Rotary drive sprinkler

A rotary drive sprinkler, comprising:

• a sprinkler housing having a water flow inlet;
• a piston drive assembly within said housing and including a reciprocal drive piston and means for reciprocating said drive piston in response to water flow into said housing through said inlet, said reciprocating means including means for dividing at least part of water inflow into said housing into first and second flow portions at a substantially constant selected pressure differential which is substantially independent of the pressure of water supplied to said housing, spring means for urging said drive piston through a stroke in one direction, means for applying said selected pressure differential across said drive piston for urging said drive piston through a stroke in the opposite direction, and means for alternately applying and relieving said selected pressure differential across said drive piston;
• a motion converter assembly for converting reciprocating motion of said drive piston to oscillatory rotary motion;
• a spray head rotatably supported by said housing and including a nozzle for outward projection of water from said housing;
• and
• a one-way clutch assembly coupled between said motion converter assembly and said spray head for rotatably driving said spray head in one rotational direction in a series of small rotational steps.

A rotary drive sprinkler, comprising:

• a sprinkler housing having a water flow inlet;
• a piston drive assembly within said housing and including a reciprocal drive piston and means for reciprocating said drive piston in response to water flow into said housing through said inlet;
• a motion converter assembly for converting reciprocating motion of said drive piston to rotary motion;
• a spray head rotatably supported by said housing and including a nozzle for outward projection of water from said housing;
• a one-way clutch assembly coupled between said motion converter assembly and said spray head for rotatably driving said spray head in one rotational direction in a series of small rotational steps;
• and
• means for inducing a suctioning water flow across said drive piston to sweep grit therefrom.

A rotary drive sprinkler, comprising:

• a sprinkler housing having a water flow inlet;
• a piston drive assembly within said housing and including a reciprocal drive piston and means for reciprocating said drive piston and means for reciprocating said drive piston in response to water flow into said housing through said inlet;
• a motion converter assembly for converting reciprocating motion of said drive piston to rotary motion;
• a spray head rotatably supported by said housing and including a nozzle for outward projection of water from said housing;
• and
• a one-way clutch assembly coupled between said motion converter assembly and said spray head for rotatably driving said spray head in one rotational direction in a series of small rotational steps;
• said nozzle defining a water flow path of generally upwardly converging geometry, said flow path extending laterally in one direction and then curving to a discharge section extending along a relatively straight axis laterally in an opposite direction.

A rotary drive sprinkler, comprising:

• a sprinkler housing having a water flow inlet;
• a spray head rotatably mounted on said sprinkler housing and including a nozzle for outward projection of water from said housing;
• and
• water-powered drive means including a reciprocating drive piston for rotatably driving said spray head in steps at a rate of speed substantially independent of the pressure of water supplied to said housing, said drive means including means for dividing at least a portion of water inflow into said housing into first and second flow portions at a substantially constant pressure differential which is substantially independent of the pressure of water supplied to said housing to urge said piston through a stroke in one direction and means for urging said piston through a return stoke in an opposite direction.

A rotary drive sprinkler, comprising:

• a sprinkler housing having a water flow inlet;
• a spray head rotatably mounted on said sprinkler housing and including a nozzle for outward projection of water from said housing;
• a reciprocal drive piston within said housing;
• means for reciprocating said drive piston at a rate substantially independent of the pressure of water supplied to said housing, said reciprocating means including means for dividing at least a portion of water inflow into said housing into first and second flow portions at a substantially constant pressure differential which is substantially independent of the pressure of water supplied to said housing to urge said piston through a stroke in one direction and means for urging said piston through a return stroke in an opposite direction;
• and
• clutch means coupled between said drive piston and said spray head for rotatably driving said spray head in steps in response to reciprocation of said drive piston.

A rotary drive sprinkler, comprising:

• a sprinkler housing having a water flow inlet;
• a spray head rotatably mounted on said sprinkler housing and including a nozzle for outward projection of water from said housing;
• a drive cylinder rotatably supported within said housing;
• means for rotating said drive cylinder with an oscillatory motion at a rate substantially independent of pressure of water supplied to said housing, said rotating means including means for dividing at least a portion of water inflow into said housing into first and second flow portions at a substantially constant prssure differential which is substantially independent of the pressure of water supplied to said housing to urge said cylinder through a rotary stroke in one direction and means for urging said cylinder through a return rotary stroke in an opposite direction;
• and
• clutch means coupled between said drive piston and said spray head for rotatably driving said spray head in steps in response to reciprocation of said drive piston.

A rotary drive sprinkler, comprising:

• a sprinkler housing having a lower water inlet for inflow of water from a water supply at line pressure into said housing;
• a control valve for preventing water flow into said housing unless the line pressure thereof is at least a minimum threshold pressure;
• a pressure reduction assembly including means for dividing water inflow into said housing into a first flow portion substantially at line pressure and a second flow portion, and a reduction valve for reducing the pressure of said second flow portion to a predetermined reference pressure;
• a piston drive assembly including a reciprocal drive piston and a piston spring for urging said drive piston in one direction, said piston drive assembly further including means for applying said first and second flow portions to opposite sides of said drive piston thereby subjecting said drive piston to a pressure differential to displace said drive piston in a second direction against said piston spring, and relief valve means for relieving the pressure differential across said drive piston at the end of a predetermined stroke in said second direction to permit said piston spring to return said drive piston through said stroke in said one direction;
• a drive cylinder rotatably supported within said housing;
• motion conversion means coupled between said drive piston and said drive cylinder for rotatably oscillating said drive cylinder in response to reciprocation of said drive piston;
• a driven cylinder rotatably supported within said drive cylinder;
• a reversible one-way clutch assembly coupled between said drive and driven cylinders for rotatably driving said driven cylinder in a selected direction in small rotational steps in response to oscillatory rotation of said drive cylinder;
• a reverse mechanism including a trip lever for reversing the setting of said clutch assembly and a pair of trip dogs rotatable with said driven cylinder for engaging said trip lever to shift the position thereof reversing the setting of said clutch assembly;
• a pop-up stem assembly supported within said housing for movement between a normal retracted position substantially within said housing to an elevated spraying position with an upper end thereof elevated above said housing upon supply of water into said housing through said inlet, said stem assembly being rotatably driven by said driven cylinder;
• and
• a spray head on said stem assembly and including a spray nozzle for outward projection of an irrigation water stream for said housing.

A rotary drive sprinkler, comprising:

• a sprinkler housing having a water flow inlet;
• a control valve for movement between closed and open positions respectively preventing and permitting water inflow into said housing through said water flow inlet;
• a pressure reduction valve assembly responsive to water flow into said housing for dividing the water inflow into first and second flow portions at different pressures;
• a spray head for outward projection of water from said housing;
• and
• drive means operated by said first and second flow portions for rotatably driving said spray head;
• said pressure reduction valve assembly including spring means acting against said control valve to maintain said control valve in a closed position unless the pressure of the water at said inlet is at least a minimum threshold pressure, said spring means retracting from said control valve to unload said control valve in said open position.