US2254270A - Sprinkling apparatus - Google Patents

Description

SePt- 2, 1941- w. H. coLEs Erm. 2,254,270

SPRINKLING APPARATUS Filed April 22, 1958 mf M ATTORNEY Patented Sept. 2, 1941 UNITED sTATEs PATENT Iormai-:

. srnmxrmo APPARATUS waiter n. cales. am J. Nelson, ima Bert Jennings, Troy, Ohio, assignors to The Skinner Irrigation Company, Troy, Ohio, a corporation of Ohio Application April 22, 1938, Serial No. 203,564

I 7 Claims. (Cl. 299-69) ated by the water flowing through the sprinkling member and incorporating a brake device operated by the impact means for frictionally engaging the support on which the sprinkling member is mounted.

Other objects and advantages of the invention will be apparent from the following description,

the appended claims and the accompanying drawing, in which Fig. l is a side elevation, partly in section,

. showing a sprinkling device embodying the present invention;

Fig. 2 is a front elevation of the sprinkling device;

Fig. 3 is a top plan view of the same with a portion of the spring and spring housing removed;

Fig. 4 is a bottom plan view showing the relationship between the vane and the associated nozzle;

Fig. 5 is a top plan view of the spring and spring housing, with the cover of the housing removed;

Fig. 6 is a vertical section taken on the line 6-8 of Fig. 5; and

Fig. '7 is a side elevation of the spring unit.

Referring more particularly to the drawing by reference numerals, I designates a sprinkling member, rotatably supported for movement about a vertical axis on a supporting member II which forms a bearing for the lower end of the sprinkling member. 'I'he support I I, as shown, is provided withscrew threads I2 adapted to be `engaged by the threads on a washer pipe I3'of any suitable character. 1

The body of the sprinkling member has a. central passage Il in free communication with the end of the water supply pipe I3, and communicating with water distributing nozzles I and I6, herein shown'as two in number and positioned 180 apart. The nozzles are directed in radial so that the stream of water willv be thrown a large distance over the ground.

The sprinkling member I0 is adapted to be moved step by step and at a comparatively slow rate of speed so that the streams of water issuing from the nozzles I5 and I8 will be moved slowly over different portions of the ground, and as herein shown the means by which the sprinkling member is mo'ved is one operated by the water owing through the sprinkling member and preferably operated by the stream of water after it issues from one of the nozzles. This means, as herein shown. comprises a rigid arm I8 pivotally supported on the sprinkling member I0 for movement about an axis that is preferably inclined at a substantial angle to the horizontal and to the vertical. The arm I8 is integral with or rigidly connected to a shell or housing I9 and with an extension portion 20, and i's provided with a bearing sleeve 2l rotatably supported on a fixed pivot pin 22 which extends upwardly from the top of the body member. The shell I9 forms an enclosing housing for a spring 23 which acts to yieldingly hold the arm I8 in the position shown in full lines in Fig. 3.

Pivotally supported on the outer end of the arm I8 is a vane 25 which, in the normal position of the arm I8 assumed when the device is not in use, is positioned in front of the nozzle I6. It is thus in the path of the stream of water issuing from that nozzle. The vane is of triangular formation having diverging faces 21 and 28. A pin 29' extends through a hole in the vane and is removably secured by suitable screw threads or the like in the arm I8, thus providing a pivot support for the vane, which is arranged so that either one of the diverging surfaces 21 or 28 may be struck by the stream issuing from the nozzle. Ears 29 project toward the end of the arm I8 and form limiting stops determining the angular movement of the vane on the arm.

With the vane 25 arranged as shown in full lines in Fig. 3, the stream issuing from the nozzle I6 acts against the surface 2l and the force ofl the stream rapidly swings the arm I8 counterclockwise as viewed in Fig. 3 against the action of the spring 23 and into the position shown in dotted lines at A, the spring yieldingly absorbing the momentum of the arm and its associated moving parts and stopping the same gradually after they move about a quarter of a revolution. Just before the vane 25 moves out of the stream of water, the outer end of the surface 21 is struck vertical planes at a suitable upward inclination by the water and the vane is tilted over so that the spring into the position shown in dotted lines at B in Fig. 3. Just before the vane leaves the stream as it moves clockwise from the normal position in front of the stream, the vane will be again tilted by the force of the water on the outer end of thevane. Thus each time the vane passes the stream it is struck by the stream and propelled along in the same direction it moves as it enters the stream, and the vane is tilted n the arm automatically by the stream itself.

The position of the arm Il indicated in dotted lines at B in Fig. 3 is determined by suitablestop provided on the sprinkling member I0 and impacted or struck by a portion of the oscillatable arm before the spring overcomes the inertia of the arm, so as to produce rotary step by step movements of the sprinkling member about its vertical axis of rotation. The impacting portion of the arm is preferably a projection 3|) having an adjustable threaded stud 3l normally xed in position on the projection 30 by means of a lock nut 32. The end of the stud 3i-is preferably 1ocated closely adjacent the axis about which the sprinkling member moves, and is adapted to strike the end 33 'of an impacted device herein shown as a lever 34 so as to transfer the rotational momentum of the lever arm and its associated moving parts to the sprinkling member and thus move the sprinkling member through a small arc. 'Ihe lever 34 is pivotally supported on a fulcrum stud 36 which is removably carried in brackets 3l fixed to and projecting from the body portion of the sprinkling member. The brackets 3J are provided with a series of holes, 38, herein shown as three in number, and the lever 34 is similarly provided with correspondingly spaced holes so that the fulcrum stud 36 may be engaged in any of the holes to locate the fulcrum point at thedesired distance from the upper end of the lever. 'I'he lower end 39 of the lever bears against the cylindrical surface 40 of the support Il so as to provide a braking eiect restraining or controlling the angular movements of the sprinkling member on the support. As the upper end of the lever 34 is struck by the end of the stud 3|, the rulcrum stud 36 transfers the momentum of the moving arm I8 to the sprinkling member and at the same time the lower end of the lever 34 is pressed against the surface 40. Thus the time required for given angular movement of the sprinkling member may be made substantially constant even though the water pressure supplied to the sprinkler may vary through extremely wide limits, for the braking effect increases as the force of the impact blow increases. With high water pressures the arm I8 is forced rather violently into the position B of Fig. 3 andV would tend to rotate the sprinkler through a rather wide angle, but the restraining eiect of the brake is proportionately increased at the very time of impact so that the speed may remain substantially constant.

'I'he speed of operation may be controlled, however, by shifting the pin 35 into a different hole and thus change the braking eiect to either increase or decrease the same. Thespeed may also be controlled by moving the screw 3l so as to increase or decrease the arc of movement between the normal position of the arm I8 and the limiting position indicated at B.

The spring, which is concealed and protected within the .shell Il, is preferably a spiral spring wire 4l wound on a sleeve 4l which is provided with ilanged portions 42 and 43 around which the ends 44 and 4l of the spring are turned. In the normal position of the spring on the sleeve. as shown in Fig. 7, the ends of the spring press nrmly against the ends of the flanges 42 and 43. The sleeve 4I is provided with a pin 41, fixed thereto and projecting into a hole 4I provided at the bottom of the shell Il as shown in FigJ, thus definitely positioning the sleeve 4l against relative turning but permitting the spring and sleeve unit to be readily withdrawn from the housing i3. The two ends 44 and 4I of the spring project outwardly and are relativelydlsplaced in a lateral direction so as to aiford space between them for a pin 43 which is nxed to the cap or cover il of the shell il. The cap Il is held by nut Il against the flanged portion Il of pin 22, thus holding the cap Il and the pin 43 fixed with respect to the sprinkling member Il. In the normal position of the arm i3 no spring pressure is exerted against the pin 4l by either end of the spring, but as soon as the arm turns in one direction or the other from its normal position, it pushes either the upper or lower end of the spring, depending on the direction of movement of the arm, sogas to increase the spring tension and apply the spring pressure directly to the pin and thus yieldingly urge the arm il back to its normal position. 'I'he spring has a number of turns so that the arm can be swung through a wide angle in either direction without subjecting it to positive or sudden restraining force, and thus permitting the gradual absorption of the inertia of the moving arm without imparting rotational movements to the sprinkler.

In accordance with the construction as herein set forth, the means which produces the periodic impacts on the sprinkling member and governs the speed of rotation at dierent water pressures is of comparatively simple construction and may operate effectively with water containing mud or Vother substances without effect on the apparatus,

and since the spring is concealed and' protected it will be apparent that the device may remain in service over long periods of time and may operate effectively to produce the desired rotational movements of the sprinkling member at a controlled rate.

While the form of apparatus herein described constitutes a preferred embodiment of the invenf tion, it is to be understood that the invention is not limited to this precise form of apparatus, and that changes may be made therein without departing from the scope of the invention which is v dened in the appended claims.

What is claimed is:

l. A sprinkling device comprising a support, a sprinkling member mounted for rotational movement on said support and having a distributing nozzle, an arm pivoted on said member, a vane pivoted on said arm and adapted to be actuated by the stream of water issuing from said nozzle `to swing said arm in opposite directions from a normal position, spring means yieldingly holding said arm in normal position with said vane in iiows through said member for moving said member step by step on said support, and a lever pivsaid nozzle for swinging said arm alternately to\ wards opposite sides of said stream. a coil spring normally urging said arm to position said vane in front of said nozzle, means carried by saidy member and engaged `by said arm at a predetermined position of said armat one side oi said stream ior imparting step by step movement to said member on said support and means ior adjusting said predetermined position to vary the turning movement produced by such engagement.

4. A sprinkling device comprising a supporting member, a sprinkling member mounted for rotational movement on said supporting member and having a distributing nozzle, impacting means operably carried by one of said members and operated by `the water that flows through suchmember. an impacted part impacted by said impacting means for moving the sprinkling member step by step on said supporting member, and means operated by said impacted part for applying a frictional restraining force on the sprinkling member each time the impacted part is engaged by the impacting means.

5. A sprinkling device comprising a supporting member, a sprinkling member mounted for rotational movement on said supporting member and having a distributing nozzle, impact means carried by said sprinkling member and operated by the water nowing therethrough for moving the sprinkling member step by step on said supporting member, and a friction member movably carried by said supporting member and adapted for pressure engagement with said support to frcltionally restrain the rotational movement of said sprinkling member and having a portion operated by said impact means for variation of the irictionai restraint in accordance with the force of the impact.

6. A sprinkling device comprising a supporting member. a sprinkling member mounted for rotational movement on said supporting member and having a distributing nozzle, impacting means operably carried by one of said members and operated by the water that ilows through such member, an impact part impacted by said impacting means for moving the sprinkling member step by step on said supporting member, means operated by said impacted part for applying a frictional restraining force on the sprinkling member each time theimpacted part is engaged by the impacting means, and adjustment means operable to adjust the amount of frictional restraint applied by said impacted part for each impact.

7. A sprinkling device comprising a supporting member, a sprinkling member mounted for rotational movement on said supporting member and having a distributing nozzle, impacting means operably carried by one of said members and operated by the Water flowing through such member, an impacted part operably carried on one of said members and engaged by saidrimpacting means to move lthe sprinkling member step by step on said supporting member, a brake device operably carried by one 4of said members and engaging the other member to apply a brake force on the sprinkling member, and a connection between said brake device and said impacted part providing for application of braking forces which are proportional to the amount oi' the impact blow.

WALTER H. GOLES. BERT J. NELSON. BERT JENNINGS.

Images