Aimable sprinkler
AssigneeHunter Agriculture Incorporated
InventorsPeter John Woytowitz, Donald P. Simmons, Stephen D. Abernethy, Gregory S. Burcham, Rolando A. Armas
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
An aimable sprinkler is disclosed. The sprinkler can be mounting on an end of a traveling sprinkler system that moves in a linear direction or one that rotates about a center pivot tower. The sprinkler can include a base for connecting to the traveling sprinkler system and a turret coupled to the base so as to move in both yaw and pitch directions relative to the base. The sprinkler aims at discrete points within an irrigation area to achieve an even distribution of water.
Claims21
1-20. (canceled)
An irrigation sprinkler comprising:
- a tubular structure defining a flow passage between an inlet and an outlet;
- a ball joint comprising a cap and a stem at the outlet;
- a socket formed in the tubular structure and sized to receive at least a portion of the cap;
- and
- an adjustable orifice defined by an overlap between an opening in the cap and an opening in the socket,
- wherein pivoting of the ball joint in a pitch direction simultaneously changes (i) a pitch angle of the outlet and (ii) a cross-sectional flow area of the adjustable orifice.
An irrigation sprinkler comprising:
- an outer body;
- a torque tube rotatably supported within the outer body by bearings;
- a chain ring fixed to the torque tube;
- a motor comprising an output shaft and a first sprocket coupled to the output shaft;
- and
- a drive chain meshing with the first sprocket and the chain ring,
- such that activation of the motor rotates the torque tube to pivot a nozzle outlet in a yaw direction.
A sprinkler nozzle assembly comprising:
- a ball joint comprising a stem and a cap;
- a socket sized to receive the cap of the ball joint;
- a ball retainer plate positioned over at least a portion of the ball joint and secured to the socket, the ball retainer plate comprising an opening sized to receive the stem while preventing the cap from passing through the opening;
- one or more fasteners securing the ball retainer plate to the socket;
- and
- one or more springs disposed relative to the one or more fasteners and configured to maintain a predefined level of tension between heads of the one or more fasteners and the socket,
- wherein the predefined level of tension permits limited movement of the ball retainer plate relative to the socket while maintaining sealing engagement between the ball joint and the socket.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.