Granted Patent B2

US 9,839,801 · App. 15/140,267 · Granted Dec 12, 2017

Abstract

Claims (48)

1. A firefighting nozzle comprising:

an elongated barrel having a inlet opening at one end for engaging a source of fluid under pressure and a discharge opening at an opposite end for engaging a discharge element for dispensing the fluid under pressure;

a valve arrangement disposed within said barrel between said inlet opening and said discharge opening, said valve arrangement configured to adjust the flow of fluid through the barrel and including a slide valve element slidably mounted within the barrel for reciprocating movement along the length of the barrel, the slide valve element including a toothed surface;

a trigger assembly mounted on the barrel and including;

a trigger housing coupled to said barrel and defining a pistol grip for manual grasping during operation of the firefighting nozzle;

a segment gear pivotably mounted within said trigger housing and including at least one tooth for engaging the toothed surface of said slide valve element so that rotation of said segment gear causes the at least one tooth to drive the toothed surface to reciprocate the slide valve element;

a trigger pivotably mounted to said trigger housing for manual pivoting toward said pistol grip while manually grasping the pistol grip;

a lever arm fastened to said trigger for pivoting therewith;

an elongated link pivotably connected at one end to said lever arm and at an opposite end to said segment gear to transmit pivoting of said lever arm to pivoting of said segment gear.

2. The firefighting nozzle of claim 1 , wherein said segment gear, said lever arm and said link define a four-bar linkage between the pivot mounts of said segment gear and said trigger.

3. The firefighting nozzle of claim 2 , wherein said segment gear, said lever arm and said link are configured so that said link is at an angle α relative to a line between the pivot mount of said trigger and the pivot connection of said link to said segment gear, said angle α being between 0-90°.

4. The firefighting nozzle of claim 3 , wherein when said segment gear is at a position in which the slide valve element is at a maximum flow position for fluid flow through the barrel the angle α is less than 10°.

5. The firefighting nozzle of claim 1 , wherein:

the lever arm has a length from the pivot mount of the trigger to the pivot connection of said lever arm to said link; and

the trigger assembly is provided with optional lever arms having different lengths to adjust the maximum flow position for fluid flow through the barrel, in which the shorter length provides a maximum fluid flow less than a longer length.

6. The firefighting nozzle of claim 1 , further comprising a damper element mounted within the trigger housing and pivotably connected to said segment gear to dampen pivoting movement of said segment gear.

7. The firefighting nozzle of claim 6 , wherein said damper element includes:

a piston cylinder defined within said trigger housing and open at one end toward said segment gear and closed at an opposite end;

a damper piston slidably disposed within said piston cylinder, said piston including a rod extending through said one end and pivotably connected to said gear segment and a piston body in reciprocating sealed contact with said piston cylinder; and

damper fluid disposed within a damping chamber in said piston cylinder between said piston body and said closed opposite end of said piston cylinder.

8. The firefighting nozzle of claim 7 , wherein said piston cylinder includes a seal at said one end to define a second damping chamber between said piston body and said seal at said one end.

9. The firefighting nozzle of claim 8 , wherein said damper piston includes a central bore defined through said piston body in communication with said damping chamber and a cross bore defined in said rod in communication with said second damping chamber and said central bore.

10. The firefighting nozzle of claim 9 , wherein said damper element includes an adjustment element adjustably mounted at said opposite end of said piston cylinder to be adjustably disposed within said central bore and having a position in which the adjustment element permits fluid communication between said damping chamber and said second damping chamber through said central bore, and a position in which the adjustment element prevents fluid communication between said damping chamber and said second damping chamber through said central bore.

11. The firefighting nozzle of claim 1 , wherein said slide valve element has a net area for pressure to act upon it in the axial closing direction of said barrel of less than 0.1 square inches.

12. The firefighting nozzle of claim 1 , wherein said trigger assembly includes;

a locking lever pivotably mounted on said trigger, and

an interlocking engagement between said locking lever and said trigger housing when said locking lever is pivoted toward said trigger housing.

13. The firefighting nozzle of claim 12 , wherein said locking lever is spring biased relative to said trigger to bias said locking lever away from said interlocking engagement.

14. A firefighting nozzle comprising:

an elongated barrel having an inlet opening at one end for engaging a source of fluid under pressure and an outlet opening at an opposite end for engaging a discharge element for dispensing the fluid under pressure, wherein the inlet opening defines an inlet axis and the outlet opening defines an outlet axis that is substantially parallel to the inlet axis;

a valve arrangement disposed within said barrel between said inlet opening and said outlet opening, said valve arrangement configured to adjust the flow of fluid through the barrel and including a slide valve element slidably mounted within the barrel for reciprocating movement along the length of the barrel; and

a trigger assembly detachably mountable on said barrel and including;

a trigger housing defining a pistol grip oblique to said outlet axis and configured for manual grasping during operation of the firefighting nozzle; and

a trigger pivotably mounted to said trigger housing;

a linkage mechanism connected to said trigger; and

an engagement between the linkage mechanism and said slide valve, said linkage mechanism and said engagement configured so that pivoting movement of said trigger causes reciprocation of said slide valve between said inlet opening and said outlet opening to control fluid flow from said inlet opening to said outlet opening.

15. The firefighting nozzle of claim 14 , wherein said inlet axis and said outlet axis are substantially collinear.

16. The firefighting nozzle of claim 14 , wherein said inlet axis is non-parallel and non-collinear with said trigger housing.

17. A firefighting nozzle comprising:

an elongated barrel having a inlet opening at one end for engaging a source of fluid under pressure and an outlet opening at an opposite end for engaging a discharge element for dispensing the fluid under pressure, wherein the inlet opening defines an inlet axis and the outlet opening defines an outlet axis that is substantially parallel to the inlet axis;

a valve arrangement disposed within said barrel between said inlet opening and said outlet opening, said valve arrangement configured to adjust the flow of fluid through the barrel and including a slide valve element slidably mounted within the barrel for reciprocating movement along the length of the barrel; and

at least two trigger assemblies selectably mountable on said barrel, each trigger assembly including;

a trigger housing defining a pistol grip for manual grasping during operation of the firefighting nozzle; and

a trigger pivotably mounted to said trigger housing;

a linkage mechanism connected to said trigger; and

an engagement between the linkage mechanism and said slide valve, whereby actuation of said trigger causes reciprocation of said slide valve to control fluid flow from said inlet opening to said outlet opening,

wherein the linkage mechanism differs between the at least two trigger assemblies to provide a different range of reciprocation of the slide valve between trigger assemblies.

18. The firefighting nozzle of claim 14 , wherein said linkage mechanism includes a four-bar linkage.

Assignments (11)