Task Force Tips, Incorporated

Erin L Roark

Robert W Steingass

David J Kolacz

Stewart G McMillan

Kent A Kekeis

William D Walker

Alexander C Yovanovich

John Louis Christos

Kimberly A Hale

A telescoping waterway component for use in firefighting equipment has a multi-piece outer tube and a telescoping inner tube through which fluid flows. An inlet component is selectively positionable at different inlet heights along the outer tube and can be positioned to provide different inlet angles. A rotating shutoff element is mounted within a manifold of the inlet component. The inner tube can be retracted to nest within a hollow cross-section of the shutoff element when that element is closed. A valve interlock disables an operator from rotating the shutoff element while the inner tube is retracted, or from retracting the inner tube while the shutoff element is open.

Telescoping waterway with integrated valve

A new firefighting nozzle has a series of moveable vanes that extend inwardly from a peripheral wall of a base. The inner side of the vanes extends between &#x215b; and &#x215c; of the diameter of the central channel. The vanes rotate between a linear position, in which the vanes are generally parallel to the direction of the channel, and a vortex position, in which the vanes are significantly angled with respect to the direction of the channel. In the linear position, smooth bore linear flow is produced. In the vortex position, any of a range of fog patterns are produced. An externally mounted controller connects to the vanes and enables a firefighter to change the shape of the nozzle's spray without interrupting the flow. The controller and base have a series of pins that slide in a spiral groove and cause the shaper to move axially with respect to the base when the shaper is rotated about the base. Radial stems that ride in a circumferential slot translate that axial movement into rotation of the vanes.

Firefighting nozzle

Growing community of inventors

Valparaiso, IN, United States of America

Erin L Roark