The invention broadly relates to irrigation systems and, more specifically, to temporary irrigation systems, and, even more specifically, to a temporary irrigation system comprising a vehicle arranged to hold a plurality of spools of garden hoses.
Home owners starting a new lawn often require above-ground sprinkler services to water their lawns to commence growth. This task can require hundreds of feet of garden hose and several dozen sprinkler heads to effectively complete a job over a three week period of time. The garden hose is usually stored on a plurality of spools. The task requires transport and deployment of a large amount of equipment in a relatively short amount of time. Eventually after the hoses and sprinklers are deployed and the lawn has grown adequately, all the equipment must be removed, reloaded and transported to the next lawn that requires an irrigation system.
Therefore, there is a long-felt need for a temporary irrigation system that will allow landscapers or homeowners to quickly and easily transport, deploy, and reload their equipment while also sufficiently watering lawns.
The present invention broadly comprises a storage rack for an irrigation system, comprising at least a first pair of parallel rails arranged on a first substantially horizontal plane, operatively arranged to hold at least one spool, at least a second pair of parallel rails arranged on a second substantially horizontal plane, the second plane located beneath the first plane, and the second pair of parallel rails located directly beneath the at least first pair of parallel rails, the second pair of parallel rails operatively arranged to hold at least one spool, cranking means operatively arranged to selectively engage and simultaneously drive two spools, where one of the two spools is located on one of the at least first pair of parallel rails, and a second of the two spools is located on one of the at least second pair of parallel rails.
The cranking means allows the spools to either be cranked manually or by a powered motor. In the manual crank embodiment a square, shaft engages with the square hole in the side of the spool. The square shaft is attached to a handle which the operator can turn to wind or unwind the hose from the spool. A ratcheting device may be included on the crank so that the spool can only be cranked in one direction at a time. In the embodiment with the powered, motor, a gearing system allows the operator to individually engage the spool of his choice from among the four end spools.
The gearing system includes an engaging mechanism, wherein a smaller square shaft is housed within a larger hollow shaft. The large hollow shaft is run through a bearing and attached to a sprocket which is connected to and rotated by the output of the motor. The smaller inside shaft moves freely from side to side to engage or disengage with the axially located square holes in the spools. The inner square shaft is only long enough to engage one horizontally adjacent spool at a time. Preferably, a foot operated switch controls the powered gearing system, which frees up the operator's hands for other tasks such as managing the hoses.
One object of the invention is to provide a system to be installed temporarily for irrigating lawns.
A second object of the invention is to provide an aforementioned irrigation system that allows its user to quickly and easily unload and pack up the hoses and other equipment necessary for irrigation.
These and other objects, features and advantages of the present invention will become readily apparent to those skilled in the art upon reading the detailed description of the invention as shown in the drawings.
The nature and mode of the operation of the present invention will now be more fully described in the following detailed description of the invention taken with the accompanying drawing Figures, in which:
At the outset, it should be appreciated that like drawing numbers on different drawing views identify identical structural elements of the invention. While the present invention is described with respect to what is presently considered to be the preferred embodiments, it is understood that the invention is not limited to the disclosed embodiments. Also, the adjectives, “front,” “rear,” “left,” “right,” “top,” and “bottom” and their derivatives, in the description herebelow, refer to the perspective of one facing the invention as it is shown in the figure under discussion.
Furthermore, it is understood that this invention is not limited to the particular methodology, materials and modifications described and as such may, of course, vary. The present invention is intended to cover various modifications and equivalent arrangements included within the spirit and scope of the appended claims. It is also understood that the terminology used herein is for the purpose of describing particular aspects only, and is not intended to limit the scope of the present invention, which is limited only by the appended claims.
Adverting now to the figures,
In a preferred embodiment, spools 18 are stacked in two sets of two rows, with all four rows substantially parallel to one another, and with the first set of rows on a different plane beneath the second set of rows. Each row is defined by a pair of rails 24. It should be appreciated that, although in a preferred embodiment, the rails are not only parallel to one another, but substantially parallel to the ground as well, this is not a necessary aspect of the invention. In fact, it may be preferable to arrange the rows/rails at a slight incline, with individual spools held in place by a locking mechanism for transport, such that gravity could assist in loading or unloading the spools. In fact, it may be preferable to incline the rows/rails in a first direction for loading and in a second direction for unloading. For example, the rails could be arranged to decline toward the rear of the rack for unloading; and decline toward the front of the rack for loading.
In the embodiment shown in the drawings there are four spools 18 in each row for a total of sixteen spools 18. The number of spools 18, and the number of rows, may vary in different embodiments as space permits. On the left side of
It should be appreciated that, in a preferred embodiment, the rails on the upper rack level are in registration with the rails on the lower level. That is, the rails are aligned directly atop one another as shown in top view in
Both outer shafts 34 run through a set of bearings 35. Bearings 35 are affixed to support beams 40. Inner shaft 32 which has a solid square cross-section is housed within outer shaft 34.
Arrow 37 in
Engagement and disengagement of spools 18 is illustrated in
Thus, it is seen that the objects of the invention are efficiently obtained, although changes and modifications in the invention may be readily appreciated by those having ordinary skill in the art, and those changes and modifications are intended to be within the scope of the claims.
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Number | Date | Country | |
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20080272224 A1 | Nov 2008 | US |