The Rain Bird Sprinkler

The impact sprinkler was invented by a Mr. Orton Englehart, in 1933.  It was durable, and spread water over an area in a more uniform distribution, and to a greater distance, than other sprinklers then available.  The inventors neighbors took an interest in the device, and set up shop in their barn to manufacture the sprinkler.  The neighbors were Clem and Mary LeFetra, and their barn based operation grew into the Rain Bird Corporation, and would obtain more than 130 other patents and 30 trademarks.  The sprinklers were marketed to cirtus growers first, and to other agricultural fields and homeowners later.  Shown below are the original design from the patent, and a current model.  The ancestry is evident.