This invention relates to a fire suppression apparatus, preferably, though not exclusively, a fire extinguisher.

Resilient glazing such as toughened, laminated, double- glazing, or other types of "safety" or strengthened glass is rightly required in many situations, for example in vehicular glass, and patio windows, and regulations exist mandating their use in situations where normal glazing would be potentially hazardous. Unfortunately, the provision of resilient glazing does in itself give rise to death or injury by preventing easy egress through the opening covered by the glazing in an emergency. This is particularly true in fires. Road traffic.accidents often result in damage to doors that prevent exit and therefore dictate the use of windows for escape. Office windows frequently feature sealed resilient glazing because of air conditioning and other considerations. Private homes increasingly feature double glazing, and, despite recommendations to the contrary, windows are often non- opening on upper levels.

As a consequence of this, in order that the resilient glazing be breachable in an emergency specialist tools need to be provided, and these tools need to be easily

accessible. A glazing escape hammer is such a tool which can be used to breach resilient glazing. Glazing escape hammers are well known and usually resemble a small hammer with the striking face forming a sharp point. Such hammers are commonly found in Public Service Vehicles or within buildings, adjacent to resilient glazing. Such tools probably represent the currently most effective, convenient and cost efficient means of causing catastrophic failure to most types of resilient glazing. The hammers achieve this by concentrating an applied load onto a very small area i.e the sharp, usually metal, point.

Glazing escape hammers have a number of problems associated with their use. Such hammers are usually quite small due to cost and aesthetic constraints, and typically have a handle less than ten centimetres long, which makes location and use more difficult. Additionally, in a fire, with the associated smoke and low light, they may be difficult to locate even if provided near to the resilient glazing. A more effective glazing hammer would more resemble a professional fire¬ fighters tool. Often, in Public Service Vehicles, for example, glazing hammers are located out of normal reach or may be located adjacent the driver or operator. Often they are stored behind a "breakglass" panel to mitigate

the effects of vandalism or pilferage, which is clearly a safety compromise. Glazing hammers are almost never found in private vehicles.

A high proportion of the population are unaware of the need to use a specialist tool to breach resilient glazing, and, in an emergency situation, even if they are aware of the fact, are less likely to recall such information. Often, they will seek to use any heavy object located thereby, which will in most cases be ineffective. Particularly, in an emergency situation in which a fire is involved, a person may seek to breach the resilient glazing using a fire extinguisher with which he is already fighting the fire. However, even the use of a heavy extinguisher to batter resilient glazing is usually ineffective. An additional problem is created in this sort of situation where a person has to carry both a fire extinguisher and a glazing hammer and, therefore, has no free hand with which to make safer progress.

Fire extinguishers, and other fire-suppression apparatus', such as fire blankets, are already well known.

According to the present invention, there is provided a fire suppression apparatus comprising a body for

containing a quantity of fire suppressing material therein, and glass-breaching means provided on the body for breaching glass when the glass-breaching means is placed against the glass and force applied thereto. This has the advantage that, by providing a glass-breaching means on a fire suppression apparatus, the glass- breaching means is more readily to hand and is more likely to be located, and, in addition, the combination of the fire suppression apparatus and the glass-breaching means obviates the need to carry two separate tools for these tasks, thus leaving one hand free to allow the user to make safer or faster progress. The added mass of the fire suppression apparatus also ensures more effective breaching of the resilient glass. All-in-all, this apparatus will increase the likelihood of successful egress from an emergency situation, particularly one that involves both fire-fighting, and the need to breach resilient glazing. Because many private vehicles now carry a fire extinguisher, an apparatus in accordance with the present invention would mean the increased likelihood of there being a glass-breaching means being provided in private vehicles.

The invention will now be described, by way of example only, with reference to the accompanying drawings of which:

Figure 1 illustrates a first embodiment of the invention, and is a side view of the lower section of a fire extinguisher;

Figure 2 illustrates a second embodiment of the invention, and is a side view of the lower section of a fire extinguisher;

Figure 3 illustrates a third embodiment of the invention, and is a view of the bottom of a round-bottomed fire extinguisher;

Figure 4" is a perspective view of a cover for a glass- breaching attachment of the invention; and

Figure 5 illustrates a fourth embodiment of the invention, and is a view of the bottom of a flat-bottomed fire extinguisher having multiple glass-breaching attachments fixed thereon.

A fire suppression apparatus 1 comprises a fire extinguisher 2 to the base 6 of which is attached a glass-breaching attachment 3. The glass-breaching attachment 3 comprises a substantially circular metal plate 4 which has a sharp point 5 provided substantially centrally thereon as illustrated in Figure 3. The plate

4 is either permanently fixed to the base 6 using a layer 7 of a suitable adhesive, for example, in the form of an adhesive patch or strip, as illustrated in Figure 1, or is removably attached to the fire extinguisher 2 by means of a screw threaded protrusion 8 provided on the base 6 of the fire extinguisher 2 and a matching threaded recess 9 provided on the plate 4, as illustrated in Figure 2. A clamping mechanism may also be used.

The glass-breaching attachment may be provided with a cover 10, illustrated in Figure 4. This cover 10 would serve to provide protection against contact with the sharp point 5 when the fire suppression apparatus 1 is not in use, thereby preventing injury to persons or _# damage to property. The cover 10 is dimensioned to fit snugly over the glass-breaching attachment 3 and is held in place by means of an inwardly extending lip 11 which clips around the edge of the glass-breaching attachment 3. A tab 12 is provided to facilitate removal of the cover 10, and instructions may be printed thereon to instruct the user. The cover may also be used as a support and in this case shaped in such a way as to provide a flat surface on which it can stand.

Instead of a single glass-breaching attachment, a number of such attachments may be provided, as is illustrated in

Figure 5 which shows a flat-bottomed fire extinguisher 13, to the base 14 of which has been affixed three glass- breaching attachments 15,16,17. In this embodiment, each glass-breaching attachment 15,16,17 is substantially hemi-spherical in shape with the respective sharp points 18,19,20 being located adjacent the straight edges of the glass-breaching attachments 15,16,17. The attachments 15,16,17 are then fixed to the base 14 at regular intervals around the periphery of the base 14 so that the sharp points 18,19,20 are located as close as possible against the edge of the extinguisher base 14.

As with the embodiments described above with respect to Figures 1 and 2, the glass-breaching attachments 15,16,17 may be attached to the extinguisher base 14 by means of adhesive or a screw thread attachment.

The fire extinguishers are, in themselves, well known to persons skilled in the art, and their construction and use therefore need be described in further detail herein. In use the fire extinguishers would be used as normal, but should circumstances arise where resilient glazing needs to be breached, then the base of the extinguisher, and ,therefore, the sharp points are placed against the glass and force applied, for example using a banging action. The extra grip and higher mass afforded by the

extinguisher body provides a much better escape tool than the commonly found lightweight glazing hammers discussed above in the preamble. This is particularly relevant where, for example, a person is trapped in a submerged vehicle and extra mass is necessary to breach resilient glass.

The glass-breaching devices described above are made of any suitable metal or other material, for example a hard plastic.

Instead of a separate glass-breaching device, a sharp point can be provided integral with the fire extinguisher body, either as a single centrally-locat.ed point or as a multiplicity of points.

Preferably, the sharp points would be dimensioned so that it would be unlikely to cause injury if, for example, it were to drop on someone's foot without a cover being provided thereon.

As will be understood by persons skilled in the art, various modifications are possible within the scope of the present invention. For example, other shapes and locations of the glass-breaching attachments are

possible, and they can be provided on any other suitable fire suppression apparatus or other suitable objects which provide the added mass and support for the glass- breaching attachment(s) to allow the resilient glazing to be breached.