US3870105A

US3870105A - Decorative fire extinguisher

Info

Publication number: US3870105A
Application number: US418478A
Authority: US
Inventors: James Bartley Gooch
Original assignee: Individual
Current assignee: Individual
Priority date: 1973-11-23
Filing date: 1973-11-23
Publication date: 1975-03-11
Anticipated expiration: 1992-03-11

Abstract

A fire extinguisher including a receptacle for the fire extinguishing material and a ram type discharge mechanism concealed within a body having a decorative exterior surface, such as a vase, and adapted to be supported in an upright position upon a flat horizontal surface, such as a table.

Description

United States Patent 1191 Gooch Mar. 11, 1975 [5 DECORATIVE FIRE EXTINGUISHER 428,596 5/1890 Frear 169/33 1,741,326 121929 M N ll 222 386 UX [76] Inventor: James Bartley Gmch, 2005 Rogers 2,085,446 611937 Ph ilig e 222/386 St., Clearwater, Fla. 33516 22 Filed; 23 1973 Primary ExaminerM. Henson Wood, Jr.

Assistant Examiner-Michael Mar [2]] Appl. No.: 418,478 Attorney, Agent, or FirmHarrington A. Lackey [52] U.S. Cl. 169/33, 222/386 1 1 ABSTRACT [5 l] Int. Cl. A620 11/00 A fire extinguisher including a receptacle for the fire [58] Field of Search 169/2 R, 30, 33, 35; extinguishing material and a ram type discharge mech- 222/386 anism concealed within a body having a decorative exterior surface, such as a vase, and adapted to be sup- [56] References Cited ported in an upright position upon a flat horizontal UNlTED STATES PATENTS surface, such as a table.

329,309 10/1885 Harrison 169/33 6 Claims, 3 Drawing Figures DECORATIVE FIRE EXTINGUISHER BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION This invention relates to a fire extinguisher, and more particularly to a fire extinguishing apparatus concealed in a decorative body member.

Manually operated, portable fire extinguishers, and household fire extinguishers are well known in the art.

Also known in the art are fire extinguishers having decorative exterior bodies or holders, such as disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 299,318 of Atterbury, U.S. Pat. No. 430,866 of Linn, U.S. Pat. No. 2,329,552 of Nelson, and U.S. Pat. No. 2,805,724 of Aprea.

However, none of the above extinguishers include an extinguisher mechanism mounted permanently within a body member having an exterior decorative surface and adapted to be held in one hand, while the extinguisher mechanism is operated by the other hand of the operator for extinguishing a fire, and adapted to rest in an upright position upon a table or other horizontal surface as a decorative article.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION It is therefore an object of this invention to provide a decorative fire extinguisher which functions not only as an effective mechanically operated fire extinguisher capable of being recharged indefinitely, but also as an attractive article of furniture completely containing and obscuring from view the fire extinguishing mechanism.

The extinguisher made in accordance with this invention is a ram type having a cylindrical chamber or receptacle for receiving the fire extinguisher material, and a handle and plunger reciprocal relative to the cylindrical chamber for discharging extinguisher material from the discharge end of the container. Completely encasing the container is a body having an exterior surface of aesthetic appeal and having a flat bottom end for support upon a horizontal surface to hold the body member in an upright position. The top end of the extinguisher is recessed to conceal the discharge end and cap of the extinguisher receptacle. The bottom end of the body member is also recessed to conceal the handle of the ram actuator. Retaining means are preferably catedwithin the lower recess for releasable holding the actuator handle within the bottom recess so that the body member may be lifted from its horizontal supporting surface without the handle member dropping out of the recessed bottom end.

The discharge cap is preferably threaded to readily engage the upper open threaded end of the extinguisher material container for refilling the chamber, and also for providing a constricted discharge spout for controlled distribution of the extinguishing material when discharged.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG. 1 is a top plan view of the extinguisher made in accordance with this invention;

FIG. 2 is a section taken along the line 2 2 of FIG. 1, illustrating the handle in its inoperative and operative positions; and

FIG. 3 is a section taken along the line 3 3 of FIG. 2.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT Referring now to the drawings in more detail, the fire extinguisher, made in accordance with this invention, includes an elongated body or body member 11 formed of any convenient material, such as plastic or ceramic, into a shape having an attractive or aesthetically appealing exterior side surface 12. In FIG. 2, the body member 11 is in the shape of a vase in which the side surface 12 is a surface of revolution generated by a reverse curve line, as disclosed in FIG. 2.

The body 11 is provided at its lower or bottom end with a flat base portion 13 adapted to fit flush against the top horizontal flat surface 14, such as a table top, in order to support the body member 11 in an upright vertical position.

Formed concentrically within the flat bottom portion 13 is a bottom recess 15. Also formed concentrically within the top end of the body member 11 is a top or upper recess 16.

Connecting the bottom recess 15 and the top recess 16 is a vertical cylindrical hole 18, preferably formfitted or shaped snugly around a cylindrical tube 19 defining a receptacle or chamber 20 for receiving fire extinguishing material 22, preferably in a dry, powdered form.

The bottom end of the cylindrical tube 19 is closed by a bottom circularwall 23 larger in diameter than the tube 19 to provide an annular flange 24 adapted to seat against the upper portion of the bottom recess 15 in order to limit the upward movement of the tube 19 within the hole 18.

The upper end portion 25 of the tube 19 is threaded and projects slightly above the bottom wall of the top recess 16 for receiving a threadedly engagable cap 26 having a flat discharge spout 27. The cap 26 is of slightly larger diameter than the tube 19, so that when the cap 26 is securely screwed upon the threaded portion 25, the cap 26 will limit the downward movement of the tube 19 within the hole 18. In other words, the tube 19 is held securely within the hole 18 by the annular flange 24 at the. bottom and by the threaded cap 26 at the top.

By unscrewing the cap 26 from the threaded top 25, additional extinguishing material 22 may be easily poured into the open end of the chamber 20 to recharge or refill the extinguisher 10.

The height of the top recess 16 is greater than the height of the cap 26, or, in any event, when the cap 26 is screwed closed upon the threaded outlet portion 25, the tip of the discharge spout 27 is spaced below the top rim of the recess 16, so that no portion of the extinguisher mechanism is visible from the side of the body member 11.

Within the cylindrical tube 19 is a vertically reciprocable, co-axially mounted, ram or piston 30 fixed to the upper end of a rod 31. The rod 31 is slideably movable within an opening in the center of the bottom wall 23. The bottom end of the rod 31 is attached to a knob or handle 32 of any convenient shape.

A portion of the rod 31 adjacent to handle 32 may be circumferentially enlarged at 33 to wedge between a pair of curved, inwardly directed, resilient -or elastic fingers 34 made of material such as spring metal. The outer ends of the spring metal fingers 34 may be rigidly attached to the bottom wall 23 of the cylindrical tube 19, by soldering or other convenient means. As disclosed in FIG. 2, when the enlarged portion 33 is seated between the curved finger tips 34, the handle 32 is maintained in its upper extreme position within, and totally concealed by, the bottom recess 15. In this inoperative position, the handle 32 does not obstruct the seating of the base portion 13 upon the table top 14. Moreover, even when the extinguisher is lifted from the table top 14, the handle 32 is still retained in its recessed position.

It is also within the scope of this invention to employ a washer in the rodhole in the bottom wall 23 for snugly, but slideably, supporting the rod 31. Thus, such a washer would replace the elastic fingers 34 and enlargement 33 as a means for holding the handle 32 in its raised inoperative position.

However, when it is desired to extinguish a fire, the operator grasps and raises the body member 11 with one hand, then grasps and pulls with his other hand the handle 32 downward against the force of the resilient spring fingers 34, to release the handle 32 so that it may be retracted to a position such as that disclosed in phantom in FIG. 2. As the handle 32, rod 31, and ram 30 are retracted, air is drawn into the chamber through the discharge spout 27 in order to fill the vacuum created by the retraction of the piston 30. This air is then entrained, at least partially, with the pulverized fire extinguishing material 22. The top, open, recessed end 16 of the extinguisher 10 is then pointed toward the fire. The operator thrusts vigorously forward upon the handle 32 to force forward the ram 30 to compress the extinguishing material entrained with the air, so that the powdered material 22 discharges from the spout 27 in a rather forceful stream upon the fire. After the fire isextinguished, the handle 32 is returned to its inoperative latched position disclosed in FIG. 2, and the extinguisher 10 is again set upon a flat horizontal surface, such as a table top 14, where the extinguisher 10 remains disguised as an aesthetically attractive ornament or article, such as the disclosed vase.

When desired, exhausted extinguishing material 22 may be replaced by unscrewing the cap 26 and refilling the chamber 20 through the open threaded end portion 25. Cap 26 is then resecured, and the extinguisher 10 is ready to again function as a fire extinguisher.

One advantage of forming the exterior surface 12 as a surface of revolution is that at any vertical point along the body member 11, the cross section is circular, and therefore uniform. Accordingly, in a fire emergency, it is immaterial from which side the body member 11 is grasped, since the grip will be uniform regardless of the lateral approach of the operators hand toward the extinguisher 10.

The fire extinguishing material 22 may be of any known, and preferably commercial, type, such as ABC CHEMICAL designed to extinguish all fires of types A, B, and C.

It will therefore be apparent that a fire extinguisher 10 has been developed, which will not only conceal the fire extinguishing mechanism in a decorative and at tractive manner, but which forms a unitary part of the decorative body member and which functions as a hand grip and a permanent housing for a rechargable, continuously usable, fire extinguisher.

It is also readily apparent from FIG. 2, that the fire extinguisher 10 having a body member 11 shaped like a vase, or other decorative ornament, may hold and store the fire extinguisher and its chemical by merely resting upon a flat horizontal surface, without any additional attaching means, such as brackets, screws, or hangers, which might damage a wall surface upon which mounting devices might be attached, and without being in the way or constituting a household eyesore.

It will also be understood that the cylindrical tube 19 may be made of thin-wall metal, such as aluminum or tin, or plastic, and the piston 30, rod 31 and handle 32 may also be made of metal or plastic or any other convenient materials.

The body member 11 is preferably of a moldable material which can be easily and readily shaped about the cylindrical tube 19 and moulded to form the

appropriates recesses

15 and 16.

What is claimed is:

l. A decorative fire extinguisher comprising:

a. an elongated body having a top end and a bottom end and an aesthetically appealing exterior side surface adapted to be held in one hand,

b. a chamber within said body having an upper open end, for receiving a fire extinguishing material,

c. an upper recess in said top end,

d. a discharge spout connected to the upper open end of said chamber,

e. said discharge spout being received within said upper recess, so that no portion of said discharge spout projects above the top end of said body,

f. discharge means within said chamber actuable to discharge said extinguishing material through said discharge spout,

g. said bottom end comprising a flat base portion supporting said body in an upright position upon a horizontal fiat surface,

h. a bottom recess within said bottom end opening through said base portion, and

i. manual actuator means normally within said bottom recess and operatively connected to said discharge means for actuating said discharge means.

2. The invention according to claim 1 in which said chamber is an elongated cylinder, said discharge means is a circular plunger reciprocable within said cylindrical chamber, and said actuator means comprises a handle and an operator rod connecting said handle to said plunger.

3. The invention according to claim 1 further comprising retainer means fixed to said body for normally retaining said handle within said bottom recess and above the plane of said base portion when said extinguisher is inoperative, said retaining means being releasable for drawing said handle from said bottom recess for actuating said plunger.

4. The invention according to claim 3 in which said releasable means comprises an enlarged portion on said rod, and resilient finger means fixed to said body within said bottom recess for engaging said enlarged portion and sustaining said rod in an upper extreme position.

5. The invention according to claim 1 in which said exterior side surface has the shape of a vase.

6. The invention according to claim 1 in which said exterior side surface is a generated surface of revolution.

Claims

1. A decorative fire extinguisher comprising: a. an elongated body having a top end and a bottom end and an aesthetically appealing exterior side surface adapted to be held in one hand, b. a chamber within said body having an upper open end, for receiving a fire extinguishing material, c. an upper recess in said top end, d. a discharge spout connected to the upper open end of said chamber, e. said discharge spout being received within said upper recess, so that no portion of said discharge spout projects above the top end of said body, f. discharge means within said chamber actuable to discharge said extinguishing material through said discharge spout, g. said bottom end comprising a flAt base portion supporting said body in an upright position upon a horizontal flat surface, h. a bottom recess within said bottom end opening through said base portion, and i. manual actuator means normally within said bottom recess and operatively connected to said discharge means for actuating said discharge means.