Back to results
US 2006/0231000 A1Published application
Systems for the control and use of fluids and particles
AssigneeKamterter Il, L.L.C.
InventorsJohn Eastin, David Vu
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
The configuration of a feedstock material is controlled by bringing it into contact with at least a first gas moving against it at a location with an area and thickness of the feedstock liquid that forms drops or fibers of a selected size. In one embodiment, drops of agricultural input materials are formed for spraying on agricultural fields. In another embodiment, nanofibers of materials such as chitosan or metals are formed. In another embodiment seeds are planted with gel.
Claims123
A method of controlling the configuration of a substance, comprising the steps of:
- bringing a compatibly-selected feedstock material and at least a first moving compatibly-selected kinetic energy fluid in contact with each other;
- said step of bringing a compatibly-selected feedstock material and at least a first moving compatibly-selected kinetic energy fluid in contact with each other comprising the substeps of adjusting at least one of a pressure of the compatibly-selected kinetic energy fluid, a velocity of the compatibly-selected kinetic energy fluid, a velocity of the compatibly-selected feedstock material, a thickness of the compatibly-selected feedstock material, a width of the compatibly-selected kinetic energy fluid, a width of the compatibly-selected feedstock material, a temperature of the compatibly-selected feedstock material, and a viscosity of the compatibly-selected feedstock material.
Apparatus for controlling the configuration of a substance, comprising:
- a first flow path for a compatibly-selected feedstock material;
- at least one second flow path for a compatibly-selected kinetic energy fluid;
- said first and second flow paths being positioned with respect to each other, wherein the compatibly-selected feedstock material and the compatibly-selected kinetic energy fluid are brought into contact with each other;
- and
- at least one means for adjusting at least one of a pressure of the compatibly-selected kinetic energy fluid, a velocity of the compatibly-selected kinetic energy fluid, a velocity of the compatibly-selected feedstock material, a thickness of the compatibly-selected feedstock material, a width of the compatibly-selected kinetic energy fluid, a width of the compatibly-selected feedstock material, a temperature of the compatibly-selected feedstock material, and a viscosity of the compatibly-selected feedstock material.
2 more elements
A method of formulating a composition to be sprayed comprising the steps of:
- selecting at least one of the desired amount of active ingredient for a drop based on ability to penetrate plant structure;
- select viscosity based on ability to form drops of desired size and resist drift under expected wind conditions and ability to spread on surface of leaves;
- and
- select feed rate per unit of distance of travel of spray apparatus.
1 more element
A method of forming a chitosan formable material comprising the steps of:
- dissolving chitosan in an acidic liquid;
- and
- displacing at least some of the acid from the acidic solution while maintaining the pH of the chitosan formable material low enough to avoid chitosan precipitation.
A method of formulating a seed suspension material, comprising the steps of:
- means a medium that is capable of keeping particles suspended for an extended period of time rather than permitting them to settle. In this specification, the language “in suspension” when referring to seeds or other solid particles means that the seeds or other particles are being held spaced from each other distributed through a medium without settling for the amount of time needed for planting seeds. This time may be a day or longer so that a farmer may use fluid drilling until a tank is used up without needing to mix the seeds again because they have settled from the original mixing. The medium may be mainly a gel, or semisolid, or colloid, or very viscous material. There is enough high density material including particles within the seed suspension materials to exert force on solid seeds and move them together with the semisolid rather than causing the semisolid to flow around them when force is applied. This combination permits seeds to be randomly mixed and randomly distributed in the seed suspension materials to be moved by an auger and eventually dispersed through the fixture 20C.
A method of forming fibers comprising the steps of:
- forming the at least one of a formable material containing the substance;
- causing movement of individual streams of the formable material into a working zone;
- stretching the streams into fibers of the desired length with at least one energy field;
- and
- drying and collecting the fibers.
2 more elements
A method of spraying an agricultural input, comprising the steps of:
- loading a viscous agricultural input onto a spray vehicle;
- providing a source of a kinetic-energy and on the spray vehicle
- spraying the viscous agricultural input onto an agricultural field from a fixture communicating with the viscous agricultural input and the kinetic energy source.
A method of spraying viscous glyphosate, comprising the steps of:
- loading viscous glyphosate onto a spray vehicle;
- spraying the viscous glyphosate onto an agricultural field from a fixture communicating with the viscous glyphosate.
A method of planting comprising the steps of:
- mixing seeds with gel in proportions in which the gel has a ratio of less than three parts to one part of seed in volume;
- conveying said seeds to a nozzle;
- dropping said seeds from said nozzle in a controlled time sequence;
- and
- moving said nozzle along the field at a rate of time correlated with the time of separation of said seeds.
2 more elements
A composition of matter comprising a gelatinous mass having non-Newtonian flow characteristics and a plurality of seeds, said seeds having a density within 20 percent of said gelatinous mass, whereby said mass may be used for fluid drilling.
A method of fluid drilling comprising the steps of:
- mixing seeds with gel in proportions wherein the gel has a ratio of less than three parts by volume to one part of seed by volume;
- conveying said seeds to a nozzle with an auger having threads separated by grooves in a helical path with the upper surfaces of the edges being no more than one-fifth the distance between threads and no more than one-fifth the depth of the grooves, whereby a substantial amount of gel is moved with respect to the surface area of the gel contacting the surface areas of the grooves.
Apparatus for planting comprising:
- means for mixing seeds with a gel in proportions in which the gel has a ratio of less than three parts of gel and volume to one part of seed and volume;
- a nozzle;
- a delivery tube communicating with the nozzle;
- a hopper for holding the gel and seeds in communication with said delivery tube;
- an auger within the delivery tube for moving the gel and seeds through the nozzle.
2 more elements
An auger comprising:
- a shank;
- said shank having a first end and a second end;
- said shank being between two inches and six feet long and having diameters of between 1/16th of an inch to six inches;
- at least a portion of said shank extending from a first end including helical grooves defining helical threads there between, whereby the turning of said auger moves gel from a portion along said shank toward said one end;
- and
- the depth and width of said grooves being sufficient so that there is insufficient friction in the movement of gel and seeds to separate sufficient seeds from the auger to cause plugging.
3 more elements
A fluid drilling feeder comprising:
- a hopper;
- said hopper having an open top portion and a narrower compartment at its bottom;
- an auger;
- a delivery tube;
- a nozzle;
- said auger fitting in said bottom compartment and extending outwardly;
- said delivery tube connecting said bottom of said compartment with said nozzle and circumscribing said auger;
- said auger extending into the tip of said nozzle.
5 more elements
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.