Protective housing assembly for an in-ground pop up sprinkler, and a system and method for installation thereof

1. A support housing assembly for a pop-up type in-ground sprinkler, the pop-up type in-ground sprinkler including a body extending from a pop-up type in-ground sprinkler body upper end to a Pop-up type in-ground sprinkler body lower end, the pop-up type in-ground sprinkler body upper end defining an upper end opening and the pop-up type in-ground sprinkler body lower end incorporating a water inlet extending therethrough, the pop-up type in-ground sprinkler body containing a vertically-translatable water-emitting pop-up element having a water inlet at a lower end thereof and a water-emitting nozzle at an upper end thereof, the support housing assembly for the pop-up type in-ground sprinkler comprising:

a support housing body having a contiguous sidewall extending upwardly from a periphery of a support housing base, and terminating at an outwardly-extending radial flange at the upper end of the support housing body, the contiguous sidewall and the support housing base, together, defining a support housing interior space, the support housing base having a central opening extending completely therethrough, the support housing base central opening sized and shaped to enable passage of the pop-up type in-around sprinkler body lower end completely therethrough the outwardly-extending radial flange at the upper end of the support housing body contiguous sidewall defining a support housing body upper end opening;

a support housing cover bounded by a peripheral edge and having a central aperture extending completely through the support housing cover, the support housing cover sized and shaped for being seated proximate the sprinkler support housing upper end to facilitate selective covering of the upper support housing body opening such that the support housing cover central aperture is in communication with the support housing interior space, the support housing cover central aperture enabling passage of said vertically-translatable water-emitting pop-up element therethrough; and

a spacer disk defined by a peripheral edge, a planar upper surface and a planar lower surface, the spacer disk having a thickness and including an opening extending completely therethrough, the spacer disk opening sized and shaped to facilitate slidable passage of the base and the contiguous sidewall of the support housing body therethrough, such that, in a fully assembled state, the spacer disk at least partially circumscribes the upper end of the support housing body, the planar upper surface of the spacer disk is positioned flush against a lower surface of the support housing body outwardly-extending radial flange, and at least a portion of the spacer disk peripheral edge extends radially outward a distance beyond the Peripheral edge of the corresponding outwardly-extending support housing body radial flange,

wherein, when said support housing assembly containing said pop-up type in-ground sprinkler is installed in a ground surface, the spacer disk is interposed between the underlying ground surface and the lower surface of the outwardly-extending radial flange of the support housing body to raise the support housing body radial flange a distance above the ground surface corresponding to the thickness of the spacer disk.

2. A support housing assembly for a pop-up type in-ground sprinkler as recited in claim 1 , the support housing assembly further comprising a porous filter disk sized and shaped for being seated within said support housing body interior space, the porous filter disk having a central opening extending completely therethrough that is sized and shaped for being seated between an exterior surface of said pop-up type in-ground sprinkler body and an interior surface of said support housing body contiguous sidewall, wherein a porous structure of said filter disk enables passage of water therethrough while impeding undesirable passage of solid debris therethrough.

3. A support housing assembly for a pop-up type in-ground sprinkler as recited in claim 1 , wherein said spacer disk has an annular geometry.

4. A support housing assembly for a pop-up type in-ground sprinkler as recited in claim 1 , wherein said spacer disk has a non-circular peripheral edge.

5. A support housing assembly for a pop-up type in-ground sprinkler as recited in claim 1 , wherein said spacer disk has a non-symmetric geometry.

6. A support housing assembly for a pop-up type in-ground sprinkler as recited in claim 1 , wherein said spacer disk further comprises a plurality of stacked spacer disks interposed between the underlying ground surface and the lower surface of the outwardly-extending radial flange of the support housing body.

7. A support housing assembly for a pop-up type in-ground sprinkler as recited in claim 6 , wherein said plurality of stacked spacer disks further comprises a series of vertically-stacked and concentrically-arranged annular-shaped spacer disks.

8. A support housing assembly for a pop-up type in-ground sprinkler as recited in claim 2 , wherein said porous filter disk is seated against an interior surface of the base of said support housing body.

9. A support housing assembly for a pop-up type in-ground sprinkler as recited in claim 2 , wherein said porous filter disk is seated within the support housing body interior space a distance above an interior surface of the base of said support housing body.

10. A support housing assembly for a pop-up type in-ground sprinkler as recited in claim 2 , wherein said porous filter disk has a resilient compressible structure.

11. A support housing assembly for a pop-up type in-ground sprinkler as recited in claim 1 , wherein said spacer disk further comprises a first, innermost, annular-shaped spacer disk having a first spacer disk outer diameter and a concentric surrounding second annular-shaped spacer disk having a second spacer disk outer diameter greater than the first spacer disk outer diameter, the first and second spacer disks having a contiguous structure interconnecting the first and second spacer disks along a frangible adjoining region.