Measuring and testing – Moisture content or absorption characteristic of material
Patent
1992-03-26
1993-05-11
Cuchlinski, Jr., William A.
Measuring and testing
Moisture content or absorption characteristic of material
733225, 47 79, G01N 502
Patent
active
052091090
DESCRIPTION:
BRIEF SUMMARY
The present invention relates to a device enabling the quantity of water required for maintaining a proper moisture level in a cultivation medium placed in a tray to be determined by a direct reading.
The invention also relates to a plant tray specially adapted to implement the device for determining the quantity of water required by a cultivation medium placed in the tray.
In the prior art, the amount of water to be applied to a cultivation medium and the frequency of watering are not obvious. Only a specialist can determine the requirements of the medium merely from its appearance and from its feel.
There exist plant pots having water reserves and including a device for displaying the water level in the bottom thereof. The main drawback of this type of plant tray is the time required to acclimatize a plant. On average it takes two months for the roots to be able to draw water from the bottom of the tray. Traditional watering from above is essential during this period.
There also exist various types of apparatus whose operation is based on detecting the moisture content of compost. Such apparatuses are complex, and are not suitable for domestic use. They are expensive due to the sophisticated design of apparatuses of this type, and they are intended essentially for industrial growers.
Methods and devices that work by weighing are also known, such as those described in French patent document number 2 614 417, which for proper operation requires components that are strong, thereby giving rise to a cost that is hardly compatible with generalized domestic usage. In addition, rating is required to take account of the water retention percentages of the mediums used for cultivation purposes. Such rating requires knowledge known only to the person skilled in the art.
The invention seeks to make it possible to indicate reliably the quantities of water that need to be applied to a plant tray in order to maintain good growth while using a device that is simple, cheap, and convenient to use.
Another object of the invention is to enable growing plants to be sold, in particular aromatic plants and flowering plants, and it relates to plant trays adapted to industrialized handling and to the requirements of self-service distribution, and specially adapted to implementing devices of the invention for displaying watering requirements.
These objects are achieved by a device for determining the quantity of water required by a cultivation medium placed in a tray, which device is characterized by the following points:
a) it comprises a measuring wheel disposed vertically and mounted on a vertical partition so as to be free to rotate about a horizontal axis, while presenting an unbalance;
b) the bottom portion of the measuring wheel is situated a few millimeters from the bottom of the tank of the tray;
c) the measuring wheel comprises a first portion which is not very hydrophilic and which has a mean relative density that is less than unity, and a second portion provided with hydrophilic means which cause the unbalance of the wheel to change as a function of the quantity of water retained in the hydrophilic means; and
d) the measuring wheel is fitted with display means for displaying the angular position of the measuring wheel.
In a possible first embodiment, the unbalance of the measuring wheel is created by its horizontal axis being eccentric (e) relative to the geometrical axis of the measuring wheel.
In a second embodiment, which may indeed be combined with the first embodiment, the unbalance of the measuring wheel is created by an additional mass applied to a localized peripheral region of the measuring wheel.
In an embodiment that is particularly advantageous because it is simple to implement, said first portion that is not very hydrophilic is made of a lightweight material of density less than that of water, in the form of a disk in which a notch is formed, and in which said second portion comprises a hydrophilic item constituted by sponge material fixed in said notch by gluing.
Said second portion may extend over an ang
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Bennett G. Bradley
Cuchlinski Jr. William A.
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