GB2205733A - Bracket for pressurised bottles - Google Patents

Abstract

A bracket for pressurised bottles comprises an elongate back member (10) adapted to be wall-mountable in an upright position. The bottle is supported by the fixed bottom bracket (18) and the top element (16) which pivots upwards on back member (10) under spring biasing (20) to an upper bottle releasing position. A locking mechanism (32, 46) is provided in 32A to hold, against the biasing (20), the top element (16) in a lower bottle-retaining position. A bar (34) is moved against the spring (46) by the cam (36) being rotated on shaft (38) by handle (30) to release the locking mechanism (32,46). <IMAGE>

Description

BRACKET FOR PRESSURISED BOTTLES.

This invention relates to a bracket for one or more pressurised cannisters or bottles (hereinafter referred to simply as "bottles") particularly, but not exclusively bottles such as form part of a breathing apparatus to be used by a fireman. Such breathing apparatus are normally carried in a cabinet adjacent to, or on the rear outside wall of, a cab of a fire engine or tender. This location is disadvantageous in that it means that the breathing apparatus has to be put on after the firemen reach the fire location and is therefore unnecessarily time-consuming. The accommodation available in a cab is restricted however if the bottles could be mounted in the cab to be fitted by the firemen during the travelling period to the location of a fire then this would be beneficial.

An object of the present invention is to provide a bracket for fitment internally of a cab for such a.

purpose thereby to obviate or mitigate the disadvantage.

Accordingly, the present invention is a bracket for one or more pressurised bottles comprising an elongate back member adapted to be wall-mountable in an upright position and having a top bottle-retaining element and a bottom bottle-supporting element extending forwardly therefrom, the top element being pivoted for restricted movement relative to the back member and spring-biased to an upper bottle-releasing position with a locking mechanism to hold, against the biasing, the top element in a lower bottle retaining position, and means to release said hold of the locking mechanisra.

Preferably, the means is a handle for manually releasing said hold of the locking rnechanism.

Preferably also, the bottom bottle-supporting element is fixed to the back member and has a cup support for the or each bottle releasable carried thereby. Alternatively, the bottom bottle-supporting element is a plate having a circular hole therein, the plate being cut-away at the front to allow access to the hole.

'Preferably further, the locking mechanism is a transversely-oriented bolt spring-biased to an outer position to engage an aperture in the upper element, said bolt having at its upper-elempnt-remote end a bar normal thereto and positioned against the side of a cam carried on an upright shaft, the lower end of which is cranked forwardly to serve as a handle. The cranked part of the shaft preferably engages with a notch in a position plate extending out from the back member, the cranked part being secured when in said notch.

The top bottle-retaining element preferably comprises two arms separately pivoted along aligned axes to the back member. Both arms at their outer ends are preferably curved inwardly and joined fixedly together by an 'U' tie whose web axis is spaced above and lies in a parallel plane to the plane through the elongate axes of the arms.

Buffers are preferably provided extending forwardly from the back member to be abutted by one or more bottles when located in said bracket so to resiliently steady said one or more bottles in position in the bracket.

X An embodiment of the present invention will now be described, by way of example, with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which: Fig. 1 is a perspective view from the bottom and one side of a bracket according to the present invention; Fig. 2 is a underneath plan view of a detail of said bracket showing part of a locking mechanism; Fig. 3 is a side view of a detail of said bracket showing part of the locking mechanism with the side wall of a housing cut-away for clarity; and Fig. 4 is a perspective view from the bottom and another side of the bracket with modifications.

Referring to Fig. 1 of the drawings, a bracket for one pressurised bottle comprises an elongate back member 10 formed from sheet material and having a rectangular back 12 with two narrow'side walls 14 outstanding therefrom. The back member 10 is adapted to be wall mountable in an upright vertical position on a wall, for example in the cab of a fire engine, preferably immediately above a fireman's seat. The back member 10 has a top bottle-retaining element 16 and a bottom bottle-supporting element 18 both extending forwardly therefrom in spaced lengthwise position thereon.

The top element 16 is pivoted for restricted movement relative to the back member 10 and springbiased to an upper bottle-releasing position. The top element comprises two arms 22A, 22B separately pivoted along aligned axes to the back member 10. Both arms 22A, 22B at their outer ends are curved inwardly and joined fixedly together as shown by an " tie 24 whose web axis is spaced above and normal to the elongate axes of the arms 22A, 22B. The spring-biasing is provided by springs 20 as shown secured to anchorage points 26 on the back member 10 and to the arms 22A,22B.

A locking mechanism is provided to hold, against the biasing, the top element 16 in a lower bottle retaining position. Means in the form of a handle 30 is provided to release said locking mechanism. The locking mechanism is a transversely-oriented bolt 32 biased by a spring 46 (Fig. 3.) to an outer position to engage an aperture (not shown) in the arm 22B. The bolt 32 is housed in a casing 32A and has at its arm-remote end a bar 34 normal thereto and downwardly projecting. The bar 34 is movable along a slot 44 provided in the front wall of the casing 32A with the elongate axis of the slot parallel to the bolt's axis. The bar 34 is undertthe influence of spring 46 urging it against the side of a cam 36 (Figs.1, 2 and 4). The cam 36 is carried on a shaft 38 whose axis lies parallel to the side wall 14.The lower end of the shaft 38 is cranked forwardly to serve as the handle 30 and is provided with a knob 30A at its outer end. The shaft 38 rotates through a restricted arcuate movement determined by a position plate 48 and the limit of travel of the bar 34 in its passage 44. The shaft 38 is journalled in two bearings 50, one near to the cam 36 and the other near to the crank of the handle 30 as shown in Figs.1 and 4.

The bar 34, the shaft 38, the cam 36 and handle 30 constitute the means to release the locking mechanism.

The position plate 48 has a notch 48A therein into which the shaft 38 enters. The outer end of the bolt 32 rides on the arm 22B and is prevented thereby from movement under its biasing until it is aligned with the aperture.

The bottom bottle-supporting element 18, as shown in Fig. 1, is fixed to the back member 10 and has a support 28 releasably carried thereon. In this embodiment, the support 28 is shown as a cup support however the actual form the support will depend on the shape of the valve mechanism provided on the or each bottle to be used with the bracket.

Buffers 40 are provided on angled stays 42 provided between the side walls 14 and the back 12 as shown in Figs. 1 and 4 to provide resilient support to a bottle fitted into the bracket and thereby prevent movement of the bottle relative to the bracket particularly during any movement of the bracket such as when the bracket is fitted to a fire engine or tender which is travelling to a fire.

A bracket as above-described is fitted into a cab of a fire engine, or other required position for example on a wall, and a pressurised bottle of a breathing apparatus is mounted thereon viz. by the top element 16 being released by use of the handle 30 to allow the bottle to be positioned uprightly in an inverted position supported on the bottom bottle-supporting element. The top element 16 is then manually pushed don against its biasing 20 until it is locked in its lower bottle-retaining position with the bolt 32 entered into the aperture in arm 22B. This action also has the effect of resetting the handle 30 by causing the bar 34 to move the cam 36 to its initial position under the influence of the spring biasing 46 of the bolt 32 and reseat the handle 30 in its notch 48A. The straps of the breathing apparatus hang forwardly of the bottle and are ready to be put on.

In use, a fireman on his way to a fire can put on the straps of the breathing apparatus. On reaching the location of the fire, he can move the handle 30 outwardly causing the cam 36 to move the bolt against its biasing out of the aperture thereby allowing the top element 16 to pivot upwardly under its biasing to release the bottle. The fireman can then walk away with the breathing apparatus ready for use. A bracket can be provided in the cab for each fireman who has to wear breathing apparatus.

In a first modification as shown in Fig. 4, two wings 52 are fitted to extend, or the upper part of both side walls are extended, forwardly the depth of the bottle and then divergently from each other. Resilient pads or cushions 54 are mounted ds shown-on said divergent portions to support a fireman's back when he is seated, and strapped into a breathing apparatus whose bottle is mounted in the bracket. A web backing support 64 can be provided as shown in Fig.4 to support the back of the wings 52.

In a second modification also as shown in Fig.4, the locking mechanism can be mounted to operate on the other lateral side of the back member 10.

In a third modification, also as shown in Fig. 4, the bottom bottle-supporting element is a plate 56 extending outwardly at right angles to the back member 10, the plate 56 having a circular hole 58 therein. The plate 56 is cut-away at 60 at the front to allow access to the hole 58. A beading 62 can be provided as shown around the hole.

In a fourth modification as shown in Fig. 4, the handle 30 can be locked in position to its position plate 48 with the plate on each side of the notch 48A being extended and each turned back upon itself to form a tube into both of which a split pin 66 can be inserted. The pin 66 can be secured ayainst loss by being secured to the shaft 38 above the bearing 50 by a chain 68. The purpose of locking the handle 30 is to prevent inadvertently releasing the bottles when not in use ie. when not being worn.

In a further modification (not shown), the bracket above-described can be adapted to mount two side-by-side pressurised bottles if two are provided on the breathing apparatus.

Variations and other modifications can be made without departing from the scope of the invention.

Claims (16)

CLAIMS:

1. A bracket for one or more pressurised bottles comprises an elongate back member adapted to be wall mount,able in an upright position and having a top bottle-retaining element and a bottom bottle-supporting element extending forwardly therefrom, the top element being pivoted for restricted movement relative to the back member and spring-biased to an upper bottlereleasing position with a locking mechanism to hold, against the biasing, the top element in a lower bottle retaining position, and means to release said hold of the locking mechanism.

2. A bracket as claimed in Claim 1, wherein the means is a handle for manually releasing said hold of the locking mechanis:n.

3. A bracket as claimed in Claim 1 or 2, wherein the bottom bottle-supporting element is fixed to the back member and has a cup support for the or each bottle releasable carried thereby.

4. A bracket as claimed in Claim 1 or 2, wherein the bottom bottle-supporting element is a plate having a circular hole therein, the plate being cut-away at the front to allow access to the hole.

5. A bracket as claimed in any one of the preceding Claims r wherein the locking mechanism is a transversely- oriented bolt spring-biased to an outer position to engage an aperture in the upper element.

6. A bracket as claimed in Claim 5, wherein the means to release the locking mechanism is a bar provided normal to the bolt at its upper-element remote end and positioned against the side of a cam carried on an upright shaft, the lower end of which is cranked forwardly to serve as a handle.

7. A bracket as claimed in Claim 6, wherein the cranked part of the shaft engages with a notch in a position plate extending out from the back member.

8. A bracket as claimed in Claim 7, wherein the cranked part is secured when in said notch.

9. A bracket as claimed in Claim 8, wherein the position plate on each side of the notch is extended and turned back upon itself to form a tube between and into which a split pin locates to secure the cranked part in the notch.

10. A bracket as claimed in Claim 9, wherein a chain is provided tosecure the split pin to the shaft.

11. A bracket as claimed in any one of the preceding Claims, wherein the top bottle-retaining element comprises two arms separately pivoted along aligned axes to the back member.

12. A bracket as claimed in Claim 11, wherein both arms at their outer ends are curved inwardly and joined fixedly together by an 'U' tie whose web axis is spaced above and lies in a parallel plane to the plane through the elongate axes of the arms.

13. Bracket as claimed in any one of the preceding Claims, wherein buffers are provided to extend forwardly from the back member to be abutted by one or more bottles when located in said bracket so to resiliently steady said one or more bottles in position in the bracket.

14. A bracket as claimed in any one of the preceding Claims, wherein two wings are provide one extending out from each side wall the depth of a bottle and then diverging away from each other.

15. A bracket as claimed in Claim 14, wherein resilient pads are mounted on each of said divergent portions of saidXwings.

16. A bracket substantially as hereinbefore described with reference to the accompanying drawings.