OSCILLATING LAWN SPRINKLERS

Abstract: An oscillating lawn sprinkler comprises a watering pipe provided with spray nozzles (11), and a choking device for selectively limiting the watering range of the sprinkler, which comprises a control means (15), an external manual-actuation means (16) and an internal flow-diverting means (19). This internal flow-diverting means (19) is capable of taking, through angular displacements of the control means (15), corresponding positions for diverting the flow of water coming from a water inlet opening (13) in such a way as to deliver it to all of the spray nozzles (11) provided on the watering pipe (9) or to a part of them as provided on that portion of watering pipe (9) which is located either on the right-hand side or the left-hand side with respect to said flow-diverting means (19).

Description: The invention relates to an oscillating lawn sprinkler which is capable of being placed freely on the ground and of being connected with a water supply source in view of irrigating tilled areas such as lawns, gardens and the like. A sprinkler of this type basically consists of a pipe featuring a number of differently oriented spray perforations or nozzles, pivotally mounted on a bearing block and driven by the pressure of the in-flowing water through a turbine-type motor enclosed in a sealed box. The bearing block usually has an elongated shape, while the box containing the driving mechanism is mounted in correspondence of one of its ends in such a way as to be connected with the water supply source and, at the same time, to act as the driving support for at least one of the ends of the oscillating pipe. Mechanical control means are furthermore provided in the box containing the driving mechanism, which can be used to selectively confine the surface of the area to be watered by setting the oscillation angle of the spray pipe accordingly. Further mechanical control means are provided inside the oscillating pipe itself for adjusting the surface of the area to be watered by choking part of the available spray nozzles, ie. shutting them partially off. From the German patent application no. 3.119.094 a tubular sprinkler is known which is provided with a cylindrical slide valve gear that, through the use of a worm gear, ie. wheel handle and related shank, can be caused to slide inside the spray pipe in order to choke or shut off part of its spray ports or nozzles. Such a device, however, has a major drawback in that it only enables spray nozzles to be shut off unidirectionally and in correspondence of that portion of the watering pipe in which said valve can actually be made to slide. This drawback is causing an inconvenience in that the sprinkler itself must be displaced, or its orientation changed, each time that special requirements arise for an area-limited watering action. Therefore it is a principal object of the present invention to provide a sprinkler of the described type featuring such a choking device as to be able to both cover all available spray nozzles or ports along the water pipe and to choke or shut them off in a bidirectional way along the longitudinal axis of the watering pipe. This and further objects are obtained, according to the invention, by means of a sprinkler embodying the features recited in the appended claims. The characteristics of the invention will become more apparent from the description which follows by way of non-limiting example with reference to the accompanying drawings in which: Figure 1 is an overall view of the sprinkler according to the invention; Figure 2 is a lengthwise sectional view of the watering pipe as set for watering the largest possible surface area; Figure 3 is an enlarged lengthwise sectional view, taken along the line III-III of Fig. 2, of a particular of Fig. 2; Figures 4 and 5 are two lengthwise sectional views of the watering pipe as set for ensuring two different types of partially choked watering actions; Figure 6 is an enlarged view showing a particular of Fig. 4. The sprinkler 6 shown in the Figures includes a bearing block 7 which carries both the driving mechanism box 8 and the oscillating watering pipe 9 (Fig. 1). The driving mechanism box 8 is of a traditional water-pressure type and includes all such components as required to operate the watering pipe 9 (eg. the turbine-like motor, the mechanism to adjust the oscillating range of the watering pipe 9, etc.), all of which are already well-known and therefore do not require any further description. It should be sufficient here to remember that the sprinkler 6 is operated by the pressure that the water flowing into the driving mechanism box 8 from its supply source through the inlet connection 10 imparts on the blades of a turbine-like motor which is mechanically linked with the watering pipe 9. Apart from the afore mentioned device for the adjustment of the oscillation range of the watering pipe 9, the driving mechanism box 8 further contains a device of a well-known type, and therefore not shown in the drawings, which is intended to adjust the flow rate of the water delivered by the sprinkler 6 itself. The watering pipe 9 is provided on its upper portion with a plurality of spray nozzles 11, which have all a different inclination with respect to the longitudinal axis of the watering pipe 9. The nozzles 11 are supplied with water through a conduit 12 coming from the driving mechanism box 8 and communicating with the watering pipe 9 through an opening 13 showing a shape which is elongated transversely with respect to the watering pipe 9, and being located in a position which is nearly central with respect to the longitudinal axis of the watering pipe 9. It should be noticed that a choking device 14 for selectively limiting the extension of the surface area to be watered is rotatably housed in a watertight sealed way in that end of the watering pipe 9 which is opposite to the one connected with the driving mechanism box 8 (Fig. 1). Such a choking device is essentially formed by a cylindrical stem 15 having a cross-sectional size which is smaller than the inner bore of the watering pipe 9 in order to be able to delimit, with the inner surface of the watering pipe 9, an annular outflow space 22 (Figs. 3, 5). The outer end of said stem 15 is provided with a control handle 16 and a sealing ring 17 snapped into a proper circumferential seat 18 (Figs. 2, 4, 5). The inner end of said stem 15 is terminated by a wall 19 which is oriented obliquely with respect to the longitudinal axis of the watering pipe 9, and which is also provided with a circumferentially sealing ring 20 and the related housing seat 21 (Figs. 3, 6). The inclination angle of said oblique wall 19 is selected in such a way as to ensure that the width of the water supply opening 13 falls in all cases within the space formed by the inner acute-angle corner 23 and the outer obtuse-angle corner 24 of the seat 21 of the sealing ring 20 (Figs. 3 and 6). In the particular embodiment as shown in the accompanying Figures, said wall 19 is inclined by an angle of 45 degrees with respect to the longitudinal axis of the watering pipe 9. By rotating the control handle 16, and hence the stem 15, by 90-degree increments, the wall 19 can be oriented either in such a position as to enable all of the available spray nozzles 11 to be used for watering purposes (Figs. 2 and 3), or in such positions as to enable the incoming water flow to be diverted toward the spray nozzles 11 located on the right side with respect to the water supply opening 13 (Figs. 4 and 6) or toward the spray nozzles 11 located on the left side with respect to the water supply opening 13 (Fig. 5). In particular, when the wall 19 is oriented in its position for maximum watering range (Figs. 2 and 3), the water supply opening 13 is practically subdivided into two arch-shaped openings 13a, 13b (Fig. 3) which are capable to deliver the water to the right-hand and left-hand portion of the watering pipe 9, respectively. When the wall 19 is oriented as shown in Figs. 4 and 6 or in Fig. 5, the whole of the incoming water flow is diverted so that it will reach the spray nozzles 11 sited along the right-hand portion of the watering pipe 9 or, respectively, the spray nozzles located along the left-hand portion of the watering pipe 9 through said annular outflow space 22. It should be noticed in this connection that said annular outflow space 22 is lengthwise delimited by the two sealing rings 17 and 20. With the sprinkler and the related control devices according to the above description, the objects of the invention can be considered as fully reached through the provision of a choking device capable of covering all of the available spray nozzles 11 provided along the watering pipe 9, as well as capable of selectively shutting off said spray nozzles 11 in a bidirectional way along the longitudinal axis of the watering pipe 9. For instance, the flow diverting wall 19 may be given different shapes or inclinations, while the cylindrical stem 15 may be provided with, or made to appropriately co-operate with, special ports and/or recesses, or may further be replaced with one or more stems connecting the control handle 16 with the wall 19.

Claims: Oscillating sprinkler comprising a bearing block, on which a pipe provided with spray nozzles is pivotally mounted so that it is capable of oscillating around a longitudinal axis, a water-pressure actuated turbine-like driving mechanism, housed in a watertight box connected to both one end of said watering pipe and the water supply source, to drive the watering pipe so that it moves oscillatingly according to the angle and with the water flow rate which are settable through adjustment means associated with said driving mechanism box, a choking device to selectively limit the watering range of the sprinkler, which is housed in a movable way inside the free end of the watering pipe so that it can co-operate with a water supply opening provided transversally in said watering pipe, characterized in that said choking device (14) includes a control means (15) having a cross-sectional size which is smaller than the inner bore of the watering pipe (9), and is provided with external manual-actuation means (16) and internal flow-diverting means (19), both of them being provided with corresponding sealing means (17,18; 20,21) between said watering pipe (9) and said control means (15); said flow-diverting means (19) being capable of taking appropriate positions, in response to corresponding angular displacements of said control means (15), to divert the flow of water coming from said opening (13) in such a way as to deliver it either to all of the available spray nozzles (11) on the watering pipe (9) or to only a part of them located along either side of said watering pipe (9) with respect to the flow-diverting means (19). Oscillating sprinkler according to claim 1, characterized in that said flow-diverting means (19) deviate the entire water flow from the water inlet opening (13) when it is adjusted to anyone of its choking positions for limiting the watering range of the sprinkler, and subdivide the port of said opening (13) into two half-openings (13a, 13b) when it is set in a resting position. Oscillating sprinkler according to claims 1 and 2, characterized in that said water inlet opening (13) is provided in the watering pipe (9) within an area as defined by the contact surfaces between the sealing means (20,21) of the flow-diverting means (19) and the inner surface of the watering pipe (9). Oscillating sprinkler according to claims 1, 2, 3, characterized in that said choking device (14) is formed by a cylindrical stem (15) delimiting an annular outflow section (22) together with the inner surface of the watering pipe (9) and including an outer end shaped as a handle (16) and an inner end shaped as an oblique wall (19), both ends being respectively provided with ring-type sealing means (17,18; 19,20) between the inner surface of the watering pipe (9) and the outer surface of the cylindrical stem (15); said oblique wall (19) being inclined by a 45-degree angle with respect to the longitudinal axis of the watering pipe (9), placed above said opening (13) provided to deliver water to the spray nozzles (11), and capable of taking, when the associated cylindrical stem (15) is rotated sequentially by 90-degree increments, corresponding positions for diverting the entire flow of water toward the spray nozzles (11) located along that portion of the watering pipe (9) which is opposite to the one housing the choking device (14), toward all of the spray nozzles (11) provided on the watering pipe (9), or toward those spray nozzles (11) that are located along that portion of watering pipe (9) delimiting said annular outflow section (22).

Inventors: CADAMURO, ANTONIO, LICCIARDELLO MARANZANA, MARIA, MAGRIS, ERME
Applicants: UNIFLEX UTILTIME S.P.A.
Application year: 1990
Main classification: A01G25
IPC codes: B05B3