DE8913487U1 - Extinguishing device for control cabinets - Google Patents

Description

PATENT ATTORNEYS

DIPL-ING. R. LEMCKE October 27, 1989

DR.-ING. HJ BROMMER ⁽¹⁴ " ^{9) P/la}

BISMARCKSTRASSE 16 KARLSRUHE 1

TELEPHONE (0721) 2 87 7B-S FAX (0721) 211OS

I R S

Industrial Rationalization Systems GmbH Heidelberger Landstr. 175 6100 Darmstadt-Eberstadt

Extinguishing device for control cabinets

The invention relates to an extinguishing device for switch cabinets, computer cabinets, etc., consisting of at least the following components: A fan that supplies air extracted from the interior of the switch or computer cabinet to at least one sensor, in particular a smoke detector or temperature sensor, an extinguishing agent line with a valve and a trigger logic, which, when a predetermined limit value is exceeded

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the valve on the sensor opens and triggers the supply of extinguishing agent into the cabinet.

Due to the concentration of flammable materials such as cable insulation, electromechanical components, circuit boards, etc., control cabinets often contain large fire loads. The electrical energy present, which can lead to ignition in the event of a short circuit, for example, poses a real fire hazard. Automatic control cabinet extinguishing systems are used to detect and extinguish potential fires at the earliest stage, i.e. to avoid serious fire damage.

These systems are triggered by the detection of smoke, exceeding a maximum temperature or exceeding a maximum permissible temperature increase in a unit of time (cf. DE-OS 34 33 359) or combinations of these parameters. The installation of such automatic control cabinet extinguishing systems is usually carried out subsequently. In the example of the above-mentioned publication, for example, the fire detection unit consisting of an intake funnel and the actual detection device is mounted on the top of a cabinet housing.

There is often not enough space for this type of installation. In addition, the individual parts of the extinguishing system (fire detectors, extinguishing nozzles, pipes and cabling) must be installed partly inside the fully wired cabinet.

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This is complicated because existing circuit board assembly and cabling must be taken into account.

This inevitably results in high installation costs and, where appropriate, costs for production downtime, since the electrical connections must be disconnected during installation.

The invention is based on the object of reducing these costs to a minimum and increasing the reliability of the system.

This object is achieved according to the invention in that the fan, sensor and trigger logic as well as the associated connections are mounted in a common carrier and that this carrier is designed as a removable element that can be inserted and/or pivoted into the cabinet.

The advantages achieved with the invention are in particular that the main components of the system can be prefabricated as a modular system. This reduces the installation time for the system. At the same time, the reliability of the connections is increased during factory prefabrication.

When the system components are mounted on a pull-out or swiveling exchange element, the maintenance of the system is also made considerably easier.

To increase the interchangeability of individual systems,

it is advisable to design the exchange element as a horizontally insertable standard rack.

The change element can be mounted at any position within the cabinet. It is recommended to mount it at the top of the cabinet, as this places it in a convenient area for maintenance and inspection.

The depth of the exchange element can be dimensioned so that the rear free space provides space for an extinguishing agent storage container. This enables short distances between the trigger logic and the extinguishing agent storage container.

In order to be able to easily replace the extinguishing agent storage container during maintenance work or similar, it is advisable to connect the extinguishing agent storage container to the extinguishing agent line using a flexible hose with a detachable screw connection.

In a further embodiment of the invention, the fan is connected by a coupling to an intake line that runs through the cabinet. This has the advantage that only the system parts that need to be serviced need to be removed and the intake line remains in the cabinet.

The intake line can have a large number of cross holes along its length, thereby increasing the area from which air is extracted.

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It is advantageous to have a high concentration of smoke in the air stream being drawn in. Therefore, flexible hose connections to potential fire sources can be mounted on the cross holes in the intake line.

In the event of a fire, the cabinet ventilation and the smoke extraction device can switch off. This ensures that no increased oxygen supply is made to the source of the fire and that the smoke is not spread into the surrounding area.

Further features and advantages emerge from the following description of an embodiment.

This shows

Figure 1 shows the front view of an equipment cabinet equipped with an extinguishing device according to the invention.

Figure 2 shows the side view of such a cabinet and

Figure 3 the top view. In

Figure 4 shows a retractable change element and

Figure 5 shows a fastening option for the extinguishing agent storage container.

The control cabinet extinguishing system A consists of several individual components. These include a power supply unit 16, an emergency power supply 17 and

an evaluation logic 18. These individual components are mounted on a rack 1. Behind this installation rack there is an extinguishing agent storage container 2, for example a COp bottle.

It is essential that this rack as a whole

&igr; ¹ ·- can be moved out of the control cabinet, in

;· Example of implementation by means of a hinge 22

is swung out horizontally.

On the rear wall of the control cabinet or on a mounting plate 5 arranged parallel to it, a

;" . Air intake duct 11 is mounted, which extends almost over the

^! entire height of the control cabinet. It has

several cross holes 11a so that air can be extracted from different areas of the control cabinet ^. At its upper end it is connected to a

A hose 12 provided with couplings 13 is connected to a detector chamber 9.

A fan 19 continuously draws air from the inside of the housing cabinet via the air intake duct 11 through the hose 12 into the detector chamber 9 and supplies it to a sensor 8. The same thing happens if there is a control cabinet ventilation system 10.

If the evaluation logic 18 detects a fire through the sensor 8, it sends a signal via a control cable 20 to a trigger mechanism 15, which opens an extinguishing agent valve 14.

As a result, extinguishing agent flows from the extinguishing agent storage container 2 through the extinguishing agent valve 1 and via a flexible hose 6 into an extinguishing agent pipe 3. The flexible hose is connected to both the extinguishing agent valve 1 and the extinguishing agent pipe by means of detachable screw connections 7.

The extinguishing agent pipe is provided with nozzle holes 4. It is attached with a fastening 3a either - as shown - to a wall of the housing cabinet or to the mounting plate 5.

At the same time as the extinguishing process is triggered, an acoustic or optical alarm device 21 is activated and the fans 10, 19 are switched off.

Claims (9)

Industrie Rationalisierungs Systeme GmbH Heidelberger Landstr. 175 6100 Darmstadt-Eberstadt Protection claims 1. Extinguishing system for switch cabinets, computer cabinets, etc. consisting of at least the following components: A fan that supplies air extracted from the interior of the switch or computer cabinet to at least one sensor, in particular a smoke detector or temperature sensor, an extinguishing agent1 line with a valve and a triggering center that opens the valve when a predetermined limit value on the sensor is exceeded and triggers the supply of extinguishing agent into the cabinet, characterized by that the fan, sensor and triggering unit as well as the associated connections are mounted in a common carrier and that this carrier is designed as a removable element that can be inserted and/or pivoted into the cabinet. 2. Extinguishing device according to claim 1, characterized in that the exchange element is designed as a horizontally insertable standard rack. 3. Extinguishing device according to claim 1 or 2, characterized in that the change element is arranged at the upper end of the cabinet. 4. Extinguishing device according to one of the preceding claims, characterized, that the depth of the exchange element is dimensioned such that the rear free space provides space for an extinguishing agent storage container. 5. Extinguishing device according to one of the preceding claims, characterized, that the extinguishing agent storage container is connected to the extinguishing agent line via a flexible hose with a detachable screw connection. 6. Extinguishing device in particular according to claim 1, characterized, that the intake line has a large number of of cross holes. 7. Extinguishing device according to claim 6, characterized in that the fan is connected via a coupling to a suction line running through the cabinet. 8. Extinguishing device according to claim 6 or 7, characterized in that flexible hose connections to potential fire sources are mounted on the cross holes. 9. Extinguishing device according to one of the preceding claims, characterized, that in case of fire the cabinet ventilation and the Automatically switch off the smoke extraction device.