Water and fertilizer applicator for lawn and shrubs

A water applicator unit according to the teachings of the present invention is shown as including a cylindrical mixing tank fixed to a parallel pair of support tubes which extend above the top as handles and below the tank as legs leading to a pair of wheels. A water pipe attachable to a garden hose at the top, extends under the mixing tank to a spreader tube between the wheels at the bottom. A spreader plate held on the support tube and the spreader tube bends a lower end in spaced relation down over the spreader tube to part the grass as the water drops through holes in the spreader tube directly to the roots of the grass. Carried on cleats on the top of the spreader plate is a short hose and sprayer used to water shrubs and leads from the water pipe through a shut-off valve. The mixing tank also connects to the water pipe from a T-joint through a control valve in the lower end and is used when a fertilizer application is needed. The mixture in the mixing tank flows one way out of a ball valve at the middle of the tank back into the water pipe with a portion flowing back into the mixing tank at the lower control valve. A second set of wheels, adjustable and retractable, support the unit in an incline position.

The present invention relates generally to lawn watering and fertilizing 
means. 
With the population of the world growing and weather conditions changing, 
there are important reasons to conserve water. This invention provides 
part of the solution to this problem. 
SUMMARY 
The present invention provides a means to conserve water by applying the 
water, with or without fertilizer, directly to the roots of the grass to 
minimize the waste from evaporation common to other application methods. 
Specifically, a water pipe on tubular supports which have wheels on one 
end and handles on the other, is attached to a garden hose and wheeled 
along the course to be watered or fertilized. 
The water comes in at the top end of the water pipe, through a control 
valve, and flows to a spreader tube between the two wheels at the bottom 
and out spaced holes along the bottom of the spreader tube. An axle of the 
wheels through the spreader tube helps distribute the water or mixture 
evenly through the spreader tube. 
Helping to direct the water to the roots of the grass is a rectangular 
spreader plate removably attached to the tube supports above the spreader 
tube. The spreader plate has a bottom side which curves down over the 
spreader tube in spaced relation and bends the grass down ahead of the 
water or mixture coming out of the spreader tube as the unit is pushed 
along. Access openings are provided in the spreader plate for the water 
pipe shut-off valve and a capped cleanout tube in the spreader tube. The 
plate also features two circular cleats around which a small hose is 
wound, when not in use, for watering shrubs. It extends from a shut-off 
valve on a T-joint extending from the water pipe and has a sprayer head. 
For fertilizing use the unit features a mixing tank of cylindrical shape 
fastened vertically to the support tubes. A T-joint on the water pipe 
diverts some of the water into the bottom end of the mixing tank through a 
control valve. The mixture then flows one way out a ball valve at the 
middle of the tank, rationed through a small opening back into the water 
pipe. Most of the mixture then flows to the spreader tube with some being 
rediverted back into the mixing tank at the T-joint. 
To hold the unit in an inclined position there is a second set of wheels 
fastened to pivotable wheel legs extending from the support tubes with leg 
braces from the wheel legs extending up slideably through holding and 
tightening means on the support tubes. The braces become a handle with 
which to change the incline.

DESCRIPTION 
A water applicator is wholly shown in the drawings and generally designated 
10. Unit 10 comprises a long, tubular mixing tank 12 mounted parallel to 
two parallel spaced support tubes 14 which extend up beyond the said tank 
12 to diverge as handles 16. A support plate 18 extends between the said 
tubes 14 under the end of the mixing tank 12. Bands 17 hold the support 
tubes 14 to the mixing tank 12 at upper and lower end points. The support 
tubes 14 also extend downward beyond the lower end of the mixing tank 12 
to diverge and become parallel again in the same plane and continue on to 
connect to an axle 18 extending between the support tubes 14 and on which 
wheels 20 are fixed. The said axle 18 passes through a spreader tube 22 
which also extends between the said wheels 20. The said spreader tube 22, 
which has sealed ends, has spaced holes 24 extending in a line along the 
bottom parallel with the axle 18. 
A rigid water pipe 26 extends the length of the unit from near the base 28 
of the said handles 16 to the lateral center of the spreader tube 22. A 
shut-off valve 29 is inserted in the water pipe 26 just before it joins 
the spreader tube 22. A threaded Y and control valve 30 at the top of the 
water pipe 26 connects to a garden hose. A capped clean-out hole tube 32 
extends up from the top center of the spreader tube 22. 
A threaded plug 33 at the top end of the mixing tank 12 allows access to 
the tank to put in fertilizer. 
At a point on the water pipe 26 below the end of the mixing tank 12 is a 
first T-joint 34 connection leading to a control valve 36 which leads into 
the end of the mixing tank 12 which diverts water into the tank when the 
unit is used to apply fertilizer. 
At another point in the water pipe 26 between the said first T connection 
joint 34 and the said shut-off valve 29 is a second T-joint connection 38 
leading to a short sprayer hose 40. The said sprayer hose 40 for 
supplemental spraying of shrubs is attached by a threaded connection to a 
shut-off valve 41. The sprayer hose 40 is of a small diameter with a 
screw-on sprayer head 4 with a shut-off valve 43. It is held at rest on 
the top of a rectangular, removable sprayer plate 44 attached over the top 
of the spreader tube 22 to the support tubes 14 at the bottom of unit 10. 
The sprayer hose 40 is wound around and under circular cleats 46 spaced 
symetrically on the top of the said sprayer plate 44 and secured by a 
clinch holder 47 on the top of the sprayer plate 44 at the said sprayer 
head 42. 
A wide opening 48 from the center top of the sprayer plate 44 to the middle 
gives access to the shrube hose shut-off valve 43. A lower opening 50 in 
line with the said opening 48 provides space for the said clean-out hole 
tube 32. The bottom end side 52 of the sprayer plate 44 curves down in 
spaced relation over the spreader tube 22 and bends the grass down evenly 
as unit 10 is hand-pushed along. The water then flows directly to the 
roots of the grass. 
At a midpoint between the top and bottom of the mixing tank 12 is a ball 
valve 54 joining the water pipe 26 and the mixing tank 12 which allows a 
mixture of fertilizer and water to flow one way from the mixing tank 12 to 
the water pipe 26. The said ball valve 54 comprises two spaced dividers 55 
and 56 in the middle section which valve has an end cap 58 with a small 
hole 59 extending into the mixing tank 12. Below the said cap 58 is a 
float ball 60 small enough to allow liquid to flow around it into several 
small holes 62 spaced around the edge of the said divider 55. The said 
second divider 56 has a single larger hole 63 leading into the water pipe 
26 which then carries the mixture down to the first T-joint connection 34. 
Part of the mixture is diverted by the force of the flow into the 
connection 34, through the control valve 36 into the bottom of the mixing 
tank 12. The rest of the mixture in the water pipe 26 continues on to the 
spreader tube 22 through the said shut-off valve 29 to be dispensed out 
the holes 24. The axle 18 helps to disperse the mixture evenly across the 
interior of the spreader tube 22. This recycling action tends to keep an 
even mixture flowing through the system. A straight transparent connecting 
tube 64 is inserted in the water pipe 26 above the shut-off valve 29 for 
color checking the fertilizer mix. 
A second paid of wheels 66 connected by an axle 68 is attached to rotatable 
legs 70 secured to a crossbar bracket 72 at a midpoint of the support 
tubes 14. Leg braces 74 attached rotatably to near the lower end of the 
legs 70 extend up in a converging manner beyond the lower part of the unit 
passing through the loop ends 76 of a turn-buckle secured in a U-shaped 
bracket 78 on the support tubes 14. The top ends of the leg braces 74 bend 
toward each other with a gap between and are covered by a tubular handle 
80 which allows the wheels 66 to be locked in place, adjusted as desired.