AU2002331428C1

AU2002331428C1 - Fire collar

Info

Publication number: AU2002331428C1
Application number: AU2002331428A
Authority: AU
Inventors: James Walter George Truss
Original assignee: IG6 Pty Ltd
Current assignee: IG6 Pty Ltd
Priority date: 2001-09-10
Filing date: 2002-09-09
Publication date: 2009-01-15
Anticipated expiration: 2022-09-09
Also published as: AU2002331428B2

Description

FIRE COLLAR Field of the Invention 1This invention relates to a device for preventing fire r- from spreading from one side of a partition to another by way 0 of pipework or ducting in the partition. In particular, the 0 invention is primarily concerned with a new form of fire damper collar for location adjacent a concrete slab separating the floors and walls of multi-floor buildings.

Background of the Invention A common type of fire collar comprises a metal collar which is fastened around a concrete slab-penetrating plastics material pipe in the region where it traverses the slab; the collar enclosing an intumescent material. When a fire in one side of the concrete slab reaches a sufficient intensity to melt the pipe where it penetrates the slab, it also causes the intumescent material to expand and seal off the void left by the melted pipe. In this way, a barrier is formed to prevent the spread of the fire to the other side of the concrete slab.

A major problem with this type of fire collar is that the time taken for the intumescent material to form a seal can be too long in rapidly advancing fires with the result that the fire can still spread to the other side of the partition.

A recent attempt to overcome this problem is a fire damper comprising a tubular insert having a grid of intumescent material formed across the circumference of the pipe or duct. However, although such an arrangement enables very quick sealing to occur, it has the disadvantage that it slows down the passage of fluid along the pipe or duct. Such a slowdown is amplified by the number of concrete slabs which the pipe or duct traverses to the extent that complete blockage of the fluid can ultimately occur.

CI Object of the Invention It is therefore an object of the invention to provide a new form of fire collar/fire damper which obviates the C aforementioned disadvantages or at least provides the public with a useful alternative.

OO

Summary of the Invention In one aspect the present invention resides broadly in a fire C damper including: CI a housing having an inlet adapted to connect to an inlet conduit and an outlet adapted to connect to an outlet conduit; a damping member in said housing adapted to move from an open position in which the damping member allows fluid to flow from said inlet to said outlet to a closed position in which said damping member inhibits flow from said inlet to said outlet, said damping member including an intumescent material.

By "fluid" is intended to mean gases, such as airconditioning air, waste gases, and liquids such as liquid wastes and water.

Detailed Description of the Invention Preferably, the damping member incorporates a cylinder or ball valve having an internal passageway which is of the same or similar diameter to that of the pipework or ducting in which it is fitted. It is also preferred that such cylinder or ball valve be arranged so as to be rotatable about an axis so that it can rotate between a normal open position where passage of fluid through the pipework or ducting is unimpeded to a position, generally at the right angles to the open position, where passage of fluid is prevented.

Rotation of the cylinder or ball valve can be achieved by mechanical and/or electrical means. Mechanical rotation can -3- S be, for instance, by the use of a spiral spring retained in a recess formed in an exterior wall of the housing, having its outer end held by the housing and its inner end held by the cylinder or ball valve. In its normal configuration, the spring is under tension but it cannot rotate the ball or cylinder to a closed position until the heat detector reacts 00 0 to a preset temperature value. The closed position can be established by a pin located in the housing wall which meets a stop when rotation through 90 has been made.

In one form of the invention, the heat detector can be formed from a material which has the dual properties of, firstly, being capable of bonding or interlocking with an element of the damper arrangement and the housing and, secondly, being able to yield its bond or lock when it is heated to a predetermined temperature value. These properties enable the heat detector to be designed and located in such a manner that it will normally ensure that the damping member is held open but when a predetermined, ie. Present temperature is reached, it will yield enabling the damping member to close.

Suitable heat detector materials are lead and its alloys, plastics materials and various composites. Typically, the temperature at which such materials yield will be in the range of 600 120 0 C, depending upon the particular application, so as to meet governmental or local council requirements.

The heat detector material can be located, for instance, in the interior perimeter of the housing where an element of the damping member has an adjacency when in an open configuration. Thus, in the case of a ball valve, a circular seal of heat detector material, such as a ring of lead can be located between the housing and the ball valve at both the inlet and outlet sides.

-4- O In another form, the heat detector material can C comprise an alloy pad formed on the end of a bearing shaft which extends through the wall of the housing to a location within the damping member, preferably at a location which does not impede the flow of fluid through the housing. A spiral spring retained in a recess on the outer side of the housing 00 c- connects the shaft to the housing. The spring is normally held under compression and is only released from compression when M the alloy pad yields upon being heated to the present temperature, thereby enabling the shaft and damping member to ci rotate to a closed position.

In yet another form of the invention, the heat detector can be a thermocouple. The thermocouple can be connected by way of appropriate circuitry to a solenoid which can retract a pin extending between the housing and the damping member, to permit the damping member to close when the thermocouple detects a predetermined temperature value. Such a situation also permits the damping member to be reset to an open configuration as well as the simultaneous operation of other fire collars within the partition.

In order to test the integrity of the fire damper, testing means can be provided which enable the damper to be moved between its open and closed configurations. Such testing means can be automatic or manual. An automatic testing means can comprise a motor which drives, for instance, the aforementioned bearing shaft so as to rotate the attached damper. A manual testing means can consist of a simple lever fitted to the bearing shaft.

The fire damper according to the invention is ideally fabricated from ceramic materials but other materials such as fibre-reinforced concrete, metal and the like can also be used depending upon the specific usage. Preferably, the damping member incorporates a cylinder or ball made from plastics S material having an intumescent material embedded between 1 inner and outer layers of the plastics material. The intumescent material expands when the cylinder or ball has additional fire-stop feature.

SUsage of the fire damper can range across a large number of fields from plumbing to ventilation and air- 00 g conditioning installations.

MBrief Description of the Drawings Figure 1 is a top view of a fire damper according to g the invention showing a closed damper arrangement; Figure 2 is a top view of the fire damper shown in Figure 1 with the damper arrangement open; Figure 3 is an end view of the fire damper shown in Figure 1; Figure 4 is a side view of the fire damper shown in Figure 1; Figure 5 is a side view of another fire damper according to the present invention; Figure 6 is a side view of a fire damper according to the present invention; Figure 7 is an end view of a fire damper according to the present invention; and Figure 8 is a side view of the fire damper of Figure 7.

Description of Preferred Embodiments Preferred embodiments of the invention will now be described with reference to the drawings, in each of which like reference numerals refer to like parts.

Referring firstly to Figures 1-4, the fire damper comprises a ceramic ball valve 11 that is, the ball valve has two opposing sectors removed as can be seen in Figure 3, centrically located therein. The ceramic housing may be formed -6- S by heat welding two hemispheres together after the A ball valve 11 has been located therein.

The spherical ball valve 11 has a passageway 12 extending from one side to the other with a diameter which S corresponds to the diameter of the housing inlet 13 and outlet 14. The housing inlet 13 and outlet 14, in turn, have 00 diameters which do not impede the flow of fluid there through from attached pipework or ducting. There is thus unimpeded fluid flow through the fire collar.

A recess 24 is formed in the outer wall of the housing (Ni and a stainless steel spiral spring 15 is located therein. The spiral spring has one end 16 bent so as to be retained within a hub of the housing and the other end 17 cranked for retention by the ball valve 11.

Two rings 18, 19 of lead alloy are bonded between the housing and the ball valve, and additionally seal the end of the small gap 20 between the ball valve and its seat. The gap can be maintained by small ridges formed on the surface of the ball valve. Such a gap is useful for preventing binding between the ball valve and its seat such as could potentially occur over time.

Elastomeric seals 21, 22 enable quick secure fractional attachment to a plastics material ventilation pipe extending from a toilet or similar odour producing facility.

The fire collar depicted in Figures 1-4 is designed to be located within a concrete slab of a high rise building. In use, the fire damper will maintain the open configuration shown, for instance, in Figure 2 until such time as a fire occurs on either side of the concrete slab. When the fire reaches the ventilation-hydraulic pipe at the point of attachment to the fire damper, and the temperature climbs to the pre-set value, the lead alloy ring seals 18, 19 melt and the ball valve is then free to rotate under the tension of the -7- C spiral spring 15. Rotation continues until the passageway C 12 in the ball valve is in alignment with the inlet 13 and outlet 14 at which point a stop pin 23 in the ball valve quadrant prevents further rotation.

Referring to Figure 5, the fire damper comprises a twopart plastics material housing 50, 51 whose components press- 00 fit together so as to enclose a partially spherical hollow plastics material ball 52 having opposed openings so as to M provide a through passageway for fluid when in an open configuration. The ball 52 includes an intumescent material g which is encased within the walls of the ball.

The ball 52 is rotatable between an open and a closed position upon integrally formed pivots 53, 54 which are housed in recesses formed in the wall of the housing. Under normal, in use, conditions, the ball is retained in an open position by two rings of lead 55, 56 contained in annular recesses in the housing at the entry and at sides of the ball.

The ball 53 is held under tension in its open position by virtue of a flat coil spring 57. The spring is tensioned to rotate the ball through ninety degrees when the lead rings 56 yield at a present temperature. Continued rotation of the ball 53 is prevented by a stop 58 formed by a wall of the housing.

The fire damper can be readily connected to the pipework by means of cylindrical connecting elements 59a, 59b.

Figure 6 is a modified version of the fire damper shown in Figure 5. This version enables the fire collar to be tested at desired intervals to ensure that the ball can be rotated and has not become jammed or otherwise inoperable. The main difference from the Figure 5 version is that the heat detector component comprises an alloy pad 60 formed on the end of a square drive shaft 61. A secondary internal drive shaft 62 also joins with this alloy pad and connects to a pulley 63, -8which is rotatable by means of an actuating cable 64 CI connected to a motor In general use, the motor is actuated to rotate the ball 66 between an open and closed position and back again, to test the integrity of the system at desired time intervals.

During a fire, the alloy pad 60 yields and the ball 66 00 S rotates under the action of a coil spring 67, as the mechanical connection between the square drive shaft 61 and Sthe internal drive shaft 62 is disengaged.

Figures 7 and 8 show a general fire damper which is C- based upon the same principal of operation as the Figure 6 embodiment.

The damper comprises a rotating damper member 70 in which a heat detecting metal alloy pad 71 is located with the same type of coil spring 72 and testing 73 set-up as described with Figure 6.

The damping member is connected to ducting at 74, and is pivotal at 76. Intumescent material is located at 77, 78 and intumescent lip seals are positioned at 79, The function of this damper is similar to that of the previous embodiment.

Claims

2. A fire damper according to Claim 1 wherein said damping member is mounted for rotation about an axis extending across said housing.
3. A fire damper according to Claim 2, wherein said damping member is mounted on a shaft which is supported for rotation in said housing about said axis.
4. A fire damper according to any one of the preceding claims including biasing means for biasing said damping member to the closed position. A fire damper according to Claim 4, wherein said biasing means includes a spiral spring wound about said axis. /cTRU02111 amd 23 November 2007
6. A fire damper according to Claim 5, wherein said Cl spiral spring is mounted between said damping member and said O housing. z C 7. A fire damper according to any one of Claims 4 to 6, including retaining means for retaining said damping member in 00 the open position against the bias of said biasing means, said S retaining means being adapted to release said damping member in response to heat whereby said biasing means can force said S damping member to the closed position.
8. A fire damper according to any one of Claim 7, wherein at least a portion of said retaining means is located in said housing and said portion is adapted to yield in response to said housing or fluid in said housing reaching a predetermined temperature.
9. A fire damper according to Claim 8, wherein said at least a portion of said retaining means is located adjacent said passage inlet. A fire damper according to Claim 9, wherein said at least a portion of said retaining means is a ring which engages with said housing and said damping member so as to retain said damping member in the open position.
11. A fire damper according to any one of Claims 7 to wherein said retaining means is adapted to yield within a temperature range of 60 degrees Celsius and 120 degrees Celsius. /cTRU021I I amd 23 November 2007 -11-
12. A fire damper according to Claim 12, wherein said CI retaining means is formed substantially of lead or a lead O alloy or composite. z S 13. A fire damper according to Claim 7, wherein said retaining means releasably secures said damping member to said 00 housing and is adapted to release said damper member in (N response to the ambient air reaching a predetermined Mc, temperature. c,
14. A fire damper according to Claim 13, including heat detection means adapted to detect temperature and actuate said retaining means. A fire damper according to Claim 14, wherein said damping member is mounted on a shaft which is supported for rotation in said housing about said axis and wherein said shaft is a first shaft and said retaining means drivingly connects said first shaft to a second shaft.
16. A fire damper according to Claim 15, wherein said second shaft is drivingly connected to a drive motor.
17. A fire damper according to any one of the preceding claims wherein said damping member is a cylinder valve or a ball valve.
18. A fire damper according to any one of the preceding claims wherein said intumescent material of said damping member is encased by a plastics material.
19. A fire damper according to Claim 18, wherein said plastics material is molded about said intumescent material. /cTRU02111 amd 23 November 2007 -12- CI 20. A fire damper including: O a housing having an inlet adapted to connect to an inlet Z conduit and an outlet adapted to connect to an outlet conduit; C-i a damping member in said housing adapted to move from an open position in which the damping member allows fluid to flow 00 from said inlet to said outlet to a closed position in which S said damping member inhibits flow from said inlet to said C outlet; (Ni biasing means for biasing said damping member towards the S closed position; retaining means for retaining said damping member in the open position, said retaining means being adapted to release said damping member in response to heat; said retaining means including a material located in said housing and being adapted to yield upon fluid in said housing reaching a predetermined temperature so as to release said damping member, said damping member having a passage therethrough with a passage inlet and a passage outlet, said passage inlet and said passage outlet being adapted to align with the inlet and outlet of said housing respectively when said damping member is in the open position.
21. A fire damper according to Claim 20, wherein said damping member is mounted for rotation about an axis extending across said housing.
22. A fire damper according to Claim 21 or Claim 22, wherein said biasing means includes a spiral spring wound about said axis. /cTRU021 11 amd 23 November 2007 13-
23. A fire damper according to Claim 22, wherein said Ci spiral spring is mounted between said damping member and said S housing. 0 S 24. A fire damper according to Claim 22 or Claim 23, wherein said damping member is mounted on a shaft which is supported 00 for rotation in said housing about said axis. A fire damper according to any one of Claims 20 to 24, Cl wherein at least a portion of said retaining means is located in said housing and said portion is adapted to yield in response to said housing or fluid in said housing reaching a predetermined temperature.
26. A fire damper according to Claim 25, wherein said at least a portion of said retaining means is located adjacent said passage inlet.
27. A fire damper according to Claim 26, wherein said at least a portion of said retaining means is a ring which engages with said housing and said damping member so as to retain said damping member in the open position.
28. A fire damper according to any one of Claims 20 to 27, wherein said retaining means is adapted to yield within a temperature range of 60 degrees Celsius and 120 degrees Celsius.
29. A fire damper according to Claim 28, wherein said retaining means is formed substantially of lead or a lead alloy or composite. /cTRU021 11 amd 23 November 2007 -14- A fire damper according to Claim 29, wherein said CI retaining means includes a pin which releasably secures said O damping member to said housing and is adapted to release said Z damping member in response to the ambient air reaching a C- predetermined temperature. 00 31. A fire damper according to Claim 30, including heat S detection means adapted to detect temperature and actuate said pin. c-
32. A fire damper according to Claim 24, wherein said shaft is a first shaft and said retaining means drivingly connects said first shaft to a second shaft.
33. A fire damper according to Claim 32, wherein said second shaft is drivingly connected to a drive motor.
34. A fire damper according to any one of Claims 20 to 37 wherein said damping member is a cylinder valve or a ball valve. A fire damper according to any one of Claims 20 to 34, including a quantity of intumescent material in said housing and adapted to form a seal between said damping member and said housing upon expansion when said damping member is in the closed position.
36. A fire damper as hereinbefore described with reference to the accompanying drawings.
37. A fire damper according to Claim 1 as hereinbefore described with reference to the accompanying drawings. /cTRU021 II1 amd 23 November 2007 S 38. A fire damper according to Claim 20 as hereinbefore C described with reference to the accompanying drawings. 00 (N e¢ e¢ /cTRU02111 amd 23 November 2007