US3026044A - Adjustable pattern sprinkler - Google Patents

Description

March 20, 1962 w. P. KENNEDY ADJUSTABLE PATTERN SPRINKLER 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed March 2l, 1961 FIG.

March 20, 1962 w. P. KENNEDY 3,026,044

ADJUSTABLE PATTERN SPRINKLER Filed March 21, 1961 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 United States PatentOiice 3,026,044 Patented Mar. 20, 1962 3,026,044 ADJUSTABLE PATTERN SPRINKLER William P. Kennedy, 304 Freyer Brive, Marietta, Ga. Filed Mar. 21, 1961, Ser. No. 97,322 7 Claims. (Cl. 239-97) The present invention relates to water motor powered irrigation sprinkling devices that have rotary water distribution means and is particularly concerned with such devices that embody cam means mounted interchangeably upon the body of the device with said cam means enabling the device to sprinkle any one of a multiplicity' of area spray patterns.

The greatest problem encountered in the design of a water motor powered sprinkler of this type is the production of a uniform area coverage of sprinkled fluid. Various methods have been tried in the past using two or more distribution nozzles with good results in regard to certain patterns, particularly symmetrical forms such as squares and rectangles. Uniforrnity of coverage of non-symmetrical areas as done by presently designed cam-controlled water motor powered sprinklers leaves much to be desired. The variable speed of rotation pro- Vduced by a impulse powered rotary sprinkler, the speed being slower on the long range water throws and proportionally faster on the short range throws produces a uniform coverage regardless of the symmetry of the pattern. This variable speed of rotation is essential to proper distribution of sprinkled iiuid, the speed required on a short throw being much faster than that required on a long throw. Presently designed water motor powered cam pattern sprinklers have very little variation of rotation speed and hence do not produce a uniform pattern coverage over a wide range of shapes.

To achieve the uniformity of coverage produced by an impulse motivated cam-controlled sprinkler with the great range of rotational certainty as afforded by a water motor motivated sprinkler is the principal object of the present invention.

This device embodies means to rotate a single jet stream with said streams length, volume, speed of rotation and spray characteristics being variably controlled by a pattern cam. When the jet stream is long, the volume is great, the rotation is slow and the spray characteristic would be similar to that produced by a garden hose nozzle set to its longest throw under pressure. When the stream is short, the volume is small, the rotation is fast and the spray characteristic is fan-shaped and diused. As a result of this control of a single jet, the present water motor powered pattern sprinkler herewith submitted will produce results comparable with an impulse powered pattern sprinkler.

It is another object of the invention to provide a device of the character described which is substantially smaller in size, made of fewer parts and of considerably less cost than previous water motor powered devices of this kind.

Numerous other objects, features, and advantages of the present structure will be apparent from the consideration of the following specification taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, in which:

FIG. l is a side elevation of the device.

FIG. 2 is a sectional view of a portion of FIG. l showing diagrammatically the motivation result of one position of the lever in regard to the valve.

FIG. 3 is a fragmentary sectional view of a portion of FIG. 2 showing the motivation result of another position of the lever in regard to the valve.

FIG. 4 is a plan View of the central portion of the device showing the distribution head with its cover removed and in association with a cam.

FIG. 5 is a plan view in reduced scale of the base portion of the device with the distribution head removed so as to show means for stationing cams.

FIG. 6 is an elevation of the central portion of the device showing a front view of the distribution head and adjacent components.

FIG. 7 is a sectional view of a portion of FIG. 2, showing the relationship of the water wheel to the Valve port.

FIG. 8 is a sectional View of a portion of FIG. 2, showing the valve port in full open position.

FIG. 9 is a view of FIG. 8, showing the valve port in full closed position.

Referring to the drawings, the numeral 1 designates the base of the device upon which is mounted an elbow 2 embodying a hose coupling connection 3 at one end and the other end being threaded to receive a vertical conduit standard 4. The upper end of the elbow is widely anged at 5 and includes a slightly raised projection 6 above the flange. A small pin 7 protrudes from the top of the ange. A sheet metal pattern cam 8, whose shape is in general conformance with the shape of the area to be sprinkled, is provided with holes to receive the square projection 6 and pin 7 as shown more clearly in FIG. 5. The conduit standard 4 includes a wide shoulder 9 above its threaded base 10 with a wide flexible washer 11 acting both to hold the cam in position and as a water seal when the standard 4 is screwed into the elbow 2. This operation may be done by hand by grasping and turning the large gear 12 which is integrally a part of the standard 4. Thus cams of various shapes may be changed upon the mounting without the use of tools.

Turnably mounted within the standard 4 is a anged sleeve 13 with a water seal washer at 14 and threadedly connected to and supporting at its upper end a distribution head 15. Water entering the head passes through the passage 16 to a tubular valve 17 and enters the passage 18 through the Valve port 19. This port opens and closes by turning the sleeve 20 and when almost closed directs the water emitting directly at the water wheel 21 as shown in FIG. 2 and when fully opened directs most of the water emitting away from the water wheel as shown in FIG. 3. The effect of this action isv further aided by the division strip 22 in the channel 18 which splits the stream progressively away from the wheel as the valve opens. This arrangement causes the wheel to turn faster the more the valve is closed and slower the more the valve is opened.

A worm gear train within the head transmits the motion of the water wheel to the gear 23 which meshes with the gear 12 on the standard and imparts a slow rotation of the head upon the standard when water is lowing through the device, the relative speed of head rotation being controlled by the amount of water passing through the port 19 and contrary to usual practice the head rotation being faster as less water passes and slower when more water passes. Contact between gears 12 and 23 can be broken by merely lifting gear 23 and its shaft.

The water passes from channel 1S into a channel 24 and exits the head through the tiltable nozzle 25 which can be elevated for general overall range required of any pattern by means of the hand manipulatahle lever 26. Mounted to the lower side of the nozzle housing is an axle 27 upon which is turnably mounted a cylindrical mounting member 28 which supports a lever 29 with a roller 30 on its opposite end. Also mounted to member 28 is an additional lever 31 with a fork socket on its opposite end which engages a round receiving member on one end of a lever 32 which turns an axle 33 which controls the turning of the valve sleeve 20. It can thus be seen that movement of the lever 29 will open and close the port 19. Aiiixed to axle 33 is a lever 34 embodying'a weight 35Vwhrich urges the valve 17 to closed position and keeps the roller 30 constantly upon the. Y

perimeter of the cam 8. The movement of the distribution head around its axis thus opens and closes the valve according to the rollers position on any given cam and thereby produces a sprinkled pattern in conformance with the shape of the cam in use.

As the distribution head turns and varies the length of the jet stream, the characteristic of the stream emitting from a given nozzle orice of a suitable size to give a properly diiused stream throw on the longer ranges would become of a solid character with little or no stream diffusion on the shorter throws. To progressively break this solid stream into proper diffusion on the shorter throws a tapered pin 36 is adjustably mounted on the member 28. This pin will move progressively in or out of the jet stream according to its position on the member 28 as the lever 29 rounds the cam, being entirely out of the stream on the longer throws and entering the stream and diffusing it more the shorter the stream becomes. The base of the pin is alixed to the collar 37 which is turnably mounted on the member 2S and may be locked in any radial position by means of the set screw 38. This adjustment permits the pin to be properly placed into the stream regardless of the tilt of the nozzle 25 and also makes possible a reasonable variation of the shape of any given pattern by means of controlled stream diiusion. This would be in addition to the basic principles of stream length control and variable speed of rotation afforded by the device.

It is believed that the nature and advantages of my invention will be clear from the foregoing description. Having thus described my invention, I claim:

1. A cam-controlled pattern sprinkler, including a supporting body with means to station a pattern cam upon said body, a reduction geared water motor which includes a vaned water wheel within a housing turnably mounted upon said body, conduit means through said body and said water motor housing to a distribution nozzle in conjunction With said housing, a valve to control the volume and direction of flow through said conduit means with said valve being in association with said housing and providing means to variably aim said ow at the varies of said wheel so as to cause said wheel to turn progressively faster as said valve is progressively closed with said volume thereby reduced and said flow is progressively aimed so as to cause full impact of said flow upon said wheel and to cause said wheel to turn progressively slower as said valve is progressively opened with said volume thereby increased and said flow is aimed progressively away from full impact with said wheel.

2. The device as claimed in claim 1, in which the action of said valve is controlled by lever means in association with said pattern cam.

3. The device as claimed in claim 2, in which said valve includes an eXit port with means to direct said flow toward said wheel as said valve is closed and away from said Wheel when said Valve is opened.

4. The device as claimed in claim 3, in which said conduit means` adjacent said wheel and the exit side of said valve port consist ot" two conduit passages, the wheel being in one pasage and the other passage bypassing said wheel with the ow being progressively channeled through said bypass passage when said valve Y port is progressively opened and progressively channeled through said wheel channel when said valve port is progressively closed, with said two conduit passages becoming one passage before connecting with said distribution nozzle.

5. The device as claimed in claim 2, in which said lever means include means to progressively insert and withdraw stream dilusion means into the flow emitting from said distribution nozzle.

6. The device as claimed in claim 5, with means to permit variable adjustment of said diifusion means in regard to said flow emitting from said nozzle.

7. The device as claimed in claim 1, in which said distribution nozzle is manually tiltable.

Riblet `Tune 24, 1952 Kennedy Feb. 7, 1957

Images