US848347A - Automatic sprinkler-head. - Google Patents

Description

N0- 848,347. PATENTED MAR. 26, 1907.

' J. A. CASS.

AUTOMATIC SPRINKLER HEAD.

I APPLIOATION FILED NOV. 6. 1906.

209; mes/sea UNETED STATEg name A. oass, or SYRACUSE, NEw YoRK.

auromarto'swimmers-ME D.

Specification of Letters Patent.

. Patented March 26, 1907.

- ilpniioation filed November 6, 1.906. Serial No. 342.256.

To all lei/tom, it nul/y coneern:

Be it known that I, JAMES A. Cass, of Syracuse, in the county of Onondaga, in the State of New York, have invented new and useful Improvements in Automatic Sprinkler-Heads, of which the following, taken in connection with the accompanying drawings, is a full, clear, and exact description.

This invention relates to certain improvements in automatic sprinkler-heads adapted to be attached to one of the distributing-- pipes of the sprinkler system and provided with a discharge-opening which is normally closed'by a suitable stopper held in place by a fusible detent. T hcse sprinkler-heads are in most instances required to remain indefinite periods of time before being called into active operation by the occurrence of a fire; and one of the essential objects of the construction hereinafter described is to prevent undue corrosion or deterioration of any of the elements, and particularly those which are relied upon to close the discharge-passage, so that no matter how long a time may have elapsed between the installation of the sprinkler system and firstoccurrence of the tire the fusing of the destructible detent will allow the instantaneous release of the stopper, and thereby permit the discharge of the .tion or unduly water in the vicinity of the "fire by which the detent was fused.

In other words, one of the most important objects of my present invention is to rovide a non-corrodible stopper and to seat t e same in the discharge-opening of the sprinklerhead in such manner as to endure for any period of time without liability of deterioraadhering to its seat when the detent is fused.

A further object is to hold the stopper in place under a yielding or cushion pressure of some yielding material interposed between the detent and stopper, so as to allow for ordinary contraction and expansion by varying climatic conditions or temperatures.

A further object is to confine the stopperholding mechanism within a comparatively small space between the arms of the sprinkler-head and to avoid any exterior projections which might be struck or displacedby. The stopper and parts.

extraneous forces. engaged directly therewith are held in place by what is commonly known as a strut or struts, bridging the space betweenthe cap of the stopper, and asuitable adjusting-screw, by which the strut is locked in place and one of my objects is to seat the lower end of the strut in the stopper-cap in such manner that when assembled the cap and strut will be locked against certain rotary movements.

A still further object is to make the strut in two sections or plates lapped upon each other face to face and held together by fusible connections against the action of an interposed spring, so that when the strutplates are released by the fusing of such connections the spring will immediately act to separate the plates, and thereby break the integrity of the strut, leaving the stopper free to be forced from its seat by the pressure of the water within the head.

Other objects and uses will be brought out in the following description. In the drawings, Figure 1 is a face view of my improved sprinkler-head shown as attached to one of the'pipes of a sprinkler system. Fig. 2 is a sectional view taken on line 2 2, Fig; 1. Fig. 3 is a top plan of the sprinklerhead with the strut-retaining screw in section to show the lock between the spraylug-disk and upper end of the sprinkler-head.

perspective .views of the detached sections of the strut. Fig. 7 is a perspective view of the opposed spring which is operatively assembled between the struts. Fig. 8 is a perspective view of the detached clamp by whiclrthe strut-sections are held together against the action of the spring. Fig. 9 is a perspective view of one of the detached heads of the clamp. Figs. 10, 11, 12, and 13 are perspective views, respectively, of the glass stopper, the cap for said stopper, a yielding cushion or bufler between the cap and stopper, and the lead washer which forms the stoppenseat.

- The sprinkler-head roperconsists of a onepiece frame or yoke, 0 bronze metal, comprising a hollowbase-section 1, arms 2 converging upwardly from diametrically opposite sides of the base 1 and united at the top. The base 1 is provided with a central exit or discharge opening 3, extending therethrough from bottom t9 top, and is usually threaded externally to adapt it to be screwed into one .of the pipes, as a, of the sprinkler system. The upper end of the base 1 terminates between the arms 2 and is provided with a comparatively smooth angular seat or face 5 for the race tion of a lead washer 0r steam-gasket 6 and g ass stopper 7. The stopper 7 has its lower end adapted to fit within the upper end I of the exit-opening 3 andis usually passedthrough the central opening in the washer 5, the upper end of said glass stopper being enlarged, forming an annular flange 8 of greater diameter than the adjacent end of the opening 3 and adapted to rest upon the upper face of the washer 6.

A circular disk 9, of cork or similar material, of substantially the same diameter asthe flange 8 is interposed between the upper face 'of said flange or top face of the stopper 7 and without liability of opening said stopper and also acting as a cushion between the metal cap 9 and glass stopper to prevent abrasion or breaking of the glass by the metal when the parts are positively forced into operative positlon.

The cap 9 is preferably made in the form of an inverted cup, having a depending marginal flange surrounding and fitting closely upon the sides of the glass stopper to retain the latter centrally in its adjusted position, although the reduced lower end of the stopper fitting into the upper end of the exit-opening serves to additionally center and, retain the stopper against lateral displacement. This cap 9 may be made of any suitable metal, as brass or aluminum, and is provided with a central boss 14, having a transverse elongatedgroove 15, depressed at the center, for receivin the lower end of the strut and retaining it'in ed operating relation to the cap, so that the cap and strut are held against lateral rotary movement. The strut 11 comprises inthis instance two comparatively thin metal plates 16 and 17, preferably of silver,rnetal, or other non-corrodible metal substance, which are connected by a clamp 19 and are adapted to be forced apart by an interposed comparatively stiff bow-spring 20a The strut-plate lfiisprovided at one end with a depending transversely-elongated rib 21, which is offs'et'atone side of the main body of the plateand has its lower edge con.- vexed to fit 1n the groove in the 11 per side of the boss 14,- and thereby lock ,t e cap and strut against rotary movement when the parts are assembled in theiro erative posttions.

ing ownwardly fromthe upper extremity for receiving'the intermediate portion of the clamp 19. i

The strut-plate 1,7 is .slotted upwardly at 23 from its lower end, also for receiving the in The opposite end of t e strut-plate 16 is rovided'with alengthwis'e slot,2 2, open:

g aged in a threaded aperture 27 in the junction of the upper ends of the arms 2 and is also engaged with a central threaded aperture 28 in a spray-cap 29, the screw serving to The clamp 19 is composed of a central bar 33 and opposite end heads 34, each of the lat ter having an elongated slot 35 for receiving the adjacent end of the bar 33, the slot 36 be'- ing slightly wider than the thickness of the bar'33 and is artially closed by a comparatively thin L-. iape plate 38, which is soldered to the outer face of .the head 34 and is fitted tightly against the adjacent end of the bar 33 at one side of the slot, so as to hold said bar against the opposite side of the slot. It now appears that each of the heads 34 is provided with one of the retainer-plates 38 and that each-retainer-plate is secured to its opposite head and to the adj acent endof the bar 33 by a solder which is fusible under a com aratively low temperature. This fusible solder is carefully worked into thejoints between the plates 34 and 38 andbar 33,.s0 as to firmly lock the heads to the bar against relative endwise movement, said heads being thus perma: nently secured to the bar 33 a SUffiClGhtdlS- tance apart to permit the strut-plates16 and "17 and spring 20 to -be easily inserted between the heads 34 and upon the bar 33, the

strut- plates 16 and 17 being held together against the tensionof the interposed spring 20., which tends to force the plates 16 and 17 from each other and a a'instthe inner facesof the'heads 34of the 0 amp 19.- i4 I The retainer-plates 38' aresoldered to the IIO outer faces of the heads 34 and are therefore exposed to any heatwhich might be caused by a-fire within the vicinity of the s 'rinklers.

. head, inwhichcasethesolder wo d be instantly fused orinelted, thereby first releas ing the plates 38 and'heads '34 from secure ment to the bar 33. The spring 20, which is.

now tending to force the strut- 18136916 and 17 apart, causes the latter to orce the un soldered heads 34 from the ,ends of the bar 33,

t e lower end of'the stopper 7 V i It will be observed'u onreferenceto the allowing.the strut-plates to tilt or rockone upon the other until they fill or are forced a art bythe'pressure of the water against drawings, particularly lgs. 2 and '4, that the v lowerflxend of the-.strut-sections l7 rests ina' groove or-upon a shoulder 39 on the strut-sec'- tion 16 near its lowerend and atone side of the yerticalplane" of the bearingof the lower end of the strut-section 16 in the groove 14 'The upward pressure which is exerted against the lower end of the strut-section 16 is therefore at one side of the bearing of the strut-section 17 upon the section 16, so that as the upward pressure is exerted upon the lower end of the struts 16 its upper end is tilted or,rocked laterally, aided by'the spring 20, to break the tie between the strut-sections, and thereby re lease the stopper. The object in making the slot or opening in the head 34 considerably wider than the thickness of the bar 33 is to prevent any possibility of the bar binding in the opening when the the fusing of the solder. This widened slot also serves to permit the entrance of a portion of. the solder at the junction of the'head 34 and plate between the bar 33 and one'side of the slot in the plate 34, and thereby forming a more positive bond at said junction. The cork disk between the cap 10 and stopper 8 not only affords a yielding cushion' between said parts to allow for the slight expansion and contraction of the strut members without opening the stopper, but also preverits any liability of cracking the glass sto per by contact of the metal cap therewit when the struts are firmly screwed do onto the cap. The lead washer which is inte osed between the glass stopper and its metai seat also prevents cracking of the glass, at the same time forms a water-tight packing at the joint.

What I claim is 1. In a sprinkler-head, a base having an opening therethrough and arms diverging upwardly from opposite sides .of the base and united at the top, a screw in the top, a glass sto perfor the opening, a cap for the stopper, an a strut between the screw and cap, said strut comprising two furcated plates, and a clamp inserted in the furcated ends of the plates and provided with end heads held by a fusible bond, and means for forcing-the plates apart when the bond is fused.

In a sprinkler-head, a base having an opening therethrough and opposite arms converging 'u wardly and united at the top, a screw 1n t e top, a stopper for the opening, a strut betwee the screw and stop er, said strut comprisiyiig opposite furcated p ates, an lnterpose apart, and a clamp inserted in the furcated plates, including a fusible element for holding said plates against the pressure of the spring.

3. In a sprinkler-head, a base having a central lengthwise opening therethrough and plate 38 is released by 38, filling the excess of opening an annular shoulder of spring tending to force the plates a frame rising from the base, a stopper for ble means for tying the heads to the bar, and

a spring interposed between the lates tending to force the latter'against the eads,

4. A sprinkler-head consisting of a frame having an opening in its base and a screw in its to a glass stopper in the opening, a lead seat or the stopper, a cap fitting over the sto per, a yielding cushion between the cap ant sto per, a strut between. the screw'and cap, sai of which is seated on the cap and provided with a shoulder at one side of thevertical lane of the seat, the other plate having its lbwer end seated on said shoulder and its up per end engaged with the screw, a spring be tween the lates tending to press them later.- ally, and usible means for tying the plates together.

5. In an automatic s rinkler, a frame having an opening in its ase, a glass stopper having a reduced lower portion fitting in the openingand its upper end enlarged forming greater diameter than the o ening, a lead seat for said annular shoul er, a cap fitted over the upperend of the stopper, a yielding cushion between the cap and stopper, a screw in the. top of the frame, a strut between the screw and cap and com rising opposite upright lates, one of said p ates having its lower end seated on the cap and rovided with a laterally-prohaving its jecting shoul er, the other plate lower end seated on the shoulder and its upper end bearing against the screw, aspring etween the plates tending to force them apart and a clamp for holding'said plates against the action of the spring and including fusible parts adapted to be melted by heat to release the clamp, spring to force the plates apart for the purpose of releasing the stopper when the strut isbroken. V In witness whereof I have hereunto hand this 1st day of November, 1906.

JAMES A.-oAss.

set my Witnesses:

' P.;J. CooNEY,

DELANEY.

strut comprising opposite plates one I05 and thereby permit the IIO-

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