WO2007065680A1

WO2007065680A1 - Sprinkling apparatus

Info

Publication number: WO2007065680A1
Application number: PCT/EP2006/011766
Authority: WO
Inventors: Christoph Schiedt; Thomas Renner
Original assignee: Gardena Manufacturing Gmbh
Priority date: 2005-12-09
Filing date: 2006-12-07
Publication date: 2007-06-14
Also published as: EP1957202A1; EP1957202B1

Abstract

For the sprinkling of areas with irregular borders, an apparatus with a programmable electronic control device and a method for operating such a sprinkling apparatus are proposed.

Description

Irrigation device.

The invention relates to a sprinkling device, in particular for watering garden areas.

For sprinkling garden areas with useful plants, ornamental plants, lawn etc., in particular square sprinklers with a nozzle arrangement oscillating about a horizontal axis or circular or sector sprinklers with a nozzle arrangement rotatable about a vertical axis are common. The areas that can be acted upon by such sprinklers are limited to elementary geometric shapes, such as rectangles, circles or circles, so that in real cases a surface to be sprinkled of a different shape, possibly using several spaced sprinklers, can be approximately evenly sprinkled. Aspect ratio for the square sprinkler or sector angle for the sector sprinkler and range of the jet arrangement emitted by the nozzle arrangement, which can include one or more bundled or fanned out water jets, can be adjustable.

For the uniform irrigation of irregularly bordered areas, it is known from US Pat. No. 6,402,048 B1 to bring an approximately 45 ° against a vertical axis of rotation into a certain angular position by means of a first controllable motor and to actuate a flow regulating valve by means of a second controllable motor. The angle of rotation and the valve position determine the point of impact of the jet emitted by the nozzle in the area to be irrigated. The two motors are controlled by a programmable computer at different times, so that the point of impact of the beam can sweep over the entire area, and partial areas can also be left out. A simplified programming of the computer can be done by entering corner points of a polygon as a surface boundary. From DE 10 2005 049 503 A1, a system for irrigating uneven surfaces is known, in which a jet nozzle is aligned horizontally and vertically in predeterminable angular positions by means of two controllable motors and the flow rate can also be variably adjusted by means of a further motor by means of a regulating valve. An irregular surface can also be specified here by several discrete points on the surface line. The point of impact is moved in a zigzag course between borders of the area to be irrigated, the course of the area edge line between adjacent predetermined points being able to be determined by interpolation.

Other such irrigation systems with horizontally and vertically controllable alignment of a nozzle and controllable flow rate are such. B. from WO 02/060236 A1 and WO 2006/060465 A2.

In the case of the irrigation systems which can be controlled by means of several parameters, a learning mode preceding the irrigation mode can be provided, during which the desired impingement positions of the emitted jet are set and the control parameters associated therewith are stored in a programmable control device. The irrigation systems, which can be controlled via several parameters, are very flexible in terms of surface area and density and can also be used for the quasi selective watering of individual plants, but require considerable effort from the user in the learning phase and require a lot of time to cover an area with the point of impact of the jet .

WO 2004/064498 A1 describes a sprinkler system with several sprinklers on a branched line system. In the joint performance Cut before the branching, a control element is inserted, which influences the flow velocity of the water flowing to the sprinklers after control signals from a system computer. The system computer also controls shutoff valves to select one of the multiple sprinklers.

The invention is therefore based on the object of specifying an advantageously constructed irrigation device and a method for irrigating areas with uneven borders. Solutions according to the invention are described in the independent patent claims. The dependent claims contain advantageous refinements and developments of the invention.

The combination of an irrigation device controllable by an electronic control device for irrigating irregularly bordered areas with a nozzle arrangement with several individual nozzles, which simultaneously emit several individual jets of a multi-jet arrangement, and with a regulating valve integrated in the sprinkler housing upstream of the nozzle arrangement proves to be particularly advantageous.

The nozzle arrangement with a plurality of individual nozzles enables the largely uniform irrigation of an angle segment over a large variation range of the range of the jet arrangement in a particularly advantageous manner, an angle segment extending from the nozzle arrangement via the range assigned to the respective angular position to the edge of the area to be irrigated. The range of the beam arrangement is the range of the most extensive single beam, which is dependent on the angular position. While the sprinkling of an angular segment by means of a single nozzle, possibly with subsequent beam-influencing elements, the spray pattern and irrigation that is uniform over the radial extent is satisfactory only over a small range of variation of the range, the nozzle arrangement with a plurality of individual nozzles enables a significantly greater range of variation of the range, in particular by assigning individual jets to different radial irrigation sections.

It is particularly advantageous to align the individual nozzles in a fixed vertical angular position with respect to the axis of rotation, the individual jets preferably forming a diverging jet bundle as they emerge from the individual nozzles. As a result, additional drive means for a variable vertical alignment and their control by the control device can be dispensed with and both the mechanical outlay and the consumption of electrical energy can be kept low. Due to the simultaneous irrigation of the entire radial extent of an angular segment up to the boundary of the surface from a nozzle arrangement, preferably with several individual nozzles, the range variation of an approximately point-sprinkling jet by means of flow variation or vertical nozzle swiveling within an angle of rotation position is eliminated, so that the irrigation of a surface takes place much faster can and control effort is eliminated.

The nozzle arrangement is advantageously uniform, that is to say pivoted about the vertical axis of rotation at a substantially constant rotational speed, the drive for the pivoting movement preferably taking place via a drive device through which at least part of the water flowing to the nozzle arrangement flows. The drive device can in particular contain a turbine wheel acted upon by the water flowing through and a gear arrangement. This eliminates the consumption of electrical Power for an electric servomotor for setting the angle of rotation. The current angular position of the nozzle arrangement can, for. B. be provided via a rotation angle sensor of the control device. The fixed vertical angles of the nozzle arrangement with respect to the axis of rotation without vertical electromotive adjustment and / or due to the drive device through which water flows without electromotive adjustment of the rotational angle position and / or due to the essentially constant setting of the actuating means within a rotational angle position without radial movement with a punctiform jet results in a Particularly low consumption of electrical power during the operation of the sprinkling device, so that a rechargeable battery device as an electrical energy source and a solar cell arrangement for charging it can be designed with a small footprint.

The interpolation of intermediate values from a second number of distinguishable angular positions makes it particularly easy to describe surfaces with largely any contours with little effort with good approximation using a larger first number of distinguishable angular positions and assigned control values and to apply them uniformly to the beam arrangement . In particular, in an adjustment phase or learning phase, the number of control values to be programmed by a user can be kept low and significantly lower than the total number of angular positions of the nozzle arrangement that can be distinguished by the control device.

The interpolation of control values in angular positions without programmed control values from adjacent angular positions with programmed control values is advantageously carried out according to one or more interpolation rules specified in the control device. The in- terpolation rule of the type that the final impact points of the beam arrangement to the interpolated and to the programmed control values used for the interpolation on an elementary simple geometric curve, e.g. B. a straight line or an arc. Such an interpolation rule can be easily set up using the angle functions (sin, cos, tan, ...). In a preferred embodiment, only an interpolation rule directed to a straight line as a locus of the range end points is used. Curved sections of a surface contour can then be approximated by a series of straight sections. The restriction to an interpolation rule, which is directed to a straight line as a locus of the beam arrangement end points, is particularly striking and easy to handle for the user.

The angular positions which can be differentiated for the control device are advantageously given by uniform angular steps of a maximum of 6 degrees, in particular a maximum of 4 degrees about the axis of rotation. The rotation of the nozzle arrangement advantageously takes place continuously uniformly, in particular via a drive through which at least part of the water flowing to the nozzle arrangement flows, in particular with a turbine wheel and a gear. The rotation angle information is advantageously provided as an electrical signal for the control device by a rotation angle sensor arranged in the nozzle arrangement.

The setting of the range of the jet arrangement emitted by the nozzle arrangement by the control device in accordance with the control value programmed or interpolated to the respective current angular position is advantageously carried out via a regulating valve in the feed path of the water flowing to the nozzle arrangement. The maximum adjustable effective valve cross section is advantageously smaller than the nozzle cross section of the in a nozzle arrangement with several individual nozzles smaller than the sum of the nozzle cross sections of the several individual nozzles. The regulating valve can in particular be a floating disc valve. The regulating valve is advantageously integrated into the housing of the irrigation device. The current setting of the regulating valve can advantageously be determined or monitored by a further sensor arrangement, which in a simple design can be a rotary potentiometer, for example. A control value is advantageously programmed in that, in a certain angular position of the nozzle arrangement, the position of the regulating valve is influenced by the user via a first operating element in such a way that the emitted jet arrangement assumes the desired range up to the contour of the surface to be irrigated. If, in the view of the user, the desired range is set correctly by means of the regulating valve via the first control element, the user initiates the programming of a control value corresponding to the valve position reached into a programmable control value memory, for example via a second control element. The first and second control elements can advantageously be structurally combined in one element with at least two different actuation options, e.g. B. a rotary knob with an additional axial button function.

In an advantageous embodiment, the control elements are integrated in the housing of the irrigation function. As a result, the user can advantageously stop the nozzle arrangement in an angular position by hand in an adjustment phase until the desired range is set via the control elements and a control value is programmed. In another embodiment, locking means can also be provided for locking the nozzle arrangement in an angular position. The range adjustment and programming of a control It is of course also possible for values to be obtained during the continuous rotation of the nozzle arrangement.

In another embodiment with a nozzle arrangement that can be rotated via an electrically controllable motor, a specific angular position can also be specifically set in the setting phase and maintained until a control value is programmed.

The control device with the memory for the control values is advantageously integrated into the housing of the irrigation device.

The electrical assemblies integrated in the housing of the irrigation device are preferably supplied with electrical energy from an electrical energy store which is likewise integrated into the housing of the irrigation device. The energy store is preferably a repeatedly rechargeable battery. In a particularly advantageous embodiment, a solar cell arrangement is provided in or in the housing of the irrigation function, via which the accumulator is charged. In a first advantageous embodiment, the interpolated control values can be determined in a single calculation process for all angular positions without a programmed control value after completion of an adjustment phase and can be written into the control value memory in addition to the programmed control values. In another advantageous embodiment, the interpolated control values can also be continuously recalculated.

A jet image generated by the nozzle arrangement with jet nozzles emerging from individual nozzles is particularly advantageous, in which the individual jets can be set in all rotational angle settings of the nozzle arrangement and for all of them Ranges are essentially in a common vertical plane and have different ranges from each other. The individual jets preferably run divergent at the nozzle outlets and overlap at a greater distance.

Due to the intersection of individual jets, a disturbance in the jet course is inserted at the intersections, which leads to a broadening of the water distribution of the individual jet and thus to a uniform radial distribution of the water applied. The multiple jets typically do not lie exactly in one plane, since only the slow rotational movement of the nozzle arrangement about the vertical axis of rotation gives a slight deviation from a jet course in one plane. Furthermore, air movements have a different effect on the various individual jets and the individual jets are not concentrated as solo jets over the entire course and are subject to fluctuations. For the purposes of the invention, essentially lying in one plane is to be understood in such a way that the several individual beams deviate so little from an imaginary common vertical plane that there is a mutual overlap of the beam profiles with beam interference at the intersections.

Here and in the following, the solo beam is understood to be the fictitious situation of a single beam without being influenced by the other beams.

Advantageously, the individual jets are largely laminar when they exit the assigned individual nozzles, regardless of the range set via the regulating valve, in particular also with the largest adjustable range, ie the largest adjustable flow rate. Laminar rays are particularly not susceptible to wind and can be adjusted particularly precisely as solo rays. In particular, the relative course of the Individual beams, irrespective of the variably adjustable range of the beam pattern, determined by the range of the most extensive single beam, essentially obtained with a varying range of the beam pattern. Even as a solo beam, the laminar beam path is not retained over the entire beam path. The beam is widened and divided into partial beams, beam sections and drops of different sizes, so that no bundled laminar beams collide at the at least predominant overlaps. An angle averaged over all overlaps between overlapping individual beams is advantageously at least 30 degrees.

The plurality of individual jets advantageously have different angles of the jet directions against the axis of rotation at the nozzle outlet, the individual jets preferably showing a diverging beam as a jet image in the vicinity of the nozzle outlets. For at least the predominant number, preferably all, of the individual beams, it is advantageous that a smaller exit angle of the individual beam is correlated with the vertical with a shorter range than the solo beam. At the intersection of two beams, at least one of the two beams is advantageously located on a falling section of the beam curve. The smallest exit angle against the vertical axis of rotation is advantageously at least 6 degrees, in particular at least 9 degrees. The smallest exit angle is advantageously at most 20 degrees, in particular at most 15 degrees. The maximum exit angle is advantageously at most 60 degrees. The difference between the smallest and the largest exit angle is advantageously at least 30 degrees. The beam pattern advantageously comprises at least four individual beams. The individual nozzles of the nozzle arrangement are advantageously arranged in a row. The individual nozzles can be positioned in different relative positions within the nozzle arrangement, also with respect to the axis of rotation arranged sides, but the projections of the emitted rays onto the area to be irrigated all point in the same direction of the common vertical plane. Even with known sprinkler arrangements, brief overlaps of individual jets can occur, e.g. B. with a square sprinkler when swiveling through the vertical plane containing the horizontal pivot axis, but here a beam overlap is accidental, undesirable and disadvantageous, whereas in the invention to achieve a uniform irrigation density with a large adjustment range of the range of the jet arrangement, the overlap of beams is used in a targeted manner and is given on an ongoing basis.

The radial irrigation areas of the individual jets as solo jets are advantageously not overlapping one another. The area of irrigation of a single jet as a solo jet is understood to mean, for example, the area within which the irrigation density is at least a minimum, e.g. B. is 20% of the maximum irrigation density of this single jet. The range of the spray pattern with uniform area irrigation can advantageously be changed by a factor of at least 2, in particular at least 3. The range is advantageously changed by changing the flow cross section of the regulating valve, the maximum adjustable flow cross section of the regulating valve advantageously being less than the sum of the flow cross sections of all the individual nozzles of the nozzle arrangement. The nozzle cross sections of the individual nozzles are advantageously at least partially different, it being possible advantageously to assign the largest nozzle cross section to the jet with the greatest range. The invention is illustrated in more detail below on the basis of preferred exemplary embodiments with reference to the figures. 1 shows a surface to be irrigated in plan view,

2 shows the surface of FIG. 1 with a different sprinkler position,

3 shows a section through a preferred embodiment of a irrigation device,

Fig. 4 shows a sprinkling device of the type outlined in Fig. 3 in a coverable manhole. Fig. 5 is a schematic of a sprinkler with variable

controllable range,

6 shows a beam image in different range settings, FIG. 7 shows a schematic crossover of two individual beams,

Fig. 8 shows a detail with a nozzle arrangement.

1 shows a surface BF to be irrigated with a surrounding surface contour FK, which in the example has several straight contour sections and an arc section. An irrigation device RV is arranged within the surface, which periodically continues to be rotated completely around the axis of rotation. The irrigation device contains one by one in essential vertical axis of rotation DA rotatable nozzle arrangement which emits water in the form of a jet arrangement with one or more, bundled or fanned out jets. In the top view, the beam direction runs radially outward from the axis of rotation.

The rotation around the axis of rotation is assumed to be essentially uniformly continuous. With respect to an a priori arbitrarily oriented angle reference direction NW, the orientation of the nozzle arrangement or the jet direction of the jet arrangement assumes periodically progressing angles of rotation during the rotation, which are designated W1 and W2 for two jets R1 and R2. The rotational angle position of the nozzle arrangement relative to a sprinkler housing which is fixed with respect to the surface BF is continuously determined by means of a rotational angle sensor in resolution steps WA of z. B. determined 2 degrees and provided for a control device. The size of the resolution steps and the range of rotation of the nozzle arrangement, which can advantageously be adjustable in the case of a sector sprinkler, determine a first number of distinguishable rotational angle positions. Some rotational angle positions are drawn in as radial lines from the irrigation device to the surface contour. The user can e.g. B. via a remote control or advantageously on the side facing away from the jet arrangement of the nozzle arrangement directly on the sprinkling device, specifically change the range of the emitted jet arrangement. In a preferred embodiment, the nozzle arrangement can be stopped in any angular position, preferably by the user holding it by hand. For this purpose, an overload clutch is advantageously inserted between a drive unit and the nozzle arrangement. The user selects striking points along the surface contour FK as corner points of a polygon surrounding the surface BF, which describes the actual contour FK with sufficient accuracy for the user. An arc can advantageously be approximately described by several straight sections. The selected corner points are labeled E1 to E9 in FIG. 1.

In a setting phase, the user sets the range of the beam arrangement for each angular position of the nozzle arrangement in which the jet direction is directed to such a corner point, the correspondence of the range being directly visually controllable, and programs a control value corresponding to the respective range in association the respective angle of rotation in a memory of a control device. In intermediate positions of rotation angle with orientations of the nozzle arrangement between adjacent corner points, the range need not be set by the user, so that the entire area can be described with sufficient accuracy with only a few settings. The ranges are labeled R1, R2 ...

After all the selected key points have been processed and the desired range has been set and the corresponding control value has been programmed into a control value memory, the adjustment phase is completed and the control value memory contains a second number, in the example nine, of value pairs from the angle of rotation position and the control value. In a later operating phase with unchanged position and orientation of the housing of the irrigation device, in which the nozzle arrangement is rotated continuously about the axis of rotation by means of a drive device, the control device sets a control value for each angle of rotation position that can be distinguished in the control device by means of the angle of rotation sensor Actuator ready to change the range of the emitted beam arrangement. The number of distinguishable rotational angle positions includes, in addition to the small number of rotational angle positions W1, W2, ... to the selected corner points E1, E2, ... a typically much larger number of intermediate rotational angle positions. The position of the actuator which corresponds correctly to the control value can advantageously be set or monitored using a position sensor for the actuator.

While there are control values programmed by the user for the small number of rotational angle positions to the corner points E1, E2,..., The control device generates control values for the intermediate positions by interpolation. The interpolated control values can be continuously regenerated or preferably calculated and saved once at the end of the setting phase.

Interpolated control values for intermediate angles of rotation are generated in such a way that the ranges to intermediate positions between two adjacent corner points are all on a straight line between the two corner points. A range Ri reaching to point Ei in an intermediate rotational angle position Wi between the rotational angle positions W1, W2 is then calculated as a function of ranges R1, R2 and angles W1, W2 to neighboring corner points E1, E2.

Ri (Wi) = function (R1, R2, W1, W2)

When determining the interpolated control values, it must also be taken into account that the relationship between the control value and the range can be non-linear and, if necessary, a characteristic function must be included, which depends on the design of the irrigation device with the controlled actuator depends in the individual case and is specified by the manufacturer as a function course in the control device for the interpolation and thus ^' does not have to be observed separately by the user. Instead of a calculation formula, the interpolation rule and / or a characteristic function can also be stored as a table.

In an advantageous embodiment, the irrigation device can additionally have an operating mode that can be selected by the user, in which the range can advantageously be set independently of the angle of rotation position and advantageously by the user, so that the function of a circular or sector sprinkler with an adjustable irrigation radius is provided.

1, a circular sprinkler with periodically continued rotation over 360 degrees is assumed as the irrigation device. The area BF of FIG. 1 could also be with a z. B. arranged at the corner point E7 sector sprinkler, which only sweeps a sector of approximately 240 degrees from E8 to E1 to E6 and is advantageously rotated alternately clockwise and counterclockwise, as outlined in FIG. 2. The irrigation device can advantageously be operated both for continuous rotation in the manner of a circular sprinkler and for pivoting back and forth in the manner of a sector sprinkler.

2 shows an advantageous embodiment of an irrigation device according to the invention. A housing BG can advantageously be set up with a substantially flat base GF on a footprint SF, in particular ground, and advantageously by means of additional anchoring elements, such as, for example, B. pegs can be fixed on this position. Via a hose coupling SK, supply duct ZL in the housing BG and a dirt filter Fl, water reaches an electrically controllable regulating valve RE, which is designed as a rotatable disc valve. The flow cross section of the butterfly valve can be varied between a closed position and a maximum open position via a servomotor SM. After the regulating valve, the water flows through a drive device AE to a nozzle arrangement DU. For the sake of clarity, only the receiving chamber of the drive device is shown in FIG. 3, in which a turbine wheel driven by part of the water flowing to the nozzle arrangement and a multi-stage speed-reducing gear are typically arranged. The nozzle arrangement DU advantageously comprises a plurality of individual nozzles which emit a jet arrangement SA with a plurality of bundled individual jets. The sum of all nozzle cross sections is advantageously greater than the maximum passage cross section of the regulating valve RE. The throw of the most extensive single beam of the beam arrangement should be understood as the range of the beam arrangement. The nozzle arrangement DU is formed in a sprinkler head DK which is rotatable relative to the housing BG about an essentially vertical axis of rotation DA and which is coupled to the transmission output of the drive device, preferably via an overload clutch. Between the sprinkler head DK and the fixed housing BG, a device SS for variably adjusting an angle sector can be provided, by means of which a pivoting range of the rotatable sprinkler head DK about the axis of rotation DA can be set by the user. Such a sector setting as such is generally known. The sprinkler head is then swung back and forth between the sector boundaries during operation.

During operation, an angle of rotation sensor DS generates sensor signals for an electronic control device SE for determining the current angle of rotation position of the sprinkler head or the nozzle arrangement DU formed thereon. with respect to a reference direction fixed to the housing. The sprinkler head is advantageously designed in the form of a bell or pot shape open at the bottom and surrounds the angle of rotation sensor, which is thereby particularly well secured against contamination.

The control device SE, the angle of rotation sensor DS and the servomotor SM are supplied with electrical energy from an accumulator or battery arrangement BA. The control device and the regulating valve with servomotor are integrated in the housing BG.

A first control element BE1, which, for. B. is designed as a rotary knob, is also integrated into the housing and is electrically connected to the control device SE and / or servomotor SM, that depending on the direction of rotation of the control element, the regulating valve is opened or closed further and so the range of the jet arrangement SA is influenced. The control element preferably acts on the control device SE for changing a control signal to the servomotor. A second Bedjen element BE2, by means of which a value of the control signal corresponding to the current valve position and thus the currently set range of the jet arrangement can be programmed as a control value with assignment to the angle of rotation position of the nozzle arrangement determined via the angle of rotation sensor into a memory of the control device, e.g. B. be designed as a push button which can be actuated by pressing the rotary knob. The design of the control element is accessible in detail in many known variants. For example, instead of the rotary knob, a button arrangement with a button for increasing and a button for reducing the range can be provided, which can also be designed in the form of a rocker. In an adjustment phase, the sprinkler head with the nozzle arrangement is brought into a rotational angle position under the influence of the drive device or by the user, in which the radial jet direction of the jet arrangement SA is directed at one of the corner points E1 to E7 according to FIG. 1. In this angle of rotation position, the user sets the desired range of the beam arrangement using the rotary knob BE1 and, using the function of the second control element BE2, programs a control value associated with the set range with assignment to the value of the current angle of rotation position known in the control device via the angle of rotation sensor in the memory of the Control device. The sprinkler head can be held against further rotation by hand. The overload clutch between the output of the drive device and the sprinkler head prevents damage to the drive device when the sprinkler head is acted on by hand. For all selected corner points, a pair of values consisting of control value and angle of rotation position is programmed into the memory of the control device in a corresponding manner.

Upon completion of the adjustment phase can in the control device of the programmed tax values to a few selected Drehwinkelstellun- gen additional interpolated control values to rotation angle intermediate positions loading true ^'and are stored in the memory of the controller. The end of the adjustment phase can be commanded by the user by means of a separate control element, by a special signaling of a control element available for another function, by screwing the sprinkler head into an angle area which has already been processed, etc. In the operating phase for sprinkling the area BF, the sprinkler head with the nozzle arrangement is rotated continuously around the axis of rotation by the drive device, typically for sweeping over a full circle with the same direction of rotation, for sweeping over only one sector with each being shifted at the sector boundaries. switched direction of rotation. During the rotation, the current angle of rotation position can always be determined in the control device from the sensor signal of the angle of rotation sensor. From the memory of the control device, a control value assigned to each rotational angle position is retrieved by programming or after interpolation, and the servomotor is controlled in accordance with this control value in order to bring the regulating valve into a corresponding position and to effect a specific range of the jet arrangement. The control values for intermediate rotation angle positions can also be continuously determined by interpolation instead of the one-off calculation and storage at the end of an adjustment phase. A position of the regulating valve corresponding to the control value can advantageously be adjusted or monitored via a rotary potentiometer DP coupled to the rotation of the regulating valve. FIG. 4 shows a section through a further particularly advantageous irrigation device, in which a device of the type of FIG. 3 is accommodated in a shaft housing SG. The shaft housing is covered at the top by a hinged cover DE and is typically buried in the ground, so that the shaft cover lies approximately at the level of the surrounding earth. The supply line is here as a bottom connection ZS from below via z. B. provided a pipe laid in the ground. The manhole cover can be opened in a manner known per se automatically with the supply of pressurized water via the supply line ZS to the sprinkling device, in that a branch line SL leads to a displaceable punch SD, which opens in the vicinity of a cover hinge, e.g. B. acts against a closing return spring on the manhole cover.

In this embodiment, a rechargeable battery AB is provided as the electrical energy source, which is advantageously provided in the manhole cover protected behind a window FE arranged solar cell SZ is rechargeable. The combination of an accumulator in the shaft and a solar cell in the manhole cover takes advantage of the fact that typically the irrigation device is not continuously in operation, but is usually mostly out of operation, whereby the manhole cover is closed automatically and the solar cell is closed Accumulator is charging. In this arrangement, the solar cell does not require any surface area that is important for other functions. The folding movement of the lid ensures that the window FE is not usually z. B. is covered by plants or leaves. If necessary, the accumulator can also be charged using an external charger.

The interpolation rule or tables or sequence programs stored in the control device in memories can advantageously be changed by an external programming device, so that newer versions for such stored information can be transferred to the control device.

5 schematically shows the preferred structure of an irrigation device for irrigating irregularly bordered areas. A sprinkler arrangement RA has a nozzle arrangement DU which can be rotated about a typically vertically oriented axis of rotation DA with respect to a housing of the sprinkler arrangement which is assumed to be fixed. The sprinkler arrangement can be operated as a circular sprinkler with a continuous rotary movement or as a sector sprinkler with an alternating direction of rotation. The rotation of the nozzle arrangement is preferably driven by means of a turbine wheel driven by at least part of the water flowing to the nozzle arrangement and a speed-reducing gear. The sprinkler arrangement is via a supply line ZL, z. B. connectable or lockable via an irrigation computer with a water source, in particular a pump or a general water supply. When water under line pressure is supplied through the supply line, it flows through a regulating valve RE and a drive device AE and emerges from the nozzle arrangement DU in the form of several individual jets. The nozzle arrangement is continuously rotated about the axis of rotation DA by the drive device, with sector sprinkler operation with alternating change of direction at the sector boundaries. The current angular position is continuously determined by means of an angle sensor signal SD from a rotation angle sensor DS in a control device SE. Depending on the current angle of rotation position of the nozzle arrangement, the control device sends a control signal S1 to an actuator in the sprinkler arrangement, which actuates the regulating valve and adjusts it in such a way that a range dependent on the angle of rotation of the jet arrangement emitted by the nozzle arrangement is achieved. The maximum adjustable flow cross section of the regulating valve is advantageously smaller than the sum of the nozzle cross sections of all individual nozzles of the nozzle arrangement.

6 schematically shows, for a nozzle arrangement DU rotatable about a vertical axis of rotation DA, a jet image with six individual jets S1 H, S2H,... To S6H emitted from individual nozzles of the nozzle arrangement in a single position of a sprinkling device for maximum range RH. The individual beams S1 H to S6H are idealized as undisturbed and concentrated bundled beams over their respective entire course of the path, in order to better illustrate beam parameters such as crossovers and ranges. The rays all run essentially in a common vertical plane, which preferably passes through the vertical axis of rotation DA. The undisturbed course corresponds to the beam course of solo beams, i.e. the respective individual beams in the fictitious situation without other beams. For solo beams too, the real beam path deviates from the continuously concentrated bundled shape and shows an expansion and division as the path along the beam path increases, both in the radial direction and perpendicular to the common plane mentioned.

While specific ranges R1 H to R6H have been entered for the simplified trajectories of the solo beams, the real solo beams show radial irrigation areas due to the beam expansion, as entered for the beam S4H with RB4 with a distribution of the irrigation density by a maximum of the irrigation density. Such a radial irrigation area is defined, for example, as the area within which the irrigation density is at least 20% of the maximum irrigation density within the distribution. Advantageously, the sprinkling areas that follow one another in the radial direction do not overlap, at least for the majority of the solo beams. In particular, nozzles can be used for the given but small beam expansion of the solo jets, which achieve large and / or precisely selectable and adjustable ranges of the solo jets. A large number of nozzles for defined jet shapes are known per se. In contrast to solar jets for sprinkling the radial distance from the nozzle arrangement, jets with a small jet expansion can advantageously be adjusted variably over a large range by varying the flow rate without changing the jet shape with one and the same nozzle.

This would result in an unsatisfactorily uneven radial distribution of the irrigation density for the undisturbed superposition of all solo beams. By crossing the beam paths, a disturbance of the solo beams is introduced. adds, which results in a widening and leveling of the irrigation density compared to the distributions assigned to the individual solo beams.

It is particularly advantageous that the individual jets as solo jets can be changed over a large range of change in range by means of a regulating valve arranged upstream and common to all jets, but in the case of the collective change the slight expansion as solo jets and the relative course to the others Maintain rays. In this way, a basic distribution of the sprinkling density can advantageously be specified with a few nozzles, which is leveled by the deliberately inserted disturbance of the jet courses through the crossovers. Since the ranges are monotonically correlated with the flow rate, there is also an automatic adjustment of the amount of water applied to the range of the jet arrangement.

In FIG. 6, three beam images for a maximum adjustable range RH in FIG. 6 (A) are compared with a minimum adjustable range RL in FIG. 6 (C) and an average range RM in FIG. 6 (B) in order to determine the quality to illustrate consistent beam patterns. For the sake of simplicity, the range of the beam arrangement is entered as the range of the longest-range beam as a solo beam S6H or S6M or S6L without taking into account a distribution of the irrigation density and / or a beam disturbance. With the reduction in the beam widths, the radial dimensions of the irrigation regions typically also decrease, as indicated by RB4H, RB4M and RB4L. In Fig. 7, the beam behavior at a crossover of two beams SA, SB is outlined in a simplified manner. In real cases, the bundled rays are widened and divided fluctuatingly, so that the rays can predominantly penetrate undisturbed. However, some of the beams are more or less deflected when they are crossed over from the undisturbed beam path and form an interference pattern which, as indicated by broken lines, can occur as small-scale scatter SS as well as in the form of an additional widening or division of the further beams. As can be seen from FIG. 6, several such crossovers occur in the course of a beam, so that the disturbances accumulate.

The crossing angles WK at beam crossings are advantageously greater than 10 degrees. Advantageously, an average crossover angle averaged over all crossovers is at least 30 degrees.

An enlarged schematic section of a nozzle arrangement with a jet arrangement with a plurality of emerging jets S1 to S6 is sketched in FIG. 8. When exiting the nozzle arrangement, the jet arrangement advantageously forms a diverging beam. The angles W1, ..., W6 of the exit directions against the vertical direction of the axis of rotation DA are advantageously different for the individual beams. The smallest angle W1 is advantageously at least 6 degrees, in particular at least 9 degrees. The smallest angle is advantageously at most 20 degrees, in particular at most 15 degrees.

The largest exit angle W6 is advantageously a maximum of 60 degrees. The difference between the largest exit angle and the smallest exit angle W6-W1 is advantageously at least 30 degrees. The jets advantageously leave the individual nozzles essentially in laminar jet form. For the ranges of the individual beams, at least for the predominant number, preferably all, of the individual beams, it applies that a larger exit angle against the vertical is corrected with a larger range, as also assumed in the example according to FIG. 6.

As indicated in the example according to FIG. 8, the nozzle outlets can be positioned opposite one another with respect to the axis of rotation DA within the nozzle arrangement, but are all directed in the same direction, to the left in the sketch of FIG. 8. The exit angles against the vertical are all inclined in the same direction against the vertical.

The individual nozzles advantageously have, at least in part, different nozzle cross sections for different flow rates into the different individual jets, it being preferred, at least for the majority of the individual jets, that the nozzle cross section increases or at least does not decrease with increasing range determined by the exit angle. The widest jet S6 is advantageously assigned the largest nozzle cross section.

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 with a nozzle arrangement rotatable in the sprinkling mode about a substantially vertical axis of rotation over a predeterminable angular range, with adjusting means for variably adjusting the range of a jet arrangement emitted by the nozzle arrangement, with an electronic control device integrated into the housing of the sprinkler, which one contains programmable memory in which a control value corresponding to a respectively assigned range for the control of the actuating means can be programmed for a plurality of angular positions of the nozzle arrangement, and which controls the actuating means in irrigation mode as a function of the angular position of the nozzle arrangement, characterized in that the Nozzle arrangement of several individual nozzles for delivering individual jets of

The jet arrangement contains and that the setting of the range of the jet arrangement contains the adjusting means a regulating valve which can be variably controlled by the control device as a function of the angular position and which is integrated in the housing of the sprinkler.

2. Device according to claim 1, characterized in that the individual nozzles of the nozzle arrangement are aligned in a fixed angular position with respect to the axis of rotation.

3. Device according to claim 1 or 2, characterized in that the individual jets emerge diverging from the individual nozzles.

4. Device according to one of claims 1 to 3, characterized in that the rotation of the nozzle arrangement takes place uniformly.

5. Device according to one of claims 1 to 4, characterized in that the rotation of the nozzle arrangement takes place via a drive which is flowed through by at least part of the water flowing to the nozzle arrangement.

6. Device according to one of claims 1 to 5, characterized in that a rotation angle sensor is integrated in the housing of the sprinkler.

7. Device according to one of claims 1 to 6, characterized in that an accumulator is integrated in the housing of the sprinkler and a solar cell arrangement charges the accumulator.

8. Device according to one of claims 1 to 7, characterized in that wherein the number of pairs of values programmed by the user is smaller than the number of the angular positions of the nozzle arrangement which can be distinguished in the control device and the control device for intermediate positions of rotation, to which no control value by User is programmed, each a control value by interpolation from pairs of values adjacent in the direction of rotation of the nozzle arrangements

Angle of rotation position and programmed control value determined.

9. Device according to one of claims 1 to 7, characterized by a programming device with a first control element, by means of which a current control value for a current angle of rotation position can be programmed in an adjustment phase.

10. The device according to claim 9, characterized in that the rotational angle position of the nozzle arrangement and / or the range can be influenced in the setting phase by means of a further control element.

11.The device according to claim 8 or 10, characterized in that the programming device is integrated with the controls in the housing of the sprinkler.

12. Method for operating a sprinkling device, in which a nozzle arrangement can be rotated about an axis of rotation and, in a given first number of distinguishable rotational angle positions, the range of a jet arrangement which can be emitted by the nozzle arrangement can be adjusted by means of a control device, characterized in that the nozzle arrangement is rotated uniformly that the entire radial area up to the respectively assigned range is irrigated uniformly by the jet arrangement in the various rotational angle positions, a higher flow rate being set through the nozzle arrangement for a larger range than for a smaller range.

13. The method according to claim 12, characterized in that in a setting phase for a second number of distinguishable rotational angle positions, which is substantially less than the first number, a control value for the range is programmed into a memory, and that in an operating phase the range in rotational angle positions with control values programmed in the setting phase, these programmed control values and in other rotational angle positions (Wi) interpolated control values which, from programmed control values from rotational angle positions (W1, W2) adjacent to the respective rotational angle position, by inter polation can be used to adjust the range.

14. The method according to claim 11, characterized in that the interpolation is carried out according to such a rule that the end points

(Ei) of the ranges (Ri) corresponding to the interpolated control values lie on a straight line between two adjacent end points (E1, E2) at programmed control values.