Patent Application
20150224351
For a room with a suspended ceiling, the space above the ceiling (referred to as “upper space”) is usually used for arranging electrical wires and fire pipes, and the space below the suspended ceiling (referred to as “lower space”) can serve as a living room, an office, a warehouse or a parking garage, which are usually provided with windows, doors or corridors, so that they are allowed to communicate with the outside environment. For most of the existing fire sprinklers, their valve bodies are installed in the upper space.
Generally, the existing fire sprinklers can be classified into three different types: concealed type, semi-concealed type, and open type. For a concealed fire sprinkler, its valve body and associated fire pipe are installed in the upper space and concealed by a decorative cover being arranged under the suspended ceiling. For a semi-concealed fire sprinkler, its valve body is installed in the lower space, and its associated fire pipe is installed in the upper space and concealed by a decorative cover. For an open-type fire sprinkler, its valve body and associated fire pipe are installed near the top surface of a room which is lack of a suspended ceiling. Such type of fire sprinkler is commonly applied in parking garages.
Typically, the existing fire sprinklers include a heat-activated glass bulb, which is a hollow glass bulb that contains a liquid being susceptible to thermal expansion (for example: alcohol or glycerin). The heat-activated glass bulb is mounted in the valve body. In normal condition, the glass bulb will close the outlet of the valve body. When a fire emergency occurs, the liquid will expand, and this will cause the glass bulb to break. Thus, the outlet of the valve body can be opened to allow the water of the fire pipe to flow out.
Due to the lower space of a room being able to communicate with the outside environment through its associated windows, doors or corridors (this is known as natural ventilation), the lower space will have a higher temperature than the upper space.
Furthermore, in a fire emergency, the fire source is usually found in the lower space of a mom. The hot air generated in the lower space will have the potentiality to flow upward. The hot air will flow from a low temperature zone to a high temperature zone.
Nevertheless, the smoke and heat generated in a fire emergency will be slowly accumulated in the lower space provided that the air communication between the upper space and the lower space is not good. Because of this reason, the heat transfer from the fire source to the heat-activated glass bulb may be retarded. Thus, for reducing the damages of a fire emergency, there is a need to develop a fire sprinkler that can mitigate the disadvantage of the existing fire sprinklers to shorten the response time of the glass bulb associated therewith.
In view of the foregoing, the primary object of the present invention is to provide a fire sprinkler that can mitigate the disadvantage of the existing fire sprinklers to improve the temperature response of its glass bulb based on the air characteristics, namely that hot air have the potentiality to flow upward and can flow from a high pressure zone to a low pressure zone. To achieve the object of the present invention, applicant contrives technical means for the fire sprinkler, which generally comprises a water supply pipe, a valve body, a heat-activated glass bulb, and a covering means. The valve body defines a passage having an inlet and an outlet at two ends thereof, wherein the inlet of the passage is connected with the water supply pipe. The heat-activated glass bulb is mounted in the valve body, wherein the heat-activated glass bulb is capable of closing the outlet of the passage when in normal condition. The covering means is arranged at a periphery of the valve body, wherein the covering means defines at least one through hole that facilitates the hot air generated in a fire emergency to contact the heat-activated glass bulb.
According to one feature of the present invention, the covering means defines at least one through hole that allows the hot air generated in a fire emergency to be rapidly directed towards the heat-activated glass bulb, so that the contact between the hot air and the glass bulb can be increased. Therefore, the capability of the heat-activated glass bulb to respond to a high temperature can be increased.
According to another feature of the present invention, the fire sprinkler can be installed to cooperate with a suspended ceiling that separates a mom into an upper compartment and a lower compartment, wherein the valve body is substantially mounted in the upper compartment whereas the covering means is arranged in the lower compartment and adjacent to a bottom of the valve body, whereby the through hole of the covering means facilitates the hot air in the lower compartment to contact the heat-activated glass bulb. As such, when a fire emergency occurs, due to hot air being able to flow upward and being able to flow from a high pressure zone to a low pressure zone, the hot air generated in the lower compartment will rapidly flow from the lower compartment to the upper compartment, so that the contact between the glass bulb and the hot air can be increased, so that the temperature of the glass bulb can be increased rapidly, thereby reducing the time required for activating the fire sprinkler to spray water.
According to a further feature of the present invention, the fire sprinkler further comprises an outer shell being mounted around the valve body for protecting the heat-activated glass bulb, wherein the outer shell is bonded to the covering means through a low melting-point metal provided between a bottom of the outer shell and the covering means. Moreover, the outer shell defines at least one ventilation hole that facilitates the hot air in the upper compartment to contact the heat-activated glass bulb. As such, the hot air generated in a fire emergency can pass the outer shell rapidly to contact the glass bulb, so that the temperature of the glass bulb can be increased rapidly, and the time required for breaking the glass bulb can be reduced, so that the capability of the fire sprinkler to detect a high temperature can be increased.
According to a still further feature of the present invention, the fire sprinkler is installed to cooperate with a suspended ceiling that separates a mom into an upper compartment and a lower compartment, wherein the valve body is substantially mounted in the lower compartment and the heat-activated glass bulb is exposed in the lower compartment, the covering means is made in the form of a bell-shaped decorative cover being mounted between the heat-activated glass bulb and the suspended ceiling. As such, the contact between the glass bulb and the hot air can be increased, so that the capability of the heat-activated glass bulb to respond to a high temperature can be increased.
According to a still further of the present invention, the covering means is installed to cooperate with a suspended ceiling that separates a room into an upper compartment and a lower compartment, wherein the covering means includes an inner cover and an outer cover which encases the inner cover, wherein the inner cover is engaged with the valve body whereas the outer cover is adjustably engaged with the inner cover. As such, the outer cover can be properly fitted with the suspended ceiling by adjusting the outer cover to improve the overall appearance of the suspended ceiling.
According to a still further feature of the present invention, the through hole of the covering means and the ventilation hole of the outer shell are each configured to have a geometrical shape to improve the appearance of the fire sprinkler in addition to the ventilation function.
According to a still further feature of the present invention, the covering means is formed with an air-guiding plate extending downwardly from an edge of the through hole for guiding the hot air generated in a fire emergency to aim at the through hole. As such, the hot air passing the covering means via the through hole can be increased.
Other objects, advantages, and novel features of the present invention will become more apparent from the following detailed description when taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.
Referring to
As shown, the valve body 20 defines a passage 21 which has an inlet 211 and an outlet 212 at two ends thereof. The inlet 211 of the passage 21 is connected with the water supply pipe 10. The valve body 20 uses the passage 21 to control water flowing from the water supply pipe 10. The valve body 20 is provided with two opposing bars 22 that substantially constitute a frame being used to support the glass bulb 30. In normal condition, the glass bulb 30 will close the outlet 212 of the passage 21 through a cap to prevent the water contained in the pipe 10 from flowing out. The frame, being substantially formed by the opposing bars 22, is provided at its bottom with two slidable posts 23 being connected to a disk-like deflector 24. With such feature, when a fire emergency occurs, water can flow from the outlet 212 of the passage 21 to impact the deflector 24 to produce a specific water spray pattern, which can increase the water distribution area. Moreover, the decorative cover 40 is mounted at a periphery of the valve body 20, wherein the decorative cover 40 defines at least one through hole 41, which can take shape through a punching operation, to facilitate the hot air generated in a fire emergency to rapidly contact the heat-activated glass bulb 30, so that the temperature of the glass bulb 30 can be rapidly increased. The through hole 41 of decorative cover 40 can be configured to have a geometrical shape. In
In this embodiment, as shown in
As shown in
Referring to
In light of the foregoing, the present invention employs a covering means 40 and an outer shell 25, which are respectively defined with a through hole 41 and a ventilation hole 252, to increase ventilation within a room. With such features, when a fire emergency occurs, due to hot air being able to flow upward and being able to flow from a high pressure zone to a low pressure zone, the hot air generated in the lower compartment 62 will rapidly flow from the lower compartment 62 to the upper compartment 61, so that the capability of the heat-activated glass bulb 30 to respond to a high temperature can be increased, and thus the time required for activating the fire sprinkler to spray water can be reduced.
Although the present invention has been described with a certain degree of particularity, it is understood that the present disclosure is made by way of example only and the combination and arrangement of parts may be resorted to without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention hereinafter claimed.
| Number | Date | Country | Kind |
|---|---|---|---|
| 103202511 | Feb 2014 | TW | national |
