Spraying apparatus for agricultural machine with cartographic piloting

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-9339023-B2
Application number	US-201113822066-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Aug 23, 2011
Priority date	Sep 10, 2010
Publication date	May 17, 2016
Grant date	May 17, 2016

Abstract

This control system for an agricultural spraying machine ( 1 ), of which the boom ( 5 ) is equipped with a plurality of multi-nozzle units ( 9 ), is characterized in that it comprises means ( 15 a to 15, 17 a to 17 e, 23 ) for piloting each multi-nozzle unit ( 9 ) according to data representative of the cartography of the plants to be treated.

First claim

The invention claimed is:

1. A spraying apparatus for an agricultural spraying machine, comprising a bar equipped with a plurality of multi-nozzle units wherein each multi-nozzle unit includes a plurality of nozzles grouped together such that the plurality of nozzles are each distributed on the same horizontal plane wherein a longitudinal axis of each nozzle is aligned perpendicular to the bar and each nozzle includes a valve located upstream of each nozzle, wherein each nozzle is configured to be operated individually and through a selected combination of the plurality of nozzles, wherein each nozzle is configured with a spraying characteristic that is different from that of the remaining nozzles in the multi-nozzle unit, and the spraying apparatus further includes means for piloting each multi-nozzle unit according to data representing the cartography of the plants to be treated.

2. The spraying apparatus according to claim 1 , further comprising cartography means for the plants to be treated, control units for said multi-nozzle units, and a programmable electronic box, capable of receiving and processing information provided by said cartography means, and consequently sending control signals to each multi-nozzle unit.

3. The spraying apparatus according to claim 2 , wherein said cartography means comprise geographical positioning means.

4. The spraying apparatus according to claim 3 , wherein the geographical positioning means comprise means of the GPS type.

5. The spraying apparatus according to claim 2 , wherein said cartography means comprise means for detecting the presence or absence of plants to be treated and/or their morphology.

6. The spraying apparatus according to claim 5 , wherein said detection means comprise at least one of traditional cameras and infrared cameras.

7. The spraying apparatus according to claim 2 , wherein said cartographic means comprise means suitable for measuring the slope of the bar of said agricultural machine.

8. The spraying apparatus according to claim 7 , wherein said slope measuring means comprise means for detecting the distance of the bar from the ground or its vegetation and/or means for measuring the pressure difference of the phytosanitary liquid in ducts situated at two opposite ends of said bar.

9. The spraying apparatus according to claim 2 , wherein the electronic box and said control units are connected to each other by a system comprising wired connections of the Bus or CAN bus type and/or wireless connections.

Assignees

• Ballu Patrick Jean Marie
• Exel Ind

Inventors

• Ballu Patrick Jean Marie

Classifications

• A01M7/0089 Primary

  Regulating or controlling systems (the delivery being related to the movement of a vehicle B05B9/06) · CPC title

• A01M7/0057

  with active regulation of the boom position · CPC title

• A01M7/0042

  Field sprayers, e.g. self-propelled, drawn or tractor-mounted · CPC title