JP2004024381A - Fire extinguishing robot for tunnel - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a fire extinguishing robot which can extinguish a fire in a tunnel without requiring mounting of a camera. <P>SOLUTION: This fire extinguishing robot for tunnel runs on a rail placed in the longitudinal direction along a wall face of the tunnel to extinguish the fire in the tunnel. The robot is equipped with a wide area water spraying head 6 to spray water in a spray pattern covering length of a spray section partitioned in the longitudinal direction of the tunnel and width in the cross-sectional direction, a water supply plug 12 detachable from a water supply output 14 disposed on each spray section, a drive unit 16 to drive drive wheels 4 to run the robot along the rail, and a controller 17 to control the robot to run to a position of the water supply outlet 14 in a water spray section indicated from the outside via a communication unit 18 to transmit/receive information to/from the outside and connect the water supply plug 12 to spray water through the wide area water spray head 6. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2004,JPO

Description

[0001]
TECHNICAL FIELD OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to a fire extinguishing robot for a tunnel that extinguishes and suppresses a fire generated in a tunnel by running on rails arranged in a longitudinal direction along a tunnel wall surface.
[0002]
[Prior art]
2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, water spray equipment is installed in a long tunnel or a tunnel with a large traffic volume in order to prevent a fire from spreading due to a vehicle fire, protect a tunnel frame, suppress a fire, and protect equipment in the tunnel.
[0003]
Upon receiving a fire signal from a fire detector or a fire signal from a manual alarm, the water spray equipment is manually or automatically started to discharge water to a section protecting the fire spot and an adjacent section.
[0004]
Conventionally, the water spray equipment is composed of a water spray head installed every 5 m and an automatic valve device installed every 50 m. The pipe for mounting the head is installed on the side wall at a height of 4 to 6 m from the road surface. Since it is installed, there is a problem that the cost burden of plumbing work is large, the driver is obstructed, and maintenance is troublesome.
[0005]
Therefore, it is conceivable to lay a fire extinguishing robot that extinguishes a fire by running on a rail installed in a tunnel, and examples thereof are disclosed in JP-A-10-165535 and JP-A-9-122263.
[0006]
[Problems to be solved by the invention]
However, as a water spray head attached to such a conventional traveling fire fighting robot, a head having directivity such as a water spray gun is considered, and an ITV camera or an infrared camera is required in order to correctly control the fire point direction. A method has been proposed in which the position of the fire point is determined in combination with the above, and water is discharged.
[0007]
However, under the actual fire situation, there are the following problems, which limit the possibility of realizing a mobile fire fighting robot.
[0008]
First of all, it is difficult to determine the fire point in the smoke generated by a fire using a camera mounted on a fire extinguishing robot. In addition, it is difficult to reliably distinguish between an actual flame and a virtual image due to reflection by a camera, and there is a risk that the water discharge direction may be deviated. It is also difficult to provide a camera that operates for a long time under high temperature.
[0009]
Furthermore, when a water gun is used as the head, there is a danger of fire spread or destruction of the tunnel skeleton if fire extinguishing cannot be ensured, and 100% fire extinguishing cannot be guaranteed in view of water spray failure.
[0010]
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION It is an object of the present invention to provide a tunnel fire extinguishing robot that can surely extinguish or suppress a fire that has occurred in a tunnel without having to mount a camera.
[0011]
[Means for Solving the Problems]
To achieve this object, the present invention is configured as follows. The present invention relates to a tunnel fire fighting robot that extinguishes a fire that has occurred in a tunnel by running on rails that are arranged longitudinally along a tunnel wall surface. A wide-area water spray head that discharges water with a water spray pattern that covers at least the width and covers the width in the tunnel cross-sectional direction, a water supply plug that is detachable from a water supply outlet installed in each of the water discharge sections, and a wide-area water spray head An automatic valve capable of adjusting the watering pressure of the vehicle, a drive unit for driving the running wheels to travel along the rail, a communication unit for exchanging information with the outside, and a command from the outside via the communication unit. A controller that runs to a position of a water supply outlet in a water discharge section, connects the water supply plug, and discharges water from a wide area water spray head. It is characterized in.
[0012]
According to such a fire extinguishing robot for a tunnel of the present invention, the robot travels to a position of a water supply outlet provided in a water discharge section where a fire has occurred and stops, and connects a water supply plug to discharge water from a wide area water spray head. It is possible to quickly and reliably extinguish or suppress fire by spraying and spraying water sufficiently covering a water supply section where a fire has occurred.
[0013]
In addition, since there is no need to specify the fire point unlike a directional water gun, there is no need to mount a camera on the robot, simplifying the structure of the robot and reducing costs, thereby greatly promoting the practical use of fire fighting robots. I do. Further, since no camera is mounted, maintenance becomes easy and reliability is improved.
[0014]
The wide area water spray head mounted on the robot includes one or more long-range nozzles, medium-range nozzles, and short-range nozzles. The controller recognizes the section number preset on the water outlet installed on the tunnel side, compares it with the designated section number of the destination, stops at the position of the water outlet that matches both, and plugs the water plug. Connecting.
[0015]
The tunnel fire-fighting robot of the present invention further includes a sensor for detecting a wind speed, and the controller controls the wide area water spray head according to the wind speed detected by the sensor. This makes it possible to extinguish the fire quickly and reliably by reducing the influence of the wind blowing in the tunnel. The controller controls the swiveling of the wide area water spray head with respect to the robot body according to, for example, the wind speed detected by the sensor.
[0016]
BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION
FIG. 1 is an explanatory view showing one embodiment of a fire fighting robot for a tunnel according to the present invention.
[0017]
In FIG. 1, a fire fighting robot 1 according to the present invention includes a robot main body 2 and a wide area water spray head 6. The robot main body 2 is suspended by a drive wheel 4 and a guide wheel 5 with respect to a rail / fire extinguishing main pipe 3 arranged along a longitudinal direction on a tunnel wall side, and is provided so as to run freely. In this embodiment, the rail and fire extinguishing main pipe 3 is used as the rail of the fire extinguishing robot 1, but a dedicated rail may be used.
[0018]
A wide area water spray head 6 is attached to a lower portion of the robot main body 2 by a head connecting portion 10. The wide-area water spray head 6 has a substantially hemispherical shape, a plurality of long-distance nozzles 7 are arranged on an upper flat part, a plurality of middle-distance nozzles 8 are installed on a lower spherical part peripheral side, and further a lower part of the spherical part A plurality of short distance nozzles 9 are arranged on the side.
[0019]
The wide area water spray head 6 covers at least the section length of the water discharge section divided in the longitudinal direction of the tunnel, for example, the longitudinal length of the section length L = 25 m or 12.5 m, and covers the width in the sectional direction of the tunnel. It has the ability to discharge water to form a water spray pattern.
[0020]
The supply of fire-extinguishing water from the rail / fire extinguishing main pipe 3 to the wide area water spray head 6 is performed from a water supply outlet 14 provided on the rail / fire extinguishing main pipe 3 side. The water supply outlets 14 on the rail / fire extinguisher main pipe 3 side are installed at intervals of L in the longitudinal direction of the water discharge section divided in the longitudinal direction of the tunnel, for example, at L = 25 m intervals.
[0021]
A water supply plug 12 is provided in the robot main body 2 of the fire extinguishing robot 1 via an electric opening / closing valve 13 in correspondence with the water supply outlet 14, and the fire extinguishing robot 1 travels to the position of the water supply outlet 14 and stops. By connecting the water supply plug 12 to the water supply outlet 14 and opening the electric on-off valve 13, the pressurized fire-extinguishing water can be received from the rail / fire-extinguishing main pipe 3. An automatic valve 11 is provided in the middle of the pipe from the on-off valve 13 to the wide area water spray head 6.
[0022]
The water supply plug 12 is disposed at a position having a predetermined clearance with respect to the tip of the water supply outlet 14 while the fire extinguishing robot 1 is running. When the water supply plug 12 is stopped and connected to the position of the water supply outlet 14, it is driven by a motor or an electromagnetic actuator. It is connected to the water supply outlet 14 by extension. When the fire extinguishing is completed, the water supply plug 12 retreats and is removed from the water supply outlet 14.
[0023]
The robot body 2 of the fire-fighting robot 1 is provided with a drive unit 16, a controller 17, a communication unit 18, and a battery 19 functioning as a power supply. The drive unit 16 rotates the drive wheel 4 based on an instruction from the controller 17 and causes the fire extinguishing robot 1 to travel according to the rail / fire extinguishing main pipe 3. The communication unit 18 receives a control instruction from the disaster prevention monitoring center of the tunnel or the like and outputs it to the controller 17, and transmits information from the controller 17 to the monitoring center.
[0024]
The controller 17 travels to the position of the water supply outlet 14 installed in the water discharge section of the ID number (section number) specified by the external monitoring center at the time of the fire, and determines the ID number of the water discharge section provided near the water supply outlet 14. The ID number of the water supply outlet 14 is recognized based on the transmission signal from the set ID transmitter 15.
[0025]
When the controller 17 recognizes that the ID number of the destination specified by the center matches the ID number from the ID transmitter 15, the controller 17 stops at the position of the water supply outlet 14, and stops the water supply outlet 14 of the water supply plug 12. Then, the electric on-off valve 13 is opened, and the wide area water spray head 6 sprays water for fire extinguishing.
[0026]
The running and stopping control of the fire extinguishing robot 1 with respect to the water supply outlet 14 having the ID number specified by the center side is performed in addition to the recognition of the ID number from the ID transmitter 15 installed at the position of the water supply outlet 14 and the robot main body 2. A rotary encoder for detecting rotation of the guide wheel 5 and the like is mounted on the vehicle to determine the travel distance. Since the interval between the water supply outlets 14 is determined to be, for example, the section length L = 25 m, the vehicle travels to the target position based on the travel distance and stops. Running control may be performed.
[0027]
For example, when moving to the water supply outlet with ID number = n, when passing through the position of the water supply outlet with the previous ID number = n-1, for example, a distance of 25 m to the target position is preset, and the detection value of the travel sensor is used. Calculates the remaining distance from, performs braking control at the predetermined remaining distance, stops at the position where the remaining distance is zero, and adjusts the stop position as the position where the ID transmitter 15 has the maximum reception sensitivity of the communication unit 18 after the stop, for example. do it.
[0028]
The controller 17 can also control the watering pressure of the wide area water spray head 6 with a control output to the automatic valve 11. Therefore, when an external monitoring center instructs the fire extinguishing robot to control the spraying pressure, the controller 17 controls the automatic valve 11 based on the instruction and adjusts the spraying pressure from the wide area water spray head 6 to perform the necessary spraying. Can create patterns.
[0029]
FIG. 2 is an explanatory diagram of a cross section of a tunnel in which the fire extinguishing robot 1 of the present invention is installed. In the tunnel 20 shown in FIG. 2, for example, a jet fan 23 is installed on a ceiling wall 22 which is an upper part of a road surface 21, and the rail and the fire extinguishing main pipe 3 can run freely using the space between the jet fans 23. Is provided with a fire extinguishing robot 1.
[0030]
Here, the wide area water spray head 6 provided in the fire extinguishing robot 1 sprays water so as to cover the width W in the sectional direction with respect to the width W of the road surface 21 in the tunnel 20.
[0031]
FIG. 3 shows a positional relationship between a water discharge section in a tunnel and a water supply outlet 14 using the fire extinguishing robot 1 of FIG. 1, and a water spray position due to a stoppage of the running of the fire extinguishing robot 1 in the event of a fire.
[0032]
In FIG. 3, the water discharge section is formed by dividing the tunnel 20 in the longitudinal direction into, for example, L = 25 m as a section length, and here, the ID number of the water discharge section is set to, for example, ID = n−1, n, n + 1. I have. On the rail / fire extinguisher main pipe 3 installed on the ceiling surface side in the tunnel 20, water supply outlets 14 are installed at intervals of the water discharge section length L = 25 m so as to be located substantially at the center of the fire extinguishing section.
[0033]
In the tunnel fire extinguishing equipment using the fire extinguishing robot 1 of the present invention, a minimum of two fire extinguishing robots 1 and a maximum of four fire extinguishing robots 1 are provided for one rail / fire extinguishing main pipe 3. In the embodiment of FIG. 3, a case where three fire extinguishing robots 1A, 1B and 1C are provided is taken as an example.
[0034]
Now, if a fire F occurs in the water discharge section of ID = n, the fire detector installed in the tunnel will detect the fire F, and the disaster prevention monitoring center will recognize the ID = n of the water discharge section where the fire has occurred, Traveling movement specifying ID = n is instructed to the fire extinguishing robot 1.
[0035]
As a result, for example, the fire extinguishing robot 1B moves to the fire extinguishing section where the fire F has occurred as shown in the figure, stops near the water supply outlet 14 set with the same ID number as the designated ID = n, and connects the water supply plug. To supply water for fire extinguishing, and perform water spraying such as a water spray pattern 6b from the wide area water spray head 6. That is, water is sprayed on both sides of the wide area water spray head 6 with a longitudinal width corresponding to the water discharge section length L = 25 m.
[0036]
In the fire extinguishing control using the fire extinguishing robot 1 of the present invention, the fire extinguishing robot 1B is driven to spray water in the water discharge section where a fire has occurred as shown in FIG. The other fire extinguishing robots 1A and 1C are also run in the water discharge section of −1 and n + 1, connected to the water supply outlet 14, and the water is sprayed from the respective wide area water spray heads 6 by the water spray patterns 6a and 6c.
[0037]
As a result, water spraying by three fire-fighting robots is repeatedly performed on almost half of the water discharge section of ID = n where the fire has occurred and the water discharge sections of ID = n−1 and n + 1 on both sides of the fire. The spraying area can be secured in a range of 2L = 50 m, which is a tunnel protection section.
[0038]
In the case of FIG. 3, three fire extinguishing robots 1A to 1C are moved to a fire occurrence location to spray water, but water spray is performed using at least two fire extinguishing robots. In addition, when the installation interval of the water supply outlet 14 is shortened to 12.5 m, which is half of the water discharge section length L = 25 m interval in the case of FIG. 3, water spraying using four fire extinguishing robots may be performed. good.
[0039]
FIG. 4 is a flowchart of a control process using the fire extinguishing robot 1 of FIG. When the fire detector installed in the tunnel operates in step S1, a fire position is specified in step S2. At this time, if an ITV camera is installed in the tunnel, the fire position is confirmed by the ITV in step S3 in parallel with the specification of the fire position.
[0040]
Subsequently, in step S4, the water discharge section is determined from the fire position, the ID number of the determined water discharge section is obtained, and the fire extinguishing robot 1 waiting at a predetermined position is designated by the ID number of the water discharge section and travels. Instruct. In response to this, in step S5, the fire extinguishing robot starts traveling toward the water discharge section of the specified ID number.
[0041]
When the fire-fighting robot passes by the water supply outlet 14 while traveling, it recognizes the ID number from the ID transmitter 15 provided there and matches the ID number of the water discharge section specified by the center in step S6. It is checked whether they do not match, and if they do not match, the robot travel is continued in step S7.
[0042]
When the ID number of the water supply outlet matches the ID number of the water discharge section specified by the center, the running of the robot is stopped in step S8, and the water supply plug 12 on the robot side is connected to the water supply outlet 14 in step S9. Subsequently, in step S10, the operation of opening the electric on-off valve 13 is performed, whereby the water discharge from the wide area water spray head 6 is started in step S11.
[0043]
Regarding the operation after the start of water discharge, the fire extinguishing robot 1 is instructed to control watering pressure, for example, while watching the situation from the site or the ITV camera installed in the tunnel, and watering by the automatic valve 11 is performed. By controlling the pressure, the spray flow rate from the wide area water spray head 6 is controlled, and remote control of spraying according to the fire situation is possible. In addition, when it is confirmed that the fire has been extinguished, the center instructs the fire extinguishing robot 1 to stop watering, thereby closing the electric open / close valve 13 and stopping water discharge.
[0044]
FIG. 5 shows another embodiment of the fire extinguishing robot 1 according to the present invention. In this embodiment, the sprinkling control by the wide area water spray head is performed by detecting the wind speed and direction of the wind blowing in the tunnel. It is characterized in that.
[0045]
In FIG. 5, the fire extinguishing robot 1 includes a robot main body 2 and a wide area water spray head 6, and is provided so as to be able to travel with respect to a rail / fire extinguishing main pipe 3 by driving wheels 4 and guide wheels 5. The configurations of the robot main body 2 and the wide area water spray head 6 are basically the same as those of the embodiment of FIG. 1, but additionally, a wind direction sensor 24 and a wind speed sensor 25 are provided on the robot main body. And the wind speed can be detected.
[0046]
Further, a swivel joint 26 is provided on the robot main body 2, and the wide area water spray head 6 is attached to the swivel joint 26 via the head connecting part 10 so as to be freely rotatable. The swivel joint 26 can rotate by driving the motor 27 under the control of the motor drive circuit 28 by the controller 17.
[0047]
6 and 7 are flowcharts of the control process in the embodiment of FIG. In the control processing of the fire extinguishing robot 1 in FIG. 5, steps S1 to S9 are the same as those in the flowchart in FIG.
[0048]
In this way, when the fire extinguishing robot 1 is stopped at the position of the water discharge section where the fire has occurred and the connection with the water supply outlet 14 is completed, the wind direction and wind speed values are obtained in step 10 from the detection outputs of the wind speed sensor 25 and the wind direction sensor 24. Is measured, and the nozzle attached to the wide area water spray head 6, especially the long-range nozzle susceptible to the wind, is designed to minimize the influence of the wind on the wind direction and the wind speed value measured in step S11. The nozzle turning angle of the wide area water spray head 6 is determined so as to optimize the water discharge direction of the nozzle 7.
[0049]
Then, after confirming the nozzle setting to the turning angle determined in step S13 in FIG. 7, the electric open / close valve 13 is controlled to open in step S14, and water discharge is started in step S15. As a result, the influence of the wind on the spray pattern discharged from the nozzle can be minimized, and a sufficient flight distance can be ensured even when there is wind.
[0050]
In addition to turning the direction of the wide area water spray head 6 by the swivel joint 26, a nozzle elevation angle adjustment mechanism is provided for the long distance nozzle 7 provided in the wide area water spray head 6 and which is most susceptible to wind, for example. In such a case, the nozzle elevation angle may be determined and controlled so as not to be affected by the wind.
[0051]
In addition, in consideration of the influence of wind, the spraying pressure may be increased by the automatic valve 11 so that the flight distance by the wind is not reduced. Further, since the direction of the wind in the tunnel is determined by the jet fan 23 as shown in FIG. 2, the wind direction sensor 24 may be omitted and only the wind speed sensor 25 may be used.
[0052]
In the above embodiment, the fire extinguishing robot is moved along the rail at the center of the tunnel ceiling surface. However, the fire extinguishing robot may be moved by installing a rail above the tunnel side wall.
[0053]
In the above embodiment, the electric on-off valve 13 is provided on the fire extinguishing robot 1 side, but the electric on-off valve 13 may be provided on the water supply outlet 14 side. When the electric on-off valve 13 is provided on the fire extinguishing robot 1 side as in the above embodiment, the number of the electric on-off valves 13 can be reduced, and the cost can be reduced.
[0054]
On the other hand, when the electric open / close valve 13 is provided on the side of the water supply outlet 14, the electric open / close valve 13 can be opened after the fire extinguishing robot 1 is connected to the water supply outlet 14. There is an advantage that the robot 1 can be connected and control is easy.
[0055]
Further, the present invention is not limited by the numerical values shown in the above embodiments.
[0056]
【The invention's effect】
As described above, according to the present invention, by designating the ID number of the fire extinguishing section at the place where the fire occurred, the fire extinguishing robot can be stopped and moved to the position of the water supply outlet having the corresponding ID number to discharge water. It is not necessary to mount a camera for specifying a fire position, so that the structure of the fire extinguishing robot can be simplified and the cost can be significantly reduced, thereby greatly promoting the practical use of the fire extinguishing robot in tunnel facilities. In addition, since the fire extinguishing robot does not have a camera, maintenance is easy, and durability and reliability can be improved.
[0057]
In addition, the fire extinguishing robot requires only an automatic valve to control the pressure when discharging water as needed. The power consumption of the battery is small, and thus the fire fighting robot can be downsized.
[0058]
In addition, as a communication facility for communication between the fire extinguishing robot and the center, a communication facility may be set up only at the station where the fire extinguishing robot is waiting, and based on the ID number of the fire extinguishing section received at the station. Since the robot can travel to the designated water discharge section and can recognize and stop the ID number set in the water supply outlet, cable installation for communication facilities is unnecessary, and it is not necessary to consider cable damage due to fire, etc. Even if the equipment on the tunnel side is damaged in the event of a fire, it is possible to ensure that the fire-fighting robot performs fire-fighting activities.
[Brief description of the drawings]
FIG. 1 is an explanatory view showing an embodiment of a fire extinguishing robot according to the present invention; FIG. 2 is an explanatory view showing an installation state of a fire extinguishing robot according to the present invention in a tunnel; FIG. FIG. 4 is a flowchart of a control process performed by the fire extinguishing robot of FIG. 1. FIG. 5 is another embodiment of a fire extinguishing robot according to the present invention that performs water spray control in consideration of the influence of wind in a tunnel. FIG. 6 is a flowchart of a control process by the fire extinguishing robot of FIG. 5; FIG. 7 is a flowchart of a control process by the fire extinguishing robot following FIG. 6;
1, 1A, 1B, 1C: Firefighting robot 2: Robot body 3: Rail / firefighting main pipe 4: Driving wheel 5: Guide wheel 6: Wide area water spray head 7: Long distance nozzle 8: Medium distance nozzle 9: Short distance nozzle 10 : Head connecting part 11: Automatic valve 12: Water supply plug 13: Electric open / close valve 14: Water supply outlet 15: ID transmitter 16: Drive unit 17: Controller 18: Communication unit 19: Battery 20: Tunnel 21: Road surface 22: Ceiling wall surface 23: Jet fan 24: Wind direction sensor 25: Wind speed sensor 26: Swivel joint 27: Motor 28: Motor drive circuit

Claims (5)

In a fire fighting robot for a tunnel, which runs on rails arranged in the longitudinal direction along a tunnel wall surface to extinguish or suppress a fire generated in the tunnel,
A wide-area water spray head that discharges water in a water spray pattern that covers at least the longitudinal width of the water discharge section divided in the tunnel longitudinal direction and covers the width in the tunnel cross-sectional direction,
A water supply plug detachable from a water supply outlet installed in each of the water discharge sections,
An automatic valve capable of adjusting watering pressure from the wide area water spray head,
A drive unit for driving a traveling wheel to travel along the rail,
A communication unit for exchanging information with the outside;
A controller that travels to a position of a water supply outlet of a water discharge section instructed from the outside via the communication unit, connects the water supply plug, and discharges water from the wide area water spray head,
A fire-fighting robot for a tunnel, comprising: 2. The fire fighting robot for a tunnel according to claim 1, wherein the wide area water spray head includes one or more long-range nozzles, middle-range nozzles, and short-range nozzles. 2. The fire fighting robot for a tunnel according to claim 1, wherein the controller recognizes a section number preset in a water supply outlet installed on the tunnel side, compares the recognized section number with a designated section number of a movement destination, and compares the two. A fire-fighting robot for a tunnel, characterized in that it stops at a position of a water supply outlet that matches the condition and connects a water supply plug. 2. The tunnel fire fighting robot according to claim 1, further comprising a sensor for detecting a wind speed, wherein the controller controls the wide area water spray head according to the wind speed detected by the sensor. Fire fighting robot. 5. The fire extinguishing robot for a tunnel according to claim 4, wherein the controller controls the turning of the wide area water spray head with respect to the robot main body according to the wind speed detected by the sensor.

Images