Constant-pressure, variable-volume irrigation sprinklers
First Claim
1. A control device for controlling the flow of irrigation water between an inlet and an outlet thereof comprising:
- (a) a hollow body having an inlet thereto and an outlet therefrom, said outlet being contained in an outlet member mounted to said body for rotation;
(b) a rotating drive positioned within said body, said rotating drive being a turbine drive including a turbine wheel positioned within said body to be rotated by a flow of water between said inlet and said outlet; and
,(c) flow control means disposed within said body between said inlet and said outlet and driven by said rotating drive for varying the volume of water discharged through said outlet to areas watered by a sprinkler head connected to said outlet without changing the pressure of said water, said flow control means comprising means for rotating said outlet member at different rates as a function of the radial position of said outlet member.
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Accused Products
Abstract
Various apparatus and methods are shown for controlling the emissions from sprinkler heads in an irrigation system to cause variable volume irrigation at a constant pressure. In one approach, a rotating sprinkler head is rotated at different speeds as a function of the radial position of the emerging water stream so that dryer areas have slower rotational movement of the sprinkler head and, thereby, a greater volume of water discharged thereon. In another approach, the water to the sprinkler head is turned on and off during the irrigation period rather than being turned on at the beginning and off at the end. As a result, multiple heads which are individually turned off and on have a better average water distribution. Likewise, high-precipitation sprinkler heads are made to operate with an average low-precipitation so that run-off and water waste are virtually eliminated.
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Citations
16 Claims
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1. A control device for controlling the flow of irrigation water between an inlet and an outlet thereof comprising:
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(a) a hollow body having an inlet thereto and an outlet therefrom, said outlet being contained in an outlet member mounted to said body for rotation; (b) a rotating drive positioned within said body, said rotating drive being a turbine drive including a turbine wheel positioned within said body to be rotated by a flow of water between said inlet and said outlet; and
,(c) flow control means disposed within said body between said inlet and said outlet and driven by said rotating drive for varying the volume of water discharged through said outlet to areas watered by a sprinkler head connected to said outlet without changing the pressure of said water, said flow control means comprising means for rotating said outlet member at different rates as a function of the radial position of said outlet member. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10)
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11. In an irrigation sprinkler head having an inlet for receiving water under pressure and a rotating outlet member rotating through an arc of operation to water an area by broadcasting water in a stream from a nozzle opening of the outlet member to portions of the area as the outlet member rotates, the improvement for allowing the sprinkler head to provide different volumes of water to different portions of the area at a constant pressure comprising:
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(a) variable speed drive means connected for rotating the outlet member, said variable speed drive including a turbine drive having a turbine wheel positioned to be rotated by a flow of irrigation water to the sprinkler head; (b) position sensing means for sensing the radial position of the outlet member within its art of operation and for setting the speed said variable speed drive means is rotating the outlet member to a speed preset to be associated with the instant radial position of the outlet member, said position sensing means comprising a cam member rotating with the outlet member; and
,(c) a speed changing member connected between a speed changing input of said variable speed drive and a programmable surface of said cam member. - View Dependent Claims (12, 13)
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14. In an irrigation controller which opens a supply valve to input a supply of irrigation water under pressure to at least one sprinkler head for a pre-established irrigation period at pre-set times and days, the improvement to permit high-precipitation irrigation sprinkler heads to achieve average low-precipitation operation over the irrigation period comprising:
a secondary timer connected in series with the controller to control the opening and closing of the supply valve to, when the irrigation period begins, initially connect the supply of irrigation water to the sprinkler head, allow irrigation water to flow to and through the sprinkler head for a period of time less than that required to produce run-off of the water from an area being watered by the sprinkler head, break the connection between the supply of irrigation water and the sprinkler head, delay for a period of time sufficient to allow previously broadcast water time to soak into the area being watered by the sprinkler head, and repeating a cycle of connecting and breaking the connection between the supply of irrigation water and the sprinkler head until the irrigation period is completed. - View Dependent Claims (15)
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16. The method of operating a plurality of high-precipitation irrigation sprinkler heads to achieve average low-precipitation operation over a period of irrigation watering comprising the steps of:
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(a) simultaneously turning on a supply of irrigation water under pressure connected to all the sprinkler heads; (b) allowing irrigation water to flow to and through all the sprinkler heads for a period of time less than that required to produce run-off of the water from an area being watered by the sprinkler heads; (c) simultaneously turning off the supply of irrigation water to all the sprinkler heads; (d) delaying for a period of time sufficient to allow previously broadcast water time to soak into the area being watered by the sprinkler heads; and
,(e) returning to step (a) if the period of irrigation watering is not complete.
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Specification