Rain Bird Sprinkler Mfg. Corp.

Lyntone Engineering, Inc.

Edward M Troup

Edward J Pitchford

Robert S Szemeredi

A planocentric gear drive has an eccentrically floating driving gear for simultaneously engaging a stator gear and a rotatable output gear to rotate the output gear through relatively small angular increments. The stator and output gears have different numbers of teeth and are mounted coaxially for engaging the driving gear on a common axial line of contact wherein the stator and output gear teeth are in local axial alignment at the line of contact. The driving gear is attracted into meshing engagement with the stator and output gears by a circumferentially arranged plurality of electromagnets energizable in sequence to rotate the driving gear eccentrically in steps about the stator and output gears. During this eccentric rotation, the common axial line of contact revolves in steps about the stator and output gears, with the output gear rotating through small angular increments to permit the stator and output gear teeth to remain in axial alignment at the revolving line of contact. When energization of the electromagnets ceases, the driving gear engaging the stator and output gears locks the output gear against rotation with respect to the stator gear.

Planocentric gear drive

A linear to rotary motion transmission device comprises a reciprocal rack having a plurality of ratchet teeth engageable with flexible pawls of a rotary pinion. Reciprocation of the rack in one direction causes driving engagement between the pawls and the teeth for rotatably driving the pinion, and reciprocation of the rack in an opposite direction causes the flexible pawls to slide over the ratchet teeth in non-driving engagement.

Motion transmission device

A method and apparatus for enhancing the distribution of water from an irrigation sprinkler is provided and includes a nozzle disposed at the end of a discharge tube on the sprinkler, which nozzle includes a frusto-pyramidal passage leading to a polygonal nozzle outlet, thereby generating a substantial secondary flow within the nozzle which provides the desired controlled fall-out of water over the entire range of the stream ejected by the sprinkler.

Method and apparatus for enhancing the distribution of water from an

For use in a sprinkler system, a method and device for enhancing the distribution of water from an impact or reaction drive sprinkler comprising a nozzle which separates the flow of water through the sprinkler into two distinct and separate streams, and directs the separate streams such that they intersect at a point downstream of the nozzle to break the stream into small droplets for enhanced distribution when water is supplied to the sprinkler at relatively low pressures.

Method and device for enhancing the distribution of water from a

An oscillating wave type lawn sprinkler having a spray tube that is angularly oscillated about its axis by a spray tube linkage assembly that is driven by a water-actuated motor. The linkage assembly is coupled to the spray tube by a releasable coupling that disengages whenever the spray tube is subjected to an external force which exceeds a predetermined magnitude, thereby permitting the spray tube to angularly deflect out of its normal alignment. Normal alignment of the spray tube is restored by manually rotating the spray tube until the coupling is again engaged.

Growing community of inventors

Mt. Baldy, CA, United States of America

Edward M Troup