The present invention relates generally to an agricultural spreader, and more particularly to an agricultural spreader configured to deliver a granular product in a row band.
The high crop yields of modern agribusiness require application of fertilizers, pesticides, and herbicides. Dispersing these chemicals onto high acreage fields requires specialized machines mounted on or towed by a vehicle. An example of such a machine is the self-propelled agricultural spreader.
A common design for a self-propelled agricultural spreader includes a dedicated chassis with a product hopper, boom arms, and spreader nozzles connected to the boom arms. The hopper contains granular product such as fertilizers, pesticides, and herbicides to be spread on agricultural crops in the field. Boom arms extend outward from the sides of the chassis. Each boom arm includes a series of pipes which are horizontal and arranged either in single or multiple rows. The inner ends of the pipes are connected to supply lines and a manifold so that air from a fan blows through the pipes to carry the granular product along the respective pipe to a spreader system at the end of the pipe. Nozzles in the pipes are spaced apart along the length of the boom arms at a standard spacing distance which corresponds to the spread pattern of the nozzles.
In operation, as the agricultural spreader crosses the field, granular product is pneumatically applied from the tank through the supply lines along the boom arms, and out through the nozzles. This allows the agricultural spreader to distribute the granular product along a relatively wide path. The length of conventional boom arms may vary from, for example, 6 meters (18 feet) up to 46 meters (150 feet), but smaller or longer booms are possible. The boom arms typically swing in for transport and out for operation.
Current spreaders typically use nozzles that distribute the product in a fan shape so that the product is distributed evenly to the ground across the width of the boom arms. However, in some situations, it would be desirable to deliver the product in a band between planted rows of crops rather than in an even pattern.
In one embodiment, an agricultural spreader has a hopper containing a granular product and a boom arm supporting a plurality of product delivery conduits supplying a plurality of row banding assemblies configured to disperse the product. The spreader has a pneumatic supply to propel the granular product through the product delivery conduits to the row banding assemblies. Each of the plurality of row banding assemblies includes a cyclone separator having an inlet connected to the product delivery conduit, a product outlet at a bottom end of the cyclone separator, an air outlet at a top end of the cyclone separator. The row banding assembly has a product placement tube connected to the product outlet, and an air exhaust tube connected to the air outlet. The air exhaust tube extends downward and surrounds the product placement tube.
Another aspect of the invention is a method of dispensing granular product from a hopper on an agricultural spreader. The method includes directing granular product to flow from the hopper through a product delivery conduit using pressurized air and then directing the pressurized air and product into a cyclone separator. The method includes directing pressurized air out of an air outlet of the cyclone separator and into an exhaust tube and directing the product out of the cyclone separator through a product outlet and into a product placement tube. The outlet tube is directed so that the air outlet tube surrounds the product placement tube.
These and other features and advantages of this invention are described in, or are apparent from, the following detailed description of various example embodiments of the systems and methods according to this invention.
The above mentioned and other features of this invention will become more apparent and the invention itself will be better understood by reference to the following description of embodiments of the invention taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, wherein:
The drawing figures do not limit the present invention to the specific embodiments disclosed and described herein. The drawings are not necessarily to scale, emphasis instead being placed upon clearly illustrating the principles of the preferred embodiment. Corresponding reference characters indicate corresponding parts throughout the views of the drawings.
The invention will now be described in the following detailed description with reference to the drawings, wherein preferred embodiments are described in detail to enable practice of the invention. Although the invention is described with reference to these specific preferred embodiments, it will be understood that the invention is not limited to these preferred embodiments. But to the contrary, the invention includes numerous alternatives, modifications and equivalents as will become apparent from consideration of the following detailed description.
The agricultural spreader 100 further includes a hopper 106 mounted on frame 102 used to store a granular product to be spread on a field. The granular product may comprise chemicals, such as but not limited to, herbicides, pesticides, or fertilizers, or the product hopper 106 may comprise seed. The agricultural spreader 100 may include more than one hopper to store different products to be applied on the field.
The agricultural spreader 100 further includes a boom arm 108 operable to distribute the granular product over a wide swath in the field. As will be described in greater detail below, a plurality of row banding assemblies 110 are spaced along the boom arm 108 through which the granular product may be spread as agricultural spreader 100 is driven forward in the field to distribute the chemicals onto crops in the field. The operator of the agricultural spreader 100 uses controls located within the cab to control the boom arm 108 and the granular product dispersion through the row banding assemblies 110. The operator may use controls to turn on the granular product flow to the plurality of row banding assemblies 110 and to shut off the granular product flow to the plurality of row banding assemblies 110.
The boom arm 108 comprises a plurality of product delivery conduits 112 connecting to the row banding assemblies 110. The product delivery conduits 112 are fluidly connected to the hopper 106 to allow the granular product to flow from the hopper 106 to the plurality of row banding assemblies 110. As is known in the art, a pneumatic supply propels the granular product through the product delivery conduits 112. While
Turning now to
During operation, an operator causes granular product to flow from the hopper 106 of the agricultural spreader 100 through the product delivery conduit 112 by operation of valves through any known means as would be understood in the art. As illustrated by the arrow 140 in
Desirably, the product placement tube 126 is made of a flexible yet durable material, such as canvas, that can withstand buffeting from the granular product dropping down through the tube. The air exhaust tubes 130 are desirably made of a flexible material, such as nylon, that can inflate as the pressurized air is directed through the tube and stiffen around the product placement tube 126 encompassed therein to give the tubes a straight form so as to space each product placement tube 126 equally across the boom arm 108 and accurately direct the product toward the ground. When the pressurized air source is turned off, the air exhaust tubes 130 deflate to allow for folding of the boom 108 into a transport position. The product placement tubes 126 and air exhaust tubes 130 desirably can be folded and moved out of the way to keep the tubes from catching on obstacles during transport. Desirably, the row banding assembly 110 is rigidly mounted to the boom arm 108 such as by straps or other securing device such that the row banding assembly 110 may be removed and replaced with a traditional output nozzle when even spreading of product is desired.
While this invention has been described in conjunction with the specific embodiments described above, it is evident that many alternatives, combinations, modifications and variations are apparent to those skilled in the art. Accordingly, the preferred embodiments of this invention, as set forth above are intended to be illustrative only, and not in a limiting sense. Various changes can be made without departing from the spirit and scope of this invention.
This application claims the benefit of U.S. Provisional Application No. 62/367,701 filed Jul. 28, 2016, which is hereby incorporated by reference in its entirety.
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Number | Date | Country | |
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62367701 | Jul 2016 | US |