US307456A - Frank gray - Google Patents

Description

(No Model.)

F.- GRAY.

i FIRE EXTINGUISHER. No. 307,456. Patented Nov. 4, 1884.-

v in the claims.y

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PATENT OFFICE l "FRAN-K GRAY, QF NEW YORK; u-Y.

' sPEoIFicATIoN forming-part 'of Letters Patent 15in.` 307,456, dated November 4, 1:3194.y 1 y "ipplimibg'ninmi,29,13a; (Nqmgaubj: y j

yTo jwkom/ it may' conc-em: Beit known ,that 1ERANK GRAY, ofthe city ofNew York, in the-county and State of New York, hayejinvented' a Inew and us efu1 5 Method olf-and Apparatus for the Automatic Extinguishment of 'Eires'in Buildings, which 1 invention or. improvement is ,fully setl forth and illustrated in the following.,.speci,iication' and accompanying drawings.y r f ,-1 -l The object of this invention is to,y provide a simple and `eiiici-ent means ,fory the 'autel'nadienv extinguishment ofjfire's, particularly inbuildi ings such as mills, factories, warehouses, and other .structures v contain ing-` much, kcombustir 5 -ble materiah orwhich .forany-reason- Imay be more or less eizposedftodestruction,byiiregv Theinvention consi-sts, broadly, inithe einployment of .acolumnoi' compressed air with- .in afpipeor pipes, which ,air closes afwaterz'o check valve pressed. upon Iits ,opposite side; `by a column of .watenoxa head sufficient to' reach any desired height, anair-seal oi' fusible metal being provided', sothat when the'imprisonedair is' releasedlby the'fusion of1 said .seal 25 the waterA under its own headforgpressure opens said oheck-valveiand is forced* through' an extinguishingfpipe, ybut not throughsaid air pipe .or pipes, into -a'certain areaof the` surrounding space. 'l ,1 .The inventionalso .consists in certain de tails of -constructionand arrangement, here# inafter particularlydeseribed, andset forth 2 :Inthe accompany" 'g drawings,'. Figure `l- 5 5 shows i/n elevation-a general. .view of the ar rangement ofthe pipes :findfvalvesv of an apparatus embodyingthe principle' of this invention, iitted for supplying. one level 'or floor of ra building,` ,a-,compressione pump .bei-ng l'f4.0 Ash'ov'vn attached to" 'said apparatus', Fig.v 2 1 shows'in plan' the extinguishing-pipe illustrated in Fig. 1 as'laidalong'the (nailing,v offa building, and-having anumber of, "discharg-l i-ng or sprinkling oritides placed at intervals cal section ofthe compnessionpumpand wai 1' terahegk.vaivesnownfin Fig., 1li-Fig 4isa I It-I-l'lllf F 4 15minA its. right-hand'side, showi.

ingthe air-releasing Valveseated and heldto its seatloy asoldered joint.l Fig. 6 is a view in plan yof the deviee .il1,1 1`st r ated"-' in Figs 4 In said figures, the letter A'indicates 'an aircompressionp-ump; a, its handle `b, its rod,.and C its valve,- openingv downward. f Below .said pump-is the eompressionfehamber B,prov1d ed' .with inlet o r'air-check valveQangoutlet- -D. Belowsaid valvmD is. the main .water-.

having-a ,sufficient head, such as a eityfmain voran. eleyated tank... lThe lower diskfei the" valve D; laps the porti?, so'tha't r,no 'watercan flow beyond lsaid Valve u ntilit uncovers said 'port by rising. Thev pipe. E isled thence j l beyond the port F, and discharges into vthe 7o .,'extinguishingfpipe G, provided with the e.A leasing and* dischargin'g;k device H,.l1ei'einafterf described.-` 'lhesair-pipe d, of .small bores-f"y ,one'eighthofsan inch .only ein diameter is usually suiiieient-is led', fro'mj'the ai'reorn-A 75 pression-chamber B upto each of the reloas; ing and discharging devices H, uni-tiugwiththem -in a socket-.or -tube,g,-by whichl thel-ine of pipedv is made eontinuoyusl Saidsocket 1s" providedwitha valve-seau@ andafvalve, k', 80

is fitted thereto, its armjilbeiug soldered to'A i the lugj of the dev-ide orelbow-pipe H, and'y thus said valve isfs'ecuredin its seat as long; as said solderremainsintaot. 'f The lowerv ofthe elbowH isclosed r-by a disk or vvalve v85v K, held upto its-'seat bythe'yoke Z, whlehfis 4.suspended upon thestem of ,thevalve h.

-. The .solder used for` the-.joint 'cg is made of: l any of.. the known alloys which fuseat; a temfperature, say, from aboveio. Fahrenheit 9e` 'a .temperature not'above '6009, vsogasto insureits fusion uponthe occurrence ofarise of tein` peraturecaused yby, even 'ak slight fire within;

. its proximity..

The complete ope as follows: The'availablegh'ead 'or'pressure of thewater bein@ determinedgf-the 'air is Icom'- pressedbythe-action of the' pump Auntil the pressurefgage M, vprovidedffor the .p urpose, indicates an air-pressure'in the' compressionreo chamber B and tube d suliicient'fto retain the water-check valve B securely Aclosed Qvertlie' 'j pipe, (Landa-water-checkvalve or piston, v

rati-on of this 'apparatus is 9'5- port F. V'lhi's is all that is required in Order been any escape or leakage of air is all the at' ltention the apparatus requires. Now, should a fire occur within any apartment or room through which the extinguishing-pipe G is led, and thereby the temperature of any part Yof said room be raised Vto the fusing-point of the solder which forms the soldered joints 13j, at least one of said joints will immediately fluse. The lpressure of air in the pipe d will consequently blow one of the valves h from its seat, thereby allowing` the imprisoned air, to escapeoutof the pipe d and compression-chamber B, reducing the 'pressure in said chamber to that ofthe `atmosphere only. This action causes thecolumn of water in the pipe E below-the valve D to instantly raise said valve and rush through the port F upto and into 'theextinguishing-pipe G, and thence through and o'iit of at least .oneof the elbows H past its Valve or disk K' into and upon the incipient fire. It vwill be observed that as soon as one valve h is forced fromits seat by the escapingair consequent upon the fusion of a soldered joint the yokel will be released from the steril or head of the valve h, and thus the disk iK' be dropped into the posit-ion shown in Fig. 4, for the escape of the water. This disk or valve K may beiitted with any well-4 known form of scattering-plate or sprinkler, for spraying the escapingwater. The soldered joints, all being. above the water dis' charged, are free from possible cooling by .leakage and are also nearer the ceiling,where 'thehottest air will accumulate and more quickly fuse said joints than if they were be- 4low the water-disch'arge.' Vhere many different oors or levels are tosbe served, a separate compression chamber, an air check valve, d', and Water-check valve maybe fitted upon each of said floors, by which arrangement only the extinguishing-pipe supplying thed floor upon which a fusible' joint or joints should happen to melt will be filled, the other extinguishing-pipes .remaining empty until one. ormoreof their respective fusible `joints should'inelt; and if it bedesired to'exclude the water even' from the stand-pipe and entire building until a re actually occurs, an additional compression-chamber fitted with a water check valve-such as D-and con nected with the Vothers byv a pipe-such as dis all that is required to bedone.

The advantage of excluding thewater from as many 'of the pipes aspossible, aswell as of automatically admitting it when. a' fire occurs .onlyto the extingnishing-pipe ofthe floor or level where suchiire occurs. .is manifold, 'not only to prevent freezing in thepipes, but also l .toprevent the deposit of mud or sediment,

wiiiehin the course of time with some waters used would entirely clog up the pipes or sprinklers, and thus prevent the escape of the `water when the fusible'joint was melted by a fire. Another reason, also, is that where, as in some localities, the storage-supply of water is not great compared to the/number of ioors to be served, itis advisable to concentrate the whole source of supply of water into the particularextinguishing-pipe supplying the floor where the fire originates. y

I am aware that fusible joints soldered as. herein described are not new.

I am also aware that water-check .valves of differential area with arrangements of weights and pass-over valvesoperated by chains with fusible jointed links are in common use,where by the pressure ofthe water is caused to open said valveby the fusing of a soldered link in said chain, and thus to automatically extinguish fire; but Vin all suoli cases the water either constantlylls the extinguishing-pipe, or, if excluded, it could not be sprayed or sprinkled upon the fire until at least two joints had melted-one tolet it into the extinguishing-pipe, and the other to let it out of the same through the sprinkler upon the fire. A

By, the system herein described-entirely novelfwith the fewest and simplest parts, all the auxiliary parts being very small-under no circumstances is it required to fuse more than one joint in order to instantly spray the water upon the fireoccasionin g such fusion.

In carrying out the principle of my inven tion Ido not confine myself to the special devices of valves or pump shown, as well-known equivalents may be substituted for them. It is quite obvious, also, that in case the air-pressure upon the valves h should lfor any reason fail (or if the air-pipes d should be entirely omitted) the dry-pi pe system herein described would simply be transmutedinto a wet-pipe system, wherein the water would fill the pipes within the building instead of being excluded therefrom, as hereinbefore described. It is preferable, however, to suspend the yoke'l exactly IOO as shown in the-drawings, even if the valve or plug h,-instead of acting as a valve, should be .merely a pin or stem bearing against an imperforate seat instead of against the valvesscat e, for it will be observed that the taper given to the airvalve or plug his of use in drawing the water-discharge valve K tight to its seat, by said taper acting as a wedge .in elevating the yoke when the threaded stem of the valve or plug h, passing through the arm i, is screwed up, for said plug is thus pressed forward into its seat, and at the same time by its taper presses upward the yoke zZ, and with it the waterfdischarge valve K, firmly to its seat.

Having thus fully described my said method l. Ina system of water-distributing pipes for the automatic extinguishmen't of lires, an

independent pipe for. conveying compressed air upon a valve vsituated between said air pipe and a waterdistributing pipe'and excluding the waterand said air fro'm said distribut '307,45e l -s ing-pipe, whereby the water is admitted to saiddistributing-pipe when the air is'released from said air-pipe, substantially as and for the purposes set forth.

2. In an automatic fire-extinguishing sys tern, in combination with a Water-distributing pipe and a water-supply pipe provided with a check-valve for excluding both air-pressure and Water from said distributing-pipe, an airreleasing and Water-discharging device consisting of an independent air-pressure pipe provided with an air-releasing valve, as h, held closed by a soldered joint fusible at a v low temperature and coupled toa Water-dise charge valve, as K, connected with saiddistributing-pipe, whereby tliewater in said supply-pipe' is permitted to open said check-valve v and to escape into said distributing-pipe and out of said Water-discharge valve by the release of the air imprisoned in saidair-pipe consequent upon the fusion of said joint, substantiallly as and for the purposes set forth.

'The releasing and discharging device hereinbefoi'e described,` consisting of an elbowpipe provided with an air-releasing Valve and awater-discharge valve coupled together when closed, said releasing-valve being held to its seatbya soldered joint situated above said. `dischargevalve, substantially as and for the purposes set forth.

4. In an automatic file-extinguishing appau .i a n l ratus, a releasing and discharging device con sisting of an elbow-pipe provided withl a waterdischarge valve coupled by a yoke or linkto a conical stein sea-tedin' aseat upon said pipe, and adj ustably held 4to saidseat in ari-arm yse' cured to said pipe by a joint fusible ata low temperature, substantially as and for the pur- Y ter-pressure and discharge such' water while excluding it from said compression-chamber, substantially as and for the purposes-set forth.

6. In an automatic fire-extinguishing apparatus, in combination with a pump for compressing air or other gaseous fluid, an air-check valve, a Watercheck valve, and' an air-releasing valve coupledto a Water-discharge valve and secured to itsseat by asolderor alloy forni-Y ing a fusible joint, the'whole connected by 'suitable pipes, and operating substantially as and for thepurposes set forth.

- `7. In Ian automatic fireextinguishing appa- A ratus, in lcombination with a pump lfor compressing airor other gaseous fiuid, an air- 'check valve, and a Water-check valve lor pis-- ton of differential area having its largest area opposedto the com pressive action of the pump,

whereby said valve is heldclosed byaless air pressure` per square inch against agreater y Water-pressure per square inch, 'substantially as and for the purposes set forth.` i

. FRANK GRAY.

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