AU773262B2 - Fire fighting vehicle - Google Patents

Description

WO 01/39838 PCT/AUOO/01489 FIRE FIGHTING VEHICLE The present invention relates to fire fighting vehicles. The invention is particularly directed to, but not limited to, fire-fighting vehicles of the type commonly used in areas outside main city centres. The invention is also concerned with a modular pump unit, body module and other equipment for use with fire fighting appliances.

Modem fire appliances include a pumping unit for connection to a source of water in order to deliver relatively large volumes of water in fighting a fire. The pumping unit may have its own power source but usually is mechanically driven by coupling of the pump unit to the drive shaft of the appliance that extends from the appliance transmission to the rear wheels. In some instances, the pumping arrangement of the appliance also incorporates the means for producing a fire fighting foam, which is used to suppress the fire.

One type of fire fighting appliance used in country areas of Australia is the so-called "urban pumper" appliance. The urban pumper conventionally has a pump unit located to rear of the chassis of the appliance which supplies water/foam to a fire hose supported on a rotatable cylindrical reel supported on the pump unit.

As a result of operating factors, the pump unit requires periodic maintenance. Because pump units are usually relatively large, heavy assemblies, service and maintenance of the unit can be difficult and expensive. Most importantly, servicing of the pumping unit of the appliance may take days if not weeks during which time the appliance is not available for fire fighting purposes. Moreover in the event of the pump unit requiring more major repair, the appliance may have to be taken out of service for several weeks.

During high-risk fire periods in country areas, there is a need to have as many fire fighting appliances available in case of a major forest or scrub fire.

Therefore, a pump system that minimises or even eliminates the need to take the fire fighting appliance out of the field for service, maintenance or repair, would be highly advantageous.

The present invention seeks to address, at least in part, the appliance down-time involved in servicing, maintaining and/or repairing the pump unit of conventional fire appliances.

Accordingly, in a first aspect, the present invention provides a fire fighting appliance or the like for over-the-road travel the appliance including: a wheeled support structure and laterally spaced chassis rails; a mechanically driven pump module located between the chassis rails, the chassis rails including mounting means for said pump module for sliding engagement of corresponding mounting means on the pump module, the respective mounting means allowing sliding movement of the pump module relative to the chassis rails to permit the pump module to slide out to the rear of the appliance to permit access to the pump module for repair, servicing and/or maintenance; and releasable securing means for securing said pump module in an operative condition.

As used herein, a mechanically driven pump module located between the chassis rails S. is taken to mean that substantially all the pump module is located between the chassis 2 rails.

20 The pump module may incorporate a pump and primer, delivery and suction manifolds.

Preferably, the pump of the pump module is mechanically driven by the engine of the fire fighting appliance or the like, via a power take-off from the engine of the o.o.

appliance. In this embodiment, the pump drive shaft may be decoupled from the power take-off to allow the pump module to slide out to the rear of the vehicle. Most preferably, the pump unit has a drive shaft that is mechanically driven by coupling the pump unit to a split shaft power take-off from the vehicle, when the pump module is an S operative position on the vehicle.

The module preferably includes an electric rewind hose reel and pump panel incorporating all the controls for operating the pump. The pump module of the invention may also incorporate provision to carry a spare wheel of the appliance.

Most preferably, the chassis mounting means and the pump module mounting means are such as to allow the pump module to slide out from within the body and be removed from the appliance in the event of the pump module requiring major servicing or repair.

m:\specifications\500000\500000\5006 4cmmjc.doc The removed pump module may then be replaced by simply sliding in a replacement pump module.

In one particularly preferred form of the pump module support arrangement, the pump module rolls on roller bearings inside the chassis rails. It will be clear to the reader that other means for providing sliding *o 0 *e 0 m:\specifications\500000\500000\500614clmmjc.doc WO 01/39838 PCT/AUOO/01489 3 engagement may be used, for example, roller wheels. Moreover the chassis support mounting means does not necessarily have to be located inside the channel rails.

The removable securing means may be any means that secures the pump module to the chassis to prevent the pump module sliding relative to the chassis when the pump module is in its operative mode. The securing means can be removed to allow the module to slide out from the chassis as described above. The removable securing means may be bolts that bolt the pump means to the chassis rails when maintenance is not required. Other forms of securing means will be evident to those skilled in the art.

It will be apparent that the invention in its first aspect provides a system that reduces appliance downtime during maintenance, servicing or repair of the pump unit, thus maximising the availability of fire fighting appliances in the field.

The present invention, in a second aspect, provides a pump module for a fire fighting appliance having lateral chassis rails or the like, the pump module including mounting means adapted to co-operate with corresponding mounting means on the chassis of the fire fighting appliance to provide sliding engagement between the pump module and the chassis rails of the fire fighting appliance.

The present invention also provides an improvement in a body component of a fire fighting appliance, Accordingly, in a third aspect, the present invention provides a body module for a fire fighting appliance, the body module having opposed sides and opposed front and rear ends, the body having a low centre of gravity and a low profile tank and incorporating at least one storage means on each of the sides and at least one storage means located at rear end of the module.

The body module being formed at least in part from a fibreglass material. Alternatively, the body module may be formed at least in part from aluminium.

Preferably the exterior of the body module is finished in a gelcoat finish to provide a long lasting durable external coating.

Preferably the rear end of the body module is configured with two flanked hose lockers and two suction hose lockers incorporated into the upper section of the body module. Preferably the body module is easily WO 01/39838 PCT/AUOO/01489 4 removable from the appliance chassis and is located on the chassis of the appliance by a plurality of rubberised mounts.

In a fourth aspect, the present invention provides a wheeled fire appliance vehicle for over-the-road travel, the fire fighting appliance having fixed to the body thereof a body module in accordance with the present invention in its third aspect.

A further improvement provided by the present invention relates to the cabin steps of the fire fighting vehicle. Accordingly, in a fifth aspect, the present provides a cabin step for use with a over-the-road vehicle fire fighting appliance, the cabin step including a tread plate to provide a non-slip surface and further including a toe guard to prevent a foot sliding through the step and wherein each step is progressively staggered out to provide good visibility whilst accessing the cabin. The step may include slide out storage means for storage of a battery or the like. The storage means may be a battery box.

Preferably the cabin steps include one or more handrails. Most preferably the handrail(s) include safety warning indicia thereon to provide improved egress and access from the cabin. The warning indicia may be a safety yellow coating.

In yet a sixth aspect, the present invention provides an over-the-road fire fighting appliance, the appliance including the present invention in its first to fifth aspect.

In order that the invention may be more readily understood, we provide the following non-limiting embodiments which are described in reference to the attached figures in which: Figs. la and lb are rearward views of a fire fighting appliance incorporating an embodiment of a pump module in accordance with the invention in its retracted position; Fig. 2 is a section side view of the fire fighting appliance shown in Figure 1 with the pump module of Fig.1 in its extended position; Fig. 3 is a top view of the pump frame bolting location; Figs. 4a and 4b are off-side rear view and a near-side front view respectively of an embodiment of a body module in accordance with the invention; and Figs. 5a, 5b and 5c are photographs showing an embodiment of cabin steps in accordance with the present invention.

WO 01/39838 PCT/AUOO/01489 PUMP MODULE Turning to Fig. 1, fire fighting appliance 1 includes a cabin supported on wheel chassis 12. Wheel chassis 12 is formed from a pair of chassis rails 14a and 14b having body mounts 19 and towing eye 17. Located towards the rear of the chassis 12 is pump module 20 shown in its retracted position. The pump module supports an electric rewind hose reel 22 and includes foam systems and class foam tank 38. A panel and pump controls 40 are located at the rear of the pump module. A spare tyre 26 is supported beneath the pump module and crank handle 28 is provided to allow the spare tyre to be raised and lowered. Collapsible bumpers 29 are also supported by the pump module.

The pump module has a pump unit 30 which is best shown in Fig. 2, where the pump module is in its extended position ready for servicing. When the pump module is in its retracted position (Fig. pump unit 30 is mechanically driven by coupling the pump unit via coupling 32 to pump drive shaft 34 driven by split shaft power take off 36. The pump module includes primer 50, delivery outlet and manifold 52 and 53 respectively and suction inlet and manifold 54 and 56 respectively.

The pump module 20 is supported on a pair of support frames which co-operate with roller bearings located on the inside of the chassis rails 14a, 14b so that the pump module can slide relative to the chassis rails. Fig. 2 shows a cut away section 70 of rail 14a to show front support bearing.

As can be seen from Fig. 3, in its operative position, the pump module is held in the retracted position by retaining bolts 15 which are bolted to the chassis rails to prevent the pump module from moving.

When access to the pump module is required, the retaining bolts are removed to allow the module to slide out to an extended position, as shown in Fig. 2, to expose the components of the pump module for regular maintenance. The support arrangement is such that the pump module may slide out and be removed from the chassis 12 for more substantial servicing at another site. The removed pump module may then be replaced by another module which simple so that its mounting means is in register with the roller bearing mounting on the chassis rails and is simply slid in between the chassis rails until it reaches the retracted position and retaining bolts are the installed.

WO 01/39838 PCT/AU00/01489 6 BODY MODULE The body module of the invention is shown in Figs. 4a and 4b. The body module is totally constructed from fibreglass although it could be fabricated from other materials such as aluminium. The exterior of the body is finished in a gelcoat finish to provide a long lasting, durable external coating. Preferably the gelcoat is fire resistant.

The body design of the body module 50 has a low profile to improve access into locker modules (nearside 52, offside 53, front transverse 54, near side front transverse 56, near side front 57, near side middle 58, near side back 59, near side rear upper (suction hose) 60, near side rear lower (Flaked delivery hose) 61, off side front transverse 62, off side front 63, off side middle 64, off side back 65, off side rear upper (suction hose) 66 and off side rear lower (Flaked delivery hose) 67) along with achieving a very low centre of gravity with a low profile water tank 51. The body module includes tank outlet 68, tank overflow 69, tank top fill and inspection lid 70 and tank pressure relief valve 71. The body module further includes front body brace, lifting eye, ladder gantry mount 72 and includes rear body brace, lifting eye, ladder gantry mount 73. The body module is adapted to be easily removable and may be located on the chassis of the fire fighting appliance by eight rubberised mounts CABIN STEP Figs. 5a, 5b and 5c show the cabin step arrangement 90 in accordance with the present invention. In this particular embodiment, the cabins steps have been modified to suit the Isuzu FTR800 crew cab chassis and may be easily adapted to all Isuzu (or similar type of vehicle) cab. The steps incorporate Surgrip M tread plate to provide a non-slip surface.

Three steps 82 are provided with safety yellow coated handrail (not shown to provide improved egress and access from the cabin.

The steps also include a toe guard 84 to prevent a foot sliding through the step. The steps are arranged at approximately 400 mm intervals and are progressively staggered out to provide the fire fighter with good visibility whilst accessing the cabin.

The left hand side cabin steps incorporate a slide out battery box 86 WO 01/39838 PCT/AU00/01489 7 It will be appreciated by persons skilled in the art that numerous variations and/or modifications may be made to the invention as shown in the specific embodiments without departing from the spirit or scope of the invention as broadly described. The present embodiments are, therefore, to be considered in all respects as illustrative and not restrictive.

Claims (11)

1. A fire fighting appliance or the like for over-the-road travel, the appliance including: a wheeled support structure and laterally spaced chassis rails; a mechanically driven pump module located between the chassis rails, the chassis rails including mounting means for said pump module for sliding engagement of corresponding mounting means on the pump module, the respective mounting means allowing sliding movement of the pump module relative to the chassis rails to permit the pump module to slide out to the rear of the appliance to permit access to the pump module for repair, servicing and/or maintenance; and releasable securing means for securing said pump module in an operative condition.

2. A fire fighting appliance according to claim 1, wherein the pump module includes a pump that is mechanically driven by the engine of the fire fighting appliance o or the like.

3. A fire fighting appliance according to claim 2, wherein the pump has a drive shaft that is driven via a releasable coupling of the pump drive shaft to a power take-off 20 from the engine of the appliance.

4. A fire fighting appliance according to claim 3, wherein the pump drive shaft is mechanically driven by coupling the pump unit to a split shaft power take-off from the appliance, when the pump module is an operative position on the appliance. A fire fighting appliance according to claim 1 including a pump primer and delivery and suction manifolds. S•6. A fire fighting appliance according to any one of the preceding claims, wherein the pump module includes an electric rewind hose reel and pump panel incorporating controls for operating the pump.

7. A fire fighting appliance according to any one of the preceding claims wherein the chassis mounting means and the pump module mounting means are such as to allow the pump module to slide out from within the body and be removed from the appliance. m:\specifications\500000\500000\500614clmmjc.doc

8. A fire fighting appliance according to any one of the preceding claims wherein the pump module rolls on roller means associated with the chassis rails.

9. A fire fighting appliance according to claim 8, wherein the roller means are roller bearing located on the inside of the chassis rails. A fire fighting appliance according to any one of the preceding claims wherein the removable securing means are bolts which bolt the pump means to the chassis rails.

11. A pump module for a fire fighting appliance having lateral chassis rails or the like, the pump module including mounting means adapted to cooperate with corresponding mounting means associated with the chassis rails of the fire fighting appliance to provide sliding engagement between the pump module and the chassis rails of the fire fighting appliance. "12. The pump module of claim 11, wherein the pump module is supported on a pair of support frames which, in use, co-operate with roller means associated with the chassis rails. 20 13. A pump module according to claim 12, wherein the pump module includes a pump that is adapted to be mechanically driven by the engine of the fire fighting appliance or the like. S.o* 0o.14. A pump module according to claim 13, wherein the pump has a drive shaft that is driven via a releasable coupling to a power take-off from the engine of the appliance. A pump module according to claim 14, wherein the pump drive shaft is S: •.mechanically driven by coupling the pump unit to a split shaft power take-off from the appliance, when the pump module is an operative position on the appliance.

16. A pump module according to any one of claims 11 to 15 including a pump primer and delivery and suction manifolds.

17. A pump module according to any one of claims 11 to 16, wherein the pump module includes an electric rewind hose reel and pump panel incorporating controls for operating the pump. m:\specifications\500000\500000\500614clmmjc.doc

18. A fire fighting appliance or the like substantially as hereinbefore described with reference to Figures Ila, 1ib, 2 and 3 and/or the preferred embodiments and excluding, if any, comparative examples. Dated this twenty-third day of March 2004 Skilled !Equipment Manufacturing Pty Limited Patent Attorneys for the Applicant: F BRICE &CO 0 00000 :6,09, 0 0 0 m:\speciflcations\500000\500000\50061 4clmmjc.doc