Classifications

• • A—HUMAN NECESSITIES
  • A62—LIFE-SAVING; FIRE-FIGHTING
  • A62C—FIRE-FIGHTING
  • A62C35/00—Permanently-installed equipment
  • A62C35/58—Pipe-line systems
  • A62C35/68—Details, e.g. of pipes or valve systems
• • A—HUMAN NECESSITIES
  • A62—LIFE-SAVING; FIRE-FIGHTING
  • A62C—FIRE-FIGHTING
  • A62C37/00—Control of fire-fighting equipment
  • A62C37/36—Control of fire-fighting equipment an actuating signal being generated by a sensor separate from an outlet device
  • A62C37/46—Construction of the actuator
• • Y—GENERAL TAGGING OF NEW TECHNOLOGICAL DEVELOPMENTS; GENERAL TAGGING OF CROSS-SECTIONAL TECHNOLOGIES SPANNING OVER SEVERAL SECTIONS OF THE IPC; TECHNICAL SUBJECTS COVERED BY FORMER USPC CROSS-REFERENCE ART COLLECTIONS [XRACs] AND DIGESTS
  • Y10—TECHNICAL SUBJECTS COVERED BY FORMER USPC
  • Y10T—TECHNICAL SUBJECTS COVERED BY FORMER US CLASSIFICATION
  • Y10T137/00—Fluid handling
  • Y10T137/8593—Systems
  • Y10T137/87249—Multiple inlet with multiple outlet

Definitions

• the present invention relates to an installation for fighting fire, comprising a drive unit for extinguishing liquid.
• a drive unit for extinguishing liquid comprising a drive unit for extinguishing liquid.
• an installation for figting fire having as a drive unit e.g. a plurality of parallel hydraulic accumulators with an initial charge pressure of e.g about 200 bar.
• Such an installation is well suited for fighting fire e.g. in an engine room of a ship.
• the engine room is usually divided into a number of separate fire sections or fire zones.
• the object of the invention is to provide, for an installation of the kind mentioned above, a new pilot valve means which is of a simple structure and thus is cheap.
• the basic idea of the invention is that after an alarm signal has been received, but before actuating the drive unit of the fire fighting installation, the desired flow path is opened through the pilot valve means to connect the drive unit for extinguishing liquid to the respective fire section. Thanks to the invention it is possible to use simple and cheap pilot valves dimensioned for low pressure, or alternatively, small pilot valves intended for high pressure which likewise are cheap.
• liquid is in a first step delivered at a relatively low pressure, e.g. about 20 bar, in order to fill the lines leading to the respective fire section with liquid and to cool the respective spray heads and nozzles before actuating the drive unit intended for high pressure liquid spraying, and by utilizing the said initial low pressure liquid the connection from the outgoing line of the drive unit is at the same time opened through the pilot valve means to the respective fire section.
• the said outgoing line is still closed at the drive unit during the initial step of combined low pressure spray and opening said connection through the pilot valve means, and thus it is possible to use pilot valves dimensioned for low pressure.
• the initial spraying of low pressure liquid as well as establishing the connection from the respective fire section to the main drive unit of the installation can, alternatively, be accomplished by means of e.g a hydraulic accumulator which can be charged to either a high pressure or a low pressure. If the accumulator is charged to a high pressure, the connection thereof to the respective outgoing fire section line is arranged through a small high pressure valve which passes a small flow of liquid.
• main drive unit itself which preferably comprises a plurality of hydraulic accumulators coupled in parallel, whereat thus the drive unit at first is connected to the pilot valve means through a small high pressure valve in order to, before commencing the main extinguishing procedure, open such a connection from the respective fire section to the main drive unit that is capable of passing the whole liquid delivery capacity of the drive unit.
• a small high pressure valve which acts as a pilot valve within the pilot valve means
• the pilot valve means would require high pressure valves having a pass flow aperture diamter of about 40 mm. It is essential to perform the establishment of the desired connection in the pilot valve means, intended for the main extinguishing process, by means of a small power, i.e. either by utilizing a low drive pressure, whereat the amount of liquid can be relatively great, although considerably smaller than the main flow during the main extinguishing process, or by utilizing a high pressure and a small amount of liquid.
• Figure 1 shows a fire fighting installation in inactive state.
• Figure 2 illustrates the function of the pilot valve means when a fire has started.
• Figure 3 shows, as a partial longitudinal section, a practical embodiment of a pilot valve means in the state of figure 2.
• Figure 4 shows an embodiment utilizing high pressure guiding.
• a drive unit for delivering high pressure extinguishing liquid in a fire fighting installation is generally indicated by the reference numeral 1.
• a pilot valve means leads from the drive unit 1 to four fire sections A, B, C and D.
• a liquid pump with an operating pressure of e.g. 15 to 20 bar is indicated by 2 and a high pressure liquid pump with an operating pressure of e.g. 200 bar is indicated by 3.
• the high pressure pump 3 is arranged to charge a plurality of hydraulic accumulators 4 which preferably are of a structure as described in the Finnish patent application 924752.
• the outgoing line of the drive unit 1 is indicated by 5 and a shut-off valve in the line 5 is indicated by 6.
• the valve 6 is usually open, as in figure 1.
• Figure 1 shows the installation in inactive state of stand-by.
• a fire has broken out in fire section A.
• the pump 2 has been activated to deliver liquid through its feed line 7 (alternatively, e.g. in case of electric power fall-out, initial pilot liquid can be delivered by a low pressure hydraulic accumulator 8), through the opened valve 9 and a subsequent back valve to the line 10 which leads to spray heads or sprinklers in the fire section A.
• the pressure in the line 10 moves a first change valve 11, positioned between the feed line to the fire section A and the feed line to the fire section B, from the position shown in figure 1 to the position shown in figure 2, and a second change valve 12 likewise from the position shown in figure 1 to the position shown in figure 2.
• the delivery of low pressure liquid to the fire section A thus opens the connection from the feed line 5 of the high pressure drive unit 1, when the hydraulic accumulators 4 are not yet activated, to the fire section A, while the connections from the feed line 5 of the drive unit 1 to the fire sections B, C and D are closed.
• the high pressure unit 1 can now be activated at will.
• the valve 9, as well as the corresponding valves to the fire sections B, C and D, can be of a simple and cheap structure.
• a third change valve 13 which in the present case has not moved.
• the positions of the change valves 12 and 13 in figure 1 indicate that the previous activation, e.g. in order to test the installation, has occurred in the fire section D which in figure 1 is in connection to the feed line 5 of the drive unit 1, while the connections to the fire sections A, B and C are closed.
• the valve arrangement 11, 12, 13 can be of a simple structure.
• Figure 3 shows one embodiment where the change valves 11, 12 and 13 comprise a movable sleeve 21, 22 and 23, respectively, with one end closed. If desirable, the pilot valve means can without difficulty be extended to serve a larger number of fire sections, utilizing the same principle.
• Figures 1-3 show a favourable embodiment of the invention. It is, however, possible to replace the low pressure valves 9 by small high pressure valves, whereat it for the initial low pressure liquid spraying and simultaneous establishing of the respective connection via the change valves 11, 12 and 13, respectively, is possible to use a hydraulic high pressure accumulator which is not shown in the drawing but which could replace the low pressure hydraulic accumulator 8 and be charged by the high pressure pump 3.
• the valves 11, 12 and 13 could in principle also be actuated by means of pressurized gas, if it is considered unnecessary to initially cool the nozzles and the spray heads and to fill the feed lines with liquid before the high pressure drive unit 1 is activated.
• FIG. 4 An example is shown in figure 4. From the bottom region of a hydraulic accumulator 4 runs a pipe 30, preferably provided with apertures in its wall, as presented in the Finnish patent application 924752, to a valve structure at the outlet end of the accumulator 4. From the pipe 30 leads a throttled connection 31 in a valve spindle 32, which is forced against the outlet end of the pipe 30 by a spring 33, to a narrow gap 34 between the spindle end of a manually operable valve 35 and the housing of the outlet valve structure. From the passage 34 there is a line 36 to a pilot valve means which in principle is of the same kind as the one shown in figures 1-3.
• the line 36 corresponds to the line 7 or to the feed line of the hydraulic low pressure accumulator 8 in figure 1, while the line 37 in figure 4 corresponds to the main feed line 5 in figure 1.
• the installation is in a state of stand-by, whereat the pressure in the line 36 is the same as in the accumulator 4, via the connection 31- 34.
• the line 36 can be filled with liquid but there is no liquid flow in the line 36, because the valves 9 to the fire sections A, B, C and D are all closed.
• the pressure in the line 37 has access, via a groove 38 or the like formed in the valve spindle 32, to act on a face 39 of the spindle 32, in a direction against the spring 33, whereat the force effected by the pressure on said , face 39 together with the force effected by the pressure in the accumulator 4, due to the pressure fall over the throttle 31, drive the valve spindle 32 upwards from the position shown in figure 4, so that there is a direct connection from the outlet of the pipe 30 to the line 37, for full delivery of liquid to section A.
• the embodiment shown in figure 4 can without difficulty be extended to comprise a plurality of hydraulic accumulators 4, e.g. as shown in figure 1.
• This embodiment has an additional advantage in that it is fully workable independently of electric power supply; the valve symbols in figure 4 indicate that the valves in first place are intended to be operated automatically, eg. electrically, with a possibility to be manually operated, as a reserve.
• the valves 9 in figure 4 can be low pressure valves, like in figures 1-3, or alternatively high pressure valves with a small pass flow aperture.
• the spray heads, including nozzles, of the installation, in the respective fire sections A, B, C and D can preferably be of such constructions that are presented e.g. i the international patent applications PCT/FI92/00060, PCT/FI92/00155 and PCT/FI92/00156.

Landscapes

• Health & Medical Sciences (AREA)
• Public Health (AREA)
• Business, Economics & Management (AREA)
• Emergency Management (AREA)
• Fire-Extinguishing By Fire Departments, And Fire-Extinguishing Equipment And Control Thereof (AREA)
• Two-Way Televisions, Distribution Of Moving Picture Or The Like (AREA)
• Buildings Adapted To Withstand Abnormal External Influences (AREA)

Priority Applications (10)

Applications Claiming Priority (2)

Publications (1)

Family

ID=8536444

Family Applications (1)

Country Status (15)

Cited By (2)

Families Citing this family (5)

Citations (3)

Family Cites Families (8)

• 1992
  • 1992-12-22 FI FI925836A patent/FI925836A7/fi not_active Application Discontinuation
• 1993
  • 1993-12-17 AU AU56528/94A patent/AU675815B2/en not_active Ceased
  • 1993-12-17 KR KR1019950702578A patent/KR100289008B1/ko not_active Expired - Fee Related
  • 1993-12-17 EP EP94901982A patent/EP0675747B1/en not_active Expired - Lifetime
  • 1993-12-17 JP JP51484794A patent/JP3436369B2/ja not_active Expired - Fee Related
  • 1993-12-17 RU RU95113479A patent/RU2122875C1/ru not_active IP Right Cessation
  • 1993-12-17 US US08/454,297 patent/US5673755A/en not_active Expired - Fee Related
  • 1993-12-17 CA CA 2151584 patent/CA2151584C/en not_active Expired - Fee Related
  • 1993-12-17 ES ES94901982T patent/ES2108416T3/es not_active Expired - Lifetime
  • 1993-12-17 SG SG1995002230A patent/SG42820A1/en unknown
  • 1993-12-17 WO PCT/FI1993/000546 patent/WO1994014502A1/en not_active Ceased
  • 1993-12-17 DE DE69314351T patent/DE69314351T2/de not_active Expired - Fee Related
  • 1993-12-17 DK DK94901982T patent/DK0675747T3/da active
• 1995
  • 1995-06-21 TW TW84106364A patent/TW287956B/zh active
  • 1995-06-21 FI FI953099A patent/FI109879B/sv active
  • 1995-06-22 NO NO19952515A patent/NO312060B1/no unknown

Patent Citations (3)

Non-Patent Citations (3)

Also Published As

Similar Documents

Legal Events