Self propelled field irrigator

In an irrigation apparatus comprising of an ambulatory support, a ribbon of water-impermiable material, a drum on the support for stowing said ribbon, means for converting said ribbon into a tube having a free end connectable to a source of water, means for shaping said ribbon into a trough in a predetermined location, water-distributing means on the support having an intake portion extending into said trough portion and including sprinkler means and pump means for discharging water upon the surrounding terrain, and means for regulating the amount of water pumped by said pumping means without loosing prime comprising of an air valve connected to said intake portion and having inlet means positioned at a predetermined elevation within the tube for communicating with the atmosphere to deliver a metered quantity of air into the pump means attendant to the water in the tube falling below a certain level.

In an irrigation apparatus comprising of an ambulatory support, a ribbon of water-impermiable material, a drum on the support for stowing said ribbon, means for converting said ribbon into a tube having a free end connectible to a source of water, means for shaping said ribbon into a trough in a predetermined location, water-distributing means on the support having an intake portion extending into said trough portion and including sprinkler means and pump means for discharging water upon the surounding terrain, and means for regulating the amount of water pumped by said pumping means without loosing prime comprising of an air valve connected to said intake portion and having inlet means positioned at a predetermined elevation within the tube for communicating with the atmosphere to deliver a metered quantity of air into the pump means attendant to the water in the tube falling below a certain level, and traction wheel means on the support, and

• means providing a correlated drive between said wheel means and the drum through said ribbon wound on the drum for winding said ribbon onto the drum as the support is driven toward an associated water source,
• and said drive comprising of wheels in slidable frictional engagement with the ribbon wound on the drum.

An irrigator comprising a field traversing mobile unit including a discharge pump,

• means for delivering water from an associated source to said discharge pump,
• a supply pump at said source for supplying water from said source through said delivering means to said discharge pump, and
• means including signal transmission and receiving means for correlating the pumping rate of said supply pump to provide a supply of water at minimum pressure to the discharge pump and to maintain prime in the latter.

A field irrigator comprising a mobile carrier, a strip of water retaining material stowed on the carrier means for converting said strip into a tube for connection at one end to pressurized source of water,

• a supply pump at said source for filling said tube with water,
• a discharge pump on the carrier comprising inlet means having an inlet end extending into the other end of the tube, and
• a plug slidably fitted within the other end of said tube in a location beyond said inlet means with reference to said source for maintaining a water level within said tube sufficient to effect self-priming of said discharge pump.

An irrigator comprising an ambulatory support, a drum carried thereupon, means for driving the drum, a strip of material adapted to be wound on the drum and unwound therefrom, said strip having lateral edges, securing means on said lateral edges for releasably securing said edges to each other to form a tube, means for releasing said securing means to form a flat strip, guide means on the support comprising a series of guides sequentially passing the strip therethrough for unfolding the material to form a strip and for folding the material to form a tube as the material is wound onto and unwound from the drum, said guides having top and bottom portions engaging the top and bottom sides of the strip and having end portions interconnecting the top and bottom portions and providing means engaging the lateral edges of the strip to prevent the edges from creeping one ahead of the other and spiraling of the strip.