A self propelled floatable nozzle 10 is provided including a support housing 14. A water piping system 16 and an air piping system 18 are supported in the housing 14. The water piping system 16 and air piping system 18 cooperate upon opening and closing of gate valves 32 to provide water for fighting a fire as well as propulsion to move the nozzle 10 in a desired direction as water and air are displaced through orifices 46 and bypass valve 48.

TECHNICAL FIELD 
This invention relates to a fire fighting apparatus and more particularly 
to a floatable self propelled apparatus for fighting dock fires. Dock 
fires have traditionally created very frustrating conditions for fire 
fighters. This is because swimming while pushing the traditional floating 
nozzle used to extinguish dock fires causes rapid exhaustion among 
diver/fire fighters. Exhaustion in a diver/fire fighter creates an 
unusually unsafe condition. The only way to avoid this condition has been 
to have several relief diver/fire fighters. This of course is very costly 
in manpower hours. The other alternative is to fight the fire from water 
level. This to is also very costly, in that, most if not all of the dock 
will likely be destroyed by the fire. This is because the underside of a 
dock is usually in accessible due to items stored on top of the dock, such 
as, for example, building materials. 
Additionally most older docks are constructed of heavy timber. This hampers 
the fire fighters efforts to control a fire because it is impractical to 
remove the number of timbers required to gain full access to the underside 
of the deck. Another problem for land based fire fighters fighting dock 
fires is that they battle the fire in zero visibility. This causes the 
need to place holes in the dock through which the fire is to be fought. 
These holes however can become dangerous man-traps for the disoriented 
fire fighters who could fall through these openings and become a casualty. 
Because of the various problems associated with the present methods of 
fighting dock fires it is desirable to provide a self-propelled floating 
nozzle which would allow a diver/fire fighter to work an unlimited amount 
of time without fear of exhaustion and the other dangers associated with 
fighting a dock fire from ground level. 
BACKGROUND ART 
A number of attempts have been made to provide fire fighting systems to 
fight various fires in and around water in addition to the traditional 
floating nozzle. However most of these systems have been devices which are 
secured to and operated from a vessel, such as, a boat or ship. One system 
is illustrated in U.S. Pat. No. 3,339,516 which discloses a jet propelled 
fire fighting boat. Although this system works because it is a boat it is 
impractical for use in fighting dock fires because of the desirability of 
fighting the fire from under the dock. 
DISCLOSURE OF THE INVENTION 
A self propelled floatable fire nozzle in accordance with the principles of 
this invention includes a support housing and a means for directing water 
flow through the support housing. Water inlet and outlet ports are coupled 
to the water flow directing means. A means is provided for directing air 
from an air supply through the support housing in a predetermined 
direction. The nozzle also includes a means for causing the water and air 
to interact to create propulsion. A means for controlling the flow of 
water through the water flow directing means is provided. As a result when 
the control means is in one position water can be directed through the 
water flow directing means to the outlet port and when the control means 
is in another position water can be directed through the water flow 
directing means to the outlet port and the interacting means to cause the 
nozzle to be propelled.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT 
Referring to FIGS. 1 and 2 there is shown a Self-Propelled Floatable 
Nozzle, generally designated, by the numeral, 10 which is propellable 
through water 12. The nozzle 10 is provided with a hollow U-shaped support 
housing, generally designated, by the numeral, 14. The support housing 14, 
may be, for example made of a fiberglass material capable of floating in 
water. The nozzle 10 is provided with a water piping system, generally 
designated, by the numeral, 16 and an air piping system, generally 
designated, by the numeral, 18 (FIG. 2). The water piping system 16 and 
air piping system 18 cooperate to provide water for fighting a fire as 
well as propulsion to move the nozzle 10 in the desired direction. 
As illustrated in FIGS. 2 and 3 the water piping system 16 is provided with 
a U-shaped water piping member, generally designated, by the numeral, 20. 
The U-shaped water piping member 20 includes an intermediate elongated 
member 22 and elongated end members 24 coupled to the intermediate 
members. The intermediate elongated member 22 is provided with a water 
inlet nozzle 26 which is coupled thereto by an adapter 28. The water inlet 
nozzle 26 is coupled to the intermediate elongated member 22 so that it is 
turned downward at a 30 degree angle. This facilitates easy access to the 
nozzle 26 and prevents the nozzle 26 from interfering with the fire 
fighter. Each elongated end member 24 of the U-shaped water piping member 
20 is provided with a reducing member 30 which is coupled to a standard 
gate valve, generally designated, by the numeral, 32. The reducing members 
30 are provided to reduce the volume of water coming into the gate valves 
32 to a predetermined level. The gate valves 32 are provided with a valve 
housing 34 and a valve stem or handle 36. The stem and housing interact 
with each other in a well known manner to allow the gate valve to be 
opened or closed. The stem 36 is provided with an extension or arm 38 
having a hand grip 42 coupled to one end thereof. 
A second reducing member 44 having an L-shaped pipe portion 45 is coupled 
from each gate valve 32 to an orfice and an adjustable needle valve, 
generally designated, by the numerals, 46 and 48 respectfully. The orfice 
46 and the needle valve 48 are supported in a housing 49 which is coupled 
to the support housing 14. Each housing 49 is also provided with access 
openings 50. The orfice 46 and bypass valve 48 are provided with an access 
opening 51 so that water can escape the valve and orfice and so that the 
valve can be preset for a predetermined volume of water at point 52. Each 
of the bypass valves 48 are additionally provided with a valve adjustment 
54 (FIGS. 2-4). A cap 55 is mounted in the bypass valve housing 49 and 
provides access to the bypass adjustment 54 in a well known manner so that 
the valve can be further opened and closed if desired to increase the 
volume of water flowing therein. 
A horizontally extending pipe member, generally designated by the numeral, 
56 is coupled between the elongated end members 24 in parallel spaced 
relationship with the intermediate elongated member 22. The pipe member 56 
which has threads formed at each end thereof is threadedly coupled at each 
end to a coupler 58 mounted on the support housing 14 and to the elongated 
end members by coupling 60. The pipe member 56 is provided with a threaded 
outlet opening 62 formed therein which receives a standard fire nozzle 64 
(FIG. 4). 
The air piping system 18 of the floatable nozzle 10 is provided with a 
U-shaped air piping member, generally designated by the numeral, 70. The 
air piping member 70 is aligned adjacent to and spaced from the water 
piping member 20 in the housing 14. The air piping member 70 includes an 
intermediate elongated member 72 and elongated end members 74 
perpendicularly coupled to the intermediate elongated member. 
The intermediate elongated member 72 is provided with a pair of spaced 
aligned air intake orfices 76. The air intake orfices 76 facilitates the 
injection of air into the air piping member 70. 
Each elongated end member 74 of the air piping member 70 is coupled at an 
end 78 thereof into the valve housing 49 so that it encases pipe member 45 
which is coupled to the orfice 46 and bypass valve 48. This permitts air 
and water to interact in the valve housing 49 thus causing propulsion when 
the water is forced out of the opening 50 by the air. 
A pressure release valve 80 is coupled to the support housing 14 adjacent 
the orfice 46 and bypass valve 48. These pressure release valves 80 are 
provided to maintain the pressure in the housing at a predetermined 
internal pressure, such as, for example, fifteen psi to insure optimum 
operation of the nozzle 10. 
When the floatable nozzle 10 is to be used to put out a dock fire, a fire 
hose 90 from a water pump (not shown) is coupled to the water inlet nozzle 
26. With the gate valves 32 maintained in a closed position water will 
flow from the inlet nozzle 26 to the outlet opening 62 and fire nozzle 64 
as indicated by arrows 92 thus giving the fire fighter the needed water to 
fight the fire. As long as the gate valves 32 are closed all water from 
the inlet nozzle 26 is directed to the nozzle 64 and no water reaches the 
needle valves 46 and 48. As a result the nozzle 10 will simply float on 
the water as it is used by the fire fighter. When it is desired to propel 
the nozzle 10 the water flowing from the water inlet nozzle 26 is used to 
create mobility. This is accomplished by opening the gate valves 32 so 
that water can also flow from the inlet nozzle 26 to the orifice 46 and 
bypass valve 48 as indicated by arrows 94 and 95. The flow of water to the 
orfice 46 and bypass valve 48 causes air to be pulled into the orfices 76 
through the air piping member 70 and into the orfice 46 and bypass valve 
48 as indicated by the arrows 96. This forces the water that is coming out 
of the orfice 46 and the bypass valve 48 to travel in only one direction. 
The movement of the water through the orfice 46 and the bypass valve 48 
with the pressurized air flowing from the orfices 76 into the valve 
housing 49 creates a pulling effect on the air chamber piping thereby 
causing a jet propulsion effect through outlets 50 and the desired forward 
movement of the nozzle 10. Adjustment of only one of the gate valves 32 at 
a time will permit the nozzle 10 to be moved to the right and/or to the 
left as desired by the user. The valve adjustment 54 allows the user to 
adjust bypass valves 48 and thus the volume of water flowing therethrough 
to provide for increased or decreased propulsion. 
The invention has been shown and described in what is considered to be the 
most practical and preferred embodiment. However, it should be recognized 
that changes may be made by those skilled in the art without departing 
from the spirit and scope of the invention.