Improvements in Apparatus for Extinguishing Fire.
Year: 1897

page_text: Date of Application, 1st Feb., 1897
Complete Specification Left, 23rd June, 1897-Accepted, 24th July, 1897
I GUSTAVE SALOMON BERNHEIM of 21 Boulevard Poissonière, Paris, France, do
hereby declare the nature of this invention to be as follows:—
This invention relates to that class of apparatus for extinguishing fire, now known
"Extincteurs," and the invention consists in constructing an apparatus of this class
which will act absolutely automatically.
In carrying out this invention, a suitable vessel is provided, which will carry the
acid liquid and the carbonate of soda required to produce the carbonic acid gas, and
this vessel is mounted so that it will tumble over when a fusible chain, or other
holding device, is destroyed, or acted upon, by the elevated temperature due to the
fire.
The vessel is provided with a hammer of any convenient construction, which is
operated when the vessel tumbles over, by striking against the wall of the apartment,
or other fixture, or simply by its own weight.
The work of this hammer is to break a glass reservoir containing the acid liquid, in
order to produce the gas, as is well understood.
The spout by which the liquid gas issues from the vessel is provided with a nozzle,
which will give a fine stream, and this nozzle is covered, when not in use, by a
weighted cover, so that it is protected from dirt, and there is provided, outside the
nozzle, a cone, against which the fine stream of liquid gas strikes, and is spread or
distributed within a certain radius.
The acid reservoir consists of a glass bulb with one or more solid extensions, which
enter suitable guides, so that the reservoir is kept firmly in its position until the
apparatus is required for use.
The apparatus may be supported from a wall or a ceiling by means of a wire frame
having bearings for trunnions on the vessel, and a curved rest against which the upper
part of the vessel lies, when the apparatus is not in use.
Dated this 1st day of February 1807
Improvements in Apparatus for Extinguishing Fire.
I GUSTAVE SALOMON BERNHEIM of 21 Boulevard Poissonnière, Paris, France, 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:-
This invention relates to that class of apparatus for extinguishing fires, which are
now known by the name of "extincteurs." In these apparatus, a gas is produced by
the mixture of an acid and carbonate of soda, which has the property of extinguishing
fire.

page_text: Now, the object of this invention is to render such an apparatus absolutely
automatic in its operation, so as to provide for the extinction of a fire at an early
stage, without the assistance of a person, as in the case of the extincteurs at present
in use, which have to be set to work hy hand, an operation which is not always
possible, and may offer certain dangers.
In the accompanying drawings,
Fig. 1 shows, in elevation, an arrangement of the apparatus as applied to a wall,
the dotted lines showing the position of the apparatus when at work.
Fig. 2 shows, in elevation, the apparatus suspended from the ceiling, the dotted
lines showing the working position.
Fig. 3 shows, in vertical section, and on a larger scale, the internal construction of
the apparatus.
Fig. 4 is a plan view of the same; and
Fig. 5 shows in vertical section a slight variation in the internal.arrangement of the
apparatus.
The apparatus consists of a metallic vessel, A, of suitable form and dimensions,
provided with trunnions a, a', arranged at about one third of the height of the
vessel.
These trunnions engage with hooks or bearings b b₁ of a metallic support or
frame B, attached to a plank or board, which may be fixed to the wall.
The upper part of the frame B has a covered rest b², against which the upper part
of the vessel is held in the position shown in full lines, Fig. 1, by means of a fusible
metal chain, cord, or thread c, attached by one end to the vessel at cl, and by the other
end to the frame B at c²
The position in which the vessel is found, under these conditions, is an unstable
one, that is to say, the vessel will tumble over into the position shown by dotted lines,
when the thread c is broken or melted under the influence of a rise in temperature
above a certain limit. Thus, the tumbling over of this vessel takes place entirely
automatically.
The vessel carries a hammer and a spout and nozzle provided with a distributor or å
spreader, the one placed about the middle of its height, and the other at the top.
The hammer consists of a rod D, provided at its outer end with a button d, and at
its inner end with a block d', and this rod passes through a stuffing box C in the
side of the vessel.
The spout is formed of an elbow or bent tube e, to the other end of which is screwed
a nozzle e. This nozzle is provided with a protecting cap f, which is pivotted at f
and has a weight f², to ensure its keeping in position when the apparatus is not in
use, and falling away, or uncovering the nozzle, when in use.
In front of the nozzle is a cone g, which is mounted on the end of a threaded
rod g', which works in a socket carried by a stirrup or bridge g² fixed to the vessel A.
The rod has also a milled head, by which it can be rotated, so as to set the position of
the cone with respect to the nozzle, as may be desired.
The point of the cone is directed towards the nozzle in such a manner that the jet
emitted by the latter (as will be seen further on) strikes on the point, and is broken
up, spreading itself like rain over a surface more or less extended.
The inlet to the tube e is protected by a piece of wire gauze or perforated metal e³,
to prevent the entrance of any solid matter which might stop up the nozzle e'.
Inside the vessel A is a closed glass receiver or reservoir E, of special form, as shown
in the drawing, that is to say, it is composed of a blown glass ball or bulb, in which
the acid is placed, and having, on opposite sides, a cylindrical extension of solid
glass.
These two extensions fit into tubular guides F F³, one fixed to the bottom of the
vessel A, the other to its cover G.
This receiver E, the bulk of which will be so situated that the block d' of the
hammer will strike it fairly, is filled with hydrochloric acid, sulphuric acid, or tartaric
acid, whilst the vessel A, the interior of which is suitably galvanised, is full of
bicarbonate of soda.
1

page_text: The cover G is screwed onto the vessel A when the receiver E and the bicarbonate
have been placed therein.
The apparatus constructed and arranged as described operates in the following
manner:
Under the influence of the rise in temperature beyond a fixed quantity, the thread
or chain e melts (or, it may be, the rising of mercury in a column, due to increase of
temperature, will complete an electric circuit and release a detent), the vessel A, being
top heavy, tumbles over forwards, and the hammer rod strikes against the board P
with considerable force.
The hammer is thus forced inwards, and breaks the bulb E, so that the acid is
released and mixes with the soda, thus giving rise to a considerable disengagement of
carbonic acid gas.
At the same time, the weighted cap f takes the position indicated in dotted lines,
Fig. 1, and uncovers the nozzle e¹. The extinguishing gas or fluid can thus escape,
and, under the pressure of gas in the vessel, is caused to strike with considerable
force against the cone g, which breaks up and causes the stream to spread and form a
conical spray which will cover a large area.
As will be seen, the action of the apparatus is absolutely automatic, and this action
is produced by the simple tumbling or tipping over of the vessel A.
Without the help of any person, the hammer is caused to strike, the gaseous
mixture is produced, and the uncovered nozzle emits the jet of extinguishing gas or
fluid.
It will be obvious that the interior arrangement of the vessel A can be varied
without departing from the nature of the invention; for example, the receiver may
consist of a hollow ball E¹ with a single stem, Fig. 5. The ball is kept in place in a
kind of tray G', fixed inside the vessel, by the stem entering the tubular piece F¹
fixed to the cover G. In this case, the hammer may consist of a loose metal ball M
lodged in the tubular portion F of the vessel, which ball M, as soon as the turning
over is effected, will run down the tube, and strike on the ball receiver E¹, thus
breaking it, and releasing the acid, to produce the extinguishing mixture.
In any case, however, the hammer shown in Figs. 1, 2, and 3, is preferred, as its
action is likely to be more certain than the other.
When the apparatus is to be suspended from the ceiling, as indicated at Fig. 2,
there is combined with the metallic support B, a prolongation on which the button d
of the hammer strikes, when the vessel turns over.
It will be understood that no limit is to be placed on the form or the dimensions
of the apparatus, nor on the construction of the different parts, which may be in any
suitable material.
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. An automatic fire extinguishing apparatus, consisting of a vessel A mounted on
trunnions so as to be free to tip over under certain conditions, and enclosing two
isolated liquids, which, when mixed, produce an extinguishing gas, in combination
with a fusible retaining device c, intended to retain the vessel in its unstable position,
until the releasing of the device c permits it to tip over, such tipping over having the
effect of automatically operating the hammer, to break the acid receiver by a blow of
the hammer block d³, and thus obtain the mixing of the materials, to produce the
extinguishing gas, as herein specified.
2. In the automatic fire-extinguishing apparatus referred to in Claim 1 :-(a) A
hammer, a portion of which extends outside the vessel A, so that when the
vessel tips over, such portion will strike against a fixed point, and, by
the reaction, break the bulb E containing the acid, which then mixes with
the bi-carbonate of soda, and produces_ carbonic acid gas, as above described;
(b) The nozzle e' in combination with the pivotted cover or cap f, which,
when the vessel A tips over, automatically uncovers the nozzle, and permits the gas

page_text: to escape as above described; (c) The combination of the nozzle e' with the cone g,
arranged in front of the nozzle, and being capable of adjustment in relation thereto,
in order to break up and spread the stream of gas issuing from the nozzle, over a
more or less extended area; (d) The arrangement of the support B, in which the
automatically tipping-over vessel A is carried, which support contains bearings for
the trunnions a a¹ of the vessel, a curved rest 6, a point of attachment c³ for the
fusible retaining device c, and a fixed abutment for the hammer head to strike
against, as and for the purpose specified.