US-20260123589-A1 - IRRIGATION DEVICE, IRRIGATION CONTROL SYSTEM, AND CONTROL METHOD THEREOF

US20260123589A1US 20260123589 A1US20260123589 A1US 20260123589A1US-20260123589-A1

Abstract

An irrigation device, an irrigation control system, and a control method thereof are disclosed. The irrigation device includes a first housing, a wireless control module, and a valve unit. The first housing defines therein a main flow passage and a branch flow passage that are in mutual communication. The first housing is provided with an inlet port and a first outlet port that correspond to an upstream end and a downstream end of the main flow passage, respectively, and is provided with a second outlet port communicated with a downstream end of the branch flow passage. The valve unit is partially located in the branch flow passage and is connected to the first wireless control module so that the first wireless control module controls the valve unit to open or close the branch flow passage.

Inventors

Shulong Li
Tang Chieh Yu
Jizhong WANG
Kunguang WU

Assignees

ZhongShan Qing Yi Metal Products Enterprise CO., LTD

Dates

Publication Date: 20260507
Application Date: 20251102
Priority Date: 20241106

Claims (10)

1 . An irrigation device, comprising: a first housing, defining a main flow passage and a branch flow passage therein, the first housing being provided with an inlet port, a first outlet port, and a second outlet port, the inlet port being in fluid communication with an upstream end of the main flow passage, the first outlet port being in fluid communication with a downstream end of the main flow passage, the branch flow passage having an upstream end being in fluid communication with the main flow passage, and the second outlet port being in fluid communication with a downstream end of the branch flow passage; a first wireless control module, disposed in the first housing; and a valve unit, disposed in the first housing and partially located in the branch flow passage, wherein the first wireless control module is connected to and controls the valve unit to open or close the branch flow passage.
2 . The irrigation device of claim 1 , further comprising a timer module, which is connected to and provides the first wireless control module with timing signals so that the first wireless control module controls the valve unit to open or close the branch flow passage in accordance with the timing signals.
3 . An irrigation control system, comprising a gateway unit and a plurality of irrigation devices as described in claim 1 , wherein the gateway unit is in wireless connection with the irrigation devices, respectively, and the irrigation devices are connected in series by a water tube to form at least a part of an irrigation string assembly, so that in the irrigation string assembly, between two adjacent said irrigation devices, the first outlet port of the upstream irrigation device is in fluid communication with the inlet port of the downstream irrigation device through the water tube.
4 . The irrigation control system of claim 3 , wherein the gateway unit comprises a second housing and a second wireless control module disposed in the second housing, in which the second wireless control module is configured to be in connection and communication with a smart terminal or a cloud platform, and to be in wireless signal connection with the first wireless control module of each of the irrigation devices.
5 . A control method being applicable to an irrigation control system as described in claim 3 , the control method comprising: network-binding the gateway unit with each of the irrigation devices in the irrigation string assembly so as to form at least a part of an irrigation network assembly; connecting and communicating with the gateway unit to acquire identity information of the gateway unit and the irrigation devices in the irrigation network assembly; acquiring a first control instruction, and establishing irrigation program data corresponding to the irrigation network assembly in accordance with the first control instruction, wherein the irrigation program data include irrigation durations for the individual irrigation devices and an irrigation sequence among the irrigation devices; and distributing the irrigation program data to the corresponding gateway unit, and entering the irrigation network assembly into a first irrigation mode, in which the irrigation devices in the irrigation network assembly open the branch flow passages thereof sequentially according to the irrigation sequence and close the branch flow passages when their corresponding irrigation durations elapse.
6 . The control method of claim 5 , further comprising: acquiring a second control instruction; and transmitting the second control instruction to the corresponding gateway unit, and entering the irrigation network assembly into a second irrigation mode, in which the irrigation devices open or close the branch flow passages in accordance with the second control instruction.
7 . The control method of claim 5 , wherein the step of “network-binding the gateway unit with each of the irrigation devices in the irrigation string assembly so as to form at least a part of an irrigation network assembly” further comprises: entering the gateway unit into a network configuration state so that the gateway unit is capable of receiving network configuration requests; bringing the irrigation devices close to the gateway unit to enter a network configuration communication range of the gateway unit, and sending the network configuration requests from the irrigation devices; and receiving the network configuration requests at the gateway unit and network-binding the gateway unit and the irrigation devices so as to form at least said part of the irrigation network assembly, and acquiring the identity information of the network-bound irrigation devices.
8 . The control method of claim 5 , further comprising, after the step of “establishing irrigation program data corresponding to the irrigation network assembly in accordance with the first control instruction,” steps of: generating an irrigation program table based on the irrigation durations respectively corresponding to the irrigation devices and based on sequential irrigation processing of the irrigation devices; for any said irrigation device whose branch flow passage is currently open, acquiring an elapsed opening duration of the irrigation device and calculating a remaining opening duration according to the irrigation duration and the elapsed opening duration; and updating the irrigation program table with the remaining opening duration.
9 . The control method of claim 5 , further comprising: acquiring a third control instruction, which enables selection of at least one of the irrigation devices for a positioning display step; and in the positioning display step, outputting indication information from the selected irrigation device.
10 . The control method of claim 5 , wherein plural said irrigation network assemblies are included, and a smart terminal is in connection and communication with the gateway units in the irrigation network assemblies, in which the smart terminal is configured to distribute the irrigation program data to the gateway unit of one said irrigation network assembly and to the gateway unit of another said irrigation network assembly at a time interval defined by a preset time value.

Description

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Technical Field The present invention relates to the technical field of smart Internet of Things (IoT) technologies, and more particularly to an irrigation device, an irrigation control system, and a control method thereof. 2. Description of Related Art Existing smart irrigation devices are connected to a water supply source through water tubes and are further connected with components such as sprinklers. A user can wirelessly control the irrigation devices via a smart terminal so as to activate or deactivate the irrigation devices. However, each irrigation device is independently connected to the water supply source through a respective water tube. When multiple irrigation locations are required, the number of connection ports of the water supply source may be insufficient. In addition, when all irrigation devices are activated simultaneously, the water pressure supplied by the water source to each irrigation device is reduced, and variations in water pressure affect the spraying range of the sprinklers, thereby resulting in unsatisfactory irrigation performance. SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention is intended to at least address one of the technical problems existing in the prior art. To this end, the present invention provides an irrigation device, an irrigation control system, and a control method thereof, which are characterized by an easy, simple layout and rational, orderly control, thereby ensuring desired irrigation quality. According to one embodiment of a first aspect of the present invention, an irrigation device comprises: a first housing, defining a main flow passage and a branch flow passage therein, the first housing being provided with an inlet port, a first outlet port, and a second outlet port, the inlet port being in fluid communication with an upstream end of the main flow passage, the first outlet port being in fluid communication with a downstream end of the main flow passage, the branch flow passage having an upstream end being in fluid communication with the main flow passage, and the second outlet port being in fluid communication with a downstream end of the branch flow passage;a first wireless control module, disposed in the first housing; anda valve unit, disposed in the first housing and partially located in the branch flow passage, wherein the first wireless control module is connected to and controls the valve unit to open or close the branch flow passage. According to the embodiment of the present invention, the irrigation device has at least the following beneficial effects: The irrigation device of the present invention defines the main flow passage therein, and plural irrigation devices may be interconnected through a water tube, with the first outlet port of an upstream irrigation device in fluid communication with the inlet port of a downstream irrigation device through the water tube, thereby forming the irrigation string assembly. The inlet port of the upstream-most irrigation device in the irrigation string assembly may be connected to a water source via the water tube so that water can flow along and through the main flow passage. A user then can use a smart terminal to send a wireless control signal that causes any one or more irrigation devices to open the respective valve unit(s), thereby opening the branch flow passage(s). The second outlet port of each irrigation device is configured to connect a sprinkler component, and the water flowing in can be dispensed through the sprinkler component for irrigation. The user may adjust the number of open irrigation devices based on the water pressure. This design features easy, simple layout and rational, orderly control, thereby ensuring desired irrigation quality. According to one embodiment of the second aspect of the present invention, an irrigation control system comprises a gateway unit and a plurality of irrigation devices as described in the previous embodiment, wherein the gateway unit is in wireless connection with the irrigation devices, respectively, and the irrigation devices are connected in series by a water tube to form at least a part of an irrigation string assembly, so that in the irrigation string assembly, between two adjacent said irrigation devices, the first outlet port of the upstream irrigation device is in fluid communication with the inlet port of the downstream irrigation device through the water tube. According to the embodiment of the present invention, the irrigation control system has at least the following beneficial effects: The irrigation control system employs the irrigation devices disclosed in any of the foregoing embodiments. The first outlet port of an upstream irrigation device is in fluid communication with the inlet port of a downstream irrigation device through the water tube, thereby forming an irrigation string assembly. The inlet port of the upstream-most irrigation device in the irrigation string assembly may be connected to a water