US1754005A - Oil-tank fire protection - Google Patents

Description

April 8, 1930. w. D. WHTTEIR OIL TANK FIRE PROTECTION Filed March 29, 1926 INVENTOR atented d, ltlilh 'llll'lllhlhlfi l3). W'JIETEE, till UIlTIGA, NEW YORK, ASSIGNOR, Bl? MESNJE ASSIGNMENTES, ".1 30 Li li. FRANKIE AND FOAMITE CORPORATIUN, A GURPOJRATJEUN @h NEW milk-TANK HIRE PRUTECTIQN application tiled March 29, 1926. serial 1%. east-a.

This invention relates to foam type fire extinguishing systems as applied to oil tank and other containers of volatile inflammable fluid.

it is customary, in such systems, to install on the tank wall a foam conduit, sometimes referred to as a mixing head, the purpose of which is to conduct and deliver foam from an exterior source or place of mixing and deposit it on the surface of the oil inside the to tank; Eiuch systems are subject to failure or till itaulty action due to the entrance and gradual condensation in the head or foam conduit of oily vapors producing a waxy deposit therein, or in the supply pipe or pipes connected thereto, so that the system is likely to become clogged by the stoppage of its passages by such material or its initial operation is to. discharge such condensed or inflammable material on the tire which, t course, is not desirable. This invention provides an organiza tion of team conduit and vapor excluding means suited to prevent such intrusion of oily vapor and capable of use to this end in a most practical manner. lhe exclusion oi vapors is accomplished by the use of a suitable diaphragm normally subject to atmospheric or equal pressures on its opposite sides but so constituted as to become ruptured or broken down or otherwise displacedby the mere pressure of the loam thereupon when the system is put in operation, and such dia-' phragm is so mounted and related to the other. parts as to be easily renewable, alter rupture, wholly irom the outside and not requiring the workmen to enter the oil tank beyond thrusting his arm through a suitable opening provided for the purpose.

lin the drawings Fig. l is a view in perspective of an oil tanlr provided with a fire extinguishing system embodying this invention. Fig. 2 is a. tragmentary detail view upon a larger scale,

partly in elevation and partly in vertical sec-- tion, of the mixing head and ass'o ciated parts oil the aforesaid system. Fig. 3 is a sectional view on the line ill-dill of Fig. 2.

In the illustrated embodiment, 1 is a container for inflammable fluid, shown as an oil tanlr with a rim 2 on which rests a root 3 having an opening tor the introduction of tire extinguishing foam, and at 4: l 'have shown a mixing head or chamber to which foam or ioam-producing'materials are supplied as by supply pipes 5 and 6 which are extended from pumps A and B indicated conventionally as suitable sources for supplying foam-making solutions.

Valves are shown at 7 and 8 respectively to control the flow of the solutions, and these valves and the pumps are installed at a suitable distance from the oil tank to permit their operation safely in the event of a fire in the tank, the conduits 5 and 6 being respectively shown as broken away to indicate the fact that they are longer than would otherwise appear from the drawing.

The mixing head or chamber 4 may be of any suitable form and material. lit is illustrated as tapered in elevation, with the conduits 5 and 6 entering oppositely near the bottom, where the head and its connected conduits are carried by the supports 9.

The mouth or spout 10 of the mixing head projects downward through the roof, in position to discharge the team onto the oil in the tank and in accordance with the invention a closure 11 is provided to prevent tank vapors vt'rcm entering the mixing head. In the embodiment illustrated in Figs. 1 to 8 this closure is termed of very weak sheet metal or foil or a sheetot asbestos or paper, as its purpose is only to prevent the intrusion of vapor into themixing chamber and system from the tank and it is not normally subject to static pressure. The closure is placed against the upper face of an inward flange on the spout ing normally closed by the hand-hole plate 15.

in operation the closure or diaphragm 11 is broken by the incoming foam. The apparatus is brou ht into action by the simple operation of in1ecting the foam or pumping the component solutions through a pipe or pipes into the mixing chamber and at all other times merely atmospheric pressure exists in the mixing chamber or pipe system, this being an important factor inasmuch as thereby a weaker closure can be used, so weak as to be certain to yield instantlyto the pressure of the foam when the apparatus is called into action.

I claim: 1. In oil tank fire protection systems, the

combination of the oil tank, afoam conduit secured to the wall thereof for conductin foam from the outside to the oil inside o said tank, a vapor-excluding diaphragm ex tending across the path of the foam through said conduit at a point inside of the oil tank, said diaphragm being normally subject to equal pressures on its opposite sides but adapted to break down and permit foam flow merely by the pressure of the foam'thereagainst, a seat provided on the conduit and with which said diaphragm makes a vaporproof joint, and an access opening and removable cover plate adjacent said seat and through which a person outside of the tank may adjust or renew said diaphragm.

2. In oil tank fire protection systems, the

combination of the oil tank, a foam conduit arranged to conduct foam from the outside of the tank onto the oil inside of it, a vaporexcluding diaphragm extending across the path of the foam through said conduit, at a pgint inside of the oil tank, said diaphragm ing normally subject to equal pressures on its opposite sides but adapted to break down merely by the pressure of the foam thereagainst, a seating flange provided on the conduit, means for clamping said diaphragm thereon in a vapor-proof manner, and an access opening and removable cover plate above said diaphra m and through which a person outside of the tank may manipulate said clamping means.

3. In oil tank fire protection systems, the combination of the oil tank, a foam conduit for conducting foam from the outside to the inside of said tank, an inwardly projecting flan e provided on said conduit, a vapor-exclu mg diaphragm supported on the side of said flange facing counter to the foam-flow and extending entirely across the path 'of such flow, said diaphragm being adapted to break down by the pressure of the foam thereagainst, and an access-opening and removable cover plate provided in the wall of said conduit on the pressure side of said dia hragm and through which a person outside 0 the oil tank may renew said diaphragm if it has been displaced.

In testimony whereof, I have signed this I specification.

WILLIS D. WITTER.

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