Patent Publication Number: US-2013240459-A1

Title: Irrigation diverter, and related systems and methods

Description:
CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION AND CLAIM OF PRIORITY 
     This application claims priority from commonly owned U.S. Provisional Patent Application 61/612,365 filed 18 Mar. 2012, and titled “SELF-CLEANING, IRRIGATION DITCH SCREEN”, presently pending, which is incorporated by reference. 
    
    
     BACKGROUND 
     Many farms, orchards and ranches receive the water necessary for irrigating crops and watering livestock from streams, rivers or lakes located nearby. If the necessary water is not located nearby then one or more canals are dug to convey the water close to where it&#39;s needed. To obtain the water from the stream, river, lake and/or canal, a diverter is typically placed in the flowing water and coupled to a pipe that conveys the water diverted by the diverter to the field of crops, trees, or animals that need it. If the pipe runs up, over the bank of the stream, river, lake or canal, then a pump may be coupled to the pipe to draw water out of the stream, river, lake or canal. If, however, the pipe runs through the bank of the stream, river, lake or canal, then a pump may not be needed to draw water out of the stream, river, lake or canal. 
     Because streams, rivers, lakes and canals often have debris such as leaves, branches, logs, and silt that remains suspended in the water, the diverter typically includes a filter to prevent the debris from entering the pipe and clogging or adversely affecting the flow of water through the pipe. Unfortunately, such filters get clogged from the debris, and remain clogged because the pressure of the water flowing in the canal pins the debris against the filter. Eventually, much of the filter becomes clogged with debris such that very little water, and sometimes none, passes through the filter and into the pipe for use elsewhere. 
     To keep water flowing through the filter of the diverter, farmers and/or ranchers frequently visit the diverter to clean the filter. During the spring when the water flowing in most streams, rivers, lakes and canals carry much debris, the farmer and/or rancher may clean a single diverter twice or three times a day. To clean a filter of the diverter, one typically has to use a brush mounted to a long handle, or get into the water and manually remove debris with one&#39;s own hands. This frequent cleaning of the diverter&#39;s filter is time-consuming and uncomfortable—especially if the stream or river caries water from mountain snows. 
     SUMMARY 
     In one aspect of the invention, an irrigation diverter for diverting a flow of liquid from a larger flow includes a housing, a filter to trap unwanted debris, a cleaner to remove the trapped debris from the filter, and a turbine to power the cleaner. The housing has an inlet and an outlet. The filter is disposed between the inlet and the outlet and operable to allow liquid entering the housing through the inlet to flow to the outlet while preventing debris in the liquid from reaching the outlet. The cleaner scrapes the filter to remove the debris trapped by the filter, and the turbine extracts energy from the larger flow of liquid to power the cleaner. By powering the cleaner with energy extracted from the flowing liquid, one does not have to frequently visit the diverter to manually remove debris from the filter. And, the filter may be continuously cleaned to prevent a buildup of debris trapped by the filter. This, in turn, allows a substantially steady flow of liquid through the diverter and toward a desired location away from the stream, river and/or canal that the diverted is located in. 
     In another aspect of the invention, an irrigation diverter includes a coupler to couple the diverter to a pipe that conveys the diverted liquid to a desired location, and that allows one to position the diverter out of the flowing liquid. With the coupler, one can easily remove the diverter from the stream, river, lake and/or canal to visually inspect the diverter and/or modify the diverter by changing the turbine and/or filter to correspond with changes in the flowing liquid. 
    
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE FIGURES 
         FIG. 1  is a perspective view of an irrigation diverter according to an embodiment of the invention. 
         FIG. 1A  is a partial, perspective, sectional view of the diverter in  FIG. 1 . 
         FIG. 2  is another view of the irrigation diverter shown in  FIG. 1 . 
         FIG. 3  is an exploded, perspective view of the irrigation diverter shown in  FIGS. 1 and 2 . 
     
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION 
       FIG. 1  is a perspective view of an irrigation diverter  10  according to an embodiment of the invention.  FIG. 1A  is a partial, perspective, sectional view of the diverter  10  in  FIG. 1 . The diverter  10  diverts liquid (here water but may be any desired liquid) flowing in a canal  12  into a pipe  14  to be conveyed to a remote location. The remote location may be an orchard of trees bearing fruit or nuts, or a field of crops such as broccoli, corn or barley, or the remote location may be a watering hole for livestock. Although shown positioned in a canal  12 , the diverter  10  can be positioned in a stream, river, lake or any desired liquid-conveying structure to divert liquid from the structure. As shown in  FIG. 1 , the diverter  10  is submerged in the flowing water, but, the diverter  10  may be positioned at the surface of the flow to avoid diverting water flowing below the surface. Also, although the diverter  10  is shown in  FIG. 1  disposed horizontally in the canal  12 , the diverter  10  may be disposed in another orientation, such vertical or any angle between horizontal and vertical. 
     In this and other embodiments, the diverter  10  includes a filter  16  ( FIG. 1A ) (discussed in greater detail in conjunction with  FIG. 3 ) to stop unwanted debris such as leaves, branches, logs, trash, and silt suspended in the flow of water from flowing into the pipe  14 . The filter  16  is disposed between the inlet  18  and the outlet  20  and includes holes  22  (only two labeled in  FIG. 1A  for clarity) that allow water to flow to the outlet  20  while preventing debris in the water from reaching the outlet  20 . The diverter also includes a cleaner  24  ( FIG. 1A ) (also discussed in greater detail in conjunction with  FIG. 3 ) to scrape the filter  16  to remove the debris trapped by the filter  16 . The diverter  10  also includes a turbine  26  ( FIG. 1 ) (also discussed in greater detail in conjunction with  FIG. 3 ) to power the cleaner  24  from energy that the turbine  26  extracts from the water flowing in the canal  12 . 
     In operation, water flowing in the canal in the direction indicated by the arrow  28  flows past and around the diverter  10 . Some of this water enters the diverter  10  through the inlet  18  and contacts the filter  16 . Because the filter  16  includes holes  22 , some of the water that contacts the filter  16  flows through the holes  22  toward the diverter&#39;s outlet  20 , while debris larger than holes  22  is prevented from flowing toward the outlet  20 . Because water flows through the filter  16 , the water contacting the filter  16  exerts pressure against the filter  16  that pins or traps debris that is stopped by the filter  16 . To remove the debris from the filter  16 , the cleaner  24  scrapes the filter  16  and dislodges the debris from the filter  16 . Once dislodged, the debris is carried downstream, away from the diverter  10 , by the water flowing adjacent the filter  16 . To scrape the filter  16 , the cleaner  24  moves across the surface of the filter in the direction indicated by the arrow  28 . The turbine  26  moves the cleaner  24  across the surface of the filter  16  by absorbing some of the energy in the flowing water. The absorbed energy causes the turbine  26  to rotate in the direction indicated by the arrow  30 , which, in turn, causes the cleaner  24  to rotate about the axis  32 . 
     By powering the cleaner with energy extracted from the water flowing in the canal  12 , one does not have to frequently visit the diverter  10  to manually remove debris from the filter  16 . And, the filter  16  may be continuously cleaned to prevent a build-up of debris trapped by the filter  16 , which, in turn, allows a substantially steady flow of water through the pipe  14  and toward a desired location away from the canal  12 . 
       FIG. 2  is another view of the irrigation diverter  10  shown in  FIG. 1 . In this and other embodiments, the diverter  10  also includes a coupler  34  (also shown in  FIG. 1 ) that couples the diverter  10  to a pipe  14  that conveys the diverted water away from the canal  12 , and that allows one to position the diverter  10  out of the flowing liquid. In this and other embodiments, the coupler  34  includes a hinge that allows one to pivot the diverter  10  up, out of the water flowing in the canal  12 . To pivot the diverter  10  out of the water flowing in the canal, one may insert a hook (not shown) into the eye  36  and pull the diverter  10  out of the water. To allow one to do this while standing on the bank of the canal  12 , the hook may be located at the distal end of a pole. By coupling the diverter  10  to the pipe with the coupler  34 , one can easily remove the diverter  10  from the stream, river, lake and/or canal to visually inspect the diverter  10  and/or modify the diverter  10  by changing the turbine  26  and/or filter  16  to correspond with changes in the flowing liquid. 
     Other embodiments of the coupler  34  are possible. For example, the coupler  34  may include a flexible sleeve that allows the diverter  10  to move to the position shown in  FIG. 2  while not allowing water from the canal to enter the pipe  14 . To keep the diverter  10  from moving downstream from the pressure of the water flowing in the canal  12 , the flexible sleeve may include a brace similar to a knee brace that allows one&#39;s knee bend in one direction but not another. 
       FIG. 3  is an exploded, perspective view of the irrigation diverter  10  shown in  FIGS. 1 and 2 . In this and other embodiments, the diverter  10  includes a housing  40 , the filter  16 , the cleaner  24 , the turbine  26 , and the coupler  34 . 
     The housing  40  may be any desired size and shape, and made of any desired material capable of withstanding the loads that it experiences in service. For example, in this and other embodiments the housing includes a cylindrical shape having a 12 inch diameter, and is made of conventional aluminum. The housing also includes a cover  42  that hinders the flow of water through a portion of the turbine  26  to allow the turbine  26  to more freely rotate when the bottom portion of the turbine  26  is exposed to the flow of water. If the cover  42  were absent from the housing  40 , then the water flowing through the turbine  26  and above the axis  44  would urge the turbine  26  to rotate in a direction opposite the direction  30  ( FIG. 1 ), and thus, oppose the rotation of the turbine  26  urged by the water flowing through the turbine  26  and below the axis  44 . 
     Other embodiments are possible. For example, the housing may be configured larger or smaller to handle greater or less flows, respectively. Or, the housing may be configured to minimize drag in the water flow, and thus minimize force on the coupler  34  needed to keep the diverter properly oriented in the water flow. 
     Still referring to  FIG. 3 , the filter  16  may be any desired filter capable of removing debris from the water flowing through the diverter  10 . For example, in this and other embodiments the filter  16  includes a perforated screen made of conventional stainless steel thick enough to resist bending under the pressure of the water contacting it. The filter  16  also includes a hub  46  that is configured to receive an end  48  of the turbine&#39;s shaft  50  and hold the end  48 , and thus the turbine  26 , as the turbine  26  rotates about the axis  44 . The perforated screen is sized to extend across the whole cross-section of the housing and may be mounted to the housing with any desired conventional fastening techniques, such as a screw that extends through a hole in the screen and threadingly engages a receptacle (not shown) in the housing  40 . 
     By attaching the filter  16  with one or more conventional bolts, one can change the filter  16  included in the diverter  10  to accommodate changes in the flow of water in the canal  12  ( FIGS. 1 and 2 ). For example, if the water flowing in the canal includes debris that is mostly large in size, such as tree limbs, then one may want to use a filter  16  that has a larger aperture for each hole  22  in the perforated screen to allow much water to be diverted from the canal while preventing debris from flowing through the diverter  10 . Or, if the water flowing in the canal includes debris that is mostly small in size, such as silt or small chunks of bark, then one may want to use a filter  16  that has a smaller aperture for each hole  22  in the screen to prevent debris from flowing through the diverter  10 . In such a situation, one may have to clean the filter  16  more frequently to maintain a substantially steady flow of water through the diverter  10 . To do this one may install a turbine  26  that rotates fast for the given water-flow conditions in the canal, or one may couple the cleaner  24  to the turbine  26  via a transmission (not shown) that increases the speed of the cleaner  24  relative to the speed of the turbine  26 . 
     The cleaner  24  may be any desired cleaner capable of dislodging debris pinned against the filter  16 . For example, in this and other embodiments the cleaner  24  includes a plurality of flexible bristles  52  each mounted to a spine  54 . The bristles are sized and configured to provide enough stiffness to dislodge debris trapped by the filter  16 . The spine  54  may be mounted to the turbine  26  using any desired conventional fastening techniques, such as a bolt that extends through a hole (not shown) in the spine  54  and threadingly engages a receptacle (not shown) in the turbine  26 . By attaching the cleaner  16  with one or more conventional bolts, one can change the cleaner  24  included in the diverter  10  to accommodate changes in the debris encounter in flow of water in the canal  12 . 
     Other embodiments are possible. For example, the cleaner  16  may include a solid blade in lieu of the bristles  52  to scrape the filter  16  and dislodge debris trapped by the filter  16 . This might be desirable with the debris consists mostly of medium or large sized, solid chunks. In addition, the cleaner  16  may be coupled to the turbine  26  via a transmission. This might be desirable when the flow in the canal is fast and there isn&#39;t much debris. In such a situation, the turbine  26  may operate most effectively by rotating fast; but moving the cleaner at the same speed across the filter may simply wear down the cleaner prematurely. This might also be desirable when the flow in a canal is slow and there is much debris in the water. In such a situation, the cleaner may need to be moved across the filter faster than the turbine rotates. 
     Still referring to  FIG. 3 , the turbine  26  may be any desired turbine capable of extracting energy from the water flowing in the canal  12  ( FIGS. 1 and 2 ). For example, in this and other embodiments, the turbine  26  includes a waterwheel having a plurality of paddles  56 , and is designed to be an undershot turbine—that is, the water flowing through the turbine  26  flows under the axis  44 . In addition, the turbine  26  may be configured to operate in any desired flow conditions to provide any desired rotational speed and power. For example, the number of paddles  56  included in the turbine  26  may be more or less than the five shown and may be smaller or larger than the size shown. If the turbine  26  includes more paddles  56 , then the difference between the turbine&#39;s rotational speed and the speed of the water flowing in the canal  12  will be smaller. If the turbine  26  includes less paddles  56 , then the difference between the turbine&#39;s rotational speed and the speed of the water flowing in the canal  12  will be greater. Similarly, as the size of each paddle  56  increases, the amount of energy that each paddle  56  extracts from the flow of water increases. 
     Other embodiments are possible. For example, the turbine  26  may include a Francis turbine, and/or a Pelton turbine. 
     Still referring to  FIG. 3 , the coupler  34  may include any desired coupler capable of securely holding the diverter  10  in the flow of water, and allowing the diverter  10  to be easily withdrawn from the flow when desired. For example, in this and other embodiments the coupler  34  includes a hinge that allows movement in the direction indicated by the arrow  58  but prevent movement in the direction indicated by the arrow  60 . The hinge is made of conventional aluminum with a stainless steel pin and is mounted to the diverter&#39;s outlet  20  using conventional fastening techniques, such as welding. 
     The preceding discussion is presented to enable a person skilled in the art to make and use the invention. Various modifications to the embodiments will be readily apparent to those skilled in the art, and the generic principles herein may be applied to other embodiments and applications without departing from the spirit and scope of the present invention. Thus, the present invention is not intended to be limited to the embodiments shown, but is to be accorded the widest scope consistent with the principles and features disclosed herein.