Methods of analyzing one or more agricultural materials, and systems thereof

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-12560520-B2
Application number	US-202218554696-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	May 13, 2022
Priority date	May 20, 2021
Publication date	Feb 24, 2026
Grant date	Feb 24, 2026

Abstract

A system may analyze agricultural materials. The system may include one or more inlets receiving the agricultural materials. The agricultural materials may be a slurry (e.g., soil slurry) including at least one solid and at least one liquid. The system may include a chamber configured to house the agricultural materials. The chamber may include a mixing device configured to mix the agricultural materials. The system may include a flow control device configured to stop the flow of the agricultural materials in a first state, or move the flow of the agricultural materials in a second state. The system may include an agricultural materials density device configured to determine the density of the agricultural materials when the flow of the agricultural materials is stopped in the first state and when the flow of the agricultural materials is moving in the second state.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1 . A system for analyzing one or more agricultural materials comprising:
one or more inlets receiving the one or more agricultural materials, the one or more agricultural materials comprising at least one solid and at least one liquid; a chamber configured to house the one or more agricultural materials, the chamber comprising at least one of: a mixer or a stirrer configured to mix the one or more agricultural materials; a particle density device configured to determine the density of the at least one solid of the one or more agricultural materials; and an agricultural materials density device configured to determine the density of the one or more agricultural materials comprising the at least one solid and the at least one liquid.

2 . The system of claim 1 , further comprising a processor configured to determine, based on the determined density of the at least one solid and the determined density of the one or more agricultural materials, the ratio of the at least one solid to the at least one liquid in the one or more agricultural materials.

3 . The system of claim 1 , wherein the one or more agricultural materials are one or more soil slurries.

4 . The system of claim 1 , further comprising a measurement sub-system comprising one or more sensors and one or more ports, the one or more ports being configured to provide a fluid to clean the one or more sensors of the measurement sub-system, wherein the one or more sensors comprise at least one of an ion selective electrode sensor or an ion selective field-effect electrode sensor.

5 . The system of claim 1 , wherein an additional liquid is added to the one or more agricultural materials depending on the determined ratio of the at least one solid to the at least one liquid in the one or more agricultural materials.

6 . The system of claim 1 , wherein the agricultural materials density device comprises a u-tube device.

7 . The system of claim 1 , wherein the agricultural materials density device comprises a u-tube device comprising a first straight portion and a second curved portion, the first straight portion being oriented in a vertical direction.

8 . The system of claim 7 , wherein the agricultural materials density device is configured to determine the density of the one or more agricultural materials when a flow of the one or more agricultural materials is stopped in a first state and when the flow of the one or more agricultural materials is moving in a second state.

9 . The system of claim 1 , wherein the processor is configured to determine the ratio of the at least one solid to the at least one liquid in the one or more agricultural materials based on the determined density of the at least one solid, the determined density of the one or more agricultural materials, and a density of the at least one liquid.

10 . The system of claim 1 , wherein the particle density device is configured to measure reflectance for the one or more agricultural materials via wavelengths in visible and infrared spectrums.

11 . The system of claim 1 , wherein the particle density device is configured to perform a sensing technique comprising determining at least one of an optical wavelength reflectance/absorption value, electromagnetic wavelength reflectance/absorption value, temperature value, electrical current flow value, electrical conductivity value, Xray fluorescence value, Laser-Induced Breakdown Spectroscopy value, Near Infrared Spectroscopy value, Mid Infrared Spectroscopy value, Far Infrared Spectroscopy value, Xray Diffraction value, Gamma Ray emission value, Raman Spectroscopy value, Multi-Spectral Sensing value, Short wave infrared value, Microfluidic value, Acoustic resonance spectroscopy value, Fourier Transform Infrared Spectroscopy value, Photoemission spectroscopy value, spectrophotometry value, thermal infrared spectroscopy value, video spectroscopy value, or hyperspectral imaging value, laser diffraction value.

12 . A method for analyzing one or more agricultural materials comprising:
receiving the one or more agricultural materials, wherein the one or more agricultural materials comprise at least one solid and at least one liquid; housing the one or more agricultural materials via a chamber comprising at least one of: a mixer or a stirrer configured to mix the one or more agricultural materials; determining, via a particle density device, the density of the at least one solid of the one or more agricultural materials; and determining, via an agricultural materials density device, the density of the one or more agricultural materials comprising the at least one solid and the at least one liquid.

13 . The method of claim 12 , further comprising determining, based on the determined density of the at least one solid and the determined density of the one or more agricultural materials, the ratio of the at least one solid to the at least one liquid in the one or more agricultural materials.

14 . The method of claim 12 , wherein the one or more agricultural materials are one or more soil slurries.

15 . The method of claim 14 , wherein the at least one liquid is water.

16 . The method of claim 12 , further comprising adding liquid to the one or more agricultural materials based on the determined ratio of the at least one solid to the at least one liquid in the one or more agricultural materials.

17 . The method of claim 12 , wherein the agricultural materials density device comprises a u-tube device.

18 . The method of claim 12 , wherein the agricultural materials density device comprises a u-tube device comprising a first straight portion and a second curved portion, the first straight portion being oriented in a vertical direction.

19 . The method of claim 18 , further comprising determining the density of the one or more agricultural materials when a flow of the one or more agricultural materials is stopped in a first state and when the flow of the one or more agricultural materials is moving in a second state.

20 . The method of claim 12 , further comprising determining the ratio of the at least one solid to the at least one liquid in the one or more agricultural materials based on the determined density of the at least one solid, the determined density of the one or more agricultural materials, and a density of the at least one liquid.

21 . The method of claim 12 , further comprising measuring, via the particle density device, reflectance for the one or more agricultural materials via wavelengths in visible and infrared spectrums.

22 . The method of claim 12 , wherein the particle density device performs a sensing technique comprising determining at least one of an optical wavelength reflectance/absorption value, electromagnetic wavelength reflectance/absorption value, temperature value, electrical current flow value, electrical conductivity value, Xray fluorescence value, Laser-Induced Breakdown Spectroscopy value, Near Infrared Spectroscopy value, Mid Infrared Spectroscopy value, Far Infrared Spectroscopy value, Xray Diffraction value, Gamma Ray emission value, Raman Spectroscopy value, Multi-Spectral Sensing value, Short wave infrared value, Microfluidic value, Acoustic resonance spectroscopy value, Fourier Transform Infrared Spectroscopy value, Photoemission spectroscopy value, spectrophotometry value, thermal infrared spectroscopy value, video spectroscopy value, or hyperspectral imaging value, laser diffraction value.

Assignees

• Prec Planting Llc

Inventors

• Swanson Todd
• Levy Kent
• Harman Reid
• Seelye Joshua
• Vaccari Adam
• Litwiller Riley
• Koch Dale M

Classifications

• G01N9/00

  Investigating density or specific gravity of materials; Analysing materials by determining density or specific gravity · CPC title

• G01N27/07

  Construction of measuring vessels; Electrodes therefor · CPC title

• G01N33/24

  Earth materials (G01N33/42 takes precedence) · CPC title

• G01N27/414

  Ion-sensitive or chemical field-effect transistors, i.e. ISFETS or CHEMFETS · CPC title

• G01N27/333

  Ion-selective electrodes or membranes (glass electrodes G01N27/36) · CPC title