Patent Publication Number: US-6209803-B1

Title: Lawn sprinkler head protector shield

Description:
This application is a CIP of Ser. No. 08/777,491 filed Dec. 30, 1996 now abandoned. 
    
    
     FIELD OF THE INVENTION 
     The invention relates in general to pop-up lawn sprinkler systems and more particularly to a protector shield, for lawn sprinkler heads, which have nested inserts which may be removed to accommodate sprinkler heads of different sizes. 
     DESCRIPTION OF RELATED ART 
     Pop-up lawn sprinkler heads are attached to underground water lines, and are normally located below ground level. When the water is turned on, the head pops-up out of the ground, so that water can be sprayed onto the lawn. 
     If the sprinkler heads are not protected, they may be damaged or broken by being run over by lawn mowers or automobiles. Damaged and broken sprinkler heads can be expensive to repair, and water may be leaked until the head is fixed. 
     Many prior art sprinkler head protector shields have been difficult to install or inadequate to protect the heads or inhibit grass growth. The complexity of other protectors makes it impractical for the average homeowners to buy and install the devices by themselves. 
     Also, most prior art sprinkler head protector do not blend into the lawn. Most are metallic and are brightly colored, so they detract from the appearance of the lawn. 
     Prior art sprinkler head protectors are usually quite slick, especially when wet, as they often are. If a person steps on a protector shield, the person would likely slip and fall down. 
     SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
     The invention is a lawn sprinkler head protector that is placed around the sprinkler head and pressed into the grass and/or soil in which the sprinkler head is located, and also inhibits the growth of grass adjacent to the sprinkler head. The protector has nested center inserts that may be used in combination or some removed depending upon the size of the sprinkler head. 
     The top surface of the protector has patterned indentations which resemble grass leaves. The top surface is also textured to provide a non-slip surface. 
     A plurality of openings extend around the surface to provide opening through grass can grow to completely hide the protector. The lower edges as well as the plurality of openings have a taper edge which provides a cutting edge which helps the protector to cut through grass and soil as it is pressed into the ground around a sprinkler head, and no digging is required. 
    
    
     The technical advance represented by the invention, as well as the objects thereof, will become apparent from the following description of a preferred embodiment of the invention when considered in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, and the novel features set forth in the appended claims. 
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
     FIG. 1 is a side view of the present invention; 
     FIG. 2 is a top view of the present invention; 
     FIG. 3 is a cross-section view taken through section  3 — 3  of FIG. 2; 
     FIG. 4 is a cross-section view showing multiple inserts removed from the protector shield; 
     FIG. 4 a  shows the multiple inserts inserted into the protector shield; 
     FIG. 5 is another embodiment of the invention; 
     FIG. 6 is another embodiment of the invention; 
     FIG. 7 is another embodiment of the invention; 
     FIG. 8 is another embodiment of the invention; and 
     FIGS. 8 a  and  8   b  shows nesting inserts for the embodiments of FIGS. 7 and 8; 
     FIG. 9 shows the bottom side of the invention 
    
    
     DESCRIPTION OF A PREFERRED EMBODIMENT 
     FIG. 1 is a side view of sprinkler head protector  10  which may be, for example, a molded plastic part having green color to match that of grass growing around it. Protector  10  has a single opening  28  centrally located in its center (see FIG.  4 ). Also extending through protector  10  are a plurality of openings  13 - 20  of which  13 - 15  are visible in FIG.  1 . Each of openings  28  and  13 - 20  extend through protector  10  and end in tapered ends that form a cutting edge. The ends are also irregular or scalloped to improve ground penetation. In FIG. 1, the scalloped tapered edges  13   a,    14   a,    15   a,    16   a  and  23  are shown, where edges  13   a - 16   a  are on openings  13 - 16  respectively, and edge  23  is on opening  28 . The vertical outer side  11  of protector  10  has a tapered and scalloped edge  11   a.  The vertical outer side also entraps soil and grass runners under the shield allowing it to utilize the soil and grass as a shock absorber. 
     In FIG. 2, the patterned and textured top surface  12  of protector is shown. Protector  10  has an opening  28  centrally located in its center which has at least one removable insert  22  therein. Insert  22  is removable and has an opening  21  therein in which resides a sprinkler head when protector  10  has been placed around a sprinkler head. As described in FIG. 3 below and illustrated FIG. 3, additional inserts may be used to accommodate smaller diameter sprinkler heads. All of the plurality of openings  13 - 20  are shown as well as opening  21  in insert  22 . The pattern in the surface  12  is to resemble grass and the exact pattern may vary for different protectors so that some resemble, for example, grasses such as Bermuda and St. Augustine. 
     FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional view of protector  10  taken through section  3 — 3  of FIG. 2, Protector  10  is shown placed in the ground around sprinkler head  25  with the pop-up portion  26  of head of head  25  below the level of the top of protector  10 . Sprinkler head  25  is in opening  21  in insert  35 . The diameter of opening  21  will vary with the size of the sprinkler head, but in each case the diameter W 1  of opening  21  will be larger than the largest diameter W 2  of sprinkler  26 . Sprinkler head vary in diameter from about one to one and one/half inch up to several inches. Therefore, at least one insert  22  is selected that corresponds to the size of the sprinkler head. More than one insert may be used to adjust the size of the opening to correspond with the diameter of the sprinkler head. Insert  22  is inserted into protector  10  from the bottom side and is moved into opening  28  in protector  10  until the shoulder  22   a  of insert  22  is against the shoulder  22   b  of opening  28 . The scalloped and tapered edges  20   a,    16   a  and  23  are illustrated in FIG.  3 . 
     Dot or mark  34  is a bright flourescent colored marker or colored impression applied to on the inside lip of either the central opening  21  (mark  34   a ) in insert  22  or the inner wall  28   a  (mark  34   b ) of the central opening. In each case, the mark extends to the top of the opening so that it may be seen from above the protector. There may be, for example, two diagonally opposites marks in the embodiments of FIGS. 1-6, and a single mark in the embodiments of FIGS. 7 and 8. The marks  34  do not have to be round but may be any shape. The purpose of dots  34   a  and  34   b  is to help locate the protectors for maintenance reasons. The bright flourescent colors are easily spotted in grass. 
     FIG. 4 is an exploded view in cross-section of protector  10  showing multiple inserts  22 ,  22   a  and  22   d  removed from opening  28 . Shoulders  22   a  and  22   b  are adjacent to each other when insert  22  is in opening  28 . The diameter of opening  28 , shown at  28   a,  may be slightly tapered so that surface  35  of insert  22  may be pressed into opening  28  and held in place by the friction produced by the movement of surface  35  against tapered surface  28   a.    
     Insert  22   a  is inserted into opening  26  of insert  22  to further reduce the diameter of opening  26  to the diameter of opening  26   a.  If a still smaller opening is required then insert  22   d  is inserted into opening  26   a  to reduce the opening to the diameter of opening  26   b.  Insert  22   a  has an outer surface  35   a  that is in friction contact with inner surface  27   a  of insert  22 , and insert  22   d  has an outer surface  35   b  that is in frictional contact with inner surface  27   b  when all the inserts are inserted together. 
     Voids  30 ,  31 ,  32  and  33  shown in protector  10  are produced during molding to reduce the amount of material required in molding protector  10 , and to allow soil to move up into the voids when protector  10  is pressed into the soil to prevent lateral movement of protector  10  when it is in place around a sprinkler head. 
     FIG. 4 a  shows the inserts  22 ,  22   a  and  22   d  all inserted into protector  10 . In practice, all insert may be in protector  10 , and inserts are removed until the opening is large enough to accommodate the sprinkler head. Sprinkler heads usually range, for example, from about one and one-half inches to about four and one-half inches in diameter. Therefore, the opening in insert  22   d,  for example, would be slightly larger than one and one-half inches in diameter, and the opening in insert  22  would be large enough to accommodate a sprinkler head of about three and one-half inches. 
     FIG. 5 is another embodiment of a sprinkler head protector. Protector  40  has two straight sides  41  and  42  that form a 90 degree angle. The third side  43  is an arc joining ends of sides  41  and  42 . A removable insert  47  has an opening  48  in which a sprinkler head can be placed. Protector  40  is used, for example, where two sidewalks join. 
     In FIG. 6 another embodiment of a sprinkler head protector is illustrated. In this embodiment, sprinkler head protector  50  has a straight side  52  joined by side  51  which is part of a circle. A plurality of openings  53 - 57  are spaced around the surface of protector  50 , and around an insert  58 . Opening  59  in insert  58  is placed around a sprinkler head. Protector  50  may be used where a sprinkler head is adjacent a building, sidewalk or a flower bed border. 
     FIG. 7 shows an embodiment of the invention in which the insert  70  is horseshoe shaped. Protector  60  has a curved side  61  joined on each side by tapered sides  62  and  63 , each of which terminate in a small flat sides  64  and  65 , respectively. Insert  70  is horseshoe shaped and is open at one end. There are three circular openings  67 - 69 . The opening in insert  70  is elongated with one end  73  being semicircular with a diameter determined by the size of the sprinkler head to be protected. 
     FIG. 8 is a truncated circular protector with a horseshoe shaped insert  89 . Protector  80  has a circular side  81  truncated with flat sides  82  and  83 . Openings  84 - 88  are the same circular openings as in the previous embodiments. Insert  89  is similar to or the same as the insert  70  of FIG.  7 . 
     FIGS. 8 a  and  8   b  shows nesting inserts for the embodiments of FIG.  7  and FIG.  8 . In FIG. 8 a,  the inserts  89   a  and  89   b  are horseshoe shaped the same as insert  89 . In FIG. 8 b,  the inserts  89   c  and  89   d  are circular, and are inserted into the partially circular opening of insert  89 . 
     FIG. 9 shows the bottom side of the sprinkler head protector. The bottom surface  12   a  is a waffle pattern to allow a thinner structure utilizing less material, yet provide a strong structure. Tapered edges  13   a - 20   a  of openings  13 - 20  as well as the tapered edges  11   a  and  23 . 
     The sprinkler head protector of the described embodiment is installed as follows. An insert  35  (FIG. 4) corresponding to the size of the sprinkler head to be protected is inserted into the protector body  10 . The protector  10  with insert  35  installed is placed around the sprinkler head  25  (FIG. 3) and firmly pressed into the soil around sprinkler head  25 . Grass will grow up through the plurality of openings  13 - 20  (FIG. 3) which, in combination with the patterned surface  12 , will at least partially conceal the protector. Tapered, scalloped edges  13   a - 20   a  and  23  (FIG. 1) at the bottoms of the openings help cut the grass as the protector  10  is pressed into the grass and the soil around the sprinkler head  25  (FIG.  3 ). 
     The protector has a low profile, with the top surface of the protector being a small distance, for example, less than one inch, above the surface of the ground. The sprinkler head is below the top surface of the protector when not in use. When in use it will pop-up above the surface of the protector. With the low profile protector, a lawn mower will easily pass over the protector, or a an automobile driving over a curb onto the grass cannot cruch the sprinkler head, thus protecting the sprinkler head from damage.