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US 6,202,941 B1Granted
Agriculture/viticulture sprayer
OwnerBent Baekinventor
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
An agricultural/viticultural sprayer including a pair of curved arms to partially encircle a row of crops such as vines to be sprayed. Each arm carries a plurality of fan spray heads, and each arm is mounted on a support arm rotatable about a vertical pivot, whereby each of the curved arms can be rotated from a transport position to a spread operating position while remaining symmetrical about a plane generally normal to the path of travel when in use.
Claims38
A plant spraying apparatus for mounting on a vehicle comprising:
- a) a mast for mounting in an upright condition on the vehicle;
- b) a support arm rotatably mounted on the mast for rotation about a first generally vertical axis bets operating and transport position;
- c) a pair of curved spray head arms respectively pivotally connected to the support arms at pivot locations spaced from the mast, the spray head arms also being connected to the support arm for rotation about a second vertical axis spaced from the first;
- d) the spray head arms having transport positions wherein the spray head arms are relatively closely spaced and operating positions spaced apart to straddle a row of crop being sprayed;
- e) spray heads carried by the spray arms for effecting plant spraying;
- and,
- f) prime mover powered linkages operably connected to the mast and to the arms for alternately positioning the arms in the transport and operating positions while maintaining an imaginary plane located by the spray head arms transverse to a path of vehicle travel.
4 more elements
A crop sprayer comprising:
- a) a vehicle including a spray solution supply tank;
- b) a pair of generally vertical masts mounted on the vehicle;
- c) a pair of support arms each mounted on an associated one of the masts, the support arms each being pivotal relative tot he associated masts to enable the support arms to be selectively positioned in transport and spraying positions;
- d) a pair of powered linkages each operably interposed between associated ones of the mast and the support arms for shifting the support arms between the transport and operating positions;
- e) two pairs of spray arms each pair being mounted on an associated support arm;
- f) the arms also having transport and scarab positions with the spray arms of each pair being relatively closely spaced when in the transport position and being relatively widely spaced when in their spaying positions;
- g) the spray arms of each pair being disposed in an associated imaginary plane disposed normal to a path of vehicle travel when the sprayer is in use;
- h) a pair of farther powered linkages each operably connected to an associated pair of spray arms to move the spray arms of the pair between their transport and spraying positions while maintaining the spray arms transverse to the path of travel;
- and,
- I) spray heads carried by the spray arms and operably connected to the tank.
7 more elements
A process of spraying crop rows comprising;
- a) transporting a spray vehicle to a location of a crop to be sprayed as a support arm and a suspended pair of spray arms are maintained in a transport position with the spray arms generally behind the vehicle and the pair of spray arms being generally symmetrical about an imaginary plane disposed generally normal to the path of travel;
- b) shifting the spray arms and the support arm to a spraying position by rotating the support arm about a vertical axis relative to the vehicle while concurrently moving the spray arm pair relative to the support arm about another vertical axis to maintain said imaginary plane generally normal to a vehicle path of travel when the arms are moved to and into the spraying position;
- and,
- c) operating the vehicle in the crop location while applying a chemical spray to the crop.
1 more element
A process of spraying canopy rows comprising:
- a) transporting a spray vehicle to a location of a crop to be sprayed as a supporting arm and a supported pair of spray arms are maintained in a transport position with the spray arms generally behind the vehicle;
- b) shifting the arms to a spraying position including rotating the supporting arm relative to the vehicle while concurrently rotating orientation of the spray arms relative to the support arm to maintain the spray arms in an imaginary plane transverse to a path of vehicle travel, adjusting the elevation of the spray arm pair such that the arm pair is at an appropriate elevation for a crop row to be sprayed;
- and,
- c) operating the vehicle in the crop location while applying a chemical spray to the canopy row with fan head sprayers.
1 more element
Spray apparatus for spraying fruit bearing vegetation such as vineyards comprising:
- a) a wheeled vehicle;
- b) a pair of support masts mounted on the vehicle;
- c) a pair of support arms each being pivotably mounted on a respective and associated one of the masts for rotation about generally vertical axes;
- d) two pairs of spray arms each spray arm pair being rotatively mounted on a respective and associated one of the support arms for rotation relative to their respective associated spray arms about respective generally vertical axes;
- e) a pair of spacing adjustment mechanisms each operably connected to the arms of an associated one of the pairs of spray arms for adjusting the spacing of the associated spray arm pair;
- f) at least two elevation control fluid cylinders each interposed between an associated support arm and the vehicle for adjusting he elevation of the associated support arm and associate pair of spray arms;
- g) a plurality of fan type spray heads each connected to a spray arms such that at least one spray head is connected to each of the spray arms;
- and
- h) mechanism to cause concurrent pivoting of each spray arm and the rotation of the associated spray arm pair whereby to maintain a substantially constant orientation of an imaginary plane located by the associated spray arm pair transverse to a path of vehicle travel.
6 more elements
A trailed vehicle spraying machine adapted to spray rows of vines or trees, comprising:
- a) two pairs of curved spray arms carrying a plurality of fan spray heads and mounted on a vehicle, characterized in that the pairs of curved arms are rotatable and movable from a transport position to an operating position extending backwards and sideways from the vehicle;
- b) two support arms respectively supporting the two pairs of curved arms, one pair on each side of the vehicle, one support arm being of greater length than the other support arm so that when the spray arm pairs are in a transport position one pair is positioned rearwardly of the other for transport and ease of maneuvering in restricted areas;
- and
- c) wherein each pair of spray arms is mounted on a first pivot at the end of the its support arm whereby each of spray arms is maintained in an orientation to position the fan spray heads generally normal to such a row as the support arm rotates about another pivot.
1 more element
Spray apparatus for spraying hit bearing vegetation such as vineyards comprising:
- a) a wheeled vehicle,
- b) a pair of support masts mounted on the vehicle;
- c) a pair of support arms each being pivotably mounted on a respective and associated one of the masts for rotation about generally vertically axes;
- d) two pairs of spray arms each spray arm pair being rotatively mounted on a respective and associated one of the support arms for rotation about respective generally vertical axes;
- e) a pair of spacing adjustment mechanisms each operably connected to the arms of an associated one of the pairs of spray arms for adjusting the spacing of the associated spray arm pair;
- f) at least two elevation control fluid cylinders each interposed between an associated support arm and the vehicle for adjusting the elevation of the associated support arm and associate pair of spray arms;
- g) a plurality of fan type spray heads each connected to a spray arm such that at least one spray head is connected to each of the spray arms;
- and,
- h) each of the spray arms being rotatively connected to its associated support arm whereby each spray arm will rotate rearwardly upon impact with an obstruction as the vehicle is moving in a forward direction.
6 more elements
Spray apparatus for spraying fruit bearing vegetation such as vineyards comprising:
- a) a wheeled vehicle;
- b) a pair of support masts mounted on the vehicle;
- c) a pair of support arms each being pivotably mounted on a respective and associated one of the masts for rotation about general vertically axes;
- d) two pairs of spray arms each spray arm pair being rotatively mounted on a respective and associated one of the support arms for rotation about respective generally vertical axes;
- e) a pair of spacing adjustment mechanisms each operably connected to the arms of an associated one of the pairs of spray arms for adjusting the spacing of the associated spray arms pair;
- f) at least two elevation control fluid cylinders each interposed between an associated support arm and the vehicle for adjusting the elevation of the associated support arm and associate pair of spray arms;
- g) a plurality of fan type spray heads each connected to a spray arms such that at least one spray head is connected to each of the spray arms;
- and,
- h) each of the spray arms being relatively freely rotatable about an axis transverse to the vertical whereby to allow each such arm to yield to an obstruction on impact.
6 more elements
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.