Improvements in Automatic Fire-extinguishing Sprinklers.
Year: 1897

page_text: Date of Application, 7th Aug., 1897
Improvements in Automatic Fire-extinguishing Sprinklers.
I, WILLIAM ARTHUR PRICE, of St. Paul's Square, in the City of Birmingham,
Manufacturer, do hereby declare the nature of this invention to be as follows:
This invention relates to automatic fire-extinguishing sprinklers, attachable
to water-distributing pipes located within buildings and closed by valves which
are released or opened automatically at a predetermined temperature by the
fusion of a soft metal joint or seal, and has for its object, a sprinkler which is
cheaply made, simple in its construction, whose component parts are easily fitted
and which when in use, is' extremely sensitive in its action, and is capable of
withstanding a high water pressure and resisting any shocks incidental to water
hammer.
The improved sprinkler comprises a screwed, hollow and shouldered terminal
or union with the inner end affixed and made fast within the end of the branch
pipe by the said end screwing up to a hexagonal or other collar, and with the
tail end, outwards of the said collar, also being wormed to receive the base or
annular bed of a hanging yoke terminated at its lower end by a spreader, con-
sisting of a disc with upwardly inclined toothed edges and coming perfectly
central or in a line with the axis of the opening in the union impinges or falls
upon the said spreader and is thereby distributed.
The outer end of the union comes within a short distance of the underside of
the base or bed of the yoke, so as to thereby form a seating for the valve, which
lies within the sinking thus made, with a soft metal disc coming between their
opposed faces, so that as the sprinkler is rotated onto the seating, the distance
between the valve and the spreader is diminished. The middle of the underside
of the valve has a teat or conical peg which takes into a like-shaped sinking
made in the opposed face of the upper arm of the L shaped lever, whose under-
side has an excentrically disposed saw-cut or notch, wherein a knife edge forming
an end or an upper end of a slightly inclined strut or prop disposed between the
said lever and a cone or nipple on the lower cross end of the yoke, comes, with its
lower end being slightly cupped to take an adjustable bearing upon the said cone.
The long arm of the L-shaped or secondary lever impinges upon the inner in-
clined side of a curved spring or tertiary lever kept in a state of tension by the
slight excentricity or out-of-line impingement of the said prop upon the second-
ary lever. The connection of this tertiary lever in its proper position relative to the
other elements of the sprinkler, is made by a hole at its lower or fulcrum end taking
over the nipple or cone on the lower cross end of the yoke, whilst its other end,
which has a hole or eye through it, is slipped over and fits upon a flange-ended
connection sleeve or pin carried by and passing through a hole in a bracket or
bar crossing and made fast to the bed or base of the yoke.
Connected to one end of the sleeve or peg by fusible solder or metal, is a cap
or flanged ferrule, with the flange preferably abutting against the face of the
free end of the tertiary lever.

page_text: In assembling the parts of the sprinkler, first place the tertiary lever in posi-
tion, with its lower fulcrum end taking onto the nipple of the yoke whilst its
fusible joint end takes over the connection sleeve or pin and is there secured by
the affixing on of the cap by fusible metal. Now put the valve in the sinking
at the mouth of the union and place the secondary or L shaped lever in position,
with the strut or prop coming between its bearing arm and the end of the nipple
on the yoke. Now rotate the sprinkler upon the union from the left to right
when the valve will be brought forward and a sound joint made between it and
its seating, and the impingement end of the L-shaped lever is made to travel
inwards and down the incline of the tertiary lever, thereby turning its lower end
upon the fulcrum and putting its free end into a state of considerable tension,
but which is restrained only by the fusible joint and which when subjected to
the influence of a predetermined degree of abnormal heat, on the occurrence of
a fire, is stripped from its restraining position by the springing outwards of the
free end of the tertiary lever. This releases the component elements of the
sprinkler, which collapse and the valve, being now unsupported, falls and water
then rushes from the union, falls onto the spreader and is distributed over the
apartment.
Dated this 31st day of July 1897
Improvements in Automatic Fire-extinguishing Sprinklers.
I, WILLIAM ARTHUR PRICE, of St. Paul's Square, in the City of Birmingham,
Manufacturer, 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 automatic fire-extinguishing sprinklers, attachable
to water-distributing pipes located within buildings and closed by valves which
are released or opened automatically, on a predetermined temperature being
exceeded, by the fusion of a soft metal joint or seal, which normally holds or
retains the parts of the apparatus in their closed positions, and the said invention
has for its object, to provide a sprinkler which is cheaply made, simple in its
construction, whose component parts are easily fitted and which when in use,
is extremely sensitive in its action, but is still capable of withstanding a high
water pressure and of resisting any shocks incidental to water hammer.
Figure 1 of the accompanying drawing represents, upon an enlarged scale
a side elevation of an automatic sprinkler constructed according to my invention,
with the parts of the same shown held in their closed positions by the fusible
seal.
Figure 2 is a front elevation of Figure 1, and Figure 3 is a vertical section of
Figure 2 upon the dotted line 2.
Figure 4 is an underside plan of Figure 1.
Figure 5 represents another side elevation of the apparatus, but showing the
parts of the valve and the means employed for normally keeping the same closed,
in the act of collapsing or falling away so as to admit of the flow of water into an
apartment, on the temperature of the same rising, on the occurrence of a fire,
to a degree sufficient to cause the fusible seal to melt or give. The said view also

page_text: shows how the water falling from the valve comes upon a spreader placed in its
path and is thus distributed over the apartment.
The same letters of reference indicate corresponding parts in the several figures
of the drawing.
The improved sprinkler, as represented in the said drawings, comprises an
externally screwed, hollowed and shouldered union or connection a, the inner
end a, of which screws into and is made fast within the end or other part of
a water supply pipe, the said end being screwed therein up to a hexagonal or
other collar a², whilst the tail end a", outwards of the said collar, also being
wormed to receive the base or annular bed 6, of a hanging yoke b, terminated
at its lower end by a spreader c, consisting of a disc c¹, with upwardly inclined
toothed edges c², arranged so as to come perfectly central or in a line with the
axis of the opening a³ in the union, from which water issues and impinges or
falls upon the said spreader and is thereby distributed or thrown over an apart-
ment in which the sprinkler is located.
The outer end of the union is 'screwed into the annular base of the yoke to
within a short distance of the underside 63, of the same as to thereby leave or
form a seating 63, for the valve disc d, which lies within the sinking thus made,
with a soft metal disc e, and a tale ring e, to prevent the valve sticking coming
between its top side and the lower end of the union, so that as the yoke of the
sprinkler is rotated onto the end of the union, the distance between the valve
and the spreader is diminished. The middle of the underside of the valve has
a teat or conical peg d', which takes into a like-shaped sinking e! made in the
opposed face of the upper arm e³, of an L-shaped lever, e, whose underside has
an excentrically disposed saw-cut or notch e³, wherein a knife edge f¹, forming
an end or an upper end of a slightly inclined strut or prop f, disposed between
the said lever and a cone or nipple 63, on the lower cross end of the yoke, comes,
with its lower end being slightly cupped at f, so as to admit of it taking an
adjustable bearing upon the said cone. The long arme, of the L-shaped or
secondary lever impinges upon the inner inclined side of a curved spring or
tertiary lever g, kept in a state of tension by the slight excentricity or out-of-line
impingement of the said prop upon the secondary lever. The connection of this
tertiary lever in its proper position relative to the other elements of the sprinkler,
is made by a hole g¹, at its lower or fulcrum end 2, taking over the nipple or
cone 3, on the lower cross end of the yoke, whilst its other end g³, which has
a hole or eye g, through it, is slipped over and fits upon a flange-ended and flat
connection pin h, carried by and passing through a hole 64, in a bracket or car b³.
made fast to the bed or base of the yoke.
Taking onto the inner end of the said connection pin h, the flange h¹, of which
comes or abuts against the outer face of the free end of the tertiary lever, is an
open sided and clip-like ferrule i, coming on the inner side of the ear 65, on the
base of the yoke and being secured to the said peg by fusible solder or metal j.
In assembling the parts of the sprinkler, first place the tertiary lever in posi-
tion with its lower fulcrum end taking onto the nipple of the yoke, whilst its
fusible joint end takes over the connection pin and is there secured by the affix-
ing on of the ferrule by fusible metal. Now put the valve in the sunken seating
made for it at the end of the union and place the secondary or L shaped lever
in position, with the strut or prop coming between its bearing arm and the end
of the nipple on the yoke. Next rotate the sprinkler upon the union from the
left to right, when the valve will be brought forward and a sound joint made
between it and its seating, and the impingement end of the L-shaped lever is
made to travel inwards and down the incline of the tertiary lever, thereby turn-
ing its lower end upon the fulcrum and putting its free end into a state of con-
siderable tension, in which it is restrained or tied only by the fusible joint, the
solder of which, when subjected to the influence of a pre-determined degree of
abnormal heat on the occurrence of a fire, melts or fuses and admits of the two
parts of the joint being disconnected or stripped apart and taken out of their

page_text: restraining positions by the springing outwards of the freed end of the tertiary
lever. This releases the component elements of the sprinkler, which collapse
(see Figure 5) and the valve falls or is forced out of its seating and a stream of
water issues from the union, impinges onto the spreader and is distributed broad-
cast over. the apartment and over the produce, furniture, or the like that may
be stored or placed therein.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of my said in-
vention, and in what manner the same is to be performed, I declare that what
I claim is:-
First: An automatic fire-extinguishing sprinkler, in which the valve is re-
tained in its seating within the water supply passage by a rocking lever, excen-
trically supported by a prop disposed between it and the lower part of an adjust-
ing frame or yoke, with the free end of the said lever bearing against a tertiary
or tension lever, mounted at one end on the said yoke, and normally tied thereto
at the other end by a fusible joint or connection, the arrangement being such
that on the screwing up of the said yoke, the distance between its lower end and
the valve is decreased and the several elements of the system are put into a state
of tension, so that on the melting of the fusible connection by abnormal heat,
the said elements collapse, the valve leaves its seating, and water issues from the
supply, for the purpose herein set forth.
Secondly An automatic fire-extinguishing sprinkler, comprising a yoke or
frame, screwing onto the tail end of a union with the water supply, and prefer-
ably having a spreading device in connection with it, a valve located in a seat-
ing formed or left at the end of the said union and having a concentric teat or
stud on its underside taking into a coincident sinking on the topside of one arm
of an L-shaped rocking lever, which is supported by a slightly inclined prop,
the lower end of which may rest on a conical or equivalent formation at the lower
part of the yoke, whilst the upper end excentrically impinges against, and may
engage into, a notch or depression in the underside of the aforesaid arm of the
rocking lever, whose other arm bears against a tertiary and tension lever taking
at one end over the said coned lower part of the yoke, whilst an eye or hole in
its upper part comes coincident with an eyed ear on the base of the said yoke,
and is normally secured thereto by a flange-ended pin or peg taking through
the said eyes and into an open-sided socket or sleeve, to which it is secured by
fusible solder or metal, substantially as and for the purpose herein described and
set forth.
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1000
WILLIAM ARTHUR PRICE,
By Henry Skerrett,
24, Temple Row, Birmingham, Agent for Applicant.