FR3134275A1 - Protective housing - Google Patents

Abstract

The subject of the invention is a fire protection box (1) comprising a peripheral wall (10) closed by a bottom (12) to form a housing (14) configured to receive at least one electrical device (20), characterized in that that at least one of the peripheral wall and the bottom comprises at least one opening for the passage of at least one electric wire and in that the peripheral wall and the bottom comprise at least one fire-resistant material chosen from the list including: vermiculite, gypsum, and rock wool, cement, calcium silicate, and magnesium oxide Figure 1

Description

Protective housing

BACKGROUND OF DESCRIPTION

Rooms in buildings are generally equipped with an electrical network. This network includes a plurality of electrical devices such as power outlets. These electrical devices are connected together with wires that are hidden behind construction surfaces, such as construction panels that form partitions, wall cladding systems, ceilings or floors. At various points, the wires should pass from one side of the build board to the other. For example, wires must run from the back of the build panel to the room side of the build panel so that they can be connected to devices such as power outlets and lighting. It is common for junction boxes to house electrical connections in order to protect electrical connections from damage and to protect users from electrical shock. For this reason, breakout boxes are commonly attached at the point where wires pass from the back of the build panel to connect to devices on the room side of the build panel. Junction boxes can be clamped against the construction panel to cover the hole through which the wires pass.

Building panels have some fire resistance, but the formation of a hole in the building panel provides a local weak point where the fire resistance is reduced and such weak points reduce the overall fire resistance of the building surface. For this reason, it is desirable to provide junction boxes with high levels of fire resistance.

The present invention provides a fire protection box capable of housing electrical devices which is simpler to use and has improved fire resistance.

For this purpose, the present invention relates to a fire protection box comprising a peripheral wall closed by a bottom to form a housing in which at least one electrical device is arranged, in which the peripheral wall comprises at least one opening for the passage of at least one electrical wire and in which the fire protection box is intended to be placed against a building panel in a wall, ceiling or floor, the peripheral wall and the bottom being made from a material resistant to heat fire comprising at least one from the list of: vermiculite, gypsum, and rock wool, cement, calcium silicate, and magnesium oxide. The building board may be any suitable board, including but not limited to boards comprising: gypsum, vermiculite, rock wool, cement, calcium silicate, magnesium oxide. The electrical device housed by the fire protection junction box is one or more of the following: a power outlet, a switch, a communications outlet, a lighting connection, a detector, an alarm or a control device lighting.

According to one example, the peripheral wall and/or the bottom comprise at least two parts.

According to one example, the peripheral wall and/or the bottom comprise at least one opening. Preferably the peripheral wall and/or the bottom comprise at least two openings.

According to one example, the fire protection box further comprises a reinforcement means.

According to one example, said reinforcing means comprises at least one plate fixed to the bottom and/or to the peripheral wall.

According to one example, said plate is a U-shaped plate or an L-shaped plate.

According to one example, a U-shaped plate is provided to grip the peripheral wall and the bottom.

According to one example, the reinforcement means are used to extend over the entire perimeter of the fire protection box.

The invention also relates to a construction surface comprising at least one suitable panel configured such that at least one fire protection box can be fixed thereto, said construction panel comprising at least one opening provided to abut against the housing of the fire protection box.

According to one example, an electrical device is arranged within the housing of the fire protection box, said electrical device comprising at least one from the list of: a power outlet, a switch, a communications outlet, a lighting connection, a detector, an alarm, or a lighting device. Where the electrical device comprises at least one detector or at least one lighting device, the opening may be covered by a grille, a translucent panel or a transparent panel.

According to one example, the fire protection box further comprises support means so as to be supported by the frame structure.

According to one example, the fire protection box further comprises support means so as to be supported by rods.

DESCRIPTION OF FIGURES

Other particular characteristics and advantages will become clear on reading the following description, given for information only and in a completely non-limiting manner, with reference to the appended drawings in which:
- Figures 1 to 3 are schematic representations of a fire protection box according to the invention;
- there is a schematic representation of a fire protection box with an electrical device according to the invention;
- Figures 5 to 7 are schematic representations of a fire protection box according to the invention attached to a construction panel;
- Figures 8 and 9 are schematic representations of a fire protection box according to the invention used in a ceiling;
- Figures 10 to 14 are schematic representations of a fire protection box according to the invention comprising a reinforcement means;
- Figures 15 and 16 are schematic representations of a fire protection box according to the invention capable of supporting several electrical devices;

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

Figures 1 and 2 show the fire protection box 1 for an electrical device according to the invention. This fire protection box 1 comprises a side wall forming a peripheral wall 10. This box also includes a bottom 12 to close the box 1 on one side. The peripheral wall and the bottom define an open housing 14 in which an electrical device is placed as observed on the .

The peripheral wall could consist of a continuous element or could comprise at least two parts. The number of parts depends on the shape of the fire protection box 1. Indeed, the fire protection box 1 could be square or rectangular or in a circle as observed in the . In a square or rectangular housing, the peripheral wall could comprise four parts, in which one part forms a side or edge. In the case of a wall in the shape of a circle, said wall could comprise two semi-circular parts.

For the case back, the same reasoning is possible. Preferably the background consists of a single element, but alternatively the background consists of at least two elements.

A variation of the invention comprises a set of fire protection boxes arranged together to form a larger fire protection box. Each fire protection enclosure in the set is identical and for this reason can be considered a unitary enclosure of the larger fire protection enclosure. Each unitary housing comprises a peripheral wall comprising four linear parts and a bottom comprising a single element. These parts and elements are considered to be standard parts so that all cases in the assembly use these standard parts to form the peripheral wall and the bottom. This example is available for parallelepiped cases. In an example, the smallest box considered as the unitary element is a square of 10 cm, a larger box could be a rectangular box 10 cm wide and 30 cm long, formed of three unit elements arranged one by one. next to others.

The peripheral wall and the bottom are attached to each other using at least one of adhesive, screws, or nails.

The depth of the fire protection box 1 is defined by the height of the peripheral wall. This depth can be defined so that the electrical device placed in the housing 12 does not protrude outside the housing. This definition of the fire protection box 1 is made because the fire protection box 1 is intended to be fixed to a wall or ceiling so that this wall or ceiling is used to close the fire protection box 1. Alternatively, part of the electrical device may protrude outside the housing, for example the face and switches of a power outlet may protrude outside the housing.

To obtain protection against fire, the peripheral wall 10 and the bottom 12 comprise a fire-resistant material. This material could be at least one from the list of: vermiculite, gypsum, and rock wool, cement, calcium silicate, and magnesium oxide.

The fire protection performance depends on the material and depends on the dimensions of said enclosure. Indeed, the thickness of the peripheral wall and the bottom is an important parameter for fire performance. For a given type of material, a thicker layer will increase fire performance. In fire protection, performance is defined by the amount of time it takes for a part of a test structure to reach a certain temperature.

The construction surface or panel 100 on which the fire protection box 1 is fixed also includes an opening. This opening is used so that it is possible to have access to the electrical device in the fire protection box from the outside. The material removed from the perimeter wall to form the opening could be used later. The building board may be any suitable board, including but not limited to boards comprising: gypsum, vermiculite, rock wool, cement, calcium silicate, magnesium oxide.

In a first embodiment, the fire protection box 1 is used to house an electrical device 20. The electrical device 20 may comprise one or more of the list of a power outlet, a switch, a socket communication, lighting connection, detector, alarm, or lighting device. For example, the detector may be a smoke detector, a heat detector, a motion detector or another sensor. The electrical device is placed in the housing 14 of the fire protection box 1 and said fire protection box 1 is fixed to the construction surface P so that the fire protection box 1 is aligned with the opening 30 of the wall as observed in Figures 5 to 7. Thus, elements of the electrical device, such as a power socket, a switch, a lighting element, or a communication socket (RJ 45 – Ethernet for example) could be placed in position on the electrical device from the room side of the fire protection box. The fire protection box is attached to the wall using adhesive, one or more screws, or one or more nails.

In a second embodiment as observed in Figures 8 and 9, the fire protection box 1 comprises at least one support part 16 which is configured to support the fire protection box on at least one framing element of the surface of construction. The at least one support part 16 is arranged on an external side of the fire protection box 1. The at least one support part 16 could be an L-shaped section. Alternatively, the at least one part of support 16 could be a flat section fixed to the bottom 12 of the fire protection box 1 so that end parts of the flat section protrude over the external side of the fire protection box 1.

Alternatively, in examples where the construction surface is a wall, the support portion may be attached to one or more framing members of the wall, where the attachment is by one or more of an adhesive, screws or nails.

The fire protection box 1 of the second embodiment is used to house one or more electrical devices from the list of: a power outlet, a switch, a communications outlet, a lighting connection, a detector, an alarm, or a lighting device.

In a first example of the second embodiment, the support part 16 is used to support the fire protection box 1 on the frame structure 200. This frame structure comprises a plurality of frame elements. The fire protection box is thus arranged to be supported by the frame element. The support portion 16 could be attached to the frame member by means of at least one of adhesive, screws, or nails. Alternatively, where there are two or more supporting parts 16, they can be configured so that the fire protection box can simply be placed on the frame member without fixing, as shown in Fig. .

In a second example, the fire protection box is designed to be suspended. To do this, the support part 16 is configured to receive a rod 300. This rod, which can be a threaded rod, is also fixed to the concrete ceiling, or to a frame.

This second embodiment can be particularly useful for installing the fire protection box 1 in ceilings. In addition, when the electrical device is a lighting device, a detector or an alarm, the opening 30 in the ceiling can be closed with a grille, a translucent panel or a transparent panel.

In these two embodiments, the electrical device must be supplied with electricity. To do this, the peripheral wall or the bottom comprises at least one opening suitable for at least one electrical wire or an electrical sheathing comprises at least one wire to pass through.

In a variant, the electrical device placed in said fire protection box 1 is part of a network comprising at least two devices. In this case, the peripheral wall comprises at least two feed openings or through holes. The first opening is arranged to receive at least one wire entering the housing and the second opening is arranged so that the at least one wire can exit the housing of the fire protection box 1.

In another variant, the fire protection box 1 further comprises a reinforcement means 18 as observed in Figures 10 to 14. These reinforcement means 18 are used because certain materials could be sensitive to impacts. Additionally, a means of reinforcement can help hold parts of the fire protection enclosure together. This is because gypsum or vermiculite panels are sensitive to impact so that when the user handles the fire protection box, damage can occur. To avoid this, the reinforcing means 18 are used to protect the fire protection box. The reinforcement means 18 comprises at least one plate. This sign is made of metal or alloy or plastic or any suitable rigid material. This plate is a flat plate or is a U-shaped plate or an L-shaped plate. This plate is arranged on the peripheral wall and/or on the bottom. Indeed, in the case of an L-shaped plate or a U-shaped plate, this plate could be exclusively in contact with the peripheral wall or with the bottom. But, it is also possible that the L-shaped plate or the U-shaped plate is in contact with the peripheral wall and the bottom.

The L-shaped plate is defined as a metallic or non-metallic sheet comprising a substantially planar face connected substantially perpendicularly to a second substantially planar face. The U-shaped plate is defined as a metallic or non-metallic sheet comprising a pair of edges substantially parallel to each other and connected substantially perpendicularly at their base by a strip.

This plate is attached to the fire protection box by means of at least one of an adhesive, screws, or nails. In the case of a U-shaped plate, said U-shaped plate could be used to fix the peripheral wall and the bottom. In this case, the U-shaped plate is designed so that the space between the parallel branches is sufficient so that the peripheral wall and the bottom could be inserted into said space. In this case, it is possible to use at least one of adhesive, screws, or nails to attach the plate to the peripheral wall and the bottom. But, it is also possible to use two U-shaped plates as a clamp. In this case, the branches of this U-shaped plate are designed to exert a force on the peripheral wall and the bottom arranged between these branches during insertion.

The reinforcing means 18 includes a plate but it could also include more than one plate. The plate or plates are designed to extend over the entire perimeter of the fire protection enclosure or to extend over part of this perimeter.

In a variant, the fire protection box 1 is used to contain at least two electrical devices as observed in the . To do this, the housing formed by the peripheral wall is such that the volume within the housing is large enough to place at least two electrical devices, said devices could be different devices. For example, it is possible to have, in the same fire protection box, the electrical device for a power outlet and a lighting device. In this variant, the housing could be separated into at least two zones using a separation wall 19 as observed in the . This wall, made of the same material as the peripheral wall, is used to isolate each zone from one another.

In a variant, the fire protection box 1 is part of a kit comprising said box and some plugs. These plugs are used to insert into unused openings. This increases the fire protection performance of the fire protection box 1. The plugs are made of the same material as the peripheral wall. Preferably, the plugs are made with the material removed to form the opening.

Of course, the present invention is not limited to the example illustrated but is susceptible to various variants and modifications which will appear to those skilled in the art.

Claims (13)

1 Fire protection box (1) comprising a peripheral wall (10) closed by a bottom (12) to form a housing (14) configured to receive at least one electrical device (20), characterized in that at least one among the peripheral wall and the bottom comprises at least one opening for the passage of at least one electric wire and in that the peripheral wall and the bottom comprise at least one fire-resistant material chosen from the list comprising: vermiculite, gypsum , and rock wool, cement, calcium silicate, and magnesium oxide. 2 Fire protection box according to the preceding claim, in which the peripheral wall and/or the bottom comprise at least two parts. 3 Fire protection box according to one of the preceding claims, in which the peripheral wall and/or the bottom comprise at least two openings. 4 Fire protection box according to one of the preceding claims, in which it further comprises a reinforcing means (18). 5 Fire protection box according to the preceding claim, wherein said reinforcing means comprises at least one plate fixed to the bottom and/or to the peripheral wall. 6 Fire protection box according to the preceding claim, wherein said plate is a U-shaped plate or an L-shaped plate. 7 Fire protection box according to the preceding claim, in which a U-shaped plate is provided to grip the peripheral wall and the bottom. 8 Fire protection box according to any one of claims 5 to 7, wherein the reinforcing means are used to extend over the entire perimeter of the fire protection box. 9 Construction surface comprising at least one construction panel against which at least one fire protection box is fixed, said construction panel comprising at least one opening aligned with the housing of the fire protection box, in which said fire protection is according to the claim 1. 10 Construction surface according to claim 9, in which an electrical device is arranged in the housing of the fire protection box, said electrical device comprising one or more from the list of: a power socket, a switch, a communication socket, a lighting connection, detector, alarm, or lighting device. 11 Building surface according to claims 9 or 10, wherein the building surface comprises a frame structure for supporting the construction and wherein the fire protection housing further comprises a support configured to support the fire protection housing on the structure frame. 12 Construction surface according to claims 9 or 10, wherein the fire protection box further comprises support means so as to be supported by rods. 13 Construction surface according to any one of claims 9 to 12, in which the electrical device is a lighting device, a detector or an alarm, and in which a grid, a translucent panel or a transparent panel is placed in the opening of the construction surface.