METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR PUMPING A FLUID ADDITIVE INTO AN IRRIGATION SYSTEM FOR FIELD APPLICATION

1 . An irrigation system 10 for distributing a primary fluid or water supply over a ground surface 2 of a field 1 , the irrigation system 10 including:

an irrigation apparatus 12 movable over the ground surface 2 to distribute a primary fluid over the ground surface 2 within a field sector 3 of a field 1 , the irrigation apparatus 10 comprising:

a center structure configured to support a first-end of a first span and provide an apparatus for of centering the rotation of the distal-ends of a plurality of interconnected spans extending outward from said center structure;

at least two spans 14 , 16 and preferably three or more spans 14 , 16 , 17 generally having a first-end of span closest to the center structure and a distal-end of span extending along a longitudinal axis 18 of the irrigation apparatus 12 ;

at least one support tower 20 , 22 , 23 for each span 14 , 16 , 17 configured to support the corresponding spans 14 , 16 , 17 at a location above the ground surface 2 ;

a fluid application assembly 30 with a fluid supply conduit 34 configured to apply a primary fluid to the ground surface 2 of a sector 3 of the field 1 ;

a fluid additive pumping apparatus 50 configured to pump a fluid additive 8 into the primary fluid or water supply distributed by the fluid application assembly 30 of the irrigation apparatus 12 as the irrigation apparatus 12 moves over a sector 3 of the field 1 , the fluid additive pumping apparatus 50 comprising:

a fluid additive pump assembly 58 in fluid communication with a fluid additive reservoir 54 and a fluid additive injector element 56 by means of a fluid additive path 52 , said path originating at said reservoir 54 and terminating at said injector element 56 . Said fluid additive pump assembly 58 may be configured to pump a predetermined volume of fluid additive 8 into the fluid application assembly 30 in a predetermined period of time for distribution of fluid additive 8 to a sector 3 of the field 1 . Said predetermined period of time to pump the predetermined volume of fluid additive 8 may be used to determine a rate of pumping, said rate of pumping for said predetermined period of time also corresponding to a period of time for spans 14 , 16 , 17 to transition over a sector 3 of the field 1 at an intended speed of movement over the ground surface 2 , following a corresponding wheel track 29 for the distal-end of the outermost span 17 , from a start position 42 to a stop position 43 of a sector 3 ;

a pump apparatus controller 90 with a memory 91 and a processor 92 , wherein said pump apparatus controller 90 has stored in memory 91 a start position 42 , a stop position 43 , a predetermined start time and predetermined stop time for application of additive 8 to a sector 3 of a field 1 ;

a position sensor assembly 46 in communication with the pump apparatus controller 90 , said position sensor assembly 46 configured to periodically sense at a current time a current position within a corresponding wheel track 29 of the distal-end of the outermost span 17 of the irrigation apparatus 12 within a sector 3 of a field 1 ; and

a fluid additive flow sensor 66 in communication with the pump apparatus controller 90 , said flow sensor 66 configured to monitor the rate of flow of the fluid additive 8 being pumped through the fluid additive path 52 by fluid additive pump assembly 58 ; and

wherein said pump apparatus controller 90 may be in communication with said position sensor assembly 46 , said fluid additive pump assembly 58 and said fluid additive flow sensor 66 and may receive a current position signal and a current time from said position sensor assembly 46 and may store said current position and current time in said memory 91 . The pump apparatus controller 90 , using memory 91 and processor 92 , may calculate an actual speed of movement of the distal-end of the outermost span 17 as said span transitions through a sector 3 of the field 1 following a corresponding wheel track 29 . Based on the calculated actual speed of movement, as compared to an intended speed of movement, the processor 92 further calculates an adjusted fluid additive 8 pumping rate. Said adjusted fluid additive 8 pumping rate may be proportionally decreased when the actual speed of movement of the distal-end of the outermost span 17 may be slower than the intended speed of movement. Said adjusted fluid additive 8 pumping rate may be proportionally increased when the actual speed of movement of the distal-end of the outermost span 17 may be faster than the intended speed of movement. The adjustments to the rate of pumping by the fluid additive pump assembly 58 may be configured to be performed periodically; and further wherein said pump apparatus controller 90 calculates the adjusted pumping rate based on an actual speed of movement of the distal-end of the outermost span 17 calculated from a current position, a current time and a user defined stop position 43 and calculates a remaining time period for the outermost span 17 to reach said stop position 43 and wherein said pump apparatus controller 90 monitors the output of the fluid additive flow sensor 66 and controls the fluid additive pump assembly 58 to pump fluid additive 8 at an adjusted rate so as to distribute the remaining supply of fluid additive 8 being pumped to a sector 3 of a field 1 , as irritation apparatus 12 continues moving to reach a user-defined stop position 43 in a remaining time period, based on said calculated actual speed of movement for said distal-end of the outermost span 17 .

2 . The system of claim 1 wherein the pump apparatus controller is configured to receive a target rate of pumping to achieve the target injection rate for injection of the fluid additive into the primary fluid in the fluid supply conduit to achieve the target application rate of the fluid additive to the field sector.

3 . The system of claim 1 wherein the pump apparatus controller is configured to calculate a target rate of pumping to achieve the target injection rate for injection of the fluid additive into the primary fluid in the fluid supply conduit to achieve the target application rate of the fluid additive to the field sector.

4 . The system of claim 1 wherein the pump apparatus controller is configured to receive a predetermined start position 42 of the distal-end of the outermost span of the irrigation apparatus and a predetermined stop position 43 of said span of the irrigation apparatus to traverse the field sector along a corresponding wheel track 29 ; and

wherein the pump apparatus controller is configured to receive a predetermined start time for initiating movement from the start position 42 and a predetermined stop time when the irrigation apparatus is intended to reach the stop position 43 for discontinuing movement of the irrigation apparatus after traversing the field sector.

5 . The system of claim 1 wherein the additive pumping apparatus additionally comprises a fluid additive pump assembly in fluid communication with the fluid additive reservoir and the fluid additive injector element to pump fluid additive from the fluid additive reservoir to the fluid additive injector element.

6 . The system of claim 1 wherein the fluid additive pumping apparatus additionally comprises a fluid additive flow sensor configured to sense a rate of flow of the fluid additive from the fluid additive reservoir by way of the fluid additive pump assembly along a fluid additive path to a fluid additive injector element and into the primary fluid carried by the fluid supply conduit of the fluid application assembly.

7 . The system of claim 1 wherein the pump apparatus controller is in communication with the position sensor assembly to receive information regarding the current position of the distal-end of the outermost span 17 and wherein the pump apparatus controller is in communication with the fluid additive flow sensor to control operation of pump motor to adjust the rate of flow by the pump device of the fluid additive pump assembly.

8 . The system of claim 1 wherein the pump apparatus controller is configured to determine an actual speed of movement of the distal-end of the outermost span 17 of the irrigation apparatus as said span 17 traverses the field sector.

9 . The system of claim 1 wherein the actual speed of movement is calculated using a difference between the start position 42 of the distal-end of the outermost span 17 and an actual current position of distal-end of the outermost span 17 compared to a corresponding difference between the start time and a current time with reference to an intended current position of the distal-end of the outermost span 17 .

10 . The system of claim 1 wherein the actual speed of movement is calculated using a difference between the feet of movement of the distal-end of the outermost span 17 along a corresponding wheel track 29 from the start position 42 to an actual current position compared to a corresponding difference between the start time and a current time with reference to an intended current position of the distal-end of the outermost span 17 .

11 . The system of claim 1 wherein the pump apparatus controller is configured to calculate the volume of fluid additive pumped and the fluid additive remaining to be pumped based on a period of time the irrigation apparatus operated from a start position and start time to a current position and a current time as reported by the position sensor assembly.

12 . The system of claim 1 wherein the pump apparatus controller is configured to initiate pumping of the fluid additive at the target injection rate at a start position 42 of the distal-end of the outermost span 17 and discontinue injection of the fluid additive at a stop position 43 of the distal-end of the outermost span 17 ; and

wherein, after initiation of pumping of the fluid additive, the pump apparatus controller is configured to determine an adjusted pumping rate based upon a projected arrival time of the distal-end of the outermost span 17 at the current position after traversing a portion of the field sector and on the volume of fluid additive remaining to be pumped, the pump apparatus controller being configured to change the rate of pumping by the fluid additive pump assembly from the target pumping rate to the adjusted pumping rate for further operation of the fluid additive pumping apparatus.

13 . The system of claim 1 wherein the pump apparatus controller is configured to determine the adjusted pumping rate of a fluid additive by comparing the current position at a current time of the distal-end of the outermost span 17 indicated by the position sensor assembly 46 to the start position 42 at a start time of the distal-end of the outermost span 17 to determine an actual speed of movement of said span of the irrigation system, the actual speed of movement being based upon the current position of the distal-end of the outermost span 17 with respect to the start position 42 of said span and a current time with respect to the start time of movement of the distal-end of the outermost span 17 from the start position 42 .

14 . The system of claim 1 wherein the pump apparatus controller 90 is configured to calculate a projected arrival time for the distal-end of the outermost span 17 of the irrigation system at the stop position 43 based upon the current time, the actual speed of movement, and the current position of said span relative to the stop position 43 of the irrigation system; and

wherein the pump apparatus controller is configured to calculate a remaining time for pumping of a remaining volume of fluid additive based upon the current time and the projected arrival time, and determine the adjusted pumping rate based upon the remaining time for pumping of the remaining volume of fluid additive.

15 . The system of claim 1 wherein the pump apparatus controller is configured to periodically receive the current position of the distal-end of the outermost span 17 of the irrigation system and calculate a further adjusted pumping rate to be utilized for further operation of the additive injection apparatus.

16 . A fluid additive pumping apparatus for use with an irrigation apparatus movable over a ground surface of a field for distributing a primary fluid, the irrigation apparatus being of the type having a plurality of spans generally extending outward from a center structure along a longitudinal axis, a fluid application assembly configured to apply the primary fluid to the ground surface of the field, a fluid additive flow sensor configured to report a rate of pumping of the additive fluid to a fluid additive injector element, and a position sensor assembly configured to sense a current position of the spans of the irrigation apparatus with respect to a reference position of the spans, the additive pumping apparatus comprising:

a fluid additive reservoir configured to hold a quantity of the fluid additive, the fluid additive path originating at the fluid additive reservoir;

a fluid additive injector element in fluid communication with the fluid additive reservoir and the fluid additive pump assembly to pump the fluid additive from the fluid additive reservoir into the primary fluid applied to the ground surface, the fluid additive path terminating at the fluid additive injector element;

a fluid additive flow valve in fluid communication with the fluid additive reservoir and the fluid additive injector element to control the flow of the fluid additive from said reservoir to said injector element, the fluid additive path extending through the flow valve; and

a fluid additive flow sensor in fluid communication with the fluid additive reservoir and the fluid additive injector element to monitor the flow of the fluid additive from said reservoir to said injector element, the fluid additive path extending through the fluid additive flow sensor; and

a pump apparatus controller of the fluid additive pumping apparatus configured to control a rate of pumping of the fluid additive by the fluid additive pump assembly to the fluid additive injector element for distribution of fluid additive over the field sector, the fluid additive pump assembly being configured to vary a rate at which the fluid additive is pumped and injected into the primary fluid of the fluid application assembly based upon the current position of the distal-end of the outermost span of the irrigation apparatus in the field sector.

17 . The apparatus of claim 16 wherein the pump apparatus controller is configured to communicate with the position sensor assembly to receive information regarding the current position of the distal-end of the outermost span and with the fluid additive flow sensor to receive a current rate of flow of fluid additive; and

wherein the pump apparatus controller is in communication with the pump motor driving the pump device of the fluid additive pump assembly to control the speed of operation of the pump motor and thereby control the rate of pumping of the fluid additive by the pump device to the fluid additive injector element and thereby establish the rate of injection of the fluid additive into the fluid application assembly.

18 . The apparatus of claim 17 wherein the pump apparatus controller is configured to receive a target application rate for the field sector of the field, the pump apparatus controller being configured to utilize the target pumping rate for injection of the fluid additive into the primary fluid in the fluid supply conduit to achieve the target application rate of the fluid additive to the field sector.

19 . The apparatus of claim 18 wherein the pump apparatus controller is configured to determine an actual speed of movement of the distal-end of the outermost span of the irrigation apparatus to traverse the field sector.

20 . The apparatus of claim 19 wherein the pump apparatus controller is configured to receive a predetermined start position 42 of the spans of the irrigation apparatus and a predetermined stop position 43 of the spans of the irrigation apparatus to traverse the field sector; and

wherein the pump apparatus controller is configured to receive a predetermined start time for initiating movement from the start position 42 and a predetermined stop time when the irrigation apparatus is intended to reach the stop position 43 for discontinuing movement of the irrigation apparatus after traversing the field sector.

21 - 22 . (canceled)