Serrated Agricultural Spray Nozzle for Leaf Penetration
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Solution Overview
Problem
Conventional spray nozzles for agricultural machines often struggle with deep penetration of phytosanitary products into plant foliage due to air jets being blocked by leaves, which act as a screen, preventing effective distribution.
Innovation Solution
The nozzle features a serrated outlet with teeth and internal spikes or blades that disturb the air jet, making it turbulent and increasing its ability to deflect screens, thereby enhancing penetration into the foliage.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Stability of the object's composition
If a conventional smooth nozzle outlet is used, then the air jet flows smoothly and maintains coherence, but the air jet is blocked by leaves acting as a screen, preventing deep penetration into foliage
Solution Approach 1:
The nozzle outlet is segmented into multiple teeth (typically 3-7 teeth) around the circular perimeter, dividing the single coherent air jet into multiple smaller jets. This segmentation allows the treatment to penetrate through gaps between leaves rather than being blocked by a single large coherent jet, directly resolving the leaf screen blocking problem while maintaining sufficient directional control through the arranged tooth configuration
Solution Approach 2:
The invention transitions from a single-point jet outlet to a distributed multi-tooth outlet structure, adding spatial dimensionality to the jet emission. The teeth are arranged around the circular perimeter at specific angular intervals, creating a multi-dimensional spray pattern that encompasses a wider angular distribution and penetrates through the two-dimensional leaf screen barrier more effectively
2Object-affected harmful factors
If the air jet is disrupted to penetrate leaves, then penetration into foliage improves, but the air jet coherence and directional control are reduced
Solution Approach 1:
Different regions of the nozzle outlet have different functions: the teeth create local turbulence and disruption at the outlet edges to break up the jet and penetrate leaves, while the central region and internal geometry (spikes, blades, rotating plug) maintain overall directional control. This local differentiation allows simultaneous achievement of jet disruption for penetration and maintained coherence for directional accuracy
Solution Approach 2:
The invention changes physical parameters of the air jet including velocity distribution, pressure patterns, and flow turbulence through the tooth geometry, spike heights (1-50% of opening length), blade configurations, and rotating plug speed. These parameter changes optimize the balance between jet coherence for directionality and disruption for leaf penetration, allowing the same nozzle to achieve both objectives under different operating conditions
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
The turbulent air jet effectively penetrates through leaf screens, improving the distribution and penetration of phytosanitary products into plant foliage, ensuring better coverage and application.
Implementation Method 1
the resulting turbulence increases the likelihood of deflecting the leaf and thus increasing the penetration of the treatment into the foliage
Implementation Method 2
the inside of the plug includes pins and/or blades
Data Source
Figure 1~2
Figure 3~4
Figure 5
AI summary
The invention relates to a nozzle (2) for a spraying device comprising, on its distal end, a pavilion (5) having an opening (51) comprising at least one tooth (54, 55, 56). Advantageously, the presence of a tooth at the outlet of the nozzle or spurs and/or blades inside the nozzle tends to disturb the flow of the air jet. In the event of there being a film forming a screen facing the air jet, the air jet that has thus been rendered turbulent is more likely to deflect said screen film and to thereby increase the penetration of the treatment into the foliage.