Rotary sprinkler with intermittent gear drive

Claim 2

An intermittent drive sprinkler unit, comprising: a housing having an inlet end and an outlet end, an inlet in said inlet end for connecting to a source of water, an outlet at said outlet end, and passage means connecting said inlet to said outlet; a rotatable head mounted at said outlet end of said housing and including means defining said outlet for distributing a stream of water outward from said housing; a drive assembly including a turbine and a reduction drive train connecting the turbine to the head for rotating said head; means for intermittently interrupting said drive for causing said head to intermittently pause during rotation thereof.

Claim 3

A sprinkler system according to claim 1 wherein said means for interrupting said drive comprises an interruption in gear teeth on a gear in said gear train.

Claim 4

A sprinkler system according to claim 2 wherein said interruption is in a driving gear.

Claim 5

A sprinkler system according to claim 3 wherein said driving gear is at the end of said gear train.

Claim 6

A sprinkler system according to claim 1 wherein said means for interrupting said drive comprises a driven gear toward the end of said gear train having an interruption in gear teeth on said gear.

Claim 7

A sprinkler system according to claim 5 wherein said drive is interrupted at a different position of said sprinkler head during subsequent rotations.

Claim 8

A sprinkler system according to claim 1 wherein said means for intermittently interrupting said drive is timed to interrupt said drive at a different position of said sprinkler head during each subsequent rotations.

Claim 9

A sprinkler system according to claim 7 wherein said means for interrupting said drive comprises an interruption in gear teeth on a gear in said gear train.

Claim 10

A sprinkler system according to claim 8 wherein said interruption in gear teeth on a gear proximate the end of said gear train.

Claim 11

A sprinkler system according to claim 8 wherein said sprinkler unit is a pop-up unit and said rotating head is mounted in a retractable riser.

Claim 12

A sprinkler unit according to claim 10 wherein sprinkler unit is an adjustable arc oscillating unit.

Claim 13

An intermittent drive sprinkler unit, comprising: a housing having an inlet end with means for connecting to a source of water, an outlet end, a rotatable head mounted at said outlet end for rotation about a vertical axis, an outlet including a nozzle in said head, and passage means connecting said inlet to said outlet; a rotatable head mounted in an upper end of said housing for rotation about a generally vertical axis and having an outlet including a nozzle for distributing a stream of water outward from said housing; a drive assembly including a turbine and a reduction drive train drivingly connecting said turbine to said rotatable head for rotating said head; means for intermittently interrupting said drive for causing said head to intermittently pause multiple times during rotation thereof.

Claim 14

An intermittent drive sprinkler unit, comprising: a housing having an inlet end with means for connecting to a source of water, an outlet end, a rotatable head mounted at said outlet end for rotation about a vertical axis, an outlet including a nozzle in said head, and passage means connecting said inlet to said outlet; a rotatable head mounted in an upper end of said housing for rotation about a generally vertical axis and having an outlet including a nozzle for distributing a stream of water outward from said housing; a drive assembly including a turbine and a reduction drive train drivingly connecting said turbine to said rotatable head for rotating said head; means for intermittently interrupting said drive for causing said head to intermittently pause multiple times during rotation thereof.

Claim 15

A sprinkler unit according to claim 12 wherein said means for interrupting said drive comprises an extended gap between a pair of adjacent gear teeth on a gear in said gear train.

Claim 16

A sprinkler system according to claim 13 wherein said interruption is in a driving gear.

Claim 17

A sprinkler system according to claim 14 wherein said driving gear is proximate the end of said gear train.

Claim 18

A sprinkler system according to claim 15 wherein said drive is interrupted at a different position of said sprinkler head during subsequent rotations.

Claim 19

A sprinkler system according to claim 12 wherein said means for intermittently interrupting said drive comprises a driven gear toward the end of said gear train having an gap between adjacent gear teeth on said gear.

Claim 20

A sprinkler system according to claim 17 wherein said means for intermittently interrupting said drive is timed to interrupt said drive at a different position of said sprinkler head during each subsequent rotations.

Claim 21

A sprinkler system according to claim 18 wherein said sprinkler unit is a pop-up unit and said rotating head is mounted in a retractable riser.

Claim 22

A sprinkler system according to claim 12 wherein said sprinkler unit is a pop-up unit and said rotating head is mounted in a retractable riser.