GB2563815A

GB2563815A - Fire safety system

Info

Publication number: GB2563815A
Application number: GB1706379.3A
Authority: GB
Inventors: Crawley Tony
Original assignee: Firescape Global Ltd
Current assignee: Firescape Global Ltd
Priority date: 2017-04-21
Filing date: 2017-04-21
Publication date: 2019-01-02
Also published as: GB201706379D0

Abstract

A fire safety system 1 including a fire extinguisher 2, a smart module 6 having a detector D for detecting information relating to a status of the fire extinguisher, for example whether the extinguisher has been moved. The system further includes a transmitter for transmitting the information to a remote hub 10. The detector may include a motion detector, or a means to determine whether a magnetic connection 8a, 8b between the extinguisher and the smart module has been broken. The hub may include a display configured to display information received from the transmitter.

Description

FIRE SAFETY SYSTEM

TECHNICAL FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates to fire safety systems, and smart modules for use within fire safety systems.

BACKGROUND TO THE INVENTION

Fire extinguishers are well-known for extinguishing fires. In commercial buildings such as office blocks and hospitals, it is important that there are fire extinguishers distributed regularly so that there is one close at hand when a fire breaks out. This means that a building may include hundreds of fire extinguishers. It is also important to keep track of the fire extinguishers within a building, to make sure that they are still working, and indate. It is especially important to keep track of when a fire extinguisher has been moved, removed entirely, or activated, since it will then need to be released as soon as possible. In a building such as a large office block which may have hundreds, or even thousands of fire extinguishers, it is an arduous task to keep track of all of the fire extinguishers manually. Furthermore, in such cases, there may be a significant time delay between the use of a fire extinguisher and the realization that it needs to be replaced.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

In view of the challenges presented above, it is desirable to provide a system which is able somehow to automate notification that a fire extinguisher has been used. Broadly speaking, the present invention is related to a “smart” fire safety system in which a fire extinguishing assembly is able to communicate with some kind of central hub. In this way, a person responsible for e.g. maintenance of the fire safety system is able to receive automatic updates about the status or, for example, health of one or more fire extinguishers, Specifically, the present invention achieves this in the provision of a fire safety system including: a fire extinguisher; a smart module having: a detector for detecting information relating to a status of the fire extinguisher, and a transmitter for transmitting a signal containing the detected information; and a hub, separate from the fire extinguisher and the smart module, the hub having: a receiver for receiving the signal transmitted by the transmitter.

In this way, a person who is response for fire safety in a building, is able to receive information remotely concerning the status of a fire extinguisher. This reduces or removes the requirement for inspection of the fire extinguishers, since the information can be received remotely. The hub may also be present in a fire station, allowing the fire brigade to receive information remotely. The benefits of this are discussed in more detail elsewhere in this application.

Optional features of the invention will now be set out. These are applicable singly or in combination with any aspect of the invention.

In preferred embodiments of the invention, the signal is transmitted wirelessly. In other embodiments, however, the signal may be transmitted over cellular networks, and using Wi-fi (in which the fire safety system further includes a hub router). This removes the need for wired connections running through a building. The signal may be a radiofrequency (RF) signal. In this application, RF refers to frequencies in the range of 3 kHz to 300 GHz, and in preferred embodiments, the signal may have a frequency in the range of 3 to 450 MHz, for example 422 MHz. In some embodiments, the signal may be transmitted over a wireless or Wi-Fi network. This is useful since many commercial buildings in which use of the present invention is envisaged already have wireless networks, so minimal work would be required in order to incorporate the fire safety system of the present invention into such buildings. In other embodiments, the signal may be transmitted over cellular networks. In especially preferred embodiments, the transmitter may be in the form of an RFID tag. The tag may be an active tag which includes its own power source such as a battery. These are advantageous since they are able to operate over ranges in the hundreds of metres. Alternatively, in other embodiments the RFID tag may be in the form of a passive tag. In these embodiments, the hub may be configured to transmit an interrogation RF signal, from which the passive tag acquires the energy required to transmit the signal. Clearly, these are advantageous in that they do not require power sources.

An important feature of the present invention is the types of information which the detector is arranged to detect, i.e. the “status” of the fire extinguisher. In some embodiments, the detector may be able to detect that the fire extinguisher has been moved, or in other words, the detector may be a motion detector. In such embodiments, the transmitter is configured to transmit a signal to the hub indicating that the fire extinguisher has been moved, indicating that it may be use. In some embodiments, a signal may only be transmitted to the hub in the event that the amount of movement exceeds a predetermine threshold, to make sure that an accidental knock or the like does not cause a signal to be transmitted.

In some embodiments, the fire extinguishing system may include a support for supporting the fire extinguisher. For example, the support may include a bracket for wall mounting the fire extinguisher. In such embodiments, the fire extinguisher may simply rest in or on the bracket. Alternatively, the fire extinguisher may include an engaging portion arranged to engage with the support. For example, the fire extinguisher may include a hook for hooking onto the bracket. As with the embodiments discussed in the previous paragraph, embodiments including a support may also include a motion detector. The detector may be further arranged to detect when the fire extinguisher is removed from the support. For example, the fire extinguisher may be connected to the support via a connection, and the detector may be configured to detect when that connection is broken. In embodiments in which the transmitter is in the form of a passive RFID tag, it is preferred that the tag is only able to transmit the signal in response to the interrogation signal when the connection is broken. Similarly, in embodiments in which the transmitter is in the form of an active RFID tag, it is preferred that the tag is only able to transmit the signal (for example because the power source is only activated) when the connection is broken.

In a preferred embodiment, the support may include a first magnetic strip, and the fire extinguisher may include a second magnetic strip, which is in contact with the first magnetic strip when the fire extinguisher is resting in or on the support. The detector may then be configured to detect when the first and second magnetic strips are separated. This embodiment is particularly beneficial in that it may be used with fire extinguishers made of all kinds of materials, rather than just metal. In preferred embodiments the fire extinguisher is made substantially of plastic. By “substantially”, it should be understood that the fire extinguisher is at least 50% by weight of plastic, more preferably at least 90% plastic. It should be noted that this weight does not include any fire extinguishing fluid inside the fire extinguisher, just the fire extinguisher itself.

In embodiments in which the fire extinguisher is made of a magnetic material, the second magnetic strip may not be required, and instead, the detector may then be configured to detect when the magnetic strip is disconnected from the magnetic body of the fire extinguisher.

In other embodiments, the detector may include a push-to-break switch to detect when the fire extinguisher has been removed from the support. For example, the switch may include two conducting elements which are biased into contact with each other in the absence of the fire extinguisher. The two conducting elements may also be arranged such that when the fire extinguisher is placed in the support, the connection is broken.

In this way, when the fire extinguisher is removed, the conducting elements come into contact with each other, which may complete a circuit, prompting the transmitter to transmit the signal indicating that the fire extinguisher has been removed from the support.

As well as detecting motion of the fire extinguisher and its removal from a support, in some embodiments, the detector may also be arranged to detect activation of the fire extinguisher. By “activation”, we mean the use of the fire extinguisher to expel the fire suppressant liquid or gas contained therein. In this way, the person in charge of fire safety in a building, or the fire brigade, may be notified straight away when a fire extinguisher is used, allowing them to seek further help, or to provide assistance. Detection of activation of the fire extinguisher may be accomplished using magnetic strips located in appropriate locations on the fire extinguisher and/or smart module, in a similar manner as to what is described above. In other embodiments, activation may be detected e.g. by detecting the action of a clip or a clasp on the fire extinguisher. For example, activation of the fire extinguisher may cause a clip, clasp or other link to break, and detection of this breaking (such as if it causes breaking or making of a circuit) may prompt the transmission of a signal. In fact, in preferred embodiments, detection that the fire extinguisher has been activated may include a circuit being broken, or a circuit being completed, and the fire extinguisher may include some kind of contact or breakable link to achieve this.

The fire extinguisher preferably contains fire extinguishing fluid, and preferably fire extinguishing liquid. The fire extinguishing liquid preferably includes water. In addition to water, the fire extinguishing liquid may contain: (a) one or more of a phosphate, hydrogen phosphate or dihydrogen phosphate salt; (b) a hydrogen carbonate salt; and (c) a sulphate salt. Herein, phosphate, hydrogen phosphate and dihydrogen phosphate salts are salts including the anions PO43', HPO42' and H2PO4' respectively. A hydrogen carbonate salt is a salt including the anion HCO3'. A sulphate salt is a salt including the anion SO42'. Such a liquid demonstrates an improved ability to extinguish fires quickly and safely relative to known compositions, and is effective against a range of fire types.

For example, the fire extinguisher may contain diammonium hydrogen phosphate ((NH4)2HPO4), ammonium bicarbonate (NH4HCC>3) and ammonium sulphate ((NH4)2SO4). Fire extinguishing liquid containing these compounds has been found to be particularly effective at extinguishing fires. In some embodiments, the fire extinguishing liquid may further contain monopropylene glycol (C3H8O2), which allows the fire extinguishing liquid to be used at temperatures as low as -20°C without freezing.

In some embodiments of the invention, the fire safety system may include a second fire extinguisher, also associated with the same smart module. This is beneficial when two (or more) fire extinguishers are stored together (e.g. one containing carbon dioxide and one containing foam), as it reduces the number of components required. Then, when a signal is transmitted by the transmitter, it may also contain information as to which of the fire extinguishers with which that smart module is associated is being referred to.

In a second aspect of the invention, the fire safety system includes a plurality of fire extinguishers, each associated with a smart module, wherein each smart module includes a detector and a transmitter as described earlier. Then, the hub is preferably arranged to receive signals from all of the transmitters. In this way, a user of the hub may be able to track the status of a plurality of fire extinguishers. This is clearly useful for e.g. the fire brigade, or those in control of large commercial buildings. Specifically, a second aspect of the invention provides a fire safety system including: a plurality of fire extinguishers, a plurality of smart modules, each associated with one of the plurality of fire extinguishers, and each having: a detector for detecting information relating to the status of the fire extinguisher with which that smart module is associated, and a transmitter for transmitting a signal containing the detected information; and a hub, separate from each of the plurality of fire extinguishers and each of the plurality of smart modules, the hub having: a receiver for receiving the signals transmitted by each of the transmitters.

The hub preferably includes a display which is configured to display information received from the transmitters of one or more smart modules. For example, the display may be configured to indicate which fire extinguisher has been activated or removed, in order to inform someone at the hub both that a fire extinguisher has been removed or activated and also which fire extinguisher it is. In some embodiments, the hub may be configured to display other information about the fire extinguishers in the fire safety system, such as expiry date (which may be transmitted by the transmitter, or may be stored in a database associated with the hub), temperature (which may be recorded by the detector and also transmitted by the transmitter) and location (this may be known because the location of each fire extinguisher is known from when they were installed, or alternatively the fire extinguisher and/or smart module may include a tracker which enables a tracking unit in the hub to identify its position). In some embodiments, the display may be configured to display different information depending on the signal received, for example, the display may be configured to activate a different coloured light depending on the signal received at the hub, e.g. a green light if the fire extinguisher is in place and fully-serviced, an amber light if the fire extinguisher is currently being serviced, and a red light if the fire extinguisher is moved or activated. In order that the fire extinguisher can be serviced/maintained/repaired without a potentially misleading signal being transmitted to the hub, it is preferred that the smart module includes means for a signal to be sent to the central hub manually. For example, in the “traffic light” example just described, such a manually activated signal may prompt the amber light. A third aspect of the invention is related to just the smart modules of the previous aspects of the invention, and provides a smart module for use in a fire safety system, the smart module including: a detector for detecting information relating to a status of the fire extinguisher, and a transmitter for transmitting a signal containing the detected information.

Further optional features of the invention are set out below

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

Embodiments of the invention will now be described by way of example with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which:

Fig. 1A shows a plan view of a fire safety system according to one embodiment of the first aspect of the invention.

Fig. 1B shows a plan view of a fire safety system according to one embodiment of the first aspect of the invention.

Fig. 2 shows a side view of the fire safety system shown in Figs. 1A and 1B.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Fig. 1A shown a plan view of an embodiment of the fire safety system 1 of the present invention, and includes a plastic fire extinguisher 2, which is mounted onto a bracket (not shown in plan view), which is fixed to the wall W. The system 1 also includes a smart module 6 which is below the bracket 4 (hence the dotted lines), and also mounted on the wall W, via fixing holes 5a, 5b. It should be noted that in some embodiments, the smart module 6 may be mounted onto the bracket 4, rather than the wall W.

The smart includes a first magnetic strip 8a, which is complementary with second magnetic strip 8b. Specifically, the smart module has a flat surface 6a which lies flush with the wall, and a concave surface 6b, on which the first magnetic strip 8a is located, the concave surface 6b is arranged to receive a curved edge of cylindrical fire extinguisher 2 (though, of course other shaped fire extinguishers and smart modules are also envisaged) on which second magnetic strip 8b is located. Smart module 6 includes a detector D which is configured to detect when first and second magnetic strips 8a, 8b are separated from each other. When this occurs, the transmitter T, to which the detector D is connected, of the smart module 6 transmits an RF signal R towards the main hub 10, perhaps via a wireless network (not shown). Though not shown in Fig. 1, the main hub 10 may be connected similarly to a plurality of fire extinguishers 2, and may include an interface for a user to view the information received in the RF signal R. As discussed earlier on in this application, the information may include: information telling the user that the fire extinguisher 2 has been moved, information telling the user that the fire extinguisher 2 has been activated, information telling the user that fire extinguisher 2 has been removed from the bracket 4. Other types of information which the hub 10 may be arranged to display may be: the expiry date of the fire extinguisher 2, information about the service record of the fire extinguisher 2, the type of fire extinguisher 2, the temperature of the fire extinguisher 2, the location of the fire extinguisher 2. It must be stressed that these additional optional pieces of information are not tied to the specific embodiment of the invention shown in Fig. 1A - they may be included in all other embodiments of the invention. In this way, when the hub 10 is connected to a plurality of fire extinguishers 2, the information displayed on the hub 10 may serve as an asset register.

Fig. 1B is almost identical to Fig. 1A, and the identical features will not be described again here, to save repetition. The fire safety system 1’ of Fig. 1B differs in that the fire extinguisher 2’ is made of (magnetic) metal, rather than plastic, as was the fire extinguisher 2 of Fig. 1 A. Because of this, there is only a single magnetic strip 8a’ on the smart module 6’, which connects to the fire extinguisher 2’. Other than this, the structure and operation of the system 1’ is the same.

Fig. 2 shows a side view of the embodiments shown in Figs. 1A and 1B. The main additional detail shown in Fig. 2 is that the fire extinguisher 2 is mounted to the wall W via a hook 12 which engages with the bracket 4 in order to support the fire extinguisher 2 on the wall.

Claims

1. A fire safety system including: a fire extinguisher; a smart module having: a detector for detecting information relating to a status of the fire extinguisher, and a transmitter for transmitting a signal containing the detected information; and a hub, separate from the fire extinguisher and the smart module, the hub having: a receiver for receiving the signal transmitted by the transmitter.

2. A fire safety system according to claim 1, wherein the signal is a wireless signal.

3. A fire safety system according to claim 2, wherein the wireless signal has a frequency in the range of 3 kHz to 300 GHz.

4. A fire safety system according to claim 3, wherein the wireless signal has a frequency in the range of 3 to 450 MHz.

5. A fire safety system according to claim 4, wherein the transmitter includes an RFID tag.

6. A fire safety system according to any one of claims 1 to 5, wherein the detector includes a motion detector.

7. A fire safety system according to any one of claims 1 to 6, further including a support for the fire extinguisher.

8. A fire safety system according to claim 7, wherein the fire extinguisher is connected to the support via a connection and the detector is arranged to detect when said connection is broken.

9. A fire safety system according to claim 8, wherein the support includes a first magnetic strip and the fire extinguisher includes a second magnetic strip which is in contact with the first magnetic strip when the fire extinguisher is resting in or on the support, and wherein the detector is configured to detect when the first magnetic strip and the second magnetic strip are separated from each other.

10. A fire safety system according to any one of claims 1 to 9, wherein the fire extinguisher is made substantially of plastic.

11. A fire safety system according to any one of claims 1 to 9, wherein the fire extinguisher is made of a magnetic material, the support includes a first magnetic strip, and wherein the detector is configured to detect when the first magnetic strip and the magnetic material of the fire extinguisher are separated from each other.

12. A fire safety system according to any one of claims 1 to 11, wherein the detector is configured to detect activation of the fire extinguisher.

13. A fire safety system according to claim 12, wherein activation of the fire extinguisher causes a circuit to be completed, and detection of activation of the fire extinguisher includes detecting that the circuit has been completed.

14. A fire safety system according to claim 12, wherein activation of the fire extinguisher causes a circuit to be broken, and detection of activation of the fire extinguisher includes detecting that the circuit has been broken.

15. A fire safety system according to any one of claims 1 to 14, wherein the hub includes a display configured to display information received from the transmitter of the smart module.

16. A fire safety system according to any one of claims 1 to 15, further including a second fire extinguisher associated with the same smart module.

17. A fire safety system including: a plurality of fire extinguishers, a plurality of smart modules, each associated with one of the plurality of fire extinguishers, and each having: a detector for detecting information relating to the status of the fire extinguisher with which that smart module is associated, and a transmitter for transmitting a signal containing the detected information; and a hub, separate from each of the plurality of fire extinguishers and each of the plurality of smart modules, the hub having: a receiver for receiving the signals transmitted by each of the transmitters.

18. A fire safety system according to claim 17, wherein the signals are wireless signals.

19. A fire safety system according to claim 18, wherein the signals are RF signals, each having a frequency in the range of 3 kHz to 300 GHz.

20. A fire safety system according to claim 19, wherein one or more of the transmitters includes an RFID tag.

21. A fire safety system according to any one of claims 17 to 20, wherein one or more of the detectors includes a motion detector.

22. A fire safety system according to any one of claims 17 to 21, further including a support for each of the fire extinguishers.

23. A fire safety system according to claim 22, wherein each fire extinguisher is connected to its support via a connection and the detector of the smart module associated with that fire extinguisher is arranged to detect when said connection is broken.

24. A fire safety system according to claim 23, wherein each support includes a first magnetic strip and the fire extinguisher associated with that support includes a second magnetic strip which is in contact with the first magnetic strip when that fire extinguisher is resting in or on the support, and wherein the detector of the smart module associated with that fire extinguisher is configured to detect when the first magnetic strip and the second magnetic strip are separated from each other.

25. A fire safety system according to any one of claims 17 to 24, wherein one or more of the fire extinguishers is made substantially of plastic.

26. A fire safety system according to any one of claims 17 to 24, wherein one or more of the fire extinguishers is made of a magnetic material, the support associated with that fire extinguisher includes a first magnetic strip, and wherein the detector of the smart module associated with that fire extinguisher is configured to detect when the first magnetic strip and the magnetic material of the fire extinguisher are separated from each other.

27. A fire safety system according to any one of claims 17 to 26, wherein one or more of the detectors is configured to detect activation of the fire extinguisher associated with the smart module to which that detector belongs.

28. A fire safety system according to claim 27, wherein activation of a given fire extinguisher causes a circuit to be completed, and detection of activation of that fire extinguisher includes detecting that the circuit has been completed.

29. A fire safety system according to claim 27, wherein activation of a given fire extinguisher causes a circuit to be broken, and detection of activation of that fire extinguisher includes detecting that the circuit has been broken.

30. A fire safety system according to any one of claims 17 to 29, wherein the hub includes a display configured to display information received from the transmitters of each of the smart modules.

31. A smart module for use in a fire safety system, the smart module including: a detector for detecting information relating to a status of a fire extinguisher, and a transmitter for transmitting a signal containing the detected information.