Aimable sprinkler
AssigneeHunter Agriculture Incorporated
InventorsPeter John Woytowitz, Donald P. Simmons, Stephen D. Abernethy, Gregory S. Burcham, Rolando A. Armas
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
An aimable sprinkler is disclosed. The sprinkler can be mounting on an end of a traveling sprinkler system that moves in a linear direction or one that rotates about a center pivot tower. The sprinkler can include a base for connecting to the traveling sprinkler system and a turret coupled to the base so as to move in both yaw and pitch directions relative to the base. The sprinkler aims at discrete points within an irrigation area to achieve an even distribution of water.
Claims20
An aimable sprinkler for mounting on an end of a traveling sprinkler system that rotates about a center pivot tower, the sprinkler comprising:
- a nozzle assembly comprising a ball joint;
- a pitch actuator configured to articulate the nozzle assembly in a pitch direction;
- a yaw actuator configured to move the nozzle assembly in a yaw direction;
- and
- a controller comprising a processor and memory storing instructions, that when executed by the processor, cause the processor to:
- receive GPS coordinates;
- determine, based at least in part on the GPS coordinates, a border of an irrigation area;
- determine, based at least in part on flow characteristics of the nozzle assembly, an intersection of an end of throw of water from the nozzle assembly to the border;
- determine, based at least in part on the GPS coordinates, a relative angle of the traveling sprinkler system relative to a first corner position of the irrigation area;
- determine, based at least in part on the relative angle and the intersection of the end of the throw of water to a point on the border, a desired angle;
- and
- control the yaw actuator and the pitch actuator to adjust the pitch direction and the yaw direction of the nozzle assembly to emit water at the desired angle.
A method of aiming an aimable sprinkler comprising:
- receiving GPS coordinates;
- determining, based at least in part on the GPS coordinates, a border of an irrigation area;
- determining, based at least in part on flow characteristics of the aimable sprinkler, an intersection of an end of throw of water from a turret to the border;
- determining, based at least in part on the GPS coordinates, a relative angle of a traveling sprinkler system on which the aimable sprinkler is mounted relative to a first corner position of the irrigation area;
- determining, based at least in part on the relative angle and the intersection of the end of the throw of water to a point on the border, a desired angle;
- and
- controlling pitch and yaw of the turret to emit water at the desired angle,
- wherein the method is performed under control of a controller of the aimable sprinkler.
An aimable sprinkler for mounting on an end of a traveling sprinkler system that rotates about a center pivot tower, the aimable sprinkler comprising:
- a base configured to connect to the end of the traveling sprinkler system;
- a turret coupled to the base so as to move in both yaw and pitch directions relative to the base;
- a pitch actuator configured to drive the turret in the pitch direction relative to the base;
- a yaw actuator configured to drive the turret in the yaw direction relative to the base;
- and
- a controller comprising a processor and memory storing instructions, that when executed by the processor, cause the processor to control the pitch actuator and the yaw actuator by:
- receiving location information;
- determining, based at least in part on the location information, an angle of the traveling sprinkler system relative to a corner on a border of an irrigation area;
- determining, based at least in part on flow characteristics, an intersection of an end of throw of water from the turret to the border of the irrigation area;
- determining, based at least in part on the angle and the intersection of the end of the throw of water to a point on the border, a desired angle;
- and
- adjusting the pitch direction of the pitch actuator and the yaw direction of the yaw actuator to emit water from the turret at the desired angle.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.