AU7253700A - Improved boom spray - Google Patents

Description

51354 GEH:PFB P/00/011 Regulation 3.2

AUSTRALIA

Patents Act 1990 COMPLETE SPECIFICATION FOR A STANDARD PATENT

ORIGINAL

Name of Applicant: GYRAL IMPLEMENTS PTY LTD o Name of inventors: ROGER DEAN FUSS ROY MULLER FUSS HAYDN ROY FUSS GREGORY WILLIAM SHORT Address for Service: COLLISON CO.,117 King William Street, Adelaide, S.A. 5000 Invention Title: IMPROVED BOOM SPRAY Details of Associated Provisional Applications: Australian Patent Application No. PQ4848 Dated 24th December 1999 The following statement is a full description of this invention, including the best method of performing it known to us: This invention relates to an improved boom spray more particularly to a boom spray for spraying broad acreage areas.

Boom sprayers are well known for the application of fertilisers, insecticides and herbicides to large areas. Herbicides can be applied to areas which contain only the plants to be killed such as in fallow areas, or to areas where the plants to be killed are in areas such as where other plants have died, for example in areas of stubble. The general practice has been to spray the whole area, and in the case where the plants to be killed are not distributed thickly over the whole area, there can be a large degree of wastage of herbicide. This is not only a wastage in the economic sense, but can also leave harmful residue or contaminants in the soil.

Recently there has been developed spray methods and machines which when traversing over the area to be sprayed will only deliver the spray material to the growing weeds, and in the area where there is no weed or are no weeds, no spray material is delivered, whether it is a herbicide or an insecticide. An example of such a method and apparatus is disclosed in Australian Patent No. 703983 wherein the spray boom is provided with at least one detector which can detect the colour green, which detector when sensing a plant having the colour green will activate the appropriate spray nozzle to spray the area in which the colour green is detected. Thus the weed only is sprayed and the spray material is not wasted on areas where there are no weeds.

The detector described is a camera which can detect the amount of "green" which is detected as the camera scans the area being traversed. However to ensure that the light intensity is as desired, a hood is provided to ensure that the light intensity in the viewing area is generally at the required level.

Also it is described that depending upon whether the detector is operating on cleared ground such as fallow land or whether the intention is to spray weeds in dry plant remains such as stubble, the position of the camera, its height above the ground and its field of view may be varied.

It has been found that the degree of light which is available in the viewing area of the camera is a requirement for the effective operation of the spray boom, and the degree of light available to the green plant is subject to whether the green plant is on fallow ground or is a field of stubble. The above prior specification describes that a cover is required to prevent undue light being available in the target area of the camera.

It is an object of the invention to provide a cover or shield for a spray boom which is adjustable as desired.

It is a further object of the invention to provide a protection for the wing of the boom on striking an obstruction.

Thus there is provided according to the invention a spray boom, a cover shield and or skirt on the boom, the cover, shield or skirt being adjustable in height, spray means on the cover, shield or skirt, and means to maintain the 1 0 optimum spray angle during the height adjustment of the cover, shield or skirt.

Preferably the spray boom includes means to detect a plant, said detection means controlling a spray nozzle or nozzles, said cover, shield and/or skirt minimising extraneous light from the target area of the detection means.

•Preferably the detection means is either a colour camera to detect the greenness of the plant, or an infra-red camera or unit to detect infra-red.

Preferably the means for maintaining the optimum spray angle maintains the spray area at the required distance from the camera so that the spray will hit the target weed.

Also there is provided according to the invention a mechanism toward the boom wing end which when contacted by an object will permit the boom wing to move rearwardly relative to the body on which the boom wing is i mounted to prevent or minimise damage to the boom wing.

In order to more fully describe the invention reference will now be made to the accompanying drawings in which:- Figure 1 is an isometric view of the central portion of the boom sprayer, Figure 1 is a view of the gooseneck section of a spray vehicle with tanks and associated equipment mounted on a separate vehicle, Figure 2 is an isometric view of the end portion of a boom wing, Figure 3 is an end elevation of a boom wing, Figure 4 is a plan view of the boom wings folded back to the transport position, and Figure 5 is a schematic view of portion of the hydraulic circuit.

Referring to the drawings, the boom sprayer 1 has a main body 2 supporting the boom wings 3 and 4. The boom sprayer has a draw bar 3 for attachment to a towing vehicle, the main body carrying the tank 5 for the mixture to be sprayed and other necessary equipment. Each boom wing is supported at its inner end by the main body 2 and castor wheels 6 positioned along each boom wing. For transport purposes the boom wings are folded back to the trailing position as shown in Figure 4, under the control of hydraulic rams 7 and 8 connected to the body 2 and the wings.

A number of cameras 9 are positioned on each boom wing, each camera generating a colour output. Typically the camera can be based on solid state devices such as charge couple devices. The camera and associated controller detect the presence of the colour green and/or infra-red and as a :result operate a respective valve for a spray nozzle to spray the green target area. Thus a growing weed is detected and sprayed as the boom passes over the weed. The cameras and associated technology to detect the 20 presence of a green colour or infra-red and control and operate the spray *...*units are known technology and no claim is made to such technology.

Each camera is positioned on the boom wing at a fixed height and has a field of view extending toward adjacent cameras whereby the whole area traversed by the boom wing is scanned by the cameras.

The intensity of light can vary greatly during operation, depending on the time S•and condition of the day, the area being traversed, soil type, fallow ground, rocky ground or stubble. To minimise the variation in light intensity the boom wing is provided with a shield 10 and skirt 11 on the front and back of the boom wing, the skirt in the lowest position of the shield extending adjacent the ground. The cameras are positioned generally central of the boom, or wing and one or more spray nozzles 12 are positioned on the trailing shield, a set distance rearward of the camera. This distance is determined in combination with the control system to ensure that the spray hits the target area.

However when spraying over areas other than clear land such as fallow fields, it may be necessary to raise the shield and skirt. This is particularly so when spot spraying weeds in stubble. When the shield and skirt are raised the angle of the spray nozzles must be varied to compensate for the change of angle of the shield and maintain the optimum distance from camera to spray nozzle. To automatically vary the spray nozzle angle, the spray nozzles are connected to a parallel linkage arrangement 13 actuated by movement between the shield and the frame. Hydraulic ram 15 mounted on frame 16 actuates the linkage 14 attached to the shields to pivot each shield about its respective pivot bar 17 on the boom wing.

Thus as the shields and skirts are raised the parallel linkage maintains the spray heads in the correct angular position so that the spray zone will hit the target.

The hydraulic rams 15 are operated to also raise the shields and skirts to a fully elevated position to decrease the width of the boom wings for transport as illustrated in the figures.

The invention also includes a protection buffer for the ends of the boom wings which is designed to eliminate or at least minimise damage to the spray boom structure in the event of it coming into contact with a substantial structure.

The protection buffer includes a crash trigger bar 18 pivotally connected to two support arms as part of the front buffer. The arm 18 is spring loaded and can retract back to clear the object, the maximum movement is to the front buffer plate 20. On contact with the sensing arm, the sensing mechanism which includes electric solenoid valves 22, 23 discharges a controlled amount .*of oil from a pressurised hydraulic accumulator 21 into the base of the respective hydraulic ram 7 or 8 supporting the boom in the operating position. This drives the boom wing rearward effectively decelerating the forward motion to prevent damage to the structure.

The tank 5 and associated equipment instead of being mounted on the forecarriage of the spray boom may be mounted on a separate vehicle or cart towed by the prime mover or tractor. This separate vehicle has a goose neck section 24 attached to the separate vehicle or cart by arms 25 and 26, the goose neck section connecting to hydraulic rams 7 and 8 previously described to control the position of the respective wings.

Thus it can be seen that there is provided according to the invention a spray boom in which an adjustable shield and skirt is provided to minimise the variation of light intensity under the spray boom. In this way the effective operation of the camera is assured. Also the shields and skirts may be raised when passing over stubble and the like and provision is made for the spray heads to maintain their required distance from the camera and spray the target area at various operating heights of the shield and skirt.

Also the invention includes a protection system for the boom wings whereby on contact with an object the boom is hydraulically moved rearward to prevent or minimise damage to the boom. Although various aspects of the invention have been described in some detail the invention is not to be limited thereto but can include variations and modifications falling within the !ii 15 spirit and scope of the invention.

ooo* eoo.

o* .e e*

Claims (12)

1. A spray boom, spray retainment means on the spray boom, and means for raising and lowering the spray retainment means dependent upon the area over which the spray boom is traversing.

2. A spray boom as defined in claim 1 wherein the spray retainment means include an upper shield and a skirt depending from an edge of the shield, said shield and skirt extending the length of the spray boom.

3. A spray boom as defined in claim 2 wherein the boom has a forward shield and skirt extending along the front of the boom in the direction of travel and a rear shield and skirt along the rear of the boom.

4. A spray boom as defined in claim 3 wherein the spray boom has means for detecting a growing plant and spray means to spray the plant on detection of the growing plant by the detection means.

5. A spray boom as defined in claim 4 wherein the detection means is a colour 20 or an infra-red camera.

6. A spray boom as defined in claim 4 or 5 wherein the spray means are mounted on the rear shield and adjustment means are provided to adjust the direction of spray depending on the height of the shield so that the spray hits the detected plant.

7. A spray boom as defined in claim 6 wherein the adjustment means comprise a parallel linkage between the shield and a fixed portion of the boom whereby the spray is directed to the target plant irrespective of the height and angle of the shield.

8. A spray boom as defined in claim1 wherein the spray boom has at least one colour or infra-red camera to detect growing plants, spray means controlled by the output of the infra-red camera, means for raising and lowering the spray retention means, whereby the rising and lowering of the spray retention means is dependent on the area over which the boom spray is traversing to maintain a suitable light density under the spray retention means for satisfactory operation of the camera. 8

9. A spray boom as defined in claim1 wherein the spray retention means include an upper shield pivoted to the boom, a skirt depending from the edge of the shield, spray means attached to the shield and parallel linkage means between the shield, body of the spray boom and the spray means whereby the spray means will direct the spray to the same relative location irrespective of the height and angle of the shield.

A spray boom as defined in any one of the receding claims and which include a crash bar trigger at the end of the spray boom adapted on contact with an obstacle to actuate hydraulic means to rearwardly retract the spray boom.

11. A boom spray for spot spraying plants, the boom spray having forward and rear spray retention shields and skirts, a camera to detect growing plants, spray means to spray a detected plant, means to raise and lower the spray retention means depending upon the area being traversed to maintain a suitable light intensity under the spray retention means, and means to automatically adjust the angle of the spray means mounted on the retention shields whereby the spray will be directed to the detected plant irrespective of the height of the spray 20 retention shields.

12. A spray boom substantially as hereinbefore described with reference to the accompanying drawings. 25 Dated this 28th day of December 2000 .o GYRAL IMPLEMENTS PTY LTD their Patent Attomrneys COLLISON CO l•