Rotary drive sprinkler with flow control and shut off valve in nozzle housing

Abstract

A flow shut off or throttling valve is provided in a sprinkler nozzle housing to enable a nozzle to be changed without having to turn off a flow pressure source. The valve intersects a flow path through the nozzle housing and has an opening such that when the opening is aligned with the flow path, a flow stream can flow unobstructed through the flow path. The valve is movable between a fully open position in which the opening is aligned with the flow path and a closed position which blocks the flow stream from flowing to a nozzle disposed at an outlet passage of the flow path. The valve may be constructed to be either slidable or rotatable between the two positions, and is actuated by a gearing arrangement which is operable at the exterior of the nozzle housing. The external valve actuator may function as a physical barrier to retain the removable nozzle in the nozzle housing when the valve is open and to disengage the nozzle when the valve is closed.

1 . A sprinkler assembly for receiving a supply of water and directing the water therefrom over a selected area comprising:
 a nozzle housing having a main flow passage therein for receiving water from a supply source and an outlet passage through which water flowing in the main flow path exists the sprinkler assembly;   a rotary drive mechanism for the nozzle housing;   a manually adjustable arc setting mechanism on a center axis of the sprinkler assembly for setting an arc of coverage for the sprinkler;   a nozzle removably mounted in the outlet passage for distributing water from the sprinkler assembly; and   a valve disposed upstream of the nozzle for controlling flow of water to the nozzle,   the valve being so constructed that it does not interfere with the center axis arc setting mechanism.   
     
     
         2 . The sprinkler assembly of  claim 1 , wherein the actuator includes a gear, and a rotatable member coupled to the gear; and
 wherein the valve element includes gear teeth around a circumference thereof coupled to the actuator gear to move the valve element between the open position and the closed position by the rotatable member.   
     
     
         3 . The sprinkler assembly according of  claim 2 , wherein the actuator is manually rotatable from the exterior of the nozzle housing. 
     
     
         4 . The sprinkler assembly of  claim 3 , wherein the rotatable member is radially offset from a central axis of the nozzle housing.