Yard hydrant

Claim 2

In a yard hydrant having a spout, a valve located below the frost line, a reservoir located below the frost line, a passage connecting the valve to the spout, and reservoir regulating means connecting said passage with said reservoir to drain said passage into said reservoir when said valve is closed and to withdraw water from said reservoir into said passage only when said valve is open, said valve including a valve seat and a complementary valve closure member, said valve seat and said valve member comprising the converging cone of a venturi in said passage, said venturi having a throat open to said reservoir regulating means, said valve member being secured to a valve rod extending through said valve seat, said valve rod, valve member and valve seat cooperating to form a variable opening annular jet orifice for water passing through said valve, said orifice being smaller at smaller valve openings, whereby to create an area of lowered pressure around said jet at substantially all valve openings.

Claim 3

The device of claim 1 in which said reservoir includes an upper air vent, a second valve member movable into said vent to close the vent, and a float within the reservoir operably attached to the valve member to close the vent only when the float is sufficiently raised by water within the reservoir.

Claim 4

The device of claim 1 in which said hydrant further comprises a universally mounted sphere, a link pivotally secured to the sphere at a point spaced from the center of the sphere, said link being pivotally secured to said valve rod, means attached to the sphere for manually rotating the sphere, a surface on said link beyond the surface of the sphere, and stop means adjacent the path of said surface when said sphere is rotated and adapted to engage said surface and thereby prevent free rotation of said sphere in at least one position of said shoulder and said sphere.

Claim 5

The device of claim 3 wherein the stop means comprises a circular cam concentric with the sphere and having a cam surface in the form of the end of a cylinder terminated along an intersecting plane at an angle to the axis of the cylinder, the axis of the cylinder coinciding with the axis of the valve rod, and means biasing the valve rod axially toward the sphere.

Claim 6

The device of claim 1, further comprising an operating handle secured to saId valve rod to move said rod axially, and adjustment means effective to adjust the distance from the point at which said handle is secured to said rod to the valve member, said adjustment means being at the top of the rod and accessible without dissassembly, to ensure proper closing of said valve.

Claim 7

The device of claim 1 wherein said valve seat is threadedly engaged with a supporting member for adjustment.

Claim 8

In a yard hydrant having a spout, a valve located below the frost line, a reservoir located below the frost line, a passage connecting the valve to the spout, and reservoir regulating means connecting said passage with said reservoir to drain said passage into said reservoir when said valve is closed and to withdraw water from said reservoir into said passage only when said valve is open, said valve including a valve seat and a complementary valve closure member, said valve seat comprising the converging cone of a venturi, said valve member being secured to a valve rod extending through said valve seat, said valve rod and valve seat cooperating to form an annular jet orifice for water passing through said valve, whereby to create an area of lowered pressure around said jet, said connection between said passage and said reservoir comprising a cavity around said orifice and said jet, including an upper air vent, a valve member movable into said vent to close the vent, and a float within the reservoir operably attached to the valve member to close the vent when the float is sufficiently raised by water within the reservoir, a signal member, housing means concealing the signal member, and means operated by said float to move said signal member to visible position when said float is raised.

Claim 9

In a yard hydrant having a spout, a valve located below the frost line, a reservoir located below the frost line, a passage connecting the valve to the spout, and reservoir regulating means connecting said passage with said reservoir to drain said passage into said reservoir when said valve is closed and to withdraw water from said reservoir into said passage only when said valve is open, said valve including a valve seat and a complementary valve closure member, said valve seat comprising the converging cone of a venturi, said valve member being secured to a valve rod extending through said valve seat, said valve rod and valve seat cooperating to form an annular jet orifice for water passing through said valve, whereby to create an area of lowered pressure around said jet, said connection between said passage and said reservoir comprising a cavity around said orifice and said jet, including an upper air vent, a valve member movable into said vent to close the vent, and a float within the reservoir operably attached to the valve member to close the vent when the float is sufficiently raised by water within the reservoir, a signal member, housing means concealing the signal member, and means operated by said float to move said signal member to visible position when said float is raised.

Claim 10

In a yard hydrant having a spout, a valve located below the frost line, a reservoir located below the frost line, a passage connecting the valve to the spout, and reservoir regulating means connecting said passage with said reservoir to drain said passage into said reservoir when said valve is closed and to withdraw water from said reservoir into said passage only when said valve is open, said reservoir regulating means further comprising a check valve extending vertically and connected to said passage at the bottom and said reservoir at the top and having a valve seat at the bottom of the valve, said check valve having a buoyant closure element arranged to float away from the valve seat only when excess water is present in the reservoir, and which will seal on the valve seat when the water in the reservoir declines to a level approaching the level of the valve seat and the pressure is lowered in said cavity.

Claim 11

In a yard hydrant having a spout, a valve located below the frost line, a reservoir located below the frost line, a passage connecting the valve to the spout, and reservoir regulating means connecting said passage with said reservoir to drain said passage into said reservoir when said valve is closed and to withdraw water from said reservoir into said passage only when said valve is open, said reservoir regulating means further comprising a check valve extending vertically and connected to said passage at the bottom and said reservoir at the top and having a valve seat at the bottom of the valve, said check valve having a buoyant closure element arranged to float away from the valve seat only when excess water is present in the reservoir, and which will seal on the valve seat when the water in the reservoir declines to a level approaching the level of the valve seat and the pressure is lowered in said cavity.

Claim 12

In a frost proof hydrant having a spout, a water passage to the spout, a variable opening valve in the water passage below the frost line, a reservoir below the frost line connected to receive water from the passage above the valve when the valve is closed, and a venturi in the passage connected to draw water from the reservoir into the throat of the venturi when the valve is open, the improvement comprising means to vary the size of the passage through the venturi with variations in the opening of the valve, whereby to increase the effectiveness of the venturi to drain the reservoir at small valve openings.

Claim 13

In a frost proof hydrant having a spout, a water passage to the spout, a variable opening valve in the water passage below the frost line, a reservoir below the frost line connected to receive water from the passage above the valve when the valve is closed, and a venturi in the passage connected to draw water from the reservoir into the throat of the venturi when the valve is open, the improvement comprising means to vary the size of the passage through the venturi with variations in the opening of the valve, whereby to increase the effectiveness of the venturi to drain the reservoir at small valve openings.

Claim 14

The device of claim 9 wherein the means to vary the size of the venturi is a conical valve closure member operating in the converging portion of the venturi to close the valve and the venturi when in contact with the wall of the venturi and to simultaneously control the valve opening and venturi opening in all other operating positions.