US2796135A - Fire extinguisher - Google Patents

Description

June 18, 1957 l. NURKIEWICZ FIRE EXTINGUISHER Filed Jan. 17, 1955 INVENTOR .fc/mr/us qvqezmsw/cz ATTORNEY United States Patent 9 FIRE EXTINGUISHER Ignatius Nurkiewicz, Colts Neck, N. J assignor to Stop- Fire, Inc., Brooklyn, N. Y., a corporation of New York Application January 17, 1955, Serial No. 482,175

3 Claims. (Cl. 169-31) This invention relates to a fire extinguisher, of the type in which a cartridge of compressed gas is punctured to release the gas, as a propellent, for the fire extinguishing compound.

Such cartridges of compressed gas are well known, and they consist of a stout cylinder, having at one end a mouth, which is completely sealed by a metal disc, which can be punctured, when it is desired, to release the gas by forcing the disc against a pin.

The extinguisher, itself, therefore, has a chamber in which the cartridge may be placed in readiness, and a needle adjacent to the disc, and the disc is punctured by forcing the disc against the needle by a lever handle.

It is an object of this invention to provide a device in which the operating handle, shaped to engage and hold a cartridge, may be moved to open the cartridge chamber to receive a cartridge, and then be moved to and latched in the ready position, while guarding against the danger of pushing the cartridge disc against the pin, during that movement. In this ready position the handle is held by catch against movement in either direction, but, by releasing the catch, the cartridge may be pushed still further in, to release the gas.

Figs. 1, 2 and 3 are side elevations of an extinguisher head, embodying the invention, showing respectively the unlocked position, the position during the locking operation and the locked position of the control lever. Fig. 4 is a similar view showing, also, the cartridge holding cylinder and cartridge in the discharging position. Fig. 5 is an end elevation, partly in section on the line 55 of Fig. 3.

In the drawing, the numeral represents a cylindrical container, adapted to hold a powder, or other fire extinguishing substance, closed by a head 12 screwed into it, as shown at 13. The head 12 is hollow, and having in turn screwed into it, a shell 14 forming with the hollow of the head a cavity, to receive a cartridge 15, charged with propellent gas, held under pressure by a sealing disc 16.

Mounted in the shell 14 is a plug 17, carrying a pin 18 and carrying, also, a resilient means, such as a rubber gasket 19 for resisting the inward movement of the cartridge.

A cover 20 is pivoted to the head 12, at one side, as shown at 21, and having at its other end a handle 22. The cover 20 is shaped so that it may engage the top of the cartridge 15. It is the functioning of the cover 20 that it may be opened to permit insertion of the cartridge, and then brought over the cartridge to hold it in place, as shown in Fig. 1, and it can then be depressed to cartridgeholding, or ready position, as shown in Figs. 2 and 3 and stopped there, without danger of puncturing the sealing disc. It may then, when needed, be released from the stopping mechanism to permit it to be moved to the cartridge-discharge position of Fig. 4. The movement of the handle to discharge position is a continuation of the same downward movement to the latching, or ready position. It is a feature of this invention to stop the downward movement at the latching position, in a manner to require manual release before the continued movement to discharge can be made. The following latching mechanism has, therefore, been devised.

This mechanism comprises, primarily, a latch 24 pivoted at 25 on the opposite side of the head 12 from pivot 21, which latch extends upwardly into the path of the handle 22, and is spring pressed, counter-clockwise, toward the head 12 by a spring 26. This latch can extend through an opening 27 in the handle 22. It is provided with a downwardly facing surface 28 which forms the lower face of a pointed catch 29, the upper surface is beveled, as shown at 30, to provide a cam. This catch is on the near side of the latch, that is on its side toward the head. This catch is thus in position to engage the top face of the handle at the edge of the opening 27 when the handle is in latching position, as seen in Fig. 3, and it has an upwardly facing surface, or stop, 31 on the opposite, or far side, of the latch from catch 29, in position to engage the under face of the outer edge of the opening as the catch 29 passes thru the opening, as seen in Fig. 2. The latch is undercut just below the catch 29 to provide a recess 32 of a size and shape to engage the handle at the near edge of the opening, and hold it against movement in either direction, as shown in Fig. 3.

The stop 31 is formed by cutting away that portion of the latch above it, and the transverse width of the latch from the point of the catch 29 to the cut-away portion is substantially equal to the length of the opening 27, so that as the catch passes thru the opening, the stop 31 is in alignment in the direction of the movement with the body of the handle beyond the opening 27. The portion of the latch below the stop 31 is also of a width substantially equal to the length of the opening, thus, the handle has an outer position while the catch is passing thru it and then, when the handle engages stop 31 it snaps to an inner position where the edge of the opening falls into recess 32. It must be moved part way back to free this engagement, in order to be moved to discharge position of Fig. 4

By the above construction, the cover may be thrown back while a new cartridge is inserted, and then closed, as seen in Fig. 1. The handle may then be squeezed, whereupon the cam surface on top of the catch pushes the latch, to permit the handle to be moved down to stop 31. When the handle is released the latch swings in, to cause the edge of the opening to enter recess 32.

A handle 33 is provided, extending up from the latch, which may be grasped to pull the latch back, so that the handle 22 may be moved to discharge position.

A lower handle 34 is also provided at 24 to co-operate with handle 22, so that the latter may be operated by the hand which grasps it.

It will be observed that the lower edge of the recess 32 is below the stop 31 so that on pulling back the handle 33, preparatory to discharging the contents of the cartridge, the stop 31 will be above the edge of the handle 22, and the caps 24 can, therefore, not be removed far enough to cause the handle 22 to again strike the stop 31. In this way, when the emergency comes to use the extinguisher, there is no likelihood that the handle 22 will be blocked by the stop 31, which would interfere with the immediate use of the device.

What is claimed is:

l. The combination with a fire extinguisher of the type having a container for a fire-extinguishing substance and a cylindrical head adapted to contain a cartridge of compressed gas held within said head spaced from a disc piercing pin, and having a handle pivoted to said head for holding said cartridge therein, with a latching mechanism comprising a spring pressed latch pivoted to said head and having a pointed catch in position to pass thru an opening in said handle, the upper surface of said catch being downwardly inclined to serve as a cam engaging the side of said opening and the undersurface being adapted to engage over said side to retain the handle in cartridge retaining position, a stop upon said latch opposite said catch in position to engage the handle to stop its. movement at the cartridge retaining position and thereafter by the spring actuated movement of the latch to release said handle at said stop at cartridge retaining position, and manually releasable means for holding said handle in cartridge retaining position against further downward movement.

2. A device according to claim 1 having a recess on said latch beneath said catch in position to receive the edge of the opening in the handle when the latch moves the stop out of engagement with the handle whereby when the latch is moved to cartridge retaining position it will be stopped and retained in that position by engagement with said recess and cannot be moved to cartridge piercing position until the latch is manually moved.

3. The combination with a fire extinguisher of the type having a container for a fire-extinguishing substance and a cylindrical head adapted to contain a cartridge of compressed gas held within said head and hold it spaced i from a disc piercing pin, With a latching mechanism comprising a handle pivoted to said head for holding said cartridge in position, a spring latch pivoted to said head in position to pass thru an opening in said handle, said latch comprising a body portion and a head portion, said head portion having a cam surface in position to engage the side of said opening and move the latch against the pressure of its spring and having an undersurface adapted to engage the upper side of the edge of the opening to retain the handle in cartridge retaining position and the body portion having an upwardly facing projection on the edge opposite said head in position to stop the handle at cartridge retaining position when the latch is moved by the action of the handle upon the cam surface, and said latch having a recess beneath the catch for retaining the handle in cartridge retaining position as soon as it is released by the cam surface.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,530,583 Nurkiewicz Nov. 21, 1950 2,533,685 Nurkiewicz Dec. 12, 1950

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