USRE37493E1

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Info

Publication number: USRE37493E1
Application number: US09/137,960
Authority: US
Inventors: Alan E. Thomas
Original assignee: Individual
Current assignee: Individual
Priority date: 1993-11-30
Filing date: 1998-08-20
Publication date: 2002-01-01
Anticipated expiration: 2013-11-30
Also published as: US5548276A

Abstract

An automated fire extinguishing apparatus includes a turret with a nozzle connected to a water supply. A plurality of sensors are used to detect a fire monitored by the apparatus. The signals from the sensors are used to aim the nozzle toward the fire and to initiate water ejection therefrom. After the fire is extinguished the water is turned off.

Description

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Field of Invention

This invention pertains to an automatic fire extinguishing apparatus, and more particularly to an apparatus which locates a fire in a room and directs a stream of water or other agent from a nozzle at the fire for extinguishing it.

2. Description of the Prior Art

Automatic sprinkler installations are common in both residential and commercial establishments and are frequently mandated by local fire codes. However these sprinkler installations consist merely of a plurality of water nozzles set off by mechanical heat sensors. Because these types of heat sensors are slow and inefficient, by the time the fire is detected it has usually spread over a large area causing injuries and property damage before it is extinguished. Additionally, a fire is much more difficult to extinguish after it has spread then at its inception. Fire detectors are also known which detect a fire by using heat and/or light sensors. However these types of detectors are used commonly merely to set off fire alarms and not to extinguish the fire itself. U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,665,440; 3,493,953; 3,689,773 and 3,824,392 show various state of the art detectors.

OBJECTIVES AND SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

In view of the above-mentioned disadvantages of the prior art, it is an objective of the present invention to provide an apparatus which can quickly identify and extinguish a fire before it has a chance to spread.

A further objective is to provide an apparatus which can accurately pinpoint and extinguish a fire whereby the fire extinguishing activity is, restricted only to the immediate vicinity of the fire thereby reducing damage.

A further objective is to provide a fire extinguishing apparatus which is reliable yet inexpensive.

Other objectives and advantages of this invention shall become apparent from the following description.

Briefly, the fire extinguishing apparatus constructed in accordance within invention contains a turret mounted to oversee a preselected area or room, and a plurality of sensors for sensing a fire. The apparatus also includes nozzle means disposed on the turret, and aiming means coupled to said sensors for aiming said nozzle means toward a fire detected by the sensors. An extinguishing agent is then ejected toward the fire by the nozzle means. After the fire has been extinguished, the flow of the extinguishing agent to the nozzle means is disrupted.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 shows a side elevational view of a fire extinguishing apparatus constructed in accordance with this invention;

FIG. 2 shows a bottom view of the apparatus head showing the arrangement of the sensors and spray nozzle;

FIG. 3 shows a block diagram of one embodiment of the control circuit for the apparatus of FIGS. 1 and 2; and

FIG. 4 shows a block diagram of an alternate embodiment of the control circuit.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

Referring now to the drawings, and more particularly FIGS. 1 and 2, anapparatus10 constructed in accordance with this invention includes abase12 mounted on aceiling14 and aturret16. Theturret16 includes a generallycylindrical housing18 open at the top. Amotor20 secured insidehousing18 is used to rotate theturret16 about a vertical axis X—X. For this purpose,motor20 has ashaft22 terminating in atoothed gear24.Base12 is provided with astationary ring26 having radially inwardly extendingteeth28. Teeth28 engagegear24 so that as theshaft22 is turned bymotor20, theturret18 rotates with respect to the base.

Anarm30 is mounted onhousing18 by ahorizontal shaft32. Shaft32 also supports atoothed gear34 disposed insidehousing18. Also withinhousing18 there is provided asecond motor36 with ashaft38 and agear40. Importantly,gear40 hasteeth42 disposed at an angle and engaging thetoothed wheel34 such that as thegear40 is turned bymotor36, it causesgear34 andarm30 to turn aboutshaft32.

At the tip ofarm30 there is provided anozzle44. Initially thearm30 is positioned so that thenozzle44 is pointed straight down as indicated in FIG.1. This position of the nozzle is referred to as the initial or rest position. Thegear34 is arranged so that as themotor36 rotates, thewheel34 causes thearm30 andnozzle44 to turn aboutshaft32 in a preselected direction. Thus, asmotor36 is activated, thenozzle44 turns in a vertical plane Y—Y passing through the center ofturret16 as shown in FIG.2.

As previously mentioned,turret16 is rotatable in either direction by any arbitrary angle about a vertical axis X—X bymotor20. In this manner,nozzle44 can he directed in any direction by rotating thehousing18 in a panning movement and then or simultaneously tilting the nozzle aboutshaft32.

Arm

30 is formed with a plurality of flat surfaces which may be arranged in different patterns as required. For example, as shown in FIG. 1, thearm30 may be provided with two set of surfaces. One set of four

surfaces

50,52,54,56 is disposed at an angle of about 20° with respect to a vertical plane and arranged aroundnozzle44. Each of these surfaces50-56 is provided with an infrared scan sensor58. Radially inwardly of surfaces50-56 there is provided a second set of

surfaces

60,62,64,66 disposed at about 70° with respect to a vertical plane. Each of the surfaces60-66 is provided with a seek sensor68 angularly offset from the scan sensors58 by 45°.Sensors66 and58 thus form a two-dimensional array aroundnozzle44 as seen in FIG.2.

The scan and seek sensors58,68 are each arranged and constructed to monitor a solid cone directed along an axis normal to the respective surfaces50-56,60-66 through the room or area being monitored bydevice10. The sensors which may be either infrared photodetectors or pyroelectric ceramic sensors, generate electrical signals corresponding to the radiated energy sensed by the respective sensor in the solid cone. The scan and seek sensors are used to detect a fire in the room or area monitored bydevice10 and to aimnozzle44 through the

motors

20 and36 toward the fire. Details of the sensors58,68 and how they are interconnected is shown in FIGS. 3 and 4. As seen in FIG. 3,sensor58A consist of an infrared filter70 and an phototransistor72. Light passing to phototransistor72 is filtered by the infrared filter70 to eliminate ambient light. Each of the

other sensors

58B,58C,58D,68A,68B,68C and68D are formed of similar filters and phototransistors which have been omitted herein for the sake of clarity.

Sensors

58A,58B,58C and58D cooperate to monitor the room or area ofdevice10 and when a fire is detected to pan theturret16 generally toward said fire. For this purpose, insidehousing18 anelectronic circuit76 is provided consisting of apan circuit78 and atilt circuit80. The pan circuit includes aclock generator82 for generating clock signals at predetermined intervals. The clock signals are fed to acounter84 which in response increments a count on a parallel bus86. Preferably, the counter is set to count from 1 to N where N is the number of scan sensors58 (in this case four). The bus86 feeds the count to adecoder88 which in response activates the

scan sensors

58A,58B,58C and58D one at a time in sequence. The output of eachsensor58A-58D is fed to alow pass filter90.Low pass filter90 is used to filter the signals from the sensors to eliminate false signals generated by hot objects within the field of the sensors. More particularly, it is known that the light intensity produced by fires is not constant but it flickers because of various physical parameters in a frequency range of about 5-30 Hz. Thus,low pass filter90 is used to eliminate signals outside this range, such as for example a 60 Hz signal produced by a standard incandescent lamp.

The filtered signal from thefilter90 is fed to adriver92 which is also connected to thedecoder88 so that thedriver92 can identify the sensor which has produced the signal received from the filter. Based on these received signals,driver92 then drives thepan motor20 either to the clockwise or counterclockwise as required to generally orient thehousing16 toward the fire. While themotor20 is driven in response to a signal from one of the scan sensors, the counter is disabled through aline94 also connected to the output offilter90.

The seek sensors68 provide signals similar to the sensors of the scan sensors. If necessary, these signals may also be filtered as described above.

Thepan motor20 continues moving thehousing16 until one of the seek sensors disposed in plane Y—Y (i.e.

sensor

68B or68D) also senses the fire. For this purpose, the output of

sensors

68C and68D are fed to anOR gate96. When either of these sensors detects the fire, the signal output fromsensor96 disables thedecoder88, which in turn stopsmotor20 throughdriver92. At this point the seek sensors take over the operation of aiming thenozzle44. Because of the panning motion ofmotor20, theturret16 has been rotated so that the fire is somewhere ahead of either

sensor

68B or68D. At this point, thenozzle44 casts a shadow which occults the fire from one or two of the seek sensors168. Theturret16 andarm30 are now moved around by the four seek sensors68 until this shadow is eliminated and hence the nozzle is aimed at the fire. For this purpose the outputs of

sensors

68A and68C are fed to adifferential amplifier98 which in response generates an analog signal having an amplitude proportional to the difference between these two sensor outputs. The output ofamplifier98 V1out is fed to two

comparators

100,102.

Comparators

100,102 determine if the amplifier output is outside a preselected range determined by two voltage signals HI REF and LO REF used as references signals by

comparators

100 and102 respectively. If the output V1out is above the preselected range,comparator100 generates an output which is fed todriver92 and used to drivemotor20 in one direction. If V1out is below said range,comparator102 generates a signal which is fed todriver92 to drive amotor20 in the opposite direction. In this manner thepan motor20 is used to align the nozzle quickly with one of the

sensors

68A,68C.

As can be seen from FIG. 3, a similar arrangement is used for thetilt circuit80. For this circuit, the outputs of

sensors

68B,68D are fed to adifferential amplifier104. The output V2out ofamplifier104 is fed to two

comparators

106,108 for comparing this output to another preselected range. If V2out is above this range,comparator106 activates adriver110 which in response turns thetilt motor36 in one direction. If the output V2out is below the preselected range,comparator108 generates a signal fordriver110 for driving thetilt motor36 in the opposite direction until the output ofcomparator108 falls within the second preselected range.

In this manner the four seek sensors68 cooperate to pan thehousing16 andtilt arm30 until the nozzle is directed toward the fire. When the four seek sensors generate approximately equal outputs, i.e. none of them are occulted by thenozzle44, the output of comparators100-108 are the same. These four outputs are fed to arelay112 driver. Relay driver also receives an input from an OR gate114 to indicate that at least one of the sensors68 A-D is high, i.e. a fire has actually been detected. When the signals todriver112 indicate that a fire has been detected and that thenozzle44 has been properly aimed, thedriver112 activates arelay116.Relay116 then opens a valve118 (FIG. 1) for pumping water or another fire extinguishing agent intonozzle44 through ahose120.

The operation of the device is evident from the above-description. Suppose a fire breaks out in a zone F. The fire is first detected byscan sensor58B. In response to an output from this sensor, thepan circuit78 of FIG. 3 activates thepan motor20 causing theturret16 to turn counterclockwise until the fire comes into the view of seeksensor68B. At this point the scan sensors58 are disabled and the four seek sensors68 take over.

Sensors

68A,68C continue the panning until the plane Y—Y of the housing is passing through zone F. At the same time, the

sensors

68B,68D tilt the nozzle upward until it is pointed at the fire zone F. Once the aiming of the nozzle is completed, therelay116 activatesvalve118 and an agent is directed by the nozzle at the firezone F. Relay116 also generates a fire alarm signal onalarm line122. If the sensors no longer detect a fire, therelay116 is disabled bydriver112 andvalve118 is closed.

Thereafter thedevice10 is checked and serviced as required, the nozzle is re-oriented in the downward position, and the device is once again ready for operation.

In order to insure that the device operates properly, the scan sensors are arranged so that at least the field of vision of

sensors

58A,58B as well as

sensors

58C and58D overlap respectively to eliminate dead zones, i.e. zones in which a fire cannot be detected.

Of course the number of scan or seek sensors may be increase or decreased. Additionally, instead of the discrete circuitry shown in FIG. 3, a microprocessor based circuit may also be used, as shown in FIG.4. In this Figure, the eightsensors58A-D,68A-D are scanned sequentially by amicroprocessor200 through amultiplexer202 and an analog-to-digital converter204. The sensor outputs may be filtered either by using analog filtering, or within the microprocessor, using a software implementeddigital filter206. This filtering is performed to separate signals due to a fire from other infrared sources as discussed above. Alogic unit208 monitors the sensor outputs. The fields of the sensors are overlapped so that a fire zone F is indicated by the respective output of three sensors. These outputs are used by the logic unit to determine the location of the fire zone and to pan theturret16 toward the fire zone through adriver210 and simultaneously to tilt the arm through adriver212. After the nozzle has been aimed, the logic unit activates adriver214 to energizerelay116. Afire alarm indication216 is separately energized bylogic unit208.

Obviously numerous modifications may be made to this invention without departing from its scope as defined in the appended claims.

Claims

I claim:

1. A fire extinguishing apparatus comprising;

a turret mounted in a preselected area;

sensor means for detecting a fire;

nozzle means mounted on said turret, said nozzle means being arranged and constructed to eject a fire extinguishing agent; and

aiming means coupled to said sensor for aiming said nozzle means toward said fire when said fire is detected by said sensor means;

wherein said sensor means includes a first set of sensors having optical axes disposed at a first angle with respect to a vertical line and a second set of axis disposed at a second angle with respect to said vertical line.

2. The extinguisher ofclaim 1 wherein said turret is rotatable.

3. The apparatus ofclaim 2 wherein said aiming means includes means for rotating said turret about a vertical axis.

4. The apparatus ofclaim 3 wherein said nozzle means is rotatable with respect to a horizontal axis.

5. The apparatus ofclaim 1 wherein said first set of sensors alternate with respect to said second said of sensors.

6. The apparatus ofclaim 1 wherein said sensor means is mounted on said turret for concurrent movement with said nozzle means.

7. A fire extinguishing apparatus comprising;

a housing rotatable about a first axis;

a nozzle supported by said housing;

sensor means for sensing a fire;

aiming means for aiming said nozzle toward said fire; and

water supply means coupled to said sensor means for supplying water to said nozzle when said fire is sensed;

wherein said sensor means comprises a plurality of sensors arranged in an array around said nozzle.

8. The apparatus ofclaim 7 wherein said nozzle is rotatable about a second axis normal to said first axis.

9. The apparatus ofclaim 7 wherein said sensor means is mounted on said housing and is coupled to said nozzle for concurrent movement therewith.

10. The apparatus ofclaim 7 wherein said nozzle is constructed and arranged to occult said fire from some of said sensors when said nozzle is not aimed toward said fire.

11. The apparatus ofclaim 7 wherein each of said sensors comprises an electrical element, and a field of vision, said electrical element generating an electrical signal when said fire is in the field of vision of the corresponding sensor.

12. The apparatus ofclaim 11 further comprising filtering means for filtering a frequency of said electrical signals to differentiate said fire from other heat sources.

13. A fire extinguishing apparatus comprising:

a housing disposed in a preselected area;

nozzle means for selectively directing water at a fire;

a plurality of sensor means mounted on the nozzle means, each said sensor monitoring a portion of said area to generate a sensor signal when a fire is detected; and

aiming means coupled to each said sensor means for aiming said nozzle toward said fire.

14. The apparatus ofclaim 13 wherein said housing is rotatable about a vertical axis and said nozzle is mounted on said housing.

15. The apparatus ofclaim 14 wherein said nozzle means is rotatable about a horizontal axis.

16. The apparatus ofclaim 15 wherein said nozzle means and said sensors are mounted on an arm.

17. The apparatus ofclaim 16 wherein said aiming means includes a pan motor for panning said housing about said vertical axis in response to signals from said sensors.

18. The apparatus ofclaim 17 further comprising a tilting motor for tilting said nozzle means with respect to said horizontal axis in response to signals from said sensors.

19. A fire extinguishing apparatus comprising;

a housing rotatable about a first axis;

a nozzle supported by said housing;

a plurality of sensors arranged in an array around said nozzle, said sensors being used to sense a fire;

a nozzle aiming unit that aims said nozzle toward said fire; and

a fire extinguishing agent supply unit that supplies fire extinguishing agent to said nozzle when said fire is sensed.

20. The apparatus ofclaim 19 wherein said nozzle is rotatable about a second axis normal to said first axis.

21. The apparatus ofclaim 19 wherein said sensors are coupled to said nozzle for concurrent movement therewith.

22. The apparatus ofclaim 19 wherein said nozzle is constructed and arranged to occult said fire from some of said sensors when said nozzle is not aimed toward said fire.

23. The apparatus ofclaim 19 wherein each of said sensors comprises an electrical element with a field of vision, said electrical element generating an electrical signal when said fire is in the field of vision of the corresponding sensor.

24. The apparatus ofclaim 23 further comprising a filter that filters a frequency of said electrical signals to differentiate said fire from other heat sources.

25. The apparatus ofclaim 19 wherein said fire extinguishing agent supply unit stops the supply of said fire extinguishing agent to said nozzle when said fire is no longer sensed by said sensors.

26. The apparatus ofclaim 25 wherein said sensors are coupled to said nozzle for concurrent movement therewith.

27. The apparatus ofclaim 26 wherein said nozzle is constructed and arranged to occult said fire from some of said sensors when said nozzle is not aimed toward said fire.

28. The apparatus ofclaim 25 wherein said nozzle is constructed and arranged to occult said fire from some of said sensors when said nozzle is not aimed toward said fire.

29. The apparatus ofclaim 19 wherein said nozzle aiming unit aims said nozzle towards said fire based on signals from said sensors.

30. The apparatus ofclaim 29 wherein said fire extinguishing agent supply unit stops the supply of said fire extinguishing agent to said nozzle when said fire is no longer sensed by said sensors.

31. A fire extinguishing apparatus comprising:

a housing disposed in a preselected area;

a nozzle that selectively directs fire extinguishing agent at a fire;

a plurality of sensors mounted on the nozzle, each said sensor monitoring a portion of said area to generate a sensor signal when a fire is detected; and

a nozzle aiming unit that aims said nozzle toward said fire.

32. The apparatus ofclaim 31 wherein said housing is rotatable about a vertical axis and said nozzle is mounted on said housing.

33. The apparatus ofclaim 32 wherein said nozzle is rotatable about a horizontal axis.

34. The apparatus ofclaim 33 wherein said nozzle and said sensors are mounted on an arm.

35. The apparatus ofclaim 34 wherein said nozzle aiming unit includes a pan motor for panning said housing about said vertical axis in response to signals from said sensors.

36. The apparatus ofclaim 35 further comprising a tilting motor for tilting said nozzle with respect to said horizontal axis in response to signals from said sensors.

37. The apparatus ofclaim 31 wherein said nozzle aiming unit aims said nozzle towards said fire based on signals from said sensors.

38. The apparatus ofclaim 37 wherein said nozzle aiming unit determines that said nozzle is properly aimed at said fire by balancing the signals received from at least one opposing pairs of the sensors.

39. A method for directing a nozzle of a fire extinguishing apparatus towards a fire, said method comprising the acts of:

(a)monitoring infrared energy within a predetermined area;

(b)filtering out the infrared energy not within a predetermined frequency range to produce filtered energy signals;

(c)determining existence of a fire within the predetermined area based on the filtered energy signals;

(d)determining a location of the fire within the predetermined area when said determining (c)determines the existence of the fire; and

(e)directing a nozzle of a fire extinguishing apparatus to the location of the fire,

wherein said determining(d)of the location of the fire and said directing(e)of the nozzle to the location of the fire are performed simultaneously.

40. A method as recited inclaim 39, wherein said monitoring (a)monitors a plurality of infrared sensors.

41. A method as recited inclaim 39, wherein the predetermined frequency range is from 5-10 Hz.

42. A method for directing a nozzle of a fire extinguishing apparatus towards a fire, said method comprising the acts of:

(a)monitoring infrared energy within a predetermined area;

(d)determining a location of the fire within the predetermined area when said determining(c)determines the existence of the fire; and

(e)directing a nozzle of a fire extinguishing apparatus to the location of the fire;

wherein the fire extinguishing apparatus includes a plurality of sensors positioned around the nozzle, and the sensors detect the infrared energy.

43. A method as recited inclaim 42, wherein said determining (d)of the location of the fire finds the location of the fire by balancing the infrared energy received from the sensors.

44. A method as recited inclaim 42, wherein said determining (d)of the location of the fire and said directing(e)of the nozzle to the location of the fire are performed simultaneously.

45. A method for extinguishing a detected fire, said method comprising the acts of:

(a)monitoring infrared energy within a predetermined area;

(d)determining a location of the fire within the predetermined area when said determining(c)determines the existence of the fire;

(f)supplying fire extinguishing agent through said nozzle when said fire is sensed; and

(g)ceasing the supply of the fire extinguishing agent through said nozzle when said fire is no longer sensed by said sensors.

46. A method as recited inclaim 45, wherein following said ceasing (g),said method is again ready to locate another fire by repeating said acts(a)through(g).

47. A method as recited inclaim 45, wherein said monitoring (a)monitors a plurality of infrared sensors.

48. A method as recited inclaim 45, wherein the predetermined frequency range is from 5-10 Hz.

49. A method as recited inclaim 45,

wherein the fire extinguishing apparatus includes a plurality of sensors positioned around the nozzle, and the sensors detect the infrared energy, and

wherein said determining(d)of the location of the fire finds the location of the fire by balancing the infrared energy received from the sensors.

50. A method as recited inclaim 45, wherein said determining (d)of the location of the fire and said directing(e)of the nozzle to the location of the fire are performed simultaneously.

51. A method for extinguishing a detected fire, said method comprising the acts of:

(a)monitoring infrared energy within a predetermined area;

(d)determining a location of the fire within the predetermined area when said determining (c)determines the existence of the fire;

(e)directing a nozzle of a fire extinguishing apparatus to the location of the fire; and

(f)supplying fire extinguishing agent through said nozzle when said fire is sensed, wherein the fire extinguishing apparatus includes a plurality of sensors positioned around the nozzle, and the sensors detect the infrared energy, and

52. A method for extinguishing a detected fire, said method comprising the acts of:

(a)monitoring infrared energy within a predetermined area;

(f)supplying fire extinguishing agent through said nozzle when said fire is sensed,

53. An apparatus for detecting a location of a fire within a predetermined area, said apparatus comprising:

means for monitoring infrared energy within the predetermined area;

means for filtering out the infrared energy not within a predetermined frequency range to produce filtered energy signals;

means for determining existence of a fire within the predetermined area based on the filtered energy signals;

means for determining a location of the fire within the predetermined area when said means for determining determines the existence of the fire;

means for directing a nozzle of a fire extinguishing apparatus to the location of the fire;

means for supplying fire extinguishing agent through said nozzle when said fire is sensed; and

means for ceasing the supply of the fire extinguishing agent through said nozzle when said fire is no longer sensed by said sensors.

54. An apparatus as recited inclaim 53, wherein said means for determining the location of the fire is performed using the filtered energy signals.

55. An apparatus as recited inclaim 54, wherein said apparatus further comprises;

means for directing a nozzle of a fire extinguishing apparatus to the location of the fire.

56. An apparatus as recited inclaim 55, wherein the determining of the location of the fire by said means for determining and the directing of the nozzle to the location of the fire by said means for directing are performed simultaneously.