APPARATUS FOR LAYING SUBTERRANEAN PLASTIC TAPE AND PIPE

Abstract: The apparatus is provided with a conventional frame (2), earth splitting tool (9, 20), laying head (10) formed as hollow wingtype subsoiler, pipe and plastic tape storage drums (15, 16) and, according to the invention, guiding elements (11) for folding up the plastic tape are arranged between the laying head (10) and the plastic tape storage drum (19) above it, while guiding elements (11, 24) for unfolding the plastic tape, i.e. guiding rollers forming concave duct are in the lower, hollow part of the laying head; and the lower hollow part is covered at the back by way or an arch, furthermore a single-ported, curved sleeve pipe is in the internal hollow part of the laying head for guiding of the pipes to be laid. In order to reduce the tractive resistance and embedding the plastic tape and pipe to be laid, it is preferable if the laying head and earth splitting tool are connected with vibrator (8).

Description: APPARATUS FOR LAYING SUBTERRANEAN PLASTIC TAPE AND PIPE The invention relates to an apparatus mainly used for laying subterranean plastic tape and pipe of the system cal led "subsoi l irrigation combined with impermeable lay¬ er", in order to enable economical irrigation of row crops cultivated in sandy or highly permeable soi ls, un¬ der large-scale conditions. The subsoi l irrigation combined with impermeable layer has been known for a long time (by the name HYDRAK) . It is a method the essential feature of which is that arti¬ ficial , impermeable layer is arranged about 60 cm below the ground surface, at the depth of the root zone of the plants, and irrigation pipe is laid above the imperme¬ able layer. With the aid of the process, the root zone of the plants is kept in adequately wet condition in soi ls with poor water management, according to a programme, without loss by evaporation and seepage, during the whole growth season, which produces high yield on barren, unyielding terrain, independently from the conditions of precipitation. The root zone of the plants can conti¬ nuously be suppl ied with dissolved protective agents and nutritives together with the irrigation water, at a low cost whi le protecting the environment. The real large scale use of said process was hindered so far by the fact, that no means was avai lable for the eco- nomical real ization thereof. Some experiments are known for the construction of suit¬ able laying equipment. Such is described in the technical periodical titled: "Kertgazdasag" , No. 4 volume 7, p. 34- 38, 1975. The equipment named FOLTERON-60 was used as a prototype. Its essential feature was that a wing-type subsoi ler was fixed to the semi -suspended frame, and the plastic coi l to be laid was arranged in its hol low rear part. The plastic irrigation pipe was guided from the large diameter bobbin fixed to the frame, to the upper part of the subsol ier, from where it went through the laying hole on the lower part of the tool , below the ground surface. This equipment was not general ly used in the practice, because keeping the laying equipment on proper level and its rel iable adjusting was not poossible, the plastic tape storage drum arranged at the bottom could not be control led during operation and the tractive power re¬ quirement of the equipment was too high. Guiding the plate at the bottom resulted in further d i sadvanga e : only a smal l amount of plastic tape could be coi led on the smal l diameter drum, which hindered the continuity of the operation and reduced the productivity. Thus this elementary machine was not suitable for the economical , large-scale real ization of the HYDRAK process. Object of the present invention is to provide an appara¬ tus for laying subteranean plastic tape and pipe, wherein the depth of laying is adjustable and rel iably kept at a given value, a productive speed can be achieved without the need of frequently replacing the materials to be laid, embedding of the materials can continuously be checked during operation, the tractive power requirement is relatively low, the construction is produced at a low cost and is suitable for carrying out supplementary works as e.g. excavation of the trench for laying the main l ine, backfi l l ing the trench, incidental ly laying vertic¬ al plastic tape, laying of two pipes at the same time. The invention is based on the recognition, that the plas¬ tic coi l can be hold relatively high above the ground surface, if the tape is folded in half when guided into the wing-type subsoi ler, where it is spread in its ful l width below the ground surface. Furthermore, the tractive resistance of the laying means is considerably reduced, if an earth spl itting tool is used before the laying head, and the tools of the laying equipment are brought into vibratory motion. Final ly the laying equipment can be produced at a low cost, if the tools are replaceably mounted on to the frame. The apparatus is provided with a conventional frame, earth spl itting tool , laying head formed as hol low wing¬ type subsoi ler, pipe and plastic tape storage drums and, according to the invention, guiding elements for folding up the plastic tape are arranged between the laying head and the plastic tape storage drum above it, whi le guiding elements for unfolding the plastic tape, i.e. guiding rol lers forming concave duct are in the lower, hol low part of the laying head; and the lower hoi low part is co¬ vered at the back by way or an arch, furthermore a single-ported, curved sleeve pipe is in the internal hol low part of the laying head for guiding of the pipes to be laid. In order to reduce the tractive resistance and embedding the plastic tape and pipe to be laid, it is preferable if the laying head and earth spl itting tool are connected with vibrator. According to a preferred embodiment, the laying head and the working tools are replaceably fixed to the frame. According to another preferred embodiment, the frame is driven and is connected to the impel ler throught hydrau¬ l ic cy I inders . The apparatus according to the invention wi l l now be des- cribed in detai l, with the aid of drawing, in which: Figure 1 is a schematic side view of the appara¬ tus, Figure 2 is a schematic view of the soi l profi le with the embedded plastic duct and pipe, Figure 3 is a sectional view of the laying head, Figure 4 is a side view of the frame with the trench excavating tool , Figure 5 is a sectional view of the trench and Figure 6 is a side view of the tools used for backfi l l ing the trench. Figure 1 shows the rear part of a tractor 1, where the towing lug. of frame 2 of the laying equipment according to the invention is engaged with the standard towing me¬ chanism of the tractor 1. The apparatus shown in the drawing is in operative position, that is the tools of the equipment move below the ground surface. The frame 2 is tractor-driven, its height in relation to the wheels 4 is steplessly adjustable with hydraul ic cyl inders 5. The equipment is shown in lowered extreme position, when the maximum working depth is about 800 mm. In the other ex¬ treme position (not shown) the equipment is in transport position, the tools l ifted above the ground surface. The frame 2 and its impel ler are conventional , and it is ad¬ visable to mass produce the construction in the interest of low cost, as for example the VIBROLAZ-80 type subsoi- I er . The earth spl itting tool 9,.20 is mounted on the front part of the frame 2, formed as a disc, or curved coulter. Both can be used at the same time, and since the working tools are replaceably fixed, the operator of the equip¬ ment may use these tools combined, depending on the type and moisture content of the soi l . Soi l tracing mechanism can also be mounted on the frame 2, whereby the distance of the pipe and plastic tape from the ground surface can be kept at a constant value, independently from the irre¬ gularity of the ground. The most important working tool of the equipment is the laying head 10 mounted on the end of the frame 10. Such construction is also feasible, when the laying equipment is provided with several laying heads 10. In this case irrigation pipes combined with several impermeable layers are laid in one run, next to each other, or on displaced levels, independently from the plant cultivation, soi l conditions, purpose of irrigation. The laying head 10 is a hol low wing-type subsoi ler. The plastic tape storage drum 15 is arranged above it and behind is the pipe stor¬ age drum 16. The material of the impermeable duct 14 may be different, but the inexpensive polyethylene is the best for the purpose. The storage drums 15, and 16 may be positively driven, free running or provided with adjust¬ able brake, depending on the qual ity of the materials to be laid. The one or several pipes are general ly made of plastic, perforated for passing through the irrigation water, and formed as currugated tube for the sake of easy replacement. It is advisable to use irrigation pipe form¬ ed as plastic hose wound up as a tape, thus great quanti¬ ty can be stored on a drum of smal l diameter. Recently, such plastic hose is made in pair, whereby the water distribution wi l l be homogeneous, moreover ingrowth of the root can be prevented with the use of such hose. It is customary method in the subsoi l irrigation techno¬ logy the use of drain bodies implanted at equal distance from each other . The plastic tape 14 from the drum 15 above the laying head 10 passes into the laying head 10 by winding off from the drum 15 and gradual ly folding up with the aid of guiding elements 24 it moves on, then with the aid of guiding elements 11 in the hoi low lower part 25 of the laying head 10 and guiding rol lers 12 it is spread in its ful l width, and it is embedded into the soi l in V-shape opened at the laying depth (Figure 2) . The condition of the laid plastic tape (wrinkle, tear) can be continuously checked with electronic sensors. The irrigation pipe 17 passes from the pipe storage drum 16 through a curved sleeve pipe 13 into the soi l , where it is embedded in the position shown in Figure 2. The curved sleeve pipe 13 is formed as to enable the laying of several pipes at the same time according to the irrig¬ ation purpose . In order to reduce the tractive resistance, increase the porosity of the soi l and enable correct embedding the elements to be laid (plastic tape and pipe), the working tools of the apparatus according to the invention may vibrate. This may be real ized in a simple way: applying a conventional hydraul ic needle vibrator 8 rigidly fixed to the tools. In order to prevent the cavity brought about in the soi l by the laying head 10 from cav?ng-in unti l the elements are embedded, the lower hoi low part 25 of the laying head 10 is covered by way of an arch. It frequently- occurs in the irrigation technology that the horizontal flow of the moisture in the soi l has to be prevented. In this case a vertical plastic tape is laid into the soi l with the aid of the vertical plastic tape storage drum 19 mounted on the rear part of the laying head 10. The laid pipe is suppl ied with irrigation water from the main l ine arranged at right angle. The trench excavating tool 29 mounted on the frame 2 - instead of the laying head 10 - is suitable for the excavation of a trench used for the laying of a main l ine with greater diameter. The trench is fi l led back with a trench cover¬ ing too I 30. The apparatus according to the invention works as fo I - I ows : First the trenches of the main l ine are excavated accord¬ ing to the plan of the subsurface irrigation system. The equipment with laying head 10 laying the perpendicularly arranged plastic duct and pipe is started from the open trench. After hook-up with the irrigation pipes, the trenches are backfi l led with trench covering tool 30, and the subsurface irrigation system is ready for operation. The main advantages of the apparatus according to the in¬ vention are the fol lowing: - it enables an economical irrigation on large-scale le- ve I - an accurate geometry and perfect embeddiong of the laid plastic tape may be achieved, - supplementary works may also be carried out by the same apparatus and an extensive use and inexpensive production may be- provided, due to the appl ied replaceable and variable work i ng too I s .

Claims: C L A I M S 1. Apparatus for laying subterranean polastic tape and pipe, provided with a conventional frame, earth spl itting tool , laying head formed as hol low wingtype subsoi ler, pipe and plastic tape storage drums wherein a single-ported, curved sleeve pipe is in the internal hol low part of the laying head for guiding the pipes to be laid, characterized in that guiding elements (24) used for folding up the plastic tape are arranged between the laying head (10) and the plastic tape storage drum (15), whi le guiding elements (11) for opening the plastic tape and guiding rol lers (12) forming the concave plastic duct (14) are arranged in the lower hoi low part (25) of the laying head (10), and the lower hol low part (25) of the laying head is covered by way of arch at the back. 2. The apparatus as claimed in claim 1, characte¬ rized in that the laying head (10) and the earth spl itt¬ ing tool (9,20) are connected with a vibrator (8) 3. The apparatus as claimed in claim 1 or 2, cha¬ racterized in that the laying head (10) and the working tools (29,30,9,20) are replaceably fixed to the frame (2). 4. The apparatus as claimed in any of claims 1 to 3, characterized in that the frame (2) is tractor-dri en and connected to the impel ler (4) through hydraul ic cy- I inders (5) . 5. The apparatus as claimed in any of claims 1 to 4, characterized in that vertical plastic tape storage drum (19) is replaceably connected with the rear part of the laying head (10) .

Inventors: PAULOVITS FERENC, PAULOVITS, FERENC
Applicants: PAULOVITS FERENC, PAULOVITS, FERENC
Application year: 1987
Main classification: E02B11
IPC codes: E02B11, E02F5