Irrigation Spike Watering System with Self-Piercing Needle
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Solution Overview
Problem
Current garden watering systems waste water due to surface application, and existing subterranean irrigation systems are cumbersome, expensive, and difficult to deploy and repair.
Innovation Solution
A system of small hollow spikes connected to a garden hose that deliver water directly to plant roots, using a self-piercing needle to deform the hose for optimal water flow and featuring a secure attachment mechanism to prevent displacement.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Loss of energy
If water is spread on top of the ground to water plants and trees, then the watering process is simple, but water is wasted due to evaporation and drainage
Solution Approach 1:
The irrigation system is divided into multiple independent hollow spikes that can be separately installed at different locations. Each spike independently delivers water to plant roots, allowing the system to be segmented into manageable units that reduce water waste while maintaining operational simplicity.
Solution Approach 2:
The hollow spike acts as an intermediary device between the surface watering system and the plant roots. It channels water directly to the root zone, eliminating the need for complex subsurface piping while preventing water loss through evaporation and drainage.
2Loss of energy
If an irrigation hose is buried underground to deliver water directly to roots, then water waste is reduced, but the system becomes cumbersome and requires extensive work and lawn patching
Solution Approach 1:
Instead of burying a continuous irrigation hose, the system uses multiple separate hollow spikes that are individually installed by pushing them into the ground near plant roots. This segmentation eliminates the need for extensive trenching and lawn patching while maintaining direct water delivery to roots.
Solution Approach 2:
The system extracts the essential function of subsurface irrigation (direct water delivery to roots) from the complex buried hose infrastructure. The hollow spikes provide this function independently without requiring the hose to be buried, thus removing the installation complexity while preserving the water-saving benefit.
3Reliability
If ground watering spikes are packaged together with the irrigation hose, then the product is complete, but it becomes cumbersome to place and impossible to repair when the hose is damaged
Solution Approach 1:
The system separates the spikes from the hose packaging, allowing each spike to be independently installed and replaced. If one spike or section of hose is damaged, only that specific component needs to be replaced rather than the entire packaged assembly, significantly improving repairability while maintaining product completeness.
Solution Approach 2:
The spikes are extracted from the packaged-with-hose configuration and can be independently purchased and installed. This separation allows the hose and spikes to be maintained as independent components, enabling repair of individual elements without replacing the entire system.
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
Efficiently delivers water to plant roots, reducing water waste through subterranean irrigation while being easier to install and maintain than existing systems.
Implementation Method 1
The spike deforms the garden hose to the optimum shape for delivering water through the self-piercing needle.
Data Source
AI summary
An irrigation system for watering lawns, plants, flowers, shrubs, trees, or other plants. The irrigation system includes a plurality of irrigation spikes which clamp onto and puncture into a standard garden hose. The spikes are placed into soil where desired and the garden hose is placed into a clamp opening of the spikes, where a needle pierces the hose. In a preferred embodiment, the hose is deformed by the clamp opening into an oblong shape to improve water flow through the spike. An alternative embodiment includes a remote hose connecting the clamp to the stake portion of the spike, so that the stake can be placed a distance away from the hose for remote irrigation.