US2585039A - Local automatic fire extinguishing system - Google Patents

Description

Feb- 12, 1952 G. F. RooKE LOCAL AUTOMATIC FIRE EXTINGUISHING SYSTEM Filed Feb. ll, 1949 Patented Feb. 12, 1952 DOUAI. AUTOMATIC FIRE EXTINGUISHING SYSTEM? George.J Rooke, Brovidence, R. I., assigner to. George G; Evans, DeKalb; Ill;

Application February 11, 1949Serial;No;75,867

6 Claims. (Cl: 169-43.)

The purpose. of the present inventionv is. tov pro- Vide: aimeansf effective :toi extinguish-.interior fires before. theyA havey gained: any substantial headway,.and ofzsuch a characterthatit canLbe produced at 10W oost andvv installedreadily in any location withina building where protection against damagezby reiisedesired; Oneparticular phasei of? this general; object which. I have had inxmind is'tto aiordtreprotectioniinrooms; hallways; closets', etc. of dwelling. houses and apartments'. There is a'wide field of needzand utility for the. protection; of living quarters; such as those. above mentioned'. WhileLnumerous'proposals have been offered'ff'or means. toi make avisibl'e or. audible signal` att-somev central: station; when a re occurs in livingqnartersand many. types of extinguishers have been made forfmanual. use by one who is awarethata fireflia'sfstarted,y yetno provisionhas been'. made, so' far'as- I'amaware, for actually extinguishing ar refin localities of that' nature, automatically, when' noone is 4'averare that a re-V has started: The sprinklerrsystems devised for factories are not'suit'ablev for installation 'in dwellings;

Hence'lhave sought to provide anapparatus or system which canbel installed; easily andratmoderate expense in one' or anynumberof they enclosed-spaces offdwelliirgs; WhichWill convey extinguishing liquidi directly to any part of" the room where a fire yhas started: as soon as the re has generated enough heat to melt or soften a small' quantity of readilyy fusible' or combustible material and beforethei're has gaineddangerousr headway, and which is inconspicuousjwhen installed'.

The gistof thefinvention resides in a combination-of a container for re extinguishing fluid, a tube connected and communicating With such container adapted to bef attached to` the walls of a room at any heightabove tiieo'or; being of' anylength'v sui'cient to extend around the entire-circuit of 'the room orany desiredpart'thereof, normally having no outletand being. of' a character such' that" it may bemeltedfor burned through-v. by impact` ot'hcat ofE 'moderate intensity,I and'v electrical controlmea-ns adapted to` be put in*v action bytheh'eattof' aiflre'ior` openinga How connectiony between: the container of fluid. andA the: tube; One illustrative' embodiment: of; this combinationis `describediin the following specification and illustrated in the accompanyingdrawings, in which,

Fig. 1 isadiagrammatic viewn ot thecombined system;

lig.v 2. is. a sectional. view: of` a. portionof the tube. element. of, thecombination With a part. of the electricakequipment,of the combination inside thetube;

Fig. 3. is a partially dismembered. View ofv a fragment of the electrical element. shown in Fig. 2;

Fig 4is a` partial diagramshowing amodiication.

Like reference characters designate the same partswherever they occurY inall, the guresf.

In this-illustration. alrepr-.esents a tankcontaining: a reextinguishing liquid, which may be plain Water, a foam solution, or some noninflammable=liquidother-than water, such as carbon tetrachloriderorthe like. Urepresents an elongatedgtubefwhichis coupled w-ith the outlet passage c-oi the tank c` and isclosed at its` outer end, Such tube is of a material which can-be quickly-disintegrated by heat; suchv as antimony; an-alloyfof antimony, orother metalalloy having alow melting-point, andsmade with thin walls sothat itvvill be 'quickly melted at any pointrexposed-to the heatfof an incipient re; the tube may be of any length sutedto the `condition of its f installationv and.. of a: diameter generally proportional-to its length. That is, tubes for installationiwhere I a' relatively great continuous length` offtubingfis-required may bev-of larger diameter than substantially'shorterf tubes. However, any tube` applied to' the purpose of this invention shouldhavea large-enough bore to conduct the extinguishing fluid'quickly after communication hasbeenpopened with theinterior of thetank to anypointwhere ahole has-been opened through theside of thetube:

When installed,v and as long'as no lire has occurred in thev rooml Where' it is installed, the tube contains nov liquid and has' no. discharge opening.` Itis-.shutoi-from communication with the-t bodyof extinguishing liquid in the tankfa'. AnyoneI off-many'means inthenature of a valve capableaof being. opened to' admit liquidto the tube when need arises to use the liquid-may be. provided. In this illustration I have shown a typeY of tank which iswin production and isavailable on theimarket;v inn which a hermetically sealed glass bottle or ampule d is contanediy/ith-` inI theshell'of the' tank andl is supportedl above the. bottoni of th'eg shellv byv a vertical' tubular adapter e. Thisadapter and-an'extension tube-f containftwogsealed capsulesorcartridges g ando"v colitaning'carbcnv dioxide vunder heavy,` pressure. lccateds sothattheir necksproject: toward one another. A- double pointed piercing pin; h. is Il'lounted` between, the necks' ci? these; cartridges.

3 in a tubular slide j fitted within the tube j. A plunger lc is movable endwise in a guide extension of the sleeve f beneath the bottom of the cartridge g'.

These parts are so arranged that when the plunger 1c is moved upward, it lifts cartridge g', causes the double pointed pin to puncture the end seal of this cartridge, raises the pin so as to puncture the end seal of cartridge g, and raises cartridge g so as to break the bottle d and allow the liquid to flow to the outlet port c and tube b. The carbon dioxide released from the cartridges flows through the adapter e to the top of thev tank and applies pressure to the released liquid.

For releasing the liquid and pressure gas, I have provided here an electrically controlled device, the action of which is initiated by heat. A weight Z is suspended by a trip m at the upper end of a guide n, and a lever o is pivoted at p to the wall bracket, pedestal or other device which supports the tank a. One arm f the lever extends under the lower end of guide n and the other arm extends under the plunger k. By this arrangement, the weight l, when allowed to fall strikes lever o suddenly and with great force, causing plunger 7c to be raised with the eiect of piercing the gas cartridges and breaking the bottle of extinguisher fluid as above described.

For releasing the trip m I have provided a solenoid q, the core of which is coupled with the trip m in a manner such as to disengage the trip from the weight when the solenoid is energized.

The solenoid winding is in open circuit connection with a source of electric current 1- and two conductors s and t which enter the tube b through an opening, which is sealed liquid tight around the conductors, and extend within the bore of the tube to its outer end. The conductors are insulated from each other in such a manner, and are otherwise so related that the application of heat causes the insulation between them to be destroyed so that they come together in electrical contact.

I have found it satisfactory to use as such conductors a two wire cable put out by The Protecto Wire Co. of Hanover, Massachusetts, under the trade name of Protectowire This cable consists of two steel wires coated with thermoplastic insulating material, twisted around one another and covered with a light braid. The thermoplastic insulation is softened by heat and, where this occurs, the spring pressure under which the steel conductors are conned, causes the conductors to force the insulation aside and to come into contact, thus completing the circuit between the current source r and the solenoid q. Any suitable material such as a wax can be used as the thermoplastic material, carnauba Wax, montan wax, and beeswax being examples. The choice of material will depend upon the temperature at which it is desired that the material melt.

The cable as a whole with its braided covering is designated u in Figs. 2 and 3, and is Shown in Fig. 2 as contained within a fragment of the tube b.

When installed, the tube b with the contained electrical conductors, is attached to the wall or walls of a room in any convenient and desirably inconspicuous location, as along a baseboard, beside a molding or cornice, or elsewhere. The tank may be installed in an inconspicuous corner of the same room, or in a different room or closet and the tube run through the intermediate 4 partition or iloor. Any room, or every room of a house may be thus provided with its own unit system, or one such system may serve for two or more adjoining rooms. Necessarily the tube is exposed in a manner such that it will be quickly affected by the heat of any re which may develop in the room where installed.

In case of fire, the point in the side of the tube which is most quickly and highly heated is fused or softened and the insulation of the contained conductors is softened at the same time so that contact is made between the conductors. Thereupon the electric actuator (solenoid q) is energized to cause now of the extinguishing fluid into the tube b in the manner precedently described. The fluid is then discharged on the fire from the opening in the side of the tube caused by the re.

A Signal device is associated with this apparatus to give notice at any suitable or desirable location whenever a fire has occurred. In the present illustrative diagram such signal device v, which may be an electric light, a bell, a buzzer or any other suitable device is connected in circuit with the current source 1 and with a normally open circuit closer w. The latter is suitably arranged to be closed by the weight l when the latter is released in the manner described. One suitable arrangement is that here shown, where the circuit closer is a pivoted lever and is connected by a link m with the lever o; the arrangement being such that when the right hand arm of lever o is depressed by the weight, the circuit closing arm of switch w is raised to engage a contact y connected to one of the conductors of the signal circuit.

Instead of employing electrical means to govern the application of force to release the extinguishing fluid upon occurrence of a fire, the same result may be obtained by mechanical means. One form of such mechanical means is illustrated in Fig. 4, where the latch m which normally supports the weight Z is connected With a spring l0 so arranged as to tend constantly t0 release the latch. This tendency is resisted and overcome by a cord Il which may be made of a thermoplastic,` or other readily fusible or combustible material. It is connected with the latch so as to hold it in its supporting engagement with the weight and is led overA or around guides, one of which is indicated at l2 so as to extend across any selected parts of the room or space in which the tank of fire extinguishing liquid is installed. In other respects the apparatus may be identical with that shown in Fig. 1, the only difference being in the substitution of the spring I0 and cord I l for the solenoid q and electrical circuit.

It will be understood that the principles of the invention are not limited to the specific details of apparatus here shown illustratively. The tank element of the combination may be of any size and dimensions, for instance a large water tank installed at a great enough height to furnish a large pressure head. Various alternative forms of occlusion and release means may be provided for normally preventing access of extinguishing fluid to the tube and permitting such access at need, and various actuating contrivances may be applied for controlling such occlusion and release means, all within the scope of the present invention.

What I claim is:

l. A re extinguishing apparatus comprising a tank, a thin walled tube made of material having a low melting point in flow-receiving connection at one end with said tube and being closed against discharge at all other points, means in the tank normally preventing ow of fluid contained therein to said tube, means for opening the flow-preventing closure of said tank, and means extending along the said tube and responsive to a predetermined temperature at any point thereof to cause said opening means to operate.

2. A iire extinguishing system comprising a tank, a thin wailed tube made of material having a low melting point in now-receiving connection at one end with said tank and being closed against discharge at all other points, means in the tank normally preventing now of fluid contained therein to said tube, a suspended weight, a lever pivoted a substantial distance below the level at which said weight is suspended, having an arm extending across the path in which the weight is adapted to travel when permitted to fall, force-transmitting means between the lever and container operable when the lever is displaced by impact of said weight to open a passage for fluid from the tank to the tube and heat controlled means for releasing the weight from its suspended condition.

3. A re extinguishing system comprising a tank, a thin walled tube made of material having a low melting point in flow-receiving connection at one end with said tank and being closed against discharge at all other points, means in J the tank' normally preventing :dow of uid contained therein to said tube, a normally inactive electrical device disposed in relation to said flowpreventing means such as to disable said flowpreventing means when energized, and electrical conductors in open circuit connection with said electrical device and a source of current, extending in parallel throughout the length of said tube, being electrically insulated from each other and arranged to come into mutual contact when affected by heat suicient to soften the wall of the tube.

4. A nre extinguishing apparatus comprising a tank, a tube connected at one end with an outlet port in the tank and being otherwise closed against outflow at all points, said tube having thin walls and being made of readily fusible metal, a closed container of fire extinguishing liquid in the tank, means for Opening said container so as to release the liquid comprising a suspended weight, a lever pivoted a substantial distance below the level at which said weight is suspended, having an arm extending across the path in which the weight is adapted to travel when permitted to fall, force-transmitting means between the lever and container operable when the lever is displaced by impact of said Weight to open a passage for fluid from the tank to the tube, and a normally inactive electromagnetic device connected to release the weight when energized, and two electrical conductors in open circuit connection with said electro-magnetic device and a source of current extending throughout the length of the tube with thermoplastic insulation which is adapted to be softened by heat, said conductors being under spring pressure tending to bring them into physical contact.

5. A nre extinguishing apparatus as set forth in claim 2, in which a latch is provided to support the weight in suspended position and the heat controlled means are organized to release .i said latch when affected by sufficiently high temperature.

6. A re extinguishing apparatus according to claim 2, in which a latch is provided to hold the weight in suspended position, a spring is connected with the latch under tension tending to disengage it from the Weight, and the heat controlled means is a cord so connected to the latch as to prevent displacement thereof by said spring and being so positioned, and of such a character, that it is rendered inoperative for that purpose when subjected to heat of suiicient intensity.

GEORGE F. ROOKE.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the le of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 157,217 Pennington Nov. 24, 1874 1,087,989 Simson Feb. 24, 1914 1,345,435 Durkee July 6, 1920

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