US1713605A - Ditch check - Google Patents

Description

May 2l, 1929. T M, JONES 1,713,605

DITCH CHECK Filed Freb. 21, 1927 T/wmg/zea flvwentoz anew/mug f,

Patented May 2l, 1929.

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A'rmmas M. JONES, or GARDEN crry, KANSAS.

DITCH CHECK.

Application ined February '21, i927. serial No. 169,944.

This invention relates to a check'designed for use in connection with irrigating ditches. Various means have been devised heretofore for checking the water in ditches at desired 5 points. Among these have been gates having their ends embedded in the sides of the ditch and upstanding side members having gates mounted therein lin differenty Ways. The means heretofore employed have been objectionable, however, because ofthe flow of the Water over and against the checks or gates has tended to wash away the soil atvthe ybottoms and sides of the'checks with the result that it has been difficult and almost impossible to retain thewater at the points where the checks are located. The means thus far employed for holdin the water in check have also been objectionagle because, when machines have been moved along the ditches for thepurpose of cleaning them out, they have frequently dislodged the checks, thereby necessitating the expenditure of considerable time and labor inresetting the parts.

It is an object of the present invention to provide a check which can be permanently set across a ditch and will not permit undesirable leakage of water.

A further object is to provide a check which will not interfere with the proper movement of a machine along the Aditch used for cleaning out the ditch, the parts of the check being arranged at such angles as to deflect any portions of the machine that might come into contact therewith and prevent them from becoming caught on the check.

With the foregoing and other objects in view which will appear as the description proceeds, t-he invention resides in the combination and arrangement of parts and in the details of construction hereinafter described and claimed, it being understood that changes in the precise embodiment of the invention herein disclosed may be made within the scope of what is claimed, without departing from the spirit of the invention.

In the accompanying drawings the preferred forms of the invention have been shown.

In said drawings,

Figure l is a plan view of a portion of an irrigating ditch having arranged thereacross a check such as constitutes the present invention.

Figure 2 is a section on line 2 2, Figure 1.

Figure 3 is a section on line 3 3, Figure 1.

Figure 4 is a transverse section through a slightly modified form ofcheck.

F1 ure 5 is a perspective view of the modified orm of check, the sections thereof being shown separated.

Referring to the figures by characters of reference A designates an irri atingditch produced in the usual way and at any .desired point or points a check such asV constitutes the present invention is placed in position. In the form illustrated in Figures 1 to 3 inclusivethe check is molded in a single piece of concrete and includes aebase slab l and upwardly divergingside Slabs 2, .these slabs all being integral. The base slab 1s arranged with its upper surface below the level of the bottom of' the ditch as will be seen by referring particularly to Figure 2. The sides of the check are inclined .at substantially the same angle as the sides of the ditch and the upwardly extending edges of each side panel 2 converge as shown'at 3. The front or water receiving side of thel check constitutes an abutment for the end portion of superposed slats4 constitutin the gate portion of the check, these slats eing supported in an inclined plane as shown so that n no special fastening means are required inv order to hold them in' position inasmuch as the slats are held pressed againstthe sides of thc check by water pressure. These slats can be of wood, metal, or any other suitable material. In practice it is intended to mold the check in one piece by arranging a suitable form transversely of the ditch in proper position relative to bottom and side recesses formed in the ditch. The concret-e. is then poured into the mold and when set willpro-Y vide a complete one-piece check extending along the bottom and up the sides of the ditch. If preferred, however, the check can be made of slabs which are separate. This modified arrangement has been illustrated in Figures 4 and 5 wherein the bottom slab is molded in one piece as shown at 5 while the side slabs are in separate pieces as shown at 6. When these slabs are assembled the bottom slab is arranged between and abuts against the lower edges of the side slabs as shown in Figure 4. In other respects, however, the check constituting this modified structure is the same as the'one `heretofore described.

In practice the checks are arranged at desired distances apart along the irrigating water will be free tolflow over the gate 4 and continue along the ditch to the gate at the next check. Thus irrigation of a second section of the land can begin prior to the Completion of the irrigation of the first section. yFollowing'this operation the remainder of the first gate can be. removed and the second gate can be built up to full height untilirrigation of the second sectionl ofthe land has been partially completed whereupon the operation already described is repeated.

By providing the concrete bottom for the check,V the Water pouringover the gate will come incontacttherewith and then flow gen tly off ofthe bottom slab into the ditch. Thus there is no danger of the bottom ot the ditch being Worn away by the flow of Water Where it pours onto the check. n Instead all of the yerosion Will be cared for by the check and the ditch Willremain intact. Furthermore,

as the ends ot'thegate bear against the side Y panels there is no .danger of the Water working aroundsaid ends and into the check and thus leaking past the gate.

As has already been pointed out the checks can be molded at the points Where they are to be used or, if preferred, Where asectional check is used the different panels can be molded Where sand and other materials are available and can thereafter be conveyed to the points of use and quickly'set up.

lVhile it is intended generally to form the check of concrete molded to proper form, it isvto be Vunderstood that any other suitable materials can be used provided they meet therequirements.` f

lVhat-isclaimed is: l

A check for irrigating ditches including molded sides' having upwardly converging edges,said sides diverging upwardly to conform substantially to the slope of the sides ofthe ditch, a molded bottom extending throughout the Width of the ditch and throughout the Width of the bottom portions of the sides,y and a gate formed of separate superposed sections extending` transversely ofthe structure and adapted to be supported by the bottom of the ditch and to be maintained by gravityagainst the v11p-stream side edges of the sides of the check, the upper edge of the gate overhangingthe bottom of the check thereby to direct onto saidbottom all Water flowing over the gate.

In testimony that I claim the foregoing as my own, I yhave hereto aflixed my signature.y

rTHoMAs M. JoNiis

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