(under the class definition) Apparatus which includes a means to distribute a material into contact with an erect, growing plant and having either (1) a means to move parts of the plant, e.g., to expose them to the material or to protect the plants from injury by the device, (2) a means to disturb the soil around a plant to weed, mulch or till said soil, or (3) a means to detect the presence and/or position of the plant and to either move the distributor relative to the plant or to control the material supply or some other characteristic of the distributor.
(1) Note. Where a patent claims the combination of material distributor with soil disturbing (e.g., scratching, plowing or cultivating), a disclosure that the material is applied to a plant has been considered sufficient basis for classification in this subclass while a disclosure of disturbing the same area of ground that the material is applied to, before, after or during the material application, has been considered a basis for classification in Class 111.
(2) Note. The plant manipulating means may consist of a blast of air in addition to that necessary to constitute the distribution.
SEE OR SEARCH THIS CLASS, SUBCLASS:
1.01, for combinations of material distributing and earth disturbing means in which, as disclosed, the earth is disturbed at an area other than that on which the material is discharged.
SEE OR SEARCH CLASS 111, Planting, appropriate subclasses for discharging of a material on the earth as an incident to, or in combination with the planting of a seed or other object or material in the soil, and for similar combinations of material distributors and soil disturbing means where the soil is disclosed as disturbed in the same area in order to facilitate penetration of the material into the soil.
118, Coating Apparatus,
668, for control of a coating sprayer in response to some sensed condition of the object to be sprayed.
239, Fluid Sprinkling, Spraying, and Diffusing, appropriate subclasses, for means to distribute material onto the ground and/or growing plants where no particular relation between the plants and the distributing means is involved.
