IMPROVEMENTS IN APPARATUS FOR EXTINGUISHING FIRE
Year: 1870

page_text: PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by William Robert Lake at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
10th March 1870.-A communication from abroad by C. Gilbert
Wheeler, of Chicago, Illinois, United States of America.
I, WILLIAM ROBERT LAKE, of the "International Patent Office,"
Southampton Buildings, London, Consulting Engineer, do hereby declare
the nature of the said Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN APPARATUS FOR
EXTINGUISHING FIRE," a communication, to be as follows:-
This Invention is designed to increase the efficiency of the fire-
extinguishing apparatus now commonly known as the "extincteur,"
whose action is derived from the force of gas generated within a close
vessel by the combination of an acid with an alkaline substance in
solution, the liquid being ejected when desired by the pressure of the
gas, and thrown upon the burning object through a suitable discharge
aperture and nozzle.
The said Invention consists in the peculiar means whereby I am
enabled to keep the two gas generating ingredients in the vessel or
reservoir of the apparatus isolated from each other until the said apparatus
is to be used, and then combine or mix them instantaneously, the main
t

page_text: object being to render the apparatus more perfectly reliable with regard
to its readiness for immediate use when required. For this purpose I
provide the vessel or reservoir with a light frame consisting of vertical
bars and a bottom piece, upon which I place a bottle or jar containing
the acid, while the bi-carbonate of soda or other alkaline substance is
contained in solution in water in the body of the said vessel. Through
a stuffing box in the top of the said vessel I pass a rod provided on its
projecting end with a handle or hand wheel, the part of the said rod
inside the vessel being formed with a screw thread and passed through
a fixed nut attached to the frame. This rod is connected to a stopper or
plug which closes the mouth of the bottle or jar. The latter is supported
in the frame with its mouth upward, and so long as its mouth is closed
by the plug or stopper the bottle remains in that position, and the two
ingredients may be kept separate from each other for any desired time.
When however the apparatus is to be used the screw rod is turned by
means of the handle or wheel on the projecting end of the said rod in
the proper direction to force the plug down into the mouth of the bottle.
The plug is taper or conical, or otherwise so formed that when thus
forced downward it splits the bottle and liberates its contents, which
thus fall down and mingle with the solution in the reservoir. A strong
pressure of gas is thus immediately created, and by opening the cock
which controls the discharge aperture the liquid, strongly charged with
the aforesaid ingredients, is ejected with great force upon the burning
object or body. The bottom piece of the frame on which the bottle or
jar rests is a flat piece of metal, which is pivotted to turn freely in eyes
or loops in the lower ends of the vertical portions or bars of the frame.
So long as the plug or stopper remains in the mouth of the bottle the
latter is kept evenly balanced upon the said pivotted flat piece. If
however by mistake the handle or hand wheel on the screw rod is turned
in the direction to withdraw the stopper from the bottle instead of
forcing it down then the mixture of the ingredients will still be effected,
as the bottle being no longer supported at its upper end will allow the
plate on which it stands to turn over on its pivots, and the bottle will
fall down and discharge its contents into the solution or liquid in the
vessel.