US906185A - Chemical fire-extinguisher. - Google Patents

Description

A. G. BADGER. CHEMICAL FIRE EXTIN-GUISHER. APPLICATION FILED NOV. a, 1907.

906,185. Patented Dec. s, 1908.

l7tvent07'. (2 -0. I

m: NORRIS nsrsns pa, wnsmuorou,-n'c.

ARTHUR CAMPBELL BADGER, OF NEWTON, MASSACHUSETTS.

CHEMICAL FI E-EXTIN'GUI'SHER.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Dec. 8, 1908.

Application filed November 8, 1907. Serial No. 401,233.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, ARTHUR CAMPBELL BADGER, of Newton, in the county of Middlesex and State of Massachusetts, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Chemical Fire E-xtinguishers, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to a chemical fire extinguisher, comprising a receptacle in which is supported a bottle adapted to hold the acid ingredient of the charge of the extinguisher, the bottle being normally closed to retain the acid, and provided with a cap which is adapted to be ru tured by a plunger movable through the wall of the receptacle.

Heretofore the sealing cap of the acid bottle has been made of brittle material, such as glass, so that when the rupturing plunger is forced against it, the cap is entirely destroyed-or so ruptured as to form an outlet of indefinite size, with a liability of discharging the acid more'rapidly than is either safe or desirable, it being well .known that a too rapid discharge of the acid into the other ingredients of the charge, is liable to result in a dangerously sudden increase in pressure within the receptacle. p

My invention has for its object first to enable the sealing cap of the acid bottle in a chemical fire extin ui-sher to be ruptured in such manner as to form an opening of a predetermined size, the form of the opening being determined by the form of the rupturing device or lunger, so that the outflow of acid from the ottle will take place at a predetermined rate.

The invention also has for its object to rovide certain improvements in means for iolding an acid bottle in place, and for rupturing the sealing cap of the same.

The invention consists in the improve ments which I will now proceed to describe and claim.

Of the accompanying drawings, forminga part of this specification,-Figure 1 represents a sectional view of the up er end portion of a fire extinguisher embo ying my invention, the same being shown in its upright osition. Fig. 2 represents a view similar to ig. 1, showing the extinguisher inverted, and the bottle cap penetrated by the movable plunger. Fig. 3 represents a sectional view showing the punctured bottle cap, the penetrating plunger being removed from it. ig. 4 re resents a section on line 44 of Fig. 5. ig. 5 represents a plan view of a holder, as here shown, comprising a cage composed of rods 16 afiixed to cars or lugs on the neck 13, and rings 17 and 18 afilxed to the rods 16, the ring 17 being formed as a seat for the bottom of the bottle, while the ring 18 surrounds the upper portion of the bottle.

19 represents a confining member, which is preferably a sheet metal sleeve soldered at one end to a flange 20 on the under side of the cover 14, its opposite end being enlarged by a shoulder 21, which overhangs the margin of the bottle neck, and prevents the bottle from being moved to any considerable extent away from the seat ring 17. The enlarged mouth of the sleeve 19 surrounds the neck of the bottle. The sleeve is provided above the shoulder 21 with orifices 22 to permit the free flow of acid through the sleeve when the apparatus is inverted and the bottle cap is broken.

23 represents a plunger which is movable in a stufling box 24 on the cover 14. The inner end of the plunger is rovided with a penetrating portion 25, whic is preferably of pyramidal form, and is normally held in the retracted position shown in Fig. 1 by a spring 26 interposed between the gland of the stuffing box and a head 27 on the outer end of the plunger. The bottle 15 is provided with a Sealing cap 28 which ispreferably composed of lead, and may be secured to the bottle in any suitable way, such as by means of a screw-threaded flange 29, formed on the cap, engaging an external screw thread formed on the neck of the bottle.

When the parts are in their normal position, as shown in Fig. 1, the penetrating portion 25 of the plunger stands immediately over the center of the cap 28, so that when the plunger is forced inwardly, the penetrating ortion 25 will penetrate and rupture the bott e cap 28. This operation may be accomplished by inverting the extinguisher, and pressing or striking the plunger head 27 against the floor or ground, thus ushing the plunger inwardly to a definite egree, and causing its penetrating portion 25 to enter the bottle cap, as shown in Fig. 2.

In the construction illustrated the de ree of inward movement permitted to the pIunger is defined or determined by the s ring 26 which, when collapsed, acts as a imiting stop.

The material of the cap is, in accordance with my invention, made of a material which while readily penetrable by the plunger, and capable of resisting the action of the acid contained in the bottle, is non-frangible in that it is not capable of being broken into fragments by the impact of the plunger against it, and is moreover of such nature that the plunger in entering it, will form an opening which conforms accurately to the penetrating portion of the plunger, the ruptured portion of the cap being confined to an area not exceeding that of the cross section of the penetrating portion of the plunger at a point which is in the plane of the cap when said ortion is at its inner limit of thrust. It wi be seen, therefore, that provision is made for forming an opening of predetermined size and shape in the bottle cap, so that the acid will escape from the bottle at a predetermined rate, neither too slowly nor too rapidly. An efficient chemical action is thus insured without the possibility of a dangerously rapid generation of gas and pressure in the receptacle.

When pressure is removed from the plunger head 27, the penetrating portion of the plunger is withdrawn from the opening in the bottle cap by the retracting spring 26, so that acid is free to flow from the bottle through said opening, the acid being spread equally in different directions by flowing against the inclined sides of the enetrating portion 25.

While I consider ead the best material known to me for the bottle cap 28, it is obvious that any other suitable non-frangible material which has the characteristics above specified, may be used instead of lead.

When the cap 28 is relatively thick and stifl, the penetrating portion of the plunger will displace only the portions of the cap with which it comes directly in contact, as shown in Figs. 2 and 3. In case the cap is thinner and more yielding, its entire surface within the flange which engages the bottle neck, will be forced inwardly, the central portion of the cap yielding to the ressure of the plunger, so that the angles 0 the penetrating portion 25 will form a series of radiating slots 30, which collectively form a starshaped opening in the cap. The form of this opening is accurately determined by the form of the penetrating portion 25, the opening providing for a predetermined flow of acid through it. The penetrating portion 25, as above stated, is preferably of pyramidal form, this form providing cutting edges at the intersection of the sides of the pyramid, so that the bottle cap is out along radial lines, the outlet thus formed being composed of radiating V-shaped slits, separated by V-shaped tongues.

I claim:

1. A chemical fire extinguisher, comprising a casing having a removable cover, a bottle provided with a cap of penetrable, flexible, acid-resisting material, such as lead, a plunger movable in the cover, and having a penetrating inner end adapted to form an opening of predetermined size and shape in the bottle cap when the plunger is moved inwardly, means for supporting the bottle with its cap in the path of the plunger, and a retracting spring to withdraw the plunger from the said opening, the material of the cap being such that the form of the opening corresponds to the form of the penetrating portion of the plunger.

2. A chemical fire extinguisher, comprising a casing having a removable cover, a bottle provided with a cap of penetrable, flexible, acid-resisting material, such as lead, a plunger movable in the cover, and having a penetrating inner end of pyramidal form adapted to form a star-shaped opening of predetermined size in the bottlecap when the plunger is moved inwardly, means for confining the bottle with its cap in the path of the plunger, and a spring adapted to automatically withdraw the plunger from said opening.

In testimony whereof I have afiixed my signature, in presence of two witnesses.

ARTHUR CAMPBELL BADGER.

Witnesses:

' C. F. BROWN,

0. BATGHELDER.

Images