US3682388A

US3682388A - Fire extinguisher spinner nozzle

Info

Publication number: US3682388A
Application number: US91912A
Authority: US
Original assignee: FIRE CONTROL ENG CO
Current assignee: Scott Technologies Inc; FIRE CONTROL ENG CO
Priority date: 1970-11-23
Filing date: 1970-11-23
Publication date: 1972-08-08
Anticipated expiration: 1989-08-08

Abstract

Fire extinguishing apparatus characterized by a spinner nozzle having a base, including a base cover, for connection with a conduit supplying a fire extinguishing agent, a spinner disc and spinner disc skirt rotatably carried by the base cover, and the bearing structure that holds the disc skirt spaced longitudinally of the spinner nozzle and rotatably connected with the base cover. Also disclosed are specific spinner disc skirt structures, specific bearing structures and preferred layouts of fire extinguishing distribution systems.

Description

United States Patent Ferguson Aug. 8, 1972 [54] FIRE EXTINGUISHER SPINNE 2,671,650 '3/1954 Jauch et al ..239/224 X NOZZLE 2,986,338 5/1961 Foster ..239/224 X 2,923,360 2/1960 Porter, ..l69/3l [72] lnvenmr' 3,040,816 6/1962 Slough ..l69/9 Assigneei Fire Contml Engineering p y 7 Primary Examiner-M. Henson Wood, Jr.

Fort worth, Assistant Examiner-Michael Y. Mar 22 Filed; No 23 1970 Attorney-Wofiord & Felsman 21] Appl. NO.: 91,912 57 ABSTRACT Fire extinguishing apparatus characterized by a [52] US. Cl. ..239/222.17, 169/9, 239/224, spinner nozzle having a base, including a base cover 239/ 2641 239/ 391 for connection with a conduit supplying a fire extin- [51] Int. Cl. ..B05b 3/04 guishing agent a Spinner disc and Spinner disc i [58] Field of Search ..239/222.l7, 223, 224, 251,

rotatably carried by the base cover, and the bearing structure that holds the disc skirt spaced longitudinally 169/9 31 of the spinner nozzle and rotatably connected with the base cover. Also disclosed are specific spinner disc [56] References cued skirt structures, specific bearing structures and I ED STATES PATENTS pretferred layouts of fire extinguishing distribution 2,027,475 1/1936 Giraud ..239/222.17 x sysems' 3,421,662 1/1969 Hanson ..239/309 X 12 Claim, 10 Drawing Figures E] (9 G) E] l E] El Q C A i5 /5 o A o 15 J //5 A I A PAIENIEDRUS 8 i972 SHEEI 1 [IF 2 PATENTED B 8 I973 SHEET 2 [IF 2 $2250 8) i Mt;

ATTORNEYS FIRE EXTINGUISHER SPINNER NOZZLE BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION:

1. Field of the Invention This invention relates to fire extinguishing apparatus. More particularly, it relates to fire extinguishing apparatus that is particularly well suited to employing dry chemical type fire extinguishing agents; and (I) wherein the fire extinguishing agent is a dry chemical powder material within a pressure vessel storage container, (2) wherein the dry chemical powder material is agitated by mechanical movement of the container as the container moves to the discharge position and (3) wherein the dry chemical powder material is aerated by pressurized gas to fiuidize the powder material for discharge through a conduit on a fire.

2. Description of the Prior Art Fire extinguishing apparatus of the general type to which the present invention pertains is disclosed by U. S. Pat. No. 2,923,360 and 3,040,816 which are assigned to the assignee of the present invention.

The prior art fire extinguishing apparatus has shown spinner nozzles for use in dispensing liquid fire extinguishing agents such as water. Such prior art spinner nozzles employed in dispensing water did not perform satisfactorily in dispensing dry chemicals, since they tended to freeze up, or fail to revolve. The dry chemical type fire fighting apparatus has a number of advantages over liquid and foam types, especially for some applications; as is well known to those skilled in the art. One important advantage is that the dry chemical produces an effective, persistent, three-dimensional cloud so that the fire is deprived of oxygen in depth not just in a surface layer. In addition to trying liquid dispensing spinner nozzles, l and my co-workers have tried dry chemical dispensing nozzles. These spinner nozzles have had a large degree of wobble and have tended to freeze up when disposed at a location externally of a protecting building structure. The frozen nozzle is, accordingly, relatively less effective in providing the three-dimensional cloud of the dry chemical fire extinguishing powder when it must be employed in an emergency to try to extinguish a fire. Even after the freeze-up problem was overcome, our spinner nozzles had an undesirably large wobble when suddenly exposed to the pressure of the dry chemical being dispensed by a pressurized gas. In addition, the prior art spinner nozzle structures did not provide a structure in which the three-dimensional cloud could be moved toward or away from the conduit supplying the dry chemical powder as is frequently desirable.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram showing a typical installation of dry chemical type fire fighting apparatus employing one embodiment of this invention.

FIG. 2 is a side elevational view showing a dry chemical dispensing nozzle installed on a stand pipe in accordance with one embodiment of this invention.

FIG. 3 is a perspective view of the dispensing nozzle of FIG. 2.

FIG. 4 is an exploded isometric view of the embodiment of FIG. 3.

FIG. 5 is a side cross sectional view of the embodiment of FIG. 3.

FIG. 6 is a bottom plan view of the base of the embodiment of FIG. 3.

FIG. 7 is a top plan view of the embodiment of FIG.

FIG. 8 is a bottom plan view of the skirt portion of the embodiment of FIG. 7.

FIG. 9 is a side elevational view, partly in section, illustrating another embodiment of this invention.

FIG. 10 is a side elevational view of the embodiment of FIG. 9 employed in a portable fire extinguishing apparatus.

DESCRIPTION OF PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS It is an object of this invention to provide fire extinguishing apparatus employing spinner nozzles that obviate the disadvantages of the prior art type spinner nozzles.

It is a specific object of this invention to provide an improved spinner nozzle for use with a dry chemical type fire extinguishing agent and having a structure such that the dry chemical is dispensed in a manner so as to more effectively pervade the fire region, particularly in the presence of physical obstructions; and this is always readily rotatable regardless of the position or the location in which the spinner nozzle is placed.

As indicated hereinbefore, dry chemical type fire extinguishers exhibit excellent performance in that the dry chemical forms a three-dimensional cloud that does a good job of pervading the fire region. However, such performance has left something to be desired in blanketing the fire region, particularly in cases where the fire region contains physical obstructions.

The prior art dry chemical type fire extinguishing apparatus, before mine and my co-workers, employed dispensing nozzles that were fixed relative to the dispensing conduit. This invention derives from three discoveries: (I) that a swirling motion imparted to the dry chemical as it leaves the dispensing nozzle greatly enhances the fire region pervading capability of the dry chemical, particularly in the presence of physical obstructions; (2) that the swirling action can be effectively and economically produced by means of a nozzle that is rotated relative to the dispensing conduit, with the noule being driven by reaction forces developed by the dry chemical leaving the nozzle; and (3) that prior art type structures did not form a satisfactory spinner nozzle that would always rotate in response to the reaction forces regardless of whether it was suspended from above or emplaced on a stand pipe at a location interiorly or exteriorly of a protecting structure.

The spinner nozzle structure described hereinafter may be employed in different environments. Since, as indicated, it effects superior results with dry chemical fire extinguishing agents, it will be described with respect thereto.

In FIG. 1 there is shown, in schematic form, a typical installation of dry chemical type fire fighting apparatus employing spinner nozzles. For convenience herein, the term spinner nozzle will be used to define any rotatable dispensing nozzle having a plurality of egress passages which are disposed so that reaction forces developed by egress of the fire extinguishing agent will cause the nozzle to rotate and impart a swirling motion to the dispensed fire extinguishing agent. In FIG. 1 the border delineates the area to be protected by the installation, and the geometric figures with the small triangle symbols at their centers represent various objects, apparatus, machines, etc. to be protected. Each spinner nozzle 13 is designated by the symbol of a small circled x. The spinner nozzles 13 are arranged in a pattern such that the entire protected area is covered. In a typical outside installation, each noule will cover about 400 square feet, and in a typical inside installation, each nozzle will cover about 900 square feet. The dry chemicals are connected via a system of dispensing conduits 15 to a dry chemical source unit 17. The dry chemical source unit 17 may be any of the conventional type wherein the dry chemical is disposed within a pressure vessel storage container and aerated by pressurized gas to fluidize the dry chemical for discharge through a conduit or conduit system upon a fire. For details of such dry chemical source units, reference is made to U. S. Pat. Nos. 2,923,360 and 3,040,816 hereinbefore mentioned.

In a typical outdoor installation such as illustrated in FIG. 1, the spinner nozzle 13 may be employed on a vertical stand pipe such as illustrated in FIG. 2. The stand pipe may comprise the dispensing conduit 15 having a suitable foundation 19. If desired, a supplemental structure may be employed to support the spinner nozzle 13. A spinner nozzle in accordance with one embodiment of this invention is illustrated in FIGS. 2-8. Therein, the spinner nozzle 13 comprises the basic components of the connector base means 21, base cover means 23, spinner means 25 and holding and bearing means 27.

The connector base means 21 has a means such as threaded aperture 29 for connecting with a distribution conduit 15 supplying the fire extinguishing agent. When the spinner nozzle is employed for dry chemical powder, it is imperative that it have a means for preventing water vapor from invading the source unit 17 and causing caking of the dry chemical powder. Accordingly, the connector base means 21 a vapor disc base 31 and a nozzle base 33 with a vapor disc 35 disposed therebetween. The vapor disc 35 comprises a frame with a frangible membrane therewithin and is sealingly emplaced between the vapor disc base and the nozzle base. Specifically, the frangible membrane may be a thin foil such as of aluminum or it may be transparent material such as glass or plastic. In any event, it is ruptured by the fire extinguishing agent being expelled under pressure. To facilitate replacing the vapor disc 35, the nozzle base 33 is maintained adjacent the vapor disc base 31 by an easily releasable fastening means such as bolts 37 inserted from the bottom through suitable apertures in vapor disc base 31 and engaging suitable threaded apertures (not shown) in the nozzle base 33. The bolts 37 may have allen-type heads. The bolts 37 are removable from the bottom to facilitate disassembly and replacement of the vapor disc after use without having to otherwise disassemble any part of the spinner nozzle.

The base cover means 23 has basically a frusto-conical shaped exterior surface 39 with a plurality of recesses 41 for insertion of allen head bolts 43. The base cover means is disposed adjacent the connector base means 21 so as to define a plurality of apertures for egress of a fire extinguishing agent. As illustrated, the plurality of apertures are defined by leg means 45 having their bottom contiguous the nozzle base 33. An aperture 47 is centrally disposed longitudinally of each of the leg means 45 for penetration of the allen head bolts 43. The bolts 43 engage threaded apertures 49 in the nozzle base 33 for fastening the base cover means thereto.

The base cover means 23 has a cylindrical portion 51 having a threaded cylindrical aperture 53 for receiving a holding means, as described hereinafter. As illustrated in FIG. 5, the base cover means has an arcuate cone-shaped interior surface 55 providing a flow transition boundary to direct the fire extinguishing agent outwardly through the egress passageways, as indicated by arrows 57.

The spinner means 25 is rotatably carried by the base cover means and further defines egress passageways for egress of the fire extinguishing agent. In the preferred embodiment illustrated, the spinner means comprises a spinner disc portion 61 and a spinner disc skirt portion 63 that is reversible, or invertible, for greater flexibility. The spinner disc portion 61 has a basically frusto-conical exterior surface 65 as well as a frusto-conical interior surface 67. The spinner disc portion 61 has a centrally located cylindrical section 69. The cylindrical section 69 has a cylindrical aperture 71 therewithin. The spinner disc portion 61 has means for fastening it to the spinner disc skirt portion 63. As illustrated, the means comprise apertures 73 and allen head bolts 75. Suitable recess 77 is provided about the aperture 73.

The spinner disc skirt portion 63 has a complimentary portion of the means for fastening it to the spinner disc portion 61 in the form of threaded apertures 79. As can be seen in FIG. 5, the threaded apertures 79 penetrate completely through the spinner disc skirt portion 63 for fastening regardless of the position of the spinner disc skirt portion; normal or inverted. The spinner disc skirt portion 63 has a plurality of vanes 81, illustrated in plan view in FIG. 8. The plurality of vanes further define the egress passageways for the fire extinguishing agent and effect rotation of the spinner means in response to egress of the fire extinguishing agent. As indicated, and as illustrated in dashed lines 83, FIG. 5, the spinner disc skirt portion 63 is invertible for swirlingly dispensing the fire extinguishing agent to form a three-dimensional cloud in either direction longitudinally of the spinner nozzle. Expressed otherwise, the spinner disc skirt portion 63 may be attached as indicated in solid lines in FIG. 5 to form a three-dimensional cloud primarily in the direction indicated by solid arrows 57 toward the distribution conduit 15; or it may be inverted to afford a directivity indicated by the dashed arrows to form a three-dimensional cloud of fire extinguishing agent away from distribution conduit 15. If desired, the vanes may be placed at a greater angle a with respect to the radius for effecting a higher rate of rotation of the skirt means in revolutions per minute (rpm). On the other hand, the vanes 81 may be disposed at a smaller angle a to effect a lesser rate of revolution. If desired, the egress passageway between the vanes may be constricted to obtain greater lateral distribution of the fire extinguishing agent, although such restriction creates an undesirable back pressure and is consequently limited.

The holding and bearing means 27 comprise a first and second holding means and bearing means that rotatably connect the spinner means with the base cover means. The first holding means is connected with the base cover means and engages one surface of the bearing means. As illustrated, the first holding means comprises a cylindrical shaft means that is disposed concentrically interiorly of the bearing means and has an enlarged end portion that retains the bearing means intermediate the enlarged end portion and the cylindrical section 69 of the spinner disc portion 61. Specifically, the first holding means comprises a hexhead bolt 91 that passes through the central aperture 93 of the bearing means and threadedly engages threaded aperture 53 of the base cover means. Suitable washers may be provided intermediate the hexhead bolt 91 and the bearing means, if desired.

The second holding means is connected with the spinner means 25 and engages another surface of the bearing means. The second holding means is connected with the spinner means so as to constrain the spinner means 25 to limited movement longitudinally of the spinner nozzle with respect to the bearing means. Basically, the second holding means comprises a pair of shoulder means protruding interiorly within the central cylindrical aperture 71 of the spinner disc portion 61.

The shoulder means are disposed on both sides of the bearing means and engage the inner surface of the central cylindrical aperture 71 at a respective location fixed with respect to the longitudinal axis of the central cylindrical aperture. As illustrated, the second holding means comprise a pair of snap rings 95 and 97. The snap rings 95 and 97 engage respective recess, or groove, means 99 and 101, FIG. 5, in the central cylindrical aperture 71. I

The bearing means, as indicated, are disposed concentrically within the central cylindrical aperture 71 and exteriorly of the bolt 91. As illustrated, the bearing means comprise a plurality of sets of bearings such as

bearings

103 and 105 to alleviate problems with wobble of the spinner means. The plurality of bearings are employed instead of one set of elongated roller bearings for reasons of economy and provide an economically significant solution to the problem of the wobbling of the spinner means. The

bearings

103 and 105 are disposed intermediate the snap rings 95 and 97 comprising the second holding means. In this way, the snap rings 95 and 97 prevent longitudinal movement of the spinner means with respect to the bearing means. By this structure, the spinner means is prevented from moving downwardly such that the vanes or other portions thereof engage, or bind on, the disc cover means 23 to inhibit rotation thereof.

Other bearing means and holding means may be employed as long as they constrain the spinner means to rotation at a location that is fixed with respect to the longitudinal axis of the spinner nozzle and prevent contact between rotating and nonrotating components, other than the bearing means.

A bearing cap means 107 is provided to prevent the influx of water when the spinner nozzle is employed at a location outside a protective structure. The gearing cap means 107 is frictionally fitted within the central cylindrical aperture 71 above the bearing means so as to divert water from the holding and bearing means.

As illustrated in FIG. 9, the spinner disc skirt portion 63 may have difierent degrees of inclination with respect to a horizontal plane that is normal, or perpendicular, to the longitudinal axis of the spinner nozzle. It has been found, for example, that having a degree of inclination within the range of l40 provides an effective skirt portion, whether the skirt portion be inverted as illustrated in FIG. 9, or used in its downwardly extending position, indicated by dashed lines 109 in FIG. 9, or as illustrated in FIG. 5. Specifically, the spinner disc skirt portion 63 in FIG. 9 has 1 of inclination with respect to the horizontal plane, whereas the spinner disc skirt portion 63 has an angle of inclination of 35 with respect to the horizontal plane in FIG. 5.

If desired, the spinner nozzle 13 may be employed on the end of an extension pipe, or conduit, 111, FIG. 10. The extension pipe 111 is, in turn, fixed at its other end to the outlet of a control valve 113.v The control valve 113 is fixed to the end of a hose 115. The device of this embodiment is designed for handling by an operator who will be at the control valve location, and will manuever spinner nozzle 13 as desired. This device, which for convenience may be called an extension applicator is particularly useful in close places where the fire location is blocked by physical obstruction; for example, underneath or about large machinery. The

spinner disc skirt portion 63 is disposed so as to direct the fire extinguishing agent away from the control valve 1 13 and the'operator. The spinner nozzleillustrated in FIG. 10 may be smaller and lighter than spinner nozzles illustrated in FIGS. 2-8.

In addition to the embodiments shown, fire extinguishing apparatus in accordance with this invention may have spinner nozzles facing upwardly at the ground, or floor, level; or facing downwardly at the ceiling level. While any suitable number of nozzle head outlet elements may be employed, about four has been found to be preferable for a single conventional source unit 17. The spinner disc skirt portions may all face the same direction relative to a plane perpendicular to the longitudinal axis of the spinner nozzle, or they may face different directions, depending upon the three-dimensional cloud of fire extinguishing agent desired. The spinner means will always be disposed to develop the reaction forces necessary to impart effective rotary motion. It has been found that a rotational speed of about 200 rpm is satisfactory.

Although the invention has been described with a certain degree of particularity, it is understood that the present disclosure is made only by way of example and that numerous changes in the details of construction and the combination and arrangement of parts may be resorted to without departing from the spirit and the scope of the invention.

What is claimed is:

1. A spinner nozzle comprising:

a. connector base portion for connection with a conduit supplying a fire extinguishing agent;

b. base cover means disposed adjacent said connector base means so as to define a plurality of apertures for egress of a fire extinguishing agent;

. spinner means rotatably carried by said base cover means and further defining egress passageways for egress of said fire extinguishing agent; said spinner means comprising a spinner disc portion and a spinner disc skirt portion; said spinner disc skirt portion having a plurality of vanes for defining said egress passageways and said spinner disc portion being invertible for swirlingly dispensing said fire 7 extinguishing agent in either direction longitudinally of said spinner nozzle; and first and second holding means and bearing means rotatably connecting said spinner means with said base means; said first holding means being connected with said base cover means and engaging one surface of said bearing means; said second holding means being connected with said spinner means and engaging another surface of said bearing means, said second holding means being connected with said spinner means so as to constrain said spinner means to limited movement longitudinally of said spinner nozzle with respect to said bearing means and said base cover means.

2. The spinner nozzle of claim 1 wherein said spinner nozzle is employed for dry chemical fire extinguishing agents and said connector base means comprises a vapor disc base and a nozzle base with a vapor disc barrier disposed therebetween, said vapor disc barrier being frangible and rupturable by a dry chemical fire extinguisher under pressure.

3. The spinner nozzle of claim 1 wherein said spinner disc skirt portion has an angle within the range of 10 I 40 with respect to a plane that is perpendicular to the longitudinal axis of said spinner nozzle.

4. A spinner nozzle comprising:

a. connector base means for connection with a conduit supplying a fire extinguishing agent;

\ spinner means rotatably carried by said base cover means and further defining egress passageways for egress of said first extinguishing agent; and

. first and second holding means and bearing means rotatably connecting said spinner means with said base means; said first holding means being connected with said base cover means and engaging one surface of said bearing means; said second holding means being connected with said spinner means and engaging another surface of said bearing means, said second holding means being connected with said spinner means so as to constrain said spinner means to limited movement longitudinally of said spinner nozzle with respect to said bearing means and said base cover means; said first holding means comprising a cylindrical shaft means disposed concentrically interiorly of said bearing means and having an enlarged end portion retaining said bearing means intermediate said enlarged end portion and said base cover means; said bearing means being disposed concentrically within a central cylindrical aperture of said spinner means; and said second holding means comprising a pair of shoulder means protruding interiorly within said central cylindrical aperture, disposed on both sides of said bearing means, and engaging the inner surface of said central cylindrical aperture at locations fixed with respect to the longitudinal axis of said central cylindrical aperture.

5. The spinner nozzle of claim 4 wherein said bearing means comprise a plurality of bearing means serially disposed concentrically about said first holding means and concentrically within said central cylindrical aperture of said spinner means to minimize wobble of said spinner means, and said shoulder means comprise a pair of snap ring means, said snap ring means engaging respective recess means disposed at respective locations above and below said bearings.

6. In a fire extinguishing apparatus of the type designed to utilize dry chemical powder material as the extinguishing agent including:

a. a dry chemical source unit;

b. a dry chemical dispensing conduit system operatively connected to said source unit and terminating in one or more dispensing nozzles;

c. an improvement wherein one or more of said dispensing nozzles is a spinner nozzle having a plurality of dry chemical outlet passages which are disposed so that reaction forces developed by dry chemical egress will cause the nozzle to rotate and impart a swirling motion to the dispensed dry chemical; said spinner nozzle comprising:

1. a vapor disc base having means for connection with said dispensing conduit system;

2. a noule base disposed adjacent said vapor disc base;

3. a frangible vapor disc barrier disposed intermediate said vapor disc base and said nozzle base;

4. base cover means disposed adjacent said nozzle base so as to define a plurality of apertures for egress of said dry chemical powder material;

5. spinner means rotatably carried by said base cover means and further defining egress passageway for egress of said dry chemical powder material; and

6. first and second holding means and bearing means rotatably connecting said spinner means with said base cover means; said first holding means being connected with said base cover means and engaging one surface of said bearing means; said second holding means being connected with said spinner means and engaging another surface of said bearing means, said second holding means being connected with said spinner means so as to constrain said spinner means to limited movement longitudinally of said spinner nozzle with respect to said bearing means.

7. The fire extinguishing apparatus of claim 6 wherein said spinner means comprises a spinner disc portion and a spinner disc skirt portion.

8. The fire extinguishing apparatus of claim 7 wherein said spinner disc skirt portion has a plurality of vanes for defining said egress passageways and said spinner disc skirt portion is invertible for swirlingly dispensing said dry chemical powder material in either direction longitudinally of said spinner nozzle.

9. The fire extinguishing apparatus of claim 6 wherein said first holding means comprises a cylindrical shaft means disposed concentrically interiorly of said bearing means, and having an enlarged end portion retaining said bearing means intermediate said enlarged end portion and said base cover means; said bearing means are disposed concentrically within a central cylindrical aperture of said spinner means; and said second holding means comprises a pair of shoulder means protruding interiorly within said central cylindrical aperture, disposed on both sides of said bearing means, and engaging the inner surface of said central cylindrical aperture at locations fixed with respect to the longitudinal axis of said central cylindrical aperture.

10. The fire extinguishing apparatus of claim 9 wherein said bearing means comprise a plurality of bearings serially disposed concentrically about said first holding means and concentrically within said central cylindrical aperture of said spinner means to minimize wobble of said spinner means, and said 10 shoulder means comprise a pair of snap ring means, saidsnap ring means engaging respective recess means UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE CERTIFICATE OF CORRECTION Patent No.2,682 288 Dated August 8, 1972 Invent0r($) Herman V. Fergurson It is certified that error appears in the above-identified patent and that said Letters Patent are hereby corrected as shown below: The inventor's name "Herman V. Ferguson" is corrected to read ---Herman V. Fergurson---.

Signed and Scaled this thirt Day of January 1976 [SEAL] Attest:

RUTH C. MASON C. MARSHALL DANN I Arresting Officer Commissioner ufPatenIs and Trademarks

Claims

1. A spinner nozzle comprising: a. connector base portion for connection with a conduit supplying a fire extinguishing agent; b. base cover means disposed adjacent said connector base means so as to define a plurality of apertures for egress of a fire extinguishing agent; c. spinner means rotatably carried by said base cover means and further defining egress passageways for egress of said fire extinguishing agent; said spinner means comprising a spinner disc portion and a spinner disc skirt portion; said spinner disc skirt portion having a plurality of vanes for defining said egress passageways and said spinner disc portion being invertible for swirlingly dispensing said fire extinguishing agent in either direction longitudinally of said spinner nozzle; and d. first and second holding means and bearing means rotatably connecting said spinner means with said base means; said first holding means being connected with said base cover means and engaging one surface of said bearing means; said second holding means being connected with said spinner means and engaging another surface of said bearing means, said second holding means being connected with said spinner means so as to constrain said spinner means to limited movement longitudinally of said spinner nozzle with respect to said bearing means and said base cover means.

2. a nozzle base disposed adjacent said vapor disc base;

3. The spinner nozzle of claim 1 wherein said spinner disc skirt portion has an angle within the range of 10* - 40* with respect to a plane that is perpendicular to the longitudinal axis of said spinner nozzle.

4. A spinner nozzle comprising: a. connector base means for connection with a conduit supplying a fire extinguishing agent; b. base cover means disposed adjacent said connector base means so as to define a plurality of apertures for egress of a fire extinguishing agent; c. spinner means rotatably carried by said base cover means and further defining egress passageways for egress of said first extinguishing agent; and d. first and second holding means and bearing means rotatably connecting said spinner means with said base means; said first holding means being connected with said base cover means and engaging one surface of said bearing means; said second holding means being connected with said spinner means and engaging another surface of said bearing means, said second holding means being connected with said spinner means so as to constrain said spinner means to limited movement longitudinally of said spinner nozzle with respect to said bearing means and said base cover means; said first holding means comprising a cylindrical shaft means disposed concentrically interiorly of said bearing means and having an enlarged end portion retaining said bearing means intermediate said enlarged end portion and said base cover means; said bearing means being disposEd concentrically within a central cylindrical aperture of said spinner means; and said second holding means comprising a pair of shoulder means protruding interiorly within said central cylindrical aperture, disposed on both sides of said bearing means, and engaging the inner surface of said central cylindrical aperture at locations fixed with respect to the longitudinal axis of said central cylindrical aperture.

6. In a fire extinguishing apparatus of the type designed to utilize dry chemical powder material as the extinguishing agent including: a. a dry chemical source unit; b. a dry chemical dispensing conduit system operatively connected to said source unit and terminating in one or more dispensing nozzles; c. an improvement wherein one or more of said dispensing nozzles is a spinner nozzle having a plurality of dry chemical outlet passages which are disposed so that reaction forces developed by dry chemical egress will cause the nozzle to rotate and impart a swirling motion to the dispensed dry chemical; said spinner nozzle comprising:

10. The fire extinguishing apparatus of claim 9 wherein said bearing means comprise a plurality of bearings serially disPosed concentrically about said first holding means and concentrically within said central cylindrical aperture of said spinner means to minimize wobble of said spinner means, and said shoulder means comprise a pair of snap ring means, said snap ring means engaging respective recess means disposed at respective locations above and below said bearing means.

11. The fire extinguishing apparatus of claim 6 wherein said spinner nozzle is disposed on a stand pipe externally of any protecting structure.

12. The fire extinguishing apparatus of claim 6 wherein said spinner nozzle is disposed on a portable conduit means and has an invertible spinner disc skirt that is directed away from a control lever on said portable conduit means.