초록 ▼

There is disclosed a monitoring system for monitoring the rate at which a liquid such as fertilizer or insecticide or herbicide is dispensed by spraying from a moving vehicle. The system determines and displays an indication of the application rate in gallons per acre or liters per hectare using str

There is disclosed a monitoring system for monitoring the rate at which a liquid such as fertilizer or insecticide or herbicide is dispensed by spraying from a moving vehicle. The system determines and displays an indication of the application rate in gallons per acre or liters per hectare using straightforward computations from inputs representing the outputs of sensors for vehicle velocity, width of spray pattern, and liquid flow rate. Visual and/or audible indicators are also provided to warn the operator when the actual application rate differs from the desired application rate by more than a predetermined permissable error factor.

대표청구항 ▼

In mobile liquid application apparatus including a vehicle, multiple liquid applicators mounted thereto and a liquid conduit supplying liquid to said applicators; apparatus for monitoring the application rate per unit area of a liquid sprayed by said equipment comprising a flow meter for generating

In mobile liquid application apparatus including a vehicle, multiple liquid applicators mounted thereto and a liquid conduit supplying liquid to said applicators; apparatus for monitoring the application rate per unit area of a liquid sprayed by said equipment comprising a flow meter for generating a signal representative of the volumetric flow rate of liquid in said liquid conduit, a speedometer for generating a signal representative of the speed of said vehicle, an adjustable pattern width signal generator for generating a signal representative of the width of pattern produced by said applicators, means for producing from the above said signals a single signal representative of the liquid flow rate divided by the product of the vehicle speed and the spray pattern width setting, means for indicating the value of the last said single signal, an adjustable desired application rate signal generator for generating a signal representative of the desired application rate, an adjustable application rate accuracy signal generator for generating a signal representative of the application rate accuracy, and means for generating from said desired application rate signal and application rate accuracy signal an upper rate limit signal and a lower rate limit signal, for comparing said single signal with said upper rate limit signal and said lower rate limit signal and for generating an operator-discernible signal when said single signal is outside the limits of said lower limit application rate signal and said upper limit application rate signal.