US237901A - pollard - Google Patents

Description

(No Model.) i 2Sheets--Sheet1 J. M. POLLARD. Process of, and Apparatus for, Extinguishing Fires.

No.237,9o1. Patented Feb.15,18s1.

WITNE-E "INiJEN-TDF- N.PE\ERS, PHOTO-LITHOGRAPHER. WASHINGTON. D O,

(No Model.) 2 Sheets-Sheet 21 J. M. POLLAYRD. Process of, and Apparatus for,'Extinguishing Fires.

Ne. 237,901. Patented Feb. 15,1881.

/N y A I d I M/ INJENTDF- JeMPellare?,

NITnn STATES JAMES lVLPOLLARI), OF NEW ORLEANS, LOUISIANA, ASSIGNOR TO GEORGE H. ROBINSON, IN TRUST FOR THE FIRE EXTINGUISHER,MANUFACTUR- 'ING COMPANY, OF NEW YORK, N.

PROCESS OF AND APPARATUS FOR EXTINGUISHING FIRES.l

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 237,901, dated February 15, 1881.

Application led May 5, 1880. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, JAMES M. POLLARD, aeitizen of the United States,'residing at New Orleans, in the parish of Orleans and State of Louisiana, have invented new and useful Improvements in Process of and Apparatus for Controlling and Extinguishing Fires in Buildings, Ships, 4Sto., of which the following is a specilication.

This invention relates to an improved method ot' controlling and extinguishing tires, and apparatus for carrying the same into effect.

It is a well-known fact that air, when brought into contact with or passed through tire', is deprived of its oxygen, and that a compound mixture of gases and vaporsis the result, the said gases and vapors consisting usually of carbonio-acid gas, Water in the form of vapor' or "steam, and the nitrogen which formed a zo constituent Ot' the atmosphere before reaching the lire. All of these resultant vapors and gases are non-supporters ot' combustion, and if passed a second time through the lire will extinguish it at once 5 but as these gases are generated by the process of combustion they are heated and expanded or rarelied to such an extent thatthey are much lighter than the surrounding air, and instantly rise and are re- .placed by fresh air, which, in turn, finds its 3o way to the tire.

The object of my invention is to cool, condense, and contract these gases so that they will be relatively heavier than the atmosphere, and so sink or descend upon the tire by the ac- 5 tion of gravity, or to force them back upon the re by the combined eft'ect of gravity and ot' a downwardly-projected liquid, as'more fully described hereinafter.

My invention is further designed to prevent 4o the spread of iires beyond the limits of the ioorv or apartment in which they originate by causing the escaping gases to actuate, by their high temperature, an automatic liquid-supply, which, being forcily projected in the form of a spray or mist into the heated gases, at once extinguishes the sparks, reduces the temperature, and forces them downward, thus checking the draft and contining the tire within a small compass, while by making this action .showing my invention applied thereto.

continuous the gases are made to accumulate 5o in such density as to envelop and extinguish the tire.

It has heretofore been the custom to arrange automatic or other sprinkling devices in the ceilings of buildings or apartments in such manner as to reach, by the direct application of water, lall portions of the room or structure so protected, the jets or discharge-pipes being located at intervals throughout the entire upper portions of said apartments.

In carrying out my invention I take advantage of the tendency ot the heated gases to seek an elevated outlet, and locate my systelns of pipes or discharge-jets in such passages and in such manner as to oppose the ascending or escaping gases with a forcily-discharged descending iiuid, which is driven through small Openings set closely together, and reaches all portions Ot'the passage or openin g with a minute spray or mist so dense as to extinguish 7o all sparks or iiame and to reduce the temperature of the gases while forcibly driving them downward, so that their tendency to rise aga-in is overcome until they are cooled sufticiently to prevent their doing so.

My invention consists, first,in the method of checking, controlling, and extinguishing fires by opposing the ascending or escaping gases Ot' combustion at the draft-openings with a spray or mist of lire-extinguishing iiuid, caus- 8o ing the said gases to be condensed at such points, cooled, and returned to the re to assist in checking, controlling, and extinguishingit, essentially as hereinafter more particularly described; second, in the combination, with a chemical tire-extinguisher and a system of pipes provided with jets arranged around the hatchways of the deck ot' a vessel, of a pump having its suction in the bilge of the vessel and connected with a system ot' pipes, where- 9o by a chemical solution or pure water, as may be desired, may be forced through the jets, substantially as hereinafter fully described.

In the drawings, Figure l represents a perspective view ot th-e interior ot' a building, 95

Fig.

2 represents a portion of a vessel, in longitudlnal section, showing my invention as arranged therein; and Fig. 3 illustrates the lines ot' pipe and jets surrounding the hatchways.

In order to properly distribute the liquid and force it into the gases through the system of pipes and discharge-jets, a suitable pressure must be created and maintained in the pipes, and this may be accomplished b v a chemical lire-extinguisher in which carbonicacid gas is generated, or by means of a tank located at a sufficient height above the discharge-jets, or by means of a pump or other device by which water or chemical solutions can be forced into the pipes under pressure, as more fully hereinafter specified.

In the drawings, the letter A indicates a stationary chemical engine connected with a system of pipes, B, by means of the standpipe G. As indicated in Fig. 2, a pump, D, is combined with the engine and the pipes in such manner that either maybe used to create a pressure of water in the pipes. The standpipc C may be provided with suitable branch pipes extending outside of the building, to which the hose of a steam lire-engine may be attached, when desired.

The apartments F in Fig. l communicate with each other by means ot' the stairways Gr and elevator-passages II. Above such stairways and elevator-passages, and around the ceilings of the ioors through which they pass, where the heated gases created by tire would naturally pass or collect, the system of pipes B above mentioned are located, the said pipes being provided with jets b, forming the condenser, as before described. Each battery or each net-work or system of pipes is independent of all others, being so arranged that the entire group around or over a stairway or other opening` may be set in action by the fusing of a single metallic plug or other equivalent device with which they lnay be supplied.

The pipes I, Fig. I, provided with jets i similar to the jets b, constitute the arrangement before mentioned for preserving the continuity ofthe descending columns ofcold gases, which it does by maintaining a low temperature and constant downward impulse throughout its length, so that these gases are neither expanded and rarefied nor diverted from their course.

As applied on shipboard there are necessarily some modifications resulting from the difference in structure between buildings and ves-' sels, the principle, however, being the samein each case.

In applying my invention to vessels I arrange the condensing appliances, consisting of the pipes B and jets b, in such portions ofthe hold as desirable, and in case of lire I make the vessel as nearly air-tight as possible. Liquids being then forced into the pipes the heated gases are contracted and vapors condensed, by which means the condenser becomes the objective point to which the heated products of combustion are continually drawn and cooled until they sink downward to the lower portion of the vessel. This process I continue during a period varyin g with the character ofthe cargo, but in any case as long as there is much heat present in the hold, because, although combustion may have entirely ceased, owing to the air in the hold having been deprived ot' all its oxygen, the gases in contact with the heated portions of the cargo will continue to expand and rise, thus gradually reducing the temperature ot' the material that has been on tire, and this movement of the gases should he aided bythe action ofthe condenser until the temperature is reduced below the burning-point. I then use a carbonicacid generator ot' limited capacity to lill the hold with pure earbonic-acid gas, bywhich the last vestiges ot' fire are extinguished, and as this gas is heavier than air it remains in the hold while the hatches are kept closed, thus insuring the safety ot' the vessel.

To avoid accumulating a sufficient volume of water to damage the cargo or impede the movements or endanger the safety ot' the vessel, I locate the suction oi the pump in the bilge ot' the vessel, so that the volume of water in the hold receives no addition, unless desired, in which case water can be taken from the outside of the vessel.

The condenser may be stationary and applied at different portions or compartments of a vessel; or it may be arranged to connect with a flexible hose and be inserted at any point through openings made in the deck ot' the vessel, as indicated at L.

As my invention becomes more effective when the liquid used is colder than the atmosphere or than the ordinary temperature ot' water, I iind an advantage in the employment ot' liquids in which the temperature is artificially or automatically lowered, and for this reason prefer to use capacious chemical tanks when practicable, in which water impregnated with carbonic-acid gas cr a solution of suitable chemicals is maintained under suitable pressure, because when expanding from pressure into the atmosphere these gases greatly reduce or lower the temperature of the water or solution so impregnated. rIhis reduced temperature greatly assists the action ot' my condenser, while thc weight of the cold carbonio acid tends to create and maintain the descending current ot' gases, while adding greatly to their extinguishing powers. I may, however, employ a chemical frigoritic mixture, asitis termed, which, being automatically mingled when used, will produce a still greater reduction of temperature; but while these methods may be employed in connection with my invention they are not essential to it, as it can be fully carried out by cold water alone.

It will be seen, further, that my invention, where applied in cities, will greatly add to the eiiciency ot' the ordinary tire-extinguishing apparatus by enabling the water from the engine, when the system ot pipes are connected with the base thereof, to be directed to the precise points endangered by the heat, which is impossible under ordinary circumstances, ow-

IOO

ISO

l I l l tinguisher and a system of pipes provided with jets arranged around the hatchways of the deck of a vessel, a pump having its suction in the bilge of the vessel and connected with a system of pipes, whereby a chemical zo solution or pure water, as maybe desired, may heforced through the jets, substantially as and for the purpose specified.

In Itestimony whereof I have hereunto set my hand in the presence of two subscribing 25 witnesses:

JAMES M. POLLARD. Witnesses:

JAMES L. NoRRIs, JAMES A. RUTHERFORD.

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