GB2039202A

GB2039202A - A control system for an agricultural spraying machine or the like

Info

Publication number: GB2039202A
Application number: GB7901211A
Authority: GB
Original assignee: CURTIS LONG DEV Ltd
Current assignee: CURTIS LONG DEV Ltd
Priority date: 1979-01-12
Filing date: 1979-01-12
Publication date: 1980-08-06

Abstract

Upon initiation by an operator, spray nozzles on a boom of a spraying machine are sequentially actuated or de-actuated as the machine travels away from, or approaches, a headland by means of a control system including a comparator receiving a signal indicative of the angle of travel of the machine relative to the headland and a signal indicative of the speed of the machine. <IMAGE>

Description

SPECIFICATION Switching arrangement Machines such as sprayers and fertiliser spreaders cover substantial widths with their booms. Where these booms do not intersect the headland at 90" at the start and finish of each bout the operator is compelled either to miss a portion orto double dose a similar area, since he is unable to switch the outlets or nozzles of his machine on or off save by hand, and then only in groups, and at a speed which is not matched by the passage of his machinery over the ground. Such a system of operation is patently unsatisfactory as it requires considerable manual dexterity and concentration at a moment when the attention of the operator is already fully engaged with starting orfinishing a bout, and the business of turning his machine round from one bout to the next.The present method of achieving such switching of the machine is the provision of manually operated valves, or solenoid operated valves, each of which switches off a length of the machine's sprayer or spreader boom.

In the present invention the operator is given a means of performing a sequential switching on or off of his machine which is automatically matched both to the speed of his machine over the ground and to the angle of intersection that his machine's track makes with the headland, which is only occasionally at 900. In an electronic system as outlined in the block diagram in Figure 1 the operator is given three manually set inputs. At 1 he sets the angle of the headland by turning the setting knob such that the bar across the diameter thereof is laid parallel to the headland. At the appropriate moment he then starts the switching sequence by depressing the start switch 2 or the stop switch 3.Depressing either of these actuates or deactuates the first nozzle (the circuit may be either hold on or hold off) as the case may be, and then interposes a delay which is matched to the angle of the headlands intersection as set by the operator, and the forward speed of the machine as determined by a land wheel driven pulse counter.

In a further embodiment the operator has two further manually set inputs to allow him to utilise the switching system to operate with a part of the machines width only. This is achieved by using two extra switches, which may be rotary or digital, which are placed for convenience on the same control panel, preferably on the left and right hand sides thereof. The left hand switch is marked "delete from" and the right hand switch marked "delete to" (or vice versa). Operating the left hand switch as first described switches off the extreme left hand nozzle or outlet, simultaneously indicating to the operator numerically that the setting of the switch has changed from zero to 1, and thence through to 'n' as the numbers rise with further operation by the operator. The right hand switch operates in the reverse manner, eliminating nozzles from the extreme right hand side.Each switch may be operated separately from the other.

The use of the systems outlined above is not limited to the control of agricultural machinery such as sprayers, fertiliser and insecticide applicators, weedkiller granular applicators and the like, and may find application in any industry where the sequential switching of successive operations is required at precisely variable intervals, where the inputs may be controlled manually or automatically.

1. Inorforan agriculturaifertiliserspreader,a sprayer or like machine, a control system for controlling discharge from a plurality of outlets on a boom as the machine approaches a headland, said machine comprising first means for generating a signal indicative of the angle of approach of the machine relative to the headland, second means for generating a signal indicative of the speed of the machine, and third means for sequentially deactuating outlets in accordance with said signals, thereby to ensure accurate coverage of the area to be spread or sprayed to the end of the bout.

2. In or for an agricultural fertiliser spreader, a sprayer or like machine, a control system for controlling discharge from a plurality of outlets on a boom as the machine travels away from a headland, said machine comprising first means for generating a signal indicative of the angle of travel of the machine relative to the headland, second means for generating a signal indicative of the speed of the machine, and third means for sequentially actuating the outlets in accordance with said signals, thereby to ensure accurate coverage of the area to be spread or sprayed from the commencement of the bout.

3. In or for an agricultural fertiliser spreader, a sprayer or like machine, a control system for controlling discharge from a plurality of outlets as the machine begins and ends a bout at a boundary, said machine comprising first means for generating a signal indicative of the angle of travel of the machine relative to the boundary, second means for generating a signal indicative of the speed of the machine, and third means for sequentially controlling the out lets in accordance with said signals, thereby to ensure accurate coverage of the area to be spread or sprayed throughout the bout.

4. A control system as claimed in any preceding claim, further including an indicator which is manu ally rotatable to indicate the angle of travel relative to a boundary or headland, the first means generat ing a signal in accordance with the position of said indicator.

5. A control system as claimed in any preceding claim, wherein said second means includes a device responsive to distances traversed by the machine generate pulses, a counter for receiving said pulses, and means connected with the counter for providing an analogue signal.

6. A control system as claimed in claim 4, includ ing means responsive to the signal provided by the first means to generate a signal proportional to the

**WARNING** end of DESC field may overlap start of CLMS **.

Claims

**WARNING** start of CLMS field may overlap end of DESC **. SPECIFICATION Switching arrangement Machines such as sprayers and fertiliser spreaders cover substantial widths with their booms. Where these booms do not intersect the headland at 90" at the start and finish of each bout the operator is compelled either to miss a portion orto double dose a similar area, since he is unable to switch the outlets or nozzles of his machine on or off save by hand, and then only in groups, and at a speed which is not matched by the passage of his machinery over the ground. Such a system of operation is patently unsatisfactory as it requires considerable manual dexterity and concentration at a moment when the attention of the operator is already fully engaged with starting orfinishing a bout, and the business of turning his machine round from one bout to the next.The present method of achieving such switching of the machine is the provision of manually operated valves, or solenoid operated valves, each of which switches off a length of the machine's sprayer or spreader boom. In the present invention the operator is given a means of performing a sequential switching on or off of his machine which is automatically matched both to the speed of his machine over the ground and to the angle of intersection that his machine's track makes with the headland, which is only occasionally at 900. In an electronic system as outlined in the block diagram in Figure 1 the operator is given three manually set inputs. At 1 he sets the angle of the headland by turning the setting knob such that the bar across the diameter thereof is laid parallel to the headland. At the appropriate moment he then starts the switching sequence by depressing the start switch 2 or the stop switch 3.Depressing either of these actuates or deactuates the first nozzle (the circuit may be either hold on or hold off) as the case may be, and then interposes a delay which is matched to the angle of the headlands intersection as set by the operator, and the forward speed of the machine as determined by a land wheel driven pulse counter. In a further embodiment the operator has two further manually set inputs to allow him to utilise the switching system to operate with a part of the machines width only. This is achieved by using two extra switches, which may be rotary or digital, which are placed for convenience on the same control panel, preferably on the left and right hand sides thereof. The left hand switch is marked "delete from" and the right hand switch marked "delete to" (or vice versa). Operating the left hand switch as first described switches off the extreme left hand nozzle or outlet, simultaneously indicating to the operator numerically that the setting of the switch has changed from zero to 1, and thence through to 'n' as the numbers rise with further operation by the operator. The right hand switch operates in the reverse manner, eliminating nozzles from the extreme right hand side.Each switch may be operated separately from the other. The use of the systems outlined above is not limited to the control of agricultural machinery such as sprayers, fertiliser and insecticide applicators, weedkiller granular applicators and the like, and may find application in any industry where the sequential switching of successive operations is required at precisely variable intervals, where the inputs may be controlled manually or automatically. CLAIMS

6. A control system as claimed in claim 4, includ ing means responsive to the signal provided by the first means to generate a signal proportional to the value of tan A, where A is the absolute value of the said angle.

7. A control system as claimed in claim 5 and claim 6 in combination, including a comparator receiving both said analogue signal and the signal proportional to tan A, the comparator being adapted to provide a signal for operating a counter by which the outlets are controlled.

8. A control system as claimed in claim 7, including manually operable control means for initiating the commencement or termination of discharge in response to operation of the control system.

9. A control system as claimed in claim 7 or claim 8 wherein the signal from the first means is used to determine the first outlet to be actuated or deactuated depending upon the sign of the angle.

10. A Control system substantially as herein described and/or illustrated.

11. A method of controlling discharge from outlets substantially as herein described with reference to the drawing.