraying a fluid from spray nozzles, sensing spray parameters (e.g., droplet size, a flow rate, an application density, or a pressure of the fluid) for the spray nozzles, receiving the spray parameters, generating an average spray parameter value, determining a minimum spray parameter value and a maximum spray parameter value, and displaying the average, minimum, and maximum spray parameter values. Other methods include spraying a fluid from a spray nozzle, sensing a spray parameter for the spray nozzle, detecting that the spray parameter has exceeded a pre-defined threshold value, displaying an alarm, and ceasing spraying the fluid from the spray nozzle. A user interface continues to display the alarm after the act of ceasing spraying the fluid. Related systems and other methods are also disclosed.

First claim

The invention claimed is:

1. A monitoring system for agricultural spray equipment, the monitoring system comprising:
a pressure sensor positioned and configured to measure a pressure of a fluid sprayed by a spray nozzle;
a flow rate sensor positioned and configured to measure a flow rate of the fluid sprayed by the spray nozzle; and
control circuitry configured to:
receive the measured pressure from the pressure sensor;
receive the measured flow rate from the flow rate sensor;
generate an application density based on the measured flow rate and a distance traveled by the spray nozzle;
generate a droplet size based on the measured pressure;
generate a spray quality score based on the droplet size, the application density, and the distance traveled by the spray nozzle, wherein the spray quality score represents a percentage of the distance over which the droplet size is equal to a target droplet size and the application density is equal to a target application density; and
cause a user interface device to display the spray quality score.

2. The monitoring system of claim 1 , wherein the control circuitry is further configured to cause the user interface device to display an icon representative of the spray quality score.

3. The monitoring system of claim 2 , wherein:
the spray quality score is a percentage value; and
the icon comprises an arc-shaped percentage bar filled to the percentage value.

4. The monitoring system of claim 1 , wherein the spray quality score is a percentage value.

5. The monitoring system of claim 1 , further comprising a non-transitory data storage medium configured to store a lookup table for cross-referencing pressure and droplet size, wherein the control circuitry is further configured to:
recall the lookup table from the non-transitory data storage medium; and
generate the droplet size of the spray by cross-referencing the lookup table with the measured pressure.

6. The monitoring system of claim 1 , further comprising a non-transitory data storage medium configured to store the target droplet size and the target application density, wherein the control circuitry is further configured to recall the target droplet size and the target application density from the non-transitory data storage medium.

7. The monitoring system of claim 1 , further comprising a velocity sensor physically connected to the spray nozzle and configured to measure a velocity of the spray nozzle, wherein the control circuitry is further configured to:
receive a velocity measurement for a first time period from the velocity sensor; and
generate the distance traveled by the spray nozzle based on the velocity measurement and the first time period, wherein:
the measured pressure is measured over the first time period; and
the measured flow rate is measured over the first time period, such that the application density, droplet size, and spray quality score describe the sprayed fluid during the first time period.

Assignees

• Intelligent Agricultural Solutions Llc
• Prec Planting Llc

Inventors

• Maurer Garrett
• Heilman Joseph A

Classifications

• A01B79/005

  Precision agriculture · CPC title

• B05B12/008

  integrated in or attached to a discharge apparatus, e.g. a spray gun · CPC title

• B05B9/0413

  with reciprocating pumps, e.g. membrane pump, piston pump, bellow pump (B05B9/0409 takes precedence) · CPC title

• B05B9/0416

  with pumps comprising rotating pumping parts, e.g. gear pump, centrifugal pump, screw-type pump (B05B9/042 takes precedence) · CPC title

• B05B1/20

  Perforated pipes or troughs, e.g. spray booms; Outlet elements therefor · CPC title