Dripless rotary sprinkler and related method

A rotary sprinkler comprising:

• a housing supporting a nozzle and a nozzle tube, said nozzle tube located axially adjacent an orifice of said nozzle;
• a water-deflection plate assembly carried by said nozzle tube for rotation relative to said nozzle tube;
• wherein said water-deflection plate assembly includes a support mounting a water-deflection plate at one end thereof, an opposite end of said support rotatably secured on said nozzle tube;
• and further wherein said support is rotatably secured on said nozzle tube by a hall-bearing assembly located in a chamber radially between said nozzle tube and said support, wherein said ball-bearing assembly comprises a first race fixed to said nozzle tube and a second race fixed to said support for rotation therewith;
• a plurality of bearing balls located between said first and second races, said first and second races having ball-engaging surfaces aligned at an acute angle to vertical;
• a pair of seals at opposite ends of said ball-bearing assembly.

A rotary sprinkler comprising:

• a sprinkler body;
• a nozzle and an adjacent nozzle tube upstream of said nozzle enclosed within said sprinkler body;
• a rotatable water-deflection plate carried by said sprinkler body;
• a cap assembly removably attached to said sprinkler body, said cap assembly incorporating means surrounding said nozzle tube for slowing a rotational speed of said spray plate, said cap assembly further including an annular radial flange provided with one or more drainage holes for directing excess water through said housing and onto said water-deflection plate thereby enabling the excess water to be distributed by said water-deflection plate along with water emitted from the nozzle.

A method of redirecting excess water on a sprinkler housing comprising:

• (a) collecting excess water running down an exterior surface of the sprinkler housing;
• (b) causing the excess water to follow predetermined paths into an interior portion of the housing;
• and
• (c) directing the excess water into a nozzle stream emitted from a nozzle supported on the sprinkler housing.