Mobile Tool-Bearing Head for Irrigation Spraying
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Solution Overview
Problem
Current agricultural machinery for applying phytosanitary products and scanning crop information faces issues such as water source contamination, high dilution of chemical products, manual nozzle regulation, and difficulty in detecting failing nozzles due to their large numbers, leading to inefficiencies and increased costs.
Innovation Solution
A mobile tool-bearing head system for agricultural operation machines, featuring a propulsion module with a servomotor and guide head, a synchronic belt, and motor cable, which reduces the number of nozzles and sensors needed, allowing for precise application of variable doses and information scanning through a centralized control system, compatible with central pivot, linear, and corner machines, as well as greenhouses.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Area of stationary object
If a large number of nozzles and sensors are used to cover the entire field, then the coverage area is improved, but the device complexity and difficulty of detecting failing components increase
Solution Approach 1:
The system divides the field coverage into multiple segments, with each mobile tool-bearing head responsible for a specific segment. The field is covered by sequentially moving multiple heads along the same path rather than using a single head covering the entire area simultaneously, reducing the number of nozzles and sensors needed per head.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent employs mobile tool-bearing heads that move dynamically along the field rather than stationary nozzles. The heads are conveyed back and forth along the same path, allowing a smaller number of heads to cover the entire area over time, thereby reducing the total number of components needed.
2Area of stationary object
If many nozzles are used to cover the field, then the coverage area is improved, but the difficulty of detecting and measuring failing nozzles increases
Solution Approach 1:
By segmenting the field coverage into multiple mobile heads, each head processes a smaller portion of the field independently. This segmentation makes it easier to identify which specific head is malfunctioning, as the detection scope is limited to individual heads rather than searching through hundreds of nozzles across the entire field.
Solution Approach 2:
The system incorporates feedback mechanisms where each mobile head reports its operational status, allowing the control system to identify failing nozzles or sensors by monitoring feedback from individual heads rather than having to detect failures across the entire field simultaneously.
3Device complexity
If water is used for transport of chemical products, then the application system is simplified, but water source contamination and excessive dilution occur
Solution Approach 1:
The patent uses air as an intermediary medium to transport chemical products from the reservoir to the nozzles, replacing water as the transport medium. This eliminates the harmful effects of water contamination and excessive dilution while maintaining the simplified application system structure.
Solution Approach 2:
The system changes the physical parameter of the transport medium from liquid (water) to gas (air). This parameter change eliminates the contamination and dilution problems associated with water while preserving the functionality of the application system.
4Adaptability or versatility
If conventional irrigation machines are used for chemical application, then the versatility is improved, but the precision of chemical application and water source contamination occur
Solution Approach 1:
The mobile tool-bearing heads are designed with universal compatibility to be installed on various types of self-propelled irrigation machines (central pivot, linear displacement, and corner machines). The heads can perform both irrigation and chemical application functions, providing multi-functionality while maintaining precision through controlled chemical delivery systems.
Solution Approach 2:
The system changes the delivery mechanism parameter from water-based irrigation to air-based chemical transport, enabling precise chemical application while maintaining compatibility with conventional irrigation machine platforms through universal mounting interfaces.
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
This system significantly reduces the number of nozzles and sensors required, enhances precision in phytosanitary product application and crop information scanning, simplifies nozzle detection, and reduces operational delays and costs by using a synchronized belt and motor cable system for efficient movement and control.
Implementation Method 1
a propulsion module (1) showing a propulsion head (2) mounted on a first end of the propulsion module (1) having a main tower (4) made of a support plate (5) welded to a vertical plate (6) thus forming a set that allows for a vertical displacement on a guiding plate (7) linked to an irrigating machine
Implementation Method 2
at least one mobile tool-bearing head (67) mounted on said at least one motor cable (29); Wherein, said motor cable (29) is tensed between said first pulley and closing pulley and passes through the second guide pulley, thus passing through the whole self-impelled irrigation machine
Data Source
Figure 1
Figure 2
Figure 3
AI summary
An operation set for a mobile tool-bearing for agricultural operation machines, which allows for the application of phytosanitary products or the survey of information from a crop surface formed by the traveling of a self-impelled irrigation machine, wherein the set comprises a plurality of modules (1, 36) installed consecutively one after the other thus covering the whole length of the self-impelled irrigation machine, each one having a scanning tool (68) that may be a nozzle and/or a sensor that applies the programmed dose as it is displaced along the section, and being these modules linked to each other by a motor cable (29) covering all the length of an irrigation machine or the greenhouse, and which travels in both directions in an alternate manner, since the movement is achieved as the motor cable is linked to a synchronic belt (28) on at least one point.