The disclosed apparatus, systems and methods relate to fluid distribution systems. The fluid distribution systems being made up of a plurality of positive displacement pumps disposed on a fluid distribution manifold and proximate to the tank and the point of product discharge. The system optionally has a valve system for precision control of fluid discharge.

The inventive aerial dispersal system comprises a pump assembly, a control box, an applicator assembly, a viscous pesticide tank assembly, and a means for connecting the aerial dispersal system to an airplane and is particularly useful for dispersing viscous pesticide.

A smart agent container cover (100), a smart agent container, and an aircraft are provided. The smart agent container cover (100) includes an upper cover (11), a lower cover (10), a control module (3), a liquid level measuring module (2), a communication module (4), and a power supply module (5). The upper cover (11) and the lower cover (10) define a sealed accommodating space therebetween. Electronic components, such as the control module (3), the communication module (4), and the power supply module (5), are all arranged within the accommodating space, and have no electrically conductive physical contact with an external environment. During use, only the liquid level measuring module (2) is submerged below a liquid surface, such that the electronic components are better protected, thereby ensuring the stability and accuracy of liquid level measurement, prolonging the service life of the smart agent container and the agent container cover (100) thereof, and guaranteeing precise spraying by an unmanned aerial vehicle.

An innovative spraying system, comprising features such as a weather station that senses environmental factors that may affect spraying operations, a system for creating and distributing droplets of a uniform and appropriate size, a flow management system that would allow the sprayer to control nozzle rate and direction individually, a high-rate flow system capable of filling the sprayer at rates of up to at least 400 gallons per minute, a modular chemical cartridge system, in which various chemicals are stored in pre-loaded, easy to install cartridges, a direct injection system, mixing chemicals and water as needed, optionally based on sensed changing conditions, electrostatic application of chemical to optimize the amount of chemical applied to plant matter.

A method and apparatus for mounting a pump stack in a self-propelled agricultural product applicator utilize a pump stack mounting arrangement including a pump stack, a crossmember with a web having an opening providing clearance for passage through the opening of at least one successive pump of the pump stack, and a removable mounting plate adapted for attachment to the crossmember and the at least one successive pump on an opposite side of the crossmember from a proximal end of the pump to provide support for a distal end of the pump stack. By removing the mounting plate, detaching any successive pump in the stack from its immediately preceding pump in the pump stack, and moving the detached part of the pump stack axially through the opening, clearance is provided for servicing a pump in the stack without removal of the whole pump stack or the crossmember.

The disclosed apparatus, systems and methods relate to fluid distribution systems. The fluid distribution systems being made up of a plurality of positive displacement pumps disposed on a fluid distribution manifold and proximate to the tank and the point of product discharge. The system optionally has a valve system for precision control of fluid discharge.

The invention is intended for the organization of an automated process for spraying of liquid means of chemical treatment from unmanned vehicles, for example, in precise farming systems. The use of a replaceable, marked and hermetically sealed liquid subsystem in the spray device of the invention, along with an integrated self-diagnosis system, using compressed gas energy and a pressure regulator instead of standard pumps, reduces the weight of the spraying device, improves spraying accuracy, ensures personnel safety and accounting of the accumulated life resource of the main units of spraying devices. All this in combination enables to create fully automated spraying systems.

A reconfigurable modular hopper spreader assembly is mountable in the bed of a truck and includes a modular dual-wall hopper with a receptacle for storing solid material to be spread onto the ground and with individual liquid chambers for storing a liquid or different liquids to be sprayed onto the ground. The hopper spreader assembly further includes a fluid conduit for filling or draining the liquid into or out of the liquid chambers, a liquid pump fluidly connected with the liquid chambers for drawing the liquid from the liquid chambers, a selector valve fluidly connected with the fluid pump for directing the liquid drawn from the liquid chambers, and a liquid dispenser fluidly connected with the selector valve for distributing the liquid onto an application area.

A spray system for an agricultural machine is configured to include a valving arrangement and multiple liquid product lines coupled to spray nozzle assemblies such that the valving arrangement can connect the product lines to the spray nozzle assemblies in different ways to achieve different modes of operation. Such modes can include providing agricultural liquid product flow through the spray nozzle assemblies at differing rates and/or flushing the product through the spray nozzle assemblies in differing directions. This can be achieved by controlling the valving arrangement to selectively connect any of the lines to pump for supplying product, to tank for returning product, or to block the lines to inhibit the flow of product. In one aspect, the product multiple lines can be of different sizes to enable more modes of operation, such as greater or lesser flow rates while spraying.

A container system for transporting and dispensing agricultural products. The container system includes a housing assembly and a set of agricultural product containers. The housing assembly has multiple slot assemblies for containers. The agricultural product containers are configured to be releasably contained within the slot assemblies. The set of agricultural product containers may include liquid agricultural product containers and dry agricultural product containers. The slot assemblies and agricultural product containers are cooperatively configured to provide the ability to utilize either of the agricultural product containers within the slot assemblies.