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Fire Extinguisher Balls
An Anonymous Coward writes "The Far Eastern Economic Review has this article about a Thai inventor who has come up with throwable fire extinguisher balls. You just toss them into the fire, or place them in high risk areas, and - boom - they explode from the heat and spew various fire-retardants all over the place. According to the article, they will soon be on sale in Thailand's 7-Eleven stores and are being considered by US-based fire and safety supply company Tyco."
That was my nickname in college.
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i've had strange, sexually charged dreams like this scenario
intellectual property law is philosophically incoherent. it is your moral duty to ignore it or sabotage it
This sounds like antique fire extinguisher bottles: thin glass "grenades" full of water or other chemicals that were tossed at fires.
-- ;-)
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so, you roll the ball into the fire, suffocate the burning victim, and then run away from the annoying sound the thing makes? sounds great!
Morphing Software
Another spurrious patent ... if I recall this has been done (and patented) a long long time ago.
HARDENS HAND GRENADE FIRE EXTINGUISHER", --> "PATENTED NO 1 AUG 8, 1871 AUG 14 1883
For those who are interested check out the picture of the blue glass bulb towards the bottom of the page. Cached
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I can almost see the commercials now...people throwing these things at fires to the tune of "Goodness, gracious, great balls 'o' fire!"
*shudder*
There must be at least 5 Micheal Jackson jokes based on this story/title. I'm am too tired to try right now.
Table-ized A.I.
http://ognet.h1.ru
English translation of the site is, for example:Babelfish translated
So it's at least some prior art present...
...have these things, are they going to squeeze them and ask me to cough before they can stop my house from burning down?
Ergonomica Auctorita Illico!
For some odd reason, Im just picturing a guy throwing a ball at the fire and a big Pokemon coming out and squirting water at it.....
Or... Great Balls of Fire Retardant...
42s? I already worship it!
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Ben Wa balls.
This is somewhat redundant as someone mentioned they are from Bermuda, purely for tax reasons of course (like Global Crossing is/was incorperated in bermuda as well) , which is correct, but to say they are a fire and safety company isnt even close to what Tyco is. Tyco is one of the largest conglomerates in the world in everything from electronics to healthcare. In fact, I would say fire & safety is the smallest part of their business. Its also one of the Top ten stocks in volume of trades every single day. A direct quote of their website probably explains them best.
"
Tyco International is the world's largest manufacturer and servicer of electrical and electronic components, as well as undersea telecommunications systems. We are also the world's largest manufacturer, installer, and provider of fire protection and electronic security services-not to mention our strong leadership positions in disposable medical products, plastics, and adhesives, and the manufacture of flow control valves. Our Company operates in more than 80 countries and has over 180,000 employees."
Jeff Knox
So would I, because I rutinely watch fires at a few meters with my mouth wide open.
The bad part is the high squeeching sound. Yes, I agree that if you were stuck somewhere it would help that it would emit a sound. But after you're rescued, you and/or the firefighter is not going to go around searching for this ball. Other people are going to hear it and go towards that sound in hopes of rescueing someone in effect, putting their life at risk...
_______________________________
"I'm not Conceited...I'm just a realist..."
If it is them, then I can think of a couple of great product crossovers:
- Evil Kenivel stunt-rider fire extinguisher.
- Toy Fire-trucks that home in on the noise from these balls to put out any patches of fire that the balls didn't get (you could have them patrolling throughout large buildings).
Anyone got any other ideas?So if I get some of these things, and happen to use them on a fire at some point, I suppose it's inevitable that someone'll tell me "That's using your balls!"
;-) It's just the kind of terminally quirky thing that someone had to come up with eventually. I'll have to keep an eye on the Lab Safety Supply catalog and see if they start selling the things.
It certainly adds new meaning to that old song "Great Balls of Fire!" Except now it's going to have to be "Great Balls of Anti-Fire!" or something similar.
And don't even get me started on the potential of these things for practical jokes in, say, golf games. Lord, I can just picture it: "FORE!" (thwopPAFFOOOSHHH!!)
I like it!
Bruce Lane, KC7GR,
Blue Feather Technologies
I couldn't help but wonder how many fire extinguishers out there are as useless as tits on a bull.
So you are implying that that wasn't milk I got from that bull?
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Last time my office on small fire I rushed to the secretary and asked "show me the bottle that can put off the fire!!"
Now I'd be hestitate to ask "Show me the balls that can put off, oh baby, the fire in me..."
Dammit, that was my idea! I submitted that to Steve Jackson Games' Car Wars, and it was included in the 2035 Uncle Albert's catalog... I should dig up the old issue of Autoduel Quarterly with my name on it and go for prior art...
I invented a similar product!
Kirk Israel's Dehydrated Fire Fighting Marbles.
Just add water.
SO YOU'RE GOING TO DIE: The Comic for Dealing with Death
I gotta agree-chuck one of those puppies somewhere that'll get warm... hmmm. maybe the air intake of someones engine... you could be a real party-pooper at a camp fire. anyplace that gets warm and depends on an open flame.... I guess the pilot light on a furnace would count, wouldn't it?
sad part is the first thing that came to my mind was this sentence....
"ok, so he's using a fire based pokemon-
...I know what to use."
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He's selling them for 1,500 bhat.
:)
Based on this list of exchange rates, they cost about $34.80 in US dollars.
$64.83 Austrailian, $23.76 UK, $54.47 Canadian, $38.21 Euro, $330.35 Mexician.
And if I didn't list your country, oh well. You'll just have to look it up
Interesting, but I think the price may need to come down to really catch on.
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- - You can't take something off the Internet! That's like trying to take pee out of a swimming pool.
...the Fire Department of New York just signed Roger Clemens to a five-year contract.
I mean, I've spent the greater part of my adult life trying to keep my balls out of the fire.
Someone you trust is one of us.
Whatever it's called, the result of this single-handed, civic-minded tinkering from Thailand could lead to a day when firemen carry catapults in their trucks as well as ladders.
Help! Help! Fire! Someone save me!
[Sound of catapult launching]
Help! Hel--OOOOOOF!
[Sound of unconscious body being consumed by fire]
I've been to your country. Lovely place, lovely people. You should be proud.
Someone mod this guy back up again. Who the hell moderated it as flamebait ?
A brilliant idea, but easy to copy once you see it.
It's fascinating to me that the government grant he received is for the purpose of getting international patent rights to this idea.
Did this story remind anyone of the 60s TV series "Emergency!"?
Fireman John Gage wanted to invent a "Foam Grenade" to throw into fires for the firemans invention contest at one point. He also wanted to invent suction cup boots to walk up walls though, but I'm sure the series writers are grinning at this news.
I've had enough abrasive sigs. Kittens are cute and fuzzy.
Anyone who has worked on a flight deck is familiar with halon balls. Engine flames up? Lob one of the balls in the sucking side of the engine and poof! flames are out, the plane and pilot are safe. Find out what caught fire, fix it/plug it, and you're good to go.
If you use a powder or foam on the engine, sure the flames will go out, but someone will be picking residue out of that engine for weeks, if not months for a rebuild.
Cleaning out the basement of an old historic building I used to work in we found something very similar to this. It was a glass sphere containing what appeared to be water. It looked a little like a lightbulb. It was attached to a holder on the wall with a spring loaded pin pointed at the sphere. Holding the pin in place was some sort of metal that looks like it would melt under heat (thus releassing the pin, bursting the bulb, and releasing the liquid). There is a picture of it here. I showed this to my father and step-father who are both professional firefighters (L.A. and Las Vegas). They mentioned that these things were very dangrous and were destoyed, they were used clear up to the 1950's. Apparently the clear liquid is a fire-retardant that upon hiting the fire puts it out, but also releases DEADLY fumes. Not to mention the shards of glass that fly everywhere. These devices were also ment to be used as "hand-grenades." Perhaps the innovation of the stories topic "invention" is that it doesn't have these draw backs.
Every month I have to walk some guy into the data center to inspect the fire extinguishers. Now he's going to ask to see my balls. Couldn't they have made them like Frisbees or something, heck anything, that's not so... personal?
CUR ALLOC 20195.....5804M
You should figure out how to dispose of them safely. They are full of carbon tetrachloride, which is not only an excellent flame suppressant, but also a rather nasty carcinogen. I remember that when we sold my grandparents' house (purchased 1938), there were still a bunch of these things hanging around, waiting to deform future generations. I forget what we did with them (nothing responsible, I'm sure).
Okay, the first thing to remember is that this phosgene gas occurs when the gas in these balls are heated. Phosgene gas occurs naturally in chloroform bottles as well, so the balls contents may already have decayed into phosgene gas.
The good news is this gas decays into Carbon Dioxide and Hydrochloric Acid in water (which it does in the lungs and also damages the lungs). So there are a few methods of eliminating the gas that comes to mind. One is to bust the globes in a rainstorm in a open field. The water will react with the gas and decompose it to harmless levels. Another method would be to bust them in a running shower, but given the dangers of opening them in a closed unventilated environment I would urge strongly against it.
Another method is just to bust them open in a wide open area with a strong wind blowing to disperse the vapors. These vapors are dangerous in confined areas with minimal ventilation. So that is all you readers need to do to get rid of them if you find these ancient fire extinguishing balls. Another good choice is to let your local fire department dispose of them after making certain they know what they are (though there is a slight chance they'll end up in an auction booth or on eBay given that they are antiques).
"Face it, a nation that maintains a 72% approval rating on George W. Bush is a nation with a very loose grip on reality.
I take a look at this story and wonder - what threshold will I have to set to keep from seeing the really awful jokes? 12?
The only thing that would have been worse, is if they had been shaped like penises! Penii?
How the hell...? What kind of discussion...?
I'm at a loss for words.
You haven't noticed? FIRE EXTINGUISHERS ARE LONG, CYLINDRICAL, AND ROUNDED AT ONE END. Now they have some shiny balls to match. Where would you hang these balls? You guessed it, right under the standard fire extinguishers (as they are already in the right locations anyway).
BTW - If you visit the TYCO Fire & Security Products page you'll notice a certain company, "The Dong Bang Electronic Industrial Co."
As was already written, "The jokes just write themselves". Reminds me of the time Redd Foxx died of a heart attack and nobody believed him or the Wang Corp got a class-action repetitive stress lawsuit filed against them.
"Face it, a nation that maintains a 72% approval rating on George W. Bush is a nation with a very loose grip on reality.