GB2278046A

GB2278046A - Racking system with a fire barrier

Info

Publication number: GB2278046A
Application number: GB9310473A
Authority: GB
Inventors: James Thomas Mackie; Stuart Holroyd
Original assignee: Dexion Group Ltd; Cape PLC
Current assignee: Cork Oak Holding Ltd; Cape PLC
Priority date: 1993-05-20
Filing date: 1993-05-20
Publication date: 1994-11-23
Anticipated expiration: 2013-05-20
Also published as: GB2278046B; GB9310473D0

Abstract

A racking system for warehouses or the like, includes a racking framework (2, Fig 1) adapted to support loads in a plurality of loading bays, and incorporates a fire barrier comprising a fire wall 9 at an end of a frame section or between two adjacent frame sections 6, 7, the fire wall 9 being secured to and being at least partially supported by the framework through fastening means which comprise fusible links in the form of nuts and bolts adapted to melt or be rupturable at a predetermined temperature to break the connection between the frame section and fire wall 9. <IMAGE>

Description

Racking Svstem with a Fire Barrier This invention relates to a racking system for warehouses or like storage systems which incorporates a fire barrier.

In large modern warehouses it is a frequent requirement for the overall space to be divided into sections separated by fire barriers which are intended to contain fires to stop them spreading throughout the warehouse. An alternative form of fire protection is a roof mounted water sprinkler system, but such systems tend to be unreliable in operation and, once set off, cannot easily be stopped and frequently result in a situation where the damage to the goods in the warehouse from the water is greater than the damage caused by the fire. For this reason, fire barriers, which are essentially inert and serve merely to confine a fire to its initial source, have commercial advantages.

The current conventional method of providing fire barriers in warehouses is that the fire barriers are constructed as separate free-standing walls which therefore have their own substantial supporting framework. Such fire walls are effective but have the disadvantage of expense and also they increase delays in the availability of the warehouse since they must be constructed first before the storage system, such as racking, can be installed in the warehouse.

The present invention seeks to provide a combination of a racking system and a fire barrier which alleviates these disadvantages of the known systems.

According to the present invention there is provided a racking system for warehouses or the like including a racking framework adapted to support loads in the plurality of load zones, and incorporating a fire barrier comprising a fire wall at an end of a frame section or between two adjacent frame sections, the fire wall being secured to and being at least partially supported by the framework through fastening means.

Preferably, the fastening means includes a fusible link. The fastening means may further comprise a plurality of cleats linking the fire wall to the frame section or sections at spaced intervals, the cleats being joined to the frame sections through said fusible links. The fusible links are preferably adapted to break the connection between the frame section and fire wall at a predetermined temperature. The fusible links may be securing means which may be in the form of nuts and bolts formed of a plastics material. The fusible links are preferably shielded against direct impingement by flames to thereby provide a more consistent temperature at which the links fail.

The fire wall may extend above the framework to the roof of the warehouse, the extended part being supported on its own framework which is itself secured to the racking framework. The fire barrier may include laterally extending wings extended from the uppermost edge of the fire wall to provide fire protection to the roof. The fire wall may be connected to the roof through fastening means incorporating a movement joint adapted to accommodate relative movement between the fire wall and the roof. Preferably, the movement joint includes fusible means fusible in response to heat to enable movement to take place between the fire wall and the roof structure. The fusible means may comprise a plastics element adapted to melt or be rupturable at a predetermined temperature.

A preferred embodiment of the present invention will now be described by way of example with reference to the accompanying informal drawings in which: Figure 1 shows a front elevation of a typical racking system modified to incorporate a longitudinal fire barrier, Figure 2 shows a lateral fire barrier, Figure 3 shows a section through a longitudinal barrier, Figure 4 shows a longitudinal barrier connection, Figure 4a shows a side elevation through section A-A of Figure 4, Figure 5 shows a lateral barrier connection between two adjacent frame sections and, Figure 6 shows a section through a connection between a fire wall and the roof structure or warehouse.

Referring now to Figures 1 and 2 in particular, there is shown, schematically, a pallet racking system for use in a warehouse. The racking system shown, which is exemplary only, consists of a plurality of bays 1 formed in a racking framework 2, shown in outline only, each bay being adapted to receive a pallet. Extending between the top 3 of the racking framework 2 there is a fire wall framework 4 which extends up to the roof 5 of the warehouse. As shown particularly in Figure 2, the racking framework has two sections 6 and 7 each having eight loading zones 8 with a fire wall 9 between the two sections. The fire wall 9 extends beyond the upper part of the framework of the racking system and is secured to the roof 5 of the warehouse through a movement joint 10. The fire wall includes laterally extending wings 11 which extend the fire barrier over part of the roof.The fire wall itself consists of a known wall construction having two outer layers of galvanised steel enclosing in a sandwich construction an inner layer of substantially inert fire and heat resistant material. Although not shown, the fire wall will usually extend right across the warehouse and may incorporate fire doors etc. as required, to provide the fire barrier to the appropriate standards.

Referring now to Figure 3 also, there is shown a typical section through a longitudinal barrier between two racking systems 12 and 13 placed back-to-back with a space therebetween. In installations which do not incorporate a fire barrier wall 9, the respective frame sections 12 and 13 are spaced apart to allow for the fact that the normal pal lets used in such racking systems do tend to overhang the rear of the framework slightly. When incorporating a fire wall 9, it is necessary only to move the racks slightly further apart. As shown, the fire wall 9 extends above the top of the racking framework to be secured to the roof through a movement joint 10 and, again, incorporates wings 11 to provide some protection to the roof of the warehouse.

The two frame sections 12 and 13 are secured to the fire wall 9 by a plurality of fastening arrangements 14, four of which are shown spaced vertically throughout the height of the framework sections 12 and 13. The fastening arrangements are shown in greater detail in Figure 4 and Figure 4a.

Referring to Figures 4 and 4a, which show sections through the fastening arrangement 14, it can be seen that the fire wall 9 is mounted on a relatively light framework 15 consisting of vertical and horizontal U-shaped channel sections, only one of which is shown in cross-section. The fire wall is bolted to this channel section framework by bolts 16. The fastening arrangement consists of two links or cleats 17 and 18 on opposite sides of the fire wall. It is a normal requirement that there should be a clearance of 150mm behind the frame sections of the racking and therefore the two links 17 and 18-are of different lengths to allow for the fact that the fire wall framework 15 projects from one side of the fire wall 9. As shown, the links 17 and 18 are secured to respective vertical frame elements 19 and 20 of the two racking frame sections 12, 13. As shown on the left-hand side of Figure 4, the link or cleat 17 has a flat base part 21 having an upstanding web 22 by which the link is bolted to the fire wall 9 through a right angled cleat 23. At its end remote from the web 22, the link 17 has an upstanding wall 24 containing two elongate slots by which the link is bolted to the frame element 19 by means of two nuts and bolts 25 formed of a plastics material that melts or softens at a predetermined temperature. To resist creep of the bolt, two lock nuts are provided. In some installations, in order to increase the fire resistance, the bolts 25 will be enclosed by a radiant heat shield 26 which is itself bolted to the base 21 of the link 17.The link 18 on the right-hand side of the fire wall is essentially the same as the link 17 except that the base 21 is longer and it has an upstanding web 27 of which the link is secured to the framework 15 of the wall 9. Figure 4a shows a section through the line A-A of Figure 4 from which the relationship between the radiant heat shield 26 and the plastic bolts 25 can be seen.

Referring now to Figure 5 there is shown in detail, the fastening arrangement between a fire wall 9 extending between two adjacent sections 30 and 31 of a racking system.

In a typical installation such a lateral barrier would be provided when the racking system extends along a long wall of the warehouse and it is a requirement to divide such a long run of racking into sections divided by fire walls.

The fastening arrangement consists of two links 32 and 33 located on respect sides of the fire wall 9. The link 32 consists of a right-angled section having an upturned flange 33 at one end by which the link is secured to the fire wall 9. Adjacent its other end, the link is secured by its upstanding wall 34 to the frame element 30 by plastics bolts 35 in a similar manner to that described with reference to Figure 4. Again, the upstanding web 34 has elongate slots through which the bolts 25 extend. As in the embodiment described in Figure 4, the bolts include two lock nuts and are, optionally, enclosed in a radiant heat shield 36.

Referring now to the right-hand side of Figure 5, the link 33 is again formed of an angle section and is adapted to be secured to the framework 15 of the fire wall by means of bolts passing through a web 37 and an upstanding web portion 38. The link 33 is secured to the frame section 31 through the upstanding web 38 by plastic bolts as described with reference to the left-hand side of the drawing.

Referring now to Figure 6 there is shown a typical connection 39 between the fire wall 9 and the roof 5 of the warehouse. The connection includes a movement joint 40 which is designed to accommodate movement which normally occurs between the fire wall 9 and the structure of the building and particularly includes means to accommodate the relative expansion which would occur between the fire wall and the roof frame work of the building in the event of a fire. As described earlier, the fire barrier includes the fire wall 9 and two laterally extending wings 41 and 42 which are formed of the same material and construction and the fire wall itself. Similarly, the components of the connection are surrounded by a fire barrier 43 formed of the same material as the fire wall 9. In the connection shown, the roof 5 includes a rafter 44 enclosed by a framework 45 supporting the fire barrier 43.The framework 7 includes a depending section 45 having two elongate slots 46 by which the fire wall framework 15 is connected by means of two bolts 47. The bolts include a fusible plastics washer which is designed to soften or melt at a predetermined temperature to enable movement to take place between the roof structure and the framework 15 of the fire wall 9 in the event of a fire. It would be appreciated that the details of this connection between the fire wall and the roof structure will vary in dependence upon the precise nature of the roof structure.

The combination of a fire wall and the racking framework has a number of advantages. Since the fire wall is at least partially supported by the racking framework, its own supporting framework 15 can be of much lighter construction than the known constructions, which saves on cost and assembly time, whilst the overall construction time of the warehouse from initial construction to availability to the customer is greatly shortened since the fire walls and the racking can be constructed virtually simultaneously, in contrast to the known arrangements in which the fire walls have first to be constructed completely before the racking can be installed.

It will be appreciated that many variations may be made from the embodiment described. For example, it is possible in certain installations that the fire wall 9 will be required to have a double skin with an internal framework.

The use of the fusible link is extremely advantageous in preventing the transmission of the fire and damage to the warehouse and fire wall. In the event of fire, it is frequently the case that racking systems and similar frameworks collapse under the effects of heat and the weight of the products on them and such collapses inevitably tend to pull down any structure connected to the racking system.

The use of the fusible connection means that the connection between the fire wall and the racking framework is ruptured by the heat so that if the framework collapses, it does not pull the fire barrier down with it. This substantially reduces the risk of fire spreading throughout the warehouse.

Claims

1. A racking system for warehouses or the like, including a racking framework adapted to support loads in a plurality of load zones, and incorporating a fire barrier comprising a fire wall at an end of a frame section or between two adjacent frame sections, the fire wall being secured to and being at least partially supported by the framework through fastening means.

2. A racking system according to Claim 1, wherein the fastening means includes a fusible link adapted to melt or be rupturable at a predetermined temperature.

3. A racking system according to Claim 1 or 2, wherein the fastening means further comprises a plurality of cleats linking the fire wall to the frame section or sections at spaced intervals, the cleats being joined to the frame sections through said fusible links.

4. A racking system according to Claim 2 or 3, wherein the fusible links are adapted to break the connection between the frame section and fire wall at a predetermined temperature.

5. A racking system according to any one of Claims 2 to 4 wherein the fusible links comprise securing means.

6. A racking system according to Claim 5, wherein said securing means comprise nuts and/or bolts formed of a plastics material.

7. A racking system according to any one of Claims 2 to 6, wherein the fusible links are shielded against direct impingement by flames to thereby provide a more consistent temperature at which the links fail.

8. A racking system according to any one of the preceding Claims in which the fire wall extends above the framework to the roof of the building in which the system is installed.

9. A racking system according to Claim 8, wherein the extended part of the fire wall is supported on its own framework which is itself secured to the racking framework.

10. A racking system according to any one of the preceding Claims, wherein the fire barrier includes at least one laterally extending wing extending from the uppermost edge of the fire wall to provide fire protection to the roof of a building in which the system is installed.

11. A racking system according to any one of Claims 1 to 10, wherein the fire wall is adapted to be connected to the roof of the building in which the system is installed through fastening means incorporating a movement joint adapted to accommodate relative movement between the fire wall and the roof.

11. A racking system according to claim 11, wherein the movement joint includes fusible means fusible in response to heat to enable movement to take place between the fire wall and the roof structure.

12. A racking system according to Claim 11, wherein the fusible means comprises a plastics element adapted to melt or be rupturable at a predetermined temperature.

13. A racking system according to any one of the preceding Claims, wherein a plurality of said fire walls are located at spaced intervals along the racking system, to divide the system into a plurality of loading bays separated by fire walls.

14. A racking system for warehouses or the like, substantially as described herein, with reference to and as illustrated in the accompanying drawings.