IMPROVEMENTS IN AND APPARATUS FOR EXTINGUISHING FIRE
Year: 1872

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to William Lattimer, of Holme Head, near Carlisle,
in the County of Cumberland, Manufacturer, for the Invention of
66 "IMPROVEMENTS IN AND APPARATUS FOR EXTINGUISHING FIRE,”
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said William Lattimer at
the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
27th December 1872.
I, WILLIAM LATTIMER, of Holme Head, near Carlisle, in the County
of Cumberland, Manufacturer, do hereby declare the nature of the said
Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN AND APPARATUS FOR EXTINGUISHING FIRE," to
be as follows:-
My Invention consists in storing or preserving the chemical ingre-
dients, which when combined produce vapours for extinguishing fire in
two or more separate vessels or compartments provided with connecting
pipes.
The apparatus may be either stationary or portable. When the
hunawatua is stationaww I amnlov twa
more cisterns or vessels each

page_text: containing a certain chemical preparation in a fluid state; each cistern
or vessel has a pipe, and these pipes are united together in a receiver or
common discharge pipe, in which may be a back pressure valve. When
the discharge taps are opened the chemical fluids passing down the
separate pipes combine at their common junction in the discharge pipe,
and generate the vapour for extinguishing the fire; the back pressure
valves in the discharge pipes are to prevent (in certain cases) the vapours
flowing back to the cisterns or vessels containing the chemicals.
A portable fire extinguisher can be made by dividing a vessel into two
or more compartments, each of which has a separate pipe which unite in
a common discharge spout, as above described.
The chemical ingredients which I employ are those commonly used in
fire extinguishers, such as, for instance, tartaric acid and carbonate of
soda, or any other of the acids and alkaline solutions that in combination
generate carbonic acid gas; but instead of combining these ingredients,
as now customary in the case of the "fire extinguisher," I keep them
separate until the moment when the extinguishing power of the gas is
required, when they are allowed to flow from their respective reservoirs,
and unite in the receiver or delivery pipe, thus forming the gas just as it
is required, securing its maximum effect, and avoiding all possibility of
its being reabsorbed by any impurities that may happen to exist in the
ingredients or the water in which they are dissolved.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said William Lattimer in the Great Seal Patent Office
on the 25th June 1873.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, WILLIAM
LATTIMER, of Holme Head, near Carlisle, in the County of Cumberland,
Manufacturer, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Twenty-seventh day of December, in the year
of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-two, in the thirty-
sixth year of. Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors,
give and grant unto me, the said William Lattimer, Her special licence
that I, the said William Lattimer, my executors,, administrators, and

page_text: assigns, or such others as I, the said William Lattimer, my.executors,
administrators, and assigns, should at any time agree with, and no
others, from time to time and at all times thereafter during the term
therein expressed, should and lawfully might make, use, exercise, and
vend, within the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, the
Channel Islands, and Isle of Man, an Invention for “ImproVEMENTS IN AND
APPARATUS FOR EXTINGUISHING FIRE," upon the condition (amongst others)
that I, the said William Lattimer, my executors or administrators, by an
instrument in writing under my, or their, or one of their hands and seals
should particularly describe and ascertain the nature of the said In-
vention, and in what manner the same was to be performed, and
cause the same to be filed in the Great Seal Patent Office within six
calendar months next and immediately after the date of the said Letters
Patent.
NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said William Lattimer, do hereby declaro
the nature of my said Invention, and in what manner the same is to
be performed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by
the following statement (that is to say) :-
My Invention consists in storing or preserving the liquid chemical
ingredients, which when combined produce vapours for extinguishing
fire in two or more separate vessels or compartments provided with con-
necting pipes, the said liquid chemical ingredients being combined by.
gravitation alone when required.
The apparatus may be either stationary or portable. When portable
the apparatus I prefer to use is similar to an ordinary watering can, as
shewn in Figs. 1 and 2, which can is made in two compartments; one
to contain an acid, and the other an alkaline solution. These two
solutions are kept separate until it is necessary to apply them to.
extinguish a fire, when by simply pouring them out the two solutions
flow from their respective compartments through separate delivery pipes
into a common rose, where they mingle and generate the carbonic acid
gas just when and where it is wanted as the liquid is falling upon the
flames. As most fires commence near the floor in mills it follows that
the flames at the outset could as a rule be reached and mastered by these
simple apparatus.
Fig. 3 represents a modification of my improved portable apparatus

page_text: .
alkaline solution, while into the smaller inner one the acid is poured
after the larger one is filled; the small inner vessel is provided with a
hinged lid to prevent the acid from absorbing water from the alkaline
solution. The screw cap closing the orifice of the main vessel is then
screwed tight down, and the apparatus thus charged is set aside ready to
be used when wanted. It will be seen that as long as the vessel is
allowed to stand or hang undisturbed the two liquids cannot mix
together, but as soon as an alarm of fire is given their mixture can be
effected by simply inverting the apparatus, when the acid must flow out
of its separate inner vessel, and mix with the alkaline solution in the 1
main vessel. This mixing generates the carbonic acid gas, and the
pressure is got up in a few seconds; and by varying the strength of the
ingredients the pressure may be got up to any extent that the strength
of the containing vessel may be constructed to withstand.
Figs. 4 and 5 represent two views of my improved stationary apparatus 1
for extinguishing fires. In these views the alkaline and acid solutions
are contained in separate compartments of a large cistern placed at the
top of a cotton mill or other building. The pipe a is connected to the
compartment containing the alkaline solution, and the pipe is for the
acid solution. These pipes unite in a common pipe c connected with 2
the mains under ground, where the fluids mix to form the carbonic acid
as they pass to the fire. This will form a self-acting and inexhaustible
"extincteur," at least so long as the supply cisterns at the top are kept
charged. On opening the two stop-cocks a³ and in the down pipes a
and b, which should be placed within reach from the ground, the liquids 2
flow into and mix in the pipe c, and form the carbonic acid, and then
pass on through the under ground main pipe d to be conveyed finally by
ordinary hose from any fire plug or hydrant that may be found most
convenient for the fire. As soon as the fire is extinguished the stop-
cocks are closed, and the alkaline and acid solutions are shut off until 3
again required. By having three cisterns and an ordinary two-way cock
with the necessary branches below the pipe c, or a separate water
pipe from the water cistern to the under ground mains with suitable
stop-cock the under ground main d may be supplied with water at
ordinary times, and the fire-extinguishing liquids can be turned on only 3
when required for a fire.

page_text: discharge pipes to prevent the vapours flowing back to the cisterns or
vessels containing the chemicals.
The chemical ingredients which I prefer to employ are sulphuric acid
and carbonate of soda, or any other of the acids and alkaline solutions
that in combination generate carbonic acid gas may be used.
Having thus stated the nature of my Invention, and described the
manner of performing the same, I wish to remark that I do not intend
to limit myself to the details given, as they may be considerably varied
and modified, I would also wish it to be understood that I make no
claim to the separate compartments for storing the chemical ingredients
for producing carbonic acid gas, excepting when the apparatus is made
and used in the manner above described; but what I claim is, the
portable and stationary apparatus shewn and described, in which the
chemical ingredients for extinguishing fire are combined by gravitation
alone.
In witness whereof, I, the said William Lattimer, have hereto set
•
my hand and seal, this Twenty-first day of June, One thousand
· eight hundred and seventy-three.