JPH0564276B2 - - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates to a water valve modification method and apparatus for modifying an existing water valve of a fire extinguishing system to enable an alarm to be generated when the water valve is closed.

In the technology of fire extinguishing equipment such as sprinklers,
It is common to provide a plurality of gate valves or similar valves in the water supply line to a sprinkler or similar fire extinguishing system. It is common practice to close the valve during inspection and maintenance of such fire extinguishing systems, but the valve may be left closed due to carelessness, which can lead to serious situations in the event of a fire. Become.
Additionally, the valves may be left closed during installation of the fire extinguishing system by inexperienced personnel. Also, the valve may be partially closed and not fully opened or may remain fully closed. Additionally, valves may be intentionally closed completely to prevent water from being released in the event of a fire.

In the past, proposals have been made to detect the closed state of a valve and trigger an alarm to notify people of danger. The valve had a magnetically actuated switch inserted into the valve member of the valve body to enable sensing of closure and to sense when the valve gate was not in the fully open position. A problem with such devices is that holes must be drilled in the valve body housing that constitutes the valve, and appropriate sensing elements must be placed in the valve member. In addition to the problem of sealing these apertures to prevent water leakage, there are still other problems. That is, since these sensing elements operate magnetically, the problem is that these sensing elements attract metal objects. It is well known that ordinary city water contains large amounts of metal particles. Therefore, over time, metal particles accumulate around the sensor and
Even when the valve is closed, the presence of such magnetic particles will prevent the sensor from indicating a closed valve condition. Moreover, this sensing element is inherently difficult to install. This is because the device must be drained prior to installation and the holes in the valve casing must be effectively sealed before the switch can be installed. Rather than sensing the closed state of the valve gate with a sensor provided within the valve member, the applicant has also achieved the same goal by using a magnetic switch external to the valve housing that senses movement of some magnetic part of the valve. We focused on the fact that it is possible to achieve Sensing the movement of such magnetic parts allows for adaptation to existing equipment without the need to drain the equipment. Furthermore, such an installation location is not affected by the presence of metal particles contained in municipal water and is not difficult to install.

Accordingly, the present invention provides a method for changing an existing water supply valve of a fire extinguishing system, in which an alarm can be generated when the water supply valve is closed, comprising: (a) attaching a valve stem to the water supply valve; (b) placing a suitable magnetic material in the hole; (c) securing a magnetically actuated first sensor to the water valve external to the valve chamber of the water valve; is installed in a housing, and when a magnetic material is further placed within the housing for tricking the first sensor into not generating an alarm by the first sensor when the water supply valve is closed. (d) having an alarm connected to the first sensor; (e) being capable of generating the alarm signal when the water valve is closed;
The water supply valve is of a type in which the valve shaft moves in and out of the water supply valve main body when closing and opening, and the first sensor is installed such that the alarm does not receive a signal when the water supply valve is opened, and the water supply valve is closed and opened. installed in a position where it operates in conjunction with the appropriate magnetic material so as not to receive a signal when the magnetic material is closed;
The magnetically operated first sensor is characterized in that it is of a type that does not require power supply to set the magnetic sensing condition.

Furthermore, the present invention modifies the existing water supply valve of a type of fire extinguishing system in which the valve stem of the water supply valve enters and exits from the water supply valve main body when opening and closing, and generates a closure alarm when the water supply valve is closed. A water supply valve changing device comprising: (a) a suitable magnetic material attached to a hole formed in a valve stem of the water supply valve; (b) a housing attached to the water supply valve outside the valve chamber of the water supply valve; (c) fixed within the housing and connected to a closure alarm, not generating the alarm signal when the water valve is open and generating the alarm signal when the water valve is closed; (d) a magnetically actuated first sensor of a non-power-supplied type mounted in a position operatively associated with said suitable magnetic material; Furthermore, the present invention is characterized in that it includes a second sensor that senses when a magnetic material approaches the first sensor in order to prevent the closure alarm from being generated.

In one embodiment, the sensor is configured to sense the departure of ferromagnetic material from the sensor's location. In other words, the ferromagnetic material is in close proximity to the sensor when the valve is open, and away from the vicinity of the sensor when the valve is closed. This activates the sensor so that an alarm can be triggered.

According to the present invention, it can be added to an existing water supply valve to prevent unexpected operational errors and fraudulent acts.

That is, according to the present invention, the second sensor protects against fraudulent activity in which a ferromagnetic material is brought close to the first sensor in order to "fool" or "disable" the first sensor and prevent it from generating an alarm when the water supply valve is closed. The sensor generates an alarm.

The present invention will now be explained by describing some embodiments with reference to the drawings.

In FIG. 1 a gate valve 1 with a valve gate 3 is shown. The valve gate 3 is connected to a threaded valve stem 5 of brass or copper, which valve stem 5 is operatively connected to a threaded handle 7. By rotating the handle 7, the valve stem 5 is protruded or retracted to move the valve gate 3 into the guide 9 inside the valve body 2.
to open and close the gate valve. In this illustration, a sensor 11 having a magnetic switch in the form of a reed switch is mounted outside the valve housing at a position where movement of the valve stem 5 can be detected. This sensor 11 senses when the valve gate 3 is closed. The sensor 11 is connected to a hole 1 drilled in the valve stem 5.
4 is made to respond to the magnetic material 13 fitted therein. The sensor 11 is configured so as not to enter an alarm state when sensing the presence of the magnetic material 13;
The configuration is such that an alarm state occurs when the absence of the magnetic material 13 is sensed. When the valve gate 3 is open, the electrical contact in the sensor 11 is opened. When the valve gate 3 closes, the contacts close, thereby making it possible to supply a signal that can generate an alarm signal. Typically, magnetic material 13 is an ingot of mild steel inserted into hole 14 . Alternatively, a permanent magnet can also be inserted into the hole 14. The properties of the magnetic material are sensor 11
Depending on the nature of the sensor 11, if the sensor 11 is a reed switch, a magnet associated with this reed switch may be provided, the magnetic material being mild steel or other ferromagnetic material. If the reed switch does not have a magnet, the hole 14 is provided with a permanent magnet.

In the principle explanatory diagram of FIG. 1, the magnetic material 13 is a permanent magnet. Sensor 11 is a reed switch without a permanent magnet to bias the reed switch to one operating position. This reed switch is
It is open when the permanent magnet 13 is in the close position,
This is a switch whose contacts close when the permanent magnet 13 moves from this position. In other words, the valve gate 13
When the magnetic material (permanent magnet) moves to the closed position
13 leaves the reed switch, and the reed switch detects this and generates a signal to generate an alarm.

2 and 3 show a typical example of the first sensor of the changing device used in the valve shown in FIG. 1.
The sensor 11 is constituted by a hollow, substantially rectangular cast iron casting. Hollow rear end 15 of the cast body
is closed with a lid 17 made of cast iron. The lid 17 is fastened to the casting by screws (not shown). A U-shaped notch 21 is formed in the front end 19 of the sensor 11 . This U-shaped notch will be explained later.
An opening 25 is provided in the center 23 of the sensor 11, and a reed switch 27 is accommodated in the opening 25. Typically, the reed switch 27 is enclosed within a glass body, and the diameter of the opening 25 is such that the glass body of the reed switch 27 can be closely and slidably fitted therein.
A large diameter aperture 29 is provided at the end of the aperture 25 adjacent to the front end of the sensor 11 . The large-diameter hole 29 has a diameter larger than that of the hole 25. A reed switch 27 is fitted into the opening 25, and one end of the reed switch 27 is aligned with the bottom surface of the U-shaped notch 21. The hollow end portion 15 and the large diameter opening 29 are filled with epoxy resin. Epoxy resin 31 is sensor 1
A reed switch 27 is connected and positioned to the main body of 1. Three lead wires 33 are pulled out from the reed switch 27 and passed through the hollow end 15 and into a suitable opening (not shown). reed switch 27
has three leads and can be either normally open or normally closed depending on the needs of the particular device. This will be explained later. The sensor 11 is attached to the gate valve 1 by angle-shaped brackets 35, these brackets are bolted to the side of the housing of the sensor 11 by bolts 37, and the heads of these bolts 37 are connected to the sensor 1.
1 in a T-shaped slot extending along the side of the housing. The chevron-shaped bracket 35 is the sensor 1
1, and place the housing of the sensor 11 at an appropriate position on the valve body part 4.
1. The mounting position is the reed switch 27 on the front end 19 side of the sensor 11.
The end of the valve stem 5 of the gate valve 1 is selected to be very close to the drawing of the valve stem 5 of the gate valve 1. The diameter of the curved portion of the U-shaped notch 21 is larger than the diameter of the valve stem 5. The action of the U-shaped notch 21 provided in the main body of the housing of the sensor 11 is that the reed switch 2
7 and the area of ferromagnetic material surrounding the valve stem 5. The reason for doing this is to negate any attempt to hold the reed switch contacts in a non-alarm state by placing a large magnet in close proximity to sensor 11.
In this case, the size of the body of the sensor 11 housing acts to suppress any magnetic flux generated from such external magnets. Therefore, when the valve moves to the closed position, reed switch 27 generates an alarm signal.

Figures 4 and 5 show other embodiments using different types of valves. In this embodiment, an indicator 51 is attached to the valve body 1A. The indicator 51 has a scale 53 on which the gate open position and gate closed position are displayed. (These have been omitted for clarity in the drawing). The indicator 51 carries a pointer 55 which is connected by a threaded collar 58 to a threaded brass stem 57 and which is connected by a handle 59 to a threaded brass stem 57.
7 to raise and lower the stem when opening and closing the gate of the valve body 1A. In this way, according to the position of the valve gate within the valve body 1A, the pointer 55
takes a position on the scale 53 indicating the opening/closing amount of the valve gate. In applying the principles of the invention to this type of gate valve, the sensor 11 is connected to the indicator 5.
1 to sense the position of the collar 58 of the pointer 55. Accordingly, the sensor 11 is activated to generate an alarm signal when the collar 58 of the pointer 55, which is made of ferromagnetic material, moves to the gate closed position. The collar is made of cast iron or mild steel.
In this embodiment, the sensor 11 has substantially the same structure as in the embodiments described above. However, assume that the permanent magnet biases the switch open when collar 58 is in the gate open position. In this way, when the gate is closed, the collar 58 moves away from the sensor 11 and the reed switch transitions to the closed state, generating a signal that is used to trigger an alarm. The sensor 11 is attached to the upper flange 61 of the attachment portion of the scale 53 with bolts (not shown).

If desired, the collar 58 can be made of brass and a permanent magnet can be inserted into the collar. In this case, as a reed switch with a permanent magnet, there is no need for the switch's contacts to be biased to the normally open state.

The embodiment shown in FIG. 6 is a different type of gate valve in which the valve body 1B does not have a rotating handle. Instead, the valve has a rotary valve stem 75 with an extension 79 fitted over the valve stem 75, the top of which extends over a pair of opposing flat surfaces 7.
It has 7. A spanner or key is applied to the pair of flat surfaces 77 facing each other to rotate the stem and open and close the valve. In this embodiment, valve stem 75 and extension 79 are formed from mild steel. A brass sleeve 81 having a male thread is fitted onto the lowermost end of the extension 79 and secured with a pin (not shown).

The sleeve 81 is a non-rotating plate 8 provided with threads.
Carrying 5. A boss 87 is provided at the center of this plate 85, a female thread is formed on this boss 87, and the sleeve 87 is formed with a female thread.
Make sure to screw it into the male thread of No.1. Plate 85 is prevented from rotating by clamp rods 89 (only two shown in the drawing), which clamp rods 89 prevent plate 85 from rotating.
5 through the appropriate opening 91. The clamp rod 89 is threaded and clamped to the top upper portion 93 of the valve body 1B by a pair of nuts 95.
Four such clamp rods 89 are arranged circumferentially at the top of the upper portion 93 of the valve body 1B.

As extension 79 rotates, valve stem 75 also rotates, and sleeve 81 of extension 79 simultaneously rotates. Since the plate 85 is screwed onto the sleeve 81,
Plate 85 moves up and down along threaded sleeve 81 of extension 79.

A brass rod 97 is carried on one side of the plate 85. The brass rod 97 is held to the plate 85 by a pair of nuts 99 which are threaded onto the brass rod. A hole 101 is bored in this brass rod 97 so as to cross the longitudinal axis.
1 carries a ferromagnetic material 103. Preferably, the magnetic material is a permanent magnet, but as mentioned above it can be other materials. The sensor 11 is arranged in conjunction with this magnetic material 103 and is therefore carried on a plate 105 which is held on the clamp rod 89 by means of a nut 107. Brass rods 97 are inserted through appropriate openings (not shown) in this plate 105. Therefore, when rotating the valve system 75 and causing the plate 85 to move the upper portion 83 of the sleeve 81 up and down, the true rod 9
7 moves up and down together, and the magnetic material 103 is moved up and down to the sensor 1.
Move from 1. This activates a switch contact within sensor 11, which can generate an alarm when the valve gate is moving to the closed position. Sensor 11 can be of the same type as shown in the embodiments described above.

The clamp rod 89 carries an annular plate 109, which is held by a lock nut 110. The annular plate 109 holds the sensor 11 in a position above the top of the extension 79 to physically protect it and also provide access to the upper portion 83 of the extension for operating the valve.

A plate 111 is stretched between two clamp rods 89. This plate 111 is held to one clamp rod 89 by a lock nut 110 and to the other clamp rod 89 by a padlock (not shown) which passes through an opening 112 formed in the clamp rod 89. All nuts are pinned by pins (not shown) and the sensor 11 is connected to the rod 97 and the magnetic material 103.
To make it easy to change the alignment of

7 and 8, a water valve changing device according to the invention is shown. According to the invention, the sensor 11 consists of two parts made of cast iron, which are interconnected so as to completely surround the valve stem 5 or other parts of the valve integrally connected to the gate. In this embodiment, the electric switch is housed in the T-shaped portion 113. This T-shaped portion 113 is made to interact with the shield portion 115.
In this case, the stem portion 117 of the T-shaped portion is placed within the U-shaped notch 119 . Part 113, 115
Although the can be made of materials other than cast iron, such as brass or plastic, it is preferable to choose a ferromagnetic material such as cast iron. That is, it is possible to suppress the magnetic field coming near the outer surfaces of the portions 113 and 117, and therefore effectively shield the area around the reed switch 121 attached to the portion 113. Therefore, the reed switch 121 as the first sensor is brought close to the sensor 11 in order to keep the contacts of the reed switch 121 open by a person who wants to close the gate valve without generating an alarm signal. Unaffected by external magnetic fields. Part 113, 115
formed of other materials, such as plastic or brass, the physical dimensions of portions 113, 115 are such that the distance from the outer surface of these portions 113, 115 is such that the magnetic field of any external magnet is relatively weak at the location of reed switch 121. It should be done as follows.

Reed switch 121 as a first sensor is mounted in stem 117 of section 113 as described above. Hollow recess 12 in head 123 of section 113
5 is provided, and a screw 127 is inserted through this recess to engage the arm 129 of the portion 115.
3,115 Screw them together. Hollow recess 12
It is recommended to provide four screws, one at each corner of the 5. A semicircular concave surface 131 is provided at the lowermost end of the stem portion 117 (see FIGS. 7 and 8). part 1
13 to part 115, the valve stem 8
resulting in a circular aperture with a diameter slightly larger than the outer diameter of the aperture. The valve stem 5 can thus rotate and move up and down within this opening, and the magnetic material 13, 10
3 can be moved closer to or farther from the reed switch 121 as the first sensor.

A resin filling part 113 is provided at the front end of the reed switch 121 as a first sensor, and a resin filling part 133 is also provided in the hollow recess 125. The screw 127 is tightened by the resin filling part 133 in the hollow recess 125.
cover the head of part 1 so that it is not visible.
13 is difficult to remove from the portion 115. Furthermore, as can be seen from FIG.
The stem portion 117 is made to protrude inward from the side surface of the arm portion 129 and penetrate into the stem portion 117 from the arm portion 129. Therefore pin 135
provides additional locking means to prevent parts 113, 115 from coming apart from each other. The pin 135 is inserted through a longitudinal slot 137 formed in the side edge of the part;
These slots 137 are used to hold the heads or nuts of set screws or bolts 139, which are attached to brackets 141.
is used to attach the sensor 11 to the sensor 11 and to enable the sensor 11 to be attached to the valve in its proper operating position. Since the top of the pin 135 is located inside the innermost surface of the slot 137, it does not interfere with the sliding of the head or nut that slides in the slot 137 of the set screw or bolt.

The hollow recess 125 is closed by a lid 143, which is screwed onto the part 113 by means of a screw 145. A micro switch 147 is installed in the hollow recess 125, and this micro switch 147
When the hollow recess 125 is completely closed by the lid 143, the movable arm of the micro switch closes the lid 14.
3 so that it is pushed in by the lid. This microswitch constitutes a safety means that generates an alarm when the lid 143 is removed. According to the invention, the reed switch 1 is further provided as a second sensor.
Another proximity switch of the type 49 is mounted in a hollow recess so as to generate an alarm signal when a magnetic field approaches the sensor 11. This is because a person intentionally attempts to "trick" or "disable" sensor 11 by attempting to hold the contacts of reed switch 121 open when closing the valve gate by bringing a magnet close to sensor 11. This can be seen when

Each of the switches 121, 147, 149 brings out three leads. These leads shall be a common lead wire, a normally open lead wire, and a normally closed contact connected to each contact within these switches. These 3
All contacts of the switches are connected in parallel so that an alarm signal is generated when any one of the switches is activated. Depending on the required circuit configuration, the switches can be connected in series or in a combination of series and parallel.

In accordance with the present invention, illustrated in FIGS. 7 and 8, a person attempts to "cheat" or "disable" reed switch 121, i.e., maintain the contacts open, when the valve gate closes. It becomes extremely difficult to place a ferromagnetic material between the concave surface 131 of the

As can be seen in FIG. 9, a conventional sprinkler fire alarm control circuit 150 is connected to a bell 151 or other suitable indicating means. The bell 151 is placed at the station of the fire alarm system and/or placed at the fire brigade station. The switch contacts of the various sensors 11 are of the type connected in parallel as shown and closed to generate an electrical alarm signal. Alternatively, the circuit can be configured to generate an electrical signal when the contacts of the sensor 11 open. In this alternative embodiment, the contacts of sensor 11 are closed when the valve is fully open and open when the valve gate is moved to the closed position.

The invention may be modified without departing from the scope of the claims. For example, the sensor need not be a reed switch, but can be any magnetic switch. Further, according to the present invention, the switch itself can be placed underwater without being placed inside the valve member. In this case, there are significant advantages over prior art valves which are equipped with sensing means for sensing the closed state.

These and other modifications do not depart from the scope of the invention provided they are defined by the above description.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

Fig. 1 is a front view of a typical gate valve at the stage of incorporating the first sensor for explaining the principle of the modified method of the present invention, and Fig. 2 is a cross section taken along the line 2-2 in Fig. 1. 3 is a perspective view of the sensor shown in FIG. 2,
Fig. 4 is a front view of a different type of valve incorporating the first sensor for explaining the principle of the modified method of the present invention, Fig. 5 is a side view of the valve of Fig. 4, and Fig. 6 is a side view of the valve of Fig. 4. This is the first step in explaining the principle of the modification method of the present invention.
FIG. 7 is a front view of yet another type of valve with a sensor installed; FIG. 7 is a perspective view of the water supply valve changing device according to the present invention; FIG. 8 is a cross-sectional view of the changing device shown in FIG. 7 in an assembled state. 9 is a block diagram of the electrical circuitry of a fire alarm control system incorporating features in accordance with the present invention.

Claims (1)

[Scope of Claims] 1. A method for changing an existing water supply valve of a fire extinguishing system so that an alarm can be generated when the water supply valve is closed, comprising: (a) a valve stem of the water supply valve; (b) mounting a suitable magnetic material in the hole; (c) securing a magnetically actuated first sensor to the water valve external to the valve chamber of the water valve; When a sensor is mounted within a housing and a magnetic material is further placed within the housing for fooling the first sensor so that the first sensor does not generate an alarm when the water supply valve is closed, this providing a second sensor for sensing proximity; (d) connecting the first sensor to an alarm; (e) being capable of generating the alarm signal when the water valve is closed;
The water supply valve is of a type in which the valve shaft moves in and out of the water supply valve main body when the water supply valve is closed and opened, and the first sensor is installed so that when the water supply valve is open, the alarm does not receive a signal, and the water supply valve installed in a position where it operates in conjunction with the appropriate magnetic material so as not to receive a signal when the magnetic material is closed;
A method for changing a water supply valve of a fire extinguishing system, characterized in that the magnetically operated first sensor is of a type that does not require power supply to set the magnetic sensing condition. 2. A water supply valve that changes the existing water supply valve of a type of fire extinguishing system in which the valve stem of the water supply valve enters and exits from the water supply valve main body when opening and closing, and that makes it possible to generate a closure alarm when the water supply valve is closed. In the changing device, (a) a suitable magnetic material attached to a hole formed in a valve stem of the water supply valve, (b) a housing attached to the water supply valve external to the valve chamber of the water supply valve, and (c) the aforementioned the suitable magnetic material fixed within the housing and connected to a closure alarm so as not to generate the alarm signal when the water valve is open and to generate the alarm signal when the water valve is closed; (d) a magnetically actuated first sensor of a type that does not require a power supply and is attached to the housing so as to operate in conjunction with the water supply valve; A water supply valve changing device comprising: a second sensor that detects the approach of a magnetic material to prevent the closure alarm from occurring when the magnetic material approaches the water supply valve.