IMPROVEMENTS IN FIRE EXTINGUISHERS
Year: 1875

page_text: PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by Julius Hall at the Office of
the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the 23rd
December 1875.
I, JULIUS HALL, of No. 90, Chancery Lane, Middlesex, Gentleman,
do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS
IN FIRE EXTINGUISHERS," to be as follows:-
This Invention has for its object improvements in fire extinguishers,
such improvements being particularly applicable to the extinction of fire
on board ships, at the same time that they are equally well adapted for
use in theatres, warehouses, stores, and other similar buildings, and also
to private dwellings. I proceed as follows:-I place around each tier
or floor of the ship or building so as to completely encircle it, and in any
convenient position between the beams or rafters a belt of metal piping,
such piping being of a sufficient diameter to ensure an abundant supply
of water when needed, and I connect such belts together by vertical
pipes so placed in the sides of the ship or building as at all times to be
easily accessible. I provide these vertical side pipes with proper junctions
so that when required a pump may be connected thereto to pump in
the water, and when not in use I cover such junctions with screw caps.
..

page_text: In applying my Invention to ships 1 also provide the belt of piping
on the topmost tier of the vessel with similar junctions, it being very
desirable in the case of a fire occurring on board ship to close all the
hatches and other openings to exclude draught, and pour water on the
flames from the deck, but in applying my Invention to buildings I
reverse such arrangement and provide the pipes encircling the ground
floor with a junction, which is placed on the exterior of the building
near any one of the doors, and encased in an iron box so as to keep it in
working order.
Around the ceiling of each cabin or compartment of the ship or
building I place a cornice of piping, the lower part of which cornice I
perforate with two or more rows of holes to allow of the water when
turned on being distributed in the form of spray or rain, this being the
most effective mode of extinguishing fire, but if preferred slits may be
formed in such pipes instead of such perforations, in which case the
water will fall down in sheets. Such cornices are connected to the main
belts of piping by taps, and in the case of a ship all the handles of such
taps are accessible from the deck, but when applied to buildings they
_are all placed on the ground floor within easy reach. Such taps are so
arranged that when the water is turned on in any one of such cabins or
rooms the others may remain perfectly dry; or if necessary any of such
taps may be partially turned on in any of the cabins or rooms other than
those where the fire is immediately located, and thereby prevent all risk
of the flames spreading by rendering them and their contents damp and
uninflammable. Having so applied this system of pipes and connections
throughout the various compartments of the ship or building I take care
in the case of a ship when such pipes are placed in the lower compart-
ments, in order that the tap communicating with such pipes may still be
on deck, and therefore readily accessible, to have a connecting rod
between such pipes and the tap itself of a suitable length, and in such
cases if necessary I turn on such taps by means of a lever key in the
same manner as the ordinary water mains are turned on. To supply
such pipes with water, when my Invention is applied to a ship, I place
an hydraulic or other suitable pump in any convenient position in the
ship (preferably on deck) and connect it to any of the before-mentioned
junctions. Such pump is furnished with a suitable inlet pipe to permit
- of the water rushing in and being conveyed to the pipes before described.
Where it is a steam ship the steam may be diverted to work it by any of
the ordinary and well-known methods.
:

page_text: In the event of any fire occurring it is only necessary to shut up all
hatches and openings as far as practicable so as to exclude the draught,
connect the pump to any one of the junctions before mentioned, pump
in the water, and turn on the tap communicating with the pipes fixed
around the ceiling of the cabin or room wherein the fire is located,
when a plentiful supply of water is at once secured, and the fire easily
extinguished.