provements in Fire-hose Couplings.
Year: 1888

page_text: PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION
Improvements in Fire-hose Couplings.
We WILLIAM ROSE of the firm of William Rose and Company of Grosvenor
Chambers, Manchester in the County of Lancaster Fire Engine and Hose Manu-
facturers and THOMAS LEWIS DALTRY of 9 Lothian Street, Chorlton on Medlock
Manchester aforesaid Engineer do hereby declare the nature of our Invention to be as
follows:-
Our said Invention refers to couplings for connecting together lengths of flexible
tubing such for example as fire hose. The chief object of our Invention is to provide
a coupling which when connected is also automatically locked in such a manner that
neither the pressure of liquid in the tubing nor accidental derangement of the
coupling shall cause it to become disconnected: We also provide that this automatic
locking of the coupling shall in no degree interfere with the ready connection of the
halves of the coupling when such is to be done. To provide for this latter feature in
our invention in all forms of the improved coupling there are projections behind the
catches or bolts which hold the couplings together, so that when the inale half of the
coupling is inserted into the female half as in the act of coupling these projections are
first moved thus unlocking the catches or holts and allowing them to be moved out
of the way by the advancing nose of the male half of the coupling. In a coupling
constructed in accordance with our invention the catches are pivotted in the sides of
the female half of the coupling so that they can be moved either to lie entirely con-
cealed within the coupling or to project so as to occupy a groove in the male or
inserted half of the coupling. When thus projecting and holding the halves of the
coupling together, we lock, each catch by presenting a shoulder on a trigger to the
catch which prevents it from turning. The catch is unlocked by moving this trigger
so as to remove the obstacle to the motion of the catch and also turn the catch on its
pivot so as to disunite the coupling. The trigger has a tail which projects behind the
catch so that when the halves of the coupling are being put together the nose of the
advancing male portion pushes this projection forward and moving the trigger
unlocks the catch and permits the coupling of the halves to be effected. The trigger
is kept in its locking position by a spring. Under a modification of the arrangement
of the catch or bolt, the bolt slides in a chamber or lug and is pushed home by a coiled

page_text: spring as in the case of the well known Morris coupling. To the bolt we pivot a
locking catch which is thrust constantly by a spring into its locking position into a
recess in the chamber containing the bolt. A prolongation of this locking catch
projects behind the bolt so as to be acted upon by the entering half of the coupling.
A pusher actuated from the outside, pushes the locking catch flush with the bolt at the
times when it is desired to unlock the bolt and disconnect the halves of the coupling.
The bolt is withdrawn by a sliding thimble on the outside as in the Morris coupling.
In another modification the catch is locked by a sliding wedge and is pressed out-
ward by a coiled spring. The sliding wedge projects past the catch as in foregoing
cases so as to be pushed out of the locking position when the halves of the
coupling are brought together. The sliding thimble which is connected to the
sliding wedge so as to raise it when desired and with it the catch, is locked by a
spring tooth which takes into a groove formed in the interior of the thimble.
When it is desired to slide the thimble, the tooth is depressed by pressing upon
a stop connected with the same spring which carries the tooth. The tooth then
clears the groove and enables the thimble to be lifted raising the wedge and the
catch and enabling the coupling to be disconnected. We also pivot the locking
catch to the bolt and attach it to a tail which carries a coiled spring the tendency
of which is to keep the bolt down and to lock it. The locking catch is formed with
a projection, which when the bolt is home is pushed by the spring into a notch
or recess in the side. The tail is connected to the sliding thimble by which the
catch and bolt are raised and the thimble may if desired be locked in the same
manner as already set forth. In a simpler form than the latter we pivot the
locking catch upon the bolt and form the upper part of the catch with an inclined
bearing surface which receives the foot of the coiled spring. The upper edge
of the locking catch is thus pressed by the spring into a recess while at the same
time the same spring keeps the bolt down. The locking catch is tilted either
by a pusher worked from the outside or by the nose of the other half of the coupling
coming into contact with a portion of the locking catch which projects past the bolt.
A sliding thimble is used to raise the bolt when it is desired to disconnect the halves
of the coupling. The hose is securely connected to the halves of the coupling by
lining which screws into the interior of the half and jambs the hose between the lining
and the coupling. The outer surface of the jamb lining and the inner surface of the
coupling may be roughened or corrugated or threaded or serrated so as to hold the
hose more securely. Provision is also made to effect a secure connection in cases
where the hose may vary slightly in diameter or in thickness. Instead of securing
the hose between an internal lining.and the interior of the half coupling, we may
nip the hose between an external thimble and the exterior of the half coupling, the
jambing surfaces being threaded or corrugated or serrated so as to give a more secure
hold. The meeting faces of the halves of the coupling are packed by an india rubber
ring which rests in a recess in the female half of the coupling. We consider that
by our improved mode of locking the holding catches of the coupling and by
rendering the connection between the hose and the halves of the coupling more
secure all couplings so constructed will be less liable to accidental displacement or
disconnection and less likely to leak than is the case with those at present in use.
T: 0L 1 C
1000
a
DUTTON & FULTON,
1, St. James Square, Manchester,
Agents.

page_text: Improvements in Fire Hose Couplings.
We WILLIAM ROSE of the firm of William Rose and Company of Grosvenor
Chambers Manchester, in the County Lancaster, Fire Engine and Hose Manu-
facturers and THOMAS LEWIS DALTHY of 9 Lothian Street, Chorlton-on-Medlock,
Manchester aforesaid, Engineer, do hereby declare the nature of our Invention and
in what manner the same is to be performed to be particularly described and
ascertained in and by the following statement and accompanying drawings:
Our said Invention refers to couplings for connecting together lengths of flexible
tubing such for example as fire hose. The chief object of our invention is to
provide a coupling which when connected is also automatically locked in such a
manner that neither the pressure of liquid in the tubing nor accidental derangement
of the coupling will cause it to become disconnected. We also provide that this
automatic locking of the coupling shall in no degree interfere with the ready
conection and disconnection of the halves of the coupling when such is to be done.
And in order that our said invention may be properly understood we will now
proceed to describe the same more particularly with reference to the annexed sheet of
drawings.
The accompanying drawing shows the two halves of a coupling connected together,
the bolts a being locked in accordance with our invention so that the two halves
cannot be accidentally disconnected. A is the male half of the coupling B.is the
female half. The halves are generally speaking of the ordinary construction and are
held together by means of the bolts a as in the ordinary Morris coupling. The hollow
trunnions formed on the female half contain the bolts a and the said bolts enter a
groove in the male half A when the coupling is united and maintain the two halves
together. The tops of the trunnions are reduced to receive sliding thimbles c or
a ring is placed over the trunnions beneath the thimbles the said thimbles being
connected to the bolts a by means of nuts d which screw upon the outer ends of the
bolts a.
Coiled springs e surround the tails of the bolts a their tendency being to
push the bolts towards the centre of the coupling and into their locking position.
By pulling on the sliding thimbles c the bolts can be drawn up into the trunnions
and the female half released. As has been said the object of our invention is to
prevent the accidental pulling outwards of these sliding thimbles and this wo effect by
introducing locking catches f into the bolts a whereby the bolts are locked in the
position in which they lay hold of the male half. It will be observed that the locking
catches fare pivotted at g in the body of the bolts a and that their upper part is
formed with a block having an inclined surface upon which the foot of the coiled
springs e rest. The coiled springs are compressed between the nuts h and the
inclined tops of the locking catches and the effect of the pressure of the springs
upon the top of the said catches is to throw them into the position shown in the
drawing, where it will be observed that the nose of each locking catch enters a
recess in the interior of the trunnion at i. A hole extends from this recess through
the side of the trunnions and is occupied by a sliding pusher with a head which
comes against the nose of the locking catch. When the bolts and catches are in
the positions shown in the drawing it is impossible to disconnect the coupling by
simply pulling on the sliding thimbles, because the noses of the locking catches
having entered their respective recesses cannot be dislodged in this manner and hold

page_text: the bolts securely. To disconnect the coupling the pushers; must first be pushed
inward thereby pressing the noses of the locking catches out of their recesses and
so enabling the bolts to be drawn up into the trunnions. The halves of the coupling
can then be disconnected. When the male half of the coupling has been removed
and the bolts released both bolts and catches again assume their normal position as
shown in the drawing in obedience to the pressure of the coiled springs. But it
will be evident that unless special provision were made, the male half could be
re-inserted or pushed in only by again pushing in the studs ; and so unlocking the
bolts so as to allow them to yield to the entering pressure of the coupling half.
This in itself would necessitate the employment of both hands which would be
inconvenient. We therefore form the lower ends or tails of the locking catches /
so as to project above the level of the bolts and thus come first into contact with the
entering nose of the male half. The catches are thus moved in the same manner as
if they had been pushed in by the pushers and the bolts a in their turn readily
yield and slide into the trunnions thus allowing the halves to be secured together
without requiring to manipulate the bolts. The meeting faces of the halves of the
coupling are packed by an india rubber ring k which rests in a recess in the female
half of the coupling as shown in the drawing. The hose is securely connected to one
or both halves of the coupling by the means shown applied to the female half in the
drawing. A lining screws into the interior of the half and jambs the hose m
between the lining and the coupling B. The outer surface of the jamb lining and
the inner surface of the coupling may be roughened or corrugated or threaded or
serrated so as to hold the hose more securely. Instead of securing the hose between
an internal lining and the interior of the half coupling as shown we may nip the
hose between an external thimble and the exterior of the half coupling, the jambing
surfaces being threaded or corrugated or serrated so as to give a more secure bold.
We consider that by our improved mode of locking the holding catches of the
coupling and by rendering the connection between the hose and the halves of the
coupling more secure all couplings so constructed will be less liable to accidental
displacement or disconnection and less likely to leak than is the case with those at
present.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of our said inven-
tion and in what manner the same is to be performed we declare that what we
claim is :-
(1) In couplings for connecting together lengths of fire hose the employment of
locking catches in combination with the sliding bolts for holding the halves of the
coupling together and for locking the said bolts in position substantially as described
and shown.
(2) In fire hose couplings the employment of locking catches pivotted within or to
the sliding bolts, and capable of being moved so as to allow the bolts to slide, either
by the agency of a pusher when it is wished to separate the halves of the coupling
or by an extension of the catches arranged to be operated by the entering male half
of the coupling when it is desired to connect the halves and arranged and acting
substantially as described and shown.
(3) The method of securing the hose to the halves of the coupling by means of a
lining or sleeve screwed into or upon the end of the coupling so as to embrace and
hold the hose substantially as described and shown.
DUTTON & FULTON,
1, St. James Square, Manchester,
Agents.