Gear driven portable lawn sprinkler

A portable lawn sprinkler comprising a housing assembly having means defining a fixed horizontally extending water inlet having a female hose fitting on the exterior end thereof and a spaced fixed annular wall providing an interior periphery defining an annular vertically opening water outlet. A speed reducing unit is mounted within the housing assembly. An impeller is drivingly associated with the input shaft of the speed reducing unit in a position to be rotated by water under pressure flowing from the inlet to the outlet. A rotary water distributor is fixed to the output shaft of the speed reducing unit disposed in water communicating relation with the outlet. An annular member is mounted for axial movement within the annular water outlet and in surrounding relation with the output shaft and has an exterior periphery disposed within the interior periphery of said fixed annular wall. An O-ring seal sealingly is mounted between the exterior of the annular member and the interior periphery of the fixed annular wall in such a way as to accommodate any relative axial movement of the annular member with respect to the fixed annular wall. A spring acts between the housing assembly and the annular member so as to resiliently urge the latter upwardly and to maintain an upwardly facing sealing surface on the annular member in sealing engagement with a downwardly facing sealing surface on the rotary distributor. The housing assembly provides interior flow directing surfaces for directing the water therein to flow from the impeller and then upwardly between the output shaft and the annular member into communicating relation to the rotary distributor.

This invention relates to lawn sprinklers and more particularly to lawn 
sprinklers of the type having gear driven rotary distributors. 
An example of the type of gear driven rotary distributor herein 
contemplated is disclosed in commonly assigned U.S. Pat. No. 4,353,506. 
The patent discloses a pop-up sprinkler in which the rotary distributor is 
embodied in a pop-up head and cooperates with a pattern plate for the 
purpose of enabling the sprinkler to be utilized in positions within the 
underground installation requiring partcircle patterns. The seal assembly 
for the rotary distributor head of the sprinkler is particularly suited to 
the provision of a partial pattern type arrangement. 
An object of the present invention is to provide a portable lawn sprinkler 
having a rotary distributor of the type disclosed in the aforesaid patent. 
In accordance with the principles of the present invention, this objective 
is achieved by providing a portable lawn sprinkler comprising a housing 
assembly having a fixed horizontally extending water inlet provided with a 
female hose fitting on the exterior end thereof and a spaced fixed annular 
wall providing an interior periphery defining an annular vertically 
opening water outlet. A speed reducing unit is mounted within the housing 
assembly. An impeller is drivingly associated with the input shaft of the 
speed reducing unit in a position to be rotated by water under pressure 
flowing from the inlet to the outlet. A rotary water distributor is fixed 
to the output shaft of the speed reducing unit disposed in water 
communicating relation with the outlet. An annular member is mounted for 
axial movement within the annular water outlet and in surrounding relation 
with the output shaft and has an exterior periphery disposed within the 
interior periphery of the fixed annular wall. An O-ring seal is sealingly 
mounted between the exterior periphery of the annular member and the 
interior periphery of the fixed annular wall in such a way as to 
accommodate any relative axial movement of the annular member with respect 
to the fixed annular wall. A spring acts between the housing assembly and 
the annular member so as to resiliently urge the latter upwardly and to 
maintain an upwardly facing sealing surface on the annular member in 
sealing engagement with a downwardly facing sealing surface on the rotary 
distributor. The housing assembly provides interior flow directing 
surfaces for directing the water therein to flow from the impeller and 
then upwardly between the output shaft and the annular member into 
communicating relation to the rotary distributor. 
Another object of the present invention is the provision of a portable lawn 
sprinkler of the type described which is simple in construction, effective 
in operation and economical to manufacture. 
These and other objects of the present invention will become more apparent 
during the course of the following detailed description and appended 
claims. 
The invention may best be understood with reference to the accompany 
drawings wherein an illustrative embodiment is shown.

Referring now more particularly to the drawings, there is shown therein a 
portable lawn sprinkler, generally indicated at 10, which embodies the 
principles of the present invention. The sprinkler 10 includes a housing 
assembly, generally indicated at 12, which provides a female hose fitting 
14 adapted to be connected with a male hose fitting on a hose, not shown, 
containing a source of water under pressure. As shown, the housing 
assembly 12 is provided with a pair of spaced rear wheels 16 and a front 
support leg 18 adjacent the female fitting 14 which serve to support the 
housing assembly on a lawn or other area to be sprinkled. 
Mounted within the housing assembly 12 is a water impeller 20 which is 
connected through a speed reducing unit, generally indicated at 22, to an 
output shaft 24. Fixed to the output shaft 24 is a rotary water 
distributor, generally indicated at 26, which receives water under 
pressure flowing within the housing assembly 12 and distributes the same 
within a circular pattern area on the lawn to be sprinkled. An annular 
spring pressed seal assembly, generally indicated at 28, serves to provide 
a seal between the rotary distributor 26 and the housing assembly 12 for 
containing the water under pressure therein so that the same will pass 
outwardly through the rotary distributor 26. 
As best shown in FIG. 2, the housing assembly 12 includes a main plastic 
housing body which includes a cylindrical outer wall 30 disposed with its 
axis extending vertically and a tubular wall 32 extending horizontally 
from the inlet female fitting 14 into the lower portion of the outer 
cylindrical wall 30. As shown, the tubular wall 32 defines an inlet 34 
which is open at its outer end to receive the water under pressure within 
the hose connected with the female fitting 14. The inner end of the inlet 
34 opens tangentially, as indicated at 36, into an annular chamber 38 
defined in the lower open end of the outer wall 30 which is closed by a 
lower end closure 40. The chamber 38 constitutes an impeller chamber 
within which the impeller 20 is rotatably mounted. As shown, the impeller 
20 is fixed to the lower end of an input shaft 42 forming a part of the 
speed reducing unit 22. 
The speed reducing unit 22 may be made up of any desired construction. 
However, as shown, the speed reducing unit is preferably in the form of a 
plurality of planetary gear sets which are suitably mounted between the 
input shaft 42 and the output shaft 24. The planetary gear sets are 
mounted within a casing construction the majority of which is provided by 
an inner cylindrical wall 44 disposed in concentric relation with the 
outer cylindrical wall 30 and integrally interconnected therewith by a 
plurality (e.g. four) of annularly spaced ribs 46 extending radially 
inwardly from the inner periphery of the outer cylindrical wall 30 to the 
exterior periphery of the inner cylindrical wall 34. The inner wall 34 
opens downwardly and is closed by a bottom closure member 48 which 
constitutes a part of the casing for the speed reducing unit. 
The bottom closure 48 includes a hub 50 which serves to rotatably mount the 
portion of the input shaft 42 directly above the connection thereof with 
the impeller 20. Fixed to the shaft 42 above the hub 50 is a sun gear 52 
forming a part of the first planetary gear set which includes a carrier 54 
defining a plurality of annularly spaced shafts 56 on which are journalled 
a plurality of planet gears 58. The exterior periphery of the planet gears 
58 are adapted to mesh with gear teeth 60 integrally formed on the 
interior periphery of the inner cylindrical wall 44. The gear teeth 60 
constitute a common orbital gear for all of the planetary gear sets. In 
this regard it will be noted that the carrier 54 also has formed on the 
upper central portion thereof a sun gear 62 which meshes with a series of 
planet gears 64 journalled on shafts 66 formed as an integral part of the 
bottom portion of the output shaft 24. As shown, the output shaft 24 also 
provides an upwardly facing annular shoulder 68 on which is mounted an 
antifriction washer 70. Washer 70 also engages a downwardly facing surface 
of a depending sleeve portion 72 formed on an annular wall portion 74 
extending radially inwardly from the upper end of the inner cylindrical 
wall 44. The inner periphery of the annular wall portion 74 includes an 
upwardly projecting annular portion 76 which is disposed in surrounding 
relation to the lower portion of the output shaft 24. 
The antifriction washer 70 serves as an effective watertight seal for the 
upper end of the casing, the lower end of which is provided with openings 
78 which allow for the introduction of water into the interior of the 
casing in surrounding relation to the planetary gear sets operative 
therein. 
Mounted within the open upper end of the outer cylindrical wall 30 of the 
housing assembly 12 is an annular member 80 which constitutes an upper end 
closure for the housing assembly. Annular member 80 includes an inner 
cylindrical wall 82 defining an interior cylindrical surface 84. The 
surface 84 constitutes an outlet for the water under pressure which is 
introduced into the interior of the housing assembly 12 through the inlet 
34. The annular sealing assembly 28 includes an annular sealing member 86 
which is disposed within the outlet 84 in surrounding relation with the 
output shaft 24 which extends vertically upwardly through the outlet 84. 
The annular seal assembly 28 also includes an O-ring 88 which is suitably 
mounted within an annular groove formed in the annular seal member 86 and 
disposed so that its exterior periphery slidably sealingly engages the 
interior cylindrical surface 84 defining the opening. The annular sealing 
member 86 includes a spring engaging annular flange portion 90 extending 
radially inwardly from the upper end thereof. The lower surface of the 
annular flange portion 90 is adapted to engage the upper end of a coil 
spring 92 which is disposed in surrounding relation with the housing 
portion 76 and the adjacent portion of the output shaft 24. Preferably, 
the inner upper ends of each of the ribs 46 is formed with an upwardly 
extending guide portion 94. The guide portions 94 extend within the lower 
volutes of the spring 92 and serve to maintain the spring in centered 
relation. The spring 92 thus serves to resiliently urge the sealing member 
86 in an upward direction so that the upwardly facing surface defined by 
the flange portion 90 will sealingly engage a downwardly facing annular 
sealing surface 95 formed on lower portion of a rotary head member 96 
forming a part of the rotary distributor 26. 
Referring now more particularly to FIGS. 2, 4, and 5, the rotary head 
member 96 also has a central interiorly splined shaft engaging socket 
portion 98. The socket portion 98 is configured to be fixed to the upper 
end of the output shaft 24 which is provided with cooperating exterior 
splines. The head member 96 includes a multiplicity of annularly spaced 
water inlets 100. As best shown in FIG. 4 there are twelve inlets 
provided, each being of generally frustosegmental configuration and each 
extending upwardly from the lower surface of the member 96 at a position 
radially outwardly of the sealing surface 95. Each inlet 100 constitutes 
the inlet end of a flow passage extending through the rotary head member 
96, the outlet end of which is defined by an upwardly and outwardly 
extending outlet 102. 
As best shown in FIGS. 1, 4 and 6, each outlet 102 communicates at its 
inner end with the associated inlet 100 and extends upwardly and outwardly 
to the exterior periphery of the rotary head member 96 so as to define a 
water stream which issues therefrom in an upwardly and outwardly 
direction. In this way the rotary sprinkler head member 96 provides for 
the issuance of twelve annularly spaced water streams from the exterior 
periphery thereof. 
The rotary sprinkler distributor 28 in addition to the rotary head member 
96 also includes a stream modifying cap member 104. Member 104 includes a 
central depending hub portion 106 which includes an interior upwardly 
facing shoulder 108. The rotary head member 96 includes a central 
upstanding cylindrical portion 110 of a size to receive the lower end of 
the depending hub portion 106 of the cap member. As best shown in FIG. 1, 
the interengagement of the portions 106 and 110 serves to mount the cap 
member 104 on the rotary head member 96 for rotational movement about the 
axis of rotation of the shaft 24 and rotary head member 96. A bolt and 
washer assembly 112 serves the dual purpose of retaining the rotary head 
member in fixed relation on the end of the output shaft 24 and the cap 
member on the rotary head member for independent rotation, as aforesaid. 
Preferably, a cover member 114 is snapped onto the central portion of the 
cap member to cover the head of the bolt 112 so as to protect the same and 
to enhance the appearance of the assembly. 
Cap member 104 in addition to the rotary mounting thus far described is 
mounted with respect to the head member 96 for incremental indexed rotary 
movement as well. To this end, the upper exterior periphery of the 
depending hub portion 106 is formed with a multiplicity of serrations 116 
of V-shaped cross-sectional configuration. Head member 96 is formed with a 
pair of annularly spaced integral yieldable indexing portions 118 
extending upwardly therefrom in a position adjacent the periphery of the 
hub portion 106 of the cap member. As shown, the interior surface of each 
indexing portion 118 is serrated, as indicated at 120, so as to 
cooperatively engage the serrations 116 on the hub portion of the cap 
member. 
The upper exterior and outer periphery of the cap member 104 includes 
manually engageable serrations 122 which provide a means for facilitating 
the incremental indexed rotational movement of the cap member 104 with 
respect to the rotary head member 96. It will be understood that by 
manually griping the serrations 122, the operator is able to effect 
incremental indexed rotational movement of the cap member 104 with respect 
to the rotary head member 96 through an angle of approximately 36.degree. 
, as shown in FIG. 5. Stops 123 on hub portion 104 are engaged by the ends 
of indexing portions 118 to accomplish the angular limitation. 
As best shown in FIGS. 2 and 3, the cap member 104 includes a depending 
annular skirt portion 124. The lower periphery of the skirt 124 is formed 
with a plurality of sets of stream engaging depending integral elements 
126, 128, 130 and 132. The number of sets of depending elements provided 
is equal in number to the number of outlets 102 formed in the rotary head 
member 96 and their annular spacing is generally equal to the annular 
spacing of the outlets 102. As is clearly shown in FIG. 6, the vertical 
extent of the depending elements in each set is progressively greater and 
the operative angular extent of each element of each set is equal to the 
angular spacing of the serrations 116 and 120 or one incremental indexed 
movement. It will be noted that elements 126, 128 and 130 are integral and 
present a continuous sloping stream interrupting surface. It will be 
understood that the continuous sloping surface could be a continuous 
stepped surface or separate diverging surfaces of different vertical 
extent as in U.S. Pat. No. 4,353,506. As shown, each element 132 is of 
sufficient vertical extent to cover the outlet when aligned therewith as 
shown in FIG. 6. Moreover, the inwardly facing surface of each element is 
dished out or formed with a greater concavity so as to insure that the 
water deflected thereby is maintained within a minimum circular pattern 
(e.g. four feet). Associated with all but one set of depending elements is 
a notch 134 which is positioned when aligned with an associated outlet 102 
so as to be out of the path of movement of a stream issuing upwardly and 
outwardly of the outlet. It will also be noted that when the notch 134 of 
one set is angularly aligned with its associated outlet 102, the notches 
134 of the other sets of stream modifying elements are angularly aligned 
with the other outlets 102. As best shown in FIG. 6, in lieu of the notch 
134, the twelfth set is provided with a diverging surface element 136. 
Element 136 insures that the central portion of the circular pattern 
receives water when notches 134 are aligned with their respective outlets 
to achieve a maximum circular pattern (e.g. forty feet). By manually 
moving the cap member 104 one incremental indexed movement, the shortest 
depending element 126 of each set is brought into angular alignment with 
an associated outlet. The shortest element 126 thus engages or penetrates 
into the stream issuing from the aligned outlet 102 from above only a 
short distance so as to provide a minimum amount of stream deflection. By 
moving the cap member 104 another incremental indexed movement, the next 
stream modifying element 128 of each set is brought into angular alignment 
with an associated outlet 102 so as to provide a greater amount of stream 
deflection. Similarly, when the cap member 104 is moved another 
incremental indexed movement, the next stream modifying element 130 of 
each set is brought into angular alignment with an associated opening so 
as to provide maximum stream deflection except for separate element 136. 
In this way with the construction illustrated there are four progressively 
greater stream deflections which can be obtained by four incremental 
indexed movements of the cap member 104 with a fifth incremental indexed 
movement providing for stream integrity without deflection except for 
element 136. The arrangement is such as to achieve stream modification 
simultaneously with all twelve streams associated with all twelve outlets 
102. Once the adjustment is made the stream modification occurs during all 
rotational positions of the rotary sprinkler distributor 28. It thus will 
be seen that the objects of this invention have been fully and effectively 
accomplished. 
It will be realized, however, that the foregoing preferred specific 
embodiment has been shown and described for the purpose of illustrating 
the functional and structural principles of this invention and is subject 
to change without departure from such principles. Therefore, this 
invention includes all modifications encompassed within the spirit and 
scope of the following claims.