JP2024058855A - Fire extinguishing equipment - Google Patents

Abstract

[Problem] To achieve further efficiency in inspection work in equipment including a water flow system, a pump, and an alarm valve. [Solution] The system includes a pump that delivers fire extinguishing water, a sprinkler that sprays water that has been filled in the secondary piping by opening its sprinkler head due to the heat of a fire, an alarm valve that causes the fire extinguishing water to flow from the primary piping to the secondary piping and outputs a water flow detection signal by opening the valve due to a drop in pressure in the secondary piping, an electric valve that can be controlled to open and close to cause the fire extinguishing water to flow in a desired piping path, a sensor that detects inspection information, and a control unit, and in an inspection mode, the control unit controls the opening and closing of the electric valve and the drive of the pump to cause the fire extinguishing water to flow in the desired water flow path, and performs an automatic inspection of at least one of the water flow system, the pump, and the alarm valve based on the detection result by the sensor. [Selected Figure] Figure 3

Description

This disclosure relates to a fire extinguishing system that includes a water flow system, a pump, and an alarm valve, and in particular to a fire extinguishing system that has an automatic inspection function.

In a fire extinguishing system equipped with a sprinkler head, an alarm valve, and a pump, there is conventional technology that allows the primary and secondary pressure values of the alarm valve to be obtained remotely (see, for example, Patent Document 1).

When the heat of a fire causes a sprinkler head to open in an area monitored by fire extinguishing equipment, water that has been stored in the secondary piping on the sprinkler head side of the alarm valve is sprayed. As water is sprayed, the pressure in the secondary piping drops, opening the alarm valve and allowing fire extinguishing water to flow from the primary piping on the water source side of the alarm valve.

Furthermore, when a flowing water detection signal is output from the alarm valve, the pump is started and fire extinguishing water is supplied from the water source through the primary piping, the alarm valve, and the secondary piping to the sprinkler head, allowing watering operations to continue.

Patent Document 1 discloses a technology that can remotely obtain the pressure values of the primary and secondary piping of an alarm valve. As a result, inspectors can check the pressure values without going to the location where the alarm valve is installed, thus reducing inspection costs.

JP 2013-85914 A

However, the conventional technology has the following problems. According to Patent Document 1, although it is possible to perform a functional inspection of the pressure values related to the alarm valve remotely, when inspecting the pump-related functions, an inspector still needs to go to the installation site and carry out the inspection work.

Inspection work for fire extinguishing equipment, which requires the operation of pumps, is often done on holidays. Furthermore, the valves to be inspected are opened and closed manually, and the operation of each function is judged to be good or bad by visually checking the instruments each time. Therefore, in order to ensure a healthy working environment for inspectors and to reduce overtime, it is strongly desirable to reduce the amount of work done at night and on holidays.

The present disclosure has been made to solve the above problems, and aims to provide a fire extinguishing system that achieves greater efficiency in inspection work compared to conventional technology in equipment that includes a water flow system, a pump, and an alarm valve.

The fire extinguishing equipment according to the present disclosure includes a pump that delivers extinguishing water, a sprinkler that sprays water that has been filled in the secondary piping by opening the sprinkler head due to the heat of a fire, an alarm valve that causes extinguishing water to flow from the primary piping to the secondary piping by opening the valve due to a drop in pressure in the secondary piping and outputs a flow detection signal when it detects the flow of extinguishing water, an electric valve that can be controlled to open and close to cause the extinguishing water to flow in the desired piping path, a sensor that detects inspection information, and a control unit. During fire monitoring, the control unit drives the pump by receiving the flow detection signal output from the alarm valve, and in inspection mode, controls the opening and closing of the electric valve and the drive of the pump to cause extinguishing water to flow in the desired flow path, and performs automatic inspection of at least one of the flow system, the pump, and the alarm valve based on the detection result by the sensor.

According to the present disclosure, it is possible to obtain a fire extinguishing system that realizes greater efficiency in inspection work compared to conventional technology in a facility that includes a water flow system, a pump, and an alarm valve.

1 is an overall configuration diagram of a fire extinguishing system according to a first embodiment of the present disclosure; 1 is a diagram illustrating an internal configuration of a pump according to a first embodiment of the present disclosure. 1 is an explanatory diagram showing a desired water flow path when performance inspection is automated in a fire extinguishing system according to a first embodiment of the present disclosure. FIG. 1 is an explanatory diagram showing a desired water flow path when priming tank inspection is automated in a fire extinguishing system according to a first embodiment of the present disclosure. FIG. 1 is an explanatory diagram showing a desired water flow path when inspection related to an alarm valve is automated in a fire extinguishing system according to a first embodiment of the present disclosure. FIG.

Hereinafter, preferred embodiments of the fire extinguishing system of the present disclosure will be described with reference to the drawings.
The fire extinguishing equipment disclosed herein has a technical feature in that it is equipped with an automatic inspection function that uses an externally controllable electric valve to control the opening and closing of the electric valve and the operation of the pump according to the inspection item, and can store the detection results by each sensor at that time as inspection information.

Embodiment 1.
First, an overview of the system will be described.
1 is an overall configuration diagram of a fire extinguishing system according to the first embodiment of the present disclosure. The fire extinguishing system according to the first embodiment includes a control panel 10, a pressure tank 20, a pump 30, an alarm valve 40, a sprinkler 50, a water source 60, and a priming tank 70.

Various piping paths are provided with valves V101 to V106, V110, V111, and V120 that switch the open/closed state of the flow paths. In FIG. 1, valves V102, V103, V105, V110, and V111, which are indicated by solid black symbols, are normally closed valves, while valves V100, V101, V104, V106, and V120, which are indicated by open white symbols, are normally open valves.

Figure 1 shows an example in which a water source 60 is located underground, and a priming tank 70 is provided to fill the piping connecting the pump 30 and the water source 60 with water. The sprinkler 50 has a closed sprinkler head, and when the sprinkler head opens due to the heat of a fire, the water filled in the secondary piping on the sprinkler head side is sprayed and used for firefighting operations.

The alarm valve 40 is equipped with a primary pressure measuring unit 41, a secondary pressure measuring unit 42, and a water flow detector 43. When water spraying begins, the pressure in the secondary piping drops, causing a clapper installed in the flow path in the alarm valve 40 to switch to an open state, and fire extinguishing water flows from the primary piping on the water source side to the secondary piping via the alarm valve 40.

As a result, during fire monitoring, the control unit, which is the controller within the control panel 10, starts the pump 30 upon receiving a flow detection signal output from the flow detector 43, and fire extinguishing water is supplied from the water source 60 through the primary piping, the alarm valve 40, and the secondary piping to the sprinkler 50, allowing the watering operation to continue.

Figure 2 is a diagram showing the internal configuration of pump 30, which is the subject of automatic inspection according to the first embodiment of the present disclosure. Pump 30 sends fire extinguishing water stored in water source 60 to the primary piping by driving drive unit 302 in conjunction with the rotation of motor 301 based on a command from the control unit.

Whether the pump 30 is functioning normally can be quantitatively checked by monitoring the measurement values of various instruments, such as the voltmeter 303, ammeter 304, compound gauge 305, and pressure gauge 306, when the pump 30 is operated.

In the fire extinguishing equipment according to the first embodiment, various valves in the piping system are replaced with motorized valves that can be controlled to open and close by commands from a control unit, and the motorized valves are controlled to open and close and the pump is controlled to operate according to the inspection item. The results of detection by each sensor at that time are stored as inspection information, automating the inspection of the water flow system, pump 30, and alarm valve 40. Here, the automatic inspection function possessed by the fire extinguishing equipment according to the first embodiment will be described in detail.

First, we will explain the automatic inspection function related to the pump 30 that is executed in the inspection mode. The functional inspection of the pump 30 includes inspection during shutoff operation, performance inspection, and priming tank inspection, and different valves are opened and closed depending on each inspection.

(1) Inspection during shut-off operation Inspection during shut-off operation involves starting the pump 30, closing all valves to stop water flow, and monitoring the measured values of the various instruments shown in Fig. 2. Therefore, in the configuration shown in Fig. 1, in order to automate inspection during shut-off operation, the valves V100, V101, and V104 are motor-operated valves.

In the inspection mode, the control unit switches the motor-operated valves V100, V101, and V104 to a closed state, starts the pump 30, and stores the measured values of the various gauges, the voltmeter 303, ammeter 304, compound gauge 305, and pressure gauge 306, as inspection information, thereby automatically performing inspection during closed operation. After the inspection during closed operation is completed, the control unit stops the pump 30 and returns the valves V100, V101, and V104 to an open state, thereby restoring the state before inspection.

(2) Performance Inspection A performance inspection is an inspection in which the values measured by the various instruments shown in Fig. 2 are monitored while the valve in the path that returns the water drawn from the water source 60 by the pump 30 to the water source 60 is opened to allow the water to flow. Therefore, in the configuration shown in Fig. 1, in order to automate the performance inspection, the valves V100, V101, V102, V103, and V104 are made to be motor-operated valves.

Figure 3 is an explanatory diagram showing the desired water flow path when a performance inspection is automated in a fire extinguishing system according to the first embodiment of the present disclosure. In Figure 3, the desired water flow path when a performance inspection is performed is added as a thick arrow line to Figure 1 above.

In the inspection mode, the control unit switches the motorized valves V100, V101, and V104 to a closed state, and switches the motorized valves V102 and V103 to an open state. In other words, the control unit controls the opening and closing of the first motorized valve group consisting of valves V100 to V104 so as to circulate the fire extinguishing water from the water source 60 by driving the pump 30, and not to supply the fire extinguishing water to the alarm valve 40 side.

Furthermore, the control unit can start the pump 30 and automatically perform a performance inspection while running water through the path shown in FIG. 3 by storing the measurement value of the flowmeter 31 and the measurement values of various instruments, such as the voltmeter 303, ammeter 304, compound gauge 305, and pressure gauge 306, as inspection information in order to quantitatively evaluate the operating performance of the pump 30.

After the performance inspection is completed, the control unit stops the pump 30 and returns valves V100, V101, and V104 to the open state and valves V102 and V103 to the closed state, thereby restoring the system to the state before the inspection.

(3) Priming Tank Inspection Priming tank inspection is an inspection in which water from priming tank 70 is drained into water source 60, and it is confirmed whether the water level in priming tank 70 drops to a low water level causing a low water level alarm to be issued, and then the valve on the drainage path to water source 60 is closed and the valve on the water supply path is opened to confirm that priming tank 70 is filled with water and water supply stops. Therefore, in the configuration shown in Figure 1, in order to automate priming tank inspection, valves V105 and V106 are made to be motorized valves.

Figure 4 is an explanatory diagram showing the desired water flow path when priming tank inspection is automated in the fire extinguishing system according to the first embodiment of the present disclosure. In Figure 4, the desired water flow path when inspecting the priming tank is added as a thick arrow line to Figure 1.

In the inspection mode, the control unit switches the motor-operated valve V106 to a closed state and the motor-operated valve V105 to an open state for a predetermined time to forcibly reduce the amount of water in the priming tank 70 and check whether a low water level alarm is issued, and after the predetermined time has elapsed, it returns valve V106 to an open state and valve V105 to a closed state, and checks whether the priming tank 70 is full, and stores the confirmation result as inspection information, thereby automatically performing a priming tank inspection involving a drainage operation via the route shown in Figure 4.

The priming tank 70 is provided with a level switch 71, and the control unit can detect whether a low water level alarm has been issued or the tank is full by the output from the level switch 71.

Next, the automatic inspection function related to the alarm valve 40 will be described. FIG. 5 is an explanatory diagram showing the desired water flow path when inspection related to the alarm valve 40 is automated in the fire extinguishing equipment according to the first embodiment of the present disclosure. In FIG. 5, the desired water flow path when inspecting the alarm valve 40 is added as a thick arrow line to FIG. 1. Note that FIG. 5 illustrates an example in which automatic inspection is performed on one of the two alarm valves 40.

To automate inspections related to the alarm valve 40, valves V110 and V111 are electrified, and by opening valves V110 and V111, it becomes possible to simulate the state in which water is being sprayed from a sprinkler.

In the inspection mode, the control unit performs opening and closing control to open the second group of motorized valves, valves V110 and V111, and creates a state in which the pressure in the secondary piping decreases by simulating the state in which water is being sprayed from a sprinkler.

The control unit can then automatically perform inspections related to the alarm valve 40, which involves the flow of water through the path shown in Figure 5, by storing as inspection information whether or not a flow detection signal is output from the flow detector 43.

The control unit can further store the pressure measurement results by the primary pressure measurement unit 41 and the secondary pressure measurement unit 42 as inspection information.

After the inspection related to the alarm valve 40 is completed, the control unit returns valves V110 and V111 to the closed state, thereby restoring the state to the state before the inspection.

The various inspection information described above can be stored as data history in the control unit. In addition, the control unit can store the data history and inspection information on a server or the like as necessary, or can notify the customer by email or other means.

In addition, the manufacturer of the fire extinguishing equipment can access the control unit or the server from outside to obtain the inspection results. Alternatively, the manufacturer of the fire extinguishing equipment can access the control unit from outside as necessary, execute the automatic inspection function at the desired timing, and obtain the inspection results.

The automatic inspection function can be started by operating the control panel 10 on-site, or it can be started manually or automatically at regular intervals remotely via a network, just like a statutory inspection.

In addition to electrifying the valves, it is also possible to further improve the efficiency of inspection work by adding new sensors. For example, by installing a vibration sensor in the pump 30, the control unit can detect abnormal shaft vibration of the pump 30 by monitoring the vibration value when the pump is driven during inspection work.

In addition, by attaching a sensor to the clapper provided in the alarm valve 40 and monitoring the open/closed state using the sensor output, it is possible to detect whether the clapper in the alarm valve 40 is functioning normally.

As described above, according to the first embodiment, the valves that were previously manually opened and closed are now motorized, enabling opening and closing control to allow fire extinguishing water to flow only through the desired piping routes. In the inspection mode, the motorized valves are opened and closed and the pump is driven according to the inspection item, and the detection results from each sensor at that time are stored as inspection information, thereby realizing an automatic inspection function for the water flow system, pump, and alarm valve.

With these features, inspectors can perform efficient inspection work on equipment, including water systems, pumps, and alarm valves, at the time of their choice.

In addition, the automatic inspection function can be used at any desired time before the statutory inspection, allowing the status of the water flow system, pumps, and alarm valves to be quantitatively monitored before the statutory inspection, making it possible to prepare for repairs before or during the statutory inspection.

10 control panel, 20 pressure tank, 30 pump, 40 alarm valve, 43 water flow detector, 50 sprinkler, 60 water source, 70 priming tank, 71 level switch, 301 motor, 302 drive unit, 303 voltmeter, 304 ammeter, 305 compound gauge, 306 pressure gauge, V100-V106, V110, V111, V120 valve.

Claims (4)

A pump for supplying fire extinguishing water;
A sprinkler that sprays water that has been filled in the secondary piping by opening the sprinkler head due to the heat of the fire;
an alarm valve that opens due to a pressure drop in the secondary piping to allow the extinguishing water to flow from the primary piping to the secondary piping, and outputs a flow detection signal when it detects the flow of the extinguishing water;
An electric valve capable of controlling opening and closing to allow the fire extinguishing water to flow through a desired piping path;
A sensor that detects inspection information;
A control unit and
The control unit is
During fire monitoring, the pump is driven upon receiving the flowing water detection signal output from the alarm valve;
In an inspection mode, the fire extinguishing equipment controls the opening and closing of the electric valve and the drive of the pump to cause the extinguishing water to flow through the desired water flow path, and performs automatic inspection of at least one of the water flow system, the pump, and the alarm valve based on the detection results of the sensor. The desired water flow path is a piping path that draws up the fire extinguishing water from a water source by driving and controlling the pump by the control unit in the inspection mode, and returns the drawn up fire extinguishing water to the water source,
The sensor is composed of a flow meter provided in the desired water flow path and various instruments for measuring the operational performance of the pump;
The motor-operated valves are configured by a first motor-operated valve group provided on a path that supplies extinguishing water to the desired water flow path and does not supply the extinguishing water to the alarm valve side,
The control unit is
In the inspection mode, the opening and closing control of the first motor-operated valve group is performed and the pump is driven and controlled to supply the fire extinguishing water to the desired water flow path, and a state is created in which the water of the water source is circulated by driving the pump;
The fire extinguishing system according to claim 1 , wherein the automatic inspection of the water flow system and the pump is performed by storing the measurement results of the flow meter and the measurement results of the various instruments as the inspection information. the desired water flow path is a piping path for flowing water stored in the priming tank to a water source in order to forcibly reduce the amount of water in the priming tank;
The sensor is composed of a level switch that detects whether the priming tank is in a low water state or a full water state,
The control unit is
In the inspection mode, the opening and closing control is performed so as to keep the motor-operated valve in an open state for a predetermined time, and after the predetermined time has elapsed, the opening and closing control is performed so as to close the motor-operated valve, thereby forming a state in which the water in the priming tank is forcibly reduced and then returned to the full water state;
The fire extinguishing system according to claim 1 , wherein the automatic inspection of the water flow system is performed by storing as inspection information whether the low water level state and the full water level state are detected by the level switch. The desired water flow path is a piping path consisting of the primary side piping and the secondary side piping,
The sensor is a flow detector that is provided in the alarm valve and outputs the flow detection signal,
the motor-operated valves are configured with a second motor-operated valve group provided for forcibly draining the fire extinguishing water filled in the secondary side piping in the inspection mode,
The control unit is
In the inspection mode, the opening and closing control is performed so as to open the second motor-operated valve group, and a state in which water is sprayed from the sprinkler is simulated to create a state in which the pressure in the secondary side piping is reduced;
The fire extinguishing system according to claim 1 , wherein the automatic inspection of the alarm valve and the water flow system is performed by storing, as inspection information, whether or not the water flow detection signal is output from the water flow detector.

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