USRE13622E - Planooraph co - Google Patents

Description

w. A. LINKLETTEBH FOLDING DAM FOR IRBIGATING DITGHES.

APPLICATION FILED MAY 29, 1913. Reissued Sept. 30, 1913. 1 3,622.

2 sums-sum 1 W. A. LINKLETTER.

FOLDING DAM FOR IBRIGATING BITCHES.

- APPLICATION FILE? MAY 29. 1913. Reissued Sept. 30, 1913. 1 3,622.

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WILLIAM A. LINKLE-TTER, OF BOULDER, COLORADO. FOLDING DAM FOR IRRIGATING-DITCHES.

Specification of Reissuec Letters Patent. Reissued Sept, 30, 1913. Application for reissue filed May 29, 1913.

Original No. 1,059,174, dated April 15, 1913, Serial No. 708,891. Serial No. 770,780.

To all whom it may concern.

Be it known that I, WILLIAM A. LINKLET- TER, a citizen of the United States, residing at Boulder, in the county of Boulder and State of Colorado, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Folding keep on hand a number of these leaves and Dams for Irrigating-Ditches; and I do dea number of poles for clare the following to be a full, clear, and appear, so that when exact description of the invention, such as will enable others skilled in the art to which 'of his trenches, he can interlock a set or a it appertains to make and use the same.

his invention relates to water distribution, and more especially to irrigating systems; and the object of the same is to prouce a cheap and serviceable folding dam which can be conveniently transported to the point of use or from the same, and which has means for adjusting its width so that it can be used in ditches of a variety of widths within limits. This and other objects are accomplished by constructing the dam in the manner hereinafter more fully described and claimed, and as shown in the drawings, wherein Figure 1 is a perspective view of a portion of a field with an irrigation ditch across it, showing one of my improved dams in use in such ditch,- Fig. 2 is an elevation of a dam and the gates thereof; Fig. 3 is a detail of one of the leaves of the dam with its gate removed, and Fig. 4 is a detail of the gate and its handle; Fig. 5 is a plan view showing the use of an intermediate element whereby my invention is elaborated as hereinafter described; Fig. 6 is an elevation of a dam of considerable length made up of two intermediate elements and two end elements; Fig. 7 is a perspective detail of one of said intermediate elements.

In Fig. 1 of the drawings I have shown a field F with an irrigation ditch D across the Ordinarily the water is led along one side of the field and into a series of said ditches D which cross the field and are slightly inclined, so that the water flows down said ditches and the ground is irri gated sufficiently to produce crops. Occasions arise, however, where the water supply may be low or the nature of the soil may be such that it becomes desirable to retain the water longer within the ditches so that it may be absorbed by the land as the conditions require. According to the present invention, I construct a portable folding am from sheet metal leaves which are substantial duplicates of each other and of a size convenient for handling and storage, the metal being by preference properly treated tpl prevent rust, and it is my intent-ion that t e farmer who must irrigate his land will about onefoot wide by one foot high, and that there may be intermediate sizes. One corner of the body is by preference rounded off as at 2, and this corner will occupy one side of the bottom of the ditch. The opposite upright edge is rolled into a scroll or tfibe 15, tdhroughout its entire length. Through t e 0 sheet metal like the body 1 and erence will have a handle 9 at its upper edge so that it can be raised to expose more or less of the opening. However, it is not essential that the leaves be provided with these openings and gates, but

employ them for purposes which Wlll appear. Finally the numeral 10 designates a pole which in length will be about three times the height of the gate when finished, and will be sharpened at its lower end as at 10'.

engage rather loosely, and by inserting a pole 10 through the hinge thus formed. The two leaves are then folded upon each other and the entire device Here the leaves are turned outward, other across at an angle to each other if narrower than the combined the largest much larger, with a possibility other so that they .will

. the roll of th width of the two leaves; and the pointed lower end 10 ofthe pole isembedded in the bottom of the ditch with the rounded corners 2 in the corners. of the ditchpthe side edges of the leaves being pushed down through the bank of'theditchsand'thelowers edges 7 of the two 'leaves being embedded in itsbottom. By preference I would have; the

angle of the dam uppermost or presented'toward the direction from which the water comes, so that the :force or the water striking this dam willtend to push its side edges fartherinto-the banks rather than to wash it, out of place. By preference, also, .I would have the guides and gatesstand at the rear sides of the leaves, althoughtliis is not essential. As soon as one of these damshas beenplaced across a ditch=whereinwe will assume flow along the ditchis checked, itrises-within the ditch and percolates into, the earth at either side thereof, and finally it may rise to the height of'the openings through whichit can be permittedto' flow by raising tlie'gates slightly. and'canting them,within theirguides so that they will'stick or perhaps byremoving them entirely. The waterthen passes along downthe ditch to' the next dam, if one be employed, where the operation is repeated. If now it should happen thatthesupply ofw'ateris suddenly increased, as by a local shower,;nothing further will happen than that the water will flow down the ditch in such volume'that. it cannot-pass-through the openings, and it must therefore rise a little higher and will flow over the dam and along to the next where the operation is repeated. At this time the rush of water has considerably more force, and the wisdom of'disposing the dam as described will "nowl be apparent, because its angular disposition will resist the force of the onrushing water. When the supply of water resumes its normal, being neither toocgreat nor too little, one or more or all of the damsmay'be removed from position by simply pulling up the poles or stakes and then pulling. up the the leaves are folded uponeach other and the device thrown into the wagon and carried back to the point of storage. In the large sizes, of this device, the longitudinal separation of the rolls at; the points where the leaves arev hinlgedly connected with each otheris of'further advantage, in that-because the leaves are so-heavy individually-4t may be wise 'toY-transport them to the. point of use separately, where. the user first inserts pole at the center of the ditch, then slips the roll of oneleaf over. the polejand presses this leaf; into position, and finally slips the roll of the other leaf over the pole and into engagementwith. first leaf and pushes this leaf into position. By this means a dam ofconsiderable size could be set up by one workman, and-theutility ofthe entire structure is made possible where it is built in large size, but. ordinarily the ditches in irrigat- -ing systems are so small that the two leaves will fold upon each other and the entire dam can be handled by one man In .Figs.'5, 6 and 7, I have shown an amplification or enlargement of the ideawherein three or more leaves are employed. The endmost of these leaves or sections are the same as those above described, and the roll is also the same. But the intermediate leaf or-leaves each has-a substantially rectangula'r flat body 1l, preferably corresponding in. general contour with the size of the other units, and both its opposite edges rolled into scrolls or tubes 12 and 13 standing on that the water islow, its

series of wings, andrespectively opposite sides ofthe body and each open alongits'throat' 14 next to-the body, as in the other elements. These intermediate leaves may also have the gate openingsyand gates as above'described, and whose description therefore need not be duplicatedhere. The-use of the device when thus amplified is-well illustrated in Fig. 5 which shows themain ditch M and several laterals L, certain of the leaves as closing some of the laterals, and one ofj'the endmost leaves 1- acting as a gate to regulate theinlet or flow into another lateral while the other endmost leaf acts as a gate to divert some ofthewater from the main ditch M It is quite possible to use oneof the intermediate elements-11 for a gate at the end. of a in fact it might beadvisable to doso because its free end can then beheld by the pole against displacement under'thestrength of the-current of water.

In Fig, 6 is illustratedhowone of the elements can be depressed to a lower level than the others, as when it is desired to permit water-to'fiovr over'the upper edge of this element, into he lateral across which it stands and thus dispense with the use of the gate. A dam made up of a number 0 intermediate,elements and two end elements in accordance with this elaboration of my invention, might be built of-sutlic-ientlength to span a brook or-stream; and if the units were made larger in size, the dam might be usedto span a large'sized stream or a river.

"The interengaging nature of the scrolls on each section is such, that the dam can be built up section by'section, the scroll of one section being telescoped'nto the scroll of the next, ,to form a tubular hinge, and so on, a pole being driven into the tubular, hinge to hold the sections rigidly at the hinged point. When it is desired to-remove such a dam made up of several sections, the sectionscan be removed one at a'tim'e, begin: ning at onee d or atan intermediate point. In the case of aswiftlyfiowingstreamthe tubular nature of the hinge joints enables the sections of the dam to be arranged in a zigzag manner, so that the current strikes the sections at an angle and the sections and their securing poles reinforce each other. One or more of the intermediate sections can be depressed below the others to permit overflow at such sections.

The hinged engagement of the dam sections with each other permits streams and ditches of different sizes and contours to be adequately dammed without any change in the size of the dam sections. For by placing the sections at a greater or less angle to each other, a two section dam, for example, can be used to cross a ditch or stream the full width of the two sections or less than half as wide, while the nature of the interengaging tubular hinges is such that all material flow of water is stopped and also such that the dam can be held rigidly against displacement at such hinged points by the driven poles.

Having described my invention, what I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is

1. The herein described folding dam for irrigation ditches, the same made up of a series of sheet metal leaves, the meeting upright edges of contiguous leaves being rolled in relatively opposite directions into nearly complete cylindrical scrolls extending throughout the entire height of said leaves slidably, rotatably, and removably engaging each other, the outermost leaves of the series omitting these scrolls along their outer edges and having the lower corners of such edges rounded, and a series of round poles longer than the height of the leaves and disposed within the respective pairs of engaging scrolls with their lower ends adapted to be driven into the bottom of the ditch.

2. The herein described portable dam consisting of a series of sheet metal leaves, all having one upright edge rolled on one side thereof, and the intermediate leaves having both upright edges rolled on respectively opposite sides of the bodies thereof, to pro duce tubular hinge elements with which the like elements on the contiguous leaves are adapted to slidably and rotatably engage, and a pole passing through the innermost roll of each pair of engaging rolls.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each,

3. The herein described portable dam consisting of a series of sheet metal leaves, all having one upright edge rolled on one side thereof and the intermediate leaves having both upright edges rolled to produce tubular hinge elements with which the like elements on the contiguous leaves are adapted to slidably and rotatably engage, the rolls on the intermediate leaves being disposed on respectively opposite sides of the bodies thereof and having their throats open next to said body, and upright fastening means passing through the innermost roll of each pair of engaged rolls, for the purpose set forth.

4. A sectional dam made up of sections hinged to each other at their vertical meeting edges and relatively movable into positions at different angles to each other about said hinged point, and means for holding said sections at said hinged point rigidly against displacement with respect to the bottom of the stream in which the dam is adapted to be placed, said means comprising a pole adapted to be driven into the bottom of said stream. I

5. A sectional dam made up of sections hinged to each other at their meeting edges by means of interengaging tubular hinge elements and relatively movable into positions at different angles to each other and a pole freely slidable through said tubular hinge elements and adapted to be driven into the earth sufficiently to hold said sections rigidly against displacement at the hinged point.

6. A sectional dam comprising a pole adapted to be driven rigidly into the bottom of a ditch or stream, and dam sections provided with integral tubular hinge elements at their vertical edges surrounding said pole and independently slidable thereon and engaging each other to form a tubular hinge, said sections being held rigidly against displacement at the hinged point by said pole but being movable into positions at different.

angles to each other about said hinge.

In testimony whereof, I have hereunto set my hand this 26th day of May 1913.

WILLIAM A. LINKLETTER. Witnesses:

W. N. WHITE, W. W. POTTER.

by addressing the Commissioner 0! Patents,

Washington, D. G.

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