US2781855A - Apparatus for extinguishing fires - Google Patents

Description

R. BlRO APPARATUS FOR EXTINGUISHING FIRES Feb. 19, 1957 5 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed July 29, 1955 Fig.1

IHVEHT RZ Kane BIRo BY Feb. 19, 1957 R. BIRO APPARATUS FOR EXTINGUISHING FIRES 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed July 29, 1953 I ig-film l 5 Feb. 19, 1957 mg 2,781,855

APPARATUS FOR EXTINGUISHING FIRES Filed July 29, 1953 5 Sheets-Sheet s gl cn 1 B/w 97MMb/M @Z Un d St e Pam Q This invention relates to means for extinguishing fires and has particularly reference to and an apparatus for extinguishing in a progressive and definitive manner the seats of fires.

It is known that when a fire-extinguishing fluid or pulverulent-v material is projected by means of a single nozzle onto the seat of a fire; a first apparent extinction of the fire at the point of impact of the jet is very frequently followed. by a revival of the fire at this place, so that the operator, having already directedthe jet toward another point, is compelled to revert to the first place to definitely put the fire out, which obviously represents a substantial loss of time and efficiency.

Now this invention is. concerned with a novel method of and means for progressively and definitely putting out seatsot fire without having to return thereto.

According to the invention, the fire is attacked simultaneously by at least two superposed beams of jets, the jets of the upper beam having a relatively long range while those of the l owe'r team have a shorter range, so that: the farthermostpoints of impact are designed to strike first the main. blow, thenearmostpoints of impact being intended to? complete the extinction and to prevent or counteract any revivalof th'e'fire at: the rear ofthe zone stricken by thelong-range jets;

1 9f. course,.it is. also possible,- still within-the'spirit and scope; of. the invention; to usemore than two plan rows or beams of superpossd nozzle jets; thus; three or four plan rows ot superposed nozzles maybe used so that the jetsfromthe upper row willv be long-range jets and those from the lower row will: be short-range jets.- The rows of superposed: jets may project afire'exting-uishing mate'- nial influ-id or pulverulent' form. However, according [to a possible and: advantageous form. ofem-bodi-ment of the method of this invention, the rows of superposednozzles project different? materials; thus the nozzles of: the upper row or rows project a: pulverulent materiali such: as sand or the like-at a relatively great distancewlril'e the nozzles of the lower row or rows project-at a shorter distance a fire exhinguishingtfiuid (to. g: a liqui'd, gas, emulsion or suspension, etc;

Thus, in this last instance the pulverul'en t material is used ton applying-1 the first and mainattack to the fire; and the fire-extinguishingfluid will reinforce and complete the extinction, notably by cooling the seat of fire and smother the release of vapor, for'exam-ple in case'of life in a hydrocarbon eont aining' tank or the like". With this modified embodimentof the" invention it is possible to make" the best possible use of the" properties of certain fire-extinguishing fluids duetowth'e short r'ange projection thereof, particularly in the case of carbonic acid snow which", if thrown at a distance of'4 /z' yards, has an inherent temperature oi -2'2" Fl, while this-temperature is l00" Fl i-f'tlie distance is only six feet. On the other hand; as tireis' put'out almosteomplet'ely when the fluid zone with his nozzles, which constitutes another substantial advantage of the invention.

The apparatus consists, according to the invention, of a battery of fire-nozzles fed from a common inlet and comprising two superposed rows of nozzles, these nozzles being invariably fast with one another so that they can be pointed as a unit in all directions; the nozzles of the upper row have a same normal range and the nozzles of the lower row have a common, substantially shorter and possibly adjustable range.

According to a preferred form ofembodiment of the invention, the battery comprises four nozzles; namely two upper, long-range nozzles and two lower nozzleshaving a shorter range, one upper nozzle and one lower nozzle being disposed in a common vertical plane, and the two vertical planes containing the two" pairs of superposed nozzles are preferably slightly divergent, with the two superposed groups of nozzles connected to the same manifold for the fire-extinguishing fluid or substance and mounted on a base for pivotal movement as a unit about a vertical axis and a; horizontal axis in a swivelli-ke fashion. The four nozzles of the battery are braced for example by means of a set of rein-forcing elements each forming a closed. frame disposed in transverse fashion with respect to the nozzle axes.

Other characteristic features of the invention will appear asthe following description proceeds-with reference to the accompanying drawings tormingzpart of this specification and showing diagrammatically by way of example one form of embodiment of the invention.

In the drawings:

Fig. 1 is a side elevational view of a fire-extinguishingbattery with its base partly broken away to show the fireextinguishing inlet conduit, and I Fig. 2 is an elevational view of the battery, seen from the rear, with parts broken away or in section to show the mounting of the various components.

Fig. 3 is an elevational view of amodified embodiment of the invention. 7

The battery comprises a bell-shaped hollow base 1 in tended to support the nozzles in a manner to be described presently; this base is formed with a bottom flange 2 whereby it can be fastened on a vehicle or other movable or fixed support (not shown). Inside this basel and substantially coaxially thereto a conduit 3 is mounted and provided with fitting means for connectingthe apparatus with a suitable source of fire-extinguishingfluid or material; at the upper end of this conduit 3 there is screwed the body 4 of an inlet adjusting valve of which the movable valve member proper is actuated through a lever 5 and a linkage 6, 7 by means of a treadle 8 consistingof a bent or curvedrod or tube concentrical with the base 1 and normally urged upwards by a return spring (not shown). v v

On the upper part of the valve body 4 there'is's'crewed a tubular fitting or connector 9 centered relative" to the base I by means of a' collar portion 10 and having pivotally mounted therein about a vertical axis the' vertical member 11 of a T-shaped tubular r'nanifoldthe horizontal member of which is visible at 1:2. The-vertical member 11 is provided with sea-ling" packing rings 13 and-mounted on the tubular fitting9 by means of a nut 14. The horizontal member 12- of the T-manifo'ld is connected at either end with a coaxialtubular element 15 held in position by a nut 17, as shown, suitable sealingv packingrings 18 beingalso interposedtherebetween; these end tubular elements 15 are alsorot-atable about a horizontal axis with respect to the manifold.

On the outer end ofthe right hand radial tubular ele ment 15 and at right angles the to', (Fig. 2) there" is mounted a conne toris", 19 my b" means of nuts 20, 21 respectively the vertical'el ficiitfs 22,23 of a pair of fire-extinguishing nozzles consisting of tubular members bent at right angles as shown in Fig. 1, the horizontal arms 22a and 23a of these nozzles being substantially parallel and disposed in a common vertical plane.

The same arrangement is provided at the outer opposite end of the horizontal element of the T-shaped manifold, wherein two nozzles 24, 25 are similarly positioned in a common vertical plane so that each of the two vertical planes containing a pair of superposed nozzles will prefl erably be slightly divergent.

The two upper nozzles on the one hand and the two lower nozzles on the other hand have their horizontal components positioned in the same plane respectively. The upper nozzles are standard, long-range nozzles. The lower nozzles are characterized by the following features: they are equipped with an outlet shutter 34 hingedly mounted about a horizontal pivot pin 35 positioned on the upper portion of the horizontal nozzle component. This shutter 34 is formed with bent lateral lever 26 extending on either side of the nozzle end connected to control means whereby the shutter 34 can be lowered in front of the axial jet issuing from the nozzle when it is desired to reduce the range of the jet.

This shutter 34 may be controlled by means of a rod 27 attached with one end to the bent lever 26 and with the other end to a trigger-lilac lever 28 cooperating with a handle 29 so that the operator may actuate this triggerlike lever 28 when holding the handle 29.

As already pointed out hereinabove and shown in the drawings, the upper nozzles of the apparatus, which are designated to project the fire-extinguishing fluid or material at a greater distance than the lower nozzles, have longer horizontal elements than the lower nozzles. All these nozzles are operated as a single unit and can be pointed to any direction by pivoting the assembly about the horizontal axis of the manifold 12 or the vertical axis of the base 1, the corresponding movements being can ried out with the assistance of the aforesaid handles 29.

However, it is also possible to provide counterweight or simple pneumatic, spring or like balancing means to facilitate the vertical angular movements of the movable unit.

To assure the invariability of the relative positions of the nozzles of the unit and also to prevent the nozzles from having their shape altered, some form of reinforce ment must be provided in the structure. For this purpose. according to the invention, the horizontal elements of the four nozzles are fastened to one another by means of light-weight bracing members each consisting of a closed frame 30 disposed transversely with respect to the nozzles. These frames may be mounted on the nozzles either in a detachable manner, for example through collar or like means, or by force fit therein. or still in a definitive manner, for instance by welding.

The manner in which the above-described nozzle battely is used in the practice is obvious and requires no detailed description.

Of course, the form of embodiment of the invention which is shown in the accompanying drawings is given solely for illustrative purpose and should not be construed as limiting the scope of the invention. Therefore many details thereof may be altered or changed without departing from the spirit of the invention. Thus, each group of superposed nozzles may consist of one or more multitubular nozzles, i. e. comprising a plurality of tubes extending from a common Y pipe connected in turn to the supply manifold.

On the other hand, if the apparatus intended for use as a modified embodiment of the invention wherein the beams of superposed jets project dififerent materials, the apparatus will differ slightly from that described and illustrated by way of example. In fact, both superposed rows of beams are fed separately with different materials or products through separate ducts, e. g. through coaxial 4 ducts, as the. ducts and manifolds 3a, 12a, 15a represented on the Fig. 3.

What I claim as new is:

1. Apparatus for fighting fires comprising, in combination. a base member; a plurality of nozzles movably mounted on said base member in fixed spaced relationship; means for maintaining said nozzles parallel to each other; first conduit means attached respectively to a first group of said plurality of nozzles and adapted to be connected to a source of fluid fire extinguishing material under pressure for transmitting the fire extinguishing material under pressure to said first group of nozzles; second conduit means attached respectively to the remainder of said plurality of nozzles and adapted to be connected to a source of pulverulent fire extinguishing material under pressure for transmitting the fire extinguishing material under pressure to the remainder of said plurality of nozales; and means for regulating the amount of fire extinguishing material transmitted by each of said conduit means.

2. Apparatus for fighting fires comprising, in combina' tion, a base member; a plurality of nozzles movably mounted on said base member in fixed spaced relationship; means for maintaining said nozzles parallel to each other; a plurality of conduit means attached respectively to each of said nozzles and adapted to be connected to at least one source of fire extinguishing material under pressure for transmitting the fire extinguishing material under pressure to said nozzles; a foot operated valve located between said plurality of conduit means and the source of fire extinguishing material for regulating the amount of fire extinguishing material transmitted by said conduit means; and hand operated valve attached at the output of at least one of said nozzles for regulating the amount of fire extinguishing material emitted therefrom.

3. Apparatus for fighting fires comprising, in combination, a base member; a first plurality of nozzles movably mounted on said base member in fixed spaced relationship and adapted to project a stream of fire extinguishing material a first predetermined distance proportional to the pressure under which the fire extinguishing material is transmitted to said nozzles; a second plurality of nozzles movably mounted on said base member and maintained in fixed spaced relationship with each other and with each of said first plurality of nozzles, said second plurality of nozzles being adapted to project a stream of fire extinguishing material a second predetermined distance proportional to the pressure under which the fire extinguishing material is transmitted to said nozzles; means for maintaining said nozzles parallel to each other; and conduit means attached respectively to each of said first and said second plurality of nozzles and adapted to be connected to at least one source of fire extinguishing material under pressure for transmitting the fire extinguishing material under pressure to said first and said second plurality of nozzles.

4. Apparatus for fighting fires comprising, in combi nation, a base member; a first nozzle movably mounted on said base member and adapted to project a stream of fire extinguishing material a first predetermined distance proportional to the pressure under which the fire extinguishing material is transmitted to said nozzle; a second nozzle movably mounted on said base member and maintained in fixed spaced relationship with said first nozzle, said second nozzle being adapted to project a stream of fire extinguishing material a second predetermined distance proportional to the pressure under which the fire extinguishing material is transmitted to said nozzle; means for maintaining said nozzles parallel to each other; and conduit means attached respectively to each of said first and said second nozzles and adapted to be connected to at least one source of fire extinguishing material under pressure for transmitting the fire extinguishing material under pressure to said first and said second nozzles.

v 5. Apparatus for fighting fires comprising, in combination, a base member; a first plurality of nozzles movably mounted on said base member in fixed spaced relationship and adapted to project a stream of fire extinguishing material a first predetermined distance proportional to the pressure under which the fire extinguishing material is transmitted to said nozzles; a second plurality of nozzles movably mounted on said base member and maintained in fixed spaced relationship with each other and with each of said first plurality of nozzles, said second plurality of nozzles being adapted to project a stream of fire extinguishing material a second predetermined distance proportional to the pressure under which the fire extinguishing material is transmitted to than said second predetermined distance; means for maintaining said nozzles parallel to each other; conduit means attached respectively to each of said first and said second plurality of nozzles and adapted to be connected to at least one source of fire extinguishing material under pressure for transmitting the fire extinguishing material under pressure to said first and said second plurality of nozzles; and means for regulating the amount of fire extinguishing material transmitted by said conduit means.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,534,761 Blaw Apr. 21, 1925 2,473,349 Snowden June 14, 1949 2,577,457 Freeman Dec. 4, 1951 2,699,216 Allen Jan. 11, 1955

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