Reversing rotary drive sprinkler

A rotary drive sprinkler comprising:

• a sprinkler housing adapted for connection to a supply of irrigation water;
• a spray head for outward projection of an irrigation water Stream and supported for rotation relative to said housing;
• a rotary drive assembly for rotatably driving said spray head, said rotary drive assembly including a planetary gear that revolves about a central axis and a first ring gear fixed relative to said sprinkler housing;
• and
• a reversing mechanism including means for reversing the direction of spray head rotation within the end limits of a part-circle arcuate path, said reversing mechanism including a drive member coupled to said spray head and second and third ring gears rotatably driven in opposite directions by said planetary gear, with teeth of said first, second and third gears meshing with teeth of said planetary gear, and means for selectively coupling said drive member to one of said second and third ring gears for carrying said drive member in rotation with Said one drive element, and thereby, rotating said spray head.

A rotary drive sprinkler comprising:

• a sprinkler housing adapted for connection to a supply of irrigation water;
• a spray head for outward projection of an irrigation water stream and supported for rotation relative to said housing;
• an impeller mounted relative to said housing for rotation by the flow of water in said housing;
• a planetary gear coupled to said impeller for revolving about a central axis while pivoting about a planetary gear axis;
• a first ring gear fixed relative to said sprinkler housing and having teeth meshing with teeth of said planetary gear;
• a second ring gear rotatable about the central axis and having teeth meshing with teeth of said planetary gear, said second ring gear being drivingly coupled to said spray head for rotating said spray head about the central axis;
• and
• a third ring gear also rotatable about the central axis and having teeth meshing with teeth of said planetary gear.

A rotary drive sprinkler comprising:

• a sprinkler housing adapted for connection to a supply of irrigation water;
• a spray head for outward projection of an irrigation water stream and supported for rotation about a central axis relative to said housing;
• an impeller mounted relative to said housing for rotation about the central axis by the flow of water in said housing;
• an epicyclic gear train comprising a sun gear coupled to said impeller for rotation about the central axis, a planetary gear having a single set of teeth meshing with teeth of said sun gear for revolving about the central axis while pivoting about a revolving planetary gear axis;
• a first ring gear fixed relative to said sprinkler housing and having teeth meshing with the teeth of said planetary gear;
• second and third ring gears adjacent to said first ring gear rotatable about the central axis and having respective teeth meshing with said planetary gear teeth, one of said second and third ring gears having fewer teeth than said first ring gear and the other of said second and third ring gears having more teeth than said first ring gear, whereby one of said second and third ring gears rotates in one direction relative to said first ring gear, and the other of said second and third ring gears rotates in the opposite direction, said second and third ring gears each having an outer surface with at least one protrusion;
• a drive pin mounted in the spray head adjacent to said outer surfaces of said second and third ring gears, said drive pin being rotatable between a first position for contacting said at least One protrusion of said second ring gear and concurrently not contacting said at least one protrusion of said third ring gear, and a second position for contacting said at least one protrusion of said third ring gear and concurrently not contacting said at least one protrusion of said second ring gear, whereby the rotational drive force of the ring gear having the contacted protrusion is transferred through the drive pin to the spray head;
• a spring-biased yoke shiftable between two positions for rotating said drive pin between said first and second positions;
• two stops for shifting said yoke between said two positions, at least one of said two stops being movable relative to said sprinkler housing for varying the length of the arc;
• and
• means for manually moving said at least one stop.