US1290602A - Automatic sprinkler. - Google Patents

Description

A. J. LOEPSINGER.

AUTOMATIC SPRINKLER.

APPLICATION FlL-EDgMAR. 30, I918.

Patented Jan. 7, 1919.

G.\; W" I wo vvgp To all whom it may concern:

UNITED STATES PATENT onmon.

\ ALBERT J. LOEPSINGER, OF EDGEWOOD, RHODE ISLAND, ASSIGNOR TO GENERAL FIRE EXTHVGUISHER COMPANY, OEPROVIDENCE, RHODE ISLAND, A CORPORATION 01 NEWYORKP- nu'rom'rlc SPRINKLER.

Be it known that. I, ALBERT J. LOEPSINGER, citizen of the United States, residing at Edgewood, in the county of Providence and State of Rhode Island, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Automatic Sprinklers, of which the following is -a.

. specification.

My invention relates to automatic sprinklers of the type in which the sprinkler is normally held closed by means of a frangible vessel nearly filled with a liquid and is permitted to open, when sufliciently heated, by the fracturing of the vessel resulting from the expansion of the contained liquid.

In order to be practical, a s rinkler of i this type should be so constructe that when the frangible vessel bursts it will be shattered to such an extent that no part of it can remain as an obstruction to interfere with the openinglof the sprinkler, and as one way of accomp 'shin fracturing temperature is relied on to de velop asufiicient shattering pressure. Such sprinklers, however, are open to the objection that theiroperating temperature is rendered uncertain by reasonof the tendency of the gas to escape from the liquid prior to or during the sealing of the vessel, the result of which is that changes in the final volume of the liquid or in the thermalcoeflicient of expansion, or both, are produced by partial loss of the gaseous contents of the liquid.

In a sprinkler embodying the present invention the objection above referred to is. overcome by the employment of a frangible vessel containing a gas-free liquid and a gas a which is, soluble in the liquid only sparingly,

if at all, at atmospheric pressure. The terms gas-free and sparingly soluble, as used above, are intended to mean that the amount of gas contained in the liquid when introduced into the vessel, or absorbed by the liquid before the vessel is sealed, is nlefiillgible so far as the operation of the s'pr' er is concerned. Since the liquid is gas-free both prior to and at the time of sealing the vessel its coefiicient of expansion does not change durmg sealin .and a predetermined definite quantity of t e liquid and the gas can be p v Specification of Letters Patent. 4 Application flled larch 8Q, 1918. Serial No. 225,748

this result it has been.pro-. posed to emp oy, a liquid which is charged yoke 3, whereby Patented Jan. 7, 1919.

sealed in the vessel by lmown methods, so

a that all factorsaifecting the operation of the yessel are controlled. Substantial accuracy m respect to operation at a predetermined temperature is thus secured in the case of a single sprinkler, and this results in uniformity of o eration in the case of a quantity of the spr' ers, which are essential prerequisites to the practical use of sprinklers of this type. When the sprinkler is heated the 1 gas which fills the expansion space in the vessel is forced into solution in the liquid as the latter expandsand is suddenly released as soon as the'vessel is fractured at the operating temperature, and I have found that although the volume ofgas is small compared with the volume of the liquid itself, its explosive eflt'ect when released is nevertheless s'uflicient to produce the necessary shattering efiect on the vessel when fractured.

A formof sprinkler in which my invention may be embodied is illustrated in the accompanying drawings, in which the figure shows the sprinkler in vertical section. 7

The sprinkler illustrated comprises a body portion 2, a yoke3 screwed at one end into .the body portion 2, a resilient valve seatl:

clamped between the yoke and-body portion and having acentral perforation, a valve 5 resting on the valve seat 4 and normally closing the perforation therein, and a deflector 6 carried by the free end of the yoke, all of the parts above mentioned being of familiar construction. In addition, the sprinkler includes a ring 7, preferably cast integral with the yoke 3, a cap-piece 8 resting on and centered by the valve 5, and a frangible vessel consisting of a glass bulb 9 interposed be tween the cap-piece 8 and the ring 7 and serving as a strut to hold the valve 5 against its seat. The neck 10 of the bulb projects upwardbeyondthe ring 7 and is received within a space left in the upper end of the it is protected from accidental breakage, the bulb is received within and kept in POSI- tion by a concavity formed in the top of the cap-piece 8 and conforming to the contour of the,bulb, the parts being so proportloned that when'they are assembled and the yoke 15 screwed into the body portion to clamp the and the rounded bottom of against the valve by its own elasticity.

. heating it and its contents to a temperature,

determined by trial, which is less than the intended operating temperature but bears a definite relation to it, depending upon the elasticity and coeflicientof thermal expansion of the" material of which the bulb is made. This preliminary heating causes the liquid to expand and overflow, leaving in thebulb the proper amount of the liquid to fracture itwhen' sealed and subsequently heated to the operating temperature. The

. bulb is then cooled to normal temperature, or

below, whereupon the contained liquid contracts and leaves an expansion space above. it, and during such contraction the gas with which the expansion space is to be filled is permitted to pass freely into-the bulb. The pre aration of the bulb, the neck of which pre erably has a capillary bore, is completed by sealing the neck in the usual way, and the -.bulb is then combined with the other, parts of the sprinkler as already explained.

The liquid which I prefer to use in the bulb is carbon tetrachlorid, which is non-inflammable and chemically stable anddoes not freeze in cold weather. It also has a boiling point at atmospheric pressure which is higher than the temperature at which most sprinklersare designed to operate, and this fracturing temperature of the bulb isbelow the boiling point of the liquid there is no danger of loss of liquid by vaporization during the preliminary heating process above described. Carbon'tetrachlorid also has a high coeficient of thermal expansion, so that after it has expanded sufiiciently to fill the bulb completely it requires but aslight additional increment of heat to produce fracture, which contributes tothe accuracy of the sprinkler as regards its operation at a 1 predetermined temperature. A further result of its high coeiiicientof expansion is that its contraction in volume is relatively great when cooled after the preliminary filling operation, and hence the gas-filled expansion space has a relatively large volume and the shattering action is correspondingly increased. The gas with which the expansion space is filled preferably consists of an, since air is practically insoluble in liquids at at- I mospheric pressure and its use simplifies the process of preparing the bulb by enabling the preliminary heating and cooling to be carried on in the open air. 7

Various liquids and gases other than carbon tetrachlorid and air may be employed" 1n the construction of sprinklers embodying mfy inventlon, and the operating temperature .0 the sprlnkler need not necessaril be lower than theboiling point of the liquid at atmospheric pressure, but if the boiling point of the liquid is below the temperature the bulb this heating should be done while the liquid is subjected to a'pressure suficient toprevent loss by vaporization, and preferably in an atmosphere of the gas with which thaexpansion space is to be filled. In such.

case, when the sprinkler operates the shattering efi'ect may be increased by partial vapori zation of the liquid itself, which supplement the effect produced by the suddenrelease of the gas forced into solution in q the liquid.

While my, invention is particularly adapt-l ed and intended for use in automatic sprin- 'klers, it will be evident that the above-described frangible vessel and its contents, in

which the novelty of my invention primarily resides, constitute an article of'manufacture which can be used as a thermostatic release"- in a variety of devices intended to operateat a predetermined temperature.

I claim:

' 1. An automaticsprinkler comprising, as

remaining space is filled with a gas which is sparingly soluble in the liquid at atmos-t pherlc pressure. v

2. An automatic sprinkler comprising, as

a means for normally holdin the sprinkler is an advantagev for the reason that 1f the closed, afrangible vessel near y filled with a liquid which hasa boiling point higher than the intended operating temperature of the sprinkler, the remamlng space within the vessel being filled with a s which is sparingly soluble in the liquld at atmospheric pressure. 1 y

3. An automatic sprinkler comprising, as a means for normally holding the sprinkler closed, a frangible vessel nearly filled with a liquid which has a high coeficient of thermal expansion, the remaining space within 7 the vessel being filled with a gas which is sparingly soluble in the liquid at atmospheric pressure.

4. An automatic sprinkler comprisinxg'has a means for normally holding the spri er closed, a fran iblevessel nearly filled with carbon tetrac lorid, the remaining space within the vessel being filled-with a gas which is sparingly soluble in the carbon tetrachlorid atatmospheric pressure.

5. An automatic sprinkler comprising, as a vmeans for normally holding the sprinkler closed, a frangible vessel nearly filled with carbon tetrachlorid, the remaining space within the vessel being filled with air.

. 6. An article ofmanufacture consisting of a frantgible vessel which is nearly filled with a gasree liquid and in which the remaining space is filled with a gas which is sparingly soluble in the liquid at atmospheric pressure;

7. An article of manufacture consisting of a frangible vessel nearly filled with 'a liquid which has a high co-eflicient of thermal expansion, the remainingvspace within the vessel being filled with a gas which is sparingly soluble in the liquid at atmospheric pressure.

8. An article of manufacture consistin of a frangible vessel nearly filled with car on tetrachlorid, the remaining space within the vessel being filled with a gas which is sparingly soluble in the carbon tetrachlorid at atmospheric pressure.

Signed at Providence, Rhode Island, this 28th day of March, 1918.

ALBERT J LOEPSINGER.

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