Patent Grant
9149818
The present disclosure relates to an attic sprinkler and more particularly, to a sprinkler that is capable of providing a water spray pattern in two distinct directions.
This section provides background information related to the present disclosure which is not necessarily prior art.
Fire protection sprinklers are commonly designed for specific applications. One type of specific application includes the design of fire protection sprinklers for use with sloped ceilings and more particularly, attic sprinklers are designed for use under a peak of two adjoining pitched roof portions and between two opposing joists. With these types of attic sprinklers, it is desirable to provide a water spray pattern that sprays in two distinct directions.
This section provides a general summary of the disclosure, and is not a comprehensive disclosure of its full scope or all of its features.
A fire protection sprinkler is provided including a sprinkler frame including a body defining a passage therethrough with an inlet opening and an outlet opening. A pair of frame arms extend from the body in a reference plane and a deflector boss is provided between the frame arms and having a pair of concave arcuate sidewalls that join to form a pointed edge proximal the outlet opening within the reference plane. The arcuate sidewalls taper laterally away from the reference plane in a distal direction from the outlet opening.
Further areas of applicability will become apparent from the description provided herein. The description and specific examples in this summary are intended for purposes of illustration only and are not intended to limit the scope of the present disclosure.
The drawings described herein are for illustrative purposes only of selected embodiments and not all possible implementations, and are not intended to limit the scope of the present disclosure.
Corresponding reference numerals indicate corresponding parts throughout the several views of the drawings.
Example embodiments will now be described more fully with reference to the accompanying drawings.
Example embodiments are provided so that this disclosure will be thorough, and will fully convey the scope to those who are skilled in the art. Numerous specific details are set forth such as examples of specific components, devices, and methods, to provide a thorough understanding of embodiments of the present disclosure. It will be apparent to those skilled in the art that specific details need not be employed, that example embodiments may be embodied in many different forms and that neither should be construed to limit the scope of the disclosure. In some example embodiments, well-known processes, well-known device structures, and well-known technologies are not described in detail.
The terminology used herein is for the purpose of describing particular example embodiments only and is not intended to be limiting. As used herein, the singular forms “a,” “an,” and “the” may be intended to include the plural forms as well, unless the context clearly indicates otherwise. The terms “comprises,” “comprising,” “including,” and “having,” are inclusive and therefore specify the presence of stated features, integers, steps, operations, elements, and/or components, but do not preclude the presence or addition of one or more other features, integers, steps, operations, elements, components, and/or groups thereof. The method steps, processes, and operations described herein are not to be construed as necessarily requiring their performance in the particular order discussed or illustrated, unless specifically identified as an order of performance. It is also to be understood that additional or alternative steps may be employed.
When an element or layer is referred to as being “on,” “engaged to,” “connected to,” or “coupled to” another element or layer, it may be directly on, engaged, connected or coupled to the other element or layer, or intervening elements or layers may be present. In contrast, when an element is referred to as being “directly on,” “directly engaged to,” “directly connected to,” or “directly coupled to” another element or layer, there may be no intervening elements or layers present. Other words used to describe the relationship between elements should be interpreted in a like fashion (e.g., “between” versus “directly between,” “adjacent” versus “directly adjacent,” etc.). As used herein, the term “and/or” includes any and all combinations of one or more of the associated listed items.
Although the terms first, second, third, etc. may be used herein to describe various elements, components, regions, layers and/or sections, these elements, components, regions, layers and/or sections should not be limited by these terms. These terms may be only used to distinguish one element, component, region, layer or section from another region, layer or section. Terms such as “first,” “second,” and other numerical terms when used herein do not imply a sequence or order unless clearly indicated by the context. Thus, a first element, component, region, layer or section discussed below could be termed a second element, component, region, layer or section without departing from the teachings of the example embodiments.
Spatially relative terms, such as “inner,” “outer,” “beneath,” “below,” “lower,” “above,” “upper,” and the like, may be used herein for ease of description to describe one element or feature's relationship to another element(s) or feature(s) as illustrated in the figures. Spatially relative terms may be intended to encompass different orientations of the device in use or operation in addition to the orientation depicted in the figures. For example, if the device in the figures is turned over, elements described as “below” or “beneath” other elements or features would then be oriented “above” the other elements or features. Thus, the example term “below” can encompass both an orientation of above and below. The device may be otherwise oriented (rotated 90 degrees or at other orientations) and the spatially relative descriptors used herein interpreted accordingly.
With reference to
As shown in
The deflector boss 32 has a width w1 along the reference plane X and a width w2 perpendicular to the reference plane X that is larger than a diameter D of the outlet opening. In particular, the width w1 and the width w2 can be between 1.5 and 2 times larger than the diameter D of the outlet opening and more particularly at least 1.8 times the diameter D. The width w1 and the width w2 can also be approximately equal to a distance from an outboard surface of one of the frame arms 30 to an outboard surface of the other frame arm 30. The arcuate shaped sidewalls 34 can have a radius of curvature R that is larger than the diameter D of the outlet opening 22 and smaller than the widths w1 and w2 of the deflector boss 32.
The deflector 14 can include a generally planar central portion 50 having an aperture 52 for receiving the central mounting boss 48. The central mounting boss 48 can be swaged to secure the deflector 14 to the central mounting boss 48. The generally planar central portion 50 of the deflector 14 can be rectangular or square in shape and have two opposing flaps 54 extending angularly from two edges 55 at a location generally parallel to the pair of lateral edges 42 of the deflector boss 32. The two opposing flaps 54 can extend at an angle α of between 100 and 135° and more particularly between 110 and 120° from the generally central portion 50. A pair of sidewalls 56 can extend from lateral edges 57 of the central portion 50 and generally perpendicular thereto and disposed directly adjacent to the frame arms 30. Each of the two opposing flaps 54 also include respective sidewalls 58 extending generally perpendicular thereto and in an overlapping relation on an exterior side of the pair of sidewalls 56. The pair of sidewalls 56 as well as the pairs of sidewalls 58 can be generally rectangular in shape or can have other polygonal shapes.
In operation, the sprinkler 10 is connected to a water distribution piping network (not shown) and the heat responsive trigger 26 secures the plug 24 in the outlet opening 22 of the frame body 16. During a fire, the heat from the fire causes the heat responsive trigger 26 to release the plug 24 from the outlet opening 22. As the water is discharge through the outlet opening 22, it impinges upon the deflector boss 32 where the pointed edge 36 of the arcuate shaped sidewalls 34 generally divides the flow of water into two equal streams that are redirected in two lateral directions along the arcuate shaped sidewalls 34. As the two equal streams engage the deflector 14, the two opposing flaps 54 direct the water flow in a downward angular direction while the sidewalls 56 and 58 of the deflector 14 maintain the direction of flow in the desired distinct flow directions.
The foregoing description of the embodiments has been provided for purposes of illustration and description. It is not intended to be exhaustive or to limit the disclosure. Individual elements or features of a particular embodiment are generally not limited to that particular embodiment, but, where applicable, are interchangeable and can be used in a selected embodiment, even if not specifically shown or described. The same may also be varied in many ways. Such variations are not to be regarded as a departure from the disclosure, and all such modifications are intended to be included within the scope of the disclosure.
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