AU510552B2 - Thermal link - Google Patents

Description

AUSTRAIA Fornl 'PATENT APPLICATION FORM (NON CONVENTION) f [RECEIVED

COMMONWEALTH OF AUSTRALIA I 'c~

2~~tentsAct 7952-IfJAPV3i;R

APLWCATON FOR A PATENSpolaij/ COMPLETE AFTER PROVISIONAL SpECIFI Z' (a Insert~; AAI 1we VO A :NMEPhET10ER applicants.

32702/781 lnsert ofb) Alexand er and Ernest Streets, addreWsss) J QUt al~ -Q .5

Australia I. I. Insert title hereby apply for the grant of a Patent for an inve-.tion entitled (c):.11A LINK FOR of invention.

wbhich is described in the accompanying provisional specifcation.

My/Our address for service is: C/o ArThiur S. Cave Co., Patent Attorneys, I Alfred Street, Sydney,

2000, in the State of Neh auth Wales, Commnonwealth of Australia.

Inscrt date DATED this day of J. panuary Form signEd.

Signature(s) of applicantls). WORMAIJD INTERNATIONAL If acompany to be exec-,tvl in a LIMITED mnisner binding on tilo cornpanv (accord',ng tc By Its Patent Attorneys, its Articles of Association). ARTHUR S .CAVE CO Sea], if any.

x ~1 4;

G.F. CHODZIESNER,F.I.P.A.A.

~MPS TO VAWI) OF

To: I

Tha Cormmissioner of Patents, COMMONWEALTH OFjAUSTReAL1A ARTHWU S, CAVE CO PATENT AND TRADE MASK AT roaNays SYDNEY

COMMONWEALTH OF AUSTRALIA Form 7 "PatentsActl9.52-1973" DECLARATION INSUPPORT OF AN APPICATION FOR A PATENT OR PATENT OF -ADDITION Insert full In support of the Application made by -WORMALD INTERNATIO14AL LIMITED .ippllcantof

for a paetfor an invention tntitled:-(b Insert title 1F.j. M5 of invention.

nertorll (c)Jame s Gordon Siely, Patent Attorney, dclarant(s). Insert of address(as) of declarant(s). Australia

do solemnly and sincerely declare as follows:-

pae -t-f-44kien (Or,in the case of an application by a body corporate.)

Insert name ofhodj~ I1. I am authorized by I.RMAL.Th..LNT.EaNA.TIj2NAPL corporate.

the applicant for the patent diinto make this declaration on its behalf. 2.La the-~a±.a inetro h nntiull. (Or, here a person other. than the inventor is the applicant.)

M Insert full 2. ALAN J.01 .RQU RP "a en(s)

Inono~i.

Insert of Wf....33 Florida Road, Inventor(s) e..5at-.Wa1a.. :j8,.A

is the actual inventor of the invention and the facts upon wihthe "tot o is entitled to make the application are as follows: The Company is the Oslv~ iteAssignee of the said invention from the said inventor fro~moctual II.e. tarWs, nvenassignee of lte Invention. Declared at Synythis 24th day of January 1977 from th IN4atua yyne Inventor( N. S.W

_(Si tue ofDeclarant) To: E G.SEYFIPA The Commissioner of Patents, 26 97ESG SEL COMMON WEALTHl OF AUSTRALIA 1T OiC ARTHUR S. CAVE CO. PATENT AND TRADE MARK ATTORNEYS SYDNEY

A.S,C.-3

(11) AU-B1-32,702/78

(12) PATENT SPECIFICATION ABRIDGEMENT (19) AU

(21) 32,702/78 510,552 (22) 26.1.77 (23) 24.1.78 (24) 26.1.77 (43) 2.8.79 (44) 3.7.80 (51) A62C 37/28 A62C 37/34 A62C 37/14 (54) Thermal link (71) Wormald International Limited (72) Proudman A.J. (74) CA (56) 55,177/73 469,906 A62C 61,843/65 A62C 24,857/67 A62C (57) Claim 1. A releasable link for a fire protection system, said link comprising: a pair of identically shaped and formed link halves releasably connected together; a shatterable bulb connected to and between the link halves whereby the link halves are restrained by the bulb from separating until the bulb is fractured, said bulb being so made so as to shatter when the temperature in the atmosphere surrounding the bulb reaches a predetermined value; a detonator mounted in one of the link halves in juxtaposition to the bulb, said detonator being fired to shatter the bulb by an electric charge triggered by an external device; and cable connecting means formed on each connector half whereby one said connector half is connected by a cable to a fixed point and the other is connected by a cable to a movable object.

D1 and D2 A a 24:1

AUSTRALIA

PATENTS ACT 1952-1973 49. 10,9CJZ U3de

COMPLETE SPECIFICATIgN

(ORIGINAL) 32702/78 FOR OFFICE USF XppIeetion Numnber: Ca ss Lodged: Int. Class

Comple-te specification Lodged: Accepted: Published: Priority-,

Related Art: *0 p 0 0* 0

p 0 PSOP

TO BE COMPLETED BY APPLICANT

,-'ame Of Applicant: Wormald International Limited

4 -A ddress Of Applicant Alexander and Ernest Streets, Crows Nest, New South Wales, 2065, Australia. Actual Inventor: Allan John Proudman

7i~ddress for service: Arthur Ceve Co. 1 Alfred Street, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. omplete Specification for the invention entitled

A LINK FOR FIRE PROTFCTION SYSTEMS The following statement is a full description of this invention, :including.the be' method of performing it known to me:-

-I-

O~2 This invention relates to those releasable links

used in fire protection systems, which incorporate a bulb

adapted to shatter when the temperature of the atmosphere

surrounding the bulb reaches a predetermined value.

An object of the invention is to provide a releasable

link which incorporates such a bulb and which also incorpor-

ates means to fracture the bulb in the event that dangerous

conditions other than, or in addition to heat, occur, such

as excessive smoke, water, vibrations or the like,

A further object of the invention is to provide a

releasable link which includes two separate link halves

which are readily produced by mass production techniques,

which require a minimal amount of subsequent machine process-

ing and which are simple to assemble as a complete releasable

15 link. omeee

In the following description, reference will be made *s to cables connecting the link to a fixed point and to a

o 0 movable object. It will be understood that the cables

referred to may take any suitable form and the movable

object will be an object in a building for example which

occludes an opening, such as the damper in an air-conditioning 00 0 00 duct or a fire door. *o 0 0 According to the invention the link comprises: a pair 0* 0

of identically shaped and formed link halves releasably

connected together; a shatterable bulb connected to and

between the link halves whereby the link halves are restrained

by the bulb from separating until the bulb is shattered,

said bulb being so made as to shatter when the temperature in the atmosphere surrounding the bulb reaches a pre- determined value; a detonator mounted in one of the link halves in juxtaposition to the bulb, said detonator being fired to shatter the bulb by an electric charge triggered by an external device; and cable connecting means formed on each connector half whereby one said connector half is connected by a cable to a fixed point and the other is connected by a cable to a movable object.

An embodiment of the invention will be described with

reference to the annexed drawings, wherein:

Fig. 1 is a side view on an enlarged scale, of a

link half according to the invention;

Fig. 2 is an end view thereof,

Fig. 3 is a fragmentary detail view looking in the

15 direction of arrow A in Fig. 1; and

Fig. 4 is a side view of an assembled link.

.Each oo. link half 1 is formed as a mass-produced component.

It is a steel drop-forging for example, having integrally

formed limbs 2, 3 providing a somewhat L-shaped profile for

the link half. The limb 2 is formed at an acute angle to the

B limb3for thereasons to be explained and an enlarged head 4

is formed on the free end of the limb 2. The free end of

the limb 3 has a catch-slot 5 formed thereacross, see Fig. 3

and a catch-shoulder 6 is formed on said limb 3 adjacent the

catch-slot

As illustrated, the head 4 has a cable connecting hole

7 formed therethrough adjacent the outer side 8 of limb 2,

and a hook 9 is formed on said head 4 adjacent the inner side 10a of said limb 2. Thus, when two connector halves 1 are to be connected together as seen in Fig. 4, the hook of each half 1 engages over the catch-shoulder 6 of the other half 1 and the slot 5 of each said other half 1 straddles the limb 2 of each said half 1. It will also be apparent that the link, formed by the connected halves 1, somewhat has the form of a parrallelogram with the holes 7 located diagonally opposite each other.

In addition, each connector half 1 has a detonator

mounting boss 11 formed on the limb 2 thereof and a bulb

mounting boss 12 formed on the limb 3 thereof. There is a

bore 13 formed through boss ii at right angles tc, or sub-

stantially so, a like bore 14 formed through boss 12.

A detonator 15 is adapted to be mounted in a selected 0

15 one of the detonator mounting openings (bore) 13 in a con- S

oooo nector half and the bore 13 in the other connector half 1 is

So. left open. The detonator 15 includes a missile and charge generally indicated by reference D and it is mounted in the 0

bore 13 by a screw coupling 16. The charge is connected by

electric cables 17 to a fire risk factor sensing device cc.. ^(not shown) which provides an electric current through cables

17 when predetermined fire risk factors such as smoke, water,

C/.C .o vibrations or the like occur to trigger the actuating device. When the connector halves 1 are joined together, a

shatterable bulb 18 is seated as indicated at 19 in the bulb

receiving opening (bore). 14, in one link half 1 and it is

secured in the bore 14 of the other link half 1, !by a screw

screwed into said bore 14. It will be apparent from the

4

ilij; drawings that each bore 14 is screw threaded and is also counterbored at its inner end, for this purpose.

When the connector halves 1 are jointed together and

the bulb 18 is mounted therein and therebetween in the manner

described, the bores 14 are plugged (sealed) as indicated at

21, by soft metal for example. Thus it will be seen that the

bulb 18 is mounted substantially at right-angles to the

detonator 15 and in juxtaposition thereto. Also, until the

bulb 18 is shattered, the connector halves 1 cannot separate.

In use, the connecting opening 7 in one link half 1

has a cable fixed thereto and to a fixed point or "dead-eye",

located where desired. The connecting opening 7 in the other

half 1 has a cable fixed thereto and to a movable object such

as a gravity closing air-conditioning damper a counter

.15 balanced sliding fire door for example, both of which are normally in the open position.

If the temperature of the atmosphere surrounding the

bulb 18 reaches a predetermined maximum, the bulb 18 shatters.

Thereupon, the link halves 1, which cannot pull apart or

move sideways because of a way in which they are formed by

the hooks 9, shoulders 6 and slots 5, move towards each 0 0*

other, and this movement is facilitated by the angle of

o so inclination of the limb 2 relative to the limb 3 whereby the s 0 link halves separate. This said movement-slackens the

tensioned cable connected to the movable object, which then ease causes the connector halves 1 to separate and the movable

object closes.

Likewise if fire risk factors such as conditions of

5

ii smoke, water, vibrations or the like i~n excess of predetermined value occur at the location of the triggering device, the detonator is f ired by an electric charge and shatterz the bulb and allows the tensioned cable to slacken.

me

sems 0:000

Claims (2)

The claims defining the invention are as follows:

1. A releasable linkc for a fire protection system, said

link comprising: a pair of identically shaped and formed

link halves releasably connected together; a shatterable

bulb connected to and between the link halves whereby the

link halves are restrained by the bulb from separating until

the bulb is fractured, said bulb being so made as to shatter

when the temperature in the atmosphere surrounding the bulb

reaches a.predetermined value; a detonator mounted in one

of the link halves in juxtaposition to the bulb, said deton-

ator being fired to shatter the bulb by an electric charge

triggered by an external device; and cable connecting means

formed on each connector half whereby one said connector half

is connected by a cable to a fixed point and the other is

connected by a cable to a movable object.

2. A releasable link according to claim 1, each said link

half having: integrally formed limbs providing a somewhat

L-shaped profile for said link half; a hook formed on the free end of one said limb, the cable connecting means

being formed on said free enc said one limb adjacent

the hook; a mounting boss for the detonator formed -n said

one limb said detonator mounting boss having an opeiiing formed 0 .0 therethrough substantially parallel to the other limb; a

bulb mounting boss formed on said other limb said bulb Sgoo

mounting having an opening formed therethrough substantially

at right angles to the opening formed through the detonator

7

~I r i mounting boss; a slot formed across the free end of said other limb; and a catch-shoulder formed on the said free end of said other limb adjacent said slot; the link halves being cc connected together by engaging a said hook with a said

Cq shoulder whereby the detonator mounting openings and the

C bulb mounting openings are oppositely aligned, and the bulb tI_ Sis compressed in and between the bulb mounting openings; a

detonator is mounted in one said detonator opening in

juxtaposition to the bulb; and cables are connected to the

cable connecting means.

3. A releasable link according to claims 1 or 2, wherein the

said free end of said one limb is formed as an enlarged head

projecting outwardly beyond the side of said one limb, said

head having the cable connecting means formed adjacent one (outer) side of said one limb and having the hook formed

adjacent the other (inner) side of said one limb; wherein

said one limb is formed at an acute angle to said other limb; and wherein the link halves when connected together .orm

6* said link to a somewhat parallelogram shape having the

cable connecting means and the connected hooks and

shoulders of the link halves substantially diagonally opposed.

4. A releasable link according to claim 1, wherein one

end of the bulb is mounted on a seat formed in one said

bulb mounting opening; and the other end of said bulb

is held by a screw sealed in the other said bulb mounting

opening.

A releasable link according to claim 1, wherein the

detonator is connected to a coupling having electric leads

extending therefrom to the warning device.

I r

6. A releasable link according to claim 1, wherein the cable

connecting means is formed as a hole in each said connector

half. a 7. A releasable link for a fire protection system as herein

1 described with reference to the annexed drawings. O

Dated this 23rd day of January, 1978

WORMALD INTERNATIONAL

LIMITED,

BY THEIR PATENT ATTORNEY

ARTHUR S. CAVE CO.

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I 'OH1 N 11, ul. $71,'