Improvements in Sprinklers for Fire-extinguishing Apparatus.
Year: 1886

page_text: Date of Application, 23rd Mar., 1886.
Complete Left, 10th Dec., 1886.
Complete Accepted, 21st Jan., 1887.
[Communicated from abroad by WILLIAM TEMPLE MONTGOMERY, of Wakefield,
Massachusetts, United States of America, Machinist.]
Improvements in Sprinklers for Fire-extinguishing Apparatus.
I, HENRY HARRIS LAKE, of the firm of Haseltine, Lake, & Co. Patent Agents,
Southampton Buildings in the County of Middlesex do hereby declare the nature of
this invention to be as follows:-
This invention has for its object to provide a cheap, simple and effective automatic
fire-sprinkler of that class in which a valve is held against a water discharge nozzle
by devices which are retained by solder and released when the solder is fused; and in
which a fixed distributer is placed in such relation to the nozzle as to cause the
escaping water to radiate and scatter over a considerable area.
The said invention consists in the improvements which I will now proceed to
describe.
In carrying the said invention into practice I provide a valve which is held against
the nozzle, to prevent the escape of water therefrom, by means hereinafter described.
A star shaped distributer is cast on a frame which has an internally threaded ring
screwed onto the threaded external surface of the nozzle, the distributer being thus
held in such relation to the nozzle that it will distribute or scatter the water escaping
from the nozzle. The distributer has radial grooves in its upper surface, and a
central opening which receives the valve when the latter is released, the valve being
supported when released by a cross-bar under the central opening in the distributer.
A lug is cast on the under side of the distributer and has a short inwardly
projecting arm at its lower end, the upper side of said arm having an inverted V-shape
in cross section.
A lever is provided having at one end, in its under side a V-shaped groove formed
to fit the upper surface of the cross-bar, the lever is thus engaged with the arm so
that it will not slip off laterally. The opposite end of the lever is slotted to receive a
short arm or link, and the divisions formed by slotting the lever bear on the ends of a
pin inserted in said link.
Upon the frame and distributer is cast an arm extending outwardly therefrom. To
said arm the upper end of the said link is secured by solder that fuses at a com-

page_text: paratively low degree of heat; the said lever is thus supported and caused to hold the
valve against the nozzle, said valve having a stem which passes through a hole in the
cross-bar and bears on the lever.
The arm on the frame has a bevelled or inclined seat, on which the correspondingly
inclined edge of the link bears. Said link has a slight hook or protuberance (having
its under edge bevelled or inclined) which projects over the upper edge of the
correspondingly inclined arm.
When the link is secured to the arm by solder, the bevelled seat and the corre-
spondingly inclined edge of the link, together with the hook or protuberance enable
the link to resist downward strain to good advantage, and relieve the solder joint from
much of the strain that would be imposed upon it if the link had no downward bearing
on the arm.
Only a slight amount of solder, placed at a point where it will be most readily
affected by heat, is necessary to hold the valve locked against the nozzle, since but a
slight force is required to hold the outer end of the lever up toward the arm on the
frame, while the peculiar shape of the inner end of said lever, as also its seat on the
arm, provides against any displacement of the parts at that point by the pressure
downward (which is very near the said point) of the stem of the valve: yet the con-
struction and arrangement of the lever and link is such that, when the connection of
the latter with the arm is ruptured, they will drop out of the way, and not be in the
least liable to interfere with the operations of the valve.
A flange or shield is cast upon the frame between the distributer and the solder
joint that connects the link to the arm. Said shield prevents the water when first
liberated from striking the solder, and thereby hardening it before the link is fully
released. The location of this shield with respect to other parts of the invention is
such as not only to protect the solder joint as above stated, but to be out of the way of
the out-flow of water from the nozzle, being below the lateral or upwardly inclined
line of discharge of the same, an important advantage in contrivances of this
character.
In the lower portion of the shield is a groove which receives the lever, the sides of
the said groove fitting said lever closely, so that the shield steadies the lever and
prevents it from being laterally displaced at its outer end.
The operation of my improved device is as follows: In securing the valve against
the end of the nozzle the grooved end of the lever is engaged with the cross bar
and its outer end with the groove in the shield. The link is then engaged with the
end of the lever and soldered to the arm of the frame the lever and valve being thus
secured so that the valve cannot leave the nozzle until the link is detached from the
In case the solder joint is ruptured by heat, the link and lever drop, thus
releasing the valve which falls and allows the water to escape.
arm.
There is no positive connection between the lever and the lug the lever merely
resting on the lug so that there is no liability of the lever being caused to adhere to
the lug by corrosion.
The interior of the nozzle is tapered, the upper end being the larger. This form is
adapted to prevent the bursting of the nozzle by ice forming therein, the graduat
outward taper of the internal surface of the nozzle causing the ice forming therein to
press upwardly, instead of outwardly.
By my improvements, I am enabled to hold the parts comprising an automatic fire-
sprinkler, securely in operative position, and yet the construction and arrangement of
the devices are such as to require but the slightest force to hold them in position
thereby enabling me to make the means for securing the link to the arm of the most
delicate character; so that but a slight degree of heat only is necessary to affect its
integrity, and set the distributer in operation; and the shield thoroughly protects the link
and its connections from the water, without interfering with the distribution of the latter.
HASELTINE, LAKE & CO.,
45, Southampton Buildings, London,
Agents for the Applicant..

page_text: COMPLETE SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in Sprinklers for Fire-extinguishing Apparatus.
I, HENRY HARRIS LAKE, of the firm of Haseltine, Lake, & Co. Patent Agents,
Southampton Buildings in the County of Middlesex, do hereby declare the nature of
this invention and in what manner the same is to be performed, to be particularly
described and ascertained in and by the following statement :-
This invention has for its object to provide a cheap, simple and effective automatic
fire-sprinkler of that class in which a valve is held against a water discharge nozzle
by devices which are retained by solder and released when the solder is fused; and in
which a fixed distributer is placed in such relation to the nozzle as to cause the escaping
water to radiate and scatter over a considerable area.
The said invention consists in the improvements which I will now proceed to
describe.
In the accompanying drawing,
Figure 1 represents a side elevation of my improved sprinkler.
Figure 2 represents a vertical section of the same.
Figure 3 represents a side elevation from a different point from that from which
figure 1 is taken.
Figure 4 represents a section on lineæ, fig. 2, with the valve removed.
Similar letters of reference indicate the same parts in all the figures.
a is a water discharging nozzle, adapted to be screwed or otherwise secured, to a
water supply pipe.
is a valve, which is held against the nozzle, to prevent the escape of water there-
from, by means hereinafter described, c is a star shaped distributer, which is cast on
a framed having an internally threaded ring e screwed on to the threaded external
surface of the nozzle a, the distributer c being thus held in such relation to the nozzle a
that it will distribute or scatter the water escaping from the nozzle. The distributer c
has radial grooves ff in its upper surface, and a central opening g which receives
the valve when the latter is released, the valve b being supported when released by a
cross bar h, under the central opening in the distributer.
¹ is a lug cast on the under side of the distributer c, and having a short inwardly
projecting arm at its lower end, the upper side of said arm having an inverted
V-shape in cross section, as shown in figure 3.
j is a lever having at one end in its under side a V-shaped groove formed to fit the
upper surface of the arm i, the lever j being thus engaged with the arm so that it will
not slip off laterally. The opposite end of the lever is slotted to receive a short arm
or link k, and the divisions formed by slotting the lever j bear on the ends of a pin /
inserted in said link.
m is an arm cast upon the frame d and distributer c, and extending outwardly.
therefrom. To the said arm the upper end of the link k is secured by solder n, that

page_text: fuses at a comparatively low degree of heat; the said lever j is thus supported and
caused to hold the valve b against the nozzle a; said valve having a stem o which
passes through a hole p in the cross bar h and bears on the lever j as shown in
figure 1.
The arm m has a bevelled or inclined seat 9 as shown in figure 2 on which the hook
or protuberance k¹ of the link k bears.
The said hook or protuberance ¹ has its under edge bevelled or inclined to corre-
spond with the upper edge of the arm m as shown.
It will be seen that when the link is secured to the arm by solder, the bevelled
seat and the hook or protuberance k¹ having the correspondingly inclined edge
enable the link to resist downward strain to good advantage, and relieve the solder
joint from much of the strain that would be imposed upon it if the link had no
bearing on the arm.
Only a slight amount of solder, placed at a point where it will be most readily
affected by heat is necessary to hold the valve 6 locked against the nozzle as represented
in figure 1., since but a slight force is required to hold the outer end of lever j up
toward the arm m while the peculiar shape of the inner end of said lever, as also its
seat on the arm i provided against any displacement of the parts at that point by the
pressure downward (which is very near the said point) of the stem o of valve b. The
construction and arrangement of the lever and link however is such that, when the
connection of the latter with the arm m is ruptured, they will drop out of the way,
and not be in the least liable to interfere with the operations of the valve.
r is a flange or shield cast upon the frame d between the distributer c and the solder
joint n that connects the link to the arm m. Said shield r prevents the water when
first liberated from striking the solder, and thereby hardening it before the link is
fully released. The location of this shield with respect to other parts of the invention
is such as not only to protect the solder joint as above stated but to be out of the way
of the out-flow of water from the nozzle the said shield being below the lateral or
upwardly inclined line of discharge of the same, an important advantage in contrivances
of this character.
In the lower portion of the shield is a grooves (Figure 2) which receives the lever j,
the sides of the groove fitting said lever closely, so that the shield steadies the lever j
and prevents it from being laterally displaced at its outer end.
The operation of my improved device is as follows: In securing the valve b against
the end of the nozzle a, the grooved end of the lever j is engaged with the lug h¹, and
its outer end with the groove s in the shield r. The link is then engaged with the
end of the lever j and soldered to the arm m, the lever j and valve b being thus secured
so that the valve" cannot leave the nozzle a until the link k is detached from the
arm m. In case the solder joint n is ruptured by heat the link k and lever j drop, as
shewn in Figure 2 thus releasing the valve b which falls and allows the water to
escape.
It will be observed that there is no positive connection between the lever j and the
lugi, the lever merely resting on the said lug so that there is no liability of the lever
being caused to adhere to the lug by corrosion.
The interior of the nozzle a is tapered, as shewn in Figure 2 the upper end being the
larger. This form is adapted to prevent the bursting of the nozzle by ice forming
therein, the gradual outward taper of the internal surface of the nozzle causing the ice
forming therein to press upwardly, instead of outwardly.
By my improvements, I am enabled to hold the parts comprising an automatic fire-
sprinkler securely in operative position, as shewn in Figure 1, and yet the construction
and arrangement of the devices are such as to require but the slightest force to
hold them in position thereby enabling me to make the means for securing the link k
to the arm m of the most delicate character, so that but a slight degree of heat only is
necessary to affect its integrity, and set the distributer in operation. The shield also
thoroughly protects the link and its connections from the water, without interfering
with the distribution of the latter,

page_text: Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of the said invention
and in what manner the same is to be performed, as communicated to me by my
foreign correspondent, 1 declare that what I claim is
First. The combination with the valve and nozzle, of the frame provided with the
distributer, the lug having the short arm i, arm m having seat n, link k formed to
fit said seat and provided with a hook projecting over arm m, the grooved shield, and
the lever loosely engaged with the link k, the valve being provided with a stem
resting when the valve is operating to close the nozzle, on lever jas set forth.
с
Second. The combination of the nozzle, the frame d, detachably secured to the nozzle
and provided with the distributer c formed integral therewith, the lug h' provided with
the short arm i having the V-shaped seat, the shield r, having the grooves, the arm m
also formed integral with the frame and provided with the seat n, the lever j having
one end notched to correspond with the V-shaped seat of arm i, the link k engaged
with the lever j, and connected to the arm m by fusible solder, and the valve b supported
by lever as set forth.
HASELTINE, LAKE & Co.,
45, Southampton Buildings, London, W.C.,
Agents for the Applicant.