IMPROVED MEANS OF AND APPARATUS FOR EXTINGUISHING OR PREVENTING THE SPREAD OF FIRE IN BUILDINGS
Year: 1874

page_text: PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by Comyn Ching at the Office of
the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the 5th March
1874.
I, COMYN CHING, of Castle Street, in the County of Middlesex, do
hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for "IMPROVED MEANS OF
AND APPARATUS FOR EXTINGUISHING OR PREVENTING THE SPREAD OF FIRE IN
BUILDINGS," to be as follows:-
My Invention relates to improved means for preventing the spread of
fire and extinguishing the same almost as soon as it breaks out.
According to my Invention I fix open troughs or perforated or slotted
pipes around the upper part of the walls of the apartment to be protected
close up to the ceiling, said troughs or pipes being connected with a
water cistern placed at a superior clevation, say on the roof, from which
cistern water is supplied as hereafter described to the pipes or troughs
immediately on the fire breaking out. The water overflows the pipes or
troughs and running down the walls of the apartment floods the floor, a
portion of the water being soon converted into steam owing to the large
surface exposed to the heat of the fire in running down the walls,
whereby the fire will be quickly extinguished.

page_text: The supply of water to the distributing troughs or pipes is under
ordinary circumstances cut off by a cock or valve placed on the supply
pipe where it enters the apartment. To this cock or valve is attached a
lever weighted sufficiently to open the cock or valve when released,
which lever is however held up by a band or cord of inflammable
material or combustible fabric steeped in oil or spirit for instance to
render it readily inflammable. This band is preferably passed over a
sheave on the lever and the two ends led to different parts of the apart-
ment, weights being attached to the extremities to counterpoise the
weighted lever controlling the water supply cock or valve. Instead of
attaching weights to this band sheaves may be attached to the ends,
through which may pass other similar inflammable bands, also ter-
minating in sheaves, for other similar bands to pass through, the said
bands branching out in so many different directions from the first one
until they are sufficiently multiplied in number to be distributed equally
throughout the apartment, and amongst the goods or materials to be
protected. The last bands of the series are counterweighted or made
fast at their extremities, so as to keep the whole series of bands in
tension and hold up the weighted lever. On a fire breaking out the
nearest inflammable band will be quickly ignited and release the band to
which it is attached, which will in turn release the next one, and so on
until the weighted lever is released and allowed to fall and turn on the
water supply to the troughs or pipes. The lever may at same time be
made to give an alarm by exploding a detonating device or releasing an
alarm, or by other suitable means.
In a building having many chambers the lever may be made to throw
out an indicator to show at once the precise locality of the fire, cach
apartment being similarly protected.
When the floors of the building are supported on cast-iron columns I
make said columns hollow and connect them together by pipes so as to
utilize them as the water supply pipes, so that the columns being
permanently filled with water from the cistern will be better able to
withstand the heat of the fire.