Year: 1888

page_text: I, JAMES GRIEVE LORRAIN, of Norfolk House, Norfolk Street, London, W.C.,
Consulting Engineer, do hereby declare the nature of this invention to be as
follows:-
My invention relates to improvements in apparatus for saving life from fire and is
specially applicable to saving the lives of animals tied up or fastened or confined in
stalls or the like.
In the complete specification accompanying my previous Letters Patent No. 12,133
of the year 1885 I specify fire extinguishing apparatus and also fire doors actuated by
electromotors fed from any convenient source or reservoir of electrical energy and
called into action by thermal contacts.
In my present invention 1 also employ electromotors thermal contacts and sources
or reservoirs of electrical energy of any convenient types and capable of acting as
referred to in my said previous specification. These electromotors I employ to
actuate fire extinguishing apparatus, or open or release doors or gates or release
fastened or confined animals as for example by detaching the ropes chains or the like
by which they are tied.
For the purpose of economising electrical energy and in order to obtaiu a sudden
application of power capable of overcoming resistance such as that due to friction or
rust through disuse or the like I may employ a stretched or wound up spring or an
elevated weight to actuate the releasing devices used the electromotor in such cases
being when called into action simply employed to release a detent holding or retaining
such spring or weight as aforesaid and being when the releasing device has fulfilled
its function cut out of action.
I may so construct and arrange my apparatus as to render it capable of being
actuated by hand as well as automatically by means of electricity.
In conjunction with my apparatus above referred to I may employ any convenient
form of electric alarm or signalling device.
ايمن
1000

page_text: I, JAMES GRIEVE LORRAIN, of Norfolk House, Norfolk Street, London, W.C.,
Consulting Engineer 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 apparatus for automatically releasing animals fastened or
confined in stalls, loose boxes or the like, in the event of fire.
In the Complete Specification accompanying my previous Letters Patent No. 12,133
of the year 1885 I specify automatic fire extinguishing apparatus actuated by electro-
motors fed by any convenient source or reservoir of electrical energy and called into
action by thermal contacts.
In my present invention I also employ electromotors, thermal contacts and sources
or reservoirs of electrical energy of any convenient types. These electromotors serve
to open or release the gates or doors of the loose boxes or buildings in which the
animals are confined, and to detach the chains ropes or the like by which the animals
are tied or fastened. The said electromotors are automatically called into action by
thermal contacts, or, as they are sometimes called, thermostats, which close the electric
circuit from the source or reservoir of electrical energy through the electromotor or
electromotors whenever a sufficiently high temperature is attained, as for example in
the case of the outbreak of fire.
For the purpose of economising electrical energy, and in order to obtain a sudden
application of power capable of overcoming resistance such as that due to friction or
rust through disuse, I generally employ a stretched or wound up spring, or an
elevated weight, to actuate the releasing device used, the electromotor in such cases
being, when called into action, simply employed to release a detent holding or
retaining such spring or weight as aforesaid, and being, when the releasing device has
fulfilled its function, cut out of action.
Having thus described in general language the nature and object of my invention,
I shall now proceed to explain in detail one or more ways in which it is to be or may
be performed or carried into effect and in order that this more detailed description
may be more readily understood I have annexed hereunto sheets of drawings
diagrammatically illustrative of my invention, and have inserted in the same figures
and letters of reference corresponding with those in the following explanation.
In these drawings similar letters of reference apply to similar or equivalent parts.
I shall first describe that part of my invention which relates to the releasing of the
fastenings by which the animals are tied or attached in their stalls; and for this
purpose shall assume the case of a stable in which there is a line of stalls, each
containing a horse fastened by a halter or the like. In this case I employ a continuous
shaft or rod running the whole length of the stable, and passing close under the heads

page_text: of the horses so that they may be fastened in the usual position. This rod or shaft A,
(figures 1, 2 and 3), I surround by an iron pipe B running the whole length of the
shaft and closed by caps C (only one of which is shown namely in figure 1) at each
end, in which caps are the end bearings of the said shaft. In addition to these end
bearings I have a number of intermediate bearings, varying in number with the
number of stalls or with the length of the shaft, and mounted on discs attached by
screws to the pipe B as shown in figure 4. At each point where a horse is to be
fastened a slot or orifice D is cut in the pipe B; and upon the shaft A, and opposite
to each of these slots or orifices, is fixed the gripper E whose function it is to grip a
link F. These parts normally occupy the position shown in figures 2 and 3, where it
is seen that the link F is always retained fast by the gripper E, and the horse can be
fastened or unfastened, without disturbing the automatic apparatus, by means of the
snap or spring hook G attached to the end of the halter. The shaft A is capable of
being moved in its bearings through an angle of say ninety degrees or thereabouts;
and when so moved the gripper will take up the position shown in dotted lines in
figure 2, so that the link F is released, and the horse set free. In order that this
movement of the shaft A and gripper E may take place automatically on the out-
break of a fire, I employ the apparatus diagrammatically represented in figure 1;
in which figure H represents the source or reservoir of electrical energy, J a
simple form of electromotor, K a convenient form of thermal contact or thermostat,
and La lever rigidly attached to the shaft A, and bearing the weight M. The
free end of the lever L is formed with a projection 1, which engages with a similar
projection upon the armature lever of the electromotor J. I have stated that
K is a common and well known form of thermal contact. It consists of a com-
pound strip formed of two metals having different coefficients of expansion under
the influence of rise of temperature, the result being that with rise of temperature the
contact points and k² gradually approach one another, until, when the temperature
for which the instrument is set is attained, the said contact points come together and
complete the electric circuit. When this takes place the electromagnet is energised,
and the armature lever, which is made of soft iron or has a piece of soft iron suitably
affixed thereto, is attracted into the position shown in dotted lines. The lever L is
thus released, and the weight M causes it to be moved through an angle of ninety
degrees, and so move the gripper E into the position shown in dotted lines in
figure 2, thus causing the link F to be released as aforesaid, and the horse to be
set free.
The action of the apparatus which I have thus explained determines the releasing
of the horse but in order that it may escape it is necessary that the stable door
should be automatically opened; and in figures 5 and 6 I show as illustrations two
methods by which this can be conveniently effected. In figure 5 K symbolically
represents the thermostat or thermal contact as before; J is the electromotor, and H
the source or reservoir of electrical energy. N is the stable door to which is affixed
the floor spring O, tending to keep the door N in an open position, and is a detent
connected with the armature lever for keeping the door held in its closed position
againt the action of the floor spring O. In this case it will be seen that when the
circuit is completed is attracted and the detent j withdrawn from the door; so that
the latter, under the action of the floor spring O, will fly open in an outward direction.
In figure 61 diagrammatically represent the application of my invention to a sliding
door. In this figure the door, instead of opening outward under the influence of a
floor spring as in figure 5, is pulled up the rail n' by the weight n² when released.
The action in this case, of the parts H, J, and K, is the same as in figure 5 ; but the
details are slightly varied. Instead of a simple detent such as that shown at j in
figure 5, a double detent j* is represented; this being actuated by the hinged lever jo,
to which is attached, by means of a chain, the weight, which latter is hung on
another lever engaging the armature lever 7. The action is in all cases similar to
what has just been described. When the armature lever is attracted, the weight
pulls the lever round in the direction of the arrow, at the same time slipping off it,
and pulling when it falls the lever j³ in the direction of its arrow, and thus raising the

page_text: double detent or bolt out of the bolt eyes n³, n³, so as to allow the door to be pulled
into the position shown in dotted lines by the weight n².
The apparatus described in the preceding paragraphs refers to the stable door;
but it is obvious that similar doors or gates may be employed for loose boxes or the
like.
It will be seen that during the whole time that the contact points k¹ k² are
together the current will flow through the electromotor, so that a greater con-
sumption of electrical energy would take place than is necessary. To obviate this
I generally interpose in the circuit what I may term an auxilliary contact, that
is to say, a contact which when the parts are in their normal position is always
closed, but which when the clectromotor has been once called into action will be
opened, so that, though the thermal contact may still remain closed, no current
will be wasted.
A convenient form of auxilliary contact is shown in figure 7; where it will be
seen that P, P' are two springs, on the free ends of which are contact points pl p².
Figure 8 shows this form of auxilliary contact when applied to the apparatus illus-
trated in figure 1, and figure 9 when applied to the apparatus shown in figure 6.
From these diagrams it will be seen that as soon as the apparatus has been called into
play the contact points p', p², are separated and remain so until the apparatus is again
set in its normal position.
I have thus shown how on the outbreak of a fire the horses are automatically
released so as to be free to quit the stable by themselves; which they will readily
do if the fire has gained sufficient ground to alarm them. It may easily happen,
however, that the apparatus may have acted before they are alarmed: and, as it is
desirable that they should be removed as quickly as possible, I generally fit each
stall with an electric detonator fixed at the head of the stall, and in the electric
circuit, so that when the apparatus acts the detonator will be exploded and so alarm
the horse.
In conjunction with the apparatus hereinbefore described I generally find it con-
venient to employ fire extinguishing apparatus as set forth in my previous Specification
No. 12,133 of the year 1885, so as not only to automatically save the lives of the
fastened or confined animals, but also to automatically save the building from
destruction. In such cases a sprinkler may conveniently be affixed over each animal's
stall, so as to wet or soak the animal, and thus render it less liable to be singed
or scorched.
It will of course he understood that the electromotors actuating the doors or gates
are placed beside such doors or gates: but in practice I prefer to place the source or
reservoir of electrical energy, and the electromotor actuating the releasing shaft,
outside the building, and in water tight boxes or compartments. The thermal contacts
are of course distributed throughout the building. 1 generally place upon the end of
the releasing shaft a handle, as shown in figure 10, so that by chance any accident
should happen to the apparatus, so as to prevent its coming into action, the animals
can be released by hand from the exterior of the building. Hand releasing devices
are also preferably affixed to the detents of the doors, so as to remove the said detents
when the doors are opened or closed.
For convenience of illustration I shave shown in each diagram a separate thermal
contact, electromotor and source or reservoir of electrical energy. In practice
however I find it convenient to employ only one source or reservoir of electrical
energy, generally a primary battery, one electromotor for each door or gate, and
one electromotor for each releasing shaft A. I however employ a considerable
number of thermal contacts in different parts of the stable, and in some cases
fixed in neighbouring buildings if such be exposed to fire risks, the said thermal
contacts being arranged in multiple arc, the whole of the electromotors and detonators
however being in series.
In connection with the said apparatus I generally employ an electric alarm, con-
sisting for example of an electric gong, placed on the top of the stable, and in electric
connection with a relay and local battery in such manner that, when the apparatus

page_text: comes into play, it will be set ringing, and continue to be rung by the said local battery.
Such forms of electric alarm, and the methods of connecting them up are well
known.
Electric detonators such as are suitable for my purpose are well known and need
not be further described here.
I desire it to be understood that I do not confine myself to any specific forms of
thermal contact, or of electromotor, or of source or reservoir of electrical energy, or
to the mechanical devices employed therewith. Any competent electrical engineer
could vary the details of my invention to an indefinite extent.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of my said inven-
tion and in what manner the same is to be performed I declare that what 1
claim is
1. The improved apparatus for saving life from fire substantially as set forth.
2. The combination of a source or reservoir of electrical energy an electro-
motor a thermal contact and an animal releasing device substantially as and for the
purpose set forth.
3. The combination of a source or reservoir of electrical energy an electromotor a
thermal contact an animal releasing device and an electric detonator substantially as
and for the purpose set forth.