US 5,329,082 AGranted

Irrigation system timer control

AssigneeJames Hardie Irrigation, Inc.

InventorMyrl J. Saarem

Life of this patent

Estimating the term…

Abstract

An electric controller for selectively activating a plurality of solenoid water valves in a irrigation system and on a pre-selected recurrent time basis. The controller features a molded chassis and a printed circuit board construction to provide a more rugged and simplified unit as compared with the prior art controllers of the same general type.

Claims5

Dependent claims

An electric controller including:

a housing;
a mounting plate extending across said housing and dividing said housing into a forward compartment and a rear compartment;
an electric motor mounted on the rear side of said mounting plate to be positioned in said rear compartment and having a drive shaft extending through said mounting plate;
a time dial coupled to said drive shaft to be rotated thereby, said time dial being positioned on the forward side of said mounting plate in said forward compartment;
a gear segment attached to the peripheral edge of said time dial;
a printed circuit board mounted on the rear side of said mounting plate and positioned in said rear compartment;
a terminal strip mounted on one edge of said printed circuit board having a plurality of electric terminals mounted thereon;
a plurality of printed circuit conductors formed on said printed circuit board respectively connected to said electric terminals on said terminal strip and extending from said terminal strip to establish electric contact with respective ones of said electric terminals;
a rotary distribution switch mounted on the rear side of said mounting plate adjacent to said printed circuit board and having a drive shaft extending through said mounting plate;
a gear coaxially mounted on said rotary switch drive shaft in position to be engaged by said gear segment and to be rotated thereby during a predetermined portion of each rotation of said time dial;
said printed circuit conductors extending from said terminal strip and defining a corresponding plurality of fixed contacts for said rotary switch at the respective distal ends thereof arranged in a circle and connected through said printed circuit conductors to respective ones of said terminals on said terminal strip, said rotary distribution switch having a movable contact member mounted on said rotary switch drive shaft to be rotated thereby and positioned to engage said fixed contact successively on said printed circuit board as said distribution is rotated.

8 more elements

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.

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Abstract

An electric controller including:

a housing;
a mounting plate extending across said housing and dividing said housing into a forward compartment and a rear compartment;
an electric motor mounted on the rear side of said mounting plate to be positioned in said rear compartment and having a drive shaft extending through said mounting plate;
a time dial coupled to said drive shaft to be rotated thereby, said time dial being positioned on the forward side of said mounting plate in said forward compartment;
a gear segment attached to the peripheral edge of said time dial;
a printed circuit board mounted on the rear side of said mounting plate and positioned in said rear compartment;
a terminal strip mounted on one edge of said printed circuit board having a plurality of electric terminals mounted thereon;
a plurality of printed circuit conductors formed on said printed circuit board respectively connected to said electric terminals on said terminal strip and extending from said terminal strip to establish electric contact with respective ones of said electric terminals;
a rotary distribution switch mounted on the rear side of said mounting plate adjacent to said printed circuit board and having a drive shaft extending through said mounting plate;
a gear coaxially mounted on said rotary switch drive shaft in position to be engaged by said gear segment and to be rotated thereby during a predetermined portion of each rotation of said time dial;
said printed circuit conductors extending from said terminal strip and defining a corresponding plurality of fixed contacts for said rotary switch at the respective distal ends thereof arranged in a circle and connected through said printed circuit conductors to respective ones of said terminals on said terminal strip, said rotary distribution switch having a movable contact member mounted on said rotary switch drive shaft to be rotated thereby and positioned to engage said fixed contact successively on said printed circuit board as said distribution is rotated.

8 more elements