GB2136687A - Fire suppressing device - Google Patents

Abstract

A fire suppressing device comprises a portable housing containing a fire suppressing means, said housing, upon application of heat or upon impact, being such as to permit said fire suppressing means to be released therefrom. The housing may comprise a ceramic shell containing or encapsulating the fire suppressing means therein. Alternatively, the housing may comprise a two-component shell comprising an outer non-flammable shell having a plurality of apertures therein and an inner, flammable shell which is bonded to the outer shell by a non-flammable adhesive.

Description

SPECIFICATION Fire suppressing device The present invention relates to a fire suppressing device. More particularly, the invention is concerned with providing a device which can be utilised to suppress and/or reduce and/or extinguish fires.

There are many ways of extinguishing a fire when such fire has been contained; however, a problem arises in that once the fire has taken hold, it is extremely difficult to control or suppress without the assistance offire-fighters. Moreover, care has to be taken in relation to those fires which cannot be extinguished using water.

One known method of putting out a fire is by the use of an inert gas or a mixture of inert gases. The problem however with using an inert gas is that same disperses very easily and has no weight.

Accordingly, it is only possible to utilise an inert gas on a contained fire by directing the gas onto the fire from a pressurized container.

Other methods of fighting a fire comprise the use of foam material or other substances which prevent oxygen reaching the fire and therefore cause the fire to become extinguished.

It is an object of the present invention to provide a device which can be utilised to suppress and/or reduce and/or extinguish a fire. Even if it is not possible to fully extinguish the fire, then the device of the present invention should at least control or suppress the fire until fire-fighting equipment can be brought to the scene of the fire.

According to the present invention there is provided a fire suppressing device comprising a portable housing containing a fire suppressing means, said housing, upon application of heat or upon impact, being such as to permit said fire suppressing means to be released therefrom.

The fire suppressing means comprises any material which can be used to fight a fire. Such material may be a gas, liquid or solid and preferred examples thereof are an inert gas, a dry powder and foam material, respectively.

In an embodiment of the invention the housing is in the form of a shell which contains or encapsulates the fire suppressing means therein, said shell, upon application of heat thereto or upon impact, permitting the fire suppressing means to be released therefrom.

In such embodiment, the shell may be formed of ceramic material, although any other type of material which will rupture upon application of heat thereto or upon impact may be utilised.

The size of the device, the thickness of the shell and the nature and amount of material contained therein may be selected depending upon the intended purpose. Moreover, it is possible, in accordance with the present invention, to provide a plurality of fire suppressing devices having different shell thicknesses which will cause the devices to release the material contained therein at differing times.

The thickness and nature of the shell may be selected so as to ensure that a shell of a particular device will rupture within a selected temperature range. Alternatively, the shell thickness can be adjusted so as to ensure that rupture will occur upon impact with the ground depending upon the height or distance from which the devices are to be dropped orthrown.

In an alternative embodiment in accordance with the invention, the housing is in the form of a shell made up of two components: (1) an outer, non-flammable shell having a plurality of apertures through which the fire suppressing means can be released, and (2) an inner, flammable shell which is bonded to the outer shell and contains the fire suppressing means therein.

Upon application of heat, the inner shell, in the region of the apertures of the outer shell, will rupture, thereby permitting the fire suppressing means to be released. Preferably, the inner shell is bonded to the outer shell by a non-flammable adhesive coated on the inside of the outer shell.

Such bonding will ensure that the inner shell will shrivel, not burn, in the region adjacent the apertures provided in the outer shell.

Preferably, the outer shell is made of polyphosphate (POP), which material will burn only in gas mixtures that contain more than 70% oxygen. The inner shell may be made of a polymer called polyhydrozybutyrate (PHB). The inner shell is nonporous and will therefore hold the inner gas therein.

The size and shape of the outer shell can vary as desired. The outer shell has apertures formed therein for the release of gas, the number and size of such apertures being varied as required. As mentioned, the outer shell is generally coated on the inner surface thereof with a non-flammable adhesive. An inner shell or membrane would then be inserted inside the outer shell and inflated with an inert gas or any appropriate fire suppressing substance incorporated therein. When the membrane is inflated it will adhere itself to the inside of the outer shell. The gas inside the membrane will release automatically at the apertures in the outer shell when the temperature rises to a sufficient degree to cause shrivelling of the inner shell or membrane to the regions of such apertures.The temperature at which this release occurs can be varied by the number and size of the apertures in the outer shell and the thickness of the inner shell or membrane. It would also be possible to utilise a mixture of devices which will release the material contained therein at differing times. Such arrangement will provide a phased release of fire suppressing gas rather than one sudden release of such gas. The bonding of the inner shell or membrane to the non-flammable outer shell stops the membrane from congealing and burning after a fire has released the gas.

These devices could be used inside expensive machinery where they could extinguish a spark at source, thereby saving any further damage. Whilst the materials most preferred have been specified above,it is to be understood that other polymers and materials which function in an equivalent manner may be used, depending upon the circumstances of a particular fire.

It is believed that the device in accordance with the invention could replace certain types of extinguishers that are in use today and, moreover, such devices are particularly applicable when it is not possible to use water, e.g. in the case of electrical or chemical fires.

The device of the invention may be propelled, blown or thrown at a fire and the active ingredient therein would be released at the source of the fire.

It is to be noted that the fire suppressing device of the present invention is believed to have applicability in industry, on farms and woodland and in the home. When used in the home, the devices could be located in either the roof or floor space and thereby also act as an insulation means when not being used. In the case of farms and woodland, one would select a fire suppressing material and housing which would be such that no chemical harm would come to the farmland or woodland. In the case of industry, the devices of the present invention could be utilised in the roof space above a building in which flammable materials are contained.It will thus be seen that, by utilising the prior suppressing device in accordance with the present invention and upon a fire occurring, the fire suppressing device will release its active material which should minimize the amount of oxygen available to the fire and thereby at least suppress, reduce or even extinguish the fire.

In accordance with a further embodiment of the present invention, the housing could be any form of conventional container which contains pressurized gas, means being provided in the wall of the container which would cause, upon a certain temperature being achieved, the active gas to be released. It would be possible to provide a form of plug arrangement in the wall of the container for such purpose.

The present invention will now be described in relation to the use of devices containing an inert gas, e.g. nitrogen or carbon dioxide, or mixtures thereof, with a ceramic encapsulating shell. It is to be understood that there are many inert gases and mixtures thereof and the use of the particular material required would depend upon the nature of the fire involved.

In such embodiment, the inert gas is contained inside a ceramic shell which would give weight to the gas and to maintain same where it is needed.

The ceramic shell would release the gas upon being subjected to the heat of the fire. Moreover, the thickness of the ceramic shell could be varied so as to control the temperature at which the gas would be released. In a specific case of a woodland or bush fire, such capsules could be utilised to ring the fire and thereby form a barrier. In view of the lightweight nature of the ceramic material, the capsules of the present invention should be fairly easily transportable. Moreover, the size of the shells can be any selected size depending upon the nature of the fire and the location thereof.

As previously mentioned, the devices could be used between floors of buildings which therefore would form a protective barrier of inert gas to stop a fire spreading to upper floors. In such arrangement, the shells would release the gas automatically when the temperature was sufficiently hot.

Since both the inert gas and the ceramic shell are harmless materials, the devices of the present invention and the method of operation would be suitable for domestic buildings. Such feature is also attractive for farmers as there would be no harmful chemical after-effects on the land if the devices were utilised in an attempt to control a fire.

It is believed that the fire supressing device of the invention would be economical to produce and would be easy to instal.

If desired, the devices of the invention could be utilised in industry in the case where specialist types of fires occur. In such a case, an appropriate gas or chemical would be contained within the ceramic shell and located at a suitable point in the factory so as to be ready to extinguish any fire.

It is envisaged that an inert gas or mixture thereof could be incorporated in a ceramic shell during moulding by any conventional moulding technique.

It is to be noted that the uses of the ceramic shell referred to above are equally applicable to the double-shell arrangement also described.

It can thus be seen that the devices of the present invention and the method of operation thereof should enable a fire to be suppressed and/or reduced in intensity and/or extinguished. In any event, the use of such devices should have a holding effect on the fire and thereby enable same to be contained until firefighting apparatus can be brought to the scene of the fire.

It is to be understood that production of the devices of the present invention would be carried out in accordance with conventional techniques. For example, in the case of the ceramic shell, the fire suppressing means could be incorporated in the shell during moulding. In the case ofthetwo- component shell, the inner shell could be in the form of a balloon and would be inflated by introduction of inert gas therein.

Claims (11)

1. Afire suppressing device comprising a portable housing containing a fire suppressing means, said housing, upon application of heat or upon impact, being such as to permit said fire suppressing means to be released therefrom.

2. Afire suppressing device as claimed in claim 1, in which the fire suppressing material comprises an inert gas, a dry powder or a foam material.

3. Afire suppressing device as claimed in claim 1 or 2, in which the housing comprises a shell which contains or encapsulates the fire supressing means therein.

4. Afire suppressing device as claimed in claim 3, in which the shell is formed of ceramic material.

5. Afire supressing device as claimed in claim 1 or2, in which the housing is in the form of a shell made up of two components: (1) an outer, non-flammable shell having a plurality of apertures therein through which the fire suppressing means can be released, and (2) an inner, flammable shell which is bonded to the center shell and contains the fire suppressing means.

6. A fire suppressing means as claimed in claim 5, in which the inner shell is bonded to the outer shell by a non-flammable adhesive coated on the inside of the outer shell.

7. Afire suppressing means as claimed in claim 5 or 6, in which the outer shell is made of polyphosphate and the inner shell is made of polyhydroxybutyrate.

8. A plurality of fire suppressing devices as claimed in any one of claims 3 to 7, in which the devices have different shell thicknesses which cause the devices to release the fire suppressing means at differing times.

9. A fire suppressing device as claimed in claim 1 or 2, in which the housing is in the form of a container having means provided in the wall thereof to permit the fire suppressing means to be released at a certain temperature.

10. Afire suppressing device as claimed in claim 9, in which a plug arrangement is provided in the wall of the container.

11. A fire suppressing device as claimed in any preceding claim substantially as described herein.