Improvements in Automatic-sprinklers.
Year: 1896

page_text: COMPLETE SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in Automatic-sprinklers.
I, ROBERT WILKINSON NEWTON, of 16 Diamond Street, in the City of
Providence, County of Providence, State of Rhode Island, United States of
America, Machinist, 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 improvements in automatic-sprinklers wherein valves
are normally held against their seats by struts or arms which being disrupted or
displaced allow the valve to be removed from its seat, at the outlet opening of the
discharge nozzle, so that the water discharged from the nozzle will strike a deflector
supported in front of the nozzle, be deflected and broken up into spray and
distributed over a large area to extinguish an incipient fire and prevent the spreading
of the fire.
One object of the present invention is to make the automatic-sprinkler more
sensitive to heat and more prompt in opening at the first rise in temperature caused
by the breaking out of a fire.
Another object of the invention is to construct the struts so that on the weakening
of the solder the strut will be disrupted and the valve released by the inherent
resiliency of the structure independent of the force exerted by the internal
pressure.
And a further object of the invention is to secure a more even distribution of
the water over a larger area than is possible with the distributors heretofore
in use.
The invention consists in the peculiar and novel construction of the automatic-
sprinkler and the combination of the parts by which the struts holding the
valve will be disrupted on the weakening of the solder by forces iuberent in the
structures.
Figure 1 is a side view of my improved automatic-sprinkler showing one form of
my improved struts..
Figure 2 is a vertical sectional view of the same.
Figure 3 is a side view, Figure 4 a vertical sectional view and Figure 5 a
horizontal sectional view of one form of my improved strut for holding the
valve.
Figure 6 is a side view and Figure 7 a vertical sectional view of a modified form
of the same strut.
Figure 8 is an end view, Figure 9 a vertical sectional view and Figure 10 a side
view of another form of strut.
Figure 11 is a top view and Figure 12 a sectional view of a spring used in.
connection with the valve of the sprinkler.
In the drawings a indicates the screw-threaded nozzle of the sprinkler, ban
arched frame, c a conical boss forming the keystone to the frame, da concaved
smooth-edged deflector, e the nut engaged with the screw by which the deflector
is secured and which in connection with the screw facts as a lock-nut to the
screw.
Heretofore the deflectors for automatic sprinklers were provided with serrated
edges or with holes through which the water was forced,-by a series of practical
tests I find that such holes or serrations obstruct the free discharge of the water
and that under similar conditions a smooth-edged dished deflector, when a central

page_text: cone is placed into the same, will distribute the water more uniformly and over a
greater area than a serrated or perforated deflector and will throw the water
upward against the ceiling more evenly, the cone c and the deflector d co-operating
to break up the stream into spray.
The outlet opening of the nozzle a is closed by the valve g in a central circular
recess of which is placed the spring-disk gl having the central bearing-disk g
secured to it, the spring disk is bent and hardened so as to form a strong resilient
spring which will react when the pressure is released and will resist considerable
pressure exerted on the valve.
The strut which bears on the screw f and on the bearing-disk g² consists, as
shown in Figures 1 and 2, of two circular disks h, h, in the vertical axial center of
each of which a semi-circular groove is formed by bending or stamping the disks.
These two disks are secured together by a solder, fusible at a low temperature,
preferably along the outer edges of the disks, as is indicated in dotted lines in
Figures 1, 3 and 6. Within the tubular opening formed by the two concave
grooves, as shown in Figure 5, the rods i, i, and the ball k are inserted so that the
ball is in the center and the pointed ends of the rods i, i, bear against the ball, the
valve and the end of the screw f; by this construction the solder is removed from
the cooling influence of the body of the sprinkler.
In the modifications shown in Figures 3 to 7 the plates h, h, are bent on a line
transversely to the vertical axis of the strut-rods i, i, and in Figure 7 one of the
strut-rods i is provided with a coiled-spring 1; by these constructions the weakening
of the solder by heat and the disruption of the struts is materially hastened and the
more prompt release of the valve insured.
The modified form of strut shown in Figures 8, 9 and 10 consists of two strut-
plates m, m, the two inner edges, preferably rounded, bear against each other,-
against one side of these plates is placed the washer n and on the other side the
plate o, the bridge-piece p bears on the plate o at the opposite ends and within the
bridge-piece p the stirrup q is secured to the bridge-piece by a solder fusible at a
low temperature, the screw v secures the bridge-piece and stirrup to the plate o
and holds the strut-plates m, m, in the vertical position until the solder is weakened
by the heat of a fire when the bridge-piece p separates from the stirrup-piece q,
the structure is at once disrupted and the valve held by it released. This
disrupting may be facilitated by placing the coiled-springs between the stirrup
and bridge-piece, as is shown in Figure 8, or by placing the strut-plates m, m, at
opposite inclinations, like the rods i, in Figure 4. The laterally projecting
position of the soldered surfaces materially increases the sensitiveness of the
automatic-sprinkler, as the rising heat more readily acts upon the same.
Having now particularly described and .ascertained the nature of my said
invention, and in what manner the same is to be performed, I declare that what
1 claim is :-
Claim 1. In an automatic-sprinkler, the combination with the nozzle, the valve
closing the nozzle, and the arched frame, of struts bearing on the valve, and an
adjustable screw, said struts being held in their normal position by plates secured
together by solder on each side of the struts, as described.
2. In an automatic-sprinkler, the combination with the nozzle, the arched frame
and the conical boss placed in the line of the discharging stream, of the smooth-
rimined concaved deflector whereby the water rushing from the nozzle is distributed,
as described.
3. The combination, in an automatic-sprinkler, with the nozzle, of the valve g,
the spring-disk g', the thrust-plate g', and a strut constructed to hold the valve to
the outlet of the nozzle to close the same, as described.
4. In a strut for holding the valve of an automatic-sprinkler, the combination
with the rods i, i, and ball k, of the beut plates h, h, whereby the posts are held
at oppositely-disposed angles and the rupture of the plates is facilitated, as
described.

page_text: 5. In a strut for holding the valve of an automatic-sprinkler, the combination
with the plates for holding the struts, of a spring acting to disrupt the holding-
plates when the solder is weakened by an incipient fire, as described.
6. The combination, in a strut for holding the valve of an automatic-sprinkler,
with the plates m, m, the washer n, the plate o, the bridge-piece p, and the
stirrup q, of the screw whereby the strut is held in the normal position and
disrupted on the melting of the solder, as described.
7. In an automatic-sprinkler, the combination of the following instrumentali-
ties; A nozzle for the discharge of the water, a frame having at the point opposits
the nozzle a conical boss, a smooth-edged concave deflector co-operating with the
boss to break up the stream of water and distribute the same over a large area, a
valve for closing the nozzle, and a strut composed of pointed rods, disposed at
oppositely-inclined angles, held in place. by two plates secured together by solder,
whereby the water is automatically distributed over a large area on the breaking
out of a fire, as described.
Dated this 22nd day of May AD 1906
ROBERT WILKINSON NEWTON.
Haseltine, Lake & Co.,
45 Southampton Buildings, London, W.C., Agents for the Applicant.