The present invention relates to a system for monitoring the dispensing of fluids, such as lawn care chemicals and the like, from a hand-held sprayer.
Lawn care operators have long been concerned with the accurate application of lawn chemicals both for the proper treatment of the lawn and a concern for the environment, and for the economic savings which result from avoiding the over-application of expensive treatment chemicals. The treatment of lawns for fertilization and/or weed and pesticide control typically involves the dispensing of treatment chemicals from a truck directly onto the lawn undergoing treatment. Within the truck, a pump is provided to convey the chemicals from a tank or other reservoir through a length hose terminating in a hand-held nozzle or sprayer. The nozzle is provided as having a trigger which is actuable by an operator to admit fluid therethrough. The operator, who carries the nozzle while walking over the lawn, controls the application of the chemicals and ensures that all areas of the lawn are treated adequately.
Initially, conventional flow meters having in-line sensors were proposed to meter the amount of treatment chemicals being applied by the operator. Such meters, however, have been proven to lack the ruggedness necessary for lawn care applications, and to be adversely affected by the fertilizers, insecticides, and other caustic chemicals used in the lawn care industry. Thereafter, the introduction of a lightweight, battery operated flow meter, made possible through the technology of complementary metal oxide semiconductors (CMOS), was expected to satisfy the concerns of lawn care professionals. Such a meter is described in U.S. Pat. No. 4,700,579 to incorporate a turbine having metal slugs embedded in the vanes thereof. A magnetic pick up switch is mounted in association with the turbines to detect the rotation of the vanes as magnetic pulses which are converted to a count in a CMOS counter. This count ultimately is provided as a readable output on a digital counter.
Although the above-described flow meter represented an important advancement in the art of liquid delivery systems, it is disadvantaged in that the turbine thereof must be mounted within the delivery line. For lawn care applications, the meter is mounted either within the nozzle or on the lawn chemical truck between the pump and the hose reel. Mounting the meter in the nozzle, however, increases the weight thereof and proportionally increases the fatigue of the operator. Such placement additionally subjects the meter to abuse when, for example, the hose is reeled into the lawn care track causing the nozzle to bounce along the ground striking trees, rocks, fire hydrants, and the like. Although alternatively mounting the meter within the truck between the pump and the hose reel avoids much of the wear and tear on the meter, the operator is inconvenienced in having to return to the truck each time he or she wishes to check the amount of fluid which was delivered.
Moreover, the flow meters heretofore known in the art contain moveable parts which come into contact with the caustic lawn treatment chemicals. Over time, such contact corrodes vanes, bearings, and other parts, and eventually necessitates the replacement of the meter. The meters previously used therefore have lacked the dependability required for industrial applications. Additionally, the use of such meters was viewed as inconvenient in that different meters generally were required depending upon the chemical being applied and on the application rate thereof. For example, it was not uncommon for an operator to change flow meters when the application rate or pressure of was increased or decreased.
In view of the foregoing, it may be seen that there has existed and remains a need for an improved flow meter for lawn care applications. The preferred meter would be lightweight, durable, reliable, economical, and easy to operate, and would operate for any flow rate or pressure without having to contact the chemicals being dispensed. It is apparent that such a meter would be well-received, and would represent an important advancement to the lawn care and landscape industries.