Micro-stream rotator with adjustment of throw radius and...

Fluid sprinkling – spraying – and diffusing – Slinger or splasher; or deflector rotated relative to effluent – Nozzle delivers fluid to deflector

Reexamination Certificate

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Reexamination Certificate

active

06244521

ABSTRACT:

TECHNICAL FIELD
This invention relates to landscape and agricultural irrigation sprinklers and, specifically, to a rotating, viscously damped sprinkler which permits adjustment of the stream pattern, throw radius and flow rate.
BACKGROUND
Sprinklers utilizing a fixed nozzle to emit a stream onto the grooves of a viscously damped rotor plate are known in the art and examples of such constructions may be found in commonly owned U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,288,022 and 5,058,806. Sprinklers of this type may be incorporated into pop-up type arrangements or they may be mounted on, for example, fixed riser pipes. In either case, it is possible to employ adjustable or interchangeable nozzles having orifices which emit a 360° stream, a 180° stream, a 90° stream, etc. so as to produce a desired sprinkling pattern, to be determined primarily by the location of the sprinkler. There is also a need, however, to be able to adjust the throw radius and flow rate of the sprinkler without varying the water pressure.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
This invention provides an internal rotary valve in the base of the sprinkler mechanism which can be actuated by pressing down on the sprinkler rotor plate to thereby engage a valve drive mechanism and rotating the rotor plate to open or close the internal valve between maximum open or closed positions, or any position therebetween.
As is well known in the art, the rotor plate itself is provided with specially configured grooves which cause the rotor plate to rotate when a stream emitted from the nozzle impinges on the grooves. The plate itself is mounted for rotation about a normally fixed, i.e., non-rotating shaft. Within the rotor plate, there is a chamber adapted to be at least partially filled with a high viscosity fluid. At the same time, there is a fixed stator mounted on the shaft and located within the chamber. As the rotor plate and chamber wall rotate about the shaft and the fixed stator, shearing of the viscous fluid occurs, slowing down the rotation of the rotor plate to produce a uniform and more well defined pattern. The shaft extends out of the rotor plate and into the sprinkler body, through the center of the nozzle. The nozzle itself is a replaceable item, interchangeable with nozzles having various opening configurations. The nozzle and an underlying generally cylindrical core flow path component are sandwiched between a removable sprinkler body cap and a baffle fixed to the lower end of the shaft for rotation with the shaft. The baffle contains a series of spokes or lobes which can rotate relative to ports formed in the core flow path component to regulate the amount of water flowing to the nozzle.
A rotor plate cap, held in place on the rotor plate by a retainer ring, is formed with an annular array of teeth adapted to engage with a mating annular array of teeth formed in the upper surface of the stator within the fluid chamber. The rotor plate cap and rotor plate can be pressed downwardly (assuming an upright orientation for the sprinkler) on the shaft (and relative to the shaft) so as to cause the teeth on the rotor plate cap and the fixed stator to engage. With the teeth so engaged, a “drive” mechanism is established between the rotor plate and the shaft so that manual rotation of the rotor plate causes the shaft to rotate as well. This results in the baffle rotating relative to the core flow path component to thereby throttle the flow through ports in the core to achieve the desired throw radius. When the rotor plate is pulled upwardly to its original position, the respective teeth on the rotor plate cap and stator are disengaged, and the rotor plate is then free to rotate relative to the shaft in a normal operating mode.
Thus, in accordance with its broader aspects, the present invention relates to a rotating stream sprinkler comprising a rotor plate supported on one end of a shaft for rotation, in an operative mode, relative to the shaft; a nozzle located along the shaft upstream of the rotor plate; a baffle fixed to an opposite end of the shaft; a core flow path component located along the shaft between the nozzle and the baffle; and a drive mechanism for enabling in an adjustment mode, rotation of the rotor plate with the shaft and the baffle relative to the core flow path component to thereby alter the flow of water through the core flow path component toward the nozzle.


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