WO2003020431A1

WO2003020431A1 - Sprinkler device

Info

Publication number: WO2003020431A1
Application number: PCT/EP2002/009305
Authority: WO
Inventors: Thomas Sauter; Christoph Schiedt
Original assignee: Gardena Manufacturing Gmbh
Priority date: 2001-08-29
Filing date: 2002-08-21
Publication date: 2003-03-13

Abstract

The invention relates to a sprinkler device comprising a sprinkler head that can be pivoted about a pivoting axis in relation to a fixed base. The pivoting motion of said sprinkler head is driven by a turbine (TU), which is powered by water flowing through the latter by means of several individual nozzles (DKR, OKL), said turbine having in particular a reversible direction of rotation. At least three identical nozzle assemblies are provided in a rotationally symmetrical manner relative to the rotational axis of the turbine (TU), achieving a particularly uniform exertion of force on the turbine (TU), turbine shaft and bearings with negligible wear and tear.

Description

description

Sprinkling device.

description

The invention relates to a sprinkling device with a sprinkler head pivotable relative to a fixed base about a pivot axis, the pivoting movement of which is carried out by means of a drive device located between a water supply and the sprinkler head, in that at least some of the water flowing to the sprinkler head is guided to an impeller via nozzle arrangements and this drives.

Irrigation devices with a sprinkler head pivotable relative to a fixed base are known, for example, as circular sprinklers or with periodically switched pivoting devices as sector sprinklers and as square sprinklers. The drive devices for pivoting the sprinkler head typically contain a reduction gear with an impeller (turbine) attached to the drive shaft, which is driven by part of the water flowing from a water guide to the sprinkler head.

To switch the pivoting movement of the sprinkler head, mechanical arrangements at the transmission output are known, for. B. from US 4 901 924, by means of which the rotation of the output shaft of the reduction gear, which always takes place in the same sense, can be implemented in reversibly reversible rotary movements of the sprinkler head. Arrangements are preferred in which nozzle arrangements can be switched between two positions and in the process act upon the turbine with switchable opposite tangential components of the driving water. For example, DE 43 29 616 A1 and EP 0 362 559 B2 show mirror-symmetrical outflow channels which are alternatively opened and closed. In US Pat. No. 5,031,883, a flow parallel to the axis of rotation is reversibly directed into one of two flow channels of this type by a bistably tiltable deflection body. In an arrangement known from US Pat. No. 5,641,122, two nozzle arrangements diametrically opposite each other with respect to the turbine axis of rotation are provided, each with two individual nozzles of opposite tangential flow components.

The present invention has for its object to further improve such an irrigation device with respect to the drive.

The invention is described in claim 1. The dependent claims contain advantageous refinements and developments of the invention.

The inflow of air to the impeller via at least three rotationally symmetrical nozzle arrangements, preferably offset by the same angle from one another about the axis of rotation of the impeller, which preferably each contain two switchable individual nozzles, leads to a particularly uniform inflow of air to the impeller, which therefore runs with low friction and low wear , while at the same time the possibility of reversibility of the direction of rotation of the impeller is maintained by changing the outflow direction from the individual nozzles of the nozzle arrangements. The novel flow against an impeller of a sprinkler gearbox enables this Drive with very low flow and / or low pressure loss through the turbine and leads to a significant increase in the life of the drive.

A turbine flow from three equally distributed nozzles of a fixed nozzle body is known per se for a high-pressure cleaner from DE 43 28 744 C1. The nozzles are designed as obliquely directed channels in a fixed plate and directed against a slotted turbine wheel, which lies at one end of a water-bearing hollow shaft, at the other end of which a nozzle head is fastened, which rotates at the turbine speed and emits a jet from the side. The turbine is guided over a larger section of the hollow shaft in a radial slide bearing and is supported in an axial slide bearing of large diameter, which is deliberately designed to be frictional in order to limit the turbine speed at higher inlet pressures.

Exactly three identical nozzle arrangements are preferably offset from one another by 120 °, which advantageously each contain a pair of individual nozzles. Only one individual nozzle of each nozzle arrangement is then active in the sense that it directs a water flow with a tangential flow component onto the impeller, which is designed for driving in both directions of rotation. Switching between the individual nozzles, which is done collectively for all nozzle arrangements, reverses the direction of rotation of the impeller and thus, with a sharp reduction in rotational speed, the direction of rotation of the sprinkler head.

The impeller is connected to a turbine shaft, which is rotatably mounted in at least one shaft bearing, which is preferably designed as a plain bearing. The turbine shaft typically drives this through an input pinion Reduction gear on, the output acts on the sprinkler head. The turbine shaft can advantageously be mounted in a first and a second shaft bearing, which are spaced apart along the turbine shaft. The first shaft bearing closer to the turbine is advantageously designed as a radial sliding bearing with a shaft radius that is very small compared to the radius of the wing circle, which is preferably less than 10% of the radius of the wing circle. The small shaft radius in the plain bearing, together with a suitable material pairing, leads to very low frictional resistance in this first shaft bearing. The turbine shaft is preferably made of stainless steel, the bearing sleeve is simply designed as an opening in a wall of the transmission housing, which is typically made of plastic. The length of the bearing sleeve is short and is preferably less than 2 mm. The diameter of the turbine shaft is preferably less than 2 mm.

The first shaft bearing advantageously also serves as an axial sliding bearing, in which the impeller is axially supported on the gear housing as required. For the axial support, the impeller has an annular bearing surface around the turbine shaft, which due to the small diameter of the turbine shaft and the reduction of tilting moments due to the balanced inflow from at least three nozzles with a small outer radius can be carried out, whereby the friction in the axial bearing advantageously can be kept particularly low. In another version, a sliding washer can also be inserted between the impeller and the gear housing. The radial bearing load is negligible in the second bearing, since the at least three nozzle arrangements mean that tilting moments and radial forces are very low and, in particular, any remaining resulting radial forces are absorbed on the impeller in the first shaft bearing. The second shaft bearing can u. U. can also be quite unnecessary. The flow to the impeller is advantageously carried out via nozzle adapters axially offset against the impeller. Orders with predominantly axially parallel and tangential flow components. If the axis of rotation is oriented upright in circular or sector sprinklers, the load on the axial plain bearing is particularly low, since the force from the axial flow counteracts the weight of the impeller with the turbine shaft.

A particularly advantageous construction of a sprinkling device from a drive device, a sprinkler head pivoted about a pivot axis by the latter, which is held axially directly and without mediation of the adjusting device inserted axially between the sprinkler head and drive device, enables, on the one hand, a cost-effective modular construction from the number of individually different combinations small number of separately prefabricated modules, which can be assembled with little effort into the finished combinations in their individual combination diversity, in particular in the case of an adjusting device which surrounds the hollow shaft connecting the sprinkler head and drive device without its own axial mounting between the sprinkler head and the drive device.

Without restricting the further generality, it should be assumed that the hollow shaft is formed on the sprinkler head module and is inserted in a receptacle of the drive device in the axial direction and is held axially relative to the drive device by corresponding holding means provided on the hollow shaft and / or drive device. The equivalent variant, that the hollow shaft is formed on the drive device and is inserted axially into a receptacle of the sprinkler head, is implicitly included and is therefore not dealt with separately in the following.

In a particularly advantageous embodiment, the holding means are provided on the part of the drive device by a locking washer, the central rale opening the hollow shaft is inserted while spreading the radially inward spring tongues of the locking washer. In the intended insertion position of the hollow shaft, which can be limited by an axial stop, the spring tongues are supported against the axial pull-out direction on the outer surface of the hollow shaft and thus fix it axially with respect to the drive device. Axial fixing can also be done by a snap or snap connection or the like.

When the hollow shaft is inserted, a rotary coupling connection of the hollow shaft with an output shaft of the drive device and, on the other hand, a seal of the housing of the drive device against the outer surface of the hollow shaft which can be pivoted relative thereto are produced at the same time on other axial sections.

When the irrigation device is assembled, the hollow shaft is inserted through the ring opening of the adjusting device, which is preferably formed without a separate axial holding means for the sprinkler head and drive device and is enclosed axially between the sprinkler head and the drive device solely by fixing the hollow shaft in the drive device. The insertion depth of the hollow shaft can be limited by an axial stop of the sprinkler head on one side and the drive device on the other side of the adjusting device, with different adjusting devices then having the same axial extent in the stop area. The ring opening of the adjusting device preferably surrounds the hollow shaft directly. However, the insertion depth can also be given by a direct axial stop of the sprinkler head on the housing of the drive device.

In an advantageous series of irrigation devices of this type, several different The adjustment devices and several different sprinkler heads can be combined to form different sprinkling devices, whereby at least one of the several adjustment devices can in turn be used with several sprinkler heads. All sprinkler heads have the same structure with regard to the connecting elements with the drive device, in particular the elements of the sprinkler heads which engage with the holding means of the drive devices, the means for sealing the hollow shaft against the housing of the drive device and the rotary coupling elements are the same or at least compatible with the uniform one drive device. Of course, several drive devices can also be included in the series in such a way that different drive devices can be combined with one sprinkler head.

The invention is illustrated in more detail below on the basis of preferred exemplary embodiments with reference to the figures.

It shows

Fig. 1 is an oblique view of a drive device

FIG. 2 shows a longitudinal section through FIG. 1

Fig. 3 is an axial view in the receptacle for the sprinkler head

Fig. 4 is a view of an inlet-side nozzle plate against the inflow direction

5 shows a section through FIG. 4 Fig. 6 is a view of a switchable swirl plate in the direction of flow

Fig. 7 is a view of the switchable swirl plate according to Fig. 6 against the flow direction

8 shows a sprinkler arrangement with drive device, adjusting device and sprinkler head (without shown gear elements and turbine)

Fig. 9 is a spring washer for axially fixing the sprinkler head

Fig. 10 shows an output shaft of the drive device in longitudinal section

Fig. 11 is a view of the output shaft of FIG. 10 in the axial direction

Fig. 12 is an axial plan view of an adjusting disc of an adjustment direction

13 shows a section through FIG. 12

14 shows an adjusting element for the adjusting disk according to FIGS. 13 and 14

15 shows another embodiment of an adjusting disk of an adjusting device

16 shows a complementary disk to the adjusting disk according to FIG. 15

The drive device sketched in FIG. 1 in an oblique view with the housing HO partially cut away and in FIG. 2 in a sectional plane containing the main axis contains in a manner known per se a turbine netes input impeller TU, a speed-reducing and torque-converting gear GE and an output shaft AW, the rotation of which is coupled with the pivoting of a sprinkler head about a pivot axis. The pivot axis SA of the sprinkler head, which is also the axis of rotation of the output shaft, advantageously coincides with the axis of rotation DA of the turbine TU, which then together form a main axis of the drive device and enable a particularly compact structure of the drive device.

The drive device is flowed through by the water which is discharged via the sprinkler head and is driven by at least part of the water. The main flow direction runs in the main axis direction from the side of the turbine to the outlet opening at the output shaft. The housing HO of the drive device has an essentially circular cylindrical outer contour and is closed on the input side by an input plate EP and on the output side by a cover GD. In the example shown, the cover is made in one piece with the outer side wall. The housing HO of the drive device is typically inserted into the sprinkler housing of an irrigation device.

The entire surface of the input plate EP is supplied with water from a pressurized water source, in particular a motor pump or a public piped water supply. In the sketched example, the inlet plate has three inlet openings EA, which are grouped uniformly around the axis of rotation DA of the turbine TU, and which are followed by guide channels DKO of a nozzle plate KP in the axis-parallel direction. Inlet plate EP and nozzle plate KP are fixed to one another and to the housing HO. The flow path of the water flowing through the inlet openings EA continues after the axially parallel channels DKO of the nozzle plate KP in nozzle channels DKR or DKL of a switchable swirl plate DP. The flow directions of the nozzle channels DKR or DKL are inclined towards the main axis in such a way that the flow has a flow component directed perpendicular to the axis of rotation DA of the turbine and tangentially with respect to a circle around this axis of rotation DA, this flow component within a first group of nozzles DKR is directed in the same direction and in the opposite direction to the second group of nozzles DKL. The nozzle channels DKR, DKL are preferably set tangentially obliquely against the main axis direction.

The swirl plate DP can be switched between two stable end positions in such a way that the swirl plate in a bearing SL can be rotated by a small angle about the axis of rotation DA relative to the nozzle plate KP and in a first end position the inputs of the first group of nozzle channels, in the second End position the second group of nozzle channels DKL are in the extension of the guide channels DKO of the nozzle plate KP, so that depending on the end position assumed by the swirl plate DP, only one of the two nozzle groups DKR or DKL is flowed through and the tangential component of the water emerging from the swirl plate can thereby be switched over is.

Due to the at least three guide channels DKO of the nozzle plate KP, which are arranged uniformly about the axis of rotation DA, the swirl plate is pressurized particularly evenly by the inflowing water and balanced with respect to the axis of rotation DA. As a result, central storage in a radial bearing as a plain bearing with a small radius of the bearing recess PS in the swirl plate or the bearing journal is advantageously possible without further support on the outer edge of the swirl plate, with hardly any frictional forces occurring when the swirl plate is rotated. The swirl plate DP is outlined Embodiment with the central bearing recess on the bearing pin designed as a slotted sleeve on the nozzle plate snapped and held axially by locking projections.

In the example outlined, the nozzle plate has a projection KV which points radially outward and which lies essentially rotationally secured in a housing guide. The swirl plate DP has a corresponding radial projection DV, which likewise lies in the housing guide mentioned, but which has a smaller width than the housing guide and remains for mechanical elements such as the spring tongues FU and also the mounting BA for the actuating element.

The turbine wheel TU is preferably pressed onto the turbine shaft TW just like a first transmission gearwheel in the transmission. The flow against the turbine wheel via at least three nozzle channels DKL, DKR, which are evenly distributed around the axis of rotation DA, is of particular advantage with regard to the bearing load of the first shaft bearing TLU of the turbine shaft, since the balanced force effect means that hardly any transverse forces act on the radial slide bearing Shaft bearing TLU occur. As a result, the frictional forces when the turbine wheel starts up are very low, which is particularly important in particular at low pressure and / or low flow. In particular, there is also a greatly increased service life of the turbine bearing.

The first bearing TLU of the turbine shaft is advantageously located in the axial direction in the area of the axial extension of the turbine wheel TU or at most by the amount of this extension beyond the turbine wheel. The turbine shaft TW is advantageously of small diameter, in particular less than 2 mm, and is advantageously made of stainless steel. The turbine shaft is advantageously in the second turbine shaft bearing TLO through the End face of the turbine shaft axially supported. The good balance of force of the turbine wheel with respect to the axis of rotation DA due to the uniform distribution of the at least three nozzle channels and guide channels advantageously also has the consequence that in the second turbine bearing TLO there are almost no lateral loads and therefore only very low frictional forces. The diameter of the blade circle of the turbine wheel is very large compared to the diameter of the turbine shaft and is preferably at least ten times the diameter of the turbine shaft.

Typically, only a part of the water flow is required for the drive of the turbine wheel, which can be reversed by means of water flowing through the drive arrangement to the sprinkler head. In order to do justice to different pressure conditions on the side of the water supply and on the one hand to guarantee a reliable drive even at low pressure and on the other hand to keep the pressure dependence of the speed of the turbine and thus the swiveling speed of the sprinkler head low, a pressure-dependent bypass flow path is provided, for which in Outlined example, the input plate EP has a central opening OE, against which a stamp BT is pressed against the water pressure by a spring FE.

If the water pressure on the inlet side is low, the stamp BT closes the opening OE completely and water only flows via the guide channels DKO and nozzle channels DKL or DKR and the turbine to the outlet AU of the housing HO of the drive device. When the pressure of the water supply increases, the stamp BT is lifted from the opening OE and an increasing proportion of water flows bypassing the turbine, in particular in water channels close to the wall, to the outlet AU of the housing. The speed-reducing gearbox between the TU turbine and an output shaft is advantageously not exposed to the water flow and is therefore protected against damage caused by dirt particles that get between tooth flanks and gearwheels and, depending on the gearbox stage, can block the drive or damage gear elements. The gearbox is housed in a GH gearbox. The gearbox housing is closed in one direction by a cover GT with an outlet opening AO after the gearbox elements have been mounted in the gearbox housing.

A watertight encapsulation of the gear unit is not required; a dirt-proof seal against the water flow is sufficient. This enables an advantageous coupling of the output shaft of the drive device, sketched in detail in a preferred embodiment in FIGS. 10 and 11, to the last gear stage, in which a high torque can occur, in such a way that the gear housing GH to the output shaft AW in the housing cover GT has an output or output opening AO through which a gear element fixed to the output shaft, preferably integrally connected, in particular a gearwheel ZW which engages in the last stage of the gear, projects into the gear housing, whereas coupling elements ZK of the output shaft for coupling to a sprinkler head lie outside the gearbox. The opening AO of the gear housing has an upper edge OK facing the output shaft, which runs in a plane perpendicular to the pivot axis SA, about which the output shaft can be rotated bidirectionally. The output shaft contains a carrier plate TR with a sliding surface GF running in a plane perpendicular to the pivot axis SA. During assembly, the output shaft is guided with the side of the gearwheel ZW through the opening, which is preferably circular around the pivot axis SA, the gearwheel ZW engaging in the last gear stage, and lies with the gear surface GF on the top edge. The radius of the sliding surface is larger, that of the gear ZW smaller than that of the opening AO. The output shaft is advantageously permanently pressed against the upper edge OK of the gear housing GH by a pressing force acting parallel to the pivot axis with the sliding surface GF, without an additional connection of the output shaft and the gear being necessary. The sliding surface GF and the circumferential upper edge OK seal the gear housing sufficiently at this position against dirt carried in the water flow. A centering stage OS, which points from the plane of the sliding surface GF to the gearwheel ZW, centers the output shaft with little play in the opening AO. The end of the turbine shaft facing away from the turbine TU can be held laterally in a central shaft guide of the gearwheel ZW.

On the input side of the gearbox with the bushing of the turbine shaft, sealing is possible by tightly enclosing the turbine shaft TW through the bushing in the gearbox housing and by contacting the turbine in the area near the shaft to the gearbox housing in a simple manner with sufficient dirt sealing. A watertight seal of the first shaft bearing TLU of the turbine shaft is not necessary due to the fact that the gear unit may be filled with water, so that an annular seal around the turbine shaft in the bearing TLU that prevents the turbine from starting due to friction is also not necessary.

The pressing force of the sliding surface GF of the output shaft against the upper edge OK of the opening AO advantageously takes place in that the output shaft is supported against the housing cover which closes the housing of the drive device toward the sprinkler head with the interposition of an element which is elastically deformable parallel to the direction of the pivot axis. Advantageously, a sliding washer between the housing cover GD and Output shaft inserted. An arrangement is particularly advantageous in which such an elastic element is an annular seal RD which surrounds the outlet opening AU of the housing HO, in particular a lip seal which additionally surrounds a hollow shaft HW leading to the sprinkler head and connected to its pivoting as a mechanical seal.

The output shaft AW advantageously contains coupling elements on which driver structures parallel to the swivel axis are formed. Counter structures on a hollow shaft of a sprinkler head can engage in the driver structures by simply plugging the hollow shaft in the axial direction of the swivel axis SA and thus produce a rotary coupling between the output shaft and the sprinkler head.

The rotary coupling between the output shaft and the sprinkler head advantageously has an overload safety device, preferably in the form of a torque limiter, in order to avoid damage, in particular if the direction of movement is incorrectly handled, by violently manually turning the sprinkler head against the drive device. An embodiment in which the driver structures on the output shaft and the counter-structures engaging therein of a shaft firmly connected to the pivoting of the sprinkler head bear against one another on surfaces which are inclined to the radial direction and at least one of the structures is designed to give a radially elastic yield is particularly favorable for this , If there is a high torque between the output shaft and the sprinkler head, the structure given below yields radially and elastically when a threshold specified by the dimensioning of the structures is exceeded, thereby preventing damage to the sprinkler head, the interlocking structures or the gearbox. Advantageously, an adaptation of the torque threshold to the respective sprinkler head type can be achieved with the same structure of the drive device be made that the engagement depth of the structures is varied by designing the counter-structure on the part of the sprinkler head or the rotationally fixedly connected hollow shaft or the axial engagement length. If the segmentation is carried out on the hollow shaft, the elastic parameters of the segments are also available for adaptation.

For example, a constant engagement on the side of the drive shaft can provide a maximum engagement depth and, by flattening the tooth tips while maintaining the depth of the tooth base of the counter toothing of an axially attached hollow shaft, the radial displacement of the flexible elements of the structures necessary for triggering the overload protection and thus the transmissible torque can be varied.

The output shaft outlined in FIGS. 10 and 11 has, as a driver structure, a tooth structure ZK parallel to the swivel axis and pointing radially inwards on a plurality of cylinder wall segments ZA, offset in the example from three by the same angle about the swivel axis. The engagement of a counter structure in the form of an external toothing HZ of a hollow shaft HW of a sector sprinkler head SR (FIG. 8) does not take place over the entire axial length of the segments ZA, so that the segments are exceeded by elastic radial bending around their segment base on the carrier disk TR of the output shaft a torque threshold between the output shaft and sprinkler head act as overload protection by torque limitation. The segments are clearly spaced from each other and allow a large flow cross-section to flow through the water into the hollow shaft leading to the sprinkler head. For this purpose, the hollow shaft is sufficiently removed from the base of the segment when plugged on. The segments can also be formed on the hollow shaft. A hollow shaft HW inserted into the receiving opening AU of the drive device has, at least in the area of the ring seal RD, a smooth outer surface, preferably in the form of a circular cylinder jacket, which forms a sliding sealing surface with the ring seal, the ring seal, as described, advantageously also being elastic in the direction of the pivot axis deformable element for generating an axial pressing force of the output shaft support plate on the output opening of the gear housing can serve. A seal between the hollow shaft HW and the housing HO of the drive device can, however, also be provided by other sliding seal arrangements, in particular also by an annular seal which is firmly connected to the hollow shaft and which slides on a smooth surface of the housing HO in the region of the outlet opening AU.

The embodiment of an output shaft sketched in FIGS. 10 and 11 additionally has support wall sections EZ, which run from the carrier plate TR to the outlet opening AU, preferably parallel to the pivot axis, as cylinder jacket segments, by means of which the output shaft, preferably with the interposition of further elements, against the housing cover GD axially supported. The other elements can in particular comprise a sliding washer GS, which on the one hand abuts the ring seal and on the other hand has a sliding surface with a very low sliding friction resistance pointing towards the output shaft. The support wall sections of the output shaft can slide directly on this sliding surface. However, an embodiment as outlined is preferred, in which a preferably metallic locking washer SS with a radially outer sliding ring surface SG and from which radially inward and axially inclined to the output shaft spring tongues SZ is inserted between the sliding washer and supporting wall sections EZ. The clear space enclosed by the spring tongues is smaller than the outer cross section of the hollow shaft. When the hollow shaft is inserted in the axial direction, the spring tongues become elastically spread and are supported with edges on the hollow shaft, so that it is secured against pull-out forces. The locking washer is rotated with the hollow shaft and slides on the sliding washer GS. At the same time, the locking washer can also be rotated against the support wall sections EZ, which bear against the sliding ring surface, if the overload protection device already described triggers.

For bidirectional swiveling of the sprinkler head around the swivel axis over a limited, preferably adjustable swivel angle range, the direction of rotation of the hollow shaft must be switched over when the respective swivel angle limit is reached, which, as described, is preferably carried out by switching the flow direction from the nozzle channels DKL or DKR to the turbine TU.

Advantageously, an adjusting device, which contains limiting elements for the swivel angle range, is provided on the side of the outlet opening AU and thus separated from the swirl plate DP to be switched by the gearbox outside the housing AO of the drive device, and the switchover is effected by bridging the axial distance between the adjusting device and swirl plate Actuator BE.

This actuating element is preferably mounted so that it can be tilted transversely to its longitudinal direction in a central region, in particular between 30% and 70% of its axial length from the switchable swirl plate. The actuation element is preferably moved both tangentially with respect to the swivel axis SA and the turbine axis of rotation DA both in the one-piece device and in the swirl plate DP. In a particularly advantageous embodiment, the actuating element is a rod-shaped element which is essentially parallel to the axes SA and DA and which in can be carried out in a particularly simple manner sealed through a housing opening SO and runs with a section facing the setting direction outside and a section facing the swirl plate DP inside the housing HO. The tilting movement takes place in the housing opening SO. The actuating element is preferably held straight between swirl plate DP and adjusting device and with a holding section in the receptacle BA of the swirl plate.

In order to achieve a quick and reliable switchover of the swirl plate and in particular to prevent it from remaining in a central position with simultaneous flow through both nozzle channel groups DKL and DKR, the force transmission path from the stop of the sprinkler head to a limiter element of the actuating device up to the rotation of the swirl plate DP advantageously comprises for each switching direction an elastic energy storage element, which absorbs an elastic deformation over a deformation path until the changeover threshold is overcome, which, when the changeover threshold is reached, brings about a rapid switchover to the other end position. This energy storage is preferably carried out by the fact that the actuating element is deformable to such an extent that when the sprinkler head strikes a limiter element of the adjusting device, it is pre-tensioned until the switching threshold force is reached and, after the switching threshold has been overcome, the elastic restoring force and the return path are overcome Quickly move the swirl plate to the other end position.

According to a preferred embodiment, the actuating element BE is a spring steel wire which is dimensioned in accordance with the above requirements in such a way that it is elastically bent until the changeover threshold is reached and, after the changeover threshold has been overcome, a quick changeover takes place by resetting to the straight starting form. The The required deflection and spring force can be set by choosing the material and the wire thickness. In the example outlined, the spring steel wire used as the actuating element has a short bent section at the end of a long, axially parallel section in the swirl plate DP, which section engages in the receptacle BA of the swirl plate. The wire section facing the adjusting device EE runs outside the housing HO in a housing recess GZ radially set back against a circular cylindrical envelope.

In another embodiment with an elongated actuating element, this can also be pivotable about its axis parallel to the main axis of the drive device. When using a spring steel wire with sections angled transversely to the longitudinal axis at both ends of an axially parallel long section, elastic deformation by torsion of the long section can take place.

An embodiment is particularly advantageous in which the actuating element lies in a receptacle MA of a driver element of the adjusting device and on the one hand remains in the receptacle MA within the force acting on the actuating element to switch over, but on the other hand it is larger in the case of the driver element Force can disengage non-destructively from the holder MA with further elastic deformation. This ensures that, for example, if the sprinkler is mishandled with violent manual rotation of the sprinkler head with respect to the drive device about the pivot axis beyond the limited pivoting angle, damage to the adjusting device and / or the actuating element is avoided and the actuating element is rotated by turning the sprinkler head into the permissible angular range reinsert into the MA holder and the regular operation of the movement device is resumed can be taken. The use of a spring steel wire as an actuating element, in particular with a tangential tilting movement, advantageously fulfills such safety requirements in that the wire, which is elastic on all sides, can also deform elastically in the radial direction with greater force and thus greater preforming and can thereby disengage from the receptacle MA.

A first advantageous embodiment of a one-piece device is outlined in FIGS. 12 and 13. The driver element is designed as a shim with a central recess MO surrounding the hollow shaft HW of the sprinkler head, as shown in FIG. 8, which has limiter elements LE along a structured circumference MU, e.g. movable tab of the type sketched in Fig. 14 can accommodate. Two such delimiting elements enclose an angular range between them, within which a stop element connected to the sprinkler head is movable. When the stop element strikes one of the limiter elements, the adjusting disk MS is also rotated about the axis SA.

The shim has a receptacle MA for an actuating element, in particular a spring steel wire with a tangential tilting movement for the changeover, which, optionally with slight radial prestress, lies in the receptacle MA. The receptacle MA is designed as a radial indentation and has radially outwardly extending side flanks which are spaced and / or shaped such that jamming of the actuating element is precluded. In the rest position of the actuating element, this runs approximately parallel to the pivot axis SA. When the actuating element is tilted symmetrically about a center plane containing the pivot axis SA, the actuating element has two rest positions corresponding to the end positions of the swirl plate, in which the longitudinal axis of the Actuating element is inclined slightly towards the center plane. When the stop element strikes a limiting element, the actuating element is pressed by the receptacle MA towards the center plane and possibly also beyond it, and is elastically deformed until the force at the other end of the actuating element is sufficient to overcome the switching threshold. The pivoting direction of the sprinkler head is reversed and the stop element moves away from the limiter element, so that the adjusting disk is put into the new rest position by the actuating element.

If the adjusting disc is manually rotated further, the actuating element moves radially out of the holder MA.

While in the embodiment of an adjusting disk sketched in FIGS. 12 and 13, the swivel angle is limited by two tabs that can be variably set on the disk edge as limiting elements LE and thus the limit of the swivel angle range can be freely adjusted in both swivel directions, an embodiment according to FIG. 15 and FIG. 16 show a two-disk arrangement of the one-piece device, a first disk MS1 again having the receptacle MA and now carrying a first, permanently positioned limiter element LEF at a fixed circumferential position, for example as outlined in the receptacle MA from the disk plane , A second disk MS2 is arranged coaxially to the first disk and has a second limiter element LEV in the plane of the first limiter element and at the same radius as this. The second disk is angularly adjustable relative to the first disk about the pivot axis SA and, for example, frictionally connected to it or, as sketched in FIG. 16, is provided with a ring gear MK, in which a toothed actuating shaft accessible to the user engages, via the rotation of which the angular position of the second disc is adjustable to a variable swivel angle range between the two To obtain limiter elements LEF and LEV, but the one area limit with respect to the housing HO is fixed.

Exactly one receptacle MA is provided for the actuating element BE in the setting disk MS according to FIGS. 12 and 13 and also in the first disk MS1 according to FIG. 15. When the sprinkler head or the adjusting device is turned by force and after the actuating element is disengaged from the receptacle MA, the actuating element lies against a circumferential surface UF and slides along it with low sliding friction force until the receptacle MA comes to the actuating element when the disk MS or MS1 is further rotated and it engages there, after which regular operation of the movement device is possible again. The further rotation can take place either under the action of the drive device or manually.

The peripheral surface in the examples outlined, as can be seen in particular from FIG. 15, is not concentric to the pivot axis DA and, preferably radially opposite the receptacle MA, has a radial distance R1 from the pivot axis SA that is smaller than the radial distance R2 of the receptacle MA. In particular, with respect to an axis distance RO of the position BEO of the actuating element before the setting of the adjusting device EE R1 <RO <R2, so that on the one hand the actuating element BE can lie in the rest position with slight radial prestress in the receptacle and on the other hand the disc MS or MS2 with the short distance R1 facing the actuating element coaxially to the pivot axis, in particular also together with the sprinkler head, can be placed on the drive device without radially deforming the actuating element at the same time. After placement, the adjusting device and / or the sprinkler head is rotated about the pivot axis until the actuating element engages in the receptacle MA and thus assumes the regular operating position. The drive plate of the adjusting device can also contain several such receptacles for the actuating element, which are arranged at an angular offset from one another, which then not only serve as a safeguard against excessive force application, but also allow a quick manual adjustment of the orientation of the sprinkler head.

The circumferential surface UF, in order to enable an automatic continuation with the actuating element disengaged from the receptacle MA under the influence of the drive device, is designed without steps or steep flanks in the course of the pivot axis, so that when dislodged from the receptacle due to incorrect handling Actuating element on the circumferential surface UF no tangential driving force overcoming the switching threshold acts on the actuating element until it engages again in the receptacle and, when the sprinkler head continues to pivot, causes a switchover again at the regular angular range limit by contacting a steep side flank of the receptacle. The peripheral surface can, for example, be circular, offset eccentrically (EX) in the direction of the receptacle against the pivot axis SA.

Another embodiment of an adjusting device, in particular for square sprinklers, in which the angle of violent rotatability is limited by the housing structure, can be advantageous in an adjusting device in which two adjusting segment disks, which are adjustable over a limited angular range around the pivot axis with respect to the actuating element, as a reference position one limiting element each are provided, which are connected to one another in a friction-locking manner and are angle-adjustable relative to one another by overcoming the frictional force. One of the segment disks has a sequence along an arc around the pivot axis of recordings of the type described, which can serve for the gradual adjustability of the associated limiter element with respect to the actuating element. The second segment disk can have the same series of receptacles, but is preferably designed entirely without a receptacle for the actuating element and transmits the force that occurs when the regularly pivoted sprinkler head stops to the associated limiter element via the frictional connection to the first segment disk and via this to the actuating element Switching the swivel direction. A violent rotation of the sprinkler head then leads when the actuating element is disengaged from a receptacle to move into the next receptacle and thus only to adjust the selected swivel angle limit of the first segment disk, which can be corrected again by actuating this segment disk.

Particularly advantageous for sprinkler heads for square sprinklers as well as for pivoted sector sprinklers is the option of being able to freely select the setting device for defining an angular range and, when assembling a sprinkling device, to insert it without separate fastening means between the sprinkler head and drive device, where the setting device can be axially locked by locking it Hollow shaft of the sprinkler head is set and its regular polar position about the pivot axis is predetermined by the receptacle MA and the position of the actuating element.

This results in a wide range of irrigation devices with a small number of different modules. In particular, one and the same drive device can be provided for different types of sprinkler heads, which only match in the outer cross section of the hollow shaft and must be compatible with the coupling structure of the output shaft in the counter structures formed thereon. The assembly of a motion Direction is particularly simple and inexpensive by inserting a selected sprinkler head with the hollow shaft into the outlet opening of the housing of the drive device with the interposition of an adjusting device on the hollow shaft.

The features specified above and in the claims, as well as those shown in the figures, can be advantageously implemented both individually and in various combinations. The invention is not limited to the exemplary embodiments described, but rather can be modified in many ways within the scope of expert knowledge.

Claims

claims:

1. Irrigation device with a sprinkler head pivotable relative to a fixed base about a pivot axis, the pivoting movement of which is effected by means of a drive device located between a water supply and the sprinkler head, in that at least some of the water flowing to the sprinkler head is guided and drives an impeller via nozzle arrangements, characterized in that at least three nozzle arrangements are arranged in a rotationally symmetrical arrangement around the axis of rotation (DA) of the impeller (TU).

2. Device according to claim 1, characterized in that the nozzle arrangements are arranged offset from one another by the same angle about the axis of rotation of the impeller.

3. Device according to claim 1 or 2, characterized in that a maximum of four, preferably exactly three nozzle arrangements are present.

4. Device according to claims 1 to 3, characterized in that the flow direction of the nozzle arrangements can be switched to the impeller.

5. Device according to claims 1 to 4, characterized in that the impeller is attached to a turbine shaft which is rotatably mounted in at least one plain bearing.

6. The device according to claim 5, characterized in that the flow against the impeller (TU) is carried out with a flow component parallel to the turbine shaft.

7. The device according to claim 5 or claim 6, characterized in that the turbine shaft is guided radially in a first shaft bearing (TLU).

8. Device according to claims 5 to 7, characterized in that the bearing diameter of the first shaft bearing and / or a second shaft bearing is less than 10% of the vane diameter of the impeller.

9. Device according to claims 1 to 8, characterized in that the nozzle arrangements are designed as nozzle channels in a swirl plate.

10. The device according to claim 9, characterized in that the swirl plate is pivotable about the axis of rotation of the turbine wheel between two stable angular positions.

1 1.Device according to claim 9 or claim 10, characterized in that each nozzle arrangement comprises a pair of nozzle channels, the outputs of which are aligned obliquely against the direction of the axis of rotation of the turbine wheel and have tangentially opposite alignment components.

12. The device according to claim 11, characterized in that the inputs of the nozzle channels of a nozzle arrangement are each offset by an angular amount which is equal to the angular difference between the two angular positions of the swirl plate.