Improvements in or connected with Speaking Tubes, suitable for Use by Firemen, Divers, and the like.
Year: 1895

page_text: PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in or connected with Speaking Tubes, suitable for
Use by Firemen, Divers, and the like.
I, CARL GUSTAV MAXIMILIAN REICHEL, of Teichstrasse 8, Altona, Germany,
Fire Brigade Superintendent, do hereby declare the nature of this invention to be
as follows -
The very favourable reception and general employment of the Altona smoke
helmet on König's system, by fire brigades and fire corps of all kinds, in breweries,
chemical works &c., is a striking proof of the utility of the said helmet. It
however possesses the disadvantage that in the case of great distances or when long
lengths of hose are used, the person working in the smoke or other noxious gases is
not able to communicate with the outer world, so as to give information as to the
state of affairs at the place at which he is situated, or to receive orders or
instructions. This drawback is felt in particular in the case of large fires in
warehouses, on board ship, &c., because the superintendent or other person
directing the operations, is generally without any, or at least has very little
knowledge as to the place of origin and the cause of the fire, and he cannot
therefore give any instructions to the person who is working inside the region of
the conflagration. For such purposes the telephone has been employed as in the case
of divers, but it has not been found suitable in this case and its use has often led to
misunderstanding. Now the present invention has for its object to obviate the
draw-back above referred to and to provide a reliable means of communication
between persons at a considerable distance from one another; for example between
a fireman and his superintendent, or between a diver and the occupants of a boat
or other vessel.
Apparatus according to my invention is illustrated in the accompanying
drawings. It comprises a double-acting bellows (Figs. 1 & 2) or other air-
supplying device, the smoke-helmet or diver's helmet (Fig. 3) connected therewith
by means of a flexible pipe, and a tube (Fig. 4) which is inserted in the flexible pipe
between the said two parts and which is connected by means of a separate flexible
pipe with the car piece and speaking tube (Fig. 5). The mouth-piece on the mask
of the smoke-helmet is illustrated in Fig. 6 in rear elevation, and in Fig. 7 in
horizontal section. A continuous and uniform current of air is produced by means
of the double-acting bellows a (Figs. 1 and 2) which is provided with a wind-
chest b, suction tube c and delivery tube d. The bellows a is divided by means of
a movable partition 9 (that is adapted to oscillate about the pivot f) into two
compartments a', a', of which the former a' communicates with the wind-chest b
through delivery valve b¹; and the compartment a communicates with 6 through
the passage a and delivery valve . The wall is firmly fixed to the lower
part of the bellows, whilst the wall i on the contrary is hinged as shewn and
can be adjusted relatively to the wall h by means of the rod . The wall i
is made capable of movement only to enable the entire bellows to be folded
together into the smallest possible compass for facility of transport. The bellows
is suspended from the girdle or body belt of one of the persons desiring to speak to
one another by means of the hook, and the partition g is moved slowly to and

page_text: fro by means of the handle g'. The air which is thus caused to enter through the
suction valves a' and a is pressed out of the chamber a' and a through the delivery
valve b', and valve 2 into the wind-chest. With the object of equalizing the
pressure, the wind-chest is constantly compressed by means of two spring arms b
which act upon the movable outer wall 3 of the wind chest; the ends of the
spring arms sliding on the said wall and being provided with rollers for the purpose
of reducing the friction. From the wind-chest the air flows through the delivery
tube d to the helmet k. (Fig. 3). The helmet. illustrated is the well-known
König's smoke helmet" the soft leather hood of which is drawn tightly round the
neck of the wearer by means of a strap or cord. The delivery tube divides at the
rear of the helmet into two ends which are connected separately to the mouth-
piece m fitted on the mask.
The mouth piece (Figs. 3, 6 and 7) is fixed to the mask of the smoke-helmet by
means of a flange (or other suitable device), and consists of a hemi-spherical or
funnel-shaped chamber into which the pipe bends m' and m² open in such a manner
that their outer walls form a sharp-edged partition m³ inside the chamber. This
construction of mouth piece has been found by numerous experiments to be
advantageous because not only can all words spoken into it.be clearly heard outside,
but also all words spoken from outside through the mouth-piece into the helmet
can be clearly heard by the wearer.
The tube narranged between the two parts of the delivery piped (Fig. 4) is enlarged
in the middle, and diminishes at its ends to the size of the said pipes. Inside the
enlarged portion there is provided a conical nozzle-shaped tube o the narrower end
of which is connected by means of the branch pipe o and the flexible pipe p with
the speaking and hearing tube 9 (Fig. 5). The latter consists of the shell y'
connected to p, the membrane or diaphragm q2 and the trumpet mouth q The
diaphragm shuts off the branch piping o' p and the shell g', from the outside, so
that the air pressed in by the bellows towards the smoke helmet can escape only
through the blow-off valve k on the latter.
The trumpet or mouth piece ³ may also have connected to it a special hearing
tube which terminates in a small tube made of glass, vulcanised rubber or the
like that is inserted in the ear of the user who then employs the mouth piece for
speaking purposes only. The messages spoken into the trumpet are transmitted by
the current of air produced by the bellows and reach the ear of the wearer of the
helmet so as to be readily heard by him, without necessitating the provision of
special ear trumpets in the helmet. Vice versa, all the words spoken in the helmet
into its mouth-piece are rendered so clearly audible by the diaphragm, that, after very
slight practice, no mistakes are likely to occur in the hearing and understanding of
the transmitted sounds.
By arranging a number of branch pipes on the tube n or a number of tubes n
with one or more branch pipes o' in the flexible piping, a number of persons at
different points can place themselves in communication with the person wearing the
helmet. This is of great advantage with flexible tubing of over 40 metres in
length, because, for instance in the case of a fire in a large warehouse, the super-
intendent or other person in charge is enabled to give orders to and receive
information from the fireman, from any desired point. The flexible suction pipe c
is of great value because it enables pure air to be taken from any suitable point
and considerably shortens the delivery pipe.
Dated this 6th day of November 1895.
F. WISE HOWORTH,
46, Lincoln's Inn Fields, London, W.C., Agent for the Applicant.

page_text: mprovements in or connected with Speaking Tubes, suitable for
Use by Firemen, Divers, and the like.
I, CARL GUSTAV MAXIMILIAN REICHEL of Teichstrasse 8, Altona, Germany,
Fire-brigade Superintendent do hereby declare the nature of this invention and
n what manner the same is to be performed to be particularly described and
ascertained in and by the following statement :-
It
The very favourable reception and general employment of the Altona smoke
belmet on König's system, by fire brigades and fire corps of all kinds, in breweries,
chemical works &c., affords a striking proof of the utility of the said helmet.
however possesses the disadvantage that in the case of great distances or when long
lengths of hose are used, the person working in the sinoke or other noxious gases
is not able to communicate with the outer world, so as to give information as
to the state of affairs at the place at which he is situated, or to receive orders or
instructions. This drawback is felt in particular in the case of large fires in ware-
houses, on board ship, and other places, because the superintendent or other person
directing the operations, is generally without any, or at least has very little
knowledge as to the place of origin and the cause of the fire, and he cannot
therefore give any instructions to the person who is working inside the region of the
conflagration. For such purposes the telephone has been employed as in the case
of divers, but it has not been found suitable in this case and its use has often led to
misunderstanding.
Now the present invention has for its object to obviate the drawback above
referred to and to provide a reliable means of communication between persons at a
considerable distance from one another; for example between a fireman and his
superintendent or between a diver and the occupants of a boat or other vessel.
Apparatus according to my invention is illustrated in the drawings filed with my
Provisional Specification and wherein,
Figs. 1 3 4 and 5 show partly in elevation and partly in section, the several parts
of the apparatus connected up for use.
Fig. 2 is a front elevation of an air supply device forming part of such apparatus.
Fig. 6 is a rear elevation, and
Fig. 7 a horizontal section, of a mouth piece adapted to be secured to the helmet
as shown in Fig. 3.
The apparatus comprises a double-acting bellows (Figs. 1 and 2) or other air-
supplying device, the smoke helmet or diver's helmet (Fig. 3) connected therewith
by means of a flexible pipe, and a tube (Fig. 4) which is inserted in the flexible
pipe between the said two parts and which is connected by means of a separate
flexible pipe with an ear piece and speaking tube (Fig. 5).
A continuous and uniform current of air is produced by means of the double-
acting bellows a (Figs. 1 and 2) which is provided with a wind-chest b suction
tube c and delivery tube d. The bellows a is divided by means of a movable
partition g, adapted to oscillate about the pivot f, into two compartments a¹, a³,
of which the former a' communicates with the wind-chest b through an opening
controlled by a delivery valve ; and the compartment a² communicates with b
The wall is firmly
through a passage a controlled by a delivery-valve b.
fixed to the lower part of the bellows, whilst the wall on the contrary is
hinged as shown and can be adjusted relatively to the wall h by means of a
rod . The wall is made capable of moveinent only to enable the entire
bellows to be folded together into the smallest possible compass for facility of
transport. The bellows is suspended from the girdle or body belt of one of the
persons desiring to speak to one another, by means of the hook it, and the
partition g is moved slowly to and fro by means of the handle g¹. The air

page_text: which is thus caused to enter the compartments at a² through the suction valves a
and a respectively is pressed out of the said compartments through the openings
controlled by delivery valves, and into the wind-chest b. With the object
of equalizing the pressure, the wind-chest is constantly compressed by means of
two spring arms which act upon the movable outer wall of the windchest.
The ends of these spring arms are arranged to slide in the said wall and
are provided with rollers for the purpose of reducing the friction. From the
wind-chest the air flows through the delivery tube d to the helmet (Fig. 3).
The helmet illustrated is the well-known "König's smoke helmet" the soft
leather hood of which is drawo tightly round the neck of the wearer by means
of a strap or cord. The delivery tube divides at the rear of the helmet into
two ends which are connected separately to the mouth-piece m fitted on
the mask.
The mouth piece (Figs. 3, 6 and 7) is fixed to the mask of the smoke-helmet by
means of a flange or other suitable device, and consists of a hemi-spherical or funnel
shaped chamber into which the pipe bends m¹ and m² open in such a manner that
their outer walls form a sharp-edged partition m³ inside the chamber. This con-
struction of mouthpiece has been found by numerous experiments to be advantageous,
because not only can all words spoken into it be clearly heard outside, but also all
words spoken from outside through the mouth-piece into the helmet can be clearly
heard by the wearer.
The tube arranged between the two parts of the delivery pipe d (Fig. 4) is
enlarged in the middle, and diminishes at its ends to the size of the said pipes d
connected thereto. Inside the enlarged portion there is provided a conical nozzle-
shaped tube o the narrower end of which is connected by means of the branch pipe o¹
he flexible pipe p with the speaking and hearing tube 9 (Fig. 5). The latter
consists of the shell ' connected to p, the membrane or diaphragm q' and the
trumpet mouth 4. The diaphragm shuts off the branch piping o' p and the shell q',
from the outside, so that the air pressed in by the bellows towards the smoke helmet
oan escape only through the blow-off valve k¹ on the latter.
The trumpet or mouth piece q³ may also have connected to it a special hearing
tube which terminates in a small tube made of glass, vulcanised rubber or the
like that is inserted in the ear of the user who then employs the mouth piece for
speaking purposes only. The messages spoken into the trumpet are transmitted
by the current of air produced by the bellows and reach the ear of the wearer of the
helmet so as to be readily heard by him, without necessitating the provision of
special ear trumpets in the helmet. Vice-versa, all the words spoken in the lielmet
into its mouthpiece are rendered so clearly audible by the diaphragm, that, after
very slight practice, no mistakes are likely to occur in the hearing and understanding
of the transmitted sounds.
By arranging a number of branch pipes on the tube n, or using a number of
tubes n with one or more branch pipes o in the flexible piping, a number of persons
at different points can place themselves in communication with the person wearing
the helmet. This is of great advantage with flexible tubing of over 40 metres in
length, because, for instance in the case of a fire in a large warehouse, the
superintendent or other person in charge is enabled to give orders to and receive
information from the fireman, from any desired point. The flexible suction pipe c
is of great value because it enables pure air to be taken from any suitable point and
considerably shortens the delivery pipe.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of the said
invention and in what manner the same is to be performed I declare that what
I claim is :-
1. A speaking tube provided with means for passing a current of air therethrough
and with a diaphragm, the arrangement being such that the sound waves produced
by speaking into the tube at any point will be transmitted by means of a continuous 5
current of air, either in the direction of such current or against it, and will be

page_text: rendered audible in a closed space, such as a smoke helmet at the end of the tube or
at any desired point thereof substantially as described.
2. In a speaking tube such as referred to in the preceding claim, one or more
branch pipes adapted to be inserted in the tube at any desired part thereof, and
each provided with one or more speaking and ear-trumpets 9 closed by a diaphragm
or diaphragms substantially as described.
3. In a speaking tube such as referred to in Claim 1, a mouth-piece m mounted
on a smoke helmet and connected with one end of the said tube, the said mouth-
piece consisting of a chamber having two pipe bends m¹ and m³ opening into it
substantially as herein described.
4. In a speaking tube such as referred to in Claim 1, for the purpose of producing
a continuous current of air, a double-acting bellows a having a flexible suction
pipe c, fixed outer sides and a movable intermediate partition, and a wind-chest b
arranged to be placed alternately in communication with each compartment of the
bellows, connected to the delivery pipe, and adapted to regulate itself automatically
by means of spring pressure substantially as described.
5. The improved speaking tube shewn in and described with reference to the
drawings herein referred to and suitable for use by firemen, divers and the like as
set forth.
Dated this 21st day of January 1896.
F. WISE HOWORTH,
46, Lincoln's Inn Fields, London, W.C., Agent for the Applicant.