Imagine water your intact lawn without having to move the sprinkler every hour . What if the sprinkler wheeled itself around ? Traveling sprinklers do just that , without using anyelectricalorgasolinepower .
In this clause , we ’ll enquire the driving force behind tractor travel sprinkler , the most pop excogitation on the market . It's awing how much these handy machines do with simple water press .
Pressure, Torque and Gears
The basic idea of a traveling sprinkler is to power a simple transmission withwater pressure . In other words , the force of the water from the hosepipe turns a serial ofgearsconnected to an axle , which slowly turns the sprinkler ’s wheels .
A tractor traveling sprinkler like this one has only seven essential division :
All water entering your house from the water caller has pressing behind it – typically 40 to 60 psi ( pounds per straight inch ) . When you launch the spigot , water insistency impel the water down the hosepipe to the sprinkler . The water flows through a organ pipe in the sprinkler and out through two connectedsprinkler arm .
As the H2O pushes out , it exerts an equal and polar force back on the weapons system ( this is the same principle behindrocketsandjet engines ) . The two arms are bent at the end so that the force pushes on each branch at an angle . The arm are dead set to point in opposite guidance , so the force pretend on both arms combines to generatetorque–- a rotational force . It ’s like a merry - go - turn with piddle rockets on each side .
The arms are connect to a plasticworm gearinside the tractor soundbox . The spin around arms rotate theworm gear , which engages a gear in thetransmission . The transmission is a simple gear wagon train that transmits the rotational force of the worm gear to the drive axle that turn the tractor ’s back bike .
In a standard intent , the infection has three configurations ( although it could have more or few , and some design do n’t have different speed options ) . The background include a high and a low speed , as well as indifferent for stationary lacrimation . adjust the setting engages and withdraw gear in the contagion . all disengaging the gear wheel caravan from the drive axle commit the sprinkler in neutral , and switching between the different - sized gears changes the rotation speed of the axle ( seeHow Gear Ratios Workfor more information ) .
The gear drive mechanism is something like the gear railroad train in a cable car , but everything happens in boring motion . Most only go approximately60 feet per hour ! The back wheels push the front wheel , which guides the tractor along the hosiery .
When the sprinkler arrive at the end of its path , it touch off itsautomatic shut - off . In the childlike design , the automatic close - off trigger is a small incline at the end of the tractor ’s path . When the tractor sprinkler reaches this ramp , the front wheel travels over it , just as if it were another hill in the railyard . But the back bicycle go around the ramp , moving on either side . The ramp hits a smallspring - loaded plungeron the bottom of the tractor . The plunger stops the piss from reaching the sprinkler arms , shutting down the tractor .
That ’s really all there is to it . It ’s a simple conversion of the force of water pressure sensation to a rotational force on the wheels .
For more information about travel sprinklers , look into out the link on the next page .
