Fluid sprinkling – spraying – and diffusing – With fixed support for or ground installed supply means – Embedded or buried sprinkler
Reexamination Certificate
1999-11-18
2001-04-03
Recla, Henry J. (Department: 3751)
Fluid sprinkling, spraying, and diffusing
With fixed support for or ground installed supply means
Embedded or buried sprinkler
C239S200000, C239S206000, C239S231000, C239S232000, C239S255000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06209801
ABSTRACT:
FIELD OF THE INVENTION
The present invention is generally directed to irrigation sprinklers. More particularly, the invention relates to closed-case impact sprinkler heads with fitted fluid seal assemblies.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
Many regions of the world today use irrigation systems for artificial distribution of water. One of the most widely used irrigation systems, particularly where water is not abundant or plentiful, is a sprinkler system wherein one or more sprinkler units are positioned about a land area for distributing water over the surface of the land area. Such systems are widely used in most developed countries for a variety of applications including the irrigation of lawns, golf courses, playing fields and field crops.
Impact sprinklers are generally well known in the art and have been used for many years. There are essentially two broad varieties or types of impact sprinklers. The first type is the open or common riser mounted sprinkler unit which is attached to the end of a riser stem or pipe formed with a water conduit. This type of sprinkler is most often used in open areas such as flower beds or the like which do not require close trimming. These units extend upwardly from the surface and are somewhat obtrusive and unattractive. Consequently, they are used in areas where the units are not readily observed nor require maintenance with lawnmowers. The second type of impact sprinkler is a similar type of unit mounted within a housing which is, in turn, buried beneath the surface of the ground so that the sprinkler generally provides a pop-up unit. These impact sprinklers are most often used in lawn settings, and are mounted within housings or wells that are buried underground. The top of the housings are substantially flush with the ground surface so that open areas such as lawns may be easily landscaped or mowed. When water is supplied to the sprinklers, they pop-up or rise above their housings and the ground surface. In this fashion, the sprinklers remain out of sight until activated. However, the housings for this type of sprinkler, which are designed with an open-case to accommodate standard rotating impact sprinkler arms, tend to become filled with debris such as dirt, grass clippings and the like. Any of the above hamper the ability of the sprinkler to pop-up and to retract, or to effectively drive the sprinkler.
Another common type of irrigation device is known in the art as a gear driven sprinkler. Gear-driven sprinklers have rotating nozzles effectively driven by various gear driving mechanisms which are activated by water supplied to the sprinkler. These sprinklers provide an advantage in that their housings are enclosed by design thus avoiding the problems associated with the open or well-type design of an impact sprinkler. However, it has been observed that gear-driven sprinklers are frequently subject to failure due to debris becoming engaged or lodged within the gear drive mechanism. Many designs are also plagued with a relatively limited watering range due in part to the general power-draining design of the gear driving mechanisms.
The sprinkler literature includes numerous patents relating to variations of sprinkler units known in the art. U.S. Pat. No. 3,602,431 entitled A SPRINKLER DEVICE FOR FLUID DISTRIBUTION (Lockwood) is directed to a sprinkler for distributing water comprising a body, a sprinkler head rotatably connected to the body, a fluid flow interrupter for providing controlled bursts of fluid in the stream of fluid exiting from the sprinkler head, an interrupter drive, a drive means including a free rotating ball for driving the sprinkler head, and reversing means for reversing the direction of movement of the sprinkler head. U.S. Pat. No. 3,765,608 entitled AUTOMATIC INTERMITTENT BREAK-UP DEVICE (Lockwood) is directed to a sprinkler with an automatic intermittent break-up device repeatedly movable toward the center of the fluid stream exiting a nozzle to a first position to increase the break-up of the stream and movable away from the center of the fluid stream exiting the nozzle to a second position to decrease the break-up to provide more desired distribution of fluid on the surface area. U.S. Pat. No. 3,930,617 entitled IMPACT SPRINKLER (Dunmire) is directed to an impact sprinkler which uses a plastic water deflector having a number of cooperating water deflecting surfaces which improve the overall water distribution pattern of the sprinkler; the particular configuration provided for allowing the water deflector to pivot back and forth. U.S. Pat. No. 4,055,304 entitled AUXILIARY BRAKING MEANS FOR IMPACT ARM SPRINKLERS (Munson) is directed to an impact type rotary sprinkler including a rotatable body and nozzle, an impact arm which oscillates responsive to the kinetic energy of the fluid discharge stream and a primary spring which stores the rotational energy of the oscillating arm rotating to impact against the housing and impart an increment of rotation thereto. U.S. Pat. No. 4,103,828 entitled ROTARY SPRINKLER IMPACT ARM SPRING ADJUSTMENT (Ridgway) is directed to a rotary sprinkler with structure for adjusting the force applied to the impact arm by the impact arm spring, viz. a laterally directed nozzle cooperating with the arm to rotate the nozzle and an impact arm on a shaft extending above the nozzle. The arm is mounted within a cage extending above the nozzle. U.S. Pat. No. 4,164,324 entitled SPRINKLER HEAD WITH IMPROVED INTEGRAL IMPACT ARM AND ANTI-BACKSPLASH DRIVE SPOON (Bruninga) is directed to a part-circle rotary sprinkler head having an improved anti-backsplash drive spoon integrally formed as a part of the impact arm. U.S. Pat. No. 4,182,494 entitled ANTISIDE SPLASH DRIVE ARM FOR AN IMPACT DRIVE SPRINKLER (Wichman) is directed to an impact sprinkler of the full or part circle type with an anti side splash drive arm. Despite these and other known sprinkler designs, there is a need for an irrigation sprinkler that incorporates the advantages provided by both impact and gear-driven sprinkler designs.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
The invention provides closed-case impact sprinkler units. The particular features of the described embodiments in the following specification may be considered individually or in combination with other variations and aspects of the invention.
It is an object of the present invention to provide impact sprinkler assemblies with a closed-case design. A sprinkler unit formed in accordance with the invention may include an inner housing and an outer housing which are slidably mounted relative to each other. The unit may have a central shaft slidably mounted within the inner housing, and the upper end of the central shaft may include an outlet nozzle mounted in a turret. The sprinkler units provided herein also have filters for filtering water flowing through the units, and may have an inner valve means in a main through-passage for impeding the flow of water through the sprinkler unit until they are placed in a pop-up position or when the impact arm is clear of the outer body housing. Upon retraction, the inner valve means stops the flow of water thereby allowing the arm to move back into the turret before the inner housing lowers back into the outer housing. The sprinkler units provided herein enable uniform speed of rotation of the turret with different nozzles and flow rates, and provide relatively easy installation and removal for service.
Another embodiment of the invention includes a sprinkler unit with delayed activation. The unit may have an outer case formed with a fluid inlet that is in fluid communication with an interior region of the outer case. A rotatable closed-case turret assembly may be formed with a fluid outlet that is in communication with a central shaft having a lower end shaft portion extending into the interior region of the outer case. An extendable riser sleeve supporting the rotatable turret assembly may be slidably positioned within at least a portion of the interior region of the outer case. The riser sleeve includes a filter with at least one spring retainer extendi
Han Joseph U.
Kearby Don Michael
Kendall Giles A.
Wright Derick C.
Nguyen Tuan
Recla Henry J.
Virtual rain, Inc.
Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati
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