WO2004082770A1

WO2004082770A1 - Sprinkler head for producing alarm

Info

Publication number: WO2004082770A1
Application number: PCT/KR2004/000591
Authority: WO
Inventors: Young-Woo Lee
Original assignee: Young-Woo Lee
Priority date: 2003-03-18
Filing date: 2004-03-18
Publication date: 2004-09-30
Also published as: KR200318374Y1

Abstract

A sprinkler head is introduced that equips not only a spaying function of the fire extinguishing solution, but also alarm function utilizing the ejecting fluid pressure. The sprinkler head comprises a supporting loop (10) integrally formed with a solution-discharging outlet (12), a heat-sensing device (20) for automatically popping off a plug (22) being plugged the solution-discharging outlet (12) by detecting the abnormal temperature, a deflector (30) having a plurality of blades being installed underneath the supporting loop (10) to be rotated by ejected solution, a striking unit (40) integrally formed and rotated with the deflector (30), and a bell unit (50) disposed above the supporting loop (10) for generating alarm by the striking unit (40).

Description

SPRINKLER HEAD FOR PRODUCING ALARM

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention

The present invention relates to a sprinkler. More particularly, the sprinkler head equips not only a spaying function of the fire extinguishing solution, but also alarm alerting function utilizing the ejected fluid pressure.

2. Description of the Prior Art

Generally, the sprinklers are installed on the indoor ceiling or wall for extinguishing fires when a fire is detected by a fire detector. The indoor sprinkler system comprises the pipelines for supplying the fire extinguishing solution, an opening or closing device for spraying the fire extinguishing solution when the sensed room temperature is abnormally higher than the setting room temperature and a deflector for widely spraying the fire extinguishing solution.

Accordingly, the conventional sprinkler system could spray the extinguishing solution on the spots where the fire brakes out to early extinguish the fire.

However, the conventional sprinkler system has a disadvantage that an alarm alerting system operated by the electrical power won't work when the electrical power is cut off due to the fires.

Therefore, it may causes to increase the casualties by the fire hazard due to failure of alarm alerting system.

THE SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

Accordingly, a sprinkler head equipped with an alarm is introduced to solve the conventional problems for alerting the alarm by the ejected fluid pressure, even though the electric power is failed due to the braking out the fire. The purpose of the present invention is to provide a sprinkler head equipped a conical-shaped deflector rotated by the ejected fluid through the nozzles, a fire alarm alerting device for generating the alarm by rotating of the conical-shaped deflector, and the ejected fluid is widely sprayed by the rotating conical-shaped deflector.

The objective of the present invention is to provide a sprinkler head having a supporting loop integrally formed with a solution-discharging outlet for spraying the fire extinguishing solution directly above a fire. The sprinkler head comprises a heat-sensing device for automatically popping off a plug, which is plugged the solution-discharging outlet by detecting abnormal temperature, a deflector having a plurality of blades installed underneath the supporting loop to be rotated by ejected solution, a striking unit integrally formed and rotated with the deflector, and a bell mechanism disposed above the supporting loop for generating alarm by the striking unit. Another objective of the present invention is to provide the striking unit comprising a striking rod vertically extended at edge of the deflector and a hammer head attached at end of the striking rod, the bell unit having a cover part disposed above the supporting loop and at least one protruding part to be hit by the hammer head, and the striking rod elastically vibrated by rotating the deflector, so that the hammer head strikes the protruding part to generate consistent alarm. A sprinkler head further comprises a shield disposed between the supporting loop and a cover part of the bell to protect the hammer head from splashing of fire extinguishing solution.

A sprinkler head comprises the shield extended in diameter larger than that of the bell unit and the striking rod of the striking unit is bent out and bent in to avoid interference of the extended shield.

A sprinkler head further comprises a seat portion disposed between the supporting loop and the solution-discharging outlet for mounting a cover part of the bell unit, a center hole provided at center of the cover part of the bell unit for inserting to the seat portion, and multiple protrusions disposed around the center hole of the cover part to minimize contacting surface with the supporting loop. A sprinkler head equipped with an alarm having a supporting loop, a solution-discharging outlet threaded to the solution supplying pipelines for spraying the fire extinguishing solution directly above a fire comprising: a heat-sensing device for automatically popping off a plug, which is plugged the solution- discharging outlet by detecting abnormal temperature, a conical-shaped deflector having a plurality of nozzles rotatably mounted on the supporting loop, a striking unit integrally formed at edge of the conical-shaped deflector and rotated with the conical-shaped deflector, a bell unit having protruding portions disposed above the supporting loop in radial direction for generating alarm by the striking unit, a plurality of nozzles oriented in spiral direction along the conical surface for restricting to one direction rotation of the conical-shaped deflector by ejected solution through the nozzles, and a bell striking device comprises a striking rod attached to a periphery of the conical-shaped deflector and extended inside the bell unit, and a hammer head disposed at a tip of the striking rod to generate alarm by striking the protruding potion of the bell unit along with rotation of the conical- shaped deflector.

A sprinikler head equipped with an alarm further comprises a shield disposed in radial direction between the supporting loop and the conical-shaped deflector for preventing the splashing of fire extinguishing solution, an edge curb disposed at a periphery of the shield, and a guiding rod disposed at a periphery of the conical shaped deflector for preventing the splashing of the fire extinguishing solution.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

Fig. 1 is an exploded perspective view of a disassembled sprinkler head according to the present invention.

Fig. 2 is a cross-sectional view of assembled sprinkler head according to the present invention. Fig. 3 is a cross-sectional view of assembled sprinkler head according to another embodiment of the present invention. Fig. 4 illustrates the alarm alerting process by a rotating deflector according to the present invention.

Fig. 5 shows various sprinkler heads according to the present invention.

Fig. 6 is a schematic drawing of sprinkler head according to another embodiment of the present invention.

Fig. 7 is a cross-sectional view of sprinkler head in Fig. 6.

Fig. 8 is a cross-sectional view of sprinkler head along I - 1 of Fig. 7.

Fig. 9 is a schematic drawing of an alarm generator on the sprinkler head according to another embodiment of the present invention. Fig. 9 is a cross-sectional view of an alarm generator on the sprinkler head according to another embodiment of the present invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

Hereinafter, the present invention is described in great detail accompanying with the drawings.

Fig. 1 is an exploded perspective view of a disassembled sprinkler head according to the present invention. Fig. 2 is a cross-sectional view of assembled sprinkler head according to the present invention. As shown in Fig. 1 and Fig.2, the sprinkler head (1) consists of a solution- discharging outlet (12), a supporting loop (10) for widely spraying the fire extinguishing solution. The outer surface of the solution-discharging outlet (12) forms a thread to connect the pipeline (2). The fire extinguishing solution is ejected directly above the fire, along the imaginary lines showing in the drawing. A supporting loop (10) consists of two arms (14) to install a deflector (30) at the tip and a hollow space (14a) is provided between the two arms (14) for widely spraying the solution. A heat-sensing plug (20) is provided in the hollow space (14a) to plug the solution-discharging outlet (12) for the normal condition. When the fire is detected, the heat-sensing plug (20) is automatically popped off to spray the solution.

The heat-sensing plug (20) comprises a plug (22) to block the solution discharging outlet (12) and a heat-sensing rod (24) to support the plug (22) between the arms (14). The heat sensing rod (24) of the present invention forms a tiny cylindrical bulb filled with the heat sensing liquid, which will be popped off by the heat, when the room temperature is detected above the normal setting point. When the heat sensing rod (24) is popped off by the abnormal heat, the plug (22) which is blocked the solution discharging outlet (12) is plunged out by the high pressure in the pipeline liquid to eject the fire extinguishing solution.

The deflector (30), which is a main embodiment of the present invention, is installed at the junction of the two arms (14) in the loop (10). The deflector (30) comprises a plurality of blades, which is rotating by the ejected solution. The loop (10) has a hole at the junction of the two arms (14) to install the deflector (30). The deflector (30) is mounted underneath the loop (10) by fastening a bolt and nut. A bearing (34) is installed on the shank (32) of the bolt for smooth rotation of the deflector (30). The deflector (30) is restricted by the head (36) of the bolt. The deflector (30) comprises a pair of striking unit (40) to generate the alarm by rotation together. The striking unit (40) formed integrally with the deflector (30) consists of a striking rod (42) and a hammer head (44) to strike a bell (50). The striking rod (42) is made of an elastic material to vibrate by the centrifugal force during the rotation of deflector (30) (refer Fig. 4). Due to the vibration of the striking rod (42), the hammer-head (44) will strike the protruding part (54) of the bell periodically.

Hereinafter, a bell (50) which is interacting with the striking rod (42) to generate alarm is described in detail. The bell (50) is comprised of a protruding part (54) and a cover part (52). The cover part (52) provides a center hole (56) for mounting on the seat portion (13) over the supporting loop (10). The diameter of the center hole (56) on the cover part (52) is smaller than that of the solution-discharging outlet (12) to install to the seat portion (13). At this point, the center hole (56) of the cover part (52) forms a multiple protrusions (57) to minimize the contacting surface with the supporting loop (10). The protrusions (57) which minimize the contacting surface with the supporting loop (10) have a function to resonance the alarm while the rod (40) is striking the bell (50).

On the other hand, the hammer head (44) is disposed close to the protruding part (54) of bell (50) to generate the alarm by the vibration of the striking rod (42) during the rotation of the deflector (30). Due to the periodical oscillation of the striking rod (42), the hammer head (44) is consistently striking the protruding part (54) of bell (50) to produce audible alarm. The exterior surface of the protruding part (54) and the cover part (52) is treated with embossing.

A shield (60) is provided to protect the interior of the bell (50) and the hammer-head (44) from the splashing of the fire extinguishing solution. The shield (60) formed a conical shape is disposed between the supporting loop (10) and the bell (50) for preventing the splash of the fire extinguishing solution, in the present invention. However the location and the shape of the shield is not limited in this description.

The shield (60) is mounted between the supporting loop (10) and the bell (50) by means of bolt and nut, fasteners, tight fitting or welding. However, the mounting means will not described in detail.

As shown in Fig. 3, another embodiment of the sprinkler head is presented according to the present invention. The duplicated part is omitted in the following description of the sprinkler head. The identical parts are used same numerical reference numbers as used in the first embodiment of the sprinkler head.

Here, another embodiment of the sprinkler head (1 ) comprising the bell (50), bell cover part (52), shield (60) and the striker (40) is almost same as the first embodiment of the sprinkler head (1 ) except the configuration of the striking rod (44). The shape and size of the shield (60) disposed between the supporting loop (10) and the bell (50) is extended in the diameter to strictly protect the alarm system from the splashing of the fire extinguishing solution.

Further, the striking rod (42) is bent out and bent in (42a) to avoid interference of the extended shield (60). The hammer head (44) of the striker (40) periodically strikes a bell (50) for generating the alarm during the rotation of deflector (30).

Fig. 5 shows the various applications for the sprinkler heads of the present invention. As shown in Fig 5a, the sprinkler head (1 ) is installed upward to eject the fire extinguishing solution upward for widely spraying the solution. As shown in Fig 5b, the sprinkler head (1 ) is adopted a locking ring (24) and a thermal valve (20) instead of the heat-sensing bulb (24). The configuration of the sprinkler head (1 ) in Fig 5 is identical to the previously discussed sprinkler head except the ejecting direction and the heat-sensing device.

Accordingly, the sprinkler head (1) equipped with alarm alerting is possibly applied to the all sprinkler system.

Hereinafter, another different embodiment of the sprinkler head (1) is presented as shown in Fig. 6 through Fig. 10.

As shown in Fig. 6, a sprinkler head (1) comprising a supporting loop (10) and a heat-sensing device (20) which is same as the previous embodiment is installed at a T-shape tube (P) of the distributing pipelines (L) on the ceiling. The duplicated parts of the supporting loop (10) and heat-sensing device (20) will be omitted in the following description.

A cone-shaped deflector (30) corresponding the blade-shaped deflector (30) in the previous embodiment is installed at the junction bottom of the two arms (14) in the supporting loop (10). A bearing (34) is installed on the shank (32) of the bolt for smooth rotation of the cone-shaped deflector (30). As shown in Fig. 8, the cone-shaped deflector (30) comprises a plurality of nozzles or vanes (38) in the radial or spiral direction along the conical surface with respect to the rotating axis of the shank (32). The cone-shaped deflector (30) will be rotated by the ejected solution through the plurality of nozzles or vanes (38) and supported underneath the supporting loop (10) through a fastening bolt and nut. The rotation of the cone-shaped deflector (30) is restricted to the one direction due to the same opening directions of the nozzles or vanes (38).

When the detector senses the fire, the heat-sensed devise (20) is popped off to eject the fire extinguishing solution. At this point, a centrifugal force is generated while the cone-shaped deflector (30) is rotated by the ejected solution through plurality of nozzles or vanes (38).

Hereinafter, the alarming mechanism by the rotation of the cone-shaped deflector (30) is described in detail.

The alarming mechanism comprises a bell (50) mounted above the supporting loop (10), a bell striking device (40) attached to the cone-shaped deflector (30) and a shield (60) disposed in the radial direction above the supporting loop (10) for prevent the bell mechanism from the ejected fire extinguishing solution. The overall shape of the bell (50) comprising a cover part (52) and multiple protrusions (54) has a semi-ellipse. The lateral side of the cover part (52) forms multiple protrusions (54) inwardly.

The cover part (52) forms a center hole (56) for mounting. Around the center hole (56) of the cover part (52), a multiple protrusions (57) are formed to minimize the contacting surface with the supporting loop (10). The protrusions (57) minimizing the contacting surface with the supporting loop (10) have a function to resonance the alarm while the rod (40) is striking the bell (50). Before installing the sprinkler head to the T-shaped tube (P), cover part (52) is inserted through the center hole (56) for mounting on the seat portion (13) over the supporting loop (10).

The exterior surface of the protruding part (54) and the cover part (52) is treated with embossing. The bell-striking device (40) comprises a hammer head (44) and a striking rod (42) to generate the consistent alarm. The striking rod (42) is attached to the edge of the cone-shaped deflector (30) by a spot welding or fastener. The striking rod (42) is bent in zigzag shape for installing inside of the bell mechanism.

On the other hand, the hammer head (44) is disposed close to the protruding part (54) of bell (50) mechanism to generate the audible alarm by the vibration of the striking rod (42) during the rotation of the cone-shaped deflector (30). Due to the periodical oscillation of the striking rod (42), the hammer head (44) is consistently striking the protruding part (54) of bell (50) to produce audible alarm.

At this point, it is possible to locate the hammer-head (44) adjacent to the protruding part (54) by extending the zigzag shape of striking rod (42) into the bell (50) mechanism without interfering the cover part (52). The striking rod (42) comprises a U-shaped guiding rod (48) bent along the edge curb (62) of the cone- shaped deflector (30) for guiding the rotation.

The edge curb (62) disposed at the periphery of the shield (60) has a function of guiding the rotation of the U-shaped guiding rod (48) along with the rotation of the conical shaped deflector (30) and preventing the splashing of the fire extinguishing solution.

As discussed above, the hammer-head (44) formed at the tip of the bell striking device (40) strikes the protrusions (54) of the bell (50) to generate the alarm while the conical-shaped deflector (30) is rotated by the ejected fire extinguishing solution through the plurality of nozzles (38).

At this point, the fire extinguishing solution ejected through the plurality of nozzles (38) is widely spreading over the fires by rotating the conical-shaped deflector (30) to early extinguish the fire. The shield (60) prevents the splashing of the fire extinguishing solution into the bell (50) to effectively operating the alarm mechanism.

Accordingly, the sprinkler head of the present sprinkler has an effect to reduce the casualties of fire hazard because it is possible to alert the alarm by the ejected fluid pressure for helping the people to early escape from the place of the fire hazard, even though the electrical power is cut off. The sprinkler head of the present invention has another effect to protect the alarming device by providing a shield, so that it is possible to prevent the malfunction of the alarming device from the splashing of the fire extinguishing solution.

The sprinkler head of the present invention also has another advantage to adopt a conical-shapes deflector instead of the blade deflector, rotated by the ejected fluid through the nozzles with simple configuration.

While the present invention has been described in detail with its preferred embodiments, it will be understood that further modifications are possible. The present application is therefore intended to cover any variations, uses or adaptations of the invention following the general principles thereof, and includes such departures from the present disclosure as come within known or customary practice in the art to which this invention pertains within the limits of the appended claims.

Claims

What is claimed is:

1. A sprinkler head having a supporting loop (10), a solution-discharging outlet (12) threaded to a solution supplying pipeline (2) for spraying fire extinguishing solution directly above a fire, comprising: a heat-sensing device (20) for automatically popping off a plug (22), which is plugged the solution-discharging outlet (12) by detecting abnormal temperature, a deflector (30) having a plurality of blades installed underneath the supporting loop (10) to be rotated by ejected solution, a striking unit (40) integrally formed and rotated with the deflector (30), and a bell mechanism (50) disposed above the supporting loop (10) for generating alarm by the striking unit (40).

2. A sprinkler head as claimed of claim 1 , wherein said striking unit (40) further comprises a striking rod (42) vertically extended at edge of said deflector (30) and a hammer head (44) attached at end of said striking rod (42), said bell mechanism (50) further comprises a cover part (52) disposed above the supporting loop (10) and at least one protruding part (54) to be hit by the hammer head (44), and said striking rod (42) elastically vibrated by rotating the deflector (30) so that said hammer head (44) strikes the protruding part (54) to generate consistent alarm.

3. A sprinkler head as claimed of claim 2, further comprises a shield (60) disposed between the supporting loop (10) and a cover part (52) of the bell (50) to protect the hammer head (44) from splashing of fire extinguishing solution.

4. A sprinkler head as claimed of claim 3, wherein said shield (60) is extended in diameter larger than that of the bell (50) and the striking rod (42) of the striking unit (40) is bent out and bent in (42a) to avoid interference of the extended shield (60).

5. A sprinkler head as claimed of claim 1 or claim 2, further comprises a seat portion (13) disposed between the supporting loop (10) and the solution-discharging outlet (12) for mounting a cover part (52) of the bell (50) mechanism, a center hole (56) provided at center of the cover part (52) of the bell (50) for inserting to the seat portion (13), and multiple protrusions (57) disposed around the center hole (56) of the cover part (52) to minimize contacting surface with the supporting loop (10).

6. A sprinkler head equipped with an alarm having a supporting loop (10), a solution-discharging outlet (12) threaded to a solution supplying pipeline (2) for spraying fire extinguishing solution directly above a fire comprising: a heat-sensing device (20) for automatically popping off a plug (22), which is plugged the solution-discharging outlet (12) by detecting abnormal temperature, a conical-shaped deflector (30) having a plurality of nozzles rotatably mounted on the supporting loop (10), a striking unit (40) integrally formed at edge of the conical-shaped deflector (30) and rotated with the conical-shaped deflector (30), a bell unit (50) having protrud ng portions disposed above the supporting loop (10) in radial direction for generat ng alarm by the striking unit (40), a plurality of nozzles (38) ori ented in spiral direction along the conical surface for restricting to one direction rotation of the conical-shaped deflector (30) by ejected solution through the nozzles (38), and a bell striking device (40) comprises a striking rod (42) attached to a periphery of the conical-shaped deflector (30) and extended inside the bell unit (50), and a hammer head (44) disposed at a tip of the striking rod (42) to generate alarm by striking the protruding potion (54) of the bell unit (50) along with rotation of the conical-shaped deflector (30).

7. A sprinkler head equipped with an alarm as claimed of claim 6, further comprises a shield (60) disposed in radial direction between the supporting loop

(10) and the conical-shaped deflector (30) for preventing the splashing of fire extinguishing solution, an edge curb (62) disposed at a periphery of the shield (60), and a guiding rod (48) disposed at a periphery of the conical shaped deflector (30) for preventing the splashing of the fire extinguishing solution.