US2218855A

US2218855A - Fire extinguisher

Info

Publication number: US2218855A
Application number: US217879A
Authority: US
Inventors: William L Roessner
Original assignee: BERTHA L MACGREGOR
Current assignee: BERTHA L MACGREGOR
Priority date: 1938-07-07
Filing date: 1938-07-07
Publication date: 1940-10-22
Anticipated expiration: 1957-10-22

Description

O 22, 1 w. 1.. ROESSNER FIRE EXTINGUISHER Filed July 7, 195a latented Oct. 22, 1940 UNITED STATE FIRE EXTHWGUISHEB William L. Bioessnealknver, Cola, assignor to Bertha L. MacGregor, as trustee Application July '1, 1938, Serial N0. 217,879

4 Claims.

This invention relates to improvements in a fire extinguisher, and is more particularly directed to a hand grenade type containing a chemical such as carbon tetra-chloride or the like, and having thermo-responsive means coacting therewith for the automatic release of the chemical when subiected to a predetermined degree of heat.

Heretoiore, various types of grenades havev been manufactured, but have been found to be rather cumbersome to handle when a manual operation was desired, as for instance when the grenades were located in a particular'place and the fire started at another place, the grenades had to be bodily carried to the fire to extinguish ii the same, orthrown in that direction. It is to facilitate the handling or the grenades for manual operations that this invention is directed. The construction is such that the grenade may be easily and readily gripped and thrown a congo siderable distance when manually operated,

eliminating the necessity ofa person approaching too closely to a fire while at the same time being eflective to smother the same.

A grenade. constructed in this manner for as manual and automatic operations is arranged to be suspended vertically or horizontally and automatically released to be discharged while suspended when a predetermined degree of heat is attained or the grenade may be readily and easily removed from its suspended position and is provided with a hand grip by which it is held to be thrown a considerable distance.

When thrown, the impact imparted to the grenade will cause the same to break and release a chemical therein to smother the fire, and

should the grenade be thrown on a soft substance where its impact should by chance not cause the same to break and release the chemical, the thermo-responsive means when heated to the 0 proper temperature will effect the breaking of the grenade and the release of the chemical.

The chief objects of the present invention are the provision of a hand type of grenade containing a fire extinguishing liquid, and arranged to be suspended vertically or horizontally, and having thermo-responsive crashing means releasable when subjected to a predetermined degree of heat. I

t A further-object is the provision of a. grenade having a handle arranged to be manually gripped whereby the grenade may be thrown a considerable distance and with a thermo-responsive means operable to crash the grenade when sub- 66 iected to a predetermined degree of heat when said grenade is not crashed by the impact when thrown.

And a further object is the provision of a con-' tainer arranged and constructed to retain a fragile grenade of volatile chemical and having means thereon whereby it may be manually gripped for throwing the same.

A still further object is the provision of .a container providing a hand grip and means for retaining a grenade of volatile chemical including 10 thermo-responsive means releasable to crash thegrenade and release the chemical when subjected to a predetermined degree of heat.

Referring to the drawing:

Figure 1 is a side elevation of bodying my improvements.

Figure 2 is a medial longitudinal sectional view taken substantially on the line 2-4 of Figure 1.

Figure 3 is a detail plan sectional view taken on the line 3-4 of Figure 1. I 20 Figure 4 is a detail plan sectional view taken on the line 4-4 of Figure 1.

-Figure 5 is a side elevation partially broken away of a modified form of grenade; and

Figure 6 is an'enlarged detail perspective view 25 of the fastening means of Figure 5 for retaining the grenade in the container.

The reference numeral l0 designates a container as a whole, which is preferably constructed of two hollow portions comprising a top hollow 3o portion ll anda bottom hollow portion I! each arranged with a screw thread at i3 and I, respectively, for threading the upper and lower hollow portions II and I2 together. These hollow portions provide a relatively large opening in 35 the container ill for inserting a grenade I! which A is preferably of glass or other fragile material and hermetically sealed to contain a volatile chemical, such as carbon tetra-chloride or the like. The lower end of the bottom portion I2 is 0 preferably reduced to form a tubular handle it and that portion which extends upwardly from the handle forms a seat or rest H on which the grenade I5 is positioned so that when the upper hollow portion H is threaded to the lower hollow portion l2, the grenade l5 will be securely held and retained in position. i

The tubular handle it retains a bullet i8 which is loosely positioned for sliding movements therein and a strap I! which is of U-formation extends around a pin 20 secured in the bullet. This strap l9 extends through anopening 2| in a cap 22 and has a thermo-responsive element 21' secured thereto outwardly of the cap 22. A compression spring 24 surrounds the strap is and is u a grenade em- 15 interposed between the bullet l8 and the cap 22 to exert a constant pressure against the bullet.

The bullet l8 and cap 22 with the strap I9 and spring 24 comprise a unit which is inserted into the handle l6 and when inserted, the cap 22 is then secured at 25--25 to the handle. While the unit is in position, the spring 24 constantly urges bullet l8 toward the grenade I5.

The handle I6 is provided with a plurality of openings 26 at near its upper end portion and is also provided with a plurality of openings 21 at near its lower end portion, and these openings serve as vent means for the circulation of air through the tubular handle and past the loosely fitting bullet I 8 which insures a constant current of air within the handle, and also permits of the flow of the chemical when the grenade is crashed.

The device is arranged to be suspended in either a vertical or horizontal position and for this purpose, a pair of

eyelets

28 and 29 are provided. These eyelets are secured to the upper and lower portions H and I2, respectively, of the container l0 and when the fire extinguisher is suspended in a vertical position, the eyelet 2B is employed and when suspended in a horizontal position, both

eyelets

28 and 23 are employed.

In its operation, assuming the fire extinguisher is suspended in either vertical or horizontal position, the' heated air circulating around and with in the handle l6 through

openings

26 and 21 thereof, will subject the thermo-responsive element 23 to the heat so that when the predetermined degree of heat is attained, element 23 will be automatically released from strap l9 and bullet ill will be given an impetus under the tension of spring 24 to crash the grenade i5. When crashed, the chemical within the grenade will fiow into the handle 16 and out of

openings

26 and 21 and the overfiow of the chemical will fiow around the upper struts or straps 12a provided in the lower portion I2 of the container l0.

Assuming now that a fire has started in a place other than where the device is suspended, it is then only necessary to release the fire extinguisher from its suspension and by grasping the handle I6, it may be thrown with considerable force on the fire and the impact will crash the fragile material and cause the chemical to fiow outwardly thereof.

Assuming that the fire extinguisher has been thrown on the fire and the force, of the impact does not crash the fragile material containing the chemical, the thermo-responsive element 23 will then be subjected to the heat produced by the fire and when the proper degree of heat is attained, it will be released to cause the bullet l8 to be carried by the impetus of spring 24 to crash the fragile material of the grenade l5 and cause the flow of the chemical to thereby extinguish the fire.

In the modified form shown in Figs. 5 and 6, the grenade is seated in a cup-shaped portion 3| which .is provided with an integral tubular handle 3la. A plurality of straps or struts 32 formed to conform with the shape of the grenade [5a, and with their free ends butt-welded or otherwise secured to the cup-shaped portion 3|, are arranged to provide with th cup-shaped portion, a rather loose fitting space for the grenade I 5a. In order to insert the grenade, one end of one of the struts 32 is detachable and is arranged to be attached to the cup-shaped portion 3| to retain the grenade in position.

When inserting the grenade, the strut or'strap 32 provided with a hook-like portion 34, is bodily sprung outwardly to permit of the insertion of the grenade I 5a and when the grenade is inserted, this strut or strap is then moved inwardly against the side wall of the grenade, which brings its hook-like end portion 34 aligned with the companion hook 35 formed to extend outwardly of the cup-shaped portion 3| and to which the hook-like portion 34 is attached. When the hook-like portion 34 is engaged with the companion hook 35, the free end of the hook 35 may then be forced inwardly to form a lock to prevent the accidental removal of this strap 32 when attached to the cup-shaped portion 3|.

As thus far described, it will be noted that the grenade l5a is now ln position within the struts or straps 32, but is loosely fitting between the top portion of these straps or struts 32 and the cup-shaped portion 3|, and in order to securely and rigidly retain the same, a gripping means comprising parts 33-38 is provided. These parts 33-36 comprise an eyelet 33 which has an integral threaded shank 33a that is threaded into the upper portion of the struts or straps 32 and serves to retain them in position at their top ends, and to the free end of the threaded portion 33a of the eyelet 33 is a cup-shaped disk 36 forming an adjustable cap to rest against the topend of the grenade 15a. In order to securely retain the grenade l5a in position, it is only necessary to turn the eyelet 33, which threads its shank 33a through the struts or straps 32 and causes the cup-shaped disk 36 to increasingly force the grenade l5a downwardly into the cup-shaped portion 3! until the proper tension is obtained and at which time, the grenade I So is securely retained in its container.

In Fig. 6, it will be noted that the hook-like portion 34 of the strut or strap 32 forms an interfitting lock with the companion hook 35, so that an upward pull thereon will not loosen the same and also, when the free end of the hooklike portion 35 is bent inwardly, the strut 32 and hook-like portion 34 thereof will be securely retained in position.

It will be noted that while the fire extinguisher is of the automatic and manual type, the thermoresponsive and crashing means are positively contained therewith so that perfect assurance-of cracking or crashing of the grenade may be had under all conditions and is not solely dependent upon its impact when thrown. Further. the thermo-responsive means is contained within the handle thereby protecting it from accidental breakage or release while the extinguisher is being handled.

An extinguisher constructed in the manner above described, gives to the user a perfect grip by which to hold the extinguisher and, as the portion containing the chemical is relatively of greater weight than the handle portion held, it is possible to attain a considerabl whip to the extinguisher while throwing the same and it may be thrown a comparatively great distance depending upon the strength of the user. By providing means for holding to throw the extinguisher, the user may be a safe distance away from the fire and from which distance, he may throw the same to extinguish the fire.

I claim:

l. A fire extinguisher of the character described, the combination with a fragile grenade containing a, volatile chemical, a separable container for the grenade formed to provide a handle on one end thereof, and a grenade crashing and thermo-responsive means contained in thehandle, said means comprising a bullet arranged for longitudinal movements in the handle, a cap having an opening therein and secured in the handle in spaced relation with the end thereof, a U-shaped strap engaging the bullet and extending through the opening in said cap, a spring.

surrounding the strap and interposedbetween the bullet and cap, and fusible'solder secured to the free ends of the strap reieasably retaining posed between the bullet and cap, fusible solder.

secured to the free end of the strap and retaining the bullet, cap, spring and strap as a unit insertible in the handle, and means for connecting the cap to the handle.

3. A fire extinguisher of the character described, comprising in combination with a fragile grenade containing a volatile chemical, a container for the grenade formed to provide a handle, means within the handle for automatically breaking the grenade,-said means comprising a grenade striking member, a support, a spring between the striking member and support, and thermo-responsive means engaging the support and holding the spring under compression, said striking means, support, spring and thermo-responsive means being pre-assembled as a unit insertible in the handle, and means securing the support to the handle.

4. A fire extinguisherof the character described, comprising in combination with a fragile grenadecontaining a volatile chemical, a container for the grenade formed to provide a handle and a plurality of projecting straps surrounding the grenade, means for automatically breaking the grenade, said means comprising a grenade striking member, a slotted support, a coiled spring between the striking member and support, and

thermo-responsive means extending through the slotted support and holding the spring under compression, said striking means, slotted support, spring and thermo-responsive means being pre-assembled as a unit insertible in the handle I from either end of the handle, and means securing the support in the handle adjacent one end of the handle.

WILLIAM L. ROESSNER.