Improvements in Fire Extinguishers.
Year: 1897

page_text: Date of Application, 30th July, 1897-Accepted, 2nd Oct., 1897
[Communicated from abroad by WILLIAM ROSCOE LYON, of 72 Duane Street,
New York, in the United States of America.]
Improvements in Fire Extinguishers.
I, GEORGE MORDAUNT, of the Firm of Mordaunt Brothers, of 1A St. Helen's
Place in the City of London, Merchants, 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:-
My invention relates to attachments for that class of fire extinguishers which
are designed to be carried to the place of use and during the process of using, and
in which chemicals are united with the liquid to be precipitated on the fire to
extinguish the same; the said chemicals generating the force which expels or
forces the liquid from said extinguisher on to said fire; the chief object of my
invention being to provide a safe, sealed depository for the acid until the time that
its generative capacity is to be used, and at said time an instantaneous, automatic
breakage of the seal to liberate said acid and allow its passage to the liquid that
the gas engenders is to project from the apparatus on to the fire to extinguish
the same.
Figure I. is an elevation of an extinguisher tank within which my invention is
embodied. Fig. II. is an enlarged, detail, vertical section taken on line II-II,
Fig. I. and shows the pendant bottle that contains the acid or other gas generative
chemical; it also shows its fragile glass or other seal, and the lead or other heavy
ball resting in abeyance until such time as the inversion of the tank shall pre-
cipitate it on the fragile seal, which it breaks and frees the chemical to effect its
generative work. Fig. III. is an enlarged elevation of the bottle containing the
chemical, and shows it secured in a pendant position to the screw cap of the
apparatus by the pendant yokes that are themselves secured to said cap; Fig. IV.
is a horizontal section, taken on line IV-IV, Fig. III. and shows the neck of the
bottle and the yokes that embrace it, Fig. V. is an enlarged detail section, taken
on line V-V, Fig. I, and shows the nozzle, the enlarged rim flange at its mouth
and the elastic gas tight cap fitted over said rim.
Fig. VI. shows my improved apparatus mounted on a truck or hand barrow, in
its inoperative position and Fig. VII. shows the same in its operative position.
Referring to the drawings: A represents the body of the apparatus that
incloses the reservoir in which the liquid is placed, and B is the hose, which is
provided with the nozzle C, having the enlarged rim C¹, the neck C and the dis-
charge throat C3 through which said liquid is forced by the generated gas after the
conjunction of the chemicals and said liquid, and D is a cap with its flange
collar D¹ that covers the mouth of the nozzle to prevent the evaporation from the
reservoir until the time arrives for the discharge. The said cap is preferably
made of rubber, but may be of any other suitable material. The cap may either
be removed by hand immediately previous to the discharge of the liquid, or if
time is urgent from the spread of the fire, the generated gas in discharging the
liquid will readily blow off the cap from the mouth of the nozzle, without the

page_text: operator taking time to remove it. The said hose is bound in a gas-tight joint
at E around the discharge nipple F, that projects from the dome G of the
apparatus. The raised bottom H is secured to the cylinder I of the apparatus by
the rivets J and the dome G is secured to the top of said cylinder by the rivets K.
L represents a flanged collar around the mouth M at the summit of the dome, to
which said collar is secured by the rivets N.
O represents the surmounting screw cap, the screw flange P of which is screw
seated in the inner screw Q of the flange collar L and thus effects a gas tight cover
and joint at the mouth of the apparatus.
R represents a bail handle that is secured beneath the raised bottom of the
apparatus to the cylinder by the pivot bolts S; and T is a handle which is secured
by certain of the aforesaid rivets K to the top of the cylinder at its nearside: By.
the said handles the apparatus is moved from place to place, care being exercised
to keep its dome elevated for reasons hereinafter explained, until the desired
discharge of the liquid.
U, represents the pendant, chemical bottle, which is secured to the cap O, by the
two pendant yokes V, the double rods W of which yokes are securely attached to
said cap from which said yokes hang pendant. The said chemical bottle is con-
stituted of the acid depository tank X at its base, in which the acid Y is placed and
held until the time of its use, the contracted throat Z above said tank, the circularly
expanded gullet a in which the break ball is located, the said ball resting on the
constructive contraction of said throat. represents the surmounting neck f
said bottle, is the circular expanded lip at the mouth of said neck, e is a circula
recess within said lip, is the fragile break stopper or seal that is seated within
said recess, and g is a rubber or other gasket ring or cement, that serves as a gum
socket to prevent the escape of gas from the acid, and to hold said stopper in its
seat previous to its breakage or distension from said seat, by the blow from
the ball b.
The double rods V of the pendant yokes Ware bent inward within the respective
recesses h and i, to form respective clutch holds j and that engage in said recesses
in the chemical bottle above and below the globular gullet a around which said
rods of the yoke embrace and firmly hoid said chemical bottle to the cap cover 0,
from which it hangs pendant.
The aforesaid stopper or seal f may be made of thin glass like a watch glass or
crystal, or it may be made of thin mica, or aluminium that is rolled into so thin a
sheet that it will readily bond under a slight concussion or pressure, or it may be
made of any other like suitable material.
I do not confine myself to any one suitable acid or other chemical used in the
bottle or to any one alkali or other solution or liquid used in the cylinder or tank,
as the chief elements of the present invention are on the novel means of hermetic
confinement of the acid or chemicals and their gases apart from the liquid on which
they operate, until such time as the discharge from the fire extinguisher is required,
and the automatic and instantaneous release of said acid or chemicals on their
generative mission at such time as said discharge is required.
The operation of the device is as follows:-The acid or other chemical or
chemicals Y used as a generative force, are placed in the small depository tank X
of the pendant chemical bottle U. The break ball which is preferably made of
lead, glass, or other heavy, and at the same time incorrodible substance, is then
placed within the gullet a of the bottle and rests on its contracted throat Z. The
hermetic seal stopper f is then seated in the circular recess e, at the mouth of
said bottle, and the gasket ring or cement closure g is seated around the lip of the
bottle outside said stopper, to complete the closure of said hermetic seal. The
pendant rod yokes V, that are secured to the screw cap lid, are then expanded apart
sufficiently to allow the free insertion between said vokes of the neck cand
globular gullet a of said chemical bottle, and when said rod yokes are released;
their clutch holds and spring into the recesses hand, and embrace around the
globular expansion a of the gullet, and hold the chemical bottle firmly in suspen-

page_text: sion to said screw cap. The liquid which may be an alkali solution, or any other
suitable liquid is then, or having been previously inserted in the cylinder or tank I
of the apparatus, the screw-cap lid O with its pendant chemical bottle is then screw
seated within the mouth of the apparatus. The cap D of the nozzle, C is, also
seated on said nozzle to prevent the escape of gas and evaporation via said nozzle
previous to the ultimate discharge. The apparatus is now ready for use, and
may be carried by its handles R and T, or a strap secured to said handles will
facilitate said carriage by suspending it from the shoulder or to the back of the
carrier. Care should always be maintained not to tip the top of the apparatus
over sufficiently to precipitate the break ball from its seat within the globular
gullet a of the bottle, until such time as the apparatus is to come into active service.
On arrival at the fire that it is desired to extinguish the cap may be removed from the
nozzle, or if the necessity is urgent time need not be taken to remove said cap, for
the discharge will itself instantaneously blow off said cap. The apparatus is then
turned upside down to perecipitate or roll the break ball from its seat in the
globular gullet a, which ball rolls through the neck of the bottle and against the
fragile or flexible stopper f which it breaks if of glass, or bends if of mica or of
tissue rolled aluminium so as to precipitate it from its seat and open the way for the
then inverted chemical bottle to precipitato its acid or other chemical, into the
main reservoir or tank where it mixes with the alkali or other liquid and generates
the gas that effects the discharge of said liquid through the nozzle C. The nozzle
being attached to the hose B is readily pointed by the expert in any direction in
which it is required to direct the discharge to best aid in the extinguishing of
the fire.
Another important advantage of my fire extinguisher is, that the acid or other
chemicals are so perfectly isolated within the chemical bottle by the hermetically
sealed stopper, from the liquid on which their generative force is to be exercised,
until such time that said extinguisher is to be actively operated, so that there
can be no discharge by accident or otherwise until said apparatus is inverted so
as to roll said break ball from its globular gullet bed.
The apparatus can even be placed on its side and the ball still safely abides
within said safety bed. It can be deposited in said position. on railroads or steam
ships without the break ball being precipitated from its bed.
Fig. VI. represents two of my said fire extinguishers mounted on a wheeled
vehicle, together with two smaller hand machines & hose, making a very complete
& convenient outfit. As long as the machine remains in the horizontal position.
no action takes place within the apparatus, but as soon as the apparatus is tipped
up in the manner shown in Fig. 7, the apparatus is brought into action as before
described when the machine is absolutely reversed.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of my said In-
vention and in what manner the same is to be performed, I declare that what I
claim is:-
1. In a fire extinguisher, the combination of the chemical bottle U, having the
acid or chemical tank X the break ball deposited within said bottle and the
stopper f; substantially as described.
2. In a fire extinguisher, the combination of the body of the apparatus A, having
the cap O, the chemical bottle U suspended from said cap, and having the acid or
chemical depository tank X, the stopper f and the break ball b; substantially as
described.
3. In a fire extinguisher, the combination of the body of the apparatus, having
the cap 0, the chemical bottle U, having the chemical depository tank X and the
globular gullet a, the break ball normally reposing in said gullet, the pendent
clutch yokes V, secured to said cup and that hold said chemical bottle, and the
stopper f; substantially as described.
4. In a fire extingui her, the combination of the body of the apparatus having
the cap O, the pendent yokes V, secured to said cap, the said yokes having the

page_text: curvilinear holds j and k, the pendent chemical bottle U, the said bottle having
the depository tank X, the contracted throat Z, the globular gullet a and the sur-
mounting neck c, the break ball b and the break stopper f; substantially as
described.
5. In a fire extinguisher, the combination of the body of the apparatus, having
the screw cap O, the hose B, the nozzle C, the cap D, that covers the mouth of said
nozzle, the pendent yokes V, the chemical bottle U, embraced and supported by
said yokes, the chemical in said bottle, the liquid in said body of the apparatus,
the break ball b, and the break stopper f; substantially as described.
6. The apparatus represented in Figs. 6 and 7 comprising a complete outfit of
two or more of my said extinguishers mounted on a wheeled vehicle adapted to be
turned nearly on one end as shown in Fig. 7.
Dated the 29th day of July 1897.
NEWNHAM BROWNE,
Agent for the Applicant.