GB2287191A

GB2287191A - Sprinkler systems

Info

Publication number: GB2287191A
Application number: GB9404252A
Authority: GB
Inventors: Stuart Martin Dunn; Darren John Barrett
Original assignee: Individual
Current assignee: Individual
Priority date: 1994-03-05
Filing date: 1994-03-05
Publication date: 1995-09-13
Also published as: GB9404252D0

Abstract

The system comprises a fluid delivery pipe in communication with a pressurized source of fire dousing fluid, the pipe having delivery aperture(s) and being housed in a decorative housing to form a design feature of the room in which the system is installed, the housing having aperture(s) positioned in correspondence to the delivery aperture(s) in the pipe to enable fluid within the pipe to be emitted from the housing through each delivery pipe delivery aperture and corresponding aperture in the housing. Decorative design feature makes system suited for domestic installation. Further disclosed is (a) a sprinkler with sprinkler head(s) having a jet and a spray outlet and (b) a sprinkler system with a control unit linked to a circuit breaker which switches off the electrical supply to a room prior to fire dousing fluid being supplied.

Description

FIRE DOUSING SPRINKLER SYSTEM Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an improved fire dousing sprinkler system which is adapted especially, but not necessarily exclusively, for domestic installations.

Background to the Invention In recent years awareness of fire safety hazards has risen dramatically and stringent regulations and precautions to minimise risk have been adopted.

All commercial premises and public buildings need to meet strict guidelines on provision of fire safety doors and fire escapes, fire extinguishers, smoke detectors and alarm systems. Some commercial and public premises, and most notably those at high risk of fire, are equipped with sprinkler systems to douse the flames of a fire before it can fully take hold.

The merits of sprinkler systems are widely appreciated. Unlike fire extinguishers they are generally automatically implemented and have a high capacity, generally being fed with mains water via a pump. Whereas a conventional fire extinguisher's canister will be exhausted in a matter of minutes, a sprinkler system can continue dousing the flames with water and optionally also surfactant, continuously and with a wide distribution range dictated by the position and number of the sprinkler heads. Sprinkler systems undoubtedly save many lives and also reduce the damage to property in the event of a fire.

Despite the many benefits of the sprinkler system, its implementation is primarily limited to establishments where cost and appearance are no object and the risk to life or property is exceptionally high. For the majority of home owners the installation of a sprinkler system into their own home is not a viable proposition. Whereas home owners will invest in one or more smoke detectors and associated fire alarms, without effective means for fighting a fire they will suffer extensive damage to their property and risk unneccessary loss of life.

In addition to the cost factor, a prime cause of the reluctance of home owners to invest in a sprinkler system is the general obtrusiveness of such a system.

It is a general objective of the present invention to provide a sprinkler system which overcomes these problems and is suitable for domestic installations.

Summarv of the Invention According to a first aspect of the present invention there is provided a fire dousing sprinkler system which comprises: a fluid delivery pipe which is operatively in fluid communication with a pressurised source of fire dousing fluid, the delivery pipe being arranged, in use, to extend substantially around the periphery of a room of a building in which the system is installed, the delivery pipe having a series of delivery apertures along the length thereof and being housed for substantially the whole length thereof within a decorative housing to form a decorative design feature of the room in which the system is installed, the housing having, in use, a series of apertures positioned in correspondence to the series of delivery apertures in the delivery pipe to enable fire dousing fluid within the delivery pipe to be emitted from the housing through each delivery pipe delivery aperture and corresponding aperture in the housing.

According to a second aspect of the present invention there is provided a component of the system of the first aspect of the invention which comprises an integrally constructed or assembled unit for installation comprising a length of fire dousing fluid delivery pipe housed within a decorative housing adapted to form a decorative feature of a room in which the system is to be installed, the section of delivery pipe having a series of delivery apertures therein and the housing having a corresponding series of apertures therein to allow fire dousing fluid within the delivery pipe to be emitted from the housing through each delivery aperture and corresponding aperture in the housing.

Where the sprinkler delivery pipe is housed in a decorative housing, this may suitably be coving which is mounted to the walls of a room in which the system is installed. Additionally or alternatively the housing may comprise a ceiling rose to deliver fire dousing fluid more toward the centre of a room in which the system is installed.

Preferably a nozzle is provided extending through each said delivery aperture and said corresponding aperture. Each such nozzle suitably has a sprinkler head fitted to the free end thereof.

According to a third aspect of the present invention there is provided a fire dousing sprinkler system having one or more delivery pipes with one or more sprinkler heads of which at least one sprinkler head has both a jet outlet to allow emission of a jet of fire dousing fluid therefrom and spray outlets to allow emission of a spray of the fire dousing fluid therefrom. Preferably the jet outlet is surrounded by an array of spray outlets.

Preferably a fire detector sensor is located in each room or zone to be protected by the fire sprinkler system and is operatively linked to an electrically activated valve in the delivery pipe which, in use, delivers the fire dousing fluid to the room or zone in which the sensor is located.

According to a fourth aspect of the present invention there is provided a fire dousing sprinkler system having a control unit to open one or more valves to allow flow of fire dousing fluid to delivery outlets of the fire sprinkler system, the control unit being operatively linked to a circuit breaker in the electrical circuitry supplying electrical power to a room or rooms in which the sprinkler system is installed to switch off the electrical supply to the room(s) prior to the fire dousing fluid being dispensed.

In addition or alternative to providing an automatic safety shut off of the electricity supply to a given room, or zone, the system suitably also provides an automatic shut off of gas supply to a given room or zone.

Brief Description of the Drawings A preferred embodiment of each aspect of the present invention will now more particularly described, by way of example, with reference to the accompanying drawings, wherein: Figure 1 is a schematic plan view of a floor of a house in which a fire sprinkler system embodying the first aspect of the present invention has been installed; Figure 2 is a simplified schematic diagram of the view shown in Figure 1 and illustrating independent control of fluid delivery in each zone of the house; Figure 3 is a plan view of one of the rooms of the Figure 1 embodiment, illustrating the flow of fire dousing fluid; Figure 4 is a transverse sectional view of a detail of the Figure 3 embodiment showing a delivery pipe behind a coving; Figure 5 is a front elevation view of the coving of Figure 4;; Figure 6 is a schematic sectional view through a different delivery nozzle to that shown in Figure 4; Figure 7 is a view similar to that of Figure 6; and Figure 8 is a front elevation view of a delivery head similar to that of the Figure 6 embodiment.

Description of the Preferred Embodiment Referring firstly to Figure 1, this illustrates a fire dousing sprinkler system for dousing fire with water, installed in the ground floor of a house.

The system illustrated comprises a separate delivery pipeline la-d for each room of the house, thereby splitting the house into zones to enable zonal fire control to restrict operation of the system to those zones where it is required for fire fighting.

Each delivery line la-d branches from a manifold 2 supplied with water by the water mains either directly or through a pump mechanism (not shown).

For most practical purposes the mains water pressure of 28 psi should provide an adequate rate and force of delivery.

The manifold 2 provides a single location at which the flow of the fire dousing water to the different zones, or rooms, of the house may be controlled by solenoid valves 3a-d in each respective delivery line la-d.

Additionally, the manifold 2 provides a single location at which the supply of water to each delivery line la-d may be manually halted by a respective stop cock 4a-d.

Each delivery line la-d is fitted around the perimeter of a room as shown in Figures 1 and 3, extending substantially in a circuit of the room but having its remote extremity occluded. In Figure 3 the delivery pipeline la is occluded at its remote end by a bull plug 5.

When both solenoid valve 3a and stop cock 4a are open water will flow along the delivery pipeline la and be emitted through lateral delivery apertures 6 provided along its length.

Each delivery pipeline la is housed along its length within a coving 7a-d which is either an existing decorative feature of the building in which it is installed or is fitted as a new decorative feature. The coving 7a-d is provided with a plurality of apertures along its length in positions 8 corresponding to the lateral delivery apertures 6 on the respective delivery line la-d. At each such position a nozzel is inserted, extending from each delivery aperture 6 through the corresponding aperture 8 to emit the water through a sprinkler head 9.

The sprinkler head 9 may be of a conventional design or, more desirably, is designed to have a central wide bore opening to provide a jet of water and a ring of smaller bore openings surrounding the central opening to provide a spray of water. This combination of jet and spray provides a more effective fire fighting delivery of water than the conventional sprinkler head configuration. The precise configuration of the apertures may be varied such that, for example, the jet aperture and spray apertures are positioned in different positions relative to each other.

As shown in Figure 1, the delivery line 1 for the larger rooms may additionally have a broadly centralised ceiling rose 10 having an array of spray heads 9 radiating therefrom. In common with the spray heads 9 of the delivery pipeline la-d extending around the perimeter of the room, the delivery line la-d suitably extends in a ring around the interior of the ceiling rose 10 and has radial apertures therein with corresponding apertures 14 through the ceiling rose 10 communicating with the sprinkler heads 9 via respective nozzels extending from the delivery apertures through the apertures 14.

Each sprinkler head 9 may suitably be mounted flush with the external face of the ceiling rose 10 and with the external face of the coving 7a-d.

Control of the sprinkler system is effected automatically in response to detection of a fire by an associated fire detection system. Such a system suitably comprises a highly reliable combined smoke or hydrocarbon and heat/infrared sensor 12a-d located in each respective room, or zone of the building and wired to a central control panel 13 which is in turn wired to the respective solenoid valves 3a-d to actuate and open the respective valve 3a-d which corresponds to the delivery line la-d for the zone in which the sensor 12a-d was triggered. Additionally the solenoid valve(s) may be triggered by an alarm push button or the like.

In addition to opening the respective solenoid valve 3a-d, the control panel 13 illuminates an indicator signal to alert the building occupants as to the location of the fire by illuminating a corresponding light on the panel 13 and, suitably, also on a remote indicator panel 14.

As a very useful additional feature of the system, the control panel 13 suitably also directs a signal to a circuit breaker to cut off supply of electrical power to the zone in which the fire was sensed. The circuit breaker is suitably positioned in a consumer unit 15. This circuit breaking action is suitably initiated in advance of effective opening of the respective solenoid valve 3a-d to thereby prevent any risk of electrocution of occupants.

As a further safety feature, the system may also activate a solenoid valve to shut off gas supply to the room in which fire has been detected.

A yet further enhancement to the system may be provided, comprising the installation of carbon monoxide sensors throughout the rooms of the building all linked to the control panel 13 to trigger shut the solenoid valves in the gas supply pipelines and to trigger a respective alarm. Suitably the carbon monoxide warning alarm has a different tone to the fire warning alarm and may comprise, for example, a warbler alarm. The carbon monoxide sensoring system is suitably wired such that it does not activate the fire dousing system inadvertently.

Referring to Figures 4 and 5, there is shown one preferred form of decorative coving 7 which has a shaped profile and is adapted to bridge the corner between a wall and the ceiling of a room. The delivery nozzle 8 is fitted by a screw threaded fitting into a delivery aperture 6 bore through the side of the delivery pipeline 1. The nozzle 8 is secured to the delivery pipeline 1 by a saddle 16 resin bonded to the copper tubing of the delivery pipeline 1.

The sprinkler head 9 has a central fluid delivery channel having a multiaperture front face which, as can be seen in Figure 5, is surrounded by a decorative flower head 17 to disguise the sprinkler head 9.

Turning now to Figure 6, this shows a different form of nozzle 9 fixture in which their is provided a "T'-piece 18 along the delivery pipeline 1 to which a nozzle 9 head portion is mounted. This nozzle 9 head portion is injection mounded from nylon or other heat resistant plastics material and comprises three concentric tubular portions 19, 20, 21. The two inner portions 19, 20 have radially outward extending flanges to grip the internal bore of the Tpiece extension, whereas the outmost portion 21 has an inwardly extending flange to grip the external face of the T-piece extension.

As illustrated in Figure 7 the reduced diameter channel 22 extending centrally the length of the nozzle 8 serves to increase the back pressure from the water mains supply to the desired level. Suitably a range of channel sizes are provided to enable selection of the desired level of back pressure.

As illustrated in Figure 8, the spray head 9 suitably has a central aperture 23 for emitting a powerful fluid jet for high impact delivery, and an array of small apertures 24 surround the central aperture 23 to deliver a heavy mist.

The periphery of the spray head 9 is provided with a set of baffles 25 to direct the spray dispersion.

Claims

1. A fire dousing sprinkler system which comprises: a fluid delivery pipe which is operatively in fluid communication with a pressurized source of fire dousing fluid, the delivery pipe having one or more delivery apertures and being housed in a decorative housing to form a decorative design feature of the room in which the system is installed, the decorative housing having one or more apertures positioned in correspondence to the one or more delivery apertures in the delivery pipe to enable fire dousing fluid within the delivery pipe to be emitted from the housing through each delivery pipe delivery aperture and corresponding aperture in the housing.

2. A sprinkler system as claimed in Claim 1, wherein the delivery pipe is arranged, in use, to extend substantially around the periphery of a room of a building in which the system is installed and has a series of delivery apertures along the length thereof and is housed for substantially the whole length thereof within the decorative housing.

3. A system as claimed in Claim 2, wherein the housing is coving which is mounted to cover the juncture between the walls and ceiling of a said room in which the system is installed.

4. A system as claimed in Claim 1, wherein the delivery pipe is arranged in use, to extend toward the centre of a room of a building in which the system is installed and the decorative housing comprises a ceiling rose.

5. A system as claimed in any preceding claim wherein a nozzle is provided extending from each said delivery aperture through the corresponding aperture.

6. A system as claimed in claim 5, wherein each nozzle has a sprinkler head fitted to the free end thereof.

7. A component of the fire dousing sprinkler system of any of the preceding claims, which comprises an integrally constructed or assembled unit or installation comprising a length of fire dousing fluid delivery pipe housed within a decorative housing adapted to form a decorative feature of the room in which the system is to be installed, the length of the delivery pipe having one or more delivery apertures therein and the housing having a corresponding one or more delivery apertures therein to allow fire dousing fluid within the delivery pipe to be emitted from the housing through each delivery aperture in the delivery pipe and each corresponding aperture in the housing.

8. A fire dousing sprinkler system having one or more delivery pipes with one or more sprinkler heads each of which at least one sprinkler head has both a jet outlet to allow emission of a jet of fire dousing fluid therefrom and spray outlets to allow emission of a spray of fire dousing fluid therefrom.

9. A sprinkler system as claimed in Claim 8, wherein the jet outlet of the sprinkler head is surrounded by an array of spray outlets.

10. A fire dousing sprinkler system as claimed in any preceding Claim, wherein the system further comprises a fire detector sensor which is located, in use, in each room or zone to be protected by the fire sprinkler system and is operatively linked to an electrically activated valve in the delivery pipe which, in use, delivers the fire dousing fluid to the room or zone in which the sensor is located.

11. A fire dousing sprinkler system having a control unit to open one or more valves to allow flow of fire dousing fluid to delivery outlets of the sprinkler system, the control unit being operatively linked to a circuit breaker in the electrical circuitry supplying electrical power to a room or rooms in which the sprinkler system is installed to switch off the electrical supply to the room(s) prior to the fire dousing fluid being dispensed.

12. A fire dousing sprinkler system as claimed in Claim 11, wherein the system further comprises one or more valves to control supply of gas to a given room or zone, which valve or valves are shut by the control unit in response to the sensor detecting a fire.

13. A fire dousing sprinkler system substantially as hereinbefore described with reference to any suitable combination of the accompanying drawings.