AU671468B2 - Installation for fighting fire - Google Patents

Abstract

The object of the present invention is to provide a new installation for fighting fire which is improved over known installations for such units which have a hydraulic system. According to the invention, the hydraulic system is arranged to be driven with water as drive medium, and preferably at least a part of sprinklers or spray heads intended for fighting fire are connected to the power source of the hydraulic system via the pressure line of the hydraulic system. Earlier required double pipe systems and double power sources are no longer necessary; the same system can be utilized for fire fighting as well as for numerous regular hydraulic functions e.g. in a tanker.

Description

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OPI DATE 31/01/94 AOJP DATE 28/04/94 APPLN. ID 45030/93 PCT NUMBER PCT/FI93/00282 1illl I1 IIIIII IlI II II AU9345030 INTERNATIONAL APPLICATION PUBLISHED UNDER THE PATENT COOPERATION TREATY (PCT) (51) International Patent Classification 5 International Publication Number: WO 94/01179 A62C 3/10, 35/00 Al (43) International Publication Date: 20 January 1994 (20.01.94) (21) International Application Number: PCT/FI93/00282 Published With international search report.

(22) International Filing Date: 2 July 1993 (02.07.93) Priority data: 923092 3 July 1992 (03.07.92) FI (71)(72) Applicant and Inventor: SUNDHOLM, Giran [FI/FI]; Ilmari Kiannon kuja 3, FIN-04310 Tuusula (FI).

(74)Agent: VALROS, Frey; Marioff Ky, PB 25, FIN-01511 Vantaa (FI).

(81) Designated States: AT, AU, BB, BG, BR, BY, CA, CH, CZ, DE, DK, ES, FI, GB, HU, JP, KP, KR, KZ, LK, LU, MG, MN, MW, NL, NO, NZ, PL, PT, RO, RU, SD, SE, SK, UA, US, VN, European patent (AT, BE, CH, DE, DK, ES, FR, GB, GR, IE, IT, LU, MC, NL, PT, SE), OAPI patent (BF, BJ, CF, CG, CI, CM, GA, GN, ML, MR, NE, SN, TD, TG).

(54)Title: INSTALLATION FOR FIGHTING FIRE (57) Abstract The object of the present invention is to provide a new installation for fighting fire which is improved over known installations for such units which have a hydraulic system. According to the invention, the hydraulic system is arranged to be driven with water as drive medium, and preferably at least a part of sprinklers or spray heads intended for fighting fire are connected to the power source of the hydraulic system via the pressure line of the hydraulic system. Earlier required double pipe systems and double power sources are no longer necessary; the same system can be utilized for fire fighting as well as for numerous regular hydraulic functions e.g. in a tanker.

1 INSTALLATION FOR FIGHTING FIRE The invention relates to an installation for fighting fire, for a unit provided with a hydraulic system, such as a ship.

In e.g. different kinds of ships a number of important regular functions are performed by means of a hydraulic system for which oil has been used as the drive medium. A separate installation has been used for fighting fire.

The present invention provides a fire fighting installation on a unit having a hydraulic system that includes a drive medium and a power source for driving the drive medium through lines that conduct the drive medium through the hydraulic system; wherein the drive medium is water and the installation includes sprinklers or spray heads intended for fighting fire and connected to the power source of the hydraulic system so as to utilise the drive medium as an extinguishing medium.

The concept "water" here of course includes certain additives, e.g. anti-corrosion additives. The power source of the hydraulic system is usually a hydraulic pump having a high operating pressure and a high volume capacity. The pump is in turn usually driven by a main power source, such as an electric generator.

In a preferred embodiment of the invention, at least a part of sprinklers or spray heads intended for fighting fire are connected to the power source of the hydraulic system via the pressure line of the hydraulic system.

3Some sprinklers or spray heads can in addition be ooeO connected to the return line of the hydraulic system, in which case it, when activating the sprinklers or spray heads, is reason to close the

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eooe Y 13O~ e e S:233051 WO 94/01179 PCT/FI93/00282 2 return line after the last sprinkler or spray head, in order to maintain a sufficient pressure in the return line.

Advantageously, with the present invention, earlier required double pipe systems and double power sources are no longer necessary; the same system can be utilized for fire fighting as well as for numerous regular hydraulic functions e.g. in a tanker. In addition to considerable savings in installation hardware and installation work, a comparatively great reduction in weight is achieved; the last-mentioned advantage is of surprising significance in ships of high speed.

In some cases it may be of advantage to connect at least a part of the sprinklers or spray heads to the power source of the hydraulic system through own lines separate from the lines of the hydraulic system.

In such an embodiment the separate fire fighting hydraulics can be utilized for performing certain additional functions essential when a fire has started, such as closing fire doors, driving elevators etc. If the regular main power source, usually an electric generator, would fall off at a fire, an emergency generator, often having less power than the regular generator, is capable of providing sufficient :power for fighting the fire and for performing at least a limited number of additional important •functions; the regular hydraulic system can then possibly be disconnected altogether.

30 The inventive idea can widely be said to be that the -same system is utilized both for fire fightifig and for more or less regular hydraulic :functions.

Hydraulic systems in ships and the like generally have a high operating pressure, 100 bar or .more. It is recommendable to use such sprinklers or •r 1 WO 94/01179 PCT/FI93/00282 3 spray heads which are presented e.g. in the international patent applications PCT/FI92/00060 and PCT/FI92/00155 and are capable of operating at a high pressure, provide effective fire extinguishing with small amounts of water and can be made to produce concentrated fog-like sprays having a good penetration power.

Installing such sprinklers or spray heads for connection to hydraulic systems here in question is considered to fall within normal skill in the art and is therefore not described in more detail in the present patent application.

In a tanker the installation for fighting fire can be utilized for spraying a fog of water droplets, having a typical diameter size of 30 to 150 microns, into the oil tanks for fire extinguishing and cooling, respectively.

Although the invention mainly is intended to be used in ships and other units directly comparable thereto, the invention can also be utilized in other units as well. Steel plants and mining can be mentioned as examples.

Claims (6)

1. A fire fighting installation on a unit having a hydraulic system that includes a drive medium and a power source for driving the drive medium through lines that conduct the drive medium through the hydraulic system; wherein the drive medium is water and the installation includes sprinklers or spray heads intended for fighting fire and connected to the power source of the hydraulic system so as to utilise the drive medium as an extinguishing medium.

2. An installation as claimed in claim 1, wherein at least some of the sprinklers or spray heads intended for fighting fire are connected to the power source of the hydraulic system via a pressure line of the hydraulic system.

3. An installation as claimed in claim 2, wherein the sprinklers or spray heads are also connected to a return line of the hydraulic system, the return line being adapted for closure after the last sprinkler or spray head, when the installation is activated.

4. An installation as claimed in claim 1, wherein at least a part of the sprinklers or spray heads are connected to the power source of the hydraulic system through respective lines that are separate from the lines of the hydraulic system, o

5. An installation as claimed in claim 4, wherein a V.number of functions essential in a fire situation, such as closing fire doors, are arranged to be performed by using the respective lines of the installation. o*in 30

6. A fire fighting installation wherein water is both o e the drive medium and the extinguishing medium substantially as herein described. Dated this 5th day of June 1996 GORAN SUNDHOLM By their Patent Attorneys GRIFFITH HACK CO C S:233051 INTERNATIONAL SEARCH REPORT International application No. PCT/FI 93/00282 A. CLASSIFICATION OF SUBJECT MATTER IPC5: A62C 3/10 A62C 35/00 According to International Patent Classification (IPC) or to both national classification and IPC B. FIELDS SEARCHED Minimum documentation searched (classification system followed by classification symbols) A62C, C10M, E21F, FO4B Documentation searched other than minimum documentation to the extent that such documents are included in the fields searched SE,DK,FI,NO classes as above Electronic data base consulted during the international search (name of data base and, where practicable, search terms used) WPI, CLAIMS C. DCCUMENTS CONSIDERED TO BE RELEVANT Category* Citation of document, with indication, where appropriate, of the relevant passages Relevant to claim No. Y US, A, 4786239 (EBERHARDT), 22 November 1988 1,4,5 (22.11.88), column 3, line 37 line 41; column 4, line 20 line 23; column 4, line 45 line column 5, line 9 line 23 Y WO, Al, 8500182 HOUGHTON 1,4,5 li January 1985 (17.01.85), page 3, line 12 line A US, A, 3898805 (GOOD, 12 August 1975 1,4,5 (12.08.75), column 1, line 54 line 57; column 3, line 44 line 48 Further documents are listed in the continuation of Box C. E See patent family annex. Special categories of cited documents: T' later document published after the international filing date or priority date and not in conflict with the application but cited to understand document def ing the general state of the art which is not considered the principle or theory underlying the invention to be of particular relevance creier document but published on or after the international filing date document of particular relevance: the claimed invention cannot be document which may throw doubts on priority claim(s) or which is considered novel or cannot be caonidered to involve n ivetive cited to establish the publication date of another citation or other step whe the document i taken alone special reason (as specified) document of particular relevance: the claimed invention cannot be document referring to an oral disclosure, use, exhibition or other considered to involve an inventive step when the document is means combined with one or more other such documents, such combination document published prior to the international filing date but later than being obvious to a person skilled in the art the priority date claimed document member of the same patent family Date of the actual completion of the international search Date of mailing of the international search report 18 October 1993 1 9 -10- 1993 Name and mailing address of the ISA/ Authorized officer Swedish Patent Office Box 5055, S-102 42 STOCKHOLM Ulrika bhman Facsimile No. +46 8 666 02 86 Telephone No. +46 8 782 25 00 Form PCT/ISA/210 (second sheet) (July 1992) INTE RNATIONAL SEARCH RE PORT Information on patent family members International applicaion No. 01/10/93 PCT/FI 93/00282 Patent document Publication Patent family Publication cited in search report date member(s) Idate US-A- 4786239 22/11/88 NONE WO-Al- 8500182 17/01/85 AU-B- 555383 18/09/86 AU-A- 3064684 25/01/85 CA-A- 1242431 27/09/88 EP-A,B- 0148215 17/07/85 SE-T3- 0148215 US-A- 3898805 12/08/75 US-A- 3837076 24/09/74 Form PCT/ISA/210 (patent family annex) (July 1992)