Year: 1888

page_text: 1, JOSEPH HEROUX, of Tamachiche, in the county of St. Maurice, and Province of
Quebec, Dominion of Canada Architect 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 :-
My invention has reference to an automatic gas-extinguisher, having for its object
the prevention of the numerous accidents arising from the ignorance or negligence
of parties blowing the gas out, instead of cutting off the supply.
Fig. 1 is a side elevation; Fig. 2, a plan view. Fig. 3 is a back view showing
position of movable vertical piece when gas is cut off, and Fig. 4 is also a back view
showing position of movable vertical piece when gas is opened.
A is an ordinary gas-bracket, to which is secured my apparatus by means of the
thumb screw B. As can be seen, the gas-flame C heats the small metallic rods D, E,
and F, consequently forcing them to expand. So doing they act on the levers G H
and bell-crank I in the following manner. Rod E, being joined at one end to frame J
at e, and at the other end to lever H at el, pushes e outward when it expands; but as
lever H is fulcrumed at hand he¹ is shorter than hf, end f moves inward a greater
distance than e moves outward. On the other hand, as rod F is joined at f to lever H
and atto lever G, end f¹ also moves outward, for it is not only forced to do so by
the expansion of E acting on lever H, but also by the expansion of rod F, so that
end moves outward a greater distance than the sum of the expansions of rods E
and F, on account of the unequal leverage of H. Now, lever G is fulcrumed at g,
and as g is shorter than g d, d moves inward a greater distance than f' moves
outward, and as rod D joins lever G at d and bell-crank I at d¹ the distance that
end d¹ will move outward will be equal to the distance that end & moves inward plus
the expansion of rod D. Now, if we consider bell-crank I, it will be seen that arm d'i
is shorter than arm ii; consequently will move downward a greater distance
than d' will move outward. However, d' i could be made equal to ¹ if moved
downward a sufficient distance by so doing. If the light is now extinguished, the
rods D, E, and F would lose their heat, consequently contract, and the exact opposite
effects would take place-that is, the end of bell-crank I would rise instead of move
downward. Now, as can be seen in Fig. 1, the gas stopper L is provided with a
spiral spring, M, placed on its stem. This spring is attached at one end at m to

page_text: bracket A and at the other at to stem of stopper L, so that when I is in position
shown in Fig. 1 the spring M tends to bring stopper L in position shown in Fig. 3-
that is, to cut off the supply of gas. To keep stopper L in position shown in Fig. 1.
it is provided with an arm, N, having a small slot, n, in its outer end. This little
slot n serves to receive end o of movable vertical piece O, thereby keeping stopper L
open. As can be seen by examining Figs. 3 and 4, end o of vertical piece O passes
through an aperture in frame J, (shown in dotted lines,) which is smaller at the top
than at the bottom, so that when end o passes through slot n to hold stopper L open,
the latter, tending to close under the influence of spring M, forces portion P of O
against end of bell-crank 1, so that when end is going down, under the influence
of the expansion of rods D, E, and F, there comes a moment when it passes beyond
check p, and as O is pressing against vertical piece O takes position shown in
Fig. 4. Now, when the contraction takes place, end ¹ rises and lifts vertical piece O,
so that there comes a moment when o rises out of slot n, and at the same time
stopper L closes immediately arm N being no more kept in position by end 0, at the
same time vertical piece O, being no longer pressed against i, is thrown back in
position shown in Fig. 3 by means of spring W, which takes its point of support on
yoke V, which also serves to keep O in position. Vertical piece O being thrown off,
end falls by its own weight until it is kept-up-by-check-u,.and is now ready again to
keep arm N in position. O is made of two pieces kept together by means of screws x
and y, and is provided with the slot X, so as to adjust it to its right length. Gas-
bracket A is also provided with stopper Y, so that the light may be moderated at will.
Now, it can easily be seen that if the gas is blown out, instead of being cut off, the
rods, D, E, and F will contract, and consequently stopper L will cut off the supply of
gas automatically. Of course when gas is lighted arm N has to be drawn back and
hooked on end o, so as to keep stopper L open. The gas may also be cut off and
turned by means of stopper Y; but in any case stopper L will always have to be
opened.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of my said inven-
tion and in what manner the same is to be performed I declare that what I
claim is :-
1. The combination, with a frame, J, provided with levers H and G and metallic
rods D, E, and F, of a vertical support provided with yoke V, a bell-crank, I, a
rod, 0, and means for attaching said parts to a gas-bracket, and the gas-cock provided
with spring M and arm N, all constructed substantially as described and shown.
Dated this 3rd day of March 1888.
HORN & SON,
Agents on behalf of Applicant.