GB2048036A - Irrigation Apparatus - Google Patents

Abstract

Apparatus for irrigation by spraying water from a mobile nozzle (25) connected by a hose-pipe (31) to a supply of water, comprises a mobile reel-carrier, Figure 5 with a hose-pipe (31) wound on a reel (33, 34) thereon and unwindable from the reel and a self propelling, high clearance nozzle- carrier, Figure 2, separably connectable mechanically and hydraulically to the reel-carrier in such a way that when so connected it can tow the reel-carrier. <IMAGE>

Description

SPECIFICATION Irrigation Apparatus The invention concerns apparatus for irrigation by spraying from a mobile nozzle.

More precisely, it concerns apparatus for irrigation by spraying from a mobile nozzle connected by a hose-pipe to a supply of water under pressure, this pipe being unwindable from a reel carried on a stand which is mobile but which, in use, is held in a fixed position in a field while the nozzle is moved along the region to be sprayed, first in a direction which allows unwinding of the pipe and then in the opposite direction allowing the pipe to be rewound on the reel.

This technique is known and various forms of apparatus have been proposed for its implementation.

The present invention provides apparatus adapted to this technique and which, compared with known types of apparatus, presents many advantages especially economy of parts, simplification of parts, ease of use and reduction, indeed the elimination, of damage in plantations or to ground during operating and moving.

According to one aspect of the invention, the new apparatus comprises a self-propelling and high-clearance nozzle-carrier separable from the reel-carrier and suitable for towing it, the nozzlecarrier and the reel-carrier being disconnectable from one another mechanically and hydraulically.

Other aspects and advantages of the invention will appear in the course of the description hereafter with reference to the figures of the attached drawings in which: Figure 1 is a view from above of the nozzlecarrier; Figure 2 is a side view of the nozzle-carrier; Figure 3 is a front view of the nozzle-carrier; Figure 4 is a view in detail of the mounting of the back wheel of the nozzle-carrier; Figure 5 is a side view of the reel-carrier; Figure 6 is a diagram of the drive apparatus of the reel-carrier; Figure 7 is a view in detail of the drive of the Archimedean screw of the reel-carrier, and Figure 8 is a view from above of the nozzlecarrier and of the reel-carrier.

The various views are diagrammatic and are only intended to explain the invention.

The apparatus comprises a nozzle-carrier and a reel-carrier.

The nozzle-carrier comprises a frame 1 having, seen from above the general shape of a T. This frame is mounted on three wheels, namely two front side wheels 2, 3 carried by two vertical legs 4, 5 fixed perpendicularly to horizontal supports 6, 7 which slide in the cross-stroke of the T, and a central back wheel 9 which is carried by a vertical column 10 mounted rotatably in the back end of the stem of the T.

The front wheels, whose distance apart can be varied by sliding the horizontal supports 6, 7 in the cross-stroke of the T, are drive wheels which receive their motion from a diesel motor or a petrol motor 11 via a conventional reduction unit and transmission, for example a transmission with Cardan joint and chain.

The back wheel is a guiding wheel which is controlled by a steering wheel 12 via a conventional transmission represented diagrammatically by the shaft 13, the gears 14, 15 and the chain 16.

The steering wheel is situated behind the cross-stroke of the T, above the stem of the T, near a seat 17.

The motor 11 is situated in the cross-stroke of the T and, in addition to driving the wheels, it can drive (diesel motor) an hydraulic pump 18 which feeds an hydraulic motor 1 9 located between the front wheels (Figure 3).

The motor 19, via a reduction unit, drives a power take-off orientable over 3600. This power take-off allows either driving of a stationary machine (for example a flour mill, a wood saw, or a concrete mixer) or, through a Cardan joint 21, driving of a hydraulic pump 22 situated under the stem of the T. This pump 22, when required, serves to remove a liquid, for example a fertilizer or other treatment liquid, from a tank 23 mounted in the stem of the T, to supply a dispersal pipe 24, optionally mounted on the rear end of the frame of the nozzle-carrier, transversely to the frame.

The connections between the tank 23, the pump 22 and the pipe 24 are conventional connections which, for the sake of clarity in the drawings, have not been shown.

The stem of the T is a parallelepipedal frame suitable for containing and supporting the tank 23, and for supporting the driver.

The spraying nozzle 25 is fixed high up at the front of the frame and it is connected to a bent pipe 26 which ends below the frame at the rear thereof and is there provided with a pipe coupling 27. Above the coupling 27, the frame carries a coupling hook 28.

The back wheel 9 is fixed to the column 10 by a bracket 29 (Figure 4).

A triangular brace structure 30 allows a mechanical connection between bracket 29 and the pipe 31 which is wound on the reel and the end of which will be connected to the coupling 27, so that the pipe is able to guide the wheel 9 to a certain extent during winding up of the pipe.

The reel-carrier comprises a frame 32 in which is rotatably mounted the arbor 33 of a cylindrical cage 34 on which is wound the pipe 31.

Seen in profile, the frame 32 has the shape of an oblate S (Figure 5). At the front end it has an upper coupling means 35 for coupling to the nozzle-carrier of the invention and, at the back end it has a lower coupling means 36 for coupling to a conventional agricultural tractor. The frame 32 is mounted on two wheels 37, 38, each wheel being carried by a support 39 which can be fixed to the frame in one or other of two positions (Figure 5) so that the wheel can be moved backwards, (in relation to the coupling point) depending on which coupling point is being used.

The position in continuous lines in Figure 5 is used when coupling at 35 and the position in dotted lines used when coupling at 36, so that the reel is supported properly in each case.

Rotation of the reel is controlled by an hydraulic motor 40 (with oil) which drives one end of the arbor 33 of the cage via a reduction unit 41 (Figure 6). For normal rotation, the motor 40 is fed by a gear pump 42 fixed to the frame of the reel-carrier. For rapid rotation, the motor 40 can be connected to the hydraulic pump 18 of the nozzle-carrier (it is sufficient to connect the motor 40 of the reel-carrier in place of the motor 1 9 of the nozzle-carrier).

The regular unwinding and winding up of the pipe 31 is facilitated, in a way known in itself, by an Archimidean screw 43 (Figure 7) driven by the arbor 33 of the reel-carrier cage.

According to the invention, the transmission between this arbor and the screw comprises a pair of intermediate gears 44, 45 between the gears 46 and 47 of the arbor 33 and of the screw 43, and chains 48, 49 connecting respectively the gears 46 and 44 and the gears 45 and 47.

By a simple changing of gears 44 and 45, it is possible to alter the relationship between the reeling speed of the reel and the rotation speed of the Archimidean screw, which allows use of the same Archimidean screw for different pipe diameters.

The user uses the nozzle-carrier to tow the reel-carrier to the place where the reel-carrier has to remain stationary near a water supply. For towing, the coupling means 35 of the reel-carrier is connected to the coupling means 28 of the nozzle-carrier. The user then disconnects the coupling means and brings the nozzle-carrier forward along the region to be sprayed, using the nozzle-carrier to pull the pipe 31 off the reel. To do this, he can connect the end-coupling 50 of the pipe 31 to the coupling 27 of the nozzle or attach the pipe to the nozzle-carrier in any other suitable way. When the nozzle has arrived at the end of the region to be sprayed, the operator cuts the motor of the nozzle-carrier, and if necessary connects the couplings 50 and 27 and supplies the reel with water under pressure to obtain spraying.

Spraying is done during the return stage during backwards motion of the nozzle-carrier towards the reel-carrier. During this stage, the nozzlecarrier whose motor is cut is pulled along by the pipe which is being wound up under the control of the motor 40 of the reel-carrier. The back wheel of the nozzle-carrier follows the pipe with an ease which increases in relation to the centrality of this wheel and is guided by the connecting brace 30 between the support of the wheel and the pipe (or the coupling 50 of the pipe). The connecting brace can, furthermore, be connected to the frame of the nozzle-carrier.

The single back wheel also provides the advantages of reducing the turning radius of the nozzle-carrier and avoiding making two wheels pass along the same line.

The reel-carrier can, if required, be pulled by a conventional tractor, if, for example, the operator is not using the nozzle-carrier of the invention.

This nozzle-carrier presents, as has been seen, specific characteristics, among others the absence of chain or belt in the driving of the arbor of the reel and the possibility of controlling a rapid reeling by connecting the hydraulic motor of the reel-carrier either to the pump of the nozzlecarrier or to the oil outlet of any tractor.

The invention is not to be construed as limited to the specific embodiments which have been described with reference to the drawings except as set forth in the appended claims.

Claims (13)

Claims

1. Apparatus for irrigation by spraying from a mobile nozzle, the nozzle being connectable to a supply of water under pressure via a pipe wound on a reel carried by a mobile reel-carrier and unwindable from said reel, which apparatus comprises a self-propelling and high-clearance nozzle-carrier separably connectable mechanically and hydraulically to said reel-carrier and suitable for towing said reel-carrier.

2. Apparatus according to claim 1 , wherein the nozzle-carrier has two side drive wheels in front and a guiding central back wheel.

3. Apparatus according to claim 1 or claim 2, wherein the nozzle-carrier comprises a frame having the general shape in plan of a T, the frame being mounted on wheels, said wheels including two front side wheels carried by two vertical legs fixed to horizontal supports which slide in the cross-stroke of the T to vary the distance apart of said wheels.

4. Apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein the nozzle-carrier provides a support for a tank or a product to be distributed and includes a hydraulic pump to extract the product from the tank, said pump being connectable to an hydraulic motor operated by a pump driven by the motor of the nozzle-carrier.

5. Apparatus according to claim 4, wherein the hydraulic pump for the tank is located under the tank and the hydraulic motor is located between the drive wheels.

6. Apparatus according to any one of claims 2 to 5, which includes a connection between the pipe on the reel and the support of the guiding back wheel of the nozzle-carrier so that the pipe can guide this wheel on winding up.

7. Apparatus according to claim 6, wherein the support of the back wheel of the nozzle-carrier includes a bracket and the said connection connects the bracket to the coupling of the pipe of the reel.

8. Apparatus for irrigation by spraying from a mobile nozzle, said nozzle being connectable to a supply of water under pressure via a pipe wound on a reel carried by a mobile reel-carrier and unwindable from said reel, wherein the reelcarrier is controlled by an hydraulic motor which drives one end of the arbor of the reel via a reduction unit.

9. Apparatus for irrigation by spraying from a mobile nozzle, said nozzle being connectable to a supply of water under pressure via a pipe wound on a reel carried by a mobile reel-carrier and unwindable therefrom wherein the reel-carrier is provided with an Archimidean screw which ensures the regularity of the unwinding of the pipe and which is controlled by the arbor of the reel, the transmission of movement between said arbor and said screw comprising intermediate gears, changing of which allows the reel-carrier to be adapted to different diameters of pipe.

10. Apparatus for irrigation by spraying from a mobile nozzle, said nozzle being connectable to a supply of water under pressure via a pipe wound on a reel carried by a mobile reel-carrier ahd unwindable therefrom comprising a nozzle-carrier according to any of claims 1 to 7 and a reelcarrier whose frame presents a high coupling point for coupling to the nozzle-carrier and a low coupling point for coupling to a conventional agricultural tractor.

11. Apparatus according to claim 10, wherein the two coupling points are situated at the two opposite ends of the frame of the reel-carrier and the wheels of the reel-carrier are mounted on movable supports which allow the wheels to be moved backwards in relation to the particular coupling point used.

1 2. Apparatus according to claim 10, wherein the reel-carrier is constituted according to claim 8 or claim 9.

13. Apparatus according to claim 1, substantially as described herein with reference to and as shown in the drawings.