Patent Application
20170079221
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Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to irrigation systems, and more particularly to drip irrigation systems, and still more particularly to a drip irrigation system microtube bracket for suspending micro-irrigation tubing from emitters above a root zone to be irrigated.
Background Discussion
As of this writing, September 2015, 30% of the contiguous United States is suffering drought conditions. According to the NOAA, California, Nevada, Oregon, Washington, and Alaska have had their hottest years on record. The Western United States is parched, and climate models available at the time of this writing suggest that the region will suffer a prolonged and persistent drought in the latter half of the 21st century. Indeed, the term “megadrought” has been applied to the predicted conditions. Agriculture will be severely affected, and the agricultural industries and government must therefore be responsive and creative in handling and minimizing the adverse impacts. This is particularly true with respect to water management It is no exaggeration to suggest that the moment presents an existential crisis for settlements in the West and fundamentally tests our technical ingenuity, moral resolve, and the social compact.
At the level of regional politics and legislation, at least in California, water use laws and regulations are now increasingly implemented and, where not implemented, increasingly under consideration. Groundwater monitoring and regulation is on the horizon. Even so, if the climate prediction models are even remotely accurate, it is difficult to conceive of a regulatory response that will be sufficient to ensure adequate water for residents and businesses. While this problem is particularly acute in California, the trend seems likely apply to the American West generally. Accordingly, small contributions, additive, will have to come from every direction.
At both small and large scales drip irrigation can make an important contribution to water conservation. Yet, while drip systems are more efficient than other kinds, such as flood, furrow, or overhead, even drip systems suffer from unnecessary waste owing to evaporation and hillside runoff Surface drip also encourages shallow roots. A known method to minimize water loss from evaporation and runoff is to provide depressions immediately underneath the drip emitters in a drip system. This achieves a not insubstantial measure of water savings, but a portion of the surface nonetheless remains wet, thus encouraging weed growth and a corresponding loss due to evaporation. Subsurface irrigation is more efficient than surface drip, but it has its own attendant problems, such as increased emitter clogging, root intrusion, and inaccessibility for inspection and maintenance.
The drip irrigation microtube bracket (“drip clip”) described herein addresses the foregoing problems from a slightly different perspective. Two specially designed parts have been designed to direct water from the emitter to either a depression in the ground, or preferably a length of perforated pipe or other specific device to direct water subsurface and placed vertically in the ground. The water is directed subsurface through the length of pipe.
The apparatus described herein achieves its objectives by using a micro-irrigation tube (“spaghetti tube”) drip clip, which suspends the spaghetti tubing either connected to distribution tubing with an emitter or having a drip emitter on terminal end above the perforated pipe disposed vertically in the soil surrounding a plant main trunk. The drip clip is secured on a trellis wire, and in turn one or two spaghetti tubes is suspended from the drip clip such that the terminal end of the spaghetti tubes (i.e., the water source) can be moved laterally along the wire to different locations.
In its implementation, a hole is drilled in the ground near the trunk of a tree or vine with either an auger, shovel, pressure washer, or other suitable implement, and perforated pipe is then inserted into the hole in a generally vertical orientation. This prevents collapse of the hole and ensures reliably deep delivery of water to the developed and developing root structure.
In another implementation, spaghetti tubing may be suspended immediately within the opening of the perforated pipe using a perforated pipe clip.
Using either method, both of which may be termed “black hole innergation,” water drips into the pipe and fills the exposed hole from the bottom up. This method encourages deeper root growth and makes water availability to the plant less variable with weather fluctuations. Deeper root growth makes plants less susceptible to a number of pathogens that propagate, disperse, and are transmitted to the plant near the surface.
As will be appreciated, as water is deposited directly and relatively deeply into the soil, it is more readily available for root uptake. Depending on soil porosity and percolation rates, as well as the run cycle of the drip system, using the improved micro-irrigation drip clip, surface moisture can be kept to a minimum, which reduces both evaporation and weed growth.
Pipe length is largely dictated by soil composition and texture—compacted and heavy soils may call for a longer length of pipe; more porous sandy and loam soils may call for a shorter piece.
The inventive method allows for soil amendments and fertilizers to be inserted directly into the perforated pipe, which also conserves on materials, which are prevented from loss due to runoff, as well as on the environmental impact of soil treatment migrating to neighboring areas.
In an alternate embodiment, the perforated pipe may be filled with compost, fertilizer, and/or biochar to prevent debris from entering the pipe. Damage to roots when installing the system and drilling holes for the perforated pipe can be minimized by moving the water source away from the plant's main trunk. Then filling the pipe with compost minimizes damage to roots from exposure to air. The compost absorbs water and releases nutrients to the roots. By absorbing water, the compost also retains moisture that might otherwise descend beneath the root zone in very porous soil. Much less fertilizer can be used once dosage is determined.
In hillside vineyards and orchards, the texture of the soil varies dramatically over short distances. Black hole innergation allows irrigation to be customized for each plant in a hillside crop by using varying pipe lengths, emitters of varying output, and amendments. Innergation can be adapted to organic vineyards, reducing labor required for weed control and requiring fewer soil amendments.
The heart of the preferred embodiment is a micro-irrigation (spaghetti) tube drip tube hanger. It bears a superficial resemblance to presently available products, but is distinguishable in several important respects.
The only purpose of known irrigation clips is to suspend a drip tube near the trellis wire. One currently known product grips the drip tube securely but fits loosely on the drip tube support wire. Another present product grips both the drip tube and drip wire securely.
The drip clip grips the trellis wire securely but still allows the drip tube to slide easily through the clip, minimizing the chance of my hanger moving from its' position on the wire. Further, the improved micro-irrigation drip clip described herein grips the two principle sizes of wire conventionally used for drip tube suspension by providing two open circles sized to provide a tight friction fit to grip either size of suspension wire.
Most importantly, the drip clip not only grips the suspension wire tightly, the clip body includes an arcuate opening to accept and loosely grip emitter distribution tubing (OD ranging between 0.620″ to 0.710″) so as to allow it to slide through the drip clip. The drip clip further includes has at least one, and preferably, two integral brackets underneath the clip body to hold the spaghetti drip tubing (OD usually ranging between 0.220″ and 0.250″).
The drip clip herein described allows for the spaghetti tube to be secured near the tree or vine trunk and later moved outward as the plant grows, thereby matching the growth pattern of the roots and encouraging them to extend outward.
The invention will be better understood and objects other than those set forth above will become apparent when consideration is given to the following detailed description thereof. Such description makes reference to the annexed drawings wherein:
Looking first at
The top of the drip clip includes a hanger portion 18 in which an upper small wire clamp 20 is disposed, underneath which is a larger gauge wire clamp 22. The opening 24 from the clip body to the wire clamps is slightly smaller than either small or large opening, such that the hanger portion flexes slightly to accommodate the wire, but thereafter clamps firmly over the wire to hold the clamp in place on the wire after installation.
At the bottom of the clip body, at least first, but preferably first and second spaghetti tube brackets 26, 28, include at least a first, but preferably first and second U-shaped channels 30, 32, respectively, that securely hold spaghetti tube in place, such that even as the water distribution tube is allowed to migrate laterally with the clip body, the spaghetti tubing remains fixed relative to the clip body.
The top of the drip clip includes a hanger portion 128 in which a diagonally disposed wire clamp slip 130 is disposed. The bottom portion 132 of the clip body includes, first and second spaghetti tube holes 134, 136, which securely hold spaghetti tubing in place, in the manner of the first and second preferred embodiments, 10, and 50, respectively, such that even as the water distribution tube is allowed to migrate laterally with the clip body, the spaghetti tubing 40, 42 remains fixed relative to the clip body, and further such that water F1, F2, discharged from the respective spaghetti tubing terminal ends 40T, 42T will continue to be directed immediately over the corrugated pipe.
As will be appreciated, this wire embodiment is disposed between a water supply pipe (the water distribution tube 180) is installed on and under a drip wire above the supply pipe, such that the supply pipe is also supported by the wire. In this view it can be seen that two the micro-irrigation tubes are stacked in the clamping portion 164 of the clip, one originating from a point in the supply tube upstream of the clip and the other originating from a point in the supply tube downstream of the clip.
It will also be appreciated, and referring now to
Further, and as will be appreciated with respect to each of the above-described embodiments, positioning of the water outlets (micro-irrigation tube terminal ends) 40T, 42T, involves nothing more than sliding the clip and the captured terminal ends laterally along the length of the water supply tube and the hanger wire 60. Moreover, the terminal ends of the spaghetti tubing may be spaced at increasing distances to expand the area covered by the dripping water, or they may be positioned over an area uphill from the plant trunk (or rootstock) or its main stem. This enables a grower to fine tune watering to the edges of root zones as plants mature, to encourage full root development, prevent overwatering in less active root regions, and thereby to conserve water and promote optimal plant health. In circumstances where regular lateral movement of the terminal ends is anticipated as dictated by root development, elimination of the perforated pipe both assures broader water migration nearer the surface of the soil and obviates the need to dig new holes for installation of the perforated pipe.
From the foregoing, it will be seen that in its most essential aspect, the above-described apparatus comprises a bracket for hanging drip irrigation system water supply tubing and micro-tubing. The bracket attaches firmly to a drip irrigation system suspension wire, and supports and suspends both a water supply tube and micro-irrigation tubing fed by the water supply tube. The bracket (or hanger) includes one or more apertures or channels to support the spaghetti tubing below the water supply tubing and to hold the terminal ends (or water outlets) above the soil region to be irrigated. The water is dispensed in a vertical plane on either side of the bracket, and the zone covered by the dripping water may be adjusted according to plant needs by directing the terminal ends outwardly in any direction from the bracket.
Stated slightly differently, in its most essential aspect, the drip clip of the present invention is a bracket for hanging drip irrigation system water supply tubing and micro-tubing, comprising a wire hanger portion for attachment to a drip irrigation system suspension wire; a micro-irrigation tube hanging portion adapted for releasably capturing and securing micro-irrigation tubing in fluid communication; and a water supply tube portion disposed between said wire hanger portion and said micro-irrigation tube hanging portion, said water supply tube portion for releasably and slidingly clamping onto a drip irrigation water supply tube.
Numerous materials and manufacturing processes are suitable for the drip clip described herein, from simple wire bending for the wire embodiments (
The above disclosure is sufficient to enable one of ordinary skill in the art to practice the invention, and provides the best mode of practicing the invention presently contemplated by the inventor. While there is provided herein a full and complete disclosure of the preferred embodiments of this invention, it is not desired to limit the invention to the exact construction, dimensional relationships, and operation shown and described. Various modifications, alternative constructions, changes and equivalents will readily occur to those skilled in the art and may be employed, as suitable, without departing from the true spirit and scope of the invention. Such changes might involve alternative materials, components, structural arrangements, sizes, shapes, forms, functions, operational features or the like.
Therefore, the above description and illustrations should not be construed as limiting the scope of the invention, which is defined by the appended claims.
The present application claims the benefit of U.S. Provisional Patent Application Ser. No. 62/220,883, filed Sep. 18, 2015 (Sep. 18, 2015).
| Number | Date | Country | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 62220883 | Sep 2015 | US |
