VANE-TYPE FLOW METER
FIELD OF THE INVENTION The invention consists of a meter for irrigated water, able to be used advantageously on irrigation plants with water drawn from natural or artificial water storage, streams, canals or similar. The meter is provided with a small turbine positioned tangential to the flow of water and connected, by means of a gear assembly and a magnetic coupling, to a measuring device, which is always completely in the dry.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
There are known water meters which comprise a rotary element, such as a turbine or mill, which is made to rotate by the water itself as it passes in the pipe associated with the meter. A first permanent magnet is mounted on the rotary element and a driven magnet is associated therewith. The driven magnet in turn is solid with an anchor which has an axis of rotation substantially coinciding with the axis of rotation of the rotary element. The anchor drives the rollers which display the consumption data by means of a kinematic chain with gears .
Such conventional meters have the disadvantage that they are complex to make and therefore expensive. Moreover, the presence of the driven magnet increases the mass and hence the inertia of the anchor; this reduces the capacity thereof to respond immediately to the sudden movements of the rotary element caused by the passage of the liquid in the pipe. A further disadvantage is that, due to the high mass of the magnet-anchor combination, it is necessary to provide a complex and resistant rotation bearing, normally consisting of a hard stone and a bushing.
The present Applicant has devised and embodied this
invention to overcome these shortcomings of conventional meters, and to obtain further advantages.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The invention is set forth and characterized in the main claim, while the dependent claims describe other innovative characteristics of the invention.
One purpose of the invention is to achieve a meter for irrigated water which indicates clearly and precisely the quantity of water passing through a pipe, and which at the same time is simple to make, to install, to calibrate and if necessary to repair .
In accordance with this purpose, the meter according to the invention comprises a pipe in which the water is able to flow, a detection device able to detect the quantity of water flowing in the pipe, and a measuring device connected with the detection device in order to display the numerical value of the quantity of water. Advantageously the measuring device is removably inserted in a substantially vertical seating of the pipe; a closing element made of non-magnetic material is mounted as a hydraulic seal above said seating; the measuring device is mounted, in the dry, above said closing element; and a magnetic joint connects the measuring device above to the detection device below.
The detection device advantageously comprises a container, substantially cylindrical in shape and open towards the bottom, inside which a turbine is mounted rotatory, which is only partly immersed in the current of water flowing in the pipe.
Advantageously upstream of the turbine a regulation element is mounted able to regulate the quantity of water hitting the turbine.
The afore-said magnetic joint comprises a first permanent magnet, mounted rotatable in synchrony with the turbine,
below the closing element, and a second permanent magnet mounted rotatable above the closing element .
The turbine transmits its rotatory movement to a plurality of gears, in the last of which the first permanent magnet is embedded.
The closing element comprises a horizontal plate and a circular packing is positioned between said horizontal plate and the substantially vertical seating of the pipe.
The measuring device comprises a cylindrical container made of transparent plastic material and hermetically closed, inside which, on a horizontal panel, are mounted a roller-type totalizator, able to indicate the multiple cubic meters, and a plurality of needle-type indicators, on a circular scale, able to indicate the cubic meter and its sub-multiples .
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS These and other characteristics of the invention will be apparent from the following description of a preferential form of embodiment, given as a non-restrictive example, with reference to the attached drawings wherein:
Fig. lis a view from above of a meter according to the invention;
Fig. 2 is a section from II to II of Fig. 1; Fig. 3 is a part section from III to III of Fig. 1; Fig. 4 is a view from above, on an enlarged scale, of a detail of the meter shown in Fig. 1.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF PREFERRED EMBODIMENT With reference to Figs . 1 and 2 , a meter 10 according to the invention comprises a pipe 11 made of cast iron, provided with two terminal connection flanges 12 and 13, parallel to each other. The pipe 11 has an upper circular seating 15, substantially vertical, inside which a detection device 16 is removably inserted and is able to detect the
quantity of water flowing inside the pipe 11. Above the detection device 16, and coaxial therewith, a measuring device, or dial 18, is mounted which is able to display the numerical value of the quantity of water. The connection between the detection device 16 and the dial 18 is achieved by means of a magnetic joint 17, which will be described hereafter.
The meter 10 therefore has a configuration of the "free passage" type, and so is able to provide a measurement of the quantity of water flowing through the pipe 11 without any substantial loss of load.
The meter 10 is able to be arranged in series in any water pipe whatsoever, advantageously for irrigated water, not shown in the drawings . The detection device 16 comprises a container 19 made of plastic material, substantially cylindrical in shape and open towards the bottom, inside which a small turbine 20 with straight blades is rotatably mounted and only partly immersed in the current which is able to flow in the direction indicated by the arrow F.
Upstream of the turbine 20 a fin 21 is mounted, able to slide vertically on guides 22 of the container 19 and to be adjusted in height by means of a screw 23 so that the quantity of water which hits the turbine 20 during use can be regulated, in order to effect a precise calibration of the meter 10, simply by operating from above, for example with a screwdriver, without needing to remove the meter 10 from the plant where it is installed. •
By means of a worm screw 26 and a pair of gears 28 and 29 mounted coaxial on a driven shaft 30, the turbine 20 (Figs. 2 and 3) transmits its rotatory motion to a first permanent magnet 31 embedded in a toothed wheel 32 engaged with the gear 29.
The container 19 is attached from below to a horizontal plate 35 made of non-magnetic material, such as for example brass or plastic material, by means of three vertical screws 36, arranged off-set angularly by 120°. The horizontal plate 25 is attached to the upper circular seating 15 by means of four screws 38 and, with the aid of a circular packing 39, acts as a hydraulic seal between the lower part of the meter 10, in contact with the water, and the upper, dry part.
The dial 18 is mounted on the horizontal plate 35; it is of the dry, vacuum type and comprises a cylindrical container 40 (Figs. 2 and 4) made of transparent plastic material and hermetically closed. Inside the container 40, on a horizontal panel, there are a totalizator 41 with six white rollers with the numbers in black, to indicate the multiple cubic meters, and three indicators 42 with red needles on a circular scale, to indicate the cubic meter and sub-multiples thereof. The cylindrical container 40 is arranged coaxial with the vertical axis of the toothed wheel 32 in which the first permanent magnet 31 is embedded and can rotate freely with respect to said vertical axis, so that the panel of the dial can be directed angularly as desired, with respect to the pipe 11, without using any tool .
The dial 18 also comprises a second permanent magnet 45 arranged coaxial with the first permanent magnet 31 and with which it forms the magnetic joint 17, so that the rotation of the first magnet also causes the second to rotate. Between the second permanent magnet 45 and the indicators 41 and 42 there is a train of reduction gears, of a conventional type and not shown in the drawings.
The dial 18 is also suitable for the assembly of two low- frequency impulse transmitters (reed contact) and a high- frequency optoelectronic sensor of a conventional type and
not shown in the drawings .
The dial 18 is protected by a cap 49 , with a hinged cover 50, made for example in molded brass or plastic material.
It is clear however that modifications or additions of parts can be made to the meter 10 as described heretofore without departing from the field and scope of the present invention.
It is also clear that, although the invention has been described with reference to a specific example, a person of skill in the art shall certainly be able to achieve many other forms of equivalent meters, all of which shall come within the field and scope of the present invention.