SYSTEM AND APPARATUS OR APPLIANCES FOR EXTINGUISHING FIRE
Year: 1884

page_text: COMPLETE SPECIFICATION.
I ALFRED JULIUS BOULT of 323 High Holborn in the County of Middlesex
Engineer do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for "SYSTEM AND
APPARATUS OR APPLIANCES FOR EXTINGUISHING FIRE" and in what manner the
same is to be performed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by
the following statement :—
This Invention relates to a special system for distributing water in the apartments
or rooms of buildings of all kinds whereby the rapid extinction of conflagrations at
the very point where they occur is ensured; it consists substantially in the adaptions
to the upper part of the localities of iron conduits which extend along the sides of
each room of a building and are freely pierced with holes and fitted with stop-
cocks; the said conduits or pipes are moreover so arranged that they receive water
under pressure obtained either directly from the waterworks of a town or from a
reservoir at a higher level the supply being controlled simply by cocks so arranged
as to be readily operated from within the building.
It will be readily understood that this system is applicable equally well to houses
let out in tenements, to private houses warehouses of all kinds as well as to places
of public resort such as "cafés" theatres, libraries and the like.
The annexed Drawing illustrates instances of the practical application of this
system.
As will be seen by reference to the Drawing an iron pipe a a' a" a¹¹¹ is arranged
under the cornice in each room and preferably at each side; this pipe may either
simply perforated at intervals or be fitted with a number of cocks.
In either case
the orifices are so arranged that they will not correspond to one another on the two
opposite sides of the room in which they are placed so as to ensure equal distribution
of the liquid upon the whole extent.
When the tubes a a¹ a¹ all are simply pierced with holes as shown at A Figs. 1
and 3 they are by special conduits or pipes b b 61 61 with the main pipe c which
supplies the building with water and which is for this purpose fitted with a series
of cocks dď ď ď¹ placed in a readily accessible point preferably on the ground
Hoor.

page_text: It will be readily perceived that if the cocks are numbered so as to correspond
with the various rooms of the building it will be easy to admit a quantity of water
into any room where a conflagration takes place sufficient to extinguish the fire
rapidly and completely thus avoiding the spread thereof into adjacent localities
this being the object chielly to be attained under such circumstances.
"
5
When the pipes a a¹ all all are fitted with outlet cocks as shown at B in
Fig. 1 of the Drawing and in the plain Fig. 2, there is no necessity for supplying
them by separate pipes communicating with the main-con luit but they may
communicate with one another and the main supply as is usual in systems of water
supply and this renders this water supply much simpler but it will be requisite 1
that all the cocks rr of any one room shall be capable of being opened
simultaneously.
This result is attained by uniting the keys of all the cocks which are in one
line by metal rods e el ell el which at their ends aro united by bell crank
rods.ffff so that by aclunting any one of these rods all the cocks in the 1
room will be simultaneously opened.
To this end one of the rods e passes through the wall at the front of the house
and is hinged to a bell crank arrangement fitted with a pendent pull-rod
descending within reach of hand at the ground floor; these rods may all be
suitably jointed and brought together at one readily accessible point and be 2
numbered at their ends so that sufficient water to extinguish any conflagration
may instantaneously be admitted to the apartment or room where it has arisen.
It will moreover bo easily understood that one or the other of the arrangements
above described may readily be applied to buildings other than dwelling houses;
in a theatre for instance the pipes, perforated or fitted with cocks may be provided
at the upper part of the several tiers of boxes or seats or upon the stage at the
most convenient points so that the parts whero a fire may occur can be
instantaneously flooded.
It is equally understood that this system is specially applicable for extinguishing
fires on ships it is easily fitted up and the supply of water under pressure is obtained
either by using pumps actuated by the main engine or preferably by the engine
ordinarily used in steamers for taking in and discharging cargo or by the motor
which actuates the bilge pump.
The arrangements for carrying this system into actual practice may obviously be
modified and will vary according to the nature of the locality in which the system
is to be used.
Thus the direction of the apertures a. a. all. all in the pipes or the regulation
of the cocks with which the tubes are fitted may be varied so that the liquid may
be thrown upon all parts of a locality and if required even upon the walls at the
top of which the pipes are fixed.
Having now described the nature of the said Invention and the manner of
performing the same as communicated to me by my foreign correspondent,
I claim,
The system of special canalization for apartments ships buildings or places
substantially as hereinbefore described and illustrated in the accompanying
Drawings for the extinction of fire the salient features being substantially th
following.
1. The arrangement at the upper part of the several rooms of the building to b
protected of conduits or pipes provided with open perforations or fitted with cock
in direct connection with a suitable supply of water under pressure and permitting
its immediate flow into the rooms or portions of the building fitted with thi
system.
2. The special arrangement which allows; when simply perforated tubes a
used, the direct admission of the liquid under pressure in any one of the rooms
parts of the building by the operation of cocks placed on the main supply pi

page_text: and grouped in the ground floor of such building and in some readily accessible
place.
3. The above described arrangement shown in the accompanying Drawings which
allows a system of rods to be controlled from outside (when pipes fitted with cocks
are used) which rods simultaneously actuate the keys of all the cocks in one room
or part of the building where the system is applied.
Dated this 19th day of March 1984