AU725536B2 - Sub-soil watering means - Google Patents

Description

I.)

Regulation 3.2

AUSTRALIA

PATENTS ACT 1990 COMPLETE SPECIFICATION FOR A STANDARD PATENT

ORIGINAL

C..

C Name of Applicant: Actual Inventor: Address for Service: John Francis DECREVEL John Francis DECREVEL KEN MADDERN PATENT ATTORNEY, Floor, 150 Grenfell Street, Adelaide, South Australia, 5000 Invention Title: "SUB-SOIL WATERING MEANS" Details of Associated Provisional Application No: PO 0698 dated 27 th June, 1996 The following statement is a full description of this invention, including the best method of performing it known to the applicant.

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This invention relates to a watering arrangement for irrigating sub-soil to improve the growth of plants in horticultural or agricultural applications.

One of the limitations with irrigation as presently used is that the area irrigated is that which is watered by discharge of water directly onto the ground through apertures spaced along the length of a hose, and there may be some areas which receive excessive quantities of water and others which are inadequately watered. One object of this invention therefore is to provide water which is more evenly spread over an area by use of sub-soil watering.

While the conduit can, for example, be an extrusion of flexible plastics 10 material, it is preferably incorporated in a unitary moulding or extrusion which 0 also incorporates a tile, the water finally discharging into surrounding soil from the tile periphery. This provides a means whereby water distribution into the S-soil is very even.

In one embodiment, use is made of subterranean watering tiles, oo 15 preferably of flexible plastics material.

This in turn reveals a further problem which must be overcome, and it is e an object of this invention to provide means whereby watering tiles (when used) can be readily joined together so as to accommodate different plot areas and shapes.

A still further problem which is encountered with irrigation as presently employed is that in many instances the irrigating water is subject to excessive heat and therefore evaporation, the surface only of the soil being watered and upon evaporation, any salts contained in the watering are likely to be thrown -2- 3 Out of the irrigating water, and can build up an undesired high density on the surface of the ground.

Thus this invention provides subterranean watering means including an extendable conduit having a plurality of apertures spaced along its length, water spreading means to receive water from said apertures, said water spreading means comprising a pair of parallel plates, and means forming a complex network of passages between the plates opening along the edges of the plates whereby water flowing through the network of passages exits from the network of passages at the periphery of the plates.

In one embodiment water spreading means provides a tile with a base plate and an upper plate in face to face contiguity with the base plate, a distribution watering conduit on a said plate, an aperture through said plate in communication with the space within the distribution conduit, and a non-planar pattern on the contiguous faces. The tile can be elongate, and can be associated at one end 15 with a primary supply conduit which has coupling means to a couple a plurality l: i of tiles at one end of each tile, and a closure member arranged to close the other .°-end of the tile, and so that water which passes through the primary supply conduit into the distribution conduit is dispersed at spaces along the distribution conduit, and enters the ground at edges of the plates.

In a further embodiment of the invention, the non-planar pattern comprises a plurality of ridges and troughs which will have the effect in use of creating a turbulence and spreading the water which is distributed beneath the ground surface. If the ridges and troughs are in a parallel but sloping array, a wide area of water distribution can be achieved at the tile periphery. The arrangement is such that the plates and their distribution conduits occupy only a shallow depth and thereby can be positioned beneath the surface of the ground at a depth which is most beneficial to the plants which are to be irrigated.

"zR~ It is undesirablethat the plates should fully cover a large area of ground and clearly there should be root areas between adjacent tiles, and the configuration of the tile edges therefore may be non-linear, but incorporate a series of curves, preferably in a somewhat sinusoidal shape or of zigzag shape, to thereby expose areas of the ground which are accessible to air and moisture required by the roots of plants.

Embodiments of the invention are described hereunder in some detail with reference to and as illustrated in the accompanying drawings in which: Fig 1 is a top perspective view of a tile, showing a pair of plates having surfaces in face to face contiguity, each plate being attached to a respective conduit; oooo 10 Fig 2 is a side elevation of a tile assembly comprising the two plates with their surfaces lying face to face; Fig 2B is end elevation of Fig 2; *9° Fig 2C is a fragmentary top view of a primary supply conduit showing joiners projecting from it so that it can be coupled to a tile or tiles; 9 Fig 2D shows the non-planar surface of a plate; Fig 2E is a fragmentary view showing the shapes of the ridges and S .i troughs of a plate; Fig 3 shows an assembly of tiles; Fig 4A is a view of a non-planar face of a tile having ridges; Fig 4B is a fragmentary section showing the configuration achieved when the tile is assembled; Fig 4C is an isometric view showing the shapes of troughs which receive the ridges of Figs 4A and 4B; -4- ,Dl Fig 5 is a central section through a tile according to Figs 1 and 2, but using a "flat" conduit on both tile plates; Fig 6 shows one embodiment of an extruded strip which may be used in some instances in lieu of tiles; Fig 7A shows an alternative strip to that illustrated in Fig 6; Fig 7B shows a variation of Fig 7A; Fig 8 is an "exploded" fragmentary view showing a further alternative to the above arrangements; and Fig 9 is a combination drawing of "exploded" components of a tile, and •oo.

10 how it may be arranged with respect to other tiles, around a plant; and Fig 10 shows a configuration of tiles surrounding a tree.

Referring first to Fig 1, a tile 10 (which is truncated in length) comprises an upper plate 11 and a lower plate 12 attached respectively to distribution conduits 13a and 13b.

Figs 2D and 2E illustrate a non-planar face of tile 10, which comprises a *series of ridges and troughs 14 which slant with respect to the distribution o• conduits 13a and 13b in such a way that upper and lower plates 11 and 12, with their reverse surfaces contiguous, will define a complex network of passages for water flow. The plates 11 and 12 are retained together by welding or by adhesive cement, or by method shown in Fig 8.

The edges of the base plates 11 and 12 are not linear in shape, but comprise a plurality of outwardly convex and outwardly concave edges such that the base plate when placed adjacent with another base plate will leave

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space there between for the roots of irrigated plants to have access to air and water from the ground surface, as best seen in Fig 3.

To provide the required irrigating water to the distribution conduits of an array of tiles, there is provided a primary supply conduit 16 which has projecting joiners 17, and these joiners are of such shape that they are insertable in the open ends of the distribution conduits 13a and 13b of tiles while the other ends of the tiles are closed by a closure member 18. Figs 3 and 8 show how one member 18 can close ends of a number of tiles 10, and two arrays of tiles 10 can be provided with irrigating water from a single primary 10 supply conduit. As seen best in Fig 2B, the water which flows from the supply conduit into the distribution conduit is released centrally in each projecting part of the base plate 11 or 12, through a central aperture In Fig 3, a single primary supply conduit 16 feeds each of a plurality of tiles 10 which are arranged in two arrays one each side of the supply conduit 16, and the other ends of the supply conduits are closed by the closure flanges U-section member 18, the closure member 18 having re-entrant teeth 21 on o° the facing surfaces of the flanges which engage the downstream ends of the respective distribution conduits, and urge a rubber seal strip 22 against the ends of conduits 13a, 13b. The tops and bottoms of tiles may also have reentrant teeth, as shown in Figs 8 and 9, to ensure positive engagement of the closure member.

In the above described embodiment, the distribution conduits 13a, 13b are shown to have a semi-circular cross-sectional shape, and this requires the joiners 17 to be separately inserted in the upper and lower tile portions. This -6can be obviated in some embodiments by having the distribution conduit fully circular in cross-sectional shape, where upon the joiners 17 can be themselves fully circular and insertable with an interference fit into the ends of the distribution conduits 13a, 13b. The full circular shape of the conduits can be achieved several ways, one of which is to have one end of an upper plate with a projecting tubular nipple connecting to the joiner 11, and the other end also with a tubular nipple for sealing, there being "half pipes" on respective top and lower tile portions connecting to respective tubular nipples. However, it is preferred that each distribution conduit itself should be fully tubular since this simplifies the shapes of the closure spigots of the closure member 18.

Figs 4A, 4B and 4C illustrate shapes of pyramidal ridges 24 projecting from the upper plate's reverse surface. Said ridges fit neatly into recesses of the lower plate, and space the contiguous surfaces if the plates let the water flow between said ridges, and up and down said ridges where flow is blocked at *o intervals by pyramidal ridges 24.

As said above, it is preferred that the tiles 11 and 12 be of flexible plastics material so that they can better accommodate earth movement, for example when force is applied to them through soft ground by a machine or a pedestrian. This will also involve the conduits to which the tile is attached, and Fig 5 illustrates the conduits 27, one on each of the upper and lower plates 11 and 12, conduit 27 being constituted by an extruded strip cemented to the outer surfaces of the plates 11 and 12, but being "flat" that is, being much wider than their depth. This renders the whole assembly much more flexible than what is L1 shown in Fig 1 for example, and also provides the additional advantage that the emitter can come in a roll.

The above described tiles are the preferred arrangements for general purpose irrigation. However they may be more expensive than is desired by consumers, and to reduce costs it is possible to make use of extrusions and still employ the principles of this invention.

Fig 6 illustrates a single extruded strip 30 which is hollow to define a conduit space 31 having apertures 32 extending through side walls.

The upper web 33 terminates in side walls through which the apertures 32 pass, but the lower web 34 extends outwardly in flanges 35. The flanges support strips of polymeric foam 36 which are retained in place by retention straps 37 which have barbed heads 38 which extend through the flanges and lock the straps 37 and foam 36 in position. Apertures 32 thereby open to the edges of the foam 36 which has the effect of spreading the moisture layer •oo* along the strip.

In a slight variation of the arrangement of Fig 6, Fig 7 shows an extruded S .i strip 40 which provides again a flat conduit space as in Fig 6, with the conduit passage 41 extending along the strip 40. Side walls 42 terminate in in-turned flanges 43 which entrap foam 44 which dissipates discharge water as in the above embodiment, but although the arrangement of Fig 7 may be less effective than that of say Fig 1, it is much cheaper since the foam can be fed in to the extrusion 40 as it emerges from the extrusion die, thereby avoiding any requirement for assembly operation.

-8- Figs 1 through to 5 illustrate tiles which have curved edges, but if the tiles are to be cut from sheet, savings can be achieved if the sheet is cut as shown in Fig 8, wherein the edges 47 of the sheet are zigzag in shape so that there is little or no wastage of material. The assembly of the configuration of Fig 8 is simplified by the use of retention straps 48a and 48b as illustrated, and these cause clamping of a foam sheet 49. The conduit 27a shown in Fig 8 is again extruded, but is provided with re-entrant teeth 21a which function to firmly retain the teeth 21 of the closure member 18 which is illustrated more in Fig 8 than elsewhere. It will be appreciated that due to the very low pressure *Oi.

S 10 which exists in most of the installations, it will take very little effort to inhibit leakage at the ends of the conduits, so that the soft rubber strip 22 illustrated in Fig 8 should be found to be effective in most instances.

S"Fig 9 illustrates a single use tile which would be useful in a small garden, for example to partly or fully surround a plant, in association with other tiles, as shown, and Fig 10 illustrates a configuration wherein a plurality of tiles surround a plant.

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Claims (14)

1. A subterranean watering means including an extendable conduit having a plurality of apertures spaced along its length, water spreading means to receive water from said apertures, said water spreading means comprising a pair of parallel plates, and means forming a complex network of passages between the plates opening along the edges of the plates whereby water flowing through the network of passages exits from the network of passages at the periphery of the plates.

2. Subterranean watering means according to Claim 1, wherein said plates have surfaces in face to face contiguity, said contiguous faces being non-planar and defining between them said complex network of passages for said water flow.

3. Subterranean watering means according to Claim 2, wherein said non- 15 planar surfaces of said tile plates comprises ridges and grooves which cross each other where contiguous.

4. Subterranean watering means according to Claim 2, wherein one said plate of each tile comprises surfaces defining recesses and the other said late *00 thereof comprises surfaces defining ridges which engage in respective said recesses and retain a small space between said plates.

Subterranean watering means according to Claim 1, wherein said water spreading means comprise foam polymeric material between said plates which provides said complex network of passages for said water flow.

6. Subterranean watering means according to any one of Claims 2 to wherein the plates of each said tile are retained together by at least one of welding, adhesive cement or securing straps.

7. Subterranean watering means according to Claim 1, wherein said conduit is defined by surfaces in an extruded strip of polymeric material which incorporates flanges, and foam polymeric material carried by said flanges, and wherein said apertures direct said water discharge to flow through said polymeric material.

8. Subterranean watering means according to Claim 7, further comprising securing straps securing said foam polymeric material to said flanges.

9. Subterranean watering means according to Claim 7, wherein said flanges are re-entrant to other surfaces of said strip and thereby form therewith a narrow mouth channel, and retain said foam polymeric strip in said channel.

10. Subterranean watering means substantially as hereinbefore described with reference to and as illustrated in Figures 1,2 and 3 herewith.

11. Subterranean watering means substantially as hereinbefore described with reference to and as illustrated in Figures 4A, 4B and 4C herewith. S:

12. Subterranean watering means substantially as hereinbefore described with 15 reference to and as illustrated in Figure 6 herewith.

13. Subterranean watering means substantially has hereinbefore described with reference to and as illustrated in Figures 7 and 7B herewith.

14. Subterranean watering means substantially as hereinbefore described with reference to and as illustrated in Figures 8 and 9 herewith. 20 Dated this 14th day of June 2000 I. JOHN FRANCIS DECREVEL By his Patent Attorneys COLLISON CO.