US2262447A - Chemical fire extinguisher - Google Patents

Description

*lead stopples usually used therein and the cage or mounting in which the bottleyis held.

Patented Nov. 11, 1941 i CHEMICAL rim: EXTNGUISHERr v Addison 0.. Boni i"aee, Bronxville, Y; h i Application July 7,1938, Serial No. 217329 .3Clamsr (o. 169-32 The` invention relates to chemical fire extin- 1 guishers of the inverting` type the purpose i beas hereinbelow more particularly set forth.

= `Chemical` extinguishers, as well known,`-re- "duire to b'e periodically reflled, and it is usual for the'janitor; householder, or other person in chargeto refill a collection 'of extinguishers at one and the same time. It most always occurs i "that in any` such collection of extinguisherstobe c recharged there will be a variety ofdiffernt makes, each difiering in someone or more particulars from the others, althoughall may be of the" same two-and-one-half gallon size, and it is not uncommon for partsof different extin- `guishers to become interchanged in the process of recharging, so that when` theyhave been re'- placed in service their functioning is not as intended." The dilferences referred toare chiefly differences in dimensions of the acid bottles,the i The common lead stopple has a long tapered shank intended to"extend well into the bottleneck,` when the` extinguisheris in its normally erect position` with the head of the stopple seat'ed on the mouth of the bottle to preventsplashing of the acid out'` of it when the extinguisher is being carriedr When the extinguisheris inverted tor use, the stopple is intended to drop away tinguishers is so slight as to make it difllcult for the person doing the refilling to observe which parts belong together, yet the efiect of` assemblng the wrong parts may result in` greatly im- ,paired operation, or in no operation at all, the fact being that may serious failures'are'known to have occurred from the misassembly of the parts at the time of recharging. i

According to this invention these' unfortunate consequences are made impossible. The acid bottle is so constructed that it does not require the use of a fall-away stopple and so that it prevents the application of any such stopple to it. The important functions of such stopple are accomplished by other means, which also insure the proper rate of acid delivery regardless of the make of extinguisher in' which it happens to be used. i i\ Q A bottle according to this nvention, as at present preferred, is shown in the accompanying drawing where Fig. l llustrates the ordinary soda-acid extinguisher to which the invention is applied, in vertical section; Fig. 2 is a larger intended to` contain a basic solution such `as soda-bicarbonate in Water, or the like.

from its seat to the extent necessary` to provide an` annular'outlet for the acid, around thestop- `ple stem still remaining` in the bottle neck,`of a predetermined cross-area. The sizeof this outlet is important as it controls the Operating characteristics of the extinguisher. A too liberal :acid `outlet gives rise to a' too violent chemical It is closed by a screw 'cover 3, and has a bottle cage 4, of any appropriate design fixed in its neck portion to hold the acid bottle 5, all according to the usual arrangement.

`The bottle may be the usual eight-ounce `glass i bottle intended to be half filled with the usual reaction and too great an internal pressure, `'discharging a stream from the extinguisher which is too forceful foheffective use on a fireandalso of short duration, whereas` a too restricted outlet may not give enoughpressure to produce a firefighting stream. Such a condition can occur, for

, example when thestopple shank is too large for the bottle` neckor sticks in it so that it does not fall away on inversion, or whenthe stopple is too long for the bottle orits cage, or the bottle too long for the cage,` sothat the stopple cannot fall away far enough to open up an adequate acid outlet. In many cases the size -variation of the bottles, bottle n'ecks, stopples, and botfour ounces of sulfuric acid.` It is commonly sold containing the proper amount of acid in it, in which case this bottle can be sealed for shipment by a screw cap shown at 6 in Fig. 2. This cap screws onto the hayonet lugs 1 on the outside of 5 thebottle neck, similarly to bottles used for other purposes, and affords the advantage that it can be removed by hand when the bottle is to be installed in the extinguisher.

Within the bore of the bottle neck there is located a member marked 8 in Figs. 2 to 5 and 9 in Figs. 6 and 7, the function of which is, first, to block the bore against` the possible entry of any stopple shank intoit and second, to govern the `acid delivery, more particularly its rate of tle mounting` spaces of c difierent makes of ex- 5 discharge. This member, as shown, is essentially a partition dividing the bore into, or otherwise producing therein, two separate passageways marked n and H.

In the form of Figs. 6 and 7, in which the passages are of equal size and length, it has been noted that one of them will function as an acid outlet and the other as an inlet for gas to replace the departing acid. The gas generated at the bottle mouth, where the acid first encounters the soda, tends to rise into one or the other of these passages thereby constituting the other as the acid outlet and thereat-er the acid flow is steady and at constant rate, that is, non-gulping, to the end of the discharge. passageways are calibrated withreference to the chemicals used, the resulting pressure develop- Since both ment in the extiguisher is that best suited to the discharge of an efficient liquid stream.

In Figs. 2 to 5 the partition or guard 3 is oppositely flanged at top and bottom and one or 20 `part of this side of the neck servesas a collector (ti) forthe *first gas generated starting it upwardly into the bottle against less of a hydrostatic head therein (on account of its relative elevation) :than would be encountered through the other `passage. The constant rate of acid delivery, predeterm'ined by 'the calibration of the notch ra, thus begins somewhat more quickly than in the case of the other form and with corresponding benefit to the pressure curve. It will be appar- 'ent 'that the guard partition may be variously ii) contoured to carry out the functions which have 'been'above described.

The neck bore of all machine-made bottles is slightly tapered inwardly, as an incident to their manufacture, and I utilize this taper as a means i z' of securing the partition in place, making this member of some material inert to the acid which is slightly deformable or resilient, so that when given a proper diameter and pressed into the bottle neck, preferably to a position fiush with {59 or just 'below the rim, it forms a virtually integral and permanent part of the bottle, not easily removable. I have used soft lead members and members made of acid-proof rubber and other materials are available and included in the in- ?3 45 ^vention.

With extinguishers equippedwith bottles as above described, the use 'of a bottle in one extinguisher or another will have no efiect whatever on the operation since rate of acid delivery is' fixed and notaffected by the form or dimenzsions of any cage or container structure in which 'the bottle is mounted. The neck of the new bottle `is suiciently short so that even if it makes a loose fit in a cage it cannot slide or ?65 fall therein, on inversion, to such a position as to obstruct the acid discharge. Ir addition it will be impossible to prevent or impair such successful operation by the attempted assembly therewith of a stopple belonging to some other extinguisher and a fruitful source of extinguisher failure is thus eliminated. At the same time the rather considerable depth of the partition member sufces to prevent any escape of acid by splashing when the extinguisher is carried about or bumped.

It is no objection to the acid bottle herein disclosed that the surrounding air within the main container of the extinguisher has access to the sulfuric acid through the calibrated openings in the bottle neck and that it therefore may invite dilution of the acid by gradual absorption of water vapor from the air. I find that such absorption proceeds at a very slow pace and that it is no more perceptible with this new bottle than with the prior bottles covered by the conventional fall-'away lead' stopple, such 'stopples rarely, if ever, 'producing the hermetic closure necessary to 'prevent all moisture absorption.

However, complete isolation of the acid from contact with air` can be easily produced, whenever that :is deemed advisable under special conditions,-by floating a thin film of mineral oil on 'the acid, 'or on the basic solution in the main container, preferably the former. 'such a film 'avoids all absorption and does 'not impair the operation.

This application s a continuation in part 'of my prior and copending application 'filed September 20, -1935, Serial No. 41,350.

I claim:

:1. An extinguisher acid bottle adapted to be inverted for discharge having a combined guard 'and flow-regulating member permanently sup- .portedinside of its neck opening and shaped to .provide two passageways, one of said passageways having a point of least cross-area located near the upper side of said member when the bottle is inverted to form a -downwardly open gas-collecting chamber directly below said point of least cross-area.

2; An extinguisher acid bottle adapted to be discharged by inversion having a flow-regulating member located inside of its neck opening shaped to form two passages through the neck each having a .point of least cross-area, and said points of least area being at different vertical levels when the bottle is in inverted position.

3. A soda-acid fire extinguisher comprising a receptacle adapted to contain a soda-bicarbonate solution, an acid bottle Secured in position adjacent the upper end of the receptacle, said -bottle having a Vertical partition permanently fixed within its neck opening to provide a plurality of passageways within the neck opening, said vertical partition being substantially contained within the neck opening, whereby the partition acts to prevent the insertion of a normal acid bottle stopple within the neck opening.

- ADDISON O. BONIFACE.

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