EP1846110B1

EP1846110B1 - Equipment for fire fighting

Info

Publication number: EP1846110B1
Application number: EP06701560A
Authority: EP
Inventors: Esa Karvonen
Original assignee: Simultron Oy
Current assignee: Simultron Oy
Priority date: 2005-01-31
Filing date: 2006-01-30
Publication date: 2010-07-14
Anticipated expiration: 2026-01-30
Also published as: FI20050104A0; EP1846110A1; DE602006015423D1; ATE473787T1; FI117237B; EP1846110A4; WO2006079683A1

Abstract

Equipment for fire fighting which comprises a nozzle device provided with handles or equivalent means and a longitudinal body and means for feeding high pressure water to the nozzle device, is characterised in that the nozzle device comprises several combinations (18a, 18b ; 19a,19b ; 20a, 20b) of several nozzles for forming different fog patterns and means (4) for selecting and connecting the desired combination of nozzles to the high pressure water feeding means. The equipment according to the invention suits especially for first attack fire fighting in various places and rooms.

Description

PIELD OF THE INVENTION

The invention is related to equipment for fire fighting which comprises a nozzle device provided with handles or equivalent means and a longitudinal body and means for feeding high pressure water to the nozzle device.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

A normal practice, as a fire occurs, is that the first fire fighting unit arriving at the scene starts extinguishing the fire. As the equipment are ready to work, firemen equipped with smoke helmets go into the burn room and start to cool burning gases and to extinguish the fire. Nowadays, fine droplet extinguishing is normally used for reducing consumption of water and damages caused by water. The extinguishing means include spray tubes in which the flow rate of water and spray angle may be adjusted. The spray tubes or corresponding means work with the normal water pressure of the extinguishing equipment which is less than 10 bar (1000 kPa).
In many cases, large damages would be avoided if there were means available for efficient first attack against the fire from outside and if such means could be obtained to the scene of the fire very quickly before the heavy fire fighting equipment and fire extinguishing personnel are ready to work.
It would be advantageous, also, if high pressure equipment could be used for first attack, such equipment having essentially finer droplet size and, respectively, essentially better cooling and extinguishing efficiency with certain amount of water than equipment working with conventional water pressure. To some extent, high pressure equipment have already been taken into use in fire fighting. One such equipment is known in which highpressure water is used also for cutting necessary openings for fire extinguishing work. During the cutting, steel grains are added to water for increasing the cutting efficiency.
US 6398136 discloses a fire fighting tool comprising a longitudinal body having in the front end a coupling piece to which different nozzle pieces may be connected. Each nozzle piece has a certain one combination of orifices which produces a certain fog pattern. A fog pattern is selected or changed by removing one nozzle piece from the front end of the longitudinal body by hand and coupling there another one instead of that, again by hand. This is quite problematic e.g. if it is necessary to change the fog pattern in course of first attack fire fighting.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

An object of the invention is to present especially for first attack fire fighting from outside of the burn room equipment which is suitable to be used and is efficient in different and variable situations.
To achieve this object, equipment for fire fighting according to the invention which equipment comprises a nozzle device and means for feeding high pressure water to the nozzle device, the nozzle device comprising: handles or equivalent means, a longitudinal body having the front end and the rear end, and several nozzles in the front end of the longitudinal body, is characterized in that which is defined in the characterizing part of independent claim 1.
Other claims define various embodiments of the equipment according to the invention.
The equipment according to the invention suits especially for first attack fire fighting, i.e. for preventing the fire from advancing and developing until the principal fire fighting unit is at the scene of the fire. In many cases, large damages caused inevitably by water during extinguishment of a wide spread fire may be avoided at the same time. The extinguishment and cooling of the fire gases are carried out from the outside of the burn room whereby the first fire fighter on scene can operate safely even when working alone and without a special protective outfit. The nozzle device is planned especially for this purpose. Its long enough and sturdy body tube may in many cases be hit at a suitable place through into the burn room or a hole may be made quickly for it. The possibility of selecting a suitable combination of nozzles and fog pattern makes the equipment versatile and suitable for first attack fire fighting in various different rooms and places.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The invention and some ambodiments thereof are described in further detail in the following with reference to accompanying drawings, in which:

Fig. 1 presents in side view a possible realization of a nozzle device included in high pressure equipment according to the invention;
Fig. 2 presents schematically in side view an example of high pressure equipment according to the invention as a whole;
Fig. 3 presents in side view and partly in section the nozzle device of Fig. 1 in further detail;
Fig. 4 presents the nozzle cap of the nozzle device of Fig. 1 in front view;
Figs. 5 and 6 present the nozzle cap and the high pressure water feeding head at their interface in views indicated by V-V and VI-VI in Fig. 3, respectively;
Fig. 7 presents in sectional view at VII-VII of Fig. 3 the selecting body in a possible realization of the means for selecting and connecting nozzle combinations;
Fig. 8 presents the selecting body of Fig. 7 in plant view;
Fig. 9 presents in front view and partly in section in further detail a possible realization and operation of the means for connecting nozzle combinations;
Fig. 10 presents schematically in front view a nozzle device and selection of nozzle combinations;
Figs. 11 to 15 present schematically examples of fog patterns formed with defferent nozzle combinations;
Fig. 16 presents schematically in side view an example of means for opening and closing the feeding of high pressure water;
Fig. 17 presents similarly to Fig. 4 another possible realization of the nozzle cap and nozzle combinations of a nozzle device; and
Fig. 18 presents similarly to Fig. 3 another possible realization of the nozzle device.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

In the front part of a nozzle device 1 of Figs. 1 and 2 there is a body tube 3 to which a nozzle cap 2 and a lever 4 are attached for changing the position of the nozzle cap and in that way to select nozzles and a fog pattern produced by them. In the rear part there is a handle 8 to which a hose 11 is connected for feeding high pressure water into the nozzle device. The handle include means for opening and closing the feeding of the water, these means being described here below with reference to Fig. 16. The handle 8 is connected to the rear body 7 of the nozzle device by means of quick couplings 10 and 9. A water pipe inside the rear body 7 is in the middle body 5 divided to two pipes 21a and 21b (Fig. 3) which are continued into the body tube 3. Another handle 6 is attached to the middle body 5.
Further to the nozzle device 1, the high pressure equipment of Fig. 2 comprises a unit 12 placed on a trailer 13 for producing and feeding high pressure water into the nozzle device 1. Said unit includes a water container 16 and a pump 15 driven by a combustion engine 14 and feeding water from the water container at high pressure into the hose 11 on a hose coil 17. The performance values of the pump may be, for example, water pressure 200 bar (2000 kPa) and pumping rate 40 l/min. The pump is provided with a revolution speed control. The equipment may further include a glycol container from which the pump and the hose are filled with glycol mixture after the use for preventing freezing in winter time if the equipment is kept outdoors for long times. One unit may include several high pressure pumps and hose coils.
The nozzle device 1 includes a long body tube 3 because it is provided for being pushed through a suitable opening into a burn room, so that it may be used safely from outside of the room. Figs. 3 to 9 present in further detail the construction of the front part of the nozzle device. The nozzle cap 2 is attached to the body tube 3 extending close to the handle 6 in the middle body 5. A hollow lever 4 is attached to the rear end of the body tube by welding, for example.
The nozzles or pairs of nozzles 18a and 18b; 19a and 19b; and 20a and 20b have been attached to the nozzle cap and are meant to function in such a way that a certain fog pattern is formed with each pair of nozzles. At the rear face of the nozzle cap 2 there is an opening 18a', 18b', 19a', 19b', 20a' and 20b' for each nozzle, a channel leading from the opening into the corresponding nozzle.
The water pipes 21 a and 21b departing from the middle body 5 are coupled to each other at the rear end of the body tube 3 with a cylindrical part 24, i.e. a selecting body which is dimensioned so that the body tube is supported on it with a small clearance. The water pipes 21a and 21b are in the vicinity of the front end of the body tube 3 connected with the corresponding connectors 22a and 22b to the high pressure water feeding head 23 which is similarly to the selecting body a cylindrical part adapted with a small clearance inside the body tube and include in the front face of it openings 21a' and 21b' connected with corresponding channels into the water pipes, respectively. Around the feeding openings there are grooves provided with suitable gaskets 30.
One of the mentioned three pairs of nozzles 18a/b, 19a/b or 20a/b is selected by rotating the body tube to such position that the openings leading to the nozzles concerned, e.g. openings 18a' and 18b' are aligned with the openings 21a' and 21b' of the feeding head and by means of the gaskets 30 connected to them tightly (Figs. 5 and 6). The nozzle cap 2 may be connected to the feeding head 23 e.g. by means of a bolt 28 extending through a hole 29 in the center of the nozzle cap and being screwed into the hole 29', the bolt being lockable and dimensioned so that the nozzle cap and the feeding head are coupled to turn with a small clearance in relation to each other.
Turning the nozzle cap 2, the feeding of the water into the pipes and the feeding head 23 is cut off. For that, the rear handle 8 is provided with a suitable lever and valve arrangement an example of which is shown in Fig. 16. The arrangement as such is known from pressure washers. Water comes from the hose 11 into a pipe 36 which is inside the handle and is connected to the hose by a connector 35 and leaves through another pipe 40 into a further pipe which is inside the rear body 7 and is connected to said pipe 40 with connectors 10 and 9. The pipes 36 and 40 are connected to each other with a valve 37 which is opened and closed by moving a pin 38. A lever or trigger 39 is attached pivotally to the handle 8, the turning of the lever or trigger pushing the pin and closing the valve 37 and the releasing of it opening the valve again.
In the following, a possible realization of selecting and locking a nozzle combination is described in further detail with reference to Figs. 3, 7, 8 and 9. The hollow lever 4 turning the body tube 3 is aligned with the selecting body. On the upper surface of the selecting body there is a groove 25 extending along its perimeter and covering in this case a third of it, i.e. 120 degrees. In the middle and at the ends of the groove ther are recesses 26a, 26b and 26c, respectively. Inside the lever 4 there is a spring loaded pin 27 extending through a hole in the wall of the body tube into the groove, sliding in and being guided by a sleeve 32 attached inside the lever close to its upper end, and being attached at its upper end to a knob 31 sliding inside the upper end of the lever. Between the sleeve 32 and a plate 33 attached to the pin 27 there is a spring 34 which presses the pin downwards (arrow P at the left in Fig. 9). The lower end 27' of the pin fits with a small clearance into the groove 25 and recesses 26a, 26b and 26c of the selecting body 24 and locks, when being pressed into a recess, the body tube 3 to the selecting body 24 and, respectively, to a certain position in relation to the feeding head 23.
At left in Fig. 9, the pin 27 pressed into the recess 26a locks the handle 4 and the body tube 3 in the middle position whereby the nozzles 18a and 18b are connected to the pipes 21a and 21b feeding high pressure water (in the middle in Fig. 10). The pair of the nozzles is changed by lifting the knob, e.g. by means of a thumb (arrow P in the middle in Fig. 9), so that the pin 27 is lifted up from the recess 26a, as indicated by arrow M, whereby the lever 4 may be turned (arrow S at the right in Fig. 9). At the left in Fig. 10, the lever 4 is turned to the position in which the nozzles 20a and 20b are selected and connected for use, when at the right, the lever is turned to the position in which the nozzles 19a and 19b are selected.
In Figs. 11 to 15, fog patterns produced by different pairs of nozzles are presented schematically. The body tube 3 may be hit through a ventilation or other window, door or wall plate, as is indicated schematically by broken line W in Figs. 11 to 13, or a suitable opening may be made for it with suitable tools at need. In Fig. 14, the broken line indicated by C may be thought as e.g. a ceiling through which the body tube is hit and pushed to extend into an attic room.
The nozzles 18a and 18b, the fog pattern P18 of which is presented in Figs. 11 and 12, are directed to deviate at a small angle al from the straight direction. The angle al may be e.g. 5 degrees, or it may be some other angle in the range of 3 to 10 degrees, for example. The nozzles are dimensioned and shaped in such a way (Fig. 4) that the fog pattern formed by them is in plant view fan-shaped when departing from the nozzles and also in side view starts to disperse at a quite large angle. This kind of fog pattern suits for fire extinguishing in a room which is quite large both longitudinally and laterally, e.g. in a normal apartment or office room.
The nozzles 19a and 19b, the fog pattern P19 of which is presented in Fig. 13, are directed to act straight forward, installed at a small angle a2 in relation to each other and dimensioned and shaped to form a long, at the beginning tubular fog pattern which is not expanding until at a distance from the nozzles. The angle a2 may be e.g. a few degrees. This nozzle combination suits for fire extinguishing in a long narrow room, or generally in a large room.
The nozzles 20a and 20b, the fog pattern P20 of which is presented in Figs. 14 and 15, are directed to the sides at an angle b in relation to the straight direction, whereby the angle b may be e.g. 85 degrees or some other angle between 75 to 90 degrees, for example. The nozzles are dimensioned and shaped to form low fan-shaped fog patterns which suit for fire extinguishing in a room restricted in the front but expanding to the sides, e.g. in an attic room. It is advantageous to direct the nozzles to the sides at an angle a little smaller than the right angle so that the fog is prevented from striking largly against the structure C through which the body tube 3 is pushed.
There may be more than two nozzles which form the nozzle combination. Fig. 17 presents in front view a nozzle cap or equivalent part in which the nozzles 41a, 41b and 41c directed slightly to the side from the straight direction form a first fog pattern, the nozzles 42a, 42b and 42c directed straight forward form another fog pattern, and the nozzles 43a and 43b directed to the sides form a third fog pattern. Obviously, the nozzle cap or equivalent part may be realized in many other ways, and e.g. with smaller nozzles having more nozzle openings, whereby the nozzle combination may include even more nozzles than three. The nozzle cap or equivalent part may be realized also in such a way that some of the combinations include significantly more nozzles than the other.
The effect of the high pressure equipment is based on that that the droplet size of the fog formed is very small, e.g. of the order of 50 µm which is many times less than with conventional pressure fine droplet extinguishing. Using more than one nozzle for forming a fog pattern increases the effect of the equipment. For example, with two nozzles directed forward and installed at a suitable small angle in relation to each other, the amount of droplets formed from the same amount of water is about 1,5 times that formed with one nozzle. The area of the droplets with which the fire gases are encountered increases equally. The fog formed by very fine droplets is cooling and extinguishing fire gases efficiently and extinguishes a seat of a fire by displacing oxygen from it.
The unit producing high pressure water may be placed also in a fire truck or a rescue vehicle or on the platform of a pickup type or cross-country vehicle. The equipment is meant for efficient first attack fire fighting against various fires, e.g. apartment, factory or vehicle fires. A fireman or equivalent person who is the first to start off and on scene takes the equipment with him or her. The unit producing high pressure water may include a control device by which it may be started from the cabin of the vehicle so that it is ready to work when approaching the scene of the fire. The nozzle device may also be ready connected to the hose or the person may connect it when arrived at the scene of the fire. The equipment is used especially as a fire is in a closed room, and the person uses it from the outside of the room. The tube of the nozzle device is pushed into the burn room e.g. through a ventilation window or a hole is made for it in a door or window, for example. With apartment fires, for example, it is often known which kind of room is inside, and if not, the type of the room may be estimated well enough.
The power source for the high pressure pump may be also a hydraulic motor, for example. The equipment may include a further pump driven by e.g. a combustion engine with which more water may be pumped to the high pressure pump from a well, for example. This may be necessary if the arrival of a principal fire fighting unit is delayed and if pressurized water is not available at the scene of the fire.
It was mentioned above that the pressure of the high pressure equipment may be e.g. 200 bar (2000 kPa). For producing fog with as fine droplets as possible and at the same time for using as small amount of water as possible for extinguishing the fire, it is advantageous that the pressure is high. On the other hand, the higher the pressure is which is to be produced, the more expensive the equipment are. The solution of the invention may be realized also with a lower pressure. An advantageous solution is e.g. to use the pressure of 40 bar (4000 kPa). This kind of pressure may be produced advantageously with equipment used widely in small fire fighting units. The pressure may be produced with multi-stage centrifuge pumps, and at this pressure the water may be taken out directly from a hose on a coil. The pumping capacity of this kind of equipment may be e.g. 125 l/min.
In the embodiment described in further detail in Figs. 3 to 9, there are two feeding pipes 21a and 21b between the middle body 5 and the feeding head 23, the purpose of which is that one of the pipes may be closed and a fog pattern be produced which extends to one side or direction, only. The nozzle device may be realized also in the way described in Fig. 18. The nozzle device includes only one feeding pipe 21 which is divided into two branches 22a" and 22b". The nozzle cap and the nozzles may then be realized in the same way as in the embodiment of Figs. 3 to 9. It is clear that the feeding pipe may be divided into more than two branches in the feeding head, for example if fog patterns are formed with more than two nozzles or if the angles between the nozzles of different combinations vary. The feeding of the water to several nozzles may be arranged also by means of channels made in the nozzle cap.
It is obvious that the realization of the nozzle device may vary in many ways. For a person skilled in the art it is clear that there are many alternatives to realize both the body structures, nozzle head or cap and the selecting and connecting means for nozzles.
The invention may vary within the scope of the accompanying claims.

Claims

Equipment for fire fighting which comprises a nozzle device (1) and means (11, 14, 15, 16, 17) for feeding high pressure water to the nozzle device, the nozzle device (1) comprising:
handles or equivalent means (6, 8);

a longitudinal body (3) having the front end and the rear end; and

several nozzles (18a, 18b, 19a, 19b, 20a, 20b, 41a, 41b, 41c, 42a, 42b, 42c, 43a, 43b) in the front end of the longitudinal body (3), characterized in that said several nozzles comprise several combinations (18a, 18b; 19a,19b; 20a, 20b; 41a, 41b, 41c; 42a, 42b, 42c; 43a, 43b) of several nozzles for forming different fog patterns (P18, P 19, P20), and the rear end of the longitudinal body (3) is provided with means (4) for selecting and connecting the desired combination of nozzles to the high pressure water feeding means (11).
Equipment for fire fighting according to claim 1, characterized in that said several combinations of several nozzles comprise a combination of two or more nozzles (19a, 19b; 42a, 42b, 42c) installed at an angle (a2) of a few degrees in relation to each other and dimensioned and shaped to form a fog pattern (P 19) extending in the direction of said tubular body (3) and expanding until at a distance from the nozzles for extinguishing fire in a long narrow room.
Equipment for fire fighting according to claim 1, characterized in that said several combinations of several nozzles comprise a combination of two or more nozzles (18a, 18b; 41a, 41b, 41c) with fan-shaped pattern (P18a, P18b) installed at an angle (a1) of 3 to 10 degrees in relation to the direction of said tubular body (3) for forming a fog pattern (P 18) for extinguishing fire in a both longitudinally and laterally quite large confined room, e.g. a normal apartment or office room.
Equipment for fire fighting according to claim 1, characterized in that said several combinations of several nozzles comprise a combination of two or more nozzles (20a, 20b; 43a, 43b) directed laterally in relation to the direction of said tubular body (3) for forming a fog pattern (P20) for extinguishing fire in a laterally expanding room restricted in the front.
Equipment for fire fighting according to claim 4, characterized in that the nozzles (20a, 20b; 43a, 43b) are directed at an angle (b) of 75 to 90 degrees in relation to the direction of said tubular body (3).
Equipment for fire fighting according to claim 1, characterized in that the means in the rear end of the longitudinal body (3) for selecting and connecting the desired combination of nozzles to the high pressure water feeding means (11) comprise a lever or equivalent means (4) for making said selection.