Seventy-Fifth Anniversary of Horizontal Action Impact Drive Sprinkler

The patent for the horizontal action impact drive sprinkler was filed on December 18, 1933 by Orton Englehart. It is a device that much like Thomas Edison’s light bulb, Henry Ford’s car transmission, Alexander Bell’s telephone, and Eli Whitney’s cotton gin revolutionized the food production industry and ushered in a new era in worldwide irrigation.

Rain Bird’s founders Clem and Mary LaFetra recognized the potential of this device, which was invented by their neighbor and citrus farmer Orton Englehart in 1932. Clem LaFetra urged Englehart to file a patent for the invention, which he subsequently did in 1933. However, Englehart preferred farming, and in 1935 he sold the business to LaFetra, whose family still operates the Southern California-based company today. While Rain Bird initially focused on making irrigation products for use on citrus crops, one of the company’s first commercial customers in the early ’30s was the Los Angeles Country Club. Today, $75\text{years}$ later, Rain Bird sprinklers, valves, and controllers are used to manage outdoor water use in varied applications both domestically and internationally in over 130 countries.

In 1990, the American Society of Agricultural Engineers designated the Rain Bird Impact Drive Sprinkler Head as a historic landmark of agricultural engineering. The Rain Bird sprinkler was recognized for its major impact on worldwide agricultural development and the efficient use of water in sprinkler irrigation. This invention has led to sprinkler irrigation development that currently exceeds 50 million acres worldwide.