This page is for developments at DMDL's alter ego DYNAMIC MUSICAL DISPLAY LABS

Freestyle Fountain Nozzle

The Freestyle Fountain Nozzle is a miniaturised  DMX controlled articulated water nozzle designed for domestic size animated and musical fountains.
It is constructed mainly from readily available plumbing and modelling components so as to be compact, affordable and able to be constructed by amateur fountain constructors.
It requires access to a lathe and drill press to construct.
The nozzle nominally points vertically and the mechanism provides rotation of approximately +/- 90 degrees from a central position and 30-40 degrees of tilt either side of vertical.

The main housing is constructed of 110mm and 90mm PVC plumbing pipe and fittings.
The nozzle itself does not rotate but is mounted on a guidance mechanism that moves the nozzle mounting bush.
The mechanism rests on the ledge created by the 110-90mm transition.
Movement is provided by two RC servos driving the mechanism through gears.
DMX control is provided by a DMX servo control PCB with at least two channels.
A non-rotating version is also possible with a reduction in cost and length of the unit.

The Freestyle Fountain Nozzle was conceived and developed in a collaboration between Malcolm Dyer of New Zealand and Kyle Slinn of Canada. Engineering and prototyping by Malcolm Dyer.
The design claimed is described as follows: -
A housing is created by joining a 110mm PVC end fitting, with screw on cap, to a 110-90mm reducing fitting by a short length of 110mm PVC pipe.
A 90mm glue in end plug with two waterproof glands mounted on it is attached to the 90mm base end.
The water supply gland is in the centre and electrical cable gland to the side.
The 110mm screw on cap has a large central hole and joystick style bellows boot mounted on it with the nozzle passing through it.
This allows the nozzle to move freely while retaining a waterproof seal.

The mechanism assembly consists of 2 thick acrylic discs, that just fit into the housing. Each has a centre mounted bearing to suit a tube through which the flexible water hose passes.
Each disc has an additional hole for cables to pass through.
A length of rigid tubing is mounted in the bearings and extends above the upper disc.
The discs are held apart by spacer studs to form a rigid cylindrical shape.
A U shaped bracket with a large hole and mounting bush at it's base is mounted on the upper end of the tube with the fingers pointing upwards.
A tilt plate with a central hole is mounted on bushes across the open upper end of the U bracket. At one end of the plate is a short pivot shaft in the bush.
At the other end of the plate is a longer drive shaft extending through the bush with a large 120 degree sector gear attached to it.
Attached to the plate above the central hole is a bush for mounting the nozzle.
This offsets the nozzle from the pivot axis allowing the water supply tube to flex.
On the side of the U bracket an intermediate gear is mounted. This meshes with the sector gear driving the tilt plate.
An RC servo, with a smaller gear attached to it, is mounted on the gear side of the U bracket with the body of the servo across the open face of the U bracket.
The servo gear meshes with the intermediate gear on the side of the U bracket to provide tilt.

Between the acrylic discs a second RC servo with a gear attached is mounted on it's back. This gear meshes with one attached to the main tube to effect rotation.
These gears would have the same or very similar number of teeth. The DMX card is also mounted between the discs and the RC servo cables plug into it.

The complete unit is approximately 300mm (1 foot) long and 120mm (5 inches) in diameter although even smaller units could be built using the same principles.
I requires a water depth of about 300mm (1 foot) and additional weight of 1.5kg (3.3 pds) to operate submerged.

This information is released under TAPR OHL License. First published 17 January 2012.