US781798A - Fire-resisting vault for safes. - Google Patents

Description

No. 781,798. PATENTE!) FEB. 7, 1905. J. C. THOMPSON.

FIRE RESISTING VAULT POR SAPES.

APPLICATION FILED APR. 7, 1904.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

M72 51-.;2 f ,/f 26111111-1111w f Patented February 7', 1905.

UNTTED STATES PATENT OEEicE.

JOSEPH C. THOMPSON, OF BALTIMORE, MARYLAND, ASSIGNOR OF ONE- HALF TO HARRY G. TAYLOR, OF BiAlJlllMtHtflC, MARYLAND.

FIRE-RESISTING VAULT FOR SAFESn SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent N0. 781,798, elated February '7, 1905.

Application filed April 7, 1904. Serial No. 202,113.

Be it known that l, Josnru O. Tu'tmrsox, a citizen ofthe United States, residing' at Baltimore, in the State of Maryland, have invented new and useful Improvements in Fire- Resisting Vaults for Safes, of which the following' is a specification.

This invention relates to fire-resisting vaults for safes.

The invention particularly resides in providing' a new and novel lire-resisting vault Vprovided with means hereinafter referred to for flooding the vault with water, so as to submerge the safe therein, as well as keeping the safe submerged by causing' a circulation of water through the vault.

The invention further resides in providing' the vault with new and novel means, hereinafter referred to, for automatically opening' the water-suimly, so as to cause the tiooding of the vault, as well as the circulation of the water through the vault.

rlhe invention further resides in the manner of constructing' the walls of the vault of different tire-resisting materials so as to protect the safe, as well as prevent leakage during' the flooding' of the vault and during the circulation of the water through the vault.

The invention further aims to construct a lire-resisting vault 'for safes which shall be simple in its construction, strong, durable, etlicient in its use, lire-resisting', and comparatively inexpensive to set up.

lVith the foregoing' and other objects in View the invention consists of the novel combination and arrangement of parts hereinafter more specifically described, illustrated in the accompanying drawings, and particularly pointed out in the claims hereunto appended.

ln describing the invention in detail, reference is had to the accompanying'drawings, Yforming a part of this speeitication, wherein like reference characters denote corresponding parts throughout the several views, and in whichv Figure i is a sectional elevation of a vault constructed in accordance with this invention and used as what may be termed a\vall-vault and is adapted to be built in the walls of the upper stories of buildings. Fig. i2 is a front elevation of Fig'. 1. Fig. 3 is a sectional elevation of a vault constructed in accordance with this invention and used for what may be termed a cellar-vault, which is placed in the cellar or subcellar of a building; and Fig. l is a detail view of the operating-lever for the lift shown in Fig. 3.

The construction shown in Figs. 1 and Q is adapted to be built in the walls of a building', and the vault shown in Figs. .i and Q has the walls thereof constructed of an outer section 1 of lire-resisting material, such as tire-brick or material of an analogous character, the intermediate section 2 of asbestos, and the inner section 3 of steel. The vault is provided with a door 4f at the front thereof, a suitable opening' being' formed in the front wall for said door i, and to secure a water-tight joint between the door l and the front wall of the vault a suitable packing' is provided. The door 4s is constructed of any suitable lire-resisting' material. The inner section 3 of the vault is in the shape of a tank, so as to prevent leakage when the 'vault is flooded with water. lf the section i should crack, owing' to intense heat, then owing to the construction of the inner section i3 in the manner as set forth leakage would be prevented, as it is extremely doubtful whether the steel tank 3 would crack, owing' to the fact that it is covered exteriorly with the asbestos 2, which forms the intermediate section, and also in view of the fact that the water circulating through the tank keeps it cool.- The pipesystem for flooding' the vault, as well as causing' a circulation of water through the vault. consists of a feed-pipe (j, communicating', through the medium of an automaticallyoperating' cut-ottl T, with a supply-pipe S. The feed-pipe t3 communicates with the interior of the vault through the medium of the inlet-pipeQ, which extends into the vault, and is closed at its inner 'end by a flap-valve l0. It may be well to state that suitable means, such as a rod or other suitable device, may extend through the inlet-pipe 9, so as to open and close, if (,lesirable, the {lap-'valve it). The feed-pipe t also communicates with a drain-pipe il through the medium of a cutoff 12. The overiiow or discharge pipe for the vault is indicated by the reference character 13 and is preferably arranged at the top of the vault, as shown. The means for causing the automatic operation of the cut-off 7 consists of a lever 14, mounted upon the stem 15 of the cut-off 7, as at 16, and has one end provided with a weight 17, while its other end is connected to any suitable means for retaining said lever 14 in its inoperative position. As shown, the means employed is a fuse 18, which retains the lever' 14 in the position as shown in Fig. 2; but when said fuse 18 is burned away the lever 14 will be released, so that the action of the weight 17 will rock the lever and operate the cut-off 7, or, in other words, open the cut-olf 7, so that the water will pass through the feed-pipe 6,through the inletpipe 9 into the vault, submerge the safe, and then pass outward through the pipe 13. If through any cause the supply-pipe8 should be prevented from performing its function that is to say, supplying water to the pipe 6- the water will beprevented from dischargingfrom the vault, owing to the fact that the iiapvalve will close the inlet-pipe 9. If it be desired to drain the vault, the flap-valve 10 is opened by any suitable means, as well as the cut-off 12, and the vault is drained by the discharge of the water through the pipe 9 into the drain-pipe 11. Vhen the vault is to be drained, the cut-off 7 is closed. If the supply of water should be shut od through some cause or other, the pressure of the water within the vault will close the Hap-valve 10, and if the heat should generate steam the discharge of the steam would be had through the pipe 13. The pipes 6, 8, 9, 11, and 13 are covered with a suitable fire-resisting material, such as asbestos, uralite, and transite.

The construction shown in Figs. 3 and 4 shows the arrangement of the vault when placed in a cellar or subcellar and further shows a means for lowering the safe into the vault, as well as a means for automatically closing the vault. Referring to Figs. 3 and 4, 19 denotes the cellar-level, and 2() denotes the vault built into the ground. In the construction of vault in Fig. 3 it is open at the top and in its bottom provided with a compartm'ent 21, in which is arranged the inlet end 22 of the water-supply pipe 23, and within the said compartment 21 is arranged an automatically-operated cut-ofi' 24, having an upwardly-extending stem 25, carrying a plate 26. The manner in which the cut-off 24 is operatedwill he hereinafter referred to. The reference character 27 denotes the floor-level and which is provided with a suitable opening to permit of the operation of the platform 28 of a hydraulic or electric lift of known construction, and upon said platform 28 is mounted a safe 29. rfhe vault 2O is closed through the medium of the door 30, hinged, as at 31, to the top of the vault and carrying an inwardly-extending protuberance 32, to which is attached an operating-rod 33 for the door 30,

the operating-rod 33-having its lower end formed with a right-angle projection, as at 34, which is adapted to be engaged by the platform 28, so as to cause the closing of the door 30. Such operation is had, owing to the fact that when the platform 28 is lowered into the vault 2O it will engage the projection 34 and carry the rod 33 therewith, thereby swinging the door 30 to closing position. The reference character 35 denotes the operating means for the lift and the reference character 36 the operating cord or cable for the lift. Said operating cord or cable is automatically operated so as to cause the lowering of the safe through the medium of the lift into the vault 20, and said vcable 36 is automatically operated through the means of a lever 37, pivoted as at 38, having one end engaging the cable 36, as at 39, and its other end connected to a compression-spring 40 and to a fuse 41. l/Vhen the fuse 41 is connected to the lever 37 in the position as shown in Fig. 3, the lever 37 is in its normal position; but when the fuse is burned away and disconnected from the end of the lever 37 the action of the spring 40 will cause the rocking of the lever 37, thereby pulling the operating-cable 36, and consequently operating the lift, which will cause the platform 28 to descend in the vault 20, carrying the safe 29 therewith. As the platform descends in the vault 20 it will engage with the plate 26 of the stem 25 and operate the cutoif 24, thereby opening the pipe 23 and permitting the iiooding of the vault. As before stated, when the platform 28 is lowered within the vault 2() the rod 33 will be operated so as to swing the cover 30 lto closing position. The vault 2O is provided with an overflow-pipe 42, so as to obtain a circulation of water through the vault.

It will be evident from the foregoing construction, taken in connection with the accompanying drawings, that a fire-resisting vault Vfor safes is set up which will thoroughly protect the safe in case of fire and that a new. and novel means is devised whereby the flooding of the vault is obtained, as well as permitting of a circulation of water through the vault, which affords additional protection for the safe, and it is thought that the many advantages of such a construction can be thoroughly understood, and it will furthermore be evident that changes, variations, and modifications can be resorted to without departing from the spirit of my invention or sacrificing any of its advantages, and I therefore do not wish to restrict myself to the details of construction hereinbefore described, and set forth in the annexed drawings, but reserve the right 1- to make such changes, variations, and modifications as come properly within the scope of the protection prayed.

Having thus fully described my invention,

IIO

l. ln a tire-resisting vault for removable x Safes, the combination with the vault, of a normallyv closed Water-feeding dence communicating' with the Vault and a water-Supply,

and means for mitoinaticallv opening' Suid de- Vice.v Y'arising therchythe filling of thcinterior of the vault with water and the submcrg'ing' of the safe.

ln combination, a Vault adapted to receive u Safe, and :i normzill)r closed water-feedingl device communicating with said mult sind adapted when opened to cause u circulation o Water through und the lilling' of the interior I5 of the Vault thor-ehr suhincrging the safe.

In tentimony whereof `l have hereunto Set my hund m presence ol' two subscribing' witncsscs.

JOSEPH O. THOMPSON. ll'itncsscs:

H. N. S'mLnY, C. J. EAToN.

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