US2764245A - Fire extinguisher - Google Patents

Description

Se t. 25, 1956 GUTTERMAN 2,764,245

FIRE EXTINGUISHER Filed June 10. 1954 W//////////////%//M// /fl IN V EN TOR. HQRRY Gurrsmwuv /WZM A 7'7'ORNE Y United States Patent C FIRE EXTINGUISHER Harry Gutter-man, New York, N. Y.

Application June 10, 1954, Serial No. 435,680

4 Claims. (Cl.-169-2'6) any person present, so that the fire may be-more quickly extinguished.

A further object of the invention is to" provide an improved fire extinguisher which is inexpensive to manufacture, which is easy to install in alocation to be protected, which isnot readily subject to damage in the handling or installation thereof, which is provided with automatic means for operating same in the event that a fire starts when no personsare present, and which may be readily and quickly removed from its mounting by any personpresent whena-firestarts and may be employed manually by such a person.

Further objects and advantages of the invention will become apparent from the following description and claims, and from the accompanying drawings, wherein:

Figure 1 is a side elevational view of an improved fire extinguisher according to the present invention, shown mounted inposition for automatic operation.

Figure 2 is an enlarged vertical longitudinal cross-sectional view taken through the intermediate portion of the fire extinguisher of Figure 1.

Figure 3 is an enlarged vertical cross sectional View taken longitudinally through an end portion of the fire extinguisher of Figure 1.

Figure 4 is a transverse vertical cross-sectional view taken on line 4-4 of Figure 3.

Figure 5 is a transverse vertical cross-sectional view taken on line'55 of Figure'Z.

Figure 6 is a fragmentary enlarged side elevational view of a portion of the fire extinguisher of Figure 1 adjacent one of the flexible supporting brackets employed with the fire extinguisher and showing the means for flexing the bracket for disengaging the fire extinguisher therefrom when the fire extinguisher is to be employed manually.

Referring to the rawings, the improved fire extinguisher comprises an elongated outer protective housing 11', which may be generally cylindrical in shape, and which is formed of relatively shock-resistant material, such as plastic or the like, so that it is resistant to shock or impact such as may occur during handling or transportation of the extinguisher. Disposed in the housing '11 is the generally cylindrical, elongated glass container 12 which is filled with suitable fire extinguishing liquid3ii, such as carbon tetrachloride.

As shown in Figures 2 and 3, the outer plastic shell or housing, Ill closely covers the major portion of the surface of the inner glasscontainer 12. However, the end wall 13 of housing 1-1 is-spaced a short distance from the end wall 14 of the glass container 12. The end wall "ice 2 13 is formed with an apertured c'entr'a'l boss' 15 in which is slidably mounted a plunger rod 16.

Rigidly secured to the inner end of the plunger rod 16 is the enlarged head element 17 which is formed with a serrated forward surface 18 facing the end wall 14 of glass container 12. The outer end of plunger rod 16 is provided with an enlarged head element 19. A relatively light coiled spring 20 surrounds the plunger rod 16 and bears between boss 15 and head element 19, biasing the inner head element 18 against the inside surface of the end wall 13 of housing 11.

End wall 13 is formed with a plurality'of apertures 21 spaced around boss 15 for the discharge of the fire extinguishing liquid 38 when the glass end wall 14 is broken, as will be presently described.

The end wall 14 may be broken by grasping. the fire extinguisher and striking the head element 19 against any suitable stationary object, exerting substantial forward axial striking force on the fire extinguisher, whereby the impact against the head element is transmitted "through plunger rod 16 to the serrated head element 18, causing said head element 18 to strike the glass end wall 14 with suificie'nt force to break said glass end wall. The fire extinguishing liquid 33 may then be discharged through the apertures 21 by wielding the fire extinguisher in the manner of a wand or torch.

The device is preferably of substantial length so that the user thereof may stand a safe distance away from the burning area, while distributing the fire extinguishing liquid over said area.

The intermediate portion of the inner glass container 12 is formed with an outwardly offset window element 22 which projects through the wall of the outer plastic housing 11 and is thus exposed at the intermediate portion of the device. The thickness of the window element 22 may be somewhat less than the thickness of the remainder of the wall of the glass container 12.

Mounted-on the outer housing 11 adjacent window 22 is a collar bracket 23 formed with'a pair of depending parallel lugs 24, 24, as shown in Figure 5. Extending through said lugs is a pivot shaft 25 on which isrotatably secured an arm 26. Secured to the outer end portion of arm 26 is a striking head 27 which is arranged to engage window 22 when arm 26 is rotated clockwise from the position thereof shown in Figures 1 and 2.

Bracket member 23 is formed with an offset arm 28 which extends parallel to housing 11 on the side of the bracket opposite window 22. Designated at 29 is a link member of fusible material having an upper hook element 30 engaged in an aperture 31 in the end of arm 28 and a lower hook element 32 engaged in-an aperture 33 in the end of arm 26.

A spring 34 is provided, said spring having respective coiled portions 35, 35 encircling pivot shaft 25' on opposite sides of arm 26 and having an intermediate U- shaped portion 36 engaging the top surface of arm .26, as shown in Figure 2. The ends of the spring, shown at 37, 37, bear upwardly on the bottom surface of bracket collar 23, whereby the intermediate U-shaped portion 36 of the spring exerts a substantial biasing force on arm 26, urging said arm clockwise, as viewed in Figures 1 and 2. When the arm 26 is released, as when the fusible link 29 melts, the spring 34 rotates arm 26 clockwise with considerable force, causing the head 27 to strike and shatter the exposed glass window element 22, releasing the fire extinguishing liquid 33.

The bracket collar 23 preferably comprises a strip of substantially resilient material, such as flexible metal, formed at oneend with a rectangular hook portion 39 and formed at its other end with an outwardly projecting finger element 40 lockingly engageable with the depending erally similar to the collar bracket 23.

bracket collars.

end 41 of hook portion 39, as shown in Figure 5. By disengaging finger element 40 from end 41, the bracket collar may be loosened so that its position may be properly adjusted on housing 11 to the correct distance from the exposed window 22 when the fire extinguisher is installed. At other times, the bracket member 23 may be secured on housing 11 in a position sufficiently removed from window 22 so that removal or accidental rupture of the link element 29 will not cause fracture of the window.

The fire extinguisher is preferably installed in a manner allowing it to be quickly detached from its mounting for manual use. Thus, the device may be supported at its end portions in respective collar brackets 23, 23' gen- Each collar bracket 23' may comprise a strip of flexible metal or similar flexible material, formed at one end with a rectangular 'hook portion 39 and formed at its other end with an outwardly projecting finger element 40' lockingly engageable with the depending end 41' of hook portion 39, as

shown in Figure 4. A supporting bolt 42 extends upwardcated adjacent the edges of the respective bracket collars 23', 23', as shown in Figure 1, said pin elements being located adjacent the outwardly projecting finger elements 40, namely, adjacent the most flexible portions of the As above stated, said collars are fabricated from strip material of substantial resilience, so that the finger elements 40 may be readily flexed out of engagement with their cooperating locking elements 41' when the fire extinguisher is moved longitudinally, namely, to the I left, as viewed in Figure l, by the abutment of the pin elements 48, 48 with the edges of the flexible portions of the collars.

Thus, when it is desired to use the fire extinguisher manually, the extinguisher is manually moved lengthwise to cause pin elements 48 to disengage finger 40 from the hook ends 41', whereby the normal clamping force of the bracket collars 23 on the extinguisher is released, enabling the extinguisher to be readily pulled away from the bracket collars.

It will be understood that normally the fire extinguisher is mounted in the manner shown in Figure 1, whereby the presence of a fire will cause the fusible link 29 to melt and i will thus cause the exposed window 22 to be fractured by striker element 27, as above explained, releasing the fire extinguishing liquid 38.

If a person is present when the fire starts, he may readily remove the fire extinguisher from its supporting brackets in the manner above described and employ the extinguisher manually.

The protective plastic housing 11 not only serves to improve the appearance of the fire extinguisher but also serves to prevent accidental breakage of the inner glass container 12 by rough handling during transportation or storage. I

Inadvertent fracture of the end wall 14 of the inner glass container 12 during handling of the fire extinguisher is substantially prevented by the provision of the light biasing spring 20 on the plunger rod 16. Thus, a substantial striking force must be applied to the plunger head member 19 to overcome the biasing force of spring 20 and to cause the serrated inner plunger head to strike wall 14 with a sufficient impact to fracture same.

The fire extinguisher may be made of any desired length. When made of substantial length, a plurality of windows 22 may be provided, spaced along the length of the device,

and a bracket 23 carrying a striker element 27 and fusible link 29 may be provided adjacent each window, as in Figure 2.

While a specific embodiment of an improved fire extinguisher has been disclosed in the foregoing description, it will be understood that various modifications within the spirit of the invention may occur to those skilled in the art. Therefore it is intended that no limitations be placed on the invention except as defined by the scope of the appended claims.

What is claimed is:

l. A fire extinguisher comprising an elongated tubular inner container of relatively frangible material containing fire extinguishing liquid, an outer housing of relatively non-frangible material closely surrounding the major portion of said inner container, said inner container having a frangible window element at its intermediate portion projecting outwardly from and exposed through said outer housing, temperature-responsive striking means mounted on said outer housing adjacent said window element and being arranged to fracture said window element responsive to a predetermined rise in temperature, the end wall of said outer housing being spaced from the end wall of said inner container, a striking member movably carried by the end wall of said outer housing and being engageable with the end wall of said inner container to fracture said inner container responsive to striking force manually exerted on said striking member, the end portion of said outer housing being apertured to allow fire extinguishing liquid to be discharged therefrom, flexible bracket elements surrounding said outer housing and being adapted to be secured to a support, said bracket elements each including a pair of interengageable end locking elements, one of which is relatively flexible with respect to the other, securing the bracket elements around the housing, and respective projections on said outer housing engageable with the relatively flexible locking elements to disengage the relatively flexible locking elements from the other locking elements responsive to manual movement of the housing lengthwise relative to said bracket elements, whereby the fire extinguisher may be at times removed from said bracket means for manual use.

2. A fire extinguisher comprising an elongated tubular inner container of relatively frangible material containing fire extinguishing liquid, an outer housing of relatively rigid nonfrangible material closely surrounding the major portion of the area of said inner container, said inner container having a frangible portion projecting outwardly through the wall of said outer housing, a support adjustably mounted on said outer housing and arranged for longitudinal adjustment on said outer housing, an arm on said support extending longitudinally of the outer housing, a striker member pivoted to the support, spring means urging said striker member away from said arm, a fusible link connecting said striker member to said arm and normally preventing striking engagement of the striker member with said frangible portion, said striker member, when released, being adapted to engage said outwardly projecting portion of said inner container with suflicient force to fracture said last-named portion, and means for at times adjusting said support to a position where said striker member cannot engage said last-named portion.

3. A fire extinguisher comprising an elongated tubular inner container of relatively frangible material containing fire extinguishing liquid, an outer housing of relatively rigid, nonfrangible material closely surrounding the major portion of the area of said inner container, said outer housing being formed with an opening of relatively limited area through which said inner container is exposed, a support adjustably mounted on said outer housing, an arm on said support extending adjacent said outer housing, a striker member pivoted to the support, spring means urging the striker member away from said arm, a fusible link connecting said striker member to said arm and normally preventing striking engagement of the striker member with the exposed portion of said inner container, said striker member, when released being adapted to engage said exposed portion with sufiicient force to fracture same, and means for at times adjusting said support longitudinally on said outer housing to a position where said striker member cannot engage said exposed portion.

4. A fire extinguisher comprising an elongated tubular inner container of relatively frangible material containing fire extinguishing liquid, an outer housing of relatively rigid, nonfrangible material closely surrounding the major portion of the area of said inner container, said outer housing being formed with an opening of relatively limited area through which said inner container is exposed, a support adjustably mounted on said outer housing, a striker member pivoted to the support, spring means urging the striker member away from said support, a fusible link connecting said striker member to said support and normally preventing striking engagement of the striker member with the exposed portion of said inner container, said striker member, when released, being adapted to engage said exposed portion with sufficient force to fracture same, and means for at times adjusting said support longitudinally on said outer housing to a position where said striker member cannot engage said exposed portion.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,670,806 Grifliths May 22, 1928 1,849,644 Stokes Mar. 15, 1932 1,892,724 Green Jan. 3, 1933 1,925,228 Bronander Sept. 5, 1933 1,961,567 Nelson June 5, 1934 2,016,668 Current et a1. Oct. 8, 1935 2,152,761 Grison Apr. 4, 1939 2,293,366 Solosko Aug. 18, 1942

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