Year: 1885

page_text: I, HERBERT JOHN HADDAN, of 67 Strand, in the County of Middlesex, Civil
Engineer, do hereby declare the nature of this invention, a communication to me
from abroad by John Phillip Scott, of 26 Church Street, New York, United States
of America, Manufacturer, and in what manner the same is to be performed, to
be particularly described and ascertained in and by the following statement :-
The object of this invention is to produce a chemical fire extinguisher, that shall
be certain and quick in its operation, and free from the various defects inherent in
those in common use-Referring to the drawings Fig. 1 is a sectional elevation,
Fig. 2 a plan & Fig. 3 detail.
In carrying out the invention I place the antiphlogistic material D in a
receptacle shown at A, in the accompanying drawings; this receptacle is made
of glass or similar brittle material so thin and consequently fragile that the
weight of the whole will, if dropped, about twelve inches more or less, upon any
ordinary substance as a wooden floor or table, insure the breaking of the receptacle
and dispersion of its contents; thus for a weight of one pound of the material D,
I use a bottle of about one thirty-second of an inch in thickness.
There are cases in which a large quantity of highly inflammable material is
necessarily kept in one room; material so light and yielding in its nature (as
cotton, laces &) that if a fire is once started therein, it may spread very rapidly.
In such cases a person will naturally throw the tire extinguisher directly at the.
flames, and in a bale of cotton or laces, even the thin bottle described above may
fail to break in time for the most satisfactory results.
For such cases I surround the bottle A, with a ring E, of iron or some other hard
substance, which, being attached to the bottle by means of stays or guys c³ of wire
or cord, and held in position ready for use, by the aid of light springs e will, when
the bottle is thrown or dropped, come in contact with the bottle A and cause it.
to break at once however soft the spot it may strike upon.
The material of which E, is made may be in any form or proportion, and secured
to the bottle A in any manner, but I prefer the form and fastenings described
above; the stays or fastenings e¹ are made of wire and so hooked and secured, that
the ring E may be removed and they, and the bottles packed separately for
transportation; and when arranged for use, the rings may be attached to the
bottles by simply twisting or tyeing the fastening together.
The bottles should be kept thus prepared in the rack ready for instant use. The
extreme fragility of the bottle A renders it liable to be broken by the expansion and
conversion into gases of its contents; caused by very slight changes in temperature,
and in any ordinary room such bottles would burst and their contents be wasted,
11

page_text: To obviate this difficulty I insert in the stopper B of the bottle a small open tube or
safety valve C, which permits the escape of the surplus gas, as generated slowly by
slight changes of temperature; while the bore or vent c of the tube C, is made so
small that a sudden change of several degrees in the temperature of the sur-
rounding atmosphere, as in case of a fire commencing, will generate gas faster
than the vent c can relieve the pressure thereof, and the receptacle will burst
although no one may be at hand to throw it, thus making an automatic or self
acting fire extinguisher.
The tube C might be incorporated or made in the material of A, but I find the
stopper the most convenient place for it. The tube C is bent back upon itself
at c¹, and enlarged as at c², near the outer end.
When the temperature of the bottle rises slightly a small quantity of gaseous
vapor is forced out through c, a reduction of the temperature again condenses
this vapor into liquid, now, if the tube C be a straight plain tube, a drop will be
found upon the outer end thereof, another increase of temperature and consequent
expansion of vapor in the bottle forces the drop off the end of the tube, and it
trickles down the side of the bottle and as the operation is repeated gradually
depletes the flask and also makes wet place where the bottles stand. But with
the vent c expanded and again reduced as shown at c, and the bend in the tube
shown at the vapor when driven out by the expansion due to a rise of
temperature fills the space at c' and when the temperature is again reduced the
condensation of the vapor in the long part of the tube C, held in place by
capillary attraction and the form of c¹ forms a water packing sufficiently strong
to cause the condensation of the vapor in the bulb c² to produce a partial vacuum
which sucks back the drop that would otherwise form at the mouth of the vent c,
into the bulb c keeping the mouth of the vent or tube always dry and clean.
The bend c¹ of the tube C also prevents the material D from being spilled or
wasted by shaking or jarring as in transportation, it being found that while with a
straight open tube the contents of the bottle may be thrown out in a stream,
by a sudden movement of the hand; with the tube bent as shown at c¹, it is
impossible to throw out more than one or two drops at once or with a single
movement of the hand however sharp. The neck of the flask A is enlarged for
the reception of the stopper B and its cement forming a shoulder at a so that in
inserting the stopper it takes such position that the mouth of the tube C will be
flush or nearly so with the mouth of A, so that the bulb c and bend c' may be
bedded in the cement and protected thereby.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of my said
invention and in what manner the same is to be performed, I declare that what
I claim is
1. In a chemical fire extinguisher the general combination of the receptacle A
having a shoulder a, the stopper B, the tube C, with vent c, bulb c and bend c¹,
and the material D, the whole constructed and operated substantially as and for
the purposes berein shown and set forth.
2. In a chemical fire extinguisher the fragile receptacle A containing the
material D and having the ring E springs e and guys e¹ so connected as to
insure the breakage of A as herein shown and set forth.
ca
1005
H. J. HADDAN.
By Herbert & Co., Agents,
67, Strand.