Signaling fire extinguisher system

Fire extinguishers – Portable vessels – Gas pressure

Reexamination Certificate

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Details

C169S030000

Reexamination Certificate

active

06279664

ABSTRACT:

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Field of the Invention
The system of this invention resides in the field of portable fire extinguishers and more particularly relates to a portable fire extinguisher having a tank with fire-extinguishing contents under pressure, a handle release, a nozzle, a pressure gauge to indicate the pressure status within the tank and a signaling device to signal over a telephone line when such pressure drops below a predetermined pressure level.
2. History of the Prior Art
Signaling fire extinguishers are known in the prior art, such as those described in U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,775,430 and 5,848,651. In these patents the valve gauge pointer, when signifying a low-pressure level within the tank of the fire extinguisher, comes in contact with an electrical contact to complete an electrical circuit powered by an internal battery to cause the fire extinguisher to emit an audio or visual signal and to transmit a signal via wireless radio frequency communication to a central location so that those at the central location will become aware that such fire extinguisher needs servicing.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
It is an object of this invention to provide a signaling fire extinguisher that requires no internal battery power supply and does not rely on wireless communication to transmit data in order to avoid the problem of power supply failure over the life of the battery used in prior art devices.
It is a further object of this invention that the signaling device of this invention be able to be incorporated into existing pressure gauge designs of portable fire extinguishers with minimal difficulty and expense.
The device of this invention is designed to send a signal from a fire extinguisher through a telephone line to report to a receiving computer at a remote location or even via the Internet to a computer which identifies the fire extinguisher and its location so that service can be promptly provided upon such fire extinguisher's tank reaching an undesirable low pressure status. The use of a telephone “land line” to carry a signal has an advantage over the prior art's use of wireless radio transmission in that telephone lines are affected much less by outside electronic noise or static that disrupts radio transmissions and which static could result in erroneous gauge readings from fire extinguishers of the prior art.
It is a still further object of this invention to provide a more economical fire extinguisher by avoiding the need for expensive radio frequency transmitters of limited range and internal power supplies of limited life found in the prior art.
A further goal of this invention is to provide means to detect a low pressure in the tank of a portable fire extinguisher which does not rely on electrical connections being made between its circuitry and the valve gauge needle as the present invention operates utilizing a beam transmitter/receiver.
The device of this invention is designed to operate with a fire extinguisher having fire-extinguishing contents under pressure in a tank and having a pressure gauge that utilizes a Bourdon coiled tubing gauge, the coiling of which moves the gauge pointer as the pressure in the tank decreases. The invention herein relies on the movement of the Bourdon coiled tubing. A portion of the tubing is painted black so as not to be light-reflective. Another portion of the tubing is unpainted as it is naturally reflective or can be painted with a reflective paint. A beam transmitter/receiver, such as an infrared beam transmitter/receiver is positioned within the pressure gauge such that its beam is transmitted to a point on the tubing. In one embodiment when the non-reflective portion of the tubing is in front of the beam, it is not reflected back to the beam transmitter/receiver. As the tubing slowly rotates as the pressure in the tank decreases and comes to a point where the pressure within the tank is low, the non-reflective paint ends and the reflective portion of the tube is then exposed to the transmitted beam which is then reflected back to a receiver which can be within the same chip. Upon sensing such beam signal, the beam transmitter/receiver sends an analog signal to a computer chip which, in turn, directs a signal to a converter chip described below which is engaged through a jack to a telephone line wherein such converter chip calls to a central computer either directly or via the Internet and identifies the fire extinguisher having low pressure in its tank and its location so that it can be attended to and either replaced or its pressure recharged. The computer chip and converter circuitry can be incorporated on the same board as the beam transmitter/receiver, or they can be located on the exterior of the pressure gauge. Power is supplied to this invention from the current supplied through the telephone line. In some embodiments the central computer can be located on the same line as that of the fire extinguisher so that transmission of a signal over telephone lines or the Internet would be unnecessary. The advantage of the present invention not requiring an internal battery is significant as batteries wear down and require regular checking and replacement whereas in the present invention the power supply for communication is supplied by existing telephone wiring, thus providing an unlimited duty cycle.


REFERENCES:
patent: 3286529 (1966-11-01), Damrel, Jr. et al.
patent: 3777569 (1973-12-01), Krulee
patent: 3815421 (1974-06-01), Harland et al.
patent: 3915009 (1975-10-01), Worden et al.
patent: 4279161 (1981-07-01), Huston et al.
patent: 5775430 (1998-07-01), McSheffrey

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