The present invention relates to a manually controlled and operable self-propelled vegetable seed bed sterilizing system and method for preventing undesirable weeds from growth in the seed bed.
It is known to control weed growth by the use chemicals which are applied to the weeds by spray equipment and manually held spray containers or by the use of harsh chemicals in powder or granules from which are sprinkled on the weeds and such has been found to be hazardous to a person's health. When controlling weeds in agricultural crop cultivation it is preferable to use other means of weed control to reduce health risks to the grower. A common method is to use manual labor to pluck the weeds from the seed beds, but this is slow, and manpower is expensive. Steam and hot water used with a hot biodegradable foam agent and released on the weeds under pressure is also known to control undesirable vegetation. Such spraying systems are used with heavy farm type machinery which contains several spray nozzles and large water reservoirs which is usually pulled by a tractor. Such method kills the weeds, but the seeds of the weeds which are underground are usually not destroyed for the reason that the steam and hot water cools in the space between the spray nozzles and the weeds and by the time it precipitates by gravity into the soil below the ground surface, the water as cooled to a temperature which has no effect on the seeds.
A problem to many known weed control systems using hot water is their ability to maintain the water at a suitable high temperature whereby the seeds of the weeds exposed to the water will die. Because the containers are quite large, it is therefore imperative, to maintain hot water usually contained in the container, heated while the dispensing equipment is operative to insure that the water temperature does not fall to a temperature which has no effect on the unwanted vegetation. To this end, these containers, which are mounted on a trailer pulled by a tractor vehicle are equipped with resistive heating elements which are powered by electricity from the battery of the tractor or the containers are replenished with hot water at the farm house or barn where large amounts of water can be heated to elevated temperatures above 200 degrees F., or to the boiling point of water, and the water maintained at substantially that temperature by emersion electrical heating elements or by a gas burner. These techniques are costly and time consuming as the equipment has to be displaced to the source of water which may be far from the seed beds. Also, the heating equipment which is transported by the water supporting and dispensing apparatus is heavy and costly and therefore not suitable by small crop growers.
There exists a need to provide an effective weed control apparatus and method for the prevention of weeds in seed beds for small crop growers, such as residential farms, hobby farms, and gardens, and wherein such is compact and operable by a single person, and wherein the average row length is no more than 150 feet. A still further need is to have a water supply and a water heater in close proximity to the weed beds and the bed saturating equipment.
It is a feature of the present invention to provide a manually controlled and operable self-propelled seed bed hot water saturation system and method which provides at least the above-mentioned needs.
It is a further feature of the present invention to provide such system and method which is capable of killing the seeds of weeds embedded below the surface of the soil of seed beds by the use of hot water injected under pressure directly from the surface of the seed beds, such that the hot water remains enclosed with no possibility of harming the operator.
Another feature of the present invention is to provide a manually controlled and operable self-propelled seed bed saturation system and method which utilizes a wheel driven shuttle vehicle for sterilizing the seed beds in combination with a self-contained mobile water heating vehicle for heating water placed directly in a hot water holding tank of the shuttle vehicle and with the water in the hot water holding tank being heated by re-circulating the water between the hot water holding tank and a water heater mounted on a mobile water heating vehicle.
A further feature of the present invention is to provide a manually controlled and operable self-propelled seed bed saturation system which is easy to operate by one person and wherein the user person only needs to control the direction of the self-propelled shuttle vehicle.
Another feature of the present invention is to provide a manually controlled and operable self-propelled seed bed sterilization system wherein the hot water is injected into the soil with restraining bands on both sides to prevent the escaping of hot saturating water from said sides.
According to the above features, from a broad aspect the present invention provides a manually controlled and operable self-propelled seed bed sterilizing system for preventing the seeds of weeds from growth in the seed bed. A manually guidable wheel driven shuttle vehicle is provided, and it has a frame for supporting a hot water reservoir. A hot water applicator manifold housing is displaceably supported on the frame for displacement from a storage position to a seed bed contact position where hot water is discharged under pressure from a lower soil contact surface of the hot water applicator manifold housing and into the seed bed and at a substantially constant rate as the wheel driven vehicle is displaced there along by a constant speed drive. Directional control means is provided for the user person to manually control the direction of displacement of the wheel driven vehicle. A self-contained mobile hot water heater vehicle is also provided with the system and it has a water heater for heating water to be contained in the hot water reservoir. A dual-function water pump is mounted on the shuttle vehicle and connected between an outlet of the hot water reservoir and the controllable valve. The controllable valve has operable control means to direct water flow through a selected one of two outlet ports of the controllable valve. One of the outlet ports directs water to the inlet of the water heater. A conduit fitted with a quick-connect device delivers the water to said water heater. The other outlet of the controllable valve directs the water to the manifold housing that injects the hot water into the soil. A second conduit connects an outlet of the water heater to an inlet of the hot water reservoir, this said conduit having a quick-connect device at the discharge end.
According to another broad aspect of the present invention there is provided a method for sterilizing seeds of weeds present in a vegetable seed bed comprising the steps of:
(i) providing a wheel driven shuttle vehicle having a hot water reservoir, a hot water applicator manifold housing, a dual-function pump and a controllable valve,
(ii) providing a self-contained mobile hot water heater vehicle having a water heater with inlet and outlet connections to permit water flow through the water heater, a burner is provided for heating water in the water heater and wherein a burner control means is provided,
(iii) filling the hot water reservoir with water,
(iv) establishing a conduit connection between the outlet connection of the water heater and to an inlet of the hot water reservoir and the inlet of the water heater to a first outlet port of the controllable valve,
(v) operating the dual-function pump to circulate water in a continuous flow path through the water heater and the hot water reservoir,
(vi) monitoring the temperature of the water in the continuous flow path,
(vii) controlling the burner to control the heating temperature of the water in the flow path flowing through the water heater,
(viii) shutting off the dual-function pump and the burner once a desired temperature has been detected by step (vi),
(ix) operating the controllable valve to close the first outlet port and open a second outlet port thereof to provide for hot water flow from the hot water tank to the hot water applicator manifold,
(x) disconnecting the conduit connections of step (iv),
(xi) positioning the hot water applicator manifold onto the seed bed with the shuttle vehicle disposed there over, and
(xi) switching on the dual-function pump and a drive of the wheel driven shuttle vehicle to cause the shuttle vehicle to be displaced over and along the seed bed at a predetermined constant speed while a user person guides the shuttle vehicle along the seed bed with hot water from the hot water reservoir being injected under pressure from a lower surface of the hot water applicator manifold housing and into the seed bed to saturate any undesirable weed seeds.
A preferred embodiment of the present invention will now be described with reference to the accompanying schematic concept drawings in which:
Referring to the drawings and more particularly to
The system of the present invention was particularly developed for small vegetable growers and wherein the equipment is designed to be operation by only one person. The system is comprised of a manually guidable wheel driven shuttle vehicle 11 which is comprised of a frame 12 which is supported on a set of motor driven front wheels 13 and a set of free-running rear wheels 14. The front wheels are driven by an electric motor 15 which is provided power by a gas generator 16 mounted on the frame. As better seen from
A hot water containing reservoir 25 is also mounted on the frame 12 and in this embodiment has a dimension suitable to retain 15 gallons of water. The container is provided with a top cover 26, which is insulated, for access to the inside of the reservoir to fill the reservoir with water once it is empty. The cover also shields the hot water in the reservoir from ambient temperature and other outside elements such as rain. The reservoir also has an inlet hose coupling 27 secured to its sidewall 28 in a top portion of the reservoir for receiving a quick coupling 29 from a conduit, herein a flexible hose 30 which is secured to an outlet end 31 of a water heater 32 mounted on a self-contained mobile hot water heater vehicle 33. As shown in
A 3-way controllable valve 34 has an inlet connection 34′, secured to a pump 50 which receives water through hose 51 which is connected to an outlet connection, not shown, secured to a bottom portion of the reservoir 25 to provide water flow under pressure, regulated between 15 to 30 psi. The controllable valve 34 is further provided with a lever arm 44. When the lever 44 is in its upright position, as shown in
With reference not to
As better seen in
With reference now to
To lower the manifold housing onto a seed bed it is only necessary for an operator person to lift the handle 66 and move the pivotal support arm forwardly out of contact with the cavity 69 and lower the manifold housing onto the top surface of the seed bed, as illustrated in
With reference not to
In this particular embodiment the reservoir 25 is filled with 15 gallons of water which is adequate to saturate approximately 200 feet of seed bed at a displacement shuttle speed of 7 rpm. A low water level indicator 23 is mounted on the console 21 and secured to a level detection device, not shown, but of a type well know in the art, and mounted on the reservoir 25 to provide an indication to the user person that the reservoir requires refilling.
Having thus described the construction of the shuttle vehicle 11 and the mobile hot water heater vehicle 33, the method of sterilizing weed seeds in a vegetable seed bed can be summarized as follows. Firstly, the hot water reservoir 25 of the shuttle vehicle is filled with a predetermined volume of water, herein 15 gallons sufficient to saturate 200 feet of seed bed. The mobile hot water supply vehicle 33 is positioned in close proximity to the shuttle vehicle. The conduit connections between the outlet connection 31 of the water heater 32 and the inlet connection 27 of the hot water reservoir and the inlet 39 of the water heater to the outlet port 36 of the controllable valve 37 are made. The dual-function pump 50 is operated to circulate water in a continuous flow path through the water heater and the hot water reservoir to start heating the water in the reservoir 25.
The user person monitors the temperature displayed on the temperature gauge 80 which is representative of the water temperature of the water flow though the water heater 32. The user person controls the burner flame intensity via the control valve 79 to control the rate of increase of the heating temperature of the water in the water flow path flowing through the water heater. Once the desired temperature, in the range of 205-207 degrees F., has been detected, the user person shuts off the dual-function pump 50 by switching off the switch 50′ on the console 21. The user person then operates the controllable valve 37 to close the outlet port connected to the water heater and opens the second outlet port to provide for hot water flow from the hot water reservoir to the hot water applicator manifold housing 43. The conduits 30 and 38 are now disconnected.
Before heating the water in the reservoir 25, the shuttle vehicle 11 is positioned at an end of a seed bed to be sterilized. After the conduits are disconnected the hot water applicator manifold is displaced from its storage position and onto the top surface of the seed bed. The user person then operates the switches for the dual-function pump 50 and the drive motor of the driven wheels of the shuttle vehicle to cause the shuttle vehicle to be displaced over and along the seed bed at a predetermined constant speed while the user person guides the shuttle vehicle along the seed bed with hot water from the hot water reservoir being injected under pressure from the lower surface of the hot water applicator manifold housing and into the seed bed 90, as shown in
The sterilizing shuttle vehicle of the present invention is designed to do one complete seed bed row at a time and the shuttle ideally starts at the beginning of a row and there is always enough water to complete the sterilizing of the seed bed. The water heater stays at the end of the farm and simply moves sideways to the next row. A low level water detector is provided to protect the pump to prevent it from running dry.
It is within the ambit of the present invention to cover any obvious modifications of the schematic illustration of the preferred embodiment construction of the system of the present invention as described herein, provided such modifications fall within the scope of the appended claims.