Patent Application
20120037722
Many areas of the globe, including the Middle East, suffer from a shortage of good quality water, a situation which has worsened since the publication in 2007 of our previous patent. While it is true that desalination of seawater can produce any desired quantity of drinking water, such plants take time to build, they require power, capital investment and land for operation and the combined operating and capital costs of the plant are still too high for many agricultural applications, aside from other applications such as the flushing of toilets.
In order to prevent water wastage in irrigation of plants, grass and vegetation the water must be delivered evenly over the area of concern. Using round pattern sprinklers to cover large areas requires an overlapping of the sprinklers pattern in order to irrigate each portion of the area that requires many closed spaced sprinklers, and still, the coverage is not even, some spots get more water then others. A rectangular shape, which immediately poses the difficulty of depositing the water in the corners of the rectangle without wasting water beyond the long mid-sides of the rectangle. A further problem arises when a sprinkler is irrigating a rectangular shape, the distribution of water inside the rectangular shape is not even. In order to avoid this, the watering distance and the sprinkler output must be changed. Even if the area to be irrigated was circular in form the rotating head of the sprinkler if set to deposit the correct amount of water in a circle 10 meters radius, and under the same conditions but in a circle of 5 meters radius, far more water than needed will soak the smaller area. Intense effort has been invested in the development of sprinklers providing good water distribution.
The present invention is an improvement on and a development of the applicant's previous invention described in US Patent Application Publication no. US 2009/0152377. incorporated by reference herein. The present Application is related to U.S. patent application Ser. No. 12/785,776, filed on May 24, 2010 and which is incorporated herein by reference.
The invention refers to an irrigation sprinkler which can be adjusted to provide even coverage of areas such as parks, agricultural areas, golf courses and private lawns.
More particularly, the invention provides a sprinkler head and a complete sprinkler assembly which when not in use either remains in place or retracts to ground level so as not to obstruct persons and vehicles, or as non pop-up, portable placed on the ground.
The primary object of the present invention is to achieve improved evenness in water distribution, while irrigating round or non round watering pattern.
It is a further object of the present invention to provide a sprinkler which can be adapted for use on residential, commercial and recreational areas such as golf courses and parks.
Yet a further object is to provide a sprinkler head which can be used as a replacement to be adapted to a stationary part of a fixed or a pop-up sprinkler for the head of either a fixed or a pop-up sprinkler.
Embodiments of the present invention achieve the above objects by providing an improved upper portion of a programmable sprinkler for even irrigation of a land area of regular or irregular shape, said upper portion comprising:
In a preferred embodiment of the present invention there is provided a complete projecting sprinkler unit comprising a fixed base casing provided with a water inlet, said casing supporting an improved upper portion of a programmable sprinkler.
In a further preferred embodiment of the present invention there is provided a complete pop-up sprinkler unit comprising a fixed base casing configured for under ground installation provided with a water inlet, said casing slidingly supporting an improved upper portion of a programmable sprinkler, said sprinkler having a non-revolvable vertically slidable mid section (called by those skilled in the art a “riser”) which is raised on a vertical axis by water under pressure entering said sprinkler and returned to its lower position flush with ground level in response to cessation of said water pressure.
In another preferred embodiment of the present invention there is provided an improved upper portion wherein the flow rate of said sprinkler is increased by automatic improvement of the alignment of said outlet and inlet ports when said nozzle is disposed at a shallow elevation to the horizontal, and automatically of increases misalignment of said ports when said nozzle is disposed at a higher elevation to the horizontal.
In a further preferred embodiment of the present invention there is provided an improved upper portion wherein said sealing means for the interfacing surfaces of said outlet and inlet ports comprises an elastomer low-friction O ring, pressure of the O ring on the nozzle inlet is provided by the water jet coming from the outlet port.
In yet a most preferred embodiment of the present invention there is provided an improved upper portion wherein said plurality of cam adjustment means provided comprises wedge members which are disposed to contact with said adjustable cam track, said wedges being movable from outside said sprinkler and being lockable adjustable by means of screws having outwardly facing heads.
It will thus be realized that the novel sprinkler head of the present invention serves for evenly irrigating an area within its range however shaped. The sprinkler to be described makes use of the unexpected test results obtained during experiments carried out by the inventor.
While it is naturally preferable to install a sprinkler comprising a single ready-to-use assembly, nevertheless the sprinkler head can be adapted to fit into the lower case of prior-art units.
The invention will now be described further with reference to the accompanying drawings, which represent by example preferred embodiments of the invention. Structural details are shown only as far as necessary for a fundamental understanding thereof. The described examples, together with the drawings, will make apparent to those skilled in the art how further forms of the invention may be realized.
For simplicity of illustration the diagrams show only a single nozzle in use. However in some applications a second nozzle can be installed in the same housing as illustrated. The use of a fixed nozzle, usually configured to irrigate short range areas eases the task of the tiltable nozzle which then needs to cover only a smaller range.
The subject matter regarded as the invention is particularly pointed out and distinctly claimed in the concluding portion of the specification. The invention, however, both as to organization and method of operation, together with objects, features, and advantages thereof, may best be understood by reference to the following detailed description when read with the accompanying drawings in which:
a and 6b are sectioned detail views showing how the flow rate is controlled at maximum and minimum nozzle elevation;
It will be appreciated that for simplicity and clarity of illustration, elements shown in the figures have not necessarily been drawn to scale. For example, the dimensions of some of the elements may be exaggerated relative to other elements for clarity. Further, where considered appropriate, reference numerals may be repeated among the figures to indicate corresponding or analogous elements.
In the following detailed description, numerous specific details are set forth in order to provide a thorough understanding of the invention. However, it will be understood by those skilled in the art that the present invention may be practiced without these specific details. In other instances, well-known methods, procedures, and components have not been described in detail so as not to obscure the present invention.
There is seen in
The top revolvable portion 10 comprises a housing 14 having a top closure 16 and a water inlet 18 at the center of its lower side. An elongated aperture 22 allows clearance for the passage of the water jet 24. A tube 26 in contact with the inlet 18 supplies water transmitting the rotary drive by cam track 40 suspended around tube 26, along a vertical axis. The drive is provided by a prior art water turbine which is not seen and for which no novelty is claimed. The turbine is operated by water entering a lower casing 28, seen in
The water inlet 18 is connected to an upper outlet 30 which supplies water to the spray nozzle. 32.
The spray nozzle 32 has an arcuate section 34 having the same radius as a concave portion 36 of the central revolvable element 38. One nozzle 32 is seen tiltably supported inside the upper revolvable housing 14. Additional nozzles, not shown, with or without tilting can also be disposed in the housing. The nozzle 32 shown in the drawing is seen free to slide along the concave portion 36. Such movement occurs when a follower arm 46 is raised and lowered due to its contact with the surface of cam track 40. The follower arm 46 thereby changes the elevational angle of the spray nozzle.
As is clearly evident from the drawings, the degree of alignment between the nozzle inlet port 42 relative to the water outlet port 30 of the central revolvable element 38 varies as a function of the angle at which the nozzle 32 is disposed relative to the horizontal. The advantages of this arrangement will be explained with reference to
Sealing means are provided for the interfacing surfaces 34, 36 of the central revolvable element outlet 38 and nozzle inlet port 42. The Pressure of the O-ring on the nozzle inlet is provided by the water jet coming from the outlet port 30.
An adjustable cam track 40 is attached below the spray nozzle 32 to the non-revolvable mid section 12. The adjustable cam track 40 may be constructed of discrete strips, so that at least the edges of each strip overlap the edges of neighboring strips, to allow each strip to slide upon neighboring strips, so that each of the edges connecting point is free to move, up and down, vertically, relative to the neighboring connecting points, to create a cam track with a changeable shape. It would be appreciated by those skilled in the art that other structures may be used in order to allow the adjustment of the shape of cam track 40.
Adjustable cam track 40 is seen to better effect in
A cam adjustment means is provided, also shown in
A cam follower connecting rod 46 is disposed partly inside the upper revolvable housing 14, and is in sliding or rolling contact at a lower extremity with the adjustable cam track 40. The upper extremity 44 of the connecting rod 46 is in hinged connection and revolves together with the spray nozzle 32.
With reference to the rest of the figures, similar reference numerals have been used to identify similar parts.
Referring now to
Seen in
Turning now to
Reference is now made to
Referring now to
The scope of the described invention is intended to include all embodiments coming within the meaning of the following claims. The foregoing examples illustrate useful forms of the invention, but are not to be considered as limiting its scope, as those skilled in the art will be aware that additional variants and modifications of the invention can readily be formulated without departing from the meaning of the following claims.
