US674045A - Fire-hose reel. - Google Patents

Description

'No. 674,045. Patented May l4, l90l.

. J. H. SULLIVAN.

FIRE HOSE REEL.

(Application filed Apr. 21, 1900.,) Modem 2 SheetS-Sheat 1.

. Gm 117?. TOT/W 573/ 177Iii 5 11lzlllvrz Gift 644W No. 674,045. Patented May [4; 190i.

J. H. SULLIVAN.

FIRE HOSE REEL.

(Application filed Apr. 21, 1900.) (No Model.) 2 Sheets-Sheet 2.

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' FFlCiEt JOHN H. SULLIVAN, OF CI-IICOPEE FALLS, MASSACHUSETTS.

FIRE-HOSE REEL.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent N 0. 674,045, dated May 14, 1901. Application filed April 21, 1900. Serial No. 13,777. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I, JOHN H.-SULLIVAN, a citizen of the United States of America, and a resident of Ohicopee Falls, county of Hampden, and Commonwealth of Massachusetts, have invented certain new and useful 1mprovements in Fire-Hose Reels, of which the following is a specification.

My invention relates to reels for fire-hose, and particularly such reels as are usually employed in connection with permanent standpipes with which modern buildings are now usually provided.

In order that suitable apparatus may be immediately available in case of fire, it is usual to provide lengths of flexible hose which are left constantly connected with convenient branches from the permanent stand pipe. Each branch is provided with a valve and the hose is reeled or coiled conveniently near. In case of fire the valve must be opened either before the hose is unreeled, in which case, the water flowing suddenly into a hose which may not have been used for a long time and having no outlet, the hose being coiled up,is liable to burst the hose, or in case the hose has first been uncoiled and the nozzle carried to the place where it is to be used the operator must return to the valve to open it, which is a great loss of time.

The object of my invention is to provide a suitable reel with mechanism in connection with the valve which will effect an automatic opening of the valve as the hose is unwound. Thus no time need be lost in returning to open the valve, and danger of bursting the hose is avoided.

The invention consists of a mechanism connected with the reel and stand-pipe whereby the operation of the reel by the act of unwinding the hose will automatically open the valve.

The hose is wound upon the reel, the center of which is located opposite the valve-stem, and a sleeve is threaded in said reel and provided with stops to compel it to turn with the reel when brought into engagement after a certain number of revolutions of the reel. This sleeve is provided with engaging pins to engage the hand-wheel of the valve and turn the same when the sleeve is compelled by the stops to turn with the reel.

In order that a more complete understanding may be had of the invention, reference is had to the accompanying drawings, which are made a part of this specification, and in which Figure l is a side elevation of the apparatus, and Fig. 2 a sectional view taken through the center of the reel at right angles to Fig. l.

Adenotes thestand-pipe,running to various parts of the building and connected to the water-supply, and B the branch pipe,referred to below as the supply-pipe, provided with the valve 0, which in this case is shown as an ordinary gate-valve. To the end of the branch or supply pipe B the hoseD is attached and provided with the usual nozzle E.

As thus far described the device does not difier from that usually employed.

F denotes the reel, the flanges 5 and 6 of which are fastened together at a distance apart sufficient to permit the hose to be wound between them by the rods 7, held by screws 8. These flanges are provided with centrally-located circular openings 9 10, large enough to allow the reel to be placed on over the valvewheel 25 and casing 26 up against or nearly against the branch pipe. The reel is held in this position by means of rods or bolts 11, running through sleeves l2 and fastened to the wall G. The reel may, however, be attached to the supply-pipe or stand-pipe by suitable connections, (not shown,) and it is not essential that the reel be placed on over the valve-stem as long as it is located centrally with the same.

Fitted to revolve freelyin the circular openings of the flanges is the revoluble barrel 13, provided with the opening 14, into which a fold of the hose is adapted to be placed to hold it while being wound thereon. The face 15 of the barrel 13 is provided with a circular bearing 16 for the ring 17. A bearing on the ring 17 fits the bearing 16, and the ring is held in place to revolve thereon by the holding-ring 18, the outer periphery of which extends over the inside of the face 15and is held in place and as a part of the ring 17 by the screws 19. The ring forms a part of the barrel, and together they comprise the rotary reel, into which the sleeve 21 is threaded by means of screw-threads on the inner periphery of the ring 17.

This sleeve 21 is externally threaded for its entire length. It is provided with a face 22, through which the valve-stem 23 extends and to which are fixed the valve-wheel-engaging pins 24 24. These engaging pins extend through the openings or between the spokes of the valve-wheel 25. When the sleeve is turned in either direction, the valve is thereby opened or closed. This sleeve 21 is provided near its outer extremity with a stop 27, and a similar stop 28 is provided on the ring 17'. These stops come into engagement with each other when the sleeve is drawn in by the revolution of the ring, and the sleeve is thereby turned, with the ring, in the direction in which the stops are brought into engagement. A flange 29, extending from the sleeve which seats directly on the ring 17 when the sleeve is drawn in, may be used to serve instead of the stops just described. The other end of the sleeve is provided with a stop 30, held by a bolt or screw 31. The inner face of the ring is provided with a stop 32. These stops come into engagement with each other when the sleeve is drawn out to its limit by the revolution of the ring in a direction opposite to that necessary to compel stops 27 and 28 to engage each other.

To the reel-barrel 13 is pivoted at 33 the engaging pawl 34, which extends through the face and is made in the form of a handle 35, which may be used to revolve the reel-sleeve by hand. The pawl is adapted to engage notches 36, provided in the outer periphery of the ring 17, and is normally held in engagementtherewith by the spring 37. Thus it will be seen that while the ring 17 is held to normally revolve with the sleeve the latter may be revolved without operating the valve-engaging means and by turning the handle 35.

The operation of the device is as follows: The hose is attached in the usual manner to the branch of the stand-pipe and is folded about half-way between its ends and the fold placed in the opening 14 in the reel-barrel. The reel-barrel and threaded sleeve are adjusted with relation to each other before the hose is wound on, so that in unwinding the hose the stops adapted to engage in that operation, as above described, shall engage at such a point in the unwinding process and before the hose is entirely unwound that the f urtherturning of the reel will open the valve. In case the valve is constructed to open by turning the valve-wheel to the left the hose is wound on so that in the unwinding process the barrel will be turned to the left. The threaded sleeve will thus be drawn inward and the stops 27 and 28 will engage with each other to open the valve. The stops 3O 32, operating in the other direction, will limit the movement of the sleeve, so that it cannot be uuthreaded from the ring and may also serve in casea valve is used which opens in the direction opposite to that above described. This may be necessitated by certain requirements of location of the reel making it desirable to unwind the hose in the opposite direction to that described. The hose being wound on in a direction opposite to that required to open the valve in case of fire, the operator seizes the nozzle and runs with it to the location of the fire. This action unreels the hose and when nearly completed automatically turns on the water. As the hose is wound on double, it will be seen that it is quickly unreeled and the valve operated while the nozzle is being drawn toward the fire, thus assuring an automatic operation of the valve whether the hose be dragged a long distance or a comparatively short distance from the stand-pipe.

In adjusting the device and in winding the hose, as well as in disconnecting the reel from the valve, the operation of the pawl will be apparent.

The application of my invention is not limited to use with fire stand-pipes or even fire apparatus. It maybe used wherever it is desirable to automatically supply water to a hose. Neither is myinvention limited by the precise construction shown; but

What I claim, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is

.1. The combination with a supply-pipe, of a valve located therein, a flexible hose-pipe connected to said supply-pipe, a rotary reel for said hose-pipe, a valve-engaging sleeve threaded in said reel, provided with suitable stops and slidably connected with the valvestem, whereby the valve is operated after a certain number of revolutions of the reel,substantially as described.

2. The combination with the supply-pipe, of a valve having a rotary valve-stem, a rotary reel surrounding said valve, a valve-engaging sleeve surrounding said valve-stem and threaded in said reel, suitable slidable connections between said stem and sleeve and stop means adapted to hold said sleeve to revolve with said reel, substantially as described.

23. The combination with the supply-pipe, of a valve having the rotary valve-stem, a rotary reel mounted to revolve around said valve-stem, a valve-engaging sleeve having a threaded connection with said reel, means for revolving said sleeve and stem independently of said reel, a slidable connection between said stem and sleeve and means for holding said stem and sleeve to revolve together, substantially as described.

4. The combination with a supply-pipe, of a valve located therein and having a rotary valve-stem, ahose-pipe connected to said supply-pipe, a rotary reel for said hose-pipe, a sleeve surrounding said valve stem and threaded in said reel, and having a slidable connection with said valve-stem, stops on said sleeve for holding said sleeve to revolve with the reel, and means detachably connecting said reel with said valve-stem whereby the valve may be opened or closed without operating the reel, substantially as described.

IIO

5. The combination with a supply-pipe, of a flexible hose-pipe, a valve having a valvestem for operating the same, a rotary reelbarrel, fixed flanges in which said barrel is mounted to revolve, and valve engaging means connected with said valve-stem and adapted to be operated by said reel-barrel substantially as described, and means for disconnecting the threaded sleeve and reel-barrel whereby the valve can be operated inde pendently, substantially as described.

6. The combination with a supply-pipe, of a flexible hose-pipe, a valve having a rotary valve-stem for operating the same, a rotary reel-barrel, fixed flanges in which said barrel is mounted to revolve, a valve-engaging sleeve threaded within said barrel and connected with said valve-stem, and stops whereby said valve-stem is revolved by said barrel, substantially as described.

7. The combination with a supply-pipe, of a valve located therein, a flexible hose-pipe connected to said supply-pipe, a reel having arevoluble barrel, of a ring having a journal bearing on said barrel, a valve engaging sleeve threaded in said ring and provided with engaging means connected with the valve-stem, stops provided for the sleeve, and means for holding the sleeve and reel-barrel together, substantially as described.

8. The combination with a supply-pipe, of a valve located therein, a hose-pipe connected to said supply-pipe, a reel having stationary flanges, a revoluble reel-barrel, a ring having a journal-bearing in said barrel, a valve-engaging sleeve threaded in said ring and provided with engaging pins, a valve-wheel with which said pins are adapted to engage, stops provided for the sleeve, and a spring-pawl located in the barrel and adapted to engage the ring and hold said barrel and ring together and provided With a handle, whereby the barrel may be revolved by hand, substantially as described.

Signed by me at Springfield, Massachusetts, this 13th day of April, 1900.

JOHN H. SULLIVAN. Witnesses:

OTTO I. MoELRoY, O. G. NOEL.

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