US1719371A - Chimney-fire extinguisher - Google Patents

Description

July 2, 1929. s. l.. Hom- E'r AL CHIMNEY FIRE EXTINGUISHER Filed may 2o, 1926 Patented July 2, 1929.

UNITED sTATEs PATENT OFFICE. i

STEPHEN I.. Horn.' .Aun GUY H. KIMEALL, oFB-OWDOINHAM, MAINE.

arruinar-FIRE nx'rrueursnna.

Application led May 20,

This invention relates to devices for eX- tinguishing chimney fires and the general object of the invention is to provide a tank mounted in connectionf with the chimney and having thereon a valve normally held closed by any suitable fusible means so arranged that when the heat in the chimney rises above a predetermined point the fusible means will fuse, releasing the valve and permitting it to open and discharge the contents of the tank in the form of a spray into the chimney.

Qur invention is illustrated in the accompanying drawings wherein Figure 1 is a vertical section of a flue with my sprinkler applied thereto;

Fig. 2 is a vertical diametrical section of the valve closed;

Fig. 3 is a like view but showing the yalve open; i

Fig. 4 is a plan view of disk 19;

Fig. 5 is a plan view of the spider.

Referring to these drawings designates a tank of any suitable or usual construction and mounted in any suitable manner eXteri0rly to the chimney. This tank might be mounted in an attic, for instance, or mounted outside of the house upon the chimney. The tank is provided with a filling opening 11 controlled by a float valve 12 which will permit the tank to be lled and when the tank-v is iilled, the valve 12 will have risen to a point where it will close the filling opening. A hanger or hangers 13 may be used for supporting the tank.

Extending from the bottom of the tank is a pipe 14 which extends into the chimney. The end of this pipe is provided with an elbow 15 and carried upon this elbow is a spray head 16 of any suitable or usual construction. Disposed within the spray head is a valve 17 having a stem 18 which carries at its lower end a disk 19. This valve 17 normally prevents any outlet of liquid from the elbow 15. This valve isv disposed with an annular housing 2() which is detachably engaged with the cap 21 in turn engaged with the extremity of the elbow. The member 2O is held to the cap 21 by means of bayonet slots and pins. The

valve 17 and the disk 19 are held in a raised position by means of two opposed springs 22, each mounted upon the member and urged in opposite directions by their own resilience. Vhen the valve is closed and under normal circumstances, these springs are engaged with each other at their free ends by means of a fusible rivet or by soldering. The fusible 192e. serial No. 110,534'.

rivet or the solder is adapted to melt at a temperature of approximately 180o or at any other desired temperature.

In the operation of this device, when the heat within the chimney rises beyond the predetermined point, the fusible connection between the springs melts, and the springs spring outward to the position shown in Figure 3, and the pressure of water within the tank will cause the valve 17 to descend against the spider 23 and will cause the liquid discharged from pipe 14 to be sprayed uniformly downward through the chimney. While the tank 10 may be iilled with water, it is obvious that various fire extinguishing chemicals may be mixed with this water and thus discharged i nto the chimney.

We are aware that prior to our invention it has been proposed to use a liquid tank with a spray head connected thereto and disposed within a chimney but in all the devices known to me a manually operated valve has been used for the purpose of discharging liquid through the spray head. Thus these constructions are not automatic in their action and, as a consequence, if a lire should occur in a chimney while the the apparatus would not act. With our de vice, however, the sprayer is operated as soon as the heat within the chimney rises above the predetermined degree and thus the device operates whether the occupants of the house are home or not and will operate just as well at night as during the day.

A very large proportion of lires in the country have their origin in overheated china neys or in burning soot. With our construction just as soon as the chimney becomes overheated thev sprayer operates to drench the interior of the chimney and put out the fire.

l/Ve do not wish to be limited to any particular means for spraying water upon the fire nor to any particular fusible spray head for this purpose. We have found, however, that the head illustrated and described operates very eifectively. We have also found by actual practice that this device will put out even a severe chimney tire and thus will be of particular value in country districts.

We claim The combination with a pipe, head engaged with the pipe and larger than thesame and opening downwardly, a vertically movable valve disposed below the pipe and within the spray head and having a dcpending stem terminating in a disk, the valve of a spray occupants are away,

and disk being normally disposed Within the spray head, and means normally holding said valve Closed and including tWo resilient arms,

CII

the resilience of the :arms urging them to a position entirely exterior of the spray head, the arms normally7 engaging said'disk and being loverlapped at their extremities beneath the disk, and fusible meansholding said arms signatures.

STEPHEN L. HOLT. GUY H. KIMBALL.

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