IMPROVED APPARATUS FOR EXTINGUISHING FIRES
Year: 1861

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Lewis Roughton, of Bedford Place, Old Kent Road,
in the County of Surrey, Civil Engineer, for the Invention of "IMPROVED
APPARATUS FOR EXTINGUISHING FIRES."
Sealed the 20th December 1861, and dated the 5th July 1861.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Lewis Roughton at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the 5th
July 1861.
I, LEWIS ROUGHTON, of Bedford Place, Old Kent Road, in the County of
Surrey, Civil Engineer, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention
for "IMPROVED APPARATUS FOR EXTINGUISHING FIRES," to be as follows:-
This Invention relates to a novel arrangement of apparatus, whereby fires
arising from accident or spontaneous combustion, whether in warehouses or
other fixed structures, or in ships, may be successfully combated and brought
under command. In applying the Invention to a warehouse of two or more
stories, I arrange at different elevations water pipes, which shall be capable of
discharging jets of water on to any desired floor. If the warehouse is situate
in a town provided with a public supply at a high pressure, I run. up a
standard pipe from the street main and connect therewith horizontal pipes,
from which I lead branch pipes either above or below the different floors, and
at suitable distances. apart, so as to spread the supply over the whole of the
building. In these branch pipes, supposing them to run along under the floor
of the different stories, I fit pendent valve boxes, which form vents for dis-

page_text: charging the water in jets to the space below. Each valve box I close by a
hollow valve, the centre of which is plugged with fusible metal; this valve is
capable of being lifted from its seat by a screw or other contrivance, say, from
the floor above, to allow of the discharge of water from the vent, the mouth
of which I prefer to form so that it will discharge the water in a shower or in
fine jets. If, however, a fire occurs and makes head without being noticed, the
heat of the apartment in which it commences will melt the fusible metal and
cause a discharge of water, which, being rapidly converted into steam, will
extinguish or greatly retard the progress of the fire. When a supply tank is
provided, the water may be led down therefrom to the system of distributing
pipes, or these pipes may be kept charged with water during a fire by force
pumps on the premises. This will of necessity be the case when the Invention
is applied to ships.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said Lewis Roughton in the Great Seal Patent Office on the
4th January 1862.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, LEWIS
ROUGHTON, of Bedford Place, Old Kent Road, in the County of Surrey, Civil
Engineer, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Fifth day of July, in the year of our Lord One
thousand eight hundred and sixty-one, in the twenty-fifth year of Her reign,
did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me, the said
Lewis Roughton, Her special license that I, the said Lewis Roughton,
my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the said
Lewis Roughton, my executors, administrators, and assigns, should at any
time agree with, and no others, from time to time and at all times thereafter
during the term therein expressed, should and lawfully might make, use,
exercise, and vend, within the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland,
the Channel Islands, and Isle of Man, an Invention for "IMPROVED APPA-
RATUS FOR EXTINGUISHING FIRES," upon the condition (amongst others) that I,
the said Lewis Roughton, by an instrument in writing under my hand and
seal, should particularly describe and ascertain the nature of the said
Invention, and in what manner the same was to be performed, and cause
the same to be filed in the Great Seal Patent Office within six calendar
months next and immediately after the date of the said Letters Patent.

page_text: NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said Lewis Roughton, do hereby declare
the nature of the said Invention, and in what manner the same is to be per-
formed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the following
statement, reference being had to the Drawing hereunto annexed, and to the
letters and figures marked thereon (that is to say):-
This Invention relates to a novel arrangement of apparatus whereby fires
arising from accident or spontaneous combustion, whether in warehouses or.
other fixed structures, or in ships, may be successfully combated and brought
under command, and that to a considerable extent during the absence of fire-
men or other attendants. In applying the Invention to a warehouse of two
or more stories, I arrange at different elevations water pipes, which shall be.
capable of discharging jets of water on to any desired floor. If the warehouse
is situate in a town provided with a public supply at high pressure, I run up a
standard pipe from the street main and connect therewith horizontal pipes,..
from which I may lead branch pipes, distributing them over the building,"
either above or immediately below the different floors and at suitable distances,
apart, so as to spread the supply equably over the whole of the building. In
these branch pipes, supposing them to run along under the floor of the different:
stories, I fit pendent valve boxes, which form vents for discharging the water
in jets to the space below, and by the means, presently to be described, will
be enabled to act automatically, or without manual aid in cases of imminent.
danger.
In the accompanying Drawing, Fig. 1 is a sectional diagram of a warehouse
of three floors, fitted with fire-extinguishing apparatus according to this Inven-.
tion; and Figs. 2 and 3 are enlarged views of the valves and valve boxes
which I propose to employ, Fig. 2 being a longitudinal vertical section, and
Fig. 3 a transverse section thereof.
In Fig. 1, A is the standard pipe, to which the horizontal pipes B, B, run-
ning along the ceiling of each floor, are brought into communication. From.
these again branch other. pipes arranged at any desired distance apart and
carrying the valve boxes C, which are pendent therefrom, for discharging
water on to the floor below them. The valve boxes C are made of cast iron
or other metal, and have sockets a, a, for receiving the ends of the branch
pipes which carry them; b is a hollow cylindrical valve, the body of which is
plugged with a fusible compound c, which may consist of the mixture known
as fusible metal, or of a combination of wax, resin, stearine, or the like sub-
stances mixed in such proportions as to melt, say, at a temperature not less
than 100° Fahrenheit. This valve is pierced with lateral openings, and it
beds by means of elastic packing on its seat, and is capable of being lifted

page_text: from its seat to allow of the discharge of water from the box by a screw d
taking into a tapped socket in the back of the valve, or by other equivalent
contrivance operated, say, from the floor above. The valve box is, by pre-
ference, formed with a closed mouth-piece e, which is pierced with holes like
the rose of a watering pot for discharging the water in a shower or in fine jets.
If, however, a fire occurs and makes head without being noticed, or without
access to the valve boxes being admissible, the heat of the apartment in which
it commences will melt the fusible compound, in the middle of the valve and
cause a discharge of water precisely similar to that which would follow the
lifting of the valve, which water, if not sufficiently abundant to deluge the
apartment, would rapidly be converted into steam; and thus extinguish or
greatly retard the progress of the fire.
In Fig. 1 it will be seen that the standard pipe A is connected to a tank D
situated at the top of the building. This tank will be applicable when an
intermittent supply only of water is procurable, or where the supply is required
to be raised to the required elevation by a force pump; but in towns where
water at a suitable high pressure may be had at all times, the standard pipe
may be connected with the street main, as shewn in red at Fig. 1.
.
When applying the Invention to ships, the system of distributing pipes must
be kept charged with water during a fire by force pumps, as a tank, if used
at all (which would be desirable to make the fusible metal stopping of the
valve available in the hold, for example, when the temperature might rise
without immediate attention being called to the circumstance), must of neces-
sity be of small capacity.
Having now set forth the nature of my Invention of "Improved Apparatus for
Extinguishing Fires," and explained the manner of carrying the same into effect,
I wish it to be understood that under the above in part recited Letters Patent,
I claim effecting the discharge of water into apartments on fire by means of
apparatus constructed as above described, and capable of being set in action
either by hand or by the heat to which it is exposed.
In witness whereof, I, the said Lewis Roughton, have hereunto set
my hand and seal, this Third day of January, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and sixty-two.
L. ROUGHTON. (L.8.)