Patent Application
20090314905
This present invention relates to a hose support and especially to a hose support for supporting a drop hose in an irrigation system.
Mechanically moved irrigation systems are commonly used throughout the United States for irrigating agricultural lands. Generally the mechanically moved irrigation system includes a plurality of wheeled towers supporting a linear water conduit in a manner that the wheeled towers and water conduit can be moved through an agricultural field changing the position of the irrigation sprinklers coupled to the water conduit. One end of the water conduit is coupled to a water main or well and the sprinkler heads are mounted in spaced alignment along the water conduit between the wheeled towers. The irrigation system may be moved in an agricultural field by a motor coupled through a gear box to the wheels of the towers.
One type of mechanically moved irrigation system in common use is a center pivot irrigation system used in the irrigation of large fields. These typically are comprised of a linear water conduit which is pivotally connected at one end to a source of water under pressure. The water conduit is carried in an elevated positioned by a plurality of spaced wheeled towers which are powered by hydraulic, pneumatic or electric motors to rotatably sweep the central conduit over a central pattern in a field. The central conduit includes a plurality of water sprinkler heads spaced over its length for distributing a spray of water on the circular field area as the center pivot irrigation conduit passes thereby. The center pivot and other wheeled line irrigation systems have been successful for a uniform distribution of water over a field crop.
The current practice in some irrigation systems is to connect drop hoses to the water main with conventional couplings and then have the hoses drop near the field below and then have sprinkler nozzles attached to the end thereof for distributing the water adjacent the crops.
The present invention is directed towards the attachment of drop hoses to an irrigation water line of a wheeled irrigation system to both connect the drop hose to the water line and to support it on the water line while holding it in place facing downward from the water line. One past irrigation system by the present Applicant is the Healy U.S. Pat. No. 6,745,985 for a wheeled line irrigation system having a water main supported on a plurality of towers and having a truss built of truss rods attached to the water main to support a plurality of drop hoses connected to the water main over the trusses for distribution of irrigation water from an irrigation system to the crops below. The truss uses a rod hose sling attached to the truss rod and to the hose for holding the hose to the truss rod and to guide the hose over the truss rod.
In contrast, the present invention is a direct connection to the irrigation system water main supported on a plurality of towers but provides a connection for the drop hose to the water main while simultaneously providing a hose support or saddle with a curved supporting channel to support the hose from the top of the water main in a curved fashion for a clean drop to the field below.
A hose support for a drop hose of an irrigation system includes a curved hose support body having a generally arcuate U-shaped cross-section for supporting a drop hose therein. A water conduit coupling has one end threaded for attaching to a central irrigation water conduit and is fixedly attached to one end of the curved hose support body. The water conduit coupling has a drop hose coupling extending from the other end thereof and extending into the curved hose support body for attaching the drop hose to the water conduit coupling and into the central irrigation water conduit. This allows a hose support for a drop hose to be attached to an irrigation system water conduit and a drop hose attached thereto and supported therein. The curved hose support body has a drop hose holding ring at the other end thereof for sliding the drop hose therethrough for attaching to the drop hose coupling. The curved hose support body has a pair of openings therein adjacent the top hose coupling to assist in attaching the drop hose to the drop hose coupling. The curved hose support body is a generally arcuate support body or saddle having a generally gooseneck shape having a generally U-shaped cross-section. The curved hose support body also has a bracing rib thereunder.
Other objects, features, and advantages of the present invention will be apparent from the written description and the drawings in which:
Referring to the drawings,
The drop hose support for an irrigation system is more clearly seen in
As more clearly seen in
It should be clear at this point that a drop hose support has been provided which advantageously attaches to the conventional threaded attachment on an irrigation water main and provides an attachment for the drop hose to the irrigation water main and holds the drop hose in an advantageous curve from the top of the water main to a vertical direction downward for connection with a sprinkler head at the other end of the drop hose 22. This allows the rapid attachment of a drop hose to the water main and provides support to prevent crimping and wear in the water drop hose while holding the drop hose in a generally vertical direction. However, the present invention should not be considered as limited to the forms shown which are to be considered illustrative rather than restrictive.
