Patent ID: 6889776

Claim:
An apparatus for use with a container of liquid that is suspended from an aircraft flying over a ground target area, the container having an outlet through which the liquid is dropped from the container, said apparatus comprising: a diffuser configured to diffuse the liquid exiting the container outlet horizontally outward beyond the container into the air above the ground target area, whereby the liquid is diffused over a wide area; said diffuser having a diffuser inlet for receiving the liquid and diffuser outlets for discharging the liquid into the air, said diffuser outlets being spaced horizontally from each other; said diffuser comprising a manifold communicating said diffuser inlet with said diffuser outlets; said manifold having rigid hydraulic lines extending from said diffuser inlet, and also having flexible hydraulic lines extending from said rigid lines to said diffuser outlets; and buoyant structures configured to maintain said diffuser outlets above the container when the container is submerged in a body of liquid.