US5203504A
Expired / Lapsed
US
⏱️ 0.0 years remaining
Preparing mixed liquids
Assignee: BTG International Ltd
•
Filing: 1989-03-17
•
Granted: 1993-04-20
•
Expires: 2009-03-17
Abstract
Abstract A method of preparing a mixture of a carrier liquid and an active liquid in required proportion including: providing a flow of carrier liquid, controlling a liquid flow to an appropriate portion of the carrier liquid flow from pressure drop measurements of the proportional liquid flow, displacing active liquid with the proportional liquid flow without liquid contact, and including the displaced active liquid in the carrier liquid flow, thereby producing a liquid mixture in the required proportion without a flow meter. The mixed liquid may be used in at least one of a sprayer and a nutrient film equipment. The displacement medium may be provided from the carrier liquid supply.
Inventors
- 👤 Andrew R. Frost
- 👤 John A. Marchant
Bibliographic Details
Application Number
—
Jurisdiction
US
Data Source
google_patents
Last Synchronized
2026-11-01 11:37
CPC Classifications
B; B01; B01F; B01F25/00; B01F25/30; B01F25/31; B01F25/315; A; A01; A01C; A01C23/00; A01C23/04; A01C23/042; A01M; A01M7/00; A01M7/0089; A01M7/0092; B01F23/00; B01F23/40; B01F23/49; B01F35/00; B01F35/71; B01F35/717; B01F35/7174; B01F35/7176; B05; B05B; B05B12/00; B05B12/14; B05B12/1418; B05B7/00; B05B7/24; B05B7/26; B05B7/28; B05B7/32; B05B9/00; B05B9/03; B05B9/04; B05B9/06; B01F2101/00; B01F2101/04; B01F23/48; B01F23/483; B01F33/00; B01F33/50; B01F33/502
Claims Analysis
Total Claims: 23
Claim 1
Independent Claim
155 words
A method of preparing a mixture of a carrier liquid and an active liquid in required proportion including: providing a flow of carrier liquid, providing a forced liquid flow of a proportion of said carrier liquid flow, providing a control member in a flow path of said proportional liquid flow, making pressure difference measurements of the forced proportional liquid flow at an inlet and outlet of said control member, an inlet pressure of said control member being independent of an outlet pressure thereof, controlling said proportional liquid flow to a selected required proportional of said carrier liquid flow from said pressure difference measurements, displacing active liquid with said proportional liquid flow without liquid contact, conveying said displaced active liquid freely to said carrier liquid flow, including said displaced active liquid in said carrier liquid flow, thereby producing a liquid mixture in said required proportion without a flow meter for said carrier or said active liquid.
Claim 2
Independent Claim
155 words
A method of preparing a mixture of a carrier liquid and an active liquid in required proportion including: providing a flow of carrier liquid, providing a forced liquid flow of a proportion of said carrier liquid flow, providing a control member in a flow path of said proportional liquid flow, making pressure difference measurements of the forced proportional liquid flow at an inlet and outlet of said control member, an inlet pressure of said control member being independent of an outlet pressure thereof, controlling said proportional liquid flow to a selected required proportional of said carrier liquid flow from said pressure difference measurements, displacing active liquid with said proportional liquid flow without liquid contact, conveying said displaced active liquid freely to said carrier liquid flow, including said displaced active liquid in said carrier liquid flow, thereby producing a liquid mixture in said required proportion without a flow meter for said carrier or said active liquid.
Claim 3
Independent Claim
106 words
A method of preparing mixed liquids including: providing a supply of carrier liquid for utilization, providing a supply of an active ingredient liquid for introduction into the carrier liquid in supply to utilization means, pumping a supply of a displacement liquid to displace the active liquid without liquid contact and introducing the active liquid directly into the carrier liquid, determining carrier liquid pressure to determine a carrier liquid flow rate, measuring the amount of pumped displacement liquid and controlling said pumping with regard to said measurement and said carrier liquid flow rate to produce a mixture of active liquid with said carrier liquid of specified proportion.
Claim 4
Independent Claim
106 words
A method of preparing mixed liquids including: providing a supply of carrier liquid for utilization, providing a supply of an active ingredient liquid for introduction into the carrier liquid in supply to utilization means, pumping a supply of a displacement liquid to displace the active liquid without liquid contact and introducing the active liquid directly into the carrier liquid, determining carrier liquid pressure to determine a carrier liquid flow rate, measuring the amount of pumped displacement liquid and controlling said pumping with regard to said measurement and said carrier liquid flow rate to produce a mixture of active liquid with said carrier liquid of specified proportion.
Claim 5
Dependent Claim
26 words
A method according to claim 2 including controlling the amount of pumped displacement liquid in an open loop, thereby permitting a mixture of a set proportion.
Claim 6
Dependent Claim
31 words
A method according to claim 2 including controlling the amount of pumped displacement liquid in a closed loop to maintain said mixture of a required proportion in response to a sensor.
Claim 7
Dependent Claim
25 words
A method according to claim 2 in which the utilization means is at least one of a sprayer and a mechanism for dispensing nutrient solutions.
Claim 8
Dependent Claim
16 words
A method according to claim 2 including providing the displacement liquid from the carrier liquid supply.
Claim 9
Dependent Claim
34 words
A method according to claim 2 in which the utilization means is a sprayer and including controlling the volume of displacement liquid applied in accordance with control signals representing the demand for mixed liquid.
Claim 10
Dependent Claim
33 words
A method according to claim 7 in which the control signals include at least one of required concentration of active ingredient liquid, required mixed liquid flow, sprayer size and speed over the crop.
Claim 11
Independent Claim
182 words
An apparatus to prepare a mixed liquid including: means to supply pressurized carrier liquid along a path to utilization means, means to contain a supply of active ingredient liquid, an unrestricted flow path to introduce active ingredient liquid from the container means into the pressurized carrier liquid supply path, liquid isolating means operable to displace active ingredient liquid from said container means for introduction into the carrier liquid supply path, means to supply a displacement medium to operate the liquid isolating means to displace active ingredient liquid into the carrier liquid, and means to control said means to supply displacement medium to produce a mixed liquid of specific properties for supply along said path to the utilization means, the displacement medium supply means including a pump, the means to control the displacement medium supply including associated pressure transducers to detect the pressure difference across the pump and a pump control means responsive to the transducers and to pressure difference in said displacement medium supply means indicated thereby, an output pressure of said pump being independent from an input pressure of said pump.
Claim 12
Independent Claim
182 words
An apparatus to prepare a mixed liquid including: means to supply pressurized carrier liquid along a path to utilization means, means to contain a supply of active ingredient liquid, an unrestricted flow path to introduce active ingredient liquid from the container means into the pressurized carrier liquid supply path, liquid isolating means operable to displace active ingredient liquid from said container means for introduction into the carrier liquid supply path, means to supply a displacement medium to operate the liquid isolating means to displace active ingredient liquid into the carrier liquid, and means to control said means to supply displacement medium to produce a mixed liquid of specific properties for supply along said path to the utilization means, the displacement medium supply means including a pump, the means to control the displacement medium supply including associated pressure transducers to detect the pressure difference across the pump and a pump control means responsive to the transducers and to pressure difference in said displacement medium supply means indicated thereby, an output pressure of said pump being independent from an input pressure of said pump.
Claim 13
Dependent Claim
24 words
An apparatus according to claim 9 in which the displacement medium is carrier liquid from the pressurized supply upstream of the unrestricted flow path.
Claim 14
Dependent Claim
44 words
An apparatus according to claim 9 in which the pump for the displacement medium is further controlled in response to signals representing the operation of the utilization means, said means being at least one of a sprayer and a mechanism for dispensing nutrient solutions.
Claim 15
Dependent Claim
38 words
An apparatus according to claim 11 in which said operation representing signals and outputs from said transducers are processed in a calculating device of a dedicated microcomputer in the pump control means to produce a pump control signal.
Claim 16
Dependent Claim
42 words
An apparatus according to claim 12 in which the utilization means is a sprayer which includes a boom and wherein said operation representing signals include sprayer speed over the ground, sprayer boom size, required active ingredient concentration, and spray liquid flow rate.
Claim 17
Dependent Claim
26 words
An apparatus according to claim 9 in which the apparatus is arranged so that the active ingredient liquid is contained until introduction into the carrier liquid.
Claim 18
Dependent Claim
34 words
An apparatus according to claim 9 in which said carrier liquid supply means includes a carrier liquid pump, said carrier liquid pump and displacement medium supply means pump being isolated from the active ingredient.
Claim 19
Dependent Claim
18 words
An apparatus according to claim 9 in which the active ingredient liquid is isolated from the displacement medium.
Claim 20
Dependent Claim
27 words
An apparatus according to claim 9 further including means to draw the active ingredient liquid into the container means by reversing the action of the displacement medium.
Claim 21
Dependent Claim
35 words
An apparatus according to claim 9 further including flushing means operable on the completion of displacement of active ingredient liquid to supply a flushing liquid to the container means and to the unrestricted flow path.
Claim 22
Dependent Claim
36 words
An apparatus according to claim 18 in which the flushing means includes a valve operable to bypass the liquid isolating means and to allow carrier liquid to flush the container means and the unrestricted flow path.
Claim 23
Dependent Claim
20 words
An apparatus according to claim 9 in which the liquid isolating means is one of a piston and a diaphragm.
References Cited (Backward Citations)
US2323618A
Cited
DE941944C
Cited
FR1296950A
Cited
FR1422705A
Cited
AT340716B
Cited
GB2048091A
Cited
US4406406A
Cited
US4858830A
Cited
US4721245A
Cited
US4875626A
Cited
USPTO Annuity & Maintenance Windows
| Annuity Stage | Window Opens | Payment Deadline | Surcharge Period Until | Estimated Fee | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 3.5 Years (Year 4) | 1996-04-19 | 1996-10-19 | 1997-04-20 | $2000.00 | Window Closed / Lapsed |
| 7.5 Years (Year 8) | 2000-04-19 | 2000-10-19 | 2001-04-20 | $3760.00 | Window Closed / Lapsed |
| 11.5 Years (Year 12) | 2004-04-19 | 2004-10-19 | 2005-04-20 | $7700.00 | Window Closed / Lapsed |