Irrigation system

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-9521812-B2
Application number	US-201514608842-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Jan 29, 2015
Priority date	Mar 11, 2013
Publication date	Dec 20, 2016
Grant date	Dec 20, 2016

Abstract

A method of operating a drip irrigation system is provided and includes providing drip irrigation lines aside a diverter line with T-junctions interleaved between adjacent ones of the drip irrigation lines and each T-junction including a three-way line coupled to the diverter line, a check valve operably disposable between the three-way line and a downstream end of an upstream one of the drip irrigation lines to permit fluid flow in only a forward direction and a controllable valve operably disposable between the three-way line and an upstream end of a downstream one of the drip irrigation lines.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. An irrigation system including a diverter line, the system comprising:
drip irrigation lines;
T-junctions interleaved between adjacent drip irrigation lines, each T-junction comprising:
a three-way line coupled to the diverter line;
a check valve operably disposable between the three-way line and a downstream end of an upstream one of the drip irrigation lines to permit fluid flow in only a forward direction from the downstream end of the upstream one of the drip irrigation lines to each leg of the three-way line; and
a controllable valve operably disposable between the three-way line and an upstream end of a downstream one of the drip irrigation lines,
the controllable valve being operable to permit fluid flow in only the forward direction from each leg of the three-way line to an upstream end of a downstream one of the drip irrigation lines and to prevent the fluid flow.

2. The system according to claim 1 , wherein the drip irrigation lines have uniform and/or adjustable lengths.

3. The system according to claim 1 , wherein the drip irrigation lines are disposable on both sides of the diverter line.

4. The system according to claim 3 , wherein multiple T-junctions are disposable at similar axial locations along the diverter line.

5. The system according to claim 1 , wherein the controllable valve of each of the T-junctions comprises a solenoid valve.

6. The system according to claim 5 , wherein each of the solenoid valves are opened to flush the system.

7. The system according to claim 5 , further comprising a control station operably coupled to each of the solenoid valves.

8. The system according to claim 7 , wherein the control station operates the solenoid valves in a closed loop configuration based on sensor feedback.

9. The system according to claim 7 , wherein each of the solenoid valves are configured to acknowledge command receipt and to report that a command was performed.

10. An irrigation system including a diverter line, the system comprising:
drip irrigation lines;
T-junctions interleaved between adjacent drip irrigation lines, each T-junction comprising:
a three-way line coupled to the diverter line;
a check valve between the three-way line and a downstream end of an upstream one of the drip irrigation lines to permit fluid flow in only a forward direction from the downstream end of the upstream one of the drip irrigation lines to each leg of the three-way line; and
a controllable valve between the three-way line and an upstream end of a downstream one of the drip irrigation lines to permit fluid flow in only the forward direction from each leg of the three-way line to an upstream end of a downstream one of the drip irrigation lines.

11. The system according to claim 10 , wherein the drip irrigation lines have uniform and/or adjustable lengths.

12. The system according to claim 10 , wherein the drip irrigation lines are on both sides of the diverter line.

13. The system according to claim 12 , wherein multiple T-junctions are at similar axial locations along the diverter line.

14. The system according to claim 10 , wherein each controllable valve comprises a solenoid valve.

15. The system according to claim 14 , wherein each solenoid valve opens to flush the system.

16. The system according to claim 14 , further comprising a control station coupled to each solenoid valve,
the control station being configured to operate the solenoid valves in a closed loop configuration based on sensor feedback, and
each solenoid valve being configured to acknowledge command receipt and to report that a command was performed.

17. A method of operating a drip irrigation system, the method comprising:
providing drip irrigation lines aside a diverter line with T-junctions interleaved between adjacent ones of the drip irrigation lines and each T-junction comprising:
a three-way line coupled to the diverter line;
a check valve operably disposable between the three-way line and a downstream end of an upstream one of the drip irrigation lines to permit fluid flow in only a forward direction from the downstream end of the upstream one of the drip irrigation lines to each leg of the three-way line; and
a controllable valve operably disposable between the three-way line and an upstream end of a downstream one of the drip irrigation lines from each leg of the three-way line to an upstream end of a downstream one of the drip irrigation lines; and

opening and closing each of the controllable valves.

18. The method according to claim 17 , wherein the opening and closing is in accordance with a predefined schedule.

19. The method according to claim 18 , wherein the predefined schedule is defined in accordance with a predefined temporal resolution.

20. The method according to claim 17 , wherein the opening and closing is in accordance with current atmospheric conditions.

Assignees

• IBM

Inventors

• Hamann Hendrik F
• Klein Levente I
• Rodriguez Sergio A Bermudez
• Schappert Michael A

Classifications

• A01G25/16

  Control of watering · CPC title

• A01G25/162

  Sequential operation · CPC title

• A01G25/02 Primary

  Watering arrangements located above the soil which make use of perforated pipe-lines or pipe-lines with dispensing fittings, e.g. for drip irrigation · CPC title

• B05B12/04

  for sequential operation or multiple outlets · CPC title

• A01G25/165

  Cyclic operations, timing systems, timing valves, impulse operations · CPC title