WATER SPRINKLER

Abstract: A water sprinkler adapted to distribute water over an area in uniform manner which is other than circular. The sprinkler includes an annular outlet of constant width and achieves variation of distribution area by having water selectively directed into first a holding chamber and then the outlet so that the distribution variation is achieved by different pressure or velocity of water rather than direction. The sprinkler includes a resiliently secured deflector arranged to close upon the annular outlet at low pressure. The sprinkler is adapted to be used in a pop up configuration.

Description: "WATER SPRINKLER" This invention relates to water sprinklers. There is a known need for water sprinklers to provide uniform distribution of water over areas that are other than circular. 5. Attempts to achieve reasonably uniform distribution over areas such as rectangular and square areas have previously, to the knowledge of the applicants, been attempted by deflection of water so as to cause the direction of the water to change as it issues from the 10. distribution device and hence achieve the variation in distribution peripheral shape. Complex mechanical devices have been used to provide a number of separate outlets the direction of which have varied from time to time so as to achieve a 15. rectangular or square distribution shape. The cost of such a device is high and the results have not appeared to be entirely satisfactory in terms of distribution uniformity. .Furthermore, mechanical devices are prone to break 20. down especially in situations where they are left in the outside environment without any protection. OMPI In other devices, an attempt has been made to achieve a change in shape by altering a deflection angle which once again does change the peripheral shape of the distribution area but it is found extraordinarily diffi- 5. cult to ensure that such a shape is maintained through a substantial variation in input water pressure and that water distribution over the area covered is even close to uniform. The problems to which this invention is directed 10. then is to provide an apparatus which has for its purpose to provide for distribution of water over a selected area which is other -than circular and to achieve this in a manner different from other devices either to use which allows for economic manufacture and a substantial improve- 15. ment in uniformity of distribution and maintenance of an area of distribution other than square through a variety of input water pressures. The invention results from the discovery in the broad sense that if the distribution area is achieved not 20. b altering the direction of the water emanating from the apparatus but rather the velocity of water from location to location around any peripheral outlet of water then this allows for the improvements discussed. Typically then, if it is arranged that water be 25. distributed through an annular outlet so that if the water was supplied at a constant velocity around the annular shape the water would be distributed over a generally uniform area of circular peripheral shape. O PI Accor±this invention then the supply of wate into such ular outlet is controlled to such a extent thatportions of the water around the peri phery of ttlar shape are at a higher pressure an 5. hence higheity than other portions of water. This cachieved in several different ways bu one prefer* is to provide that the water passin into the otnnular shape is directed in the clos vicinity o: annular outlet shape by directiona 10. passagewaysat for a distribution shape that migh be square, ire then four circumferentially arrange passageways-d around the outlet annular shape an arranged si the water passing into the annula outlet has sier passage when in direct alignmen 15. with the pay rather than when not in such direc alignment. It wiiadily apparent that various " ways can be used to aβsuch selection of direct pressure of water in ic situation so as to achieve the 20. variable shwater distribution. Accord a further form of the invention then, four passagre arranged around in symmetrical align¬ ment beneatco-axially with an annular outlet with their direcid shapes such to cause the results as 25. discussed a, __O PI According to a further form of this invention, the annular outlet is so directed that the water issuing therefrom is in a parallel direction with the remainder of the water and for this to be distributed in a circular 5. periphery requires that the water be deflected out into a radial direction. This is achieved by providing a conical shape acting as a deflector shape and according to a preferred arrangement of this the deflector shape is held in a resilient manner with respect to the annular outlet 10. so that with increased water pressure, the deflector is caused to move further away from the outlet and con- trarily with less water pressure the deflector surface may move closer to the outlet. The advantages of this arrangement is that at least 15. with low water pressures, having the deflector surface closer to the outlet provides a more effective distri¬ bution and there can be some improvement in the shape" of the deflected peripheral area at higher pressures although with any significant pressures, the spring 20. loading providing the resilient counterforce is normally set so that it will be against its furthermost stop position with water pressures above a selected minimum pressure. A further advantage of providing for this variable 25. position of deflector is that with no water pressure or negligible water pressure, the deflector can lower itself to the extent necessary to close the annular outlet whereby stopping during periods of non-use, entrance therein by insects which can in some situations cause 30. significant difficulty for subsequent use. "gϋR- _ O...PI - y , WIPO This effect can be accentuated by providing the whole of the water distribution assembly discussed thus far is supported within a cylinder within a base such that upon application of water pressure, the whole of the 5. assembly rises relative to the base against the resilient pressure so in effect becoming a pop-up sprinkler. In a further form of this invention it can be said then to reside in a water sprinkler including a base, a water distribution assembly including a water receiving 10. chamber having four inlets comprising four symmetrically located jet passageways around an axis, and having the shape of the passageways such that water passing through each passageway will be directed as a jet in an outward and inwardly inclined direction onto a cylindrically 15. - shaped outer surface of the stem, an annular outlet from the water .receiving chamber co-axial with the said axis and above the jet passageway, an inner side of the. annular shape of the outlet being provided by the stem, a deflector surface of conical shape co-axial with the said 20. axis with a lowermost apex position located at an upper end of the stem, the stem and thereby the deflector surface being resiliently urged to assume a lowermost position against a lifting force of water as it is being deflected, the stem being of constant outer diameter and 25. shape at least from the passageways- to the deflector surface. Preferably in the above arrangement, in a further feature, the water distribution assembly is held within a cylindrical sleeve in the base and arranged with resilient means so that with introduction of water above 5. a selected pressure into the base, the assembly is caused to rise against the influence of the resilient means. A further form of the invention can be said to reside in a sprinkler including a base providing a cylin¬ drical wall, a first sleeve slidably located within and 10. by the cylindrical wall, a jet sleeve held within the first sleeve and including a plurality of circum- ferentially located jet passageways through the head, the jet passageways being each directed in an inclined direc¬ tion and an upward and inward direction one with respect 15. to the other toward a central polar axis, and a deflector having a conically shaped deflector surface arranged to reflect water issuing through the jet passageways. Preferably in relation to the above arrangement there is the further feature that the deflector is resi- 20. liently secured relative to the base so that its position can vary to being closer or further away from any issuing stream of water being deflected with different issuing velocities of water. According to a further form of this invention it can 25. be said to reside in a water sprinkler adapted to distribute water over an area other than substantially circular, the invention being characterised in that it includes an annular water distribution outlet, the distribution over an area other than circular being 30. achieved by arranging for water supply O PI — " 7. passageways to be such that the velocity of water at selected locations as issuing through the annular peri¬ phery of the outlet is different from other locations around the periphery of the annular outlet whereby the 5. distribution of water is different by reason such velocity rather than initial direction. A further aspect of the invention is the arrangement as stated immediately preceding this in which the passage¬ ways are arranged to provide for distribution over a 10. square area. Preferably the distribution is such that the square area is achieved with a reasonable tolerance of distri¬ bution which can typically be better than 507 o or in another way better than 20% variation over a given square 15. area. For a better understanding of this invention it will now be described with reference to a preferred embodiment which will described with the assistance of drawings in which:- 20. FIG. 1 is a side elevation of the preferred embodi¬ ment shown in cross section and with a water distribution assembly in a partially raised position and with a deflector also shown in a partially raised position, FIG. 2 is the same view as in FIG. 1 with the water 25. distribution assembly and the deflector in a retracted position, 8. FIG. 3 is a cross sectional view from above along, lines 3 - 3 of FIG. 2 and FIG. 4 is a perspective view of a member providing for four passageways to achieve distribution in the water 5. distribution assembly. Referring now to the drawings in detail s a sprinkler 1 has a base 2 which is of pyramidal shape. The base 2 as indeed are most of the members providing the sprinkler, are made from resin based 10. plastics which contribute substantially to reduced costs involved in manufacture of these articles. An inlet 3 provides for conduit coupling providing an inlet passageway 4 for a supply of water into chamber 5. 15. The chamber 5 is defined by cylindrical walls 6 the polar axis of which is shown at 7. For the sake of ease of description, reference shall be made from time to time to an uppermost location or vertical orientation and so forth. 20 . This refers to the normal preferred working orientation of the sprinkler as shown with respect to the orientation as in the drawings. Nothing of course referring to such verticality means that the device as such is restricted to such 25. absolute direction with respect to verticality or upper or lower relative locations in any absolute sense but only in relative senses. A water distribution assembly 8 includes an oute sliding sleeve 9 which is vertically movable within th cylinder walls 6 by reason of a sliding relationship wit firstly a lower annular out-turned flange 10 and b 5. reason of the cylindrical wall 11 engaging the furthe cylindrical shape of a wall of the base 2 shown at 12. A helical spring 13 urges the assembly 8 into a lowermost position with respect to the base 2 while the application of water pressure against 3 lower annular 10. out-turned flange 10, the assembly 9 is urged into a raised position which can be referred to as a popped-up position. The relative area of lower annular out-turned flange 10 with respect to other proportions is such that with 15. even with a minimal water pressure,, the assembly -8 will raise to a fully extended position against any resistance of spring 13. Within the water distribution assembly 8 there is a jet sleeve 14 which is more particularly shown in FIG. 4 20. which has in it four jet passageways 15 each located symmetrically around the polar axis 7 and with the sub¬ stantive direction of each such that water passing through each jet passageway would be directed in both inward and outward direction as compared through between 25. the passageways. OMPI The shape of the passageways according to the preferred embodiment can be seen by reference to the. drawings each passageway being formed by drilling in the member 14 in this instance being preferably made from 5. brass. The jet sleeve 14 is located below an annular outlet 16 leaving therebetween a water chamber 17. An inner side 18 of the annular outlet 16 is defined by stem 19 which is relatively movable along the direc- 10. tion of the polar axis 7 so that it is slidable both with respect to the jet sleeve 14 and the sleeve 9. The position of the stem 18 is controlled to a certain extent by reason of helical spring 20 located between jet sleeve 14 and an outward turned end of the 15. stem 21. At an uppermost end of the stem 18 is a deflector surface 22 which is a conical shape or perhaps more correctly frustro-conical shape with a lowermost apex position as is shown. 20. This then describes the preferred embodiment. The method of operation is such that by introducing water through the inlet 3 this causes in the first instance the assembly 8 to rise fully so that the out- turned flange 10 engages the lower end of the cylindrical 25. wall 12 and from thence, water issuing through the passageways 15 first enter the chamber OMPI 17 and then issue in more or less streamline flow throu the annular outlet 16 against the outer surface of t stem 19 until striking the conical face of the deflecto shape 22 from whence the water is distributed. It will be seen the issuing angle of water i 5. governed by the shape of the deflector cone 22 and henc the shape of the final distribution is governed not b any difference in shape of any deflector surface o direction of issuance of the water but rather by reaso of velocity change caused by a freer passageway in som 10. portions of the passage of water into the annular outle 16. In a preferred embodiment, water at 60 lbs pe square inch is introduced into the water distributio apparatus and this will cover an area of 11 metres by 1 15. metres with less than 20% variation in water distributio application rate..over this area. There is very small overflow from this area so tha it will be readily seen that it is a very effectiv technique in practice. It will also be seen that th 20. fully retracted position in FIG. 2 shows how the whole o the apparatus can be kept free from insect introductio when not being used.

Claims: The claims defining the invention are as follows:- 1. A water sprinkler adapted to distribute water over an area other than substantially circular, the sprinkler being characterised according to this invention that the sprinkler includes an annular water distribution 5. outlet the distribution over an area other than circular being achieved by arranging for water supply passageways to be such that the velocity of water at selected locations around the annular periphery of the outlet is different from other locations whereby the distribution 10. of water will be different by reason of velocity through the annular periphery of proportions of the water rather than by difference in direction. 2. A water sprinkler as in Claim 1 further charac¬ terised in that the water supply passageways are so arranged that the distribution area for a substantial proportion of the water is substantially square. 3. A water sprinkler of a type adapted to distri¬ bute water over a area other than substantially circular characterised according to this invention in that the sprinkler includes a base, a water distribution assembly 5. including a water receiving chamber having four inlets comprising four symmetrically located jet passageways around an axis and having the shape of each jet passage¬ way such that water passing through each passageway will be directed as a jet in an upward and inwardly inclined 10. direction onto a cylindrically shaped outer surface of the stem, an annular outlet from the water receiving chamber co-axial with the said axis and above the jet passageway, an inner side of the annular shape of the outlet being provided by the stem, and a deflector 15. surface of conical shape co-axial with the said axis, with a lowermost apex position, located at an upper end of the stem whereby to effect deflection of water passing through the said passageways and through the annular outlet arranged whereby to effect different velocities of 20. water around the annular outlet whereby to thereby cause a different distribution area of the water. 4. A water sprinkler as in Claim 3 further charac¬ terised in that the stem and thereby the deflector surface is resiliently held with respect to the base whereby to urge the deflector to assume a lowermost 5. position against any lifting force of water as it is being deflected, the stem being of constant outer diameter and shape at least from the passageways to the deflector surface. 5. A water sprinkler as in either the last two preceding claims further characterised in that the water distribution assembly is held within a cylindrical sleeve in the • base and arranged with resilient means so that 5. with the introduction of water above a selected pressure into the base the assembly is caused to rise against the influence of the resilient means. 6. A water sprinkler of a type adapted to distri¬ bute water over an area other than substantially circular, the sprinkler being characterised according to this invention in that it includes a base providing a 5. cylindrical wall, a first sleeve slidably located within and by the cylindrical wall, a jet sleeve held within the first sleeve and including a head including a plurality of circumferentially located jet passageways through the head, the jet passageways being each directed in an 10. inclined direction and an upward and inward direction one with respect to the other and toward a central polar axis, and a deflector having a conically shaped deflector surface arranged to deflect water issuing through the jet passageways. 7. A water sprinkler as in the last preceding claim further characterised in that the deflector is resi- liently secured relative to the base, so that its position can vary to being closer or further away from any issuing 5. stream of water being deflected with different issuing velocities of water. 8. A water sprinkler substantially described in the specification with reference to and as illustrated by the accompanying drawings. O PI

Inventors: PROSSER K, WILLMOTT E, WILSON I
Applicants: PROSSER K, WILLMOTT E, WILSON I
Application year: 1981
Main classification: B05B1
IPC codes: B05B1, B05B15