US3598317A

US3598317A - Rotatable sprinkler assembly

Info

Publication number: US3598317A
Application number: US14959A
Authority: US
Inventors: James C Roberts
Original assignee: Individual
Current assignee: Individual
Priority date: 1970-02-27
Filing date: 1970-02-27
Publication date: 1971-08-10
Anticipated expiration: 1988-08-10

Abstract

A sprinkler head that is rotated by liquid pressure passing through the head, which sprinkler head has a tubular support inserted in a tubular base for rotational movement on a bearing positioned therebetween. The tubular base has a disc positioned therein immediately adjacent the lower end of the tubular support, which disc has a small diameter hole. The lower end of the tubular support has an outer diameter slightly smaller than the inner diameter of the tubular base and with an internal diameter that is substantially larger than the hole through the disc. The liquid passing through the tubular base is projected up and through the channel in the tubular support and is restricted from passing between the tubular support and the tubular base, thereby restricting the depositing of impurities from the liquid into the bearing. The wall of the lower end of the tubular support has impeller means that upon rotation pulls liquid through the tubular support to the sprinkler head and pulls liquid away from the bearing.

Description

il'aite tats aient (72] Inventor James C. Roberts 1860 Jeffrey, Escondido, Calif. 92025 [2!) App]. No. 14,959 (22] Filed Feb. 27, 1970 [45] Patented Aug. 10, 1971 54] ROTATABLE SiRlNKLER ASSEMBLY 9 Claims, 3 Drawing Figs.

{52] US. CL 239/251, 239/225, 239/489 [5 3} lot. Cl 1305b 3/06 {50] Field at Search 239/251, 261, 262,487, 489, 225

[56] References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 629,338 7/1899 Chelimsky 239/487 X 1,118,1[8 11/1914 Fischer.... 239/489 X 1,853,805 4/!932 Elder 239/487 X 3,042,318 7/1962 Chow etal 239/251 X Primary Examiner-M. Henson Wood, Jr.

Assistant Examiner-Thomas C. Culp, Jr.

Attorneys-Carl R. Brown, Stephen L. King and Kenneth W Mateer ABSTRACT: A sprinkler head that is rotated by liquid pressure passing through the head, which sprinkler head has a tubular support inserted in a tubular base for rotational movement on a bearing positioned therebetween. The tubular base has a disc positioned therein immediately adjacent the lower end of the tubular support, which disc has a small diameter hole. The lower end of the tubular support has an outer diameter slightly smaller than the inner diameter of the tubular base and with an internal diameter that is substantially larger than the hole through the disc. The liquid passing through the tubular base is projected up and through the channel in the tubular support and is restricted from passing between the tubular support and the tubular base, thereby restricting the depositingpf impurities from the liquid into the bearing. The wall of the lower end of the tubular support has impeller means that upon rotation pulls liquid through the tubular support to the sprinkler head and pulls liquid away from the bearing.

PATENTEU we I 0 \sn INVENTOR. JAMES c. ROBERTS ZZu/fi $411M vvvgmgi Fig. 3

ATTORNEY ROTATABLE SPRINKLER ASSEMBLY BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION There are many known types of sprinkler units that have swiveling sprinkler heads driven by the water flow passing therethrough. In certain types of these sprinkler units, the sprinkler heads are connected to a tubular support. The tubular support rotatably fits into a tubular base, that may be a threaded coupling, nipple, tee coupling or the like. The tubular support and the tubular base have adjacent radial shoulders with a bearing therebetween. When water under pressure passes through the tubular base and the tubular support and passes out the sprinkler, it forces the adjacent shoulders against the bearing. This supports the sprinkler head in its rotational movement.

In the operation of these known sprinkler units, the water also flows directly between the tubular support and the tubular base and to the bearing surface. Thus the bearing also functions as a seal to prevent water flow through this space. This water flow also functions to lubricate the bearing.

As is often the case, water passing through sprinkler units in irrigation projects and the like carries large quantities of salts and dirt in solution with the water. This dirty water deposits dirt and salts in the bearings, that cause the hearings to rapidly wear out. Thus it is necessary to continuously inspect the sprinkler heads for dirty or worn out bearings and replace the bearings when necessary.

It is therefore advantageous to have a rotatable sprinkler assembly wherein the dirt and salts are continuously drawn from the water adjacent the bearing surface and that draws water through the tubular support from the tubular base to restrict the amount ofwater flow to the bearings.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION In an exemplary embodiment of this invention, a sprinkler assembly having a sprinkler head with outwardly projecting arms, is rotated by water passing through the nozzles. The sprinkler head is secured to a tubular support that rotatably fits into a tubular base. The tubular support and sprinkler head are held in the base by a threaded collar or the like. A bearing fits between a radial shoulder on the tubular support and a shoulder on the base or collar. The tubular support has a lower end that receives the water and directs it to the sprinkler head. The tubular base has a disc that is normally press-fitted therein. The disc has a small hole that directs water or fluid into the open lower end of the tubular support and away from the outer space between the tubular support and the tubular base. Thus while the hearing has fluid for lubrication, the flow thereto is reduced thereby reducing the dirt and salts that are deposited in the bearing.

The lower end of the tubular support has inner and outer surfaces with water impeller means. The water impeller means on the outer surface comprises a wide, spaced, deep spiral thread that functions in operation to pull the fluid, dirt and salts downwardly and away from the bearing. The inner surface of the tubular support has a similar wide, spaced spiral thread that functions to pull the water flow upward from the hole in the disk into the sprinkler head.

Thus the cooperation of the disc hole directing the water flow and the water impeller means, effectively holds to a minimum the accumulation of salts, dirt and the like in the bearing, while providing the fluid or water to the bearing surfaces as necessary for lubrication.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG. 1 is a side elevation view of the sprinkler head assembly.

FIG. 2 is an enlarged sectional view taken along line 2-2 of FIG. 1, illustrating the head mounted in a nipple and tee combination.

FIG. 3 is a sectional view of the sprinkler head mounted in a modified tee coupling.

Referring to the drawings, a rotatable sprinkler assembly 10 has a rotatable sprinkler head with radially outwardly directed arms 12 having screw-on ends 14 with discharge openings 16. A central portion 18 threadably engages the upper end of a tubular support 26 that fits inside the nipple 22 of the tubular base 23. The tubular base 23 also includes a collar 20 with internal and

external threads

30 and 28. The nipple 22 threadedly engages the inner threads 30 of the collar 20 at its upper end and engages internal threads 50 of tee coupling 46 that, for example, is secured into a line carrying water or other liquids under pressure.

The lower end of the tubular support 38 has an enlarged internal space 42 with an outer circumference 40 that is only slightly smaller than the inner diameter of the nipple 22. The space 42 communicates with channel 27 that carries the liquid or water to the sprinkler head 18. The tubular support 26 and the collar 20 have adjacent axially positioned,

circumferential shoulders

32 and 34 providing a bearing space in which bearings rings 36 are positioned. The bearing rings may be made of any suitable material such as metal or plastic and also provide a seal against the passage of water therethrough from the water carrying conduit 46 through the space 56 between the outer surface of the tubular support and the inner surface of the nipple 22 to the outer environment.

The wall of the lower end of the tubular support 26 has impeller means for pulling liquid in space 56 downwardly and liquid in volume 42 upwardly. The impeller means comprises wide spaced spiral ridges or grooves 44 on the inner wall. These impeller threads are spiralled in opposite directions with, for example, the outside threads 25 being left-hand threads and the inside threads 44 being right-hand threads. The

impeller threads

25 and 44 may have about 3% to four threads to the inch and the threads may have double starts.

A disc 52 may be slidably positioned in the nipple 22 and held in position by a friction fit or it may be constructed integral with the inner surface ofthe nipple 22. The disc 52 has a small hole 54 therethrough that directs the liquid flow from space 61 directly into space 42 and away from the space 56.

It may be understood that whe I water pressure passes through the sprinkler head, the force of the liquid passing out of nozzles 16 not only forms the sprinkler spray but also rapidly rotates the sprinkler head and the tubular support 26 within the tubular base 23. The force of the water passing through sprinkler head moves the tubular support 26 upwardly and rotates it on the bearing surfaces of bearing 36. In this rapid rotational movement, the

impeller threads

25 and 44 rotate and draws liquid into the space 42 and channel 27. The hole 54 functions to limit the movement of the liquid to a direct path that is well within the internal diameter of space 42. The close spacing between the ends and the sides 40 of the tubular support 26 and the inner surface of nipple 22 further restricts movement of liquid into the space 56 and to the bearings 36. The outer threads 25 moves the liquid downwardly in a manner that dirt, salts and other impurities in the liquid or water are continuously drawn from space 56.

OPERATION OF THE FIRST EMBODIMENT In operation of the embodiment illustrated in FIG. 2, the sprinkler head 18 is threadably engaged to the tubular support 26 and the tubular support 26 is positioned in the tubular base 23 by threaded collar 20. The disc 52 is slidably moved into the tubular base 22 and by adjustment of the coupling 20, the lower end of the tubular support is positioned immediately adjacent to the disc 52. There is sufficient space therebetween to not have physical contact creating frictional restriction of rotational movement of the tubular support.

Water under pressure is then passed through the tee coupling 46 and the water or liquid passes through opening 54 into the space 42 and through channel 27 and out the sprinkler head 18. The movement of the water out nozzles 16 rotates the sprinkler head 18 at a very rapid speed. The impeller means tends to pull the water passing through opening 54 into space 42 and to force the water through the channel 27. This is in addition to the normal movement of the water into and through channel 27.

Referring now to FIG. 3, the tee coupling 47 in this embodiment has an integral upright tubular base member 63 with threads 67 that threadably engage coupling 21.

This provides a more simplified tubular base for supporting the tubular support 26. The disc 52 may be made integral with the tee coupling 47 or the disc 52 may be slidably positioned therein as previously described relative to FIG. 2. The embodiment of FIG. 3 operates in substantially the same manner as the embodiment of FIG. 2.

Having described my invention, I now claim:

l. A rotatable sprinkler assembly comprising,

a tubular base with a hollow passage having a given diameter,

a tubular support having an upper and lower end for being positioned in the hollow passage of the tubular base for rotational movement therein,

the tubular support has means at the upper end for carrying a sprinkler head that rotates the tubular support and the sprinkler head upon receiving liquid under pressure through the tubular base,

a bearing positioned between the tubular base and the tubular support at a point spaced from the lower end of the tubular support,

disc means for being positioned in the hollow passage of the tubular base having a hole therethrough with a diameter substantially smaller than said given diameter,

the lower end of the tubular support being slightly spaced from the disc means and having an outside diameter slightly smaller than said given diameter and substantially support and the tubular base. 3. A rotatable sprinkler assembly as claimed in claim 2 in which,

said impeller means includes second spiral grooves on the inside of said wall that are spiralled to pull liquid upwardly and into the sprinkler head.

4. A rotatable sprinkler assembly as claimed in claim 3 in which,

said grooves of said first and second spiral grooves having wide spaced sides. 5. A rotatable sprinkler assembly as claimed in claim 3 in which,

the outer diameter of said first spiral grooves is slightly smaller than the inner diameter of said tubular base. 6. A rotatable sprinkler assembly as claimed in claim 3 in which,

which,

said disc means comprises a disc that is frictionally held in said tubular base.

8. In a rotatable sprinkler assembly,

means for carrying a spinkler head including a tubular support having an upper and lower end,

rneans for securing a sprinkler head on said upper end, and impeller means on the inner and outer surfaces of the lower end wall of said tubular support for pulling liquid through the tubular support to the sprinkler head and forcing liquid in the opposite direction down the outside surface of the lower end of said tubular support upon rotation of said tubular support.

9. in a rotatable sprinkler assembly as claimed in claim 8 in which,

said impeller means includes first "piral grooves on the outside of said wall and second grooves on the inside of said wall, which grooves are spiralled in opposite directions.

Claims

1. A rotatable sprinkler assembly comprising, a tubular base with a hollow passage having a given diameter, a tubular support having an upper and lower end for being positioned in the hollow passage of the tubular base for rotational movement therein, the tubular support has means at the upper end for carrying a sprinkler head that rotates the tubular support and the sprinkler head upon receiving liquid under pressure through the tubular base, a bearing positioned between the tubular base and the tubular support at a point spaced from the lower end of the tubular support, disc means for being positioned in the hollow passage of the tubular base having a hole therethrough with a diameter substantially smaller than said given diameter, the lower end of the tubular support being slightly spaced from the disc means and having an outside diameter slightly smaller than said given diameter and substantially larger than the hole through the disc means, and impeller means on the inner and outer surfaces of the lower end wall of said tubular support for pulling liquid through the tubular support to the sprinkler head and forcing liquid away from said bearing upon rotation of the tubular support.

2. A rotatable sprinkler assembly as claimed in claim 1 in which, said impeller means includes first spiral grooves on the outside of said wall that are spiralled to pull liquid downwardly and out of the space between the tubular support and the tubular base.

3. A rotatable sprinkler assembly as claimed in claim 2 in which, said impeller means includes second spiral grooves on the inside of said wall that are spiralled to pull liquid upwardly and intO the sprinkler head.

4. A rotatable sprinkler assembly as claimed in claim 3 in which, said grooves of said first and second spiral grooves having wide spaced sides.

5. A rotatable sprinkler assembly as claimed in claim 3 in which, the outer diameter of said first spiral grooves is slightly smaller than the inner diameter of said tubular base.

6. A rotatable sprinkler assembly as claimed in claim 3 in which, said tubular base comprises a nipple type tube with a collar threaded to its upper end, said tubular support having a radial shoulder, the lower end surface of said collar abutting said radial shoulder, and bearing means for fitting between said lower end surface of said collar and said radial shoulder.

7. A rotatable sprinkler assembly as claimed in claim 1 in which, said disc means comprises a disc that is frictionally held in said tubular base.

8. In a rotatable sprinkler assembly, means for carrying a sprinkler head including a tubular support having an upper and lower end, means for securing a sprinkler head on said upper end, and impeller means on the inner and outer surfaces of the lower end wall of said tubular support for pulling liquid through the tubular support to the sprinkler head and forcing liquid in the opposite direction down the outside surface of the lower end of said tubular support upon rotation of said tubular support.

9. In a rotatable sprinkler assembly as claimed in claim 8 in which, said impeller means includes first spiral grooves on the outside of said wall and second spiral grooves on the inside of said wall, which grooves are spiralled in opposite directions.