CONTAINER FOR FIRE EXTINGUISHING FROM HELICOPTER Russian patent published in 1999 - IPC

FIELD: fire-fighting equipment. SUBSTANCE: container has base positioned in its upper part, bottom with drain opening, flexible walls, bottom holding power members positioned between bottom and carrier base, and drain control drive positioned above drain opening. Gradual folding of flexible walls as liquid is drained from container is performed by means of flexible members, such as rubber cords positioned between base and bottom along container perimeter. Bottom holding power members are made from flexible material such as synthetic ribbon. Drain opening has flexible hose with rigid throat on end. Drain control drive has multistep locking mechanism connected with throat which is mounted for movement in vertical plane. Vessel for foaming liquid is mounted on carrier base above drain opening and is connected through sealing member to hose throat, when the latter is in its extreme upper position. Container has drain openings positioned in its upper part and provided with return valves and bypass openings. Number and parameters of flexible members are selected with designed remaining water amount at initial folding stage being taken into account. Such construction allows water tank with increased volume to be fixed below helicopter fuselage bottom. EFFECT: increased efficiency by automatic changing of water tank volume without interference of helicopter crew and quick water drain. 5 cl, 5 dwg