METHOD FOR APPLYING SPRAY FLUID

Abstract

A method for applying spray liquid by an agricultural spraying device includes steps of: applying the spray liquid to an agricultural area by a plurality of spraying elements which are arranged on a sprayer boom of the agricultural spraying device, and detecting plant rows on the agricultural area during the application of the spray liquid, the spray liquid being applied by at least one spraying element with a first spray pattern in row areas of the agricultural area which have plant rows, and being applied by at least another spraying element with a second spray pattern in row-free areas of the agricultural area without plant rows.

Claims

1: A method for applying spray liquid by an agricultural spraying device, comprising the steps of: applying the spray liquid to an agricultural area by a plurality of spraying elements, which are arranged on a sprayer boom of the agricultural spraying device, and detecting plant rows on the agricultural area during the application of the spray liquid, wherein the spray liquid is applied in row areas of the agricultural area comprising the plant rows by at least one of the spraying elements with a first spray pattern and is applied in row-free areas of the agricultural area not comprising the plant rows by at least another of the spraying elements with a second spray pattern.

2: A method according to claim 1, wherein the application of the spray liquid in the row areas is carried out with a first group of the spraying elements and the application of the spray liquid in the row-free areas is carried out with a second group of the spraying elements.

3: The method according to claim 2, further comprising: automatic changing of the first or second spray patterns in an application area below the sprayer boom when a plant row beginning is detected; or automatic changing of the first or second spray patterns in an application area below the sprayer boom when a plant row end is detected.

4: The method according to claim 3, wherein the changing of the first or second spray patterns in the application area below the sprayer boom when detecting the plant row beginning comprises at least one of the following steps: deactivating at least one of the spraying elements of the second group of spraying elements assigned to the application area; or activating at least one of the spraying elements of the first group of spraying elements assigned to the application area.

5: The method according to claim 3, wherein the changing of the first or second spray patterns in the application area below the sprayer boom when the plant row end is detected comprises at least one of the following steps: deactivating at least one of the spraying elements of the first group of the spraying elements assigned to the application area; or activating at least one of the spraying elements of the second group of the spraying elements assigned to the application area.

6: The method according to claim 3, wherein the changing of the spray pattern in the application area below the sprayer boom upon detection of the plant row beginning or plant row end comprises the following step: changing the first or second spray patterns of at least one spraying element assigned to the application area.

7: The method according to claim 1, wherein the first spray pattern and the second spray pattern differ with respect to their spray widths or spray angles.

8: The method according to claim 1, wherein the first spray pattern and the second spray pattern result in different application amounts or different application rates of the spray liquid.

9: The method according to claim 1, wherein different active substances or different active substance concentrations are applied when the spray liquid with the first spray pattern or when the spray liquid with the second spray pattern are applied.

10: The method according to claim 1, wherein detection of the plant rows on the agricultural area is carried out by one or a plurality of sensor devices or one or a plurality of cameras of the agricultural spraying device.

11: A agricultural spraying device, comprising: a plurality of spraying elements, which are arranged on a sprayer boom and are configured to apply spray liquid to the agricultural area; a detection device adapted to detect plant rows on the agricultural area during the application of the spray liquid; and a control device which is configured to control the application of the spray liquid through the spraying elements, wherein the control device is adapted to cause at least one of the spraying elements to be applied in row areas of the agricultural area comprising plant rows, to apply the spray liquid with a first spray pattern and, in row-free areas of the agricultural not comprising plant rows, to cause at least one of the spraying elements to apply the spray liquid with a second spray pattern.

12: The agricultural spraying device according to claim 11, wherein the agricultural spraying device is adapted to carry out a method comprising the steps of: applying the spray liquid to the agricultural area by the plurality of spraying elements, and detecting the plant rows on the agricultural area during the application of the spray liquid, wherein the spray liquid is applied in the row areas of the agricultural area comprising the plant rows by at least one of the spraying elements with the first spray pattern and is applied in the row-free areas of the agricultural area not comprising the plant rows by at least another of the spraying elements with the second spray pattern.

Description

[0023] In the following, preferred embodiments of the invention are explained and described in detail with reference to the enclosed drawings.

[0024] FIG. 1 shows an embodiment of the agricultural spraying device according to the invention while carrying out the method according to the invention in a schematic representation; and

[0025] FIG. 2 shows a sprayer boom of an agricultural spraying device of the invention while carrying out the method according to the invention in a schematic representation.

[0026] FIG. 1 shows an agricultural spraying device 10 configured as a field sprayer, which is carried by a tractor 100. The agricultural spraying device 10 applies a spray liquid to an agricultural area 18 and the plants located on the agricultural area 18. The agricultural spraying device 10 moves along tramlines that are part of a tramline system created within the agricultural area 18.

[0027] During the application of spray liquid on the agricultural area 18 the agricultural spraying device detects 10 plant rows on the agricultural area 18, which run essentially parallel to the direction of travel of the agricultural spraying device 10.

[0028] On the agricultural area 18 there are row areas 20a-20p, in which plant rows run essentially parallel to the direction of travel of the agricultural spraying device 10. In addition, there are row-free areas 22a-22d on the agricultural area 18, which do not have any plant rows running parallel to the direction of travel of the agricultural spraying device 10. The row-free areas 22a-22c are due to an imprecise seed application. The row-free areas 22d are located in the headland area, whereby the seed application in this area was carried out parallel to the headland lane, so that the field-internal row structure is interrupted in a transition area to the headland.

[0029] The agricultural spraying device 10 has a plurality of spraying elements 14a-14g, 16a-16g arranged on a sprayer boom 12, which are configured as spray nozzles. The spray liquid is applied over the spraying elements 14a-14g, 16a-16g onto the agricultural area 18 and the plants located on it. In the row areas 20a-20p of the agricultural area 18 the spray liquid is applied with a first spray pattern M1. In the row-free areas 22a-22d of the agricultural area 18 the spray liquid is applied with a second spray pattern M2. The first spray pattern M1 and the second spray pattern M2 differ at first in their spraying widths B1, B2 and their spraying angles α, β. The spray liquid is applied in the row areas 20a-20p with the spray pattern M1 row-related, so that a narrow strip application along the respective plant rows is achieved. Accordingly, spray pattern M1 has a small spray angle α. In the row-free areas 22a-22d, spray pattern M2 is used to apply the spray liquid over an area that is not row-related. Accordingly, spray pattern M2 has a comparatively open spray angle β.

[0030] In addition, the first spray pattern M1 and the second spray pattern M2 lead to different spray liquid application quantities. Since in the row areas 20a-20p a targeted application can be made to the plants arranged in rows, the application quantity in the row areas 20a-20p is lower than the application quantity in the row-free areas 22a-22d, to which the spray liquid is applied with the second spray pattern M2.

[0031] In addition, different active substances and/or different active substance concentrations can be applied when spray liquid with the first spray pattern M1 and when spray liquid with the second spray pattern M2 are applied.

[0032] If the agricultural spraying device 10 detects the beginning of a plant row during the application of the spray liquid, the spray pattern in the corresponding application area below the sprayer boom 12 is automatically changed by the agricultural spraying device 10. In the area of a plant row beginning a row-free area 22a-22d in the direction of travel of the spraying device 10 changes into a row area 20a-20p. If a plant row beginning is detected, the first spray pattern M1 is automatically set in the corresponding application area below the sprayer boom 12.

[0033] If a plant row end is detected in an application area below the sprayer boom 12, the spray pattern in the corresponding application area below the sprayer boom 12 is automatically changed by the agricultural spraying device 10. In the area of a plant row end a row range 20a-20p in the direction of travel of the spraying device 10 changes into a row-free area 22a-22d. When a plant row end is detected, the second spray pattern M2 is automatically set in the corresponding application area below the sprayer boom 12.

[0034] FIG. 2 shows a sprayer boom 12 with a plurality of spraying elements 14a-14g, 16a-16g configured as spray nozzles. The spraying elements 14a-14g, 16a-16g comprise a first group of spraying elements 14a-14g and a second group of spraying elements 16a-16g. With the spraying elements 14a-14g a first spray pattern M1 can be realized. With the spraying elements 16a-16g a second spray pattern M2 can be realized. The first spray pattern M1 and the second spray pattern M2 differ in their spray widths B1, B2 and their spray angles α, β. The spraying elements 14a-14g, 16a-16g are arranged in pairs, but other arrangements are possible.

[0035] On the sprayer boom 12 there are also a plurality of cameras 24a-24f arranged, which are components of a detection means. The detection means is used to detect plant rows on the agricultural area 18 during the application of the spray liquid. The spraying elements 14a-14g, 16a-16g can be individually controlled by a control device of the agricultural spraying device 10.

[0036] In the row areas 20a-20e detected by the cameras 24a-24f, the spray liquid is applied by means of the spraying elements 14a, 14b, 14e, 14f, 14g of the first group of spraying elements 14a-14g. In the row-free area 22a detected by the cameras 24a-24f, the spray liquid is applied by means of the spraying elements 16c, 16d from the second group of spraying elements 16a-16g. Thus, in the row areas 20a-20e, the spray liquid is applied with the first spray pattern M1. In the row-free area 22a, the spray liquid is applied in an area with the spray pattern M2.

[0037] If a new plant row beginning is detected in the further course, an automatic switching from the second spray pattern M2 to the first spray pattern M1 takes place in the corresponding application area below sprayer boom 12. The switching from the second spray pattern M2 to the first spray pattern M1 is implemented by deactivating at least one spraying element 16a-16g of the second group of spraying elements 16a-16g assigned to the application area and activating at least one spraying element 14a-14g of the first group of spraying elements 14a-14g assigned to the application area.

[0038] If a plant row end is detected in the further course, an automatic switching from the first spray pattern M1 to the second spray pattern M2 takes place in the corresponding application area below the sprayer boom 12. The switching from the first spray pattern M1 to the second spray pattern M2 is implemented by deactivating at least one spraying element 14a-14g of the first group of spraying elements 14a-14g assigned to the application area and activating at least one spraying element 16a-16g of the second group of spraying elements 16a-16g assigned to the application area.

REFERENCE NUMERALS

[0039] 10 agricultural spraying device [0040] 12 sprayer boom [0041] 14a-14g spraying elements [0042] 16a-16g spraying elements [0043] 18 agricultural area [0044] 20a-20p row areas [0045] 22a-22d row-free areas [0046] 24a-24f cameras [0047] 100 tractor [0048] M1, M2 spray pattern [0049] B1, B2 spray width [0050] α,β spray angle