US837678A - Fire-extinguisher. - Google Patents

Description

n 837,678. PATENTED 1330.4. 1906. c, A. FOX &, F. L. WEBB, J3.

FIRE BXTINGUISHER.

nruouxon FILED NOV. as. 1905.

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PATENTED DEC. 4, 1906.

C. A. P0X ,6 P- L. WEBB, J3.

FIRE EXTINGUISHER. AYPLIOA'HON FILED HOV as 1905 2 SEBETSSHBBT 2.

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EcQ/MM (/7 T T DRIVER UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

CHARLES A. FOX AND FREDERICK L. WVEBB, J 1%., OF SYRACUSE, NEW YORK.

FIRE-EXTINGUISHETR.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Dec. 4, 1906.

Application filed November 28, 1905. Serial No. 289,521.

To all whom, it may concern.-

Be it known that we, CHARLES A. FOX and FREDERICK L. WEBB, Jr., of Syracuse, 1n the county of Onondaga, in the State of New York, have invented new and useful Improvements in Fire-Extinguishers, of which the following, taken in connection with the accompanying drawings, is a full, clear, and exact description.

This invention relates to certain improvements in fire-extinguishers in which a receptacle confining the fire-extinguisher elements is pivotally suspended upon a swinging hanger and is normally held in a slightlytilted position by a fusible detent, which when fused by the heat of a local fire swings automatically to an inverted position and simultaneously releases its swinging hanger, so that the momentum of the released receptacle causes said receptacle and its hanger to swing back and forth upon their respective axes through a considerable arc, during which the contents of the receptacle are liberated and discharged under pressure through suitable spray-nozzles over a suitable floor area, as well as against the ceiling and throughout the intervening space within the range of the swinging receptacle and force of ejection of the fire-extinguishing fluid.

The essential object, therefore, of our invention is to normally suspend the receptacle in such manner that when released it will be automatically swung through a wide arc to cover and cause the receptacle to continually oscillate during such movement for the purpose of throwing the fire-extinguishing fluid in all directions through a suitable space.

A further object is to confine one or more of the fire-extinguishing elements, as acid, in a separate compartment within the receptacle containing a fire-extinguisher liquid, as a soda solution, and to provide the compartment with a stopper which is opened automatically by a weight member within the receptacle when the latter is inverted.

Other objects and uses relating to the specific manner of retaining and releasing the swinging hanger and receptacle and also to the means for elfecting the opening of the closed compartment in the receptacle will be brought out in the following description:

In the drawings, Figure 1 is an elevation of a fire-extinguishing apparatus embodying the various features of our invention, the dotted lines showing the different positions which the apparatus takes in action. Fig. 2

is a longitudinal sectional view, partly in elevation, of a swinging receptacle and interior mechanism, showing also a portion of the hanger upon which the receptacle is mounted. Fig. 3 is an enlarged detail sectional view of a portion of the receptacle, showing particularly one of the discharge-pipes. Fig. 4 is a top plan of a portion of the hanger seen in Fig. 1, showing the mechanism for controlling its action. Fig. 5 is a side elevation similar to Fig. 1, showing a modified means of suspending the hanger and receptacle against the action of their own gravity. Figs. 6 and 7 are sectional views taken, respectively, on lines 6 6 and 7 7, Fig. 5.

In order to clearly demonstrate the practicability of our invention, we have shown a comparatively long swinging hanger 1, pivotally hung at its upper end, as 2, to the ceiling, as 3, of the arm or building, the opposite or lower end of said hanger being bifurcated and provided with open-sided bearings 4 for receiving trunnions 5 on opposite sides of a tiltable receptacle 6.

The hanger 1 is normally held upnear a horizontal position, as seen in Fig. 1, by a suitable detent, consisting in this instance of a bail or wire-loop 7, having its ends attached at 8 to the intermediate portion of the hanger 1 and its central portion detachably hooked into an open-sided slot 9 of a rotary element, as a gear 10.

A lever-detent 1 1 is fulcrumed on the pivot 8 of the swinging hanger 1 and has one end provided with a tooth or shoulder 12, engaged with a rocking tooth member 13, which in turn is secured to the rock-shaft 14, carrying a comparatively small pinion 15, which meshes with a gear 10, said gears and segments being mounted on suitable brackets 16, which are suspended from the ceiling 3, or any other available support. The opposite end of the lever 11 is comparatively long and projects into the path of the eccentric lug 17 on one of the trunnions 5 of the receptacle 6, so that when said receptacle is released by the fusing of its detent, presently described, it will rock in the direction indicated by the arrow 90, thereby rocking the lug 17 in the same direction against the adjacent end of the lever 1 1, whereby the opposite end of said lever, having a shoulder 12, will be automatic ally withdrawn from holding engagement with the teeth of the segment 13, thus releasing said segment and forming the weighted end of the hanger 1 to draw the bail 7 downwardly, thereby rotating the gears 9 and 15 and segment 13 until the holding end of the bail 7 draws out of the open-sided slot 9, whereupon the free end of the hanger 1, carrying the receptacle 6, is carried by its own momentum through a comparatively wide arc of nearly one hundred and eighty degrees, and at the same time the receptacle is free to oscillate back and forth upon its trunnions 5, during the swinging action of the hanger, as will be more fully described in the operation of the invention.

An additional detent or bail 18 of fusible material, as soft solder-wire, is attached at 8 to the hanger 1, and its intermediate portion is looped around the upper end of the receptacle 6 some distance above its trunnions 5, the fusible detent 18being of sufficient length to hold the receptacle in a slightly-tilted position at one side of a vertical line drawn through its swinging axis or trunnions 5, which latter are located some distance below the center or near the bottom of the receptacle, so that when the fuse-wire 18 is disintegrated the upper end of the receptacle will readily swing to an inverted position, as shown by dotted lines in Fig. 1.

The normal upper end of the receptacle 6 is provided with an inlet-opening 19 for the reception of the fire-extinguishing material and is normally closed by a screw-cap 20, as best seen in Fig. 2. This receptacle 6 is preferably cylindrical in form and adapted to contain a fire-extinguishing element, as soda solution or liquid 2, and suitable acid, as 22, which is confined in a normally closed compartment, as a bottle 23, having an outlet in one end provided with a stopper 24.

When the receptacle is in its normal upright position (seen in Fig. 1) the stopper 24 is closed, thereby confining the acid therein separate from the soda solution, but is so arranged and connected that when the receptacle is tilted or inverted the stopper is automatically opened to allow the acid to commingle with the soda solution for the purpose of forming a gas and creating a pressure sufficient to forcibly eject the liquid from the receptacle through one or more pipes 25, leading from the interior to the exterior of the receptacle, said pipes being preferably located near the normal top or upper end of the receptacle, as best seen in Figs. 1 and 3. In order that this automatic opening of the stopper 24 may be easily and positively effected, we provide a lengthwise rod or guide 26, which in this instance is located centrally within and secured to the opposite ends of the receptacle and upon which'is mounted a sliding weight 27, as best seen in Fig. 2, said weight normally resting upon the spring-buffer 28 near the bottom of the receptacle and is adapted to slide along the guide 26 toward the opposite end when the receptacle is inverted.

Secured to the rod or guide 26 are suitable bottle- supports 29 and 30, the support 29 being preferably cup shape to receive the normal lower end of the bottle 23, while the other support 30 is preferably made in the form of a spring-clasp to grasp the neck of the bottle and hold it in place, thereby forming a bottle to be readily placed in operative position or removed when desired.

' A lengthwise plunger-rod 31 is guided in suitable apertures in the supports 29 and 30, preferably between the bottle 23 and rod 26, as when naturally disposed in the path of the weight 27, While its other end is attached to the stopper 24 in the manner shown in Fig. 2.

It is now obvious that when the receptacle 6 is inverted from its normalposition (seen in Fig. 1 to the position seen in Fig. 2 the weight 27 will automatically descend with suflicient force to engage and move the plunger 31 endwise, thereby positively opening the stopper 24 to permit the exit of the contents of the bottle 23 into the receptacle 6 to commingle with the soda solution.

In the installation of our improved fire extinguishers the hanger 1 is suspended at one end from the ceiling of the building in the manner described, and its free end, bearing the filled receptacle 6, is then elevated to nearly a horizontal position suflicient to hook the bail 7 in the slot 9 of the gear 10, whereupon the receptacle 6 isbrought to nearly a vertical position, but slightly inclined downwardly therefrom, and is fastened in its position by the fusible detent 18, care being taken to engage the detent 12 with one of the teeth of the segment 13, which latter being of comparatively long radius as compared with the pinion 15 and gear 10, so as to reduce the strain and resistance upon the lever 11 to a minimum. When the receptacle 6 is supported in this position, the weight 27 is normally seated on the buffer 28, near the bottom, and the stopper 24, which is usually made of metal, automatically closes the mouth of the bottle 23. In case of fire producing sufficient heat to fuse the detent 18 the receptacle 6 is at once released and rocks to an inverted position, thereby forcing the cam or eccentric arm 17 into lifting engagement with the adjacent end of the lever 11, thereby rocking said lever and disengaging its shoulder 12 from holding engagement with the segments 13. This re leases the gear 10 and allows the weighthanger 1, carrying the receptacle 6, to swing downwardly, thereby drawing the bail 7 out of the slot 9 and free from the gear 10. It is now clear that the momentum acquired by the sudden inversion of the receptacle, together with its own gravity, actingupon the hanger, not only causing the hanger and receptacle to swing bodily through a consider able arc, but the receptacle itself continues its oscillatory movement back and forth upon its own axis, and this effect, together with the gas-pressure within the receptacle, causes the liquid to be expelled therefrom with considerable force through the discharge-pipes 25 and over a large floor and ceiling area, as well as through the intervening space, thus materially increasing the effective range ofaction of the fire-extinguisher. As soon as the receptacle 6 is brought to an inverted position the weight 27 descends by its own gravity with considerable force against the plunger 31, thereby releasing the stopper 24., allowing the contents of the bottle 23 to discharge into and commingle with the contents of the receptacle 6 for producing the desired gas-pressure, said weight being limited in its movement by the stop-shoulder 32 on the rod 26, and the plunger 31 and stopper 24 are similarly limited in their movement by a shoulder 33 on the normal lower end of the plunger 31, which shoulder engages the normal lower face of the bottle-sup port 29 to prevent the entire withdrawal of the stopper 24, so that when the receptacle is again brought to its normal position the stopper 24 will readily seat itself in the mouth of the bottle 23.

The pipes 25 preferably project through and are secured to opposite sides of the receptacle 6, the inner ends of the pipes being capped by suitable screens 34 to prevent the pipes from being clogged with solid material, and the outer ends of said pipes are provided with suitable spray-nozzles 35, having transverse slides at right angles to each other, so as to be able to discharge the contents of the receptacle in all directions.

In Figs. 5, 6, and 7 we have shown a modified means for supporting the hanger and receptacle in their normal up positions against their own gravity, such means consisting, essentially, of a swinging hanger 1, having one end pivoted at 2 to a suitable bracket or fnxed support upon the ceiling 3, and its other end is provided with an open-sided bearing 4 for receiving the trunnions, as 5, of a receptacle 6, which latter is substantially the same as that shown in Figs. 1, 2, and 3. The hanger 1 is held in an up position or near a horizontal plane against the action of its own gravity and that of the receptacle 6 by a suitable detent or link 7, having one end pivoted to the hanger 1 and its other end engaged with a movable catch 10. This catch 10 is preferably made in the form of a bell-crank lever pivoted between fixed supporting-arms a, depending from the ceiling 3, one of said arms a, being deflected laterally, as best seen in Fig. 6, for receiving a pivoted detent b, movable into and out of the path of one arm of the catch 10 to hold said catch in operative connection with the detent or link 7. The free end of the detent b is connected by a link 0 to an operating-lever d, which lat ter is pivoted at e to a fixed support f and is provided with a downwardly-curved extension (Z, projecting into the path of the bottom or lower portion of the receptacle 6, so that when the receptacle is released by the fusing of its detent, as g, the inner lower end of the receptacle 6 swings upwardly upon its bearings 4 and engages the free end of the extension d of the lever d, thereby depressing the free end of the detent I) out of holding engagement with the adjacent arm of the catch 10. It is now obvious that the receptacle 6 ,which is normally supported in a tilted position against the action of its own gravity by the fusible detent g, is first released by the fusing of the detent gand swings upon its axis 5 to an inverted position, during which operation the lower end of the receptacle engages and operates the lever (Z to release the catch 10, which trips the detent 7 and allows the hanger 1, with the oscillating receptacle 6 thereon, to swing through an arc of substantially one hundred and eighty degrees, while the receptacle vibrates continuously back and forth in its bearing 4 during the swinging of the hanger, thus distributing the fire-extinguishing fluid over a wide area of floor and ceiling space, as well as through the intervening space.

I/Vhat we claim is- 1. In a fire-extinguisher, a fixed support, a hanger pivoted to the support, a receptacle for the fire extinguishing fluid pivotally mounted upon the hanger, means including a detent for holding the hanger in its up position, a fusible detent holding the receptacle inclined from a vertical position, whereby the receptacle will automatically invert itself by the fusing of the fusible detent and means brought into action by the inversion of the receptacle for tripping the first-named detent.

2. In a fire-extinguisher, a hanger-support and a swinging hanger mounted thereon, a swinging receptacle mounted on the free end of the hanger and confining the fire-extinguishing fluid and means for holding the free end of the hanger in an elevated position against its own gravity and that ofthe receptacle.

3. In a fireextinguisher, a support, a swinging hanger pivoted to the support, a swinging receptacle rotatingly mounted 011 the free end of the hanger, and containing the fire-extingusihing fluid, said receptacle being rovided with a discharge-opening normally above its swinging axis, a fusible detent holding the receptacle in a verticallyinclined position, means including a detent for holding the hanger in an elevated posi tion against its own gravity and that of the receptacle and additional means brought into action by the swinging movement of the receptacle, when the fusible detent is broken, for tripping the last-named detent.

4:. In a fire-extinguisher, a support, a

' hanger pivoted to the support, a receptacle pivoted at one side of its normal center of gravity upon the hanger and containing the re-eXtinguishing fluld, means including a fusible detent, holding the receptacle in a vertically-inclined position, whereby when the fusible detent, is disintegrated, the receptacle will automatically invert itself by its own gravity, a discharge-nozzle on the receptacle normally above its swinging axis and means for holding the hanger in an elevated position against its own gravity and that of the receptacle.

5. In a fire-extinguisher, a swinging hanger and a swinging receptacle pivotally mounted thereon, containing the fire-eXtinguishing fluid, a fusible detent normally holding the receptacle in a vertically-inclined position against the action of its oWn gravity, a gear-train, a bail connecting one of the gears of the train, and a hanger to hold the latter against the action of its own gravity and that of the receptacle, a detent engaged With one of the other gears of the train, and means on the receptacle brought into action by its inversion for tripping the detent. v

6. In a fireextinguisher, a support, a hanger pivoted at one end of the support and provided With open-sided bearings in its 30 other end, a receptacle provided with trunnions seated in said bearings Wherein' the receptacle may rotate, means including a detent for holding the hanger in an elevated position against the action of its own gravity 35 and that of the rece tacle, additional means including a fusible etent for holding the receptacle in a vertically-inclined position, and further means on the receptacle for tripping the first-named detent When the receptacle 40 CHARLES A. FOX. FREDERICK L. WEBB, JR.

Witnesses:

H. E. CHASE, MILDRED M. No'r'r.

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