IMPROVEMENTS IN APPARATUS FOR EXTINGUISH; ING FIRE
Year: 1878

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to John Kissack Joshua Foster, Engineer, of Horbury, in
the County of York, and Matthew Cranswick Greenhill, Gentleman, of Belfast,
Ireland, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN APPARATUS FOR EXTINGUISH;
ING FIRE,"
Sealed the 15th April 1879, and dated the 19th October 1878.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said John Kissack Joshua Foster
and Matthew Cranswick Greenhill at the Office of the Commissioners of
Patents on the 19th October 1878.
JOHN KISSACK JOSHUA FOSTER, Engineer, of Horbury, in the County of York,
and MATTHEW CRANSWICK GREENHILL, Gentleman, of Belfast, Ireland.
"IMPROVE-
MENTS IN APPARATUS FOR EXTINGUISHING FIRE."
Our Invention relates to improvements in the Invention for which Letters
Patent were granted to the said John Kissack Joshua Foster, dated September 1st,
1874, No. 2989.
Our present improvements are as follows:-
-
In the chamber or cylinder to contain the chemicals by which the water is to be
charged with carbonic acid gas we provide a perforated plate, dividing said cylinder
near the upper part into two compartments. The chemicals are placed in the
upper compartment through an aperture at top provided with an air-tight plug,
and rest upon the perforated plate, and are thus kept dry until required for use,
instead of falling to the bottom of the cylinder. A pipe from the lower part of
the water cylinder leads into the upper compartment, just above the perforated
plate, and is provided with a cock, which when opened admits the water that is
forced in under pressure, and dissolving or combining the chemicals becomes charged
with carbonic acid gas, and passes through the perforated division plate into the
lower compartment, and so through the discharge pipe therefrom to the point

page_text: required. Any portion of the chemicals not exhausted remains upon the perforated
plate, and is kept dry for use a second or third time without being renewed. Com-
pressed air from a separate compressed air cylinder, connected by a pipe with the
top of water cylinder, is used to force the water through the chemical cylinder, as
above mentioned, said pipe being provided with a branch furnished with a valve,
which allows the air to pass from the water cylinder to the air cylinder, when the
apparatus is being charged as hereafter mentioned, but prevents any back pressure
therethrough. We dispense with a separate air pump to pump or force air into
the compressed air chamber, and in lieu thereof we provide an air-tight chamber
beneath the pump barrel with a valve opening therefrom into the latter, and with
water and air inlets attached to the cylinder that contains the pump. The air
inlet rises above the surface of the water in the outer tank or case of the engine
in which the several cylinders are placed, and the water inlet is provided with a
cock, and when this is closed the pump pumps air, and when open, water.
The air-tight chamber at the bottom of the pump is placed in communication
with the bottom of the water cylinder by a pipe, which is connected to a T piece,
through one branch of which the water is projected on to the chemicals, as above
described, the said T piece boing furnished with a two-way cock for regulating the
charging of the cylinders with the air and water, and the admission of water to the
chemical chamber. The pipe by which the air cylinder communicates with the
water cylinder is furnished with a cock, which, when opened to give passage to
the air, closes the supply from the pump and opens the discharge pipe to the
chemical chamber.
The Invention also relates to means for enabling the machine to be more readily
turned, consisting in an arrangement whereby the front wheels may be raised
clear of the ground. To this end the upright shaft carrying the steering wheel is
supported in bearings, and its upper end is received in a hollow boss formed on a
casting, which projects from the front of the machine, and to which it is firmly
bolted. The steering wheel shaft has a cross rod, on either end of which are small
pulleys, which take under the casting, and acting on a cam surface, which projects
therefrom, raises the front wheels off the ground in whichever position the handle
may be turned.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent filed by
the said John Kissack Joshua Foster and Matthew Cranswick Greenhill in
the Great Seal Patent Office on the 19th April 1879.
JOHN KISSACK JOSHUA FOSTER, Engineer, of Horbury, in the County of York,
and MATTHEW CRANSWICK GREENHILL, Gentleman, of Belfast, Ireland. "IMPROVE-
MENTS IN APPARATUS FOR EXTINGUISHING FIRE."
Our Invention relates to improvements in the Invention for which Letters Patent
were granted to the said John Kissack Joshua Foster, dated September 1st, 1874,
No. 2989.
In order that our present improvements may be more readily understood we
have illustrated them in the annexed Drawing, and will proceed to describe them.
with reference thereto, and to the letters and figures marked thereon. Figure 1
is a front elevation, Figure 2 a plan, and Figure 3 a cross section on line 1-1,
Figure 2, of the different chambers or cylinders standing in a tank, and constituting

page_text: a fire engine of the kind referred to. The dotted arrows on the Drawing indicate
the course of the air, and the full line arrows show that of the water. In this
improved engine there are only three cylinders or chambers instead of five, as
in the said former Patent, and the air is compressed in a separate chamber instead
of in the same chamber with the water, as before.
A is the tank, B is the compressed air chamber, C is the water chamber, and
D the chamber to contain the chemicals by which the water is to be charged with
carbonic acid gas. This chamber D is divided by a perforated copper plate E into
an upper and lower compartment. The chemicals are placed in the upper com-
partment through an aperture at top provided with an air-tight plug or cap D',
and rest upon the perforated plate E, and are thus kept dry until required for use,
instead of falling to the bottom of the chamber, where a small quantity of water
would generally remain. A pipe F leads from the lower part of the water chamber C
through a cock G into the upper compartment of the chemical chamber D, just
above the perforated plate E. Another pipe H leads from the bottom of chamber B
to the top of said water chamber C through the same cock G. The plug of cock G
thus has two ports or thoroughfares corresponding with the pipes F and H, which
are opened and closed together. Said cock G is worked by a handle G¹ on a
spindle rising above the top of tank A. I is a branch pipe from pipe H leading
into the compressed air chamber B for connecting the upper part of chamber Č
with chamber B without passing through the cock G. The pipe. I terminates
within chamber B in a valve to prevent any back pressure formed by closing the
end of the pipe perforating the sides, and covering the perforations with an india-
rubber sleeve i, as shown. K is the water discharge pipe from the lower end of
the cylinder D. L' is an inlet for air or water, according as it is desired to pump
in air to fill the air chamber B, or water from a well to fill chamber C, or to admit
water under pressure from a main to be forced through chamber C, and thence
through the chemicals in chamber D. This inlet rises above the top of tank A,
and communicates by a pipe L with a three-way cock M controlling the three
pipes L, N, O. Pipe N rises from near the bottom of tank A, and pipe O leads
down to a chamber Q beneath the water cylinder C, which communicates with the
pump P fitted within said cylinder C. The chamber Q contains a valve 9 opening
upwards, and the pump barrel is perforated and covered by an india-rubber sheath p
forming a valve opening outwards.
The manner of charging and using the engine is as follows:-The chemicals
(usually carbonate of soda in flake, granulated tartic acid, alum, and pearl ash
in the following proportions by weight, viz.:-carbonate of soda, 6; tartaric
acid, 5; alum, 6; pearl ash, 6) having been placed on the perforated plate E in
chamber D, and the cap D' screwed down tight, and the tank A having been filled
with water, pipes L and O are placed in communication through cock № (L¹ being
open to the atmosphere), and the pump P is set to work to pump air into the
chamber C, whence it passes through pipe H and bye pipe I into chamber B.
When the air in the latter reaches, say, 25 lbs. to the square inch, a tail pipe is
either attached to L' and the pump worked again to pump up water from a well
into chamber C or cock M is turned by means of a spanner applied to the top of
its spindle until pipes N and O are in communication in order to pump water from
tank A into chamber C. In either case the water pumped in, rising in the latter
chamber, forces out the air, which passes into chamber B as before, wherein the
air is then compressed to, say, 100 lbs. on the square inch. The engine is now
charged, and will remain for months ready for immediate use without requiring any
attention. To use it the cock G is turned to open the thoroughfares through pipes F
and H, whereupon the compressed air in chamber B pressing on the surface of
water in chamber C forces the water through pipe F into the upper part of
chamber D, where it dissolves the chemicals. The water now charged with car-
bonic acid gas passes through the perforated plate E into the lower part of D, and
thence through discharge pipe K. Any portion of the chemicals not exhausted

page_text: remains upon the perforated plate E, and is kept dry for use a second or third time
without being renewed.
The other advantages of our improved engine are, that if by accident the air
escapes from the compressed air chamber it can be again charged whilst the tank
is full of water by pumping air into the water chamber by means of the same
pump P, whence it passes to the air chamber, instead as before of being obliged
either to use a separate pump for the purpose or to first empty the tank of water..
Also the facilities for filling the water chamber by attaching a tail pipe and
pumping water from a well, connecting with a water main, or pumping from the
tank at will.
Figure 4 is a perspective view of a steering wheel, which only supports the
weight of the engine when moving in a curve, the engine when stationary or
moving in a straight line being supported on four other wheels, none of which are
guiding wheels, and which may therefore be all of large diameter. We thus obtain
all the advantages of four large wheels for travelling without any under or fore
carriage for the swivelling of the front pair, as usual in four-wheeled vehicles.
This is effected by an arrangement whereby the front pair of travelling wheels is
raised clear of the ground when the engine is moving in a curve.
S is the steering
wheel mounted in a steering fork, whose spindle T turns, and is free to slide up
and down in bearings U, U, in a casting bolted to the front of the engine. An
arm t is fixed 'rigidly to and projects at right angles from the spindle T, and carries
at its outer extremity an antifriction roller, which runs under a cam-shaped
flange V on the under side of a horizontal disc surrounding and cast in one with
the upper bearing U of the spindle. W is an arm fixed rigidly to the spindle, and
to which the draft handle is attached. When the latter is in a central position,
and the engine is consequently moving in a straight line, the friction roller on the
arm t comes under a hollow or depression in the cam V, and the engine then rests
entirely on the travelling wheels X, but when the handle is turned to the right or
left the friction wheel comes under a deop part of the cam V and causes bearings U
to slide up the spindle T, thus raising the fore part of the engine until the fore pair
of wheels are entirely off the ground, the weight of the engine being then borne
by the rear pair of wheels and the steering wheel S.
Having described the nature of our Invention, and the manner of performing the
same, we declare that what we claim as our Invention to be protected by the herein-
before in part recited Letters Patent is,―
1st. In a fire engine as heroin described providing the chemical chamber with a
perforated plate or its equivalent to support the chemicals at the upper part of the
chamber, as specified.
2nd. In a fire engine as herein described the combination and arrangement of
pipes, cocks, valves, and chambers, whereby air or water may be pumped in or
admitted through one cock, and whereby the air and water in their respective
chambers are controlled by a single cock, substantially as shown and described.
3rd. The combination with the steering wheel spindle of the cam and roller,
applied substantially as shown and described for lifting the fore wheels of the engine
off the ground when the steering wheel is turned to the right or left, as specified.
In witness whereof, I, the said John Kissack Joshua Foster, for myself and
on behalf of the said Matthew Cranswick Greenhill, have hereunto set iny
hand and seal, this Seventeenth day of April, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and seventy-nine.