US2752195A - Lawn sprinklers - Google Patents

Description

June 26, 19 T. E. WHITEHEAD LAWN SPRINKLERS Filed March 4, 1954 INVENTOR i dmslflzisead BY M ATTORNEY m 6 i a 2 M i III! k .PJI n 1. I H

LAWN SPRINKLERS Thomas E. Whitehead, Pleasantvilie, N. 3.

Application March 4, 1954, Serial No. 414,147

2 Claims. (Cl. 299-61) My invention relates to new and useful improvements in lawn sprinklers and more particularly to a lawn sprinkler especially adapted for use on golf greens.

As is well known, the conventional metal sprinkler head that is buried in the ground is substantially two inches in diameter, and the grass has to be cut away from the circumference of these metal sprinkler heads so that the water may go out in a circular spray. Therefore it is impractical to use the conventional sunken metal sprinkler heads on golf greens. Thus the golf greens have to be watered by hand, or, the movable type of sprinkler is used and if the latter, it is necessary for the greenkeeper to be continually moving the sprinkler.

One of the objects of the present invention, therefore, is to provide a sprinkler that is to be permanently buried in the ground, and wherein there is a small rubber flexible tube that is projected and retracted through the sod; and inasmuch as the tube is not over half an inch in diameter, it may be used without any likelihood of the golf ball being deflected when putted or driven'up onto the green.

Still another object of the invention is to provide a sprinkler of a permanent nature wherein there is a relatively small rubber tube that is to be projected up through the sod when the water is turned on, but the moment the water is turned off the tube falls back into its casing.

Still another object of the invention is to provide a sprinkler provided with a disappearing tube and wherein when the water is turned on it will first wash or flush around the tube and the inner walls of the casing before the sprinkling action takes place, so that the tube may never be retarded in its projection or retraction through the sod, even after the greens have been rolled, or the golfers have walked over the green or sod where the sprinkler is planted.

Still another object of the invention is to provide a flexible tube fastened and weighted at its one end and to be projected or elevated when the water is turned on and retracted when the water has been turned off.

Furthermore the tube has spiral grooves around its outer circumference so that the tube will swing in a circle from its pivotal point, that is, at the top of the casing.

As fully explained in Patent No. 2,613,993 a short flexible tube that is provided with spiral grooves on its outer circumference will swing in a circle, when water is forced therethrough, rather than just whip back and forth; and the greater the water pressure the farther the tube will bend towards the horizontal.

With this principle in mind and the above and other objects in view, the invention consists in certain new and novel arrangements and combination of parts as hereinafter will be more fully described and pointed out in the claims.

Referring now to the drawings,

Fig. l is a vertical sectional view of my improved sprinkler, the dotted lines showing the tube in its operative or extended position.

Fig. 2 is a sectional view taken on line 2-2 of Fig. l,

2,752,195 Patented June 26, 1956 Fig. 3 is a fragmentary, sectional View, showing a slight modification at the top of the casing, and

Fig. 4 is a sectional view showing cross-wires in the end of the tube.

Referring now to the drawings, and for the moment to Fig. 1, there is shown a metal casing 1 with a plug 2 in its bottom, having the orifice 3 which is connected with a supply pipe 4. The plug 2 is recessed at its top as at 5 on which normally rests a small weighted piston 6 which has the channel 7 extending therethrough, which channel 7 is directly over the orifice 3 in the plug 2.

Secured to the upper end of the piston 6 is the lower end 8 of a flexible rubber tube 9 that will be explained in detail shortly. Also secured to the upper end of the piston 6 is the rubber valve closure 10 whose outside diameter is a few hundredths of an inch less that the inside diameter of the casing 1. The length of the rubber tube 9 is about eight inches and when the casing 1 is buried in the ground the tube 9s upper end 11 when in its inoperative position will be below the surface of the grass 12 even when the grass 12 is cut or trimmed, so that there is no danger of a lawn mower cutting off any part of the upper end 11 of the tube 9.

The rubber tube 9 is provided with spiral grooves 13 on its outer circumference as it has been found, as explained at great length in Patent No. 2,613,993, that a tube so provided (that is, with spiral grooves) will swing from its pivotal point in a circle, when water is run through the same, rather than just whip back and forth; and the greater the pressure of the water the greater the tube will bend towards a horizontal position.

Thus I have found that with the ordinary water pressure the sprinkler illustrated will sprinkle over an area of about forty feet in diameter.

As shown in the preferred form, at the top of the casing 1, I have provided a metal cap 14 with its passage way 15 therethrough and in the top of the cap 14 there is placed a rubber gasket 16 so that as the tube 9 slides up and down into the casing 1, or when in its circular movement, there will be no metal touching or in contact with the rubber tube 9.

It will be understood that the weight of the piston 6 with its rubber tube 9 is such that they willbe elevated to their uppermost position when the water is turned on, but will drop to their lowermost position as soon as the water is turned off.

By placing the valve closure 10 with larger cross-sectional area than the piston 6 at the top of the piston 6, it tends to keep the piston 6 in vertical position as the center of gravity and the weight are below the valve closure 10.

In Fig. 3 there is shown a slight modification in that at the top of the casing 1 there is an internally threaded plug 14' with its opening 15 and in which there is a small guide of rubber tubing 16' so that there is no possibility of any metal at the top of the casing 1 protruding above the sod.

In both the preferred and the modified forms, it will be noticed that the openings 15 and 15' through which the tube 9 passes at the upper end of the casing 1 are slightly greater in diameter than the outside diameter of the rubber tube 9 so that the water when the sprinkler is first turned on will flow or shoot around the tube 9 and through the spiral grooves 13 and out of the top of the opening in the casing 1 as well as through the center of the tube 9 to thus flush any sand or dirt that might have been around the tube 9 where it enters the casing 1. This is an impor tant feature as otherwise the continuous rolling of the greens would soon prevent the tube 9 from being extended from its casing 1, and the dirt and sand might also tend to cut the same.

In Fig. 4 I have shown small crosswires 17 that will be secured in the outer end of the 'tube 9.

The operation is simple in that as soon as the water is turned on in the supply pipe 4, it will start raising the piston 6 and its tube 9 but will also flow around the valve closure 10 and out the upper end of the casing 1 to flush and clean out the entrance.

Then as the piston 6 reaches its uppermost position, it will cause the valve closure 10 to jam againstthe bottom of the cap 14 and thus prevent any water from going out around the tube 9 or the spiral grooves 13, and the water then may only pass centrally through the piston 6 and through the flexible tube 9.

As heretofore mentioned, the greater the water pressure the more the tube 9 will swing in a circle, approaching the horizontal; and as the water is cut down, the tube 9 will again approach the vertical; and finally when the water is turned oif, the tube 9 will be in a vertical position and its weighted piston 6 will pull the tube 9 down to its normal inoperative position.

From the foregoing it will be seen that I have designed a lawn sprinkler with a disappearing or retractable tube or nozzle, the tube in turn being relatively small in diameter so that it may well be used on the golf green without interfering with the putting; and wherein there is but one moving part; and wherein before each sprinkling operation the casing, at the upper end especially, and also the hole in the sod through which the tube passes are flushed out or washed out.

Again if a sprinkler were in operation when golfers were on the green, it is but a matter of a moment to turn off the water and the tube will drop to its normal position in the casing, and of course, out of the way.

Finally, it will be understood that although the sprinkler is especially adapted for use on golf greens it can, of course, be used as well on any lawns.

Having thus described my invention, What I claim is new and desire to secure by Letters Patent is:

l. In a lawn sprinkler a casing, a weighted piston loosely mounted therein and having a central aperture v therethrough, a flexible rubber tube secured to the upper end of said piston and provided with spiral grooves on its outer circumference throughout its length; a valve closure secured near the upper end of the piston, an inlet pipe extending within the bottom of said casing, a cap for the top of the casing, provided with a central orifice of slightly greater internal diameter than the outside diameter of the tube, the bottom of the cap acting as a valve seat; the valve closure being less in outside diameter than the internal diameter of the casing; the piston and rubber tube adapted to rise in the casing when water is admitted to the casing and to flow around the valve closure and through the aperture in the cap until the piston reaches its full height, when the valve closure will close the said valve and prevent the water from going out through the opening in the cap around the tube to thereby cause the water to flow only through the rubber tube and, due to the spiral grooves about the tube, will cause the tube to swing in :a circle with the top of the cap as a pivotal point.

2. In a lawn sprinkler a casing, a weighted piston loosely mounted therein and having .a central aperture therethrough, a flexible rubber tube secured to the upper end of said piston and provided with spiral grooves on its outer circumference throughout its length; a valve closure secured near the upper end of the piston, an inlet pipe extending within the bottom of said casing, a cap for the top of the casing in the form of an internally threaded plug provided with a central aperture and a rubber guide mounted within the aperture of the plug and extending above the said plug, the internal diameter of the guide being greater than the outside diameter of the tube, the bottom of the cap acting as a valve seat; the valve closure being less in outside diameter than the internal diameter of the casing; the piston and rubber tube adapted to rise in the casing when water is admitted to the casing and to flow around the valve closure and through the aperture in the cap until the piston reaches its full height, when the valve closure will close the said valve and prevent the water from going out through the opening in the cap around the tube to thereby cause the water to flow only through the rubber tube and, due to the spiral grooves about the tube, will cause the tube to swing in a circle with the top of the cap .as a pivotal point.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,906,621 Knuth May 2, 1933 1,919,247 Munz July 25, 1933 2,613,993 Holden Oct. 14, 1952 FOREIGN PATENTS 132,977 Australia June 1, '1949

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