IL169155A

IL169155A - Crop irrigation and/or liquid nutrition device, application of such a device and method for its manufacture

Info

Publication number: IL169155A
Application number: IL169155A
Authority: IL
Original assignee: Mdb Texinov Sa
Priority date: 2005-05-24
Filing date: 2005-06-14
Publication date: 2012-03-29
Also published as: FR2886098A1; WO2007000527A3; WO2007000527A2; EP1883289A2; ES2586159T3; EP1883289B1; IL169155A0; FR2886098B1

Description

, 169155/3 1} 169155 ρ'π 1 453601 ΓΠΝ Crop Irrigation and/or Liquid Nutrition Device, Application of Such a Device and Method for Its Manufacture - 1 - 169155/3 Crop irrigation and/or liquid nutrition device, application of such a device and method for its manufacture FIELD OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates to the irrigation or the nutrition of agricultural, horticultural or arboricultural crops. More particularly, the present invention relates to a device integrating a plurality of pipes, produced in such a manner as to ensure a precise irrigation of these crops. The present invention also relates to a particular application and to a method of manufacturing such a device.

THE PRIOR ART In the prior art, there are known basic systems consisting of laying on the ground rigid pipes, previously equipped at several points with irrigator means such as simple holes, close to the plants of crops to be watered or to be fed with nutritive liquid. The rigidity of these pipes ensures an appropriate keeping in position of these pipes when exposed to the elements, since two anchoring points suffice for them to be held in position.

However, although this rigidity ensures the holding in position of these pipes, it produces the disadvantage of the inaccuracy of the watering device, in particular because the pipes cannot closely follow the possible variations in relief of the field or the curves of the rows of plants. Thus, when the field locally exhibits a variation in relief, it is easily understood that the pipe is located more or less distanced from the ground, and therefore from the plant to be watered and/or to be fed.

Moreover, when the row of plants exhibits a curvature, often induced by the curvature of the circumference of the field, there is a risk of the pipe following a straight path that is obviously unfavourable with respect to the accuracy of watering. In the best case, the curvature can be roughly approximated by connections fitted between two portions of pipes at appropriate places in the field.

That is why irrigation devices are also encountered which comprise pipes previously equipped at several points with irrigator means and sufficiently flexible to follow the reliefs of the field or the curvature of the rows of plants. Thus, the pipes can be positioned sufficiently close to the plants to be watered and/or to be fed. - 2 - 169155/2 However, such a device, although accurate, is not reliable. In fact, the disadvantage of this flexibility of the pipes is in the fact that they are easily movable under the effect of elements such as wind, heavy rain and above all people or machines working in the field. Thus, even though they have been positioned accurately in order to be located as close as possible to each plant, their position will deviate over time, and therefore the accuracy of watering will diminish and will possibly finally result in a random watering of the crops. One solution consists in using numerous means of anchoring in order to hold these pipes in position. However, it is obvious that such a system will burden the final cost of the irrigation and/or nutrition device.

Thus, these two types of irrigation and nutrition device result in a watering or a feeding that is inaccurate, or even random. Consequently, these devices artificially increase the consumption of products that are more or less expensive (water, fertilizers, etc) to be provided to the plants and furthermore this watering inaccuracy increases the risk of loss of plants, sometimes expensive as in arboriculture.

Furthermore, the operations of installation of all these pipes are relatively tedious, since they necessitate the positioning and the anchoring of each pipe individually.

Irish Patent No. 89 153 discloses a mulch provided with irrigation pipes which are covered by an opaque polyethylene and paper laminated strip or an aluminium foil and paper laminated strip intended to serve as a water impervious and/or heat reflective protective covering.

Additionally, the irrigation tubes or pipes are made of a porous material having a poor size of 5 or 6 micrometers and the aim of this device is to modify in the most desirable manner the soil/environment where a plant or a grass grows. For this reason the device is covered by a strip made of an opaque or a water impervious and/or in a reflective material.

US20020098322 discloses an anti-erosion irrigation mat fitted with parallel runs of drip line irrigation tubing and delivered in panels or rolls that can be installed in a single operation. The drip line tubing runs are fitted with drip emitters at uniform intervals and are attached to the matting which may be made biodegradable for short term service, e.g. from biodegradable natural fibers, or made durable, e.g. from nylon filaments. The low velocity of drip irrigation applies water through a grid pattern of drip emitters with a minimum of surface erosion that is well controlled by the matting. - 3 - 169155/3 SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention therefore relates to a crop irrigation or nutrition device that is accurate, reliable, cheap and easy to put into position.

The invention relates to a crop watering and/or liquid nutrition device comprising a plurality of pipes mutually distant from each other, each having an appropriate flexibility, each pipe comprising irrigator means mutually distant from each other and capable of delivering irrigation or nutrition liquid to said crops, characterized in that said pipes are interconnected by means of a plurality of threads extending on either side of each pipe in at least two main directions, thus forming a net or an open network.

In other words, a net is produced holding the pipes tightly in such a way as to hold them in position with respect to each other, thus conferring the assembly with stability of the required accuracy.

Preferably, two consecutive irrigator means of a same pipe and two conse-cutive pipes can be respectively separated by intervals determined in such a way as to position each irrigator means close to one of the said crops to be irrigated.

In other words, each irrigator means is positioned as close as possible to the crops to be irrigated. This makes it possible to achieve the optimum irrigation and/or nutrition accuracy.

In practice, the net is produced by warp knitting, the threads forming, on the one hand, columns of stitches in one of the main directions and, on the other hand, wefts that are transverse with respect to these columns and extending over all or part of the width of the net. Using this manufacturing method, it is possible to vary the stitches at leisure, and consequently to have a more or less dense structure for holding the pipes.

This construction guarantees good holding of the pipes and consequently ensures a reliable positioning of the latter.

Advantageously, the pipes extend within the net substantially parallel with each other and in one of the main directions of the said net. The pipes are therefore assembled in the net parallel with each other.

This configuration is particularly suited to crops disposed in rows, which represents the majority of industrial and small-scale crops.

According to one practical embodiment of the invention, the irrigator means can be constituted by simple perforations produced in the pipes, or tricklers delivering the irrigation or nutrition liquid in a controlled manner.

Such means provide the desired watering function, whether this be continuous or drop-by-drop. - 4 - 169155/2 In practice, the width of the net is between 1 and 20 m and the length of the said net is between 3 and 1000 m.

These dimensions allow good adaptation to most cultivated fields. Thus the fields can be covered with juxtaposed "strips" of pipes of a certain width in order to cover the whole width of the field.

According to a particularly advantageous embodiment of the invention, at least one central unit for the distribution of irrigation and/or nutrition liquid can be connected to the said pipes. Not only does this central unit supply each pipe of the network, but it furthermore makes it possible to enhance the positional stability of that network of pipes by forming a kind of fixed point at the ends of the net.

According to a developed version of the invention, a sheet produced from non-woven material is attached to the previously described structure. This makes it possible to distribute the irrigation and/or nutrition liquid in a more uniform manner, simply by the capillarity phenomenon.

Moreover, the invention also relates to the geotextile application of a device such as previously described to sloping lands such as embankments. In this case, the threads are selected in such a way as to exhibit the mechanical strength capable of ensuring the support of a stratum of the said land.

Thus, when the net is buried with the irrigation pipes, the net holds the pipes and also the layer of earth which covers them.

The invention also relates to a method of manufacturing a device such as previously described. According to the invention, this method comprises installing the irrigator means of each pipe on the site of utilization of the device.

This method allows an optimized adaptation of the placing of the irrigator means in the positions of the crops to be watered and/or fed.

DESCRIPTION OF THE FIGURES The way in which the invention may be embodied and the advantages resulting from it will become more apparent from the following examples of embodiment, given by way of indication and in a non-limiting way with reference to the appended figures.

Figure 1 is a schematic representation of an irrigation or nutrition device according to one embodiment of the present invention.

Figure 2 is a schematic representation in cross section of the device shown in Figure 1.

Figure 3 is a schematic representation of the device shown in Figure 1 after its installation on crops to be irrigated and/or fed. - 5 - 169155/2 Figure 4 is a schematic representation of the irrigation device of the invention used in one of its geotextile applications, Figure 5 being a schematic representation of another geotextile application.

Figure 6 is a schematic representation in perspective of the irrigation and/or nutrition device of the invention attached to a sheet of non-woven material, Figure 7 being a representation of it in cross section.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION Figure 1 shows a device according to one embodiment of the invention. This device for the irrigation and/or nutrition of crops comprises a plurality of pipes (2), made of plastic, each having an appropriate flexibility. "Appropriate flexibility" means a flexibility such that each pipe (2) is not or is only slightly self-supporting. Thus, the pipes can follow the reliefs of the field or the curvatures of the rows of plants. The correct assembly, materials and dimensions for providing this appropriate flexibility to the pipes can be easily defined by those skilled in the art.

Likewise, those skilled in the art are capable of dimensioning the dispensing cross sections of the pipes (2) according to the irrigation or nutrition needs that they encounter.

Each pipe (2) comprises irrigator means capable of supplying the irrigation or nutrition liquid to the said crops. In Figure 1 , these means consist of simple traversing orifices (8) perforated in the very plastic of the pipes.

However, they could also be tricklers capable of delivering the irrigation and/or nutrition liquid in a controlled manner, for example drop-by-drop, or spray nozzles projecting a mist around the zone of the plant to be watered. Obviously, the choice of the structure of the irrigator means depends on the desired irrigation function: continuous, drop-by-drop, mist, etc.

According to the invention, the pipes are joined together by means of a plurality of threads (1 , 4, 5) extending on either side of each pipe in at least two main directions (9, 10), in this case substantially perpendicular to each other. The assembly of threads (1 , 4, 5) thus forms a net or network holding the pipes tightly in such a way as to hold them in position with respect to each other. As can be seen in the figures, the pipes (2) extend in the net substantially parallel with each other and in the main direction (9). This configuration is particularly suitable for crops arranged in the form of rows, which represents the majority of cases of industrial and small-scale crops.

In practice, the net is made using RASCHEL warp knitting machines. - 6 - 169155/2 Within such knitting machines, the threads (1 , 4, 5) form, on the one hand, columns of stitches defining threads (1) in one of the main directions (9) and, on the other hand, wefts defining threads (4, 5) that are transverse with respect to those columns of threads (1) and extending over all or part of the width (I) of the net.

This construction guarantees a good holding of the flexible pipes and consequently ensures an accurate and reliable positioning, the stability of the accuracy being in particular given to the assembly by this net. Moreover, this principle of manufacture guarantees retention of cohesion to the whole of the structure thus manufactured.

As can be seen in Figure 3, two consecutive orifices (8) of a same pipe (2) and two consecutive pipes (2) are respectively separated by intervals (d3, d4; d1 , d2) determined in such a way as to position each irrigator means in the vicinity of one of the plants, in this case flowers (11 ) to be irrigated.

As this device has been manufactured according to the manufacturing method according to the present invention, the orifices (8) are produced on site, just before its putting into position. This makes it possible to obtain a perfect adaptation of the location of the irrigator means, and therefore to achieve the optimum accuracy of irrigation and/or nutrition, when the distances separating the plants and the rows have been correctly measured.

In the example shown in Figure 3, the width I of the net is 2 m and its length L is 100 m, that is to say that of the field of flowers (11). These dimensions are adapted to the field to be watered. In order to cover the whole width of this field, it suffices to juxtapose several 2-m strips.

As can be seen in Figure 1 , a central unit (6) for distributing the irrigation and/or nutrition liquid is connected to each pipe (2) by the intermediary of a screw-type connector (7). It makes it possible not only to supply each pipe (2) of the assembled network, but furthermore, because of its rigidity, to reinforce the stability of the positioning of that network of pipes (2) by forming a kind of fixed point at the end of the net.

The invention has been described here in a surface utilization for the watering of flowers. However, it can also be used under a layer of earth, as an irrigation device also providing the function of a geotextile retaining sloping lands such as embankments.

The use of the device of the invention in its geotextile application, and more generally in a civil engineering application, is described here with reference to Figures 4 and 5. - 7 - 169155/2 In this application, the threads constituting the network or net are selected in such a way as to exhibit the correct mechanical strength for ensuring the holding of a stratum of the said land. They are for example made of polyethylene or polypropylene. In this way, when the net is buried with the irrigation pipes, the net holds the pipes and also the layer of earth which covers them.

Thus, in Figure 4, the structure is used in a conventional manner, parallel with the slope of the embankment to be consolidated. The pipes extend perpendicular to the line of slope.

In the example shown in Figure 5, there are shown different and superimposed strata of the embankment, (16, 17, 18 respectively), each of the strata being in a certain way confined by the special structure of the invention, making it possible, by the use of the geotextile of the invention, to fulfil now and henceforth its primary function: the reinforcement of the said embankment.

As it is desired, for obvious aesthetic needs, to vegetate these embankments, the use of the structure of the invention, with the pipe or pipes which also extend in a substantially perpendicular manner with respect to the line of slope, favours irrigation.

In a developed version of the invention, more particularly described with reference to Figures 6 and 7, the previously described irrigation and/or nutrition device is attached to a sheet (12) made of non-woven material.

This non-woven material can consist of synthetic fibres, of the polyester or polypropylene type, but can also be made from natural fibres: cellulose, cotton, hemp, etc.

This sheet (12) of non woven material can be attached to the previously described and already produced device by simple sewing. However, still starting with such an already-produced device, it is possible to attach the sheet of non-woven material by joining using strips of non-woven material, advantageously of the same type as the sheet (12) of non-woven material, and locally bound to the said sheet of non-woven material as a result of a local fusion operation. This fusion takes place between the stitches defined by the network tightly holding the pipes (2). This particular embodiment is for example described in the Applicant's French patent, FR2884528B1.

According to a variant, the production of the irrigation and/or nutrition device takes place concomitantly with the joining to the sheet (12) of non-woven material according to the so-called "RASCHEL" technique. In order to do this, a warp knitting machine is used with insertion of non-woven material (with or without frontal weft insertion), for example of the KARL MAYER or LIBA type. The binding - 8 - 169155/2 threads associated with sectional wefts with appropriate patterns join the pipes (2) to the sheet (12) of non-woven material and are thus able to create the desired spacing between two consecutive pipes. They are for example made from polyester or from polyethylene. They thus provide the connection with the sheet (12) of non-woven material at periodic places (13, 14).

The adjunction of this sheet (12) of non-woven material procures a certain number of results. The water, the irrigation and/or nutrition liquid, routed and deposited by the pipes (2) and delivered by the orifices (8), is distributed and spread in a more uniform manner because of the interposition of the sheet (12) between the said pipes and the ground.

The liquids in question are in fact conveyed within the sheet by the "wick" effect or by capillarity. This facility of progression of the liquid within the sheet depends on the nature of the materials which constitute it in addition to its texture.

Other applications can be envisaged as well as other methods of manufacture of the device according to the invention without thereby departing from the scope of this invention. It is possible, for example, to provide for the installation of tricklers before the delivery of the device on site; the tricklers then being installed according to the locations of the plants of crops indicated by the end user.

Similarly, the use of the device has been described here in relation to horticultural crops, but it could just as well be in relation to agricultural or arboricultural or other crops.

Claims

- 9 - 169155/3 CLAIMS:

1. Crop watering and/or liquid nutrition device comprising a plurality of pipes mutually distant from each other, each having an appropriate flexibility, each pipe comprising irrigator means mutually distant from each other and capable of delivering irrigation or nutrition liquid to said crops, characterized in that said pipes are interconnected by means of a plurality of threads extending on either side of each pipe in at least two main directions, thus forming a net or an open network.

2. Crop watering and/or liquid nutrition device according to claim 1 , wherein the net is made by knitting on a warp knitting machine, the said threads forming, on the one hand, columns of stitches in one of the said main directions and, on the other hand, wefts that are transverse with respect to the said columns and extending over all or part of the width of the said net.

3. Crop watering and/or liquid nutrition device according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the pipes extend within the net substantially parallel with each other and in one of said main directions.

4. Crop watering and/or liquid nutrition device according to any one of the preceding claims, wherein the irrigator means comprises perforations produced in the pipes.

5. Crop watering and/or liquid nutrition device according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein the irrigator means comprises tricklers delivering the irrigation and/or nutrition liquid in a controlled manner.

6. Crop watering and/or liquid nutrition device according to any one of claims 1 to 5, wherein two consecutive irrigator means of a same pipe and two consecutive pipes are respectively separated by intervals configured to position each irrigator means close to one of the crops to be irrigated.

7. Crop watering and/or liquid nutrition device according to any one of the preceding claims, wherein at least one central unit for the distribution of irrigation and/or nutrition liquid is connected to said pipes. - 10 - 1 691 55/3

8. Crop watering and/or liquid nutrition device according to any one of the preceding claims, further comprising a sheet made from non-woven material, attached to the said device by sewing, welding or by binding using the so-called warp knitting technique.

9. A method for irrigating and simultaneously reinforcing sloping land such as embankments, said method comprising: superimposing on respective strata of the sloping land a respective device according to any one of the preceding claims; the threads of each device being selected to exhibit sufficient mechanical strength for supporting the respective stratum of the land.

10. Method of manufacturing a crop watering and/or liquid nutrition device according to any one of claims 1 to 7, comprising installing the irrigator means of each pipe on the site of utilization of the said device.

11. A crop watering and/or liquid nutrition device according to claim 1 , substantially as hereinbefore described and with reference to the accompanying drawings.

12. A method for irrigating and simultaneously reinforcing sloping land according to claim 9, substantially as hereinbefore described and with reference to the accompanying drawings.

13. A method of manufacturing a crop watering and/or liquid nutrition device according to claim 10, substantially as hereinbefore described and with reference to the accompanying drawings. For the Applicants, WOLFF, BREGMAN AND GOLLER