U.S. patent number RE29,717 [Application Number 05/670,263] was granted by the patent office on 1978-08-01 for automatic volume adjusting fire hose nozzle with flushing mechanism.
This patent grant is currently assigned to Elkhart Brass Manufacturing Co., Inc.. Invention is credited to William S. Thompson.
United States Patent |
RE29,717 |
Thompson |
August 1, 1978 |
Automatic volume adjusting fire hose nozzle with flushing
mechanism
Abstract
A fire hose nozzle having a tubular body part and a pressure
responsive valve assembly shiftable in the body part. A barrel
member spacedly encircles parts of the pressure responsive valve
assembly and is shiftable toward and away from the valve head of
the assembly for the purpose of allowing flushing of the valve.
Inventors: |
Thompson; William S. (Elkhart,
IN) |
Assignee: |
Elkhart Brass Manufacturing Co.,
Inc. (Elkhart, IN)
|
Family
ID: |
24021228 |
Appl.
No.: |
05/670,263 |
Filed: |
March 25, 1976 |
Related U.S. Patent Documents
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Application
Number |
Filing Date |
Patent Number |
Issue Date |
|
Reissue of: |
508064 |
Sep 23, 1974 |
03893624 |
Jul 8, 1975 |
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Current U.S.
Class: |
239/107; 239/458;
239/453 |
Current CPC
Class: |
A62C
31/02 (20130101); B05B 15/50 (20180201); B05B
1/3073 (20130101); B05B 1/3006 (20130101) |
Current International
Class: |
B05B
15/02 (20060101); B05B 1/30 (20060101); A62C
31/00 (20060101); A62C 31/02 (20060101); B05B
001/32 (); B05B 015/02 () |
Field of
Search: |
;239/456,107,106,452,453,458,459 |
References Cited
[Referenced By]
U.S. Patent Documents
Primary Examiner: Peters, Jr.; Joseph F.
Assistant Examiner: Mar; Michael
Attorney, Agent or Firm: Hall; James D.
Claims
What I claim is:
1. In a fire hose nozzle including a tubular body part having an
inlet end and an outlet end, a pressure responsive valve assembly
shiftable in said body part and including a valve head and a valve
stem, said valve head being shiftable toward and away from said
body part outlet in response to variations in pressure of liquid
supplied to said nozzle, the improvement comprising a barrel member
having fore and aft ends surrounding said valve stem, the aft end
of the said barrel member fitting slidably within the outlet end of
said body part, said barrel member being shiftable longitudinally
relative to said body part between a forward position in which the
barrel member fore end spacedly encircles said valve head to define
a liquid flow path from the nozzle and a rearward position in which
the barrel member fore end is shifted rearwardly of the valve head
to increase the spacing between the barrel member and valve head, a
sleeve member encircling the fore end of said body part and
surrounding said barrel member, means rotatably connecting said
sleeve member to said body part wherein rotation of the sleeve
member upon the body part causes the sleeve member to shift
longitudinally of the body part between extended and retracted
positions, said sleeve member including abutment part means for
contacting said barrel member to shift the barrel member from its
forward position into its rearward position as said sleeve member
is shifted from its extended position into its retracted
position.
2. The fire hose nozzle of claim 1 and biasing means yieldably
urging said barrel member into its forward position.
3. The fire hose nozzle of claim 2 wherein said biasing means is a
helical spring encircling said valve stem and abutting each of said
barrel member and body part.
4. The fire hose nozzle of claim 2 wherein said sleeve means
extends beyond said valve head in an annular spaced relationship to
define in conjunction with said valve head and barrel member a
liquid flow outlet for the nozzle having variable flow pattern
characteristics depending upon the shiftable position of the sleeve
member relative to the body part. .Iadd.
5. The fire hose nozzle of claim 1 wherein said barrel member
includes a wall part defining reaction surface means which liquid
when flowing through said barrel member contacts for urging said
barrel member from its said rearward position into its said forward
position. .Iaddend. .Iadd. 6. In a fire hose nozzle including a
tubular body part having an inlet end and an outlet end, a valve
assembly in said body part and including a valve head and a valve
stem, the improvement comprising a barrel member having fore and
aft ends surrounding said valve stem, the aft end of said barrel
member fitting slidably within the outlet end of said body part,
said barrel member being shiftable longitudinally relative to said
body part between a forward position in which the barrel member
fore end spacedly encircles said valve head and a rearward position
in which the barrel member fore end is shifted rearwardly of the
valve head to increase the spacing between the barrel member and
valve head, said barrel member including a wall part defining a
liquid flow path from a location internally of said body part to
adjacent said valve head, said wall part including reaction surface
means which liquid when flowing through said barrel member contacts
for urging said barrel member from its rearward position into its
forward position, a sleeve member encircling the fore end of said
body part and surrounding said barrel member, means rotatably
connecting said sleeve member to said body part wherein rotation of
the sleeve member upon the body part causes the sleeve member to
shift longitudinally of the body part between extended and
retracted positions, said sleeve member including abutment part
means for contacting said barrel member to shift the barrel member
from its forward position into its rearward position as said sleeve
member is shifted from its extended position into its retracted
position. .Iaddend. .Iadd. 7. The fire hose nozzle of claim 6 and
biasing means yieldably urging said barrel member into its forward
position. .Iaddend. .Iadd. 8. The fire hose nozzle of claim 7
wherein said biasing means is a helical spring encircling said
valve stem and abutting each of said barrel member and body part.
.Iaddend..Iadd. 9. The fire hose nozzle of claim 7 wherein said
sleeve means extends beyond said valve head in an annular spaced
relationship to define in conjunction with said valve head and
barrel member a liquid flow outlet for the nozzle having variable
flow pattern characteristics depending upon the shiftable position
of the sleeve member relative to the body part. .Iaddend.
Description
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
This invention relates to a fire hose nozzle of the automatic
volume adjustment type.
In the fire hose nozzle described and illustrated in U.S. Pat. No.
3,539,112 means are provided for automatically adjusting its water
discharge rate upon variation of water pressure so as to maintain
an effective fire fighting water stream range. It has been found
that during use of this type nozzle, small stones and other foreign
water carried obstructions tend to lodge in the outlet of the
nozzle at the head of its shiftable valve assembly. To clear the
nozzle of these obstructions the nozzle must be turned off and
partly diassembled. This necessity for shutting off the water flow
through the nozzle during its fire fighting use not only reduces
the extinguishing qualities of the fire fighting equipment but is
also may subject the fire fighter or nozzle operator to danger from
the fire by interrupting the water curtain produced by the
nozzle.
In this invention means are provided in which a nozzle of the
automatic volume adjustment type may be flushed without
interrupting the nozzle's use.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
This invention relates to a fire hose nozzle having a valve
assembly therein which is shiftable in response to variations in
liquid or water pressure for the purpose of maintaining generally
the same operative trajectory or reach of the liquid stream for
fire fighting purposes. The fire hose nozzle construction is
improved upon by incorporating means by which the nozzle may be
flushed for the purpose of ridding pebbles and other foreign matter
which is clogging the nozzle without having to turn off the
nozzle.
A barrel member which forms a part of the nozzle construction
surrounds parts of the pressure responsive valve assembly of the
nozzle and in conjunction with the head of the valve assembly
serves to regulate the discharge pattern of the liquid flowing
through the nozzle. Means are provided by which the barrel member
can be shifted longitudinally of the nozzle so as to increase the
spacing between the barrel member and head of the valve assembly
while liquid is flowing through the nozzle for the purpose of
dislodging the matter which was previously wedged between the valve
assembly head and barrel member and which was obstructing flow
through the valve.
Accordingly, it is an object of this invention to provide a fire
hose nozzle having means for flushing the nozzle of obstructing
matter without shutting off liquid flow through the nozzle.
Another object of this invention is to provide a fire hose nozzle
which includes means for automatically adjusting the discharge or
volume rate of the nozzle in response to variations in liquid
pressure to the nozzle, and which additionally includes means for
flushing the nozzle while maintaining liquid flow therethrough.
Still another object of this invention is to provide a fire hose
nozzle with automatic volume adjustment which may be flushed while
maintaining a protective water curtain for the operator of the
nozzle.
Other objects of this invention will become apparent upon a reading
of the invention's description.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING
A preferred embodiment of this invention has been chosen for
purposes of illustration and description wherein:
FIG. 1 is a top plan view of the nozzle.
FIG. 2 is a fragmentary sectional view taken along line 2--2 of
FIG. 1 showing the component parts of the nozzle in operative fire
fighting position.
FIG. 3 is a cross sectional view taken along line 3--3 of FIG.
2.
FIG. 4 is a fragmentary sectional view like FIG. 2 showing
component parts of the nozzle positioned to enable the nozzle to be
flushed of flow obstructing matter.
DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT
The preferred embodiment illustrated is not intended to be
exhaustive or to limit the invention to the precise form disclosed.
It is chosen and described in order to best explain the principles
of the invention and its application and practical use to thereby
enable others skilled in the art to best utilize the invention.
The valve illustrated in FIGS. 1-4 includes a tubular body part 10
which is cylindrical in configuration and which has an "on/off"
valve assembly 12 connected at one end. Valve assembly 12, which is
not shown in detail, may be of the handle actuated ball valve type
commonly used as a shut off valve in fire nozzles. In other
constructions of this invention, the nozzle may not have its own
shut off valve. The manner in which fire hose 14 is connected to
body part 10 and the manner in which water flow through the nozzle
is turned on and shut off are matters of design and convenience and
need not constitute a part of this invention.
A water discharge valve assembly 16 is located within body part 10
and includes a stem 18 and a head 20. A tube 22 is located
coaxially within body part 10. A helical spring 24 surrounds tube
22 and is positioned between the tube and the inner surface of body
part 10. One end of spring 24 abuts a washer 26 which in turn abuts
a four-flanged spider 28. Spider 28 is connected to valve stem 18
and forms a part of discharge valve assembly 16. The opposite end
of spring 24 abuts a spacer ring 30 which in turn is retained
within body part 10 in contact with tube 22 by means of a retainer
ring 32. Retainer ring 32 is externally threaded and is turned into
body part 10 which has engaging internal threads formed therein.
Tube 22 is slotted at 34 to accommodate the flanges of spider 28
with clearance as valve stem 18 and valve head 20 shift
longitudinally with respect to body part 10, causing the
compression of spring 24, during water flow through the nozzle.
A barrel member 36, formed by an annular side wall, has its aft end
38 fitted slidably into retainer ring 32. Barrel member 36 spacedly
surrounds stem 18 of the discharge valve assembly 16 and preferably
has an inner diametrical dimension similar in size to the inner
diameter of tube 22 so as to define a water flow path through the
nozzle. The forward end 40 of barrel member 36 is beveled and is
positioned adjacent head 20 of the discharge valve assembly 16.
Valve stem 18 carries a spider 42 whose flanges contact the inner
surface of barrel member 36 and serve with spider 28 to coaxially
position the valve relative to the barrel member and tube 22.
Aft end 38 of barrel member 36 includes a stop ring 44. A helical
spring 46 surrounds valve assembly stem 18 and is located between
shouldered components of spacer ring 30 and retainer ring 32. One
end of spring 46 abuts shoulder 48 of spacer ring 30 and the
opposite end of the spring abuts stop ring 44 of barrel member 36,
causing the barrel member to be urged into a normal forward
position with the stop ring contacting shoulder 50 of retainer ring
32, as seen in FIG. 2. When stop ring 44 abuts shoulder 50 of
retainer ring 32, the forward end 40 of barrel member 36 spacedly
surrounds valve head 20 so as to produce a desired water flow
trajectory through the nozzle for a given amount of water pressure.
As the water flows through tube 22 and barrel member 36 and around
the valve head 20, the contact of the water with the head will
cause a shifting of the head and valve stem and a resulting
compression of spring 24. Thus as the water pressure within nozzle
10 varies, so will the spacing between valve head 20 and forward
end 40 of barrel member 36 vary. This provides a means, as
described in greater detail in U.S. Pat. No. 3,539,112, for
adjusting the discharge rate of the nozzle without substantial
sacrifice of the reach or trajectory of the water being emitted
from the nozzle.
A sleeve 52 surrounds barrel member 36 and is threadably connected
at 53 to body part 10. Sleeve 52 is a common component of fire
nozzles and is utilized upon rotation relative to body part 10 to
vary the discharge pattern of the water flowing through the nozzle.
In this invention, sleeve 52 serves the important additional
purpose of shifting barrel member 36 rearwardly when it becomes
necessary to flush the nozzle. This sleeve induced movement of
barrel member 36 is effected by providing the barrel member with an
annular flange 54. As sleeve 52 is turned onto body part 10 of the
nozzle, an internal shoulder 56 of the sleeve is caused to abut
flange 54 of the barrel member with the barrel member being urged
rearwardly relative to discharge valve assembly 16, as shown in
FIG. 4, causing compression of helical spring 46. As barrel member
36 is urged rearwardly by sleeve 52, its fore end 40 is moved to a
rearwardly spaced position from head 20 of the valve assembly to
permit obstructing matter, such as pebbles and dirt, and to be
flushed from the nozzle with water flow through the nozzle being
maintained in the form of a protective curtain or screen. Once the
nozzle has been flushed, sleeve 52 is rotated so as to be located
in its extended position, allowing spring 46 to urge barrel member
36 into its normal operating position, as seen in FIG. 2. O-rings
58 are provided between selected components of the nozzle to
provide water sealing fixed or sliding fits.
In some constructions of this invention it may not be necessary to
include helical spring 46 as a means to normally urge barrel member
42 into its forward position with stop ring 44 engaging retainer
ring 32. Water flow through the nozzle may be sufficient when
contacting the inner walls of the barrel member to normally urge
the member into its forward retainer ring engaging position.
It is to be understood that the invention is not to be limited to
the details above given but may be modified within the scope of the
appended claims.
* * * * *