FR2525177A2 - Safety station for rocket engine maintenance - has support on float to douse engine should it fire accidently - Google Patents

Abstract

The safety mounting for holding a rocket engine in place as work is carried out on it, comprises a support for the engine floating on water in a well, the level of which can be adjusted allowing work to be carried out on any part of the engine from the same access point. A gap exists between the support and the sides of the well, so that if the engine should accidently fire the support is forced downwards, causing a cylindrical screen of water to rise up through the gap and douse the engine.

Description

 The present invention relates to a handling set for pcste of safety work on machine.

 For an operator remaining at a constant level, it makes it possible to present all the parts of the machine at this level.

 Archimedes' thrust is used on a stabilized float which supports the machine inside a well.

 I1 machine is arranged nozzle up and correctly fixed to the float.

 In the event of accidental ignition of the machine, the force generated by combustion is used and which is transmitted to the float.

 The overpressure of the buoyancy liquid during the entire combustion forces it to escape through the pipes to reach the water projectors located above at the working level.

 From the start of combustion automatically the machine is watered.

 The flow and pressure are a function of the thrust and the duration of combustion.

 A sensor triggers the operation of the instantaneous rupture device of the pipe allowing the discharge of the loaded capacity in the well.

 The orifices of the pipe distribute the mass of the liquid above and inside the float which is hollow, suppressing the action of Archimedes' thrust, accelerating its Immersion eb that of the machine which is thus entirely covered with liquid.

 The volume of the capacity and its loading height will be sucked depending on the desired degree of security.

 In normal operation the stability of the float and its constant horizontality are ensured either by a disl, ositif of chains or cables with counterweight mechanically secured either by vertical slides and by the float itself due to the ratio of dimensions between its diameter and its height and which ae it would prohibit any parasitic movement.

 Lateral stability is obtained using capacitts with variable volume, placed on the float and bearing on the walls of the well.

 Their vertical action compared to that of the sprouts in inadvertent ignition is negligible.

 Such an assembly ensures both operator and installation backup by its practically automatic operation.

 The float cover on which the device is fixed can slide vertically inside the float.

 I1 is maintained in high capacity by mechanical systems at break, calibrated according to the cough exerted by the machine in the event of inadvertent ignition.

 When under the action of the grip the float device assembly arrives in low position in the well, the functioning of the mechanical breaking systems allows the cover to slide to the bottom of the float.

 Therefore the machine is partly contained in the float which lowers the level of the machine in the well and the distance between the nozzle and 1 t orifice of the well.

 Throughout the duration of the combustion and the descent of the machine into the well, a vertical cylindrical curtain of water dt at play between the float and the well rises around the machine, protecting the operators and the installations automatically.

 The thickness of this rising curtain will be calculated according to the degree of safety and the desired descent speed.

 By calculation, the optimum descent speed will be obtained by determining the flow rates of the projectors and the vertical curtain.

Claims (3)

RL # ENUICATIdNS Main Patent characterized by the presence of a clearance between float and well generating a vertical cylindrical ascentional water curtain around the machine during the combustion of the latter.  - 1 - Set of handling and positioning in the workplace of a rocket propellant, machine or tool allowing watering, immersion, flooding and securing according to claim 1)  - 2 - Device according to the preceding claim characterized in that the cover is equipped with a calibrated mechanical triggering device allowing its sliding on slides inside the float.  - 3 - Device according to claim 1) characterized in that the rate of descent in the event of accidental ignition depends on the clearance between the float and the well.