Patent Grant
9682263
This Application is a Section 371 National Stage Application of International Application No. PCT/FR2014/050283, filed Feb. 13, 2014, the content of which is incorporated herein by reference in its entirety, and published as WO 2014/128386 A2 on Aug. 28, 2014, not in English.
The field of the invention is that of designing and manufacturing firefighting equipment and installations. More precisely, the invention relates to sprinklers particularly designed for “vacuum” firefighting installations.
The role of an automatic fire extinguishing installation implementing sprinklers is to detect, as early as possible, the seat of a fire then to automatically trigger the extinction system, at least locally, this while emitting an alarm. The installation has for objective to contain the fire as much as possible, before the arrival of the fire brigade which then takes over the installation in order to extinguish the fire.
In the field of the invention, firefighting installations are classified into three categories, namely:
In these three systems, the sprinklers are mounted in a network in such a way as to be distributed evenly over the site to be protected. Conventionally, the sprinklers comprise:
The fusible member is calibrated to blow when a certain temperature has been exceeded, as such releasing the nozzle from its shutoff member.
In “wet-pipe” systems, the entire piping of the installation is filled with water, and this up to the sprinklers. The water is therefore on standby behind the shutoff means and when the fusible member blows, the water flows through the nozzle of the connector of the sprinkler of which the fusible member has blown.
The release time for the water is therefore immediate, which is particularly advantageous. On the other hand, “wet-pipe” systems, are not adapted for sites that have risks of freezing. Indeed, in case of freezing, the water cannot flow. In addition, the freezing can cause deteriorations to the piping of the installation (deformation and even bursting of the pipes). In certain cases, the installation is emptied of water. In other cases, the site to be protected is heated in order to prevent any risk of freezing. For sites to be protected that have a relatively substantial surface area, the consumption of energy, and consequently the heating bill, can be substantial, and even prohibitive. Another way to fight freezing is to add an antifreeze agent to the water of the installation, such as glycol which is a toxic and carcinogenic product.
In the “dry-pipe” systems, the entire installation is emptied of water. The entire piping of the installation is kept under pressure. When the fusible members blow, the air pressure is released by the sprinkler or sprinklers in question and the water, also under pressure, tends to “push” the air outside of the installation until it arrives at the orifice or orifices released in such a way as to escape through the latter.
With such a system, the water can in certain cases take up to 60 seconds to reach the sprinkler of which the fusible member is blown, which is of course compliant with the current standard but which can be excessively long with regards to certain incipient fires.
In addition, “dry-pipe” systems do not entirely overcome the problems linked to freezing. Indeed, condensation can be created in the piping of a “dry-pipe” installation, which can damage certain components of the installation and cause the protection to fail.
Generally, “wet-pipe” and “dry-pipe” systems have the following disadvantages:
This results in that they require, among other things, antifreeze and anticorrosion treatments (involving recourse to harmful products).
Moreover, they require rinsing operations after use.
Furthermore, they imply putting into service times that are relatively long, according to the extent of the installation, which can range from one to four hours for “wet-pipe” systems and two hours and more for the “dry-pipe” systems.
In order to overcome all of these disadvantages, “vacuum” systems were designed. In “vacuum” systems, a vacuum is created in the pipes extending between a general valve and all of the sprinklers. In other terms, all of the pipes separating the valve from the sprinklers are in a vacuum.
In these systems, the vacuum constitutes an active energy which is used as a functional source in monitoring sprinklers. Indeed, if a fusible member of one of the sprinklers blows, the atmospheric pressure reaches the entire installation, which causes a change in the state of an actuator which, in turn, opens the general water inlet valve. Then the water quickly and without any obstacle invades the entire installation until the sprinklers, with the water flowing through the sprinkler or sprinklers of which the fusible member has blown. The vacuum which is still active in the networks quickly attracts the extinguishing water towards the sprinklers of which the fusible member has blown.
The triggering time of the actuator is very short, in that, when a fusible member blows, the “vacuum” installation immediately generates an aspiration phenomenon of the air outside of the installation. Note that this aspiration can be beneficial, as the aspiration effect on the seat of the fire tends to reduce the intensity of the latter.
The time for the water to arrive at the sprinkler of which the fusible member has blown is less than 60 seconds.
It is therefore understood that, due to the absence of water or of condensation in a “vacuum” system installation, the following results are obtained:
Furthermore, as shall be explained in more detail in what follows, the time for putting an installation with a “vacuum” system into service takes place extremely quickly, under about one minute.
In “vacuum” systems, sprinklers comprise, in addition to the fusible member and shutoff member, means for ejecting the shutoff member.
Indeed, as indicated hereinabove, when a fusible member blows, this results in an aspiration phenomenon of the air towards the inside the pipework of the installation. The shutoff member, if it is not forced to leave its location, remains somewhat “glued” on the mouth of the nozzle of the connector, which then does not allow the air to enter and consequently prevents the actuator from being triggered.
In order to prevent this, means for ejecting are mounted on each sprinkler.
In reference to
With such sprinklers, undesirable situations have sometimes been observed.
Indeed, it was observed that after blowing of the fusible member, the shutoff valve can remain in a partial shutoff position of the nozzle of the connector or in a position that hinders the proper distribution of the water. In any case, the spring is not ejected from the nozzle and therefore remain inside the latter.
This results in that, in any case, the nozzle is not entirely released, which forms a partial obstacle to the intake of air in the network. The consequence is that the vacuum of the installation is slowed down and, consequently, the triggering of the actuator is delayed, which can reach 30 to 40 seconds.
Although this situation is not very frequent, when it occurs, it can double the reaction time of the actuator.
Moreover, with the sprinklers designed such as shown in
An exemplary embodiment of the present application relates to a sprinkler for a vacuum network of the type comprising:
According to the invention, the sprinkler is characterised in that said means of ejecting are mounted outside the nozzle and act in a pulling sense on the shutoff member, with said means of ejecting comprising at least one torsion spring having a winding from which extend two limbs, of which one limb which cooperates with the shutoff member, with the sprinkler comprising a means for retaining the other limb which has a proximal portion, at the output of the winding, and a terminal portion, with the two portions forming an elbow.
As such, thanks to the invention, after the blowing of the fusible member of a sprinkler, the complete release of the nozzle of the sprinkler is obtained.
Indeed, two characteristics of the invention are combined in order to obtain this particular advantageous result, namely:
This results in that the vacuum is not in any case slowed down with a sprinkler according to the invention and in that, consequently, the triggering and the release of water with a “vacuum” system is of the most reactive in all circumstances. For the purposes of information, the triggering time is about 5 seconds.
Moreover, note that, as the spring is mounted outside the nozzle, it can be seen on the sprinkler. This results in that it is not possible to confuse a sprinkler intended for a “vacuum” system with a sprinkler intended for another system. Indeed, the user can identify a sprinkler intended for the “vacuum” system simply by the presence, which can be seen, of the spring.
Note that the principle of the invention can be applied, as it shall appear more clearly in what follows, to “standing” sprinklers (installed on pipework with the connector at the bottom), as well as to so-called “hanging” sprinklers (with which the connector is mounted on a pipework at the top position). The invention can also be used on dry type pendent sprinklers, used for example for passing through the ceilings of cold rooms.
Note in addition that the implementing of a such a torsion spring makes it possible to effectively achieve the desired result, by having the advantage of being able to be mounted easily in a small space.
Furthermore, the elbow shape of one of the limbs of the spring confers to the spring a particular capacity such that, when switching from the tensioned state to the untensioned state, the limb acting on the shutoff member will be subjected to a movement that tends to increase the ejection effect, by imparting a force on the shutoff member that clearly comprises a component directed upwards, combined with a lateral force that provides for the ejection outside of the space delimited by the yoke of the sprinkler.
According to a first approach that can be considered, the means for retaining is presented by a yoke.
According to a first embodiment applied to a sprinkler of the “standing” type, the shutoff member has, outside the nozzle a flared flange, with a limb of the torsion spring being placed under the flange.
In this case, said limb of the torsion spring placed under the flange is curved in such a way as to hug the shape of the flange.
A reliable action of the spring on the flange of the shutoff member is provided in this way, for the purpose of obtaining the ejection thereof with certainty.
According to an embodiment in which the sprinkler comprises a deflector borne by a yoke, a limb of the spring is advantageously inserted into an orifice arranged in the yoke.
The mounting of the torsion spring on the sprinkler can, according to this characteristic, be carried out rapidly without tools, as shall be explained in more detail in what follows.
According to a second embodiment applied to a sprinkler of the “hanging” type, the shutoff member has, outside the nozzle, a means for hooking, with a limb of the torsion spring having at its end a hook intended to cooperate with said means for hooking.
In this case, a limb of the spring is preferentially inserted into an orifice arranged in the fixing connector, said orifice extending advantageously, in mounting position of the sprinkler, according to a vertical or near-vertical direction, exiting downwards.
With such a design of the sprinkler and such a mounting of the torsion spring on the sprinkler, the spring will not only impart an ejection force on the shutoff member but will, as shall be explained in more detail in what follows, also be ejected from itself from the sprinkler.
Other characteristics and advantages of the invention shall appear more clearly when reading the following description of two preferred embodiments of the invention, given by way of simple examples for the purposes of information and non-restricted, and of the annexed drawings among which:
According to the first embodiment of the invention shown in
The fusible member 2 bears, by one of its ends, on the shutoff member 3 in such a way as to maintain the nozzle in its shutting-off position, with the other end of the fusible member bearing against a lug 20 integral with the yoke and, here, with the deflector 12 (with the lug 20 being in practice also a means of fastening by screwing of the deflector on the yoke).
According to the principle of the invention, the sprinkler further comprises means for ejecting mounted outside the nozzle 10 and acting in a pulling sense on the shutoff member 3. Of course, as long as the fusible member 2 is in place, the latter exerts a force that is greater than the force of the pulling of the means for ejecting.
The means for ejecting are constituted of a spring, and more precisely a torsion spring 4, such as shown in
Such as shown in these figures, the spring 4 comprises:
In other terms, the torsion spring 4 has a winding 40 from which extends a limb 41 which cooperates with the shutoff member 3, with the sprinkler comprising a means for retaining the other limb 42 which extends from the winding, with this other limb being elbowed in a particular manner in order to generate a kinematics for ejecting that combines two components, one according to the longitudinal axis of the sprinkler et the other forming a non-zero angle with the longitudinal axis of the sprinkler.
In untensioned state, the spring 4 has a configuration wherein the limbs 41 and 42 are separated from one another, such as shown in
Such a spring is therefore intended to cooperate via one of its limbs (here limb 41) with the shutoff member for the purpose of ejecting the latter from the sprinkler after the blowing of the fusible member 2.
According to this embodiment, the shutoff member 3 has a flange 30 extending outside the nozzle 10 and having a flared shape.
The shutoff member 3 is kept bearing against a washer 11 mounted at the end of the nozzle 10. The flared flange 30 of the shutoff member arranges a space 110 with the washer 11.
The spring 4 is mounted on the sprinkler in such a way that one of its limbs (here the limb 41) is placed in the space 110, i.e. between the flared flange 30 and the washer 11 of the sprinkler. More precisely, the space 110 between the flange 30 and the washer 11 is provided in such a way that the corresponding limb of the spring is caught in this space once the fusible member is installed. The spring is therefore kept in complete safety in standby position.
In addition, such as shown in
The limb 41 of the spring 4 is therefore inserted into the space 110 between the flange 30 and the washer 11, while the other limb 42 of the spring 4 is kept in a means for retaining that is present, according to this embodiment, on the connector, positioned in such a way that the spring takes of course its tensioned configuration such as shown in
According to this embodiment, this means for retaining takes the form of an orifice 130 arranged at the base of the yoke 13, and intended to be passed through by the limb 42 such as shown in
Moreover, according to a characteristic of the spring 4 of this embodiment, the limb 42, intended to be inserted into the orifice 130 arranged at the base of the yoke, has two portions, namely:
Such as shown in
The mounting and the operation of a sprinkler according to this first embodiment is described hereinafter.
For the mounting of such a sprinkler, the shutoff member 3 is set up on the washer 11, then the fusible member is installed bearing against the shutoff member. As long as the fusible member is maintained bearing against the shutoff member, the deflector 12 is installed, then the lug 20 is screwed, in such a way that the whole is rigidly maintained.
The spring 4 is then installed. For this, the limb 41 is for example slid under the flange 30, in the space 110 between the latter and the washer 11. Then, the spring 4 is tensioned, by bringing the limb 42 closer to the limb 41, until able to insert the end of the limb 42 into the orifice 130 of the base of the yoke 13 of the sprinkler. The engagement of the limb 42 into the orifice is continued until the latter passes through the orifice.
In the case of the blowing of the fusible member 2, the latter no longer exerts any force on the shutoff member in such a way as to retain the latter. The spring 4 can therefore switch from its tensioned position, such as shown in
This second embodiment corresponds to an application of the invention to “hanging” sprinklers, i.e. sprinklers with which the connector 1 is screwed and installed on a pipework while it is in top position with respect to the rest of the sprinkler.
Similar to the first embodiment, the sprinkler of this second embodiment comprises:
According to the principle of the invention, this second embodiment of a sprinkler according to the invention also implements means for ejecting mounted outside the nozzle and acting in a pulling sense on the shutoff member 3, with these means for ejecting being constituted by a spring of the same type as that previously, namely comprising:
In a manner similar to the first embodiment, the spring 4 therefore has two limbs connected by a winding, with one limb of the spring being inserted into a means for retaining the sprinkler, here, in an orifice arranged in the fixing connector, while the other limb is intended to cooperate with the shutoff member and has for this purpose at its end a hook intended to cooperate with a means of hooking that is present, outside the nozzle on the shutoff member.
According to this embodiment, the orifice receiving the limb of the spring 4 extends along a vertical or near-vertical direction, exiting downwards.
The mounting and the operation of a sprinkler according to this second embodiment is described hereinafter.
The shutoff member 3, the fusible member 2, the lug 20 and the deflector 12 are installed on the sprinkler in a manner similar to that already described in reference to the first embodiment.
The spring 4 is then installed for example by hooking one of the limbs of the spring by means of hooking provided for this purpose on the shutoff member 3, then by tensioning the spring until able to insert the other limb into the orifice of the connector. The spring 4 is then in its tensioned position, and holds itself in position (with the winding of the spring extending freely under the limbs), under the simple effect of the limbs that seek to separate from one another.
After blowing of the fusible member 2, and therefore in the absence of any force for maintaining the shutoff member 3 in position, the spring 4 switches from its tensioned configuration to its untensioned configuration. In a first step, a limb of the spring remains inserted in the orifice corresponding to the connector and the other limb of the spring imparts an ejection movement on the shutoff member 3. Rapidly after the ejection of the shutoff member 3, the spring is ejected from itself, via simple gravity, with the limb of the spring being removed freely from the orifice of the connector.
Note that a sprinkler according to one of the two embodiments that have just been described, can be mounted at the base of a dry type pendent sprinkler, provided to extend for example through of ceiling of a cold room.
An exemplary embodiment of the present disclosure proposes a sprinkler that allows for a complete release of the nozzle from the connector in the case where the fusible member blows.
An exemplary embodiment guarantees in all circumstances a minimum triggering time of the actuator of a “vacuum” system.
An exemplary embodiment proposes such a sprinkler that prevents any confusion with sprinklers for “wet-pipe” or “dry-pipe” system.
Although the present disclosure has been described with reference to one or more examples, workers skilled in the art will recognize that changes may be made in form and detail without departing from the scope of the disclosure and/or the appended claims.
| Number | Date | Country | Kind |
|---|---|---|---|
| 13 51517 | Feb 2013 | FR | national |
| Filing Document | Filing Date | Country | Kind |
|---|---|---|---|
| PCT/FR2014/050283 | 2/13/2014 | WO | 00 |
| Publishing Document | Publishing Date | Country | Kind |
|---|---|---|---|
| WO2014/128386 | 8/28/2014 | WO | A |
| Number | Name | Date | Kind |
|---|---|---|---|
| 590978 | Gschwind | Oct 1897 | A |
| 758522 | Garrett | Apr 1904 | A |
| 777783 | Garrett | Dec 1904 | A |
| 4108247 | Mohler | Aug 1978 | A |
| 4880063 | Leininger | Nov 1989 | A |
| 6715561 | Franson | Apr 2004 | B2 |
| 6854668 | Wancho | Feb 2005 | B2 |
| 7516800 | Silva, Jr. | Apr 2009 | B1 |
| Number | Date | Country |
|---|---|---|
| 2703459 | Aug 1977 | DE |
| 3225798 | Jan 1984 | DE |
| 0230516 | Apr 2002 | WO |
| Entry |
|---|
| International Search Report dated Aug. 22, 2014 for corresponding International Application No. PCT/FR2014/050283, filed Feb. 13, 2014. |
| English translation of the Written Opinion dated Aug. 21, 2015 for corresponding International Application No. PCT/FR2014/050283, filed Feb. 13, 2014. |
| Number | Date | Country | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 20160008642 A1 | Jan 2016 | US |
