AN IMPROVED METHOD OF AND APPARATUS FOR EXTINGUISHING FIRES
Year: 1875

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Henry Lacy, of Hebden Bridge, in the County
of York, for the Invention of "AN IMPROVED METHOD OF AND APPARATUS
FOR EXTINGUISHING FIRES."
Scaled the 6th December 1875, and dated the 11th June 1875.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Henry Lacy at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
11th June 1875.
I, HENRY LACY, of Hebden Bridge, in the County of York, do
hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for "AN IMPROVED
METHOD OF AND APPARATUS FOR EXTINGUISHING FIRES," to be as follows:-
This Invention relates to a novel method of extinguishing fires in
mills, warehouses, and other buildings, and consists in the employment
an apparatus on the principle of the "Giffard Injector " for forcing
water on the burning building, thus dispensing with pumps and other
appliances for that purpose.
The Invention can be applied to locomotive, marine, or stationary`

page_text: now describe its application to a stationary engine, the boilers of which
are fed by what is well known as "Gresham's Improved Giffard's
Injector." To the main pipe which leads from the injector to the boiler
a branch pipe is fixed, which may be carried to any convenient part of
the building, and the hose attached thereto, and both these pipes are
provided with stop-cocks, so that the water can be directed into the
boiler or into the branch pipe at pleasure. In the event of a fire the
tap leading to the boiler is turned off, and steam is admitted into the
injector, which forces the water along the branch pipe on to the burning
building with a pressure varying as the pressure of steam in the boiler.
In order to prevent the air sucked up by the waste pipe from giving
an intermittent flow to the stream of water produced I fix above and
connect to the branch pipe an air reservoir, into which the air ascends
by its own lightness, and which may be provided, if required, with any
suitable outlet valve. Thus at a trifling cost every steam user can have
a private fire-engine on his own premises, which can be put to work at a
moment's notice.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said Henry Lacy in the Great Seal Patent Office
on the 10th December 1875.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, HENRY
LACY, of Hebden Bridge, in the County of York, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the Eleventh day of June, in the year
of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-five, in the
thirty-eighth year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and suc-
cessors, give and grant unto me, the said Henry Lacy, Her special
license that I, the said Henry Lacy, my executors, administrators, and
assigns, or such others as I, the said Henry Lacy, my executors,
administrators, and assigns, should at any time agree with, and no
others, from time to time and at all times thereafter during the term
therein expressed, should and lawfully might make, use, exercise, and
vend, within the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, the
Channel Islands, and Isle of Man, an Invention for "AN IMPROVED

page_text: {
METHOD OF AND APPARATUS FOR EXTINGUISHING FIRES," upon the condition
(amongst others) that I, the said Henry Lacy, my executors, or
administrators by an instrument in writing under my, or their, or one
of their hands and seals, should particularly describe and ascertain the
nature of the said Invention, and in what manner the same was to be
performed, and cause the same to be filed in the Great Seal Patent
Office within six calendar months next and immediately after the date
of the said Letters Patent.
NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said Henry Lacy, do hereby declare
the nature of the said Invention, and in what manner the same is to be
performed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the
following statement and accompanying Drawings:
:-
This Invention relates to a novel method of extinguishing fires in
mills, warehouses, and other buildings, and consists in the employment
of an apparatus on the principle of the "Giffard's Injector" for forcing
water on the burning building or fire, thus dispensing with pumps and
other appliances for that purpose.
The Invention can be applied to locomotive, marine, or stationary
engines, or to portable fire-engines, but for the sake of illustration I
will now describe its application to a stationary engine, the boilers of
which are fed by what is well known as "Gresham's Improved Giffard's
Injector;" and in order that the same may be clearly understood I have
annexed hereunto a Sheet of Drawing illustrative thereof, and have
marked the same with letters of reference corresponding with those in
the following explanation thereof :-
The annexed Drawing represents an end view of an ordinary stationary
steam boiler and injector with my Invention applied thereto.
a, a, is the water supply pipe; b, b, the boiler; c, c, the injector with
its steam pipe d, d, and waste pipe e, e, as usual; f,f, is the feed pipe
leading into the boiler. To this feed pipe f.f, a branch pipe g, g, is
fixed, which may be carried to any convenient part of the building, and
the hose attached thereto, and both these pipes are provided with stop-
cocks h, h', so that the water can be directed into the boiler b, b, or into
the branch pipe g, g, at pleasure. In the event of a fire the tap h¹
leading to the boiler is turned off, and steam is admitted into the injector,
which forces the water along the branch pipe on to the burning building
with a pressure varying as the pressure of steam in the boiler.

page_text: In order to prevent the air sucked up by the water pipe from giving
an intermittent flow to the stream of water produced I fix above and
connect to the branch pipe 9, 9, an air reservoir i, i, into which
the air ascends by its own lightness, and which may be provided, if
required, with any suitable safety valve. Thus at a trifling cost every
steam user can have a private fire-engine on his own premises, which
can be put to work at a moment's notice.
In some cases I connect a tube k, k, to the water supply pipe a, a,
which tube communicates with a tank 1, 1, containing any suitable
chemical matters or mixtures, which would assist the water in extin-
guishing the fire. This vessel may be placed below, instead of above, if
preferred.
Having now described the nature and object of my said Invention
together with the manner in which the same is to be or may be performed
or carried into practical effect, I wish it to be understood that I claim as. 1
my Invention,—
Firstly. The combination for extinguishing purposes with an ordinary
Giffard or other similar injector of a branch pipe g, g, to which the hose
pipe is to be attached, and of two taps h, h¹, (or a three-way tap) for
closing the communication between the injector and the boiler, and 2
opening that between the injector and the branch or hose pipe.
Secondly. The combination with such branch or hose pipe of an air
vessel i, i.
And, Thirdly. The combination with the water supply pipe of a
Giffard's or other similar injector of a tube communicating with a vessel 2
or tank containing any suitable chemical matters or mixtures which
would assist the water in extinguishing the fire