Computer-controlled irrigation system

A system for irrigating an agricultural area comprising:

• means for distributing water to the agricultural area from a water source;
• main valve means for controlling the flow of water from the water source to the distributing means;
• main metering means for measuring the quantity of water flowing from the main valve means to the distributing means and providing an output pulse each time that a predetermined quantity of water flows past the main metering means;
• and
• automatic control means including means for opening the main valve means to allow the water to flow from the water source to the distributing means, means for calculating the flow rate from the elapsed time between successive output pulses from the main metering means, and means for closing the main valve means when the distributed quantity of water measured by the main metering means is substantially the same as a pre-established quantity of water for the agricultural area.

A system for irrigating an agricultural area comprising:

• means for distributing water to the agricultural area from a water source;
• main valve means for controlling the flow of water from the water source to said distributing means;
• means for dispensing a pre-established quantity of chemical into the water flowing between said main valve means and said distributing means;
• main metering means for measuring the quantity of water flowing from said main valve means to said distributing means;
• and
• automatic control means including means for opening the main valve means to allow the water to flow from the water source to said distributing means, means for activating the chemical providing means a predetermined time interval after the main valve means is opened, means for deactivating the chemical providing means when the pre-established quantity of chemical has been dispensed, and means for closing the main valve means when the distributed quantity of water measured by the main metering means is substantially the same as a pre-established quantity of water for the agricultural area.

A system for irrigating an agricultural area having a plurality of agricultural fields for producing different kinds of crops, said irrigation system comprising:

• communication means;
• a plurality of remote stations, each remote station having first control means for receiving via the communication means start and stop messages for controlling the distribution of water from a water source to at least one of the fields, receiving via the communication means interrogate messages, and sending via the communication means in response to each received interrogate message a status message representing the quantity of water that has been distributed since the previously received interrogate message;
• and
• a central control station having second control means for sending via the communication means the start message to enable selected ones of the remote stations to start distributing water continuously, sending via the communication means the interrogate message to each remote station for enabling the remote stations to send the status message, receiving via the communication means the status messages from the interrogated remote stations, totalizing the distributed quantity of water for each of the remote stations as indicated by the corresponding received status messages, and sending via the communication means the stop message to enable selected ones of the remote stations to stop distributing water when the totalized quantity of water distributed by the remote station is substantially the same as a pre-established totalized quantity of water for that remote station.

A system for irrigating an agricultural area, comprising:

• means for distributing water to the agricultural area from a water source;
• main valve means for controlling the flow of water from the water source to said distributing means;
• main metering means for measuring the quantity of water flowing from said main valve means to said distributing means and providing an output pulse each time that a predetermined quantity of water flows past the main metering means;
• and
• automatic control means for opening said main value means when the ambient temperature in the agricultural area is below a predetermined minimum temperature and closing said main valve means in response to the output pulse from said main metering means for applying a predetermined quantity of water to the agricultural area as measured by said main metering means to prevent cold temperature damage to the agricultural area.

A system for irrigating an agricultural area having a plurality of agricultural fields for producing different kinds of crops, said irrigation system comprising:

• communication means;
• a plurality of remote stations, each remote station having first control means for receiving via the communication means start and stop messages for controlling the distribution of water from a water source to at least one of the fields, measuring the quantity of water distributed, and sending via the communication means a status message for each predetermined quantity of water measured;
• and
• a central control station having second control means for sending via the communication means the start message to enable selected ones of the remote stations to start distributing water continuously, receiving via the communication means the status messages from the remote stations, totalizing the measured quantity of water for each of the remote stations as indicated by the corresponding received status messages, and sending via the communication means the stop message to enable selected ones of the remote stations to stop distributing water when the totalized quantity of water distributed by the remote station is substantially the same as a pre-established totalized quantity of water for that remote station.

A system for irrigating an agricultural area having a plurality of fields for producing different kinds of crops, said irrigation system comprising:

• for each of the agricultural fields:
• (a) main distributing means for distributing water to the field from a water source, said main distributing means further including a plurality of secondary distributing means, each secondary distributing means for distributing water to a portion of the field;
• (b) main valve means for controlling the flow of water from said water source to said main distributing means, said main valve means further including a plurality of secondary valve means interposed between the main valve means and corresponding ones of the secondary distributing means for controlling the flow of water to the corresponding portions of the field;
• and
• (c) main metering means for measuring the quantity of water flowing from said main valve means to said main distributing means and providing an indication for each predetermined quantity of water flowing;
• and
• automatic central control means for opening selected main valve means and opening selected corresponding secondary valve means thereafter, closing the open secondary valve means when the distributed quantity of water measured by the corresponding main metering means is substantially the same as a preestablished quantity of water for the corresponding portions of each field, totalizing the measured quantity of water distributed in the respective portions of each field, and closing the open main valve means when the totalized quantity of water is substantially the same as the pre-established quantity of water for each field.

A system for irrigating an agricultural area having a plurality of fields for producing different kinds of crops, said irrigation system comprising:

• for each of the agricultural fields:
• (a) main distributing means for distributing water to the field from a water source;
• (b) main valve means for controlling the flow of water from said water source to said main distributing means;
• and
• (c) main metering means for measuring the quantity of water flowing from said main valve means to said main distributing means and providing an output pulse each time that a predetermined quantity of water flows past the main metering means;
• and
• automatic central control means for opening selected ones of the main valve means of the fields, totallizing the output pulses from each of the respective main metering means to provide a measured quantity of water distributed to each field, and closing ones of the open main valve means when the measured quantity of water is substantially the same as a pre-established quantity of water for each field.