US2757046A

US2757046A - Rotary garden sprinkler

Info

Publication number: US2757046A
Application number: US267533A
Authority: US
Inventors: Herbert G Holmes
Original assignee: FMC Corp
Current assignee: FMC Corp
Priority date: 1952-01-22
Filing date: 1952-01-22
Publication date: 1956-07-31
Anticipated expiration: 1973-07-31

Description

y 1955 H. G. HOLMES ROTARY GARDEN SPRINKLER 2 Sheet-Sheet 1 Filed Jan. 22, 1952 INVENTOR HERBERT G. HOLMES ATTORNEY July 31, 1956 H. G. HOLMES ROTARY GARDEN SPRINKLER Filed Jan. 22, 1952 I wiw 2a 29 27 32a l 2 Sheets-Shae t 2 HERBERT G. HOLMES ATTORNEY 2,757,046 Patented July 31, 1956 ROTARY GARDEN SPRINKLER Herbert G. Holmes, Los Gatos, Califi, assignor to Food Machinery and Chemical Corporation, San Jose, Calif., a corporation of Delaware Application January 22, 1952, Serial No. 267,533

Claims. (Cl. 299-69) The present invention relates to self-propelling rotary garden sprinklers of the type wherein the force of the water jet ejected fro-m the sprinkler nozzle is employed to impart to said nozzle a stepwise rotary movement about a vertical axis.

It is an object of the present invention to provide a rotary garden sprinkler, of the type referred to, that is simple in construction and dependable in operation.

Another object is to provide a garden sprinkler, of the type referred to, whose rotary movement occurs uniformly in one direction.

Still another object is to so arrange a sprinkler, of the type referred to, as to avoid any backlash in the rotary movement of its nozzle.

An additional object of the invention is to so arrange a sprinkler, of the type referred to, that continuity of its rotary advance is assured, and any tendency of its relatively rotatable components to bind is effectively counteracted.

Still another object is to provide a garden sprinkler, of the type referred to, which spreads practically all the ejected water in a substantially horizontal direction with a minimum of upward deflection, such as might wet the foliage of bushes or trees.

These and other objects of the present invention will be apparent from the following description of the accompanying drawings which illustrate a preferred embodiment thereof and wherein:

Fig. l is a perspective of a garden sprinkler embodying my invention.

Fig. 2 is a vertical section through the sprinkler and the water supply conduit upon which it is mounted.

Fig. 3 is an enlarged plan view of the sprinkler.

Fig. 4 is an enlarged elevation of the sprinkler viewed from a point in front of its spray nozzle orifice, i. e. in the direction of arrows 4-4 in Fig. 2.

Having first reference to Figs. 1 and 2, the sprinkler of my invention comprises a stationary base portion in theform of a tubular socket 10. During practical use of the sprinkler, said socket is firmly secured to the end of a water supply line which is represented by the vertical pipe 11. For this purpose a centrally apertured cap 12 may be provided with

internal threads

13a and 13b in its neck and body portion, respectively, which may be engaged with external threads 14a and 14b provided in the lower end of the socket 1'0 and the upper end of the pipe 11, respectively, and the socket 10 may possess an outer collar in the form of a hexnut 10a to facilitate tightening of the socket 10 within the cap 12'. Rotatably received within the socltet'lo isthe tubular stem 15 of the rotary sprinkler head 16. Said stem 15 is free to slide vertically within the socket 10 but its bottom endis radially extended below the lower end of the socket to form an outwardly directed annular shoulder 17' by means of which the stem 15 is retained within the socket 10. To establish a desired degree of frictional resistance to the rotation of the stem 15 within the socketlfl, a suitable gasket 18 isinterposed between the lower end ofv the socket 10 and the annular shoulder 17. During operation of the sprinkler,

said gasket is held under compression between the socket 10 and the shoulder 17 by the force exerted by the upwardly flowing water current upon the extended bottom end of the stem 15. Securely screwed upon the projecting upper end of the tubular stem 15 is the vertical shank 20 of an elbow pipe or conduit 21. The other shank 22 of said elbow pipe extends in a radial direction with a slightly upward inclination, and within the open end of said radially extending shank is screwed the jet nozzle 23. Said nozzle may be of conventional design forming a slotted tubular nipple 230 that projects beyond the upper outwardly directed shank of the elbow pipe as shown in both Figs. 1 and 2.

To rotate the sprinkler head 16 within the base 10 during practical performance of the device, a horizontally positioned tubular socket 25 is firmly secured to, or may form an integral part of the vertical shank 20 of the elbow pipe 21, and rotatably received within said socket is a horizontal shaft 26. The position of said socket 25 on, and relative to, the elbow pipe 21 is preferably such that said horizontal shaft 26 extends in a vertical plane that is parallel to the vertical plane determined by the two shanks of the elbow tube 21 which latter plane contains the axis of the water jet ejected from the nozzle 23 during operation of the sprinkler. Firmly secured to the forwardly projecting end of the horizontal shaft 26, i. e., the end pointing in the same direction as the jet nozzle 23, is a hub 27 which forms a circular disc 28 to which is bolted a rocker as indicated by the screw bolts 29 in Figs. 1 and 2. The rocker 30 comprises an intermediate portion in the form of a plate 31 that lies substantially within a vertical plane extending at right angles to the center axis of the horizontal shaft 26. Said plate 31 extends downwardly to a level below the upper end of the stationary sprinkler base 10, and its lower end carries a crossbar 32 which may be an integral part of said plate as shown, and which extends substantially parallel to the horizontal shaft 26 but on the opposite side of the sprinkler head 16 and its socket 10. The inner arm 32a of the crossbar 32 has a concave edge 33 adjacent the tubular socket 10, and means are provided to yieldably hold the rocker 30 in a position wherein the crossbar 32 bears with said concave edge against the stationary socket 10. For this purpose, a torsion spring 35 is coiled around the rearwardly projecting portion of the horizontal shaft 26, with one of its ends attached to a collar 36 that is firmly secured to said shaft, and its opposite end anchored in an abutment 37 that is formed on the tubular socket 25. Said spring 35 is arranged'to'urge the shaft 26 in a clockwise direction, as viewed in Figs. 1 and 4 until the crossbar 32 strikes against the stationary sprinkler base 10, as best illustrated in Fig. l. The outer arm 32b of the crossbar 32 is loaded with a weight 45 for reasons that will presently appear.

At its upper end, the plate 31 is bent in radial direction to form a narrow upwardly inclined shelf 40 of radially converging contour. When the rocker 30 is in its extreme clockwise position as shown in Fig. l, the shelf is situated a limited distance below the radial shank of the elbow pipe 21 and the center axis of the sprinkler jet ejected from the nozzle 23, and may extend in a plane of about the same inclination as said center axis. At its far end, the shelf 40 carries a vertically positioned lateral vane 41 located on the sameside of the sprinkler jet axis as the horizontalshaft 26 in such a manner as to slant in radial direction toward said sprinkler jet axis which is indicated by a dash-dot line A in Fig. 3. In fact, the remote edge 41a of said vane (viewed from the vertical center axis of the sprinkler) is preferably curved inwardly to intersect the path of the sprinkler jet as best shown in Fig. 3. At an intermediate point the shelf 40 carries a second vertically positioned vane 42 which is located on the same side with respect to the sprinkler jet axis as the stopbar 32, whenever the rocker is in the extreme clockwise position illustrated in Fig. 1. As best shown in Fig. 3, the plane of said vane 42 is slightly inclined relative to the sprinkler jet such that the remote edge thereof lies closest to the center line A of said jet.

When the supply of water is turned off, the rocker 30 assumes the position illustrated in Fig. 1 under the urgency of the torsion spring 35 and the weight 45 corresponding to the position shown in full lines in Fig. 4. As soon as the water is turned on, however, the jet of Water ejected from the nozzle 23 rushes past the intermediate vane 42, impinges upon the inwardly slanting side wall and the inwardly turned end of the remote vane 41 and is deflected to the left as viewed in Fig. 3 while imparting an oppositely directed moment to said vane 41 and the shelf 40 upon which said vane 41 is mounted. To this moment the described device may respond in a two-fold manner: (1) The total sprinkler head 16 may turn within the stationary socket in a clockwise direction as viewed in Fig. 3, and (2) the rocker may swing in a counterclockwise direction as viewed in Fig. 4 about the center axis of its horizontal shaft 26 to the position illustrated in broken lines in said Fig. 4, which position is dependent upon the weight 45 and the strength of the torsion spring (which oppose the described counterclockwise motion) in relation to the friction established by the gasket 18 between the rotatable stem 15 of the sprinkler head 16 and the stationary sprinkler base 10 (which opposes rotary movement of the former within the latter). By making spring 35 of appropriate strength as compared with the friction between the stem 15 and the base 10, matters may be arranged in such a manner that the water jet imparts a slight but significant rotary movement in clockwise direction to the total sprinkler head (as viewed in Fig. 3) while counerclock- Wise rotation of the shelf about the center axis of the shaft 26 (as viewed in Figs. 1 and 4) is restricted to a shallow arc. As the shelf 40 turns in the described manner to withdraw the vane 41 from the impact of the water jet, the torsion spring 35 is tensioned and acts in concert with the weight to restore the rocker 30 to its initial clockwise position; and as the shelf 40 returns to its original position directly below the water jet, the intermediately positioned vane 42, which is of an inclination opposite to vane 41. enters the water jet prior to vane 41, and shields the curved end of said vane momentarily from the full impact of the Water jet so that the return movement of the rocker 30 under the force of weight 45 and the urgency of the spring 35 may be completed without interference. In addition, the force of the water jet upon the inclined inner surface of the intermediate vane 42 imparts an added return moment to the rocker 30, as it returns to its clockwise position, and as a result thereof, the return movement of the rocker is completed with a sudden thrust before the water jet may again fully impinge upon the remote vane 41 and start another cycle in the operation of the sprinkler.

Due to the fact that the stopbar 32 at the lower end of the plate 31 is arranged to come against a stationary component of the sprinkler. namely, its stationary base 10. the return movement of the rocker 30 is unable to impart a reverse rotational increment to the sprinkler head 16. Thus, the sprinkler nozzle advances exclusively in clockwise direction as viewed in Fig. 3 without any backlash so that there will be no excessively wettened sectors in the area serviced by the sprinkler of my invention. In fact. by loading the forwardly extending arm 32b of the stopbar 32 with the weight 45. the return stroke of the rocker 30 imparts an additional rotative increment of clockwise direction to the sprinkler head, because as the rear end 32a of the stopbar 32 comes to an abrupt halt against the stationary sprinkler socket 10, the momentum of its forward end 32b and of the weight 45 secured thereto tends to swing the entire sprinkler head further in clockwise direction about the vertical center axis of the device. The impact of the loaded stopbar 32 against the stationary base 10 has the added advantage of jarring said base continuously to such an extent that the relatively

rotatable elements

10 and 15 are loosened and the rotary stem 15 of the sprinkler head 16 may readily follow the rotary impulses imparted to it by the sprinkler jet. Thus, the device will dependably remain in rotative condition during practical use thereof. Moreover, owing to the fact that the shelf 40 is arranged to turn about a horizontal axis adjacent to the sprinkler jet axis and substantially parallel to a vertical plane containing said sprinkler jet axis, with its rotative movement limited to a shallow arc, there is practically no upward deflection of the water dispensed by the sprinkler, such as may wet the foliage of trees above the serviced meadows or fields.

While I have explained by invention with the aid of an exemplary embodiment thereof, it will be understood that I do not wish to be limited to the specific constructional details shown and described which may be departed from without departing from the spirit and scope of my invention. Thus, the rocker 30 may be arranged to turn about an axis that is not only parallel to the vertical plane determined by the center axis of the water jet but lies actually within said vertical plane.

I claim:

1. A self-propelling rotary sprinkler including a stationary socket; a sprinkler head rotatably mounted in and projecting above said socket, said sprinkler head having a nozzle adapted to form a radially directed water jet; and means for turning said sprinkler head comprising a rocker supported from said sprinkler head for rotation about an axis substantially parallel to the vertical plane containing the center axis of said water jet, a radially extending shelf provided on the upper end of said rocker, a stop member in the form of a bar extending substantially parallel to the defined vertical plane provided at the lower end of said rocker at sufliciently low a level to bear against said stationary socket, said stopbar having a radially projecting outer end, spring means yieldably urging said rocker into a rotary position wherein the inner end of said bar engages said stationary socket, a vertical vane provided at the remote end of said shelf at the side opposite to said stopbar with respect to the defined vertical plane, said vane being inclined relatively to the said jet axis and having its remote edge bent inwardly to intersect said jet axis when the rocker is in the rotary position determined by said stopbar, and a weight attached to said rocker and spaced radially from the axis of rotation of said sprinkler head to impart a turning moment to said head through said rocker as said stopbar strikes said stationary socket.

2. A self-propelling rotary sprinkler including a stationary socket; a sprinkler head rotatably mounted in said socket, said sprinkler head having a nozzle adapted to form a radially directed water jet, and means for turning said sprinkler head comprising a rocker supported from said sprinkler head for rotation about an axis substantially horizontal and parallel to the vertical plane containing the center axis of said water jet, a stop member in the form of a bar extending parallel to the defined vertical plane provided at the lower end of said rocker and adapted to bear with one of its ends against said stationary socket, a vertical vane supported from the upper end of said rocker at a point remote from the orifice of said nozzle in such relation to said stopbar with respect to the defined vertical plane as to converge from the opposite side in radial direction toward said jet axis when said rocker is in the rotary position determined by engagement of said stopbar with said socket, and a weight provided at the other end of said stopbar and spaced from the axis of rotation of said sprinkler head to apply a turning moment to said head through said rocker causing a rotation of said head.

3. A self-propelled rotary sprinkler comprising a stationary support, a conduit rotatably mounted on said support, a nozzle on said conduit, a lever disposed at one side of said conduit, a shaft pivotally mounted on said conduit, means mounting said lever on said shaft for pivotal movement relative to said conduit and for conjoint rotation with said shaft and said conduit about the axis of said conduit, a stop disposed on said lever and projecting away from the plane of pivoting of said lever and into abutting contact with said stationary support, a vane mounted on said lever adjacent one end thereof and positioned in the path of the stream of water issuing from said nozzle, said lever being pivotally movable in one direction upon impact of the stream on said vane, transmitting a component of the force of the impart through said mounting means and through said shaft as a turning moment against said conduit to rotate the same, a spring operatively connected between said conduit and said lever to resist the pivoting of said lever in said one direction and to return said stop to the position abutting said stationary support, and a weight on said lever on the opposite side of the pivot axis from said vane and spaced from the axis of rotation of said nozzle to impart a turning moment to said conduit through said mounting means when said stop impacts against said stationary support.

4. A self-propelled rotary sprinkler comprising a stationary socket, a conduit rotatably mounted in said socket, a nozzle on said conduit, a lever disposed at one side of said conduit, a shaft pivotally mounted on said conduit, means mounting said lever for pivotal movement relative to said conduit and for conjoint rotation with said shaft and said conduit about the axis of said conduit, 3. vane carried by said lever and disposed in the path of a stream of water issuing from said nozzle, said lever being pivotally movable in one direction upon impact of the stream of water on said vane transmitting a portion of the force of said impact to said conduit through said mounting means and said shaft to rotate the conduit in one rotary direction, a weight on said lever movable in a path spaced from the axis of rotation of said conduit to an elevated position as said lever is rocked in said one direction, means operatively connected between said lever and said conduit for rocking said lever in an opposite direction when said weight reaches said elevated position, and stop means carried by said lever and projecting away from the plane of rotation of said lever into a parallel plane through said socket and into a position to contact said socket upon pivoting movement of said lever in said opposite direction, said weight being arranged to apply a turning moment to said conduit through said lever, said mounting means and said shaft upon impact of said stop with said socket to further rotate said conduit in the said one rotary direction.

5. A rotary sprinkler comprising a fixed support member, a conduit terminating in a nozzle mounted on said support member for rotation about a vertical axis, said nozzle being arranged to discharge a radially directed fluid jet, a shaft rotatably journaled on said conduit in a plane parallel to and ofiset laterally from a first vertical plane passing through said vertical axis and through said jet, said shaft extending to opposite sides of a second vertical plane passing through said vertical axis and normal to said shaft, a rocker keyed on said shaft on one side of said second vertical plane, a vane disposed on said rocker in the path of said jet, said rocker being pivotally movable in one direction upon impact of said jet on said vane, a stopbar on said rocker and having a weight associated therewith, and a spring supported on said conduit on the opposite side of said second vertical plane, said spring being operatively connected between said conduit and said shaft to resist pivotal movement of said rocker by said jet and to urge said stopbar into striking contact with said support member.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,710,107 Orr Apr. 23, 1929 1,997,901 Engelhart Apr. 16, 1935 2,119,312 Buckner May 21, 1938 2,214,990 Buckner Sept. 17, 1940 2,380,101 Englehart July 10, 1945 2,606,789 Royer Aug. 12, 1952 2,625,411 Unger Jan. 13, 1953 2,654,635 Lazzarini Oct. 6, 1953