The field relates to irrigation sprinklers and, more particularly, to rotary irrigation sprinklers having part-circle and full-circle operation.
Pop-up irrigation sprinklers are typically buried in the ground and include a stationary housing and a riser assembly mounted within the housing that cycles up and down during an irrigation cycle. During irrigation, pressurized water typically causes the riser assembly to elevate through an open upper end of the housing and rise above the ground level to distribute water to surrounding terrain. The pressurized water causes the riser assembly to travel upwards against the bias of a spring to the elevated spraying position to distribute water to surrounding terrain through one or more spray nozzles. When the irrigation cycle is completed, the pressurized water supply is shut off and the riser is spring-retracted back into the stationary housing.
A rotary irrigation sprinkler commonly includes a rotatable nozzle turret mounted at the upper end of the riser assembly. The turret includes one or more spray nozzles for distributing water and is rotated through an adjustable arcuate water distribution pattern. Rotary sprinklers commonly include a water-driven motor to transfer energy of the incoming water into a source of power to rotate the turret. One common mechanism uses a water-driven turbine and a gear reduction system to convert the high speed rotation of the turbine into relatively low speed turret rotation. During normal operation, the turret rotates to distribute water outwardly over surrounding terrain in an arcuate pattern.
Rotary sprinklers may also employ arc adjustment mechanisms to change the relative arcuate distance between two stops that define the limits of rotation for the turret. One stop is commonly fixed with respect to the turret while the second stop can be selectively moved arcuately relative to the turret to increase or decrease the desired arc of coverage. The drive motor may employ a tripping tab that engages the stops and shifts the direction of rotation to oscillate the turret in opposite rotary directions in order to distribute water of the designated arc defined by the stops.
There are also rotary sprinklers that can select either part-circle rotation of the turret or full-circle rotation of the turret. In the full-circle rotation mode, the turret does not oscillate between the stops, but simply rotates a full 360° without reversing operation. Such selectable rotary sprinklers generally employ a switching mechanism that decouples the reversing mechanism from the stops. For example, some types of switchable rotors shift the arc stops to a position that does not engage the tripping tab. Such designs have the shortcoming that the adjustable stops need to be constructed for both radial adjustment for part-circle operation and also for adjustment in some additional manner in order to avoid the tripping tab. These designs are also less desirable because, in many cases, the part-circle settings of the arc stops may need to be re-established each time the sprinkler is shifted back to part-circle operation.
Other types of switchable sprinklers rely on mechanisms that allow either the arc stops or trip tab to cam around each other due to the stop or tab being resiliently bent. These types of configurations are less robust because the camming component can wear out over time as a result of its repeated bending during full-circle operation. In addition, the camming engagement of the trip tab and/or arc stops during full-circle operation may also cause some unintended movement of the arc stops, which could affect the arc of watering once the sprinkler is shifted back into part-circle mode and require resetting of the desired arc stop locations.
Yet other types of switchable sprinklers employ mechanisms that separate the shifting device from the arc stops, but still allow the stops to engage the tripping tab during operation. These configurations are also less desirable due to the added stress imparted to the tripping tab because it is always engageable with the arc stops in both a full-circle and a part-circle mode. In each prior case, the intricacy of these prior devices renders such sprinkler configurations overly complex, difficult to manufacture, and with many parts potentially prone to wear and tear over time. Also, due to the engagement of the arc stops and tripping tab even during full-circle operation, such prior designs may also require additional re-adjustment of the sprinkler when selecting the part-circle operation after watering in a full-circle mode due to unintended shifting of the arc stops through the continued engagement with the trip tab.
As shown in
As described in more detail below, the selector assembly 22 initiates full-circle watering by shifting a trip member, which is used to reverse the direction of watering, to an operational position that allows the arc setting assembly 20 to bypass the trip member during full-circle watering and, preferably, to bypass the trip member completely without any engagement therewith during full-circle watering. Full-circle watering can be selected without the need to shift or adjust the arc setting assembly 20, such as left and right arc stops, as typically found in prior designs. Therefore, the part-circle watering settings of the sprinkler 10 do not need to be disturbed to select full circle watering, and as a result, the part-circle settings do not need to be reset when part-circle watering is again used. Due to the separation of the arc setting components and the full-circle and part-circle selection components, the sprinklers provided herein generally exhibit less wear and tear on the arc setting assembly and/or trip member because the sprinkler's trip member is spaced from the arc setting components during full-circle watering.
In general, the riser assembly 14 travels cyclically between a spring-retracted position where the riser 14 is retracted into the housing 12 (
The housing 12 generally provides a protective covering for the riser assembly 14 and serves as a conduit for incoming water under pressure. The housing 12 preferably has the general shape of a cylindrical tube and is preferably made of a sturdy lightweight injection molded plastic or similar material. The housing 12 has a lower end 26 with an inlet 28 that may be coupled to a water supply pipe 30.
The riser assembly 14 includes a non-rotatable, riser stem 32 with a lower end 34 and the upper end 18. The rotatable turret 16 is rotatably mounted on the upper end 18 of the riser stem 32. The rotatable turret 16 includes a housing 36 that rotates relative to the stem 32 to water a predetermined pattern, which is adjustable from part-circle, reversing rotation between 0° to 360° arcuate sweeps or to full-circle, non-reversing rotation.
The riser stem 32 may be an elongated hollow tube, which is preferably made of a lightweight molded plastic or similar material. The lower stem end 34 may includes a radially projecting annular flange 40 as shown in
Internal to the riser assembly 14, as generally shown in
The sprinkler's arc setting assembly 20 allows manual adjustment of the arcuate sweep settings of the nozzle turret 16. Referring again to
To effect shifting of the transmission 54 (and reversing operation of the nozzle turret 16), a trip member 70, such as a trip arm or trip lever, is coupled to the transmission 54 via a trip plate 71 (to which the drive gear and terminal gears are mounted) and operable to shift the transmission 54 upon being toggled by alternative engagement with one of the stops 56 or 62. By one approach, the trip lever 70 may be mounted on the support plate 55 in a first operational position for part-circle operation where at least a portion 72 (
In this first operational position of the trip lever 70, at least the portion 72 of the trip lever 70 (and in some cases, the entire trip lever itself) generally extends in a first operational plane X1, which is preferably generally transverse to the housing longitudinal axis X as generally illustrated in
One example of a suitable gear-drive mechanism, shiftable transmission, and arc setting assembly can be found in U.S. Pat. No. 5,383,600, which is incorporated herein by reference in its entirety and provides further details of these sub-assemblies. It will be appreciated however, that other assemblies, components, and mechanisms that drive, shift, and/or adjust the nozzle turret rotation may also be used to operate the sprinkler 10 in part-circle operation.
To shift between part-circle and full-circle operation, the sprinkler 10 includes the selector assembly 22 that shifts the nozzle turret 16 into full-circle operation. To select full-circle operation, the assembly 22 preferably does not require adjustment or shifting of the arc setting assembly 20 (including the arc stops 56 or 62) and preferably also does not require adjustment or shifting of the transmission 54 or the gear-drive assembly 50. As a result, when the sprinkler is shifted back to part-circle operation, the arc set points generally do not need to be reset. By one approach, the selector assembly 22 is coupled to the trip member 70 to effect such shifting, but at the same time is also decoupled from the drive mechanism.
Turning to
More specifically, when the lever 70 (or at least the lever portion 72) is positioned in the second operational position as shown in
Referring now to
Extending upwardly from the longitudinal plate 84 is a mount 92 in the form of a an integral tubular extension defining a hollow bore 93, which is positioned to couple the lever 70 to the upper components of the selector assembly 22 as also more fully described below. As with the trip tab described in U.S. Pat. No. 5,383,600, when the lever 70 is configured in the first operational position, it can be toggled back and forth via engagement with one of the stops 56 or 62 between upright stop posts 93 and 94 (
As best shown in
The support upper surface 99 may include an internal edge 101 defining an opening 103 that leads to the well 80 in an axial direction. In one form, the well 80 may be defined by opposing side walls 102 and 104 and a back wall 106 extending downwardly from the upper surface 99 of the disc base 100. By one approach, a front wall 108 of the well 80 may be at least partially opened to form a discharge opening 110 from the well 80 into the internal cavity of the housing 12 (for example,
Referring to
Turning now to
By one approach, the selector assembly 22 includes at least a connecting rod 120 that is configured to be shifted via a user accessible actuator 122 where adjustment of the actuator 122 preferably shifts the lever 70, in this embodiment, in an axial direction from the first operational position for part-circle operation to the second operational position received in the well 80 for full-circle operation. By one approach, the actuator 122 is positioned for adjustment from a user by being mounted in an upper cap 123 of the nozzle turret 16 and, preferably, exposed through an aperture 124 in an upper surface 126 of the cap 123. The connecting rod 120 is coupled to and transmits the adjustment from the actuator 122 to the lever 70. To this end, a lower end 128 of the rod 120 is connected to the mount 92 of the lever 70 and an upper end 130 of the rod 120 is engaged to or abuts a cross-linkage 132 that couples the rod 120 to the actuator 122. In this embodiment, the connecting rod 120 is mounted for sliding in an axial direction along the longitudinal axis X; as a result, the connecting rod 120 transmits the adjustment from the actuator 122 to the lever 70 and preferably shifts the lever 70 up and down in an axial direction. In one aspect of this embodiment, there is a rotational interface between the end 130 of the connecting rod 120 and the cross-linkage or bridge 132 so that the linkage 132 can travel or orbit along with the turret 16 but the actuator 122 and linkage 132 are otherwise not directly driven by the drive mechanism because they are free to rotate about the rod end 130.
More specifically, the actuator 122 is preferably in the form of a jack screw 134 having external threading 136 on at least a lower portion 138 thereof. The top of the jack screw 134 may include a slot or other profile 133 configured to receive a screw driver or other tool to permit turning of the jack screw to shift the lever 70 from the first to the second operational position. As best shown in
The linkage 132 includes a nut portion 141 extending from a lower plate 142 that is fixed to the rod upper end 130. The nut portion 141 defines a throughbore 143 having internal threading 144 configured to threadably mate with the external threading 136 of the jack screw 134. The threaded portion 138 of the jack screw 134 is then threaded into the bore 143 of the linkage 132 so that, when the jack screw is turned by a user, the mated threadings 136 and 144 imparts an axial, linear motion A to the linkage 132, which pushes the rod 120 and results in a corresponding axial, linear motion of the rod 120 along the sprinkler's longitudinal axis X. Such axial motion of the rod 120 shifts the lever 70 into the well 80 between the first and second operational positions.
For example, to shift the sprinkler to full-circle operation, a user turns the jack screw 134 to push the rod 120 in an axial direction A to shift the lever toggle extension 88 into the well 80. To shift the sprinkler back to part-circle operation, the user turns the jack screw in the opposite direction to raise the linkage 132 to pull or otherwise allow the rod 120 to be raised in an opposite axial direction to pull to shift the lever toggle extension 88 out of the well. Preferably, the selector assembly 22 also includes a biasing member 150 (
Turning now to
Turning to
In this embodiment, to switch between full-circle and part-circle operation, the trip level 270 is retracted radially to the position of
To select either the full-circle or part-circle mode in this embodiment, the selector assembly 282 also includes an actuator 223 and a transfer mechanism 224 that transfers the user's selection of the actuator 223 to the lever 270 within the sprinkler body. The actuator 223 preferably includes an upper end configured, such as with a slot, for engagement by a tool so that the lever 270 can be easily switched between rotation modes without disassembling the rotor mechanism. The actuator 223 is operably connected to the trip lever 270 via the connecting rod 214 so that rotation of the actuator 223 by a user either retracts or extends the lever 270 via the rack and pinion gear 217 and 218. To this end, the actuator 223 is connected to the transfer mechanism 224, which couples the position of the actuator 223 to the lever 270 via the connecting rod 214.
More specifically, the transfer mechanism 224 includes a transfer lever 226 and transfer gear 228 that communicates the rotary position of the actuator 223 to the lever 270. For example, rotation of the actuator 223 causes a corresponding rotation of the transfer lever 226. The transfer lever 226 has a dog eared distal end 227, which engages one of the gear cogs of the transfer gear 228. Therefore, rotation of the transfer lever 226 imparts a corresponding rotational force to the gear 228 via the dog eared end 227 of the transfer lever 226. Because the transfer gear 228 is coupled to the connecting rod 214, rotation of the transfer gear 228 also rotates the rod 214 in a corresponding direction. Rotation of the rod 214 imparts a corresponding rotation to the pinion gear 217, which causes either linear extension or retraction of the trip lever 270 via the mated gear rack 218.
It will be understood that various changes in the details, materials, and arrangements of parts and components which have been herein described and illustrated in order to explain the nature of the sprinkler may be made by those skilled in the art within the principle and scope of the sprinkler as expressed in the appended claims. Furthermore, while various features have been described with regard to a particular embodiment, it will be appreciated that features described for one embodiment may also be incorporated with the other described embodiments.
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