EP4065244A1 - Triggering element for a fire protection system, fire protection element equipped therewith, and method for detecting the triggering of a fire protection element - Google Patents
Triggering element for a fire protection system, fire protection element equipped therewith, and method for detecting the triggering of a fire protection elementInfo
- Publication number
- EP4065244A1 EP4065244A1 EP19836790.6A EP19836790A EP4065244A1 EP 4065244 A1 EP4065244 A1 EP 4065244A1 EP 19836790 A EP19836790 A EP 19836790A EP 4065244 A1 EP4065244 A1 EP 4065244A1
- Authority
- EP
- European Patent Office
- Prior art keywords
- optical waveguide
- fire protection
- protection system
- predetermined breaking
- trigger member
- Prior art date
- Legal status (The legal status is an assumption and is not a legal conclusion. Google has not performed a legal analysis and makes no representation as to the accuracy of the status listed.)
- Pending
Links
Classifications
-
- A—HUMAN NECESSITIES
- A62—LIFE-SAVING; FIRE-FIGHTING
- A62C—FIRE-FIGHTING
- A62C37/00—Control of fire-fighting equipment
- A62C37/08—Control of fire-fighting equipment comprising an outlet device containing a sensor, or itself being the sensor, i.e. self-contained sprinklers
- A62C37/10—Releasing means, e.g. electrically released
- A62C37/11—Releasing means, e.g. electrically released heat-sensitive
- A62C37/14—Releasing means, e.g. electrically released heat-sensitive with frangible vessels
Definitions
- Trigger element for a fire protection system a fire protection element equipped with it and a method for detecting the triggering of a fire protection element
- the invention relates to a trigger element for a fire protection system with at least one bursting body.
- the invention also relates to a fire protection element, for example a sprinkler head or a smoke extraction flap with at least one such trigger element, a fire protection system with a plurality of fire protection elements and a method for detecting the triggering of a sprinkler head or a smoke extraction flap.
- Such a trigger element for sprinklers is known from DE 3808384 A1.
- the known trip member consists of a bursting body in the form of a cylindrical tube, the ends of which are each fused to form a plug.
- the pipe is filled with a liquid which expands when heated and causes the pipe to burst. This opens the sprinkler valve so that water can escape.
- Such sprinkler systems can have a large number of sprinkler heads in larger buildings.
- the invention is therefore based on the object of specifying a fire protection system and its parts which enable a triggered element to be located easily.
- a release element for a fire protection element of a fire protection system which has at least one bursting body.
- the fire protection element proposed according to the invention can, for example, be a smoke extraction flap and / or a sprinkler head.
- the trigger element can contain a bursting body which can have a cylindrical basic shape with a cavity which is filled with a liquid.
- an air or gas bubble can be present in the cavity, which can compensate for temperature-related volume fluctuations in the liquid below the trigger temperature. When a predefinable temperature is exceeded, the liquid expands so much that the bursting body bursts and the fire protection element is triggered.
- the bursting body can be made of glass or plastic. In some embodiments of the invention, different bursting bodies can be provided which have different trigger temperatures in order to adapt the fire protection system or its fire protection elements to the conditions of their place of use. According to the invention it is now proposed to mechanically bind the bursting body with at least one optical waveguide.
- the optical waveguide can be a single-mode fiber, a few-mode fiber or a multi-mode fiber.
- the optical waveguide can be or contain a glass fiber.
- the optical waveguide can be a polymer fiber or contain a polymer fiber.
- optical waveguides from telecommunications can be used, which are inexpensively available in large quantities.
- the predetermined breaking point means that the optical waveguide is reliably destroyed when the bursting body bursts.
- optical signals propagating in the optical waveguide are no longer forwarded at this point.
- the failure of the optical signal can thus be recognized as a triggering of the fire protection system. If it is known which optical waveguide is laid at which location or the trigger elements have been coded in some other way, the location of the triggering of the fire protection system can be reliably determined.
- the optical waveguide contains a core and a cladding surrounding the core, so that optical signals are totally reflected at the interface between the core and cladding.
- the at least one predetermined breaking point can be introduced into the optical waveguide by damaging or weakening the jacket.
- the core and thus the optical properties of the optical waveguide remain unchanged.
- the previous damage to the optical waveguide ensures that it is reliably destroyed if the bursting body bursts.
- damage to the optical waveguide leading to a predetermined breaking point can take place by mechanical processing, for example by grinding.
- the optical waveguide can be chemically damaged, for example by etching.
- the predetermined breaking point can be generated by laser material processing.
- Material processing with a focused short-pulse laser can be used for this in particular.
- the focus position, the pulse energy, the number of individual pulses and the pulse shape, the desired damage to the optical waveguide can be precisely controlled both locally and in terms of its scope.
- the optical waveguide can be attached to the bursting body at at least two points by means of gluing or clamping. This ensures that when the bursting body bursts, a sufficiently large mechanical stress is introduced into the optical waveguide so that it is reliably destroyed at at least one predetermined breaking point.
- the fastening by means of gluing or clamping enables already installed fire protection systems to be retrofitted without the need for extensive new construction of the fire protection system. Since the gluing of the optical waveguide leaves the bursting body as such unchanged, a renewed certification of the fire protection system or the bursting body can be avoided.
- the fire protection system can perform all previous functions unchanged and is expanded to include the function of local detection of the trigger point.
- the optical waveguide can bear against the bursting body at least in a partial section.
- the mechanical stress acting on the optical waveguide when the bursting body bursts is increased.
- the optical waveguide can have between one and about ten predetermined breaking points over a length of about 5 mm to about 15 mm.
- the redundant introduction of a large number of predetermined breaking points can ensure that the optical waveguide is reliably destroyed when the bursting body bursts.
- a predetermined breaking point can run approximately perpendicular to the longitudinal direction of the optical waveguide. If the optical waveguide runs approximately parallel to the longitudinal direction of the bursting body of the release element, it is reliably and completely severed at the predetermined breaking point.
- the optical waveguide can contain at least one fiber Bragg grating.
- the fiber Bragg grating contains a plurality of spatial areas or voxels which are at least partially introduced into the core of the optical waveguide and which have a refractive index which differs from the refractive index of the surrounding material of the core. The distance between adjacent spatial areas or voxels defines the grating constant of the fiber Bragg grating.
- Such a fiber Bragg grating has the effect that light of a predeterminable wavelength defined by the grating constant is reflected, whereas light of a different wavelength is transmitted.
- the fiber Bragg grating can thus be used to reflect an optical signal coupled into the optical waveguide.
- the fiber Bragg grating can be a chirped fiber Bragg grating.
- the grating constant changes along the length of the fiber Bragg grating.
- the fiber Bragg grating reflects a larger wavelength range, so that even with thermal drifts in the wavelengths of the optical signals, reliable reflection and thus reliable detection without false alarms is possible.
- a plurality of optical waveguides can each be coupled to a central optical waveguide via a fusible coupler or another 3 dB coupler known per se.
- the plurality of optical fibers can be between 2 and about 35 or between about 2 and about 50. This means that all sprinkler or smoke extraction flaps of a fire section or floor can be connected to the building's fire alarm system with a single central fiber optic cable.
- the central optical waveguide can at one end, for example in one Fire control panel connected to a spectrometer.
- a spectrometer can be designed as an integrated optical component, for example as an AWG.
- the spectrometer can be integrated into the central optical waveguide in that at least one chirped fiber Bragg grating is included at one end, which is designed to direct light onto an optoelectronic semiconductor component.
- at least a portion of the chirped fiber Bragg grating can be provided with additional scattering centers. This means that there is no need to use an external spectrometer. Rather, light is coupled out laterally from the central optical waveguide, i. H. approximately orthogonal to the longitudinal extension.
- a spatially resolving detector for example a photodiode array or a CCD line sensor.
- the different trigger elements have been provided with optical waveguides with different fiber Bragg gratings, individual pixels or pixel groups of a CCD line sensor or individual diodes of a photodiode array can be assigned directly to a trigger element of the fire protection system that is to be monitored. In this way, the location of the triggering of a sprinkler or the installation location of a smoke extraction flap can be easily determined and visualized, for example by means of a database or a conversion table,
- FIG. 1 shows a trigger member according to the present invention in longitudinal section.
- FIG. 2 shows the cross section through an optical waveguide used according to the invention.
- Figure 3 shows a sprinkler head according to the invention.
- Figure 4 shows a fire protection system according to the invention.
- FIG. 5 shows an example of a measurement signal obtained according to the invention without triggering a sprinkler.
- FIG. 6 shows an example of a measurement signal obtained according to the invention after three sprinklers have been triggered.
- the trigger element can be used, for example, to trigger a sprinkler or a smoke extraction flap in the event of a fire.
- the release element 1 contains a bursting body 10, which can be made of glass or plastic, for example.
- the bursting body 10 has an approximately cylindrical basic shape which comprises a first end 101 and an opposite second end 102.
- the cross section of the bursting body 10 can be polygonal or, in particular, round.
- the bursting body 10 contains a cavity 13 which is filled with a liquid and optionally an air or gas bubble. When the bursting body 10 and the enclosed liquid are heated, the liquid expands and, when the internal pressure rises, generates a mechanical tension on the material of the bursting body 10, which eventually leads to the bursting of the bursting body 10 if the temperature is sufficient.
- the geometry of the bursting body 10 and / or the enclosed amount of liquid and / or the composition can be selected so that different bursting bodies with different trigger temperatures can be provided so that, depending on the requirements of the fire protection system, different trigger temperatures can be selected for the elements combined in the fire protection system, such as sprinklers or smoke extraction flaps.
- the sprinkler or the smoke extraction flap are constructed in such a way that, for example, a spring-loaded valve or a valve pressurized by water is held in a closed position by the bursting body 10. After bursting the bursting body 10, the valve is opened so that extinguishing water can escape from a sprinkler head.
- the triggering of a sprinkler can only be insufficiently recognized. If monitoring is provided at all, the pressure drop in the water pipe following the triggering is usually detected. Particularly in the case of large installations in larger buildings, the fire brigade can therefore often not move quickly to the source of the fire because the location of the source of the fire that triggered the sprinkler is not known. In the event of a sprinkler being triggered incorrectly, leaking extinguishing water can often cause major damage, which is less the faster the sprinkler can be found and the flow of water can be stopped. It is therefore desirable to monitor the release elements of a fire protection system so that the release can be recognized quickly and the position of the released release element within a building can be quickly determined.
- a light waveguide 2 it is proposed according to the invention to attach a light waveguide 2 to the bursting body 10.
- a clamping device (not shown) can also be used to close the optical waveguide 2 on the bursting body 10 attach.
- the optical waveguide 2 can run along the longitudinal extent of the bursting body 10 and be fastened in such a way that it at least partially rests on the bursting body 10 in at least one section 23.
- the light waveguide 2 can be set up to reflect incoming light and throw it back in the direction of incidence. This can be done, for example, by a mirrored end or by a fiber Bragg grating.
- the end of the optical waveguide can be routed to a fire alarm center, for example.
- an optical signal can be coupled into the optical waveguide 2 and reflected at the end located on the trigger member.
- the trigger element is intact. If the bursting body 10 is destroyed, the optical waveguide 2 is also damaged, so that the reflected signal is no longer detected in the fire alarm center.
- the optical waveguide 2 contains at least one predetermined breaking point 25. In the illustrated embodiment, three predetermined breaking points 25a, 25b and 25c are shown. In some embodiments of the invention, the optical waveguide 2 can have between one and about ten predetermined breaking points 25 over a length of approximately 5 mm to approximately 15 mm.
- each trigger element is provided with an optical waveguide
- the location of the respective trigger element or the sprinkler provided with it can be determined from the respective assigned optical waveguide.
- the location of the respective trigger element can be determined by the transit time of a pulsed optical signal.
- fiber Bragg gratings of different release elements can have a different grating constant. This leads to the fact that in each case a different wavelength range of a broadband optical signal is reflected. In this way, different trigger elements can be distinguished from one another in the wavelength division multiplex.
- Figure 2 shows the cross section through a light wave conductor 2, as this is usable for the present invention.
- the light waveguide 2 has a core 21 and a jacket 22 surrounding the core.
- the core has a core diameter d which can be between approximately 5 ⁇ m and approximately 80 ⁇ m.
- the jacket has a jacket diameter d m which can be between approximately 80 ⁇ m and approximately 250 ⁇ m.
- Core 21 and jacket 22 can be made of glass or plastic.
- the core and cladding have different refractive indices, so that a signal propagating in the core 21 is totally reflected at the interface between the core and cladding and thus propagates along the optical waveguide 2.
- a predetermined breaking point 25 was produced by material processing with a short pulse laser.
- the short pulse laser can have a pulse duration of less than 250 fs and / or a pulse energy of more than 500 nJ at a wavelength of approximately 800 nm.
- the pulse repetition rate can be between approximately 50 MHz and approximately 120 MHz.
- the interaction of the material of the sheath 22 with the intense laser radiation damage the material of the sheath and thus a reduction in the mechanical stability of the optical waveguide 2 is generated. This creates a predetermined breaking point in the optical waveguide 2 at this point.
- the position of the predetermined breaking point 25 can be precisely controlled.
- the predetermined breaking point 25 is located exclusively in the jacket 22, so that the optical properties for the optical signals propagating in the core 21 remain unaffected.
- fiber Bragg gratings can be produced in the core 21 by point-to-point exposure of individual spatial areas or voxels.
- the sprinkler head 4 has at one end a thread 41 with which it can be connected to a pipeline.
- an extinguishing agent for example water, flows to the sprinkler head.
- the sprinkler head 4 has a valve, not visible in FIG. 3, which keeps the sprinkler head 4 closed during normal operation and thus prevents water from escaping.
- the valve of the sprinkler head 4 is kept closed by a trigger element 1, which was explained in more detail with reference to FIG. 1 described above.
- the release member 1 is clamped by a bracket 45 on the sprinkler head 4 so that it can exert a closing force on the valve.
- An optional plate 42 can be arranged at the end of the bracket 45, which plate distributes the escaping extinguishing agent when the sprinkler head 4 is in operation.
- the trigger element 1 is destroyed, as described above. This releases the flow of extinguishing agent so that the fire can be extinguished shortly after it has started and the fire is prevented from spreading.
- the at least partially parallel optical waveguide 2 is destroyed, so that the triggering of the sprinkler head 4 can be registered in a fire alarm center of the building.
- FIG. 4 shows a fire protection system 6 with a plurality of sprinkler heads and / or smoke extraction flaps.
- bursting bodies 10 of two such sprinkler heads or smoke exhaust flaps are shown in FIG.
- between about two and about 35 bursting bodies 10, each with associated optical waveguides 2, can be present.
- the optical waveguides 2 are coupled to a central optical waveguide 29 via a 3 dB coupler, for example a fusible coupler 28.
- the central optical waveguide 29 leads from a fire alarm center to the last sprinkler of the fire protection system 6 to be monitored.
- the 3 dB couplers 28 represent branch elements to which optical signals can be routed to the respective optical waveguide 2.
- the fire protection system contains at least one light source 6.
- the light source 6 can be, for example, an LED, a semiconductor laser, a superluminescent diode or another light source known per se.
- the light from the light source 6 is coupled into the central optical waveguide 29 and propagates along its longitudinal extension.
- a portion of the light intensity propagating in the central optical waveguide 29 is transferred to the optical waveguide 2.
- the light propagates further in the optical waveguide 2 up to the respective fiber Bragg grating 23 present there.
- the fiber Bragg grating 23a of the first optical waveguide 2 has a different grating constant than the second fiber Bragg grating 23b of the second optical waveguide 2. This results in a different wavelength or a different one Wavelength range reflected on the fiber Bragg grating 23a and 23b.
- the reflected portion is thrown back in the light wave conductor 2 in the direction of incidence.
- the transmitted portion can leave the optical waveguide 2 and be emitted into the environment.
- the portion of the light reflected on the fiber Bragg grating 23 is transferred back into the central light waveguide 29 via the 3 dB coupler 28 and thus reaches a longitudinal section in which a chirped fiber Bragg grating 27 is arranged.
- This fiber Bragg grating 27 results in the light being coupled out to the side of the central light waveguide 29, light of a first wavelength li interfering at a different location than light of a different wavelength l h .
- An optoelectronic semiconductor component 5 is used for spatially resolved reception of the optical signals, for example by a photodiode array or a CCD line sensor or a CMOS sensor.
- a multi-mode fiber with a core diameter of about 60 ⁇ m is used as the central optical waveguide 29, 32 or more measuring points or
- Sprinkler heads 4 with a single central light wave conductor 29 are read. In this case, there would be a dynamic difference of 22.5 dB between the first and the thirty-second measuring point along the longitudinal extension of the central optical waveguide 29. These dynamics can easily be read with common CCD line sensors, which offer a dynamic range of around 48 dB. To further increase the sensitivity, the integration time of the optoelectronic semiconductor component 5 can be between approximately 0.1 second and approximately 5 seconds or between approximately 1 second and approximately 5 seconds. It should be pointed out that the fire protection system according to FIG. 4 is only to be understood as an example. Of course, instead of the chirped fiber Bragg grating 27, another spectrometer can also be used, for example an AWG or another design known per se.
- each sprinkler is encoded by a fiber Bragg grating 23 as described above.
- the reflection maximum of each fiber Bragg grating can have a half width of about 0.5 nm and differ from the reflection maximum of other, in particular neighboring, fiber Bragg gratings. It is thus possible to infer the position of the sprinkler directly from the measurement location on the optoelectronic semiconductor component 5 behind the spectrometer.
- FIG. 5 shows a fully functional fire protection system before it is triggered. It can be seen that a reflection maximum was obtained for each of the 26 sprinklers installed by way of example in the building, as explained above with reference to FIG. Because of the signal weakening along the central optical waveguide 29, the intensity decreases with increasing distance from the fire alarm control center.
- FIG. 6 shows the same measurement after the sprinklers 6, 11 and 23 have triggered, for example due to a fire or a false trigger. The release occurs when the bursting body 10 bursts, whereby the respective assigned optical waveguides 2 are also destroyed at at least one predetermined breaking point 25. This leads to the fact that the respective fiber Bragg grating 23 is no longer supplied with light and a reflection peak can no longer be measured.
- the triggering of the sprinklers can thus be recognized in a simple manner by setting a trigger threshold, which can also be selected relatively just above the zero line and thus enables reliable recognition without unnecessary false alarms.
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- Health & Medical Sciences (AREA)
- Public Health (AREA)
- Business, Economics & Management (AREA)
- Emergency Management (AREA)
- Fire Alarms (AREA)
- Fire-Detection Mechanisms (AREA)
Abstract
Description
Claims
Applications Claiming Priority (1)
Application Number | Priority Date | Filing Date | Title |
---|---|---|---|
PCT/EP2019/082558 WO2021104609A1 (en) | 2019-11-26 | 2019-11-26 | Triggering element for a fire protection system, fire protection element equipped therewith, and method for detecting the triggering of a fire protection element |
Publications (1)
Publication Number | Publication Date |
---|---|
EP4065244A1 true EP4065244A1 (en) | 2022-10-05 |
Family
ID=69167773
Family Applications (1)
Application Number | Title | Priority Date | Filing Date |
---|---|---|---|
EP19836790.6A Pending EP4065244A1 (en) | 2019-11-26 | 2019-11-26 | Triggering element for a fire protection system, fire protection element equipped therewith, and method for detecting the triggering of a fire protection element |
Country Status (3)
Country | Link |
---|---|
US (1) | US20230030385A1 (en) |
EP (1) | EP4065244A1 (en) |
WO (1) | WO2021104609A1 (en) |
Families Citing this family (1)
Publication number | Priority date | Publication date | Assignee | Title |
---|---|---|---|---|
EP4008411B1 (en) * | 2020-12-04 | 2024-02-28 | Marioff Corporation OY | Sprinkler bulb |
Family Cites Families (2)
Publication number | Priority date | Publication date | Assignee | Title |
---|---|---|---|---|
DE2336682C2 (en) * | 1973-07-19 | 1976-06-24 | Friedrichsfeld Gmbh Steinzeug- Und Kunststoffwerke, 6800 Mannheim | Bursting cartridge |
DE3808384C2 (en) | 1987-07-06 | 1990-03-22 | Total Feuerschutz Gmbh | Trigger link for thermal and / or electrical triggering of a fire protection system |
-
2019
- 2019-11-26 EP EP19836790.6A patent/EP4065244A1/en active Pending
- 2019-11-26 US US17/779,807 patent/US20230030385A1/en active Pending
- 2019-11-26 WO PCT/EP2019/082558 patent/WO2021104609A1/en unknown
Also Published As
Publication number | Publication date |
---|---|
WO2021104609A1 (en) | 2021-06-03 |
US20230030385A1 (en) | 2023-02-02 |
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