US 7243890 B1
A dry powder fire extinguisher recharging system charges and discharges a bottle with dry powder. The system includes a frame unit and various components associated with it, such as a clamp assembly to clamp a bottle assembly. The bottle assembly has a bottle in a pre-discharge or a discharge condition, and a valve. There are also components including locking plungers, a torque idler to torque and untorque the valve, a fill valve to recharge the bottle assembly, a fill gauge to pressurize the bottle assembly to the required pressures, a recharge line to charge the bottle assembly with the pressurizing agent, a discharge line to discharge a fully charged bottle, and a socket and an extension. The system also has a valve service area to re-service the valve, and a sprayer gun to remove dry powder residue from the valve during re-servicing of the valve.
1. A dry powder fire extinguisher recharger for charging and discharging a fire extinguisher, comprising:
a clamp assembly comprising clamp arms capable of rotating 180°, removable locking pins for locking in the clamp arms and: a bottle in one of a pre-discharge and a discharge condition;
locking plungers to lock the clamp assembly into one of a plurality of available stages;
a valve to allow recharging of the bottle assembly to a required pressure with a pressurizing agent, including at least one Schrader fitting;
a torque idler to torque the valve;
a recharge line connected during recharging, to Schrader fitting;
a discharge line to discharge connected, during discharging, to the valve; and
a socket with extension capable of sliding in and out of the torque idler to engage the socket on to the bottle to torque the valve.
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The present invention relates to fire extinguisher recharging system that operates in a variety of uncontrolled environments. Specifically, the present invention relates to a dry powder fire extinguisher recharging equipment and process for recharging and discharging of extinguisher containers with fire extinguishing dry powder.
Fire extinguishing typically involves either the temporary creation of an atmosphere that is incapable of sustaining combustion within the volume to be protected, or applying a stream of extinguishing agent to the base of the flame. Fire extinguishing is commonly practiced using portable fire extinguishers.
One fire extinguishing method in widespread use at present includes the introduction of volatile halocarbons (Halons), such as Halon 1301 or Halon 1211, for example, into the volume to be protected. Halons are known to interfere with the chemical reactions taking place in the flame and effectively inhibit the flame. Nevertheless, Halons suffer from a fundamental disadvantage; namely, they are known to interact with ozone, which leads to the destruction of the earth's ozone layer.
Ecologically benign fire extinguishing powders (dry powders) based on mineral salts, such as carbonates, bicarbonates, alkali metal chlorides, ammonium phosphates, and the like have been found to provide alternative volume fire extinguishing. These dry powders could successfully act to replace halocarbons or to enhance the performance of halocarbons or other commonly used extinguishing agents, such as CO2 and the like. Dry powders possess a volume and local fire extinguishing effectiveness at least equal to that of halocarbons, yet are ecologically safe and nontoxic.
Fire extinguisher recharging equipment and methods for Halons and dry powders are known in the art. These conventional methods have been developed for controlled environments. However, fire extinguisher recharging equipment that operates in a variety of uncontrolled environments and that can be used for recharging containers with dry powders and Halons is needed for both civil and military purposes. Conventional systems often cannot satisfy sensitive mission capabilities for military purposes, for example. Further, conventional systems for recharging include multiple pieces of equipment representing a logistic impossibility for deployment with a battle group. Many of these pieces of equipment would not be mission capable, at least in that the commercial dry powder hoppers are cumbersome to use and are open to the atmospheric elements, thereby exposing dry powder to moisture.
Thus, there is an urgent need for a fire extinguishing recharging equipment that is mission capable and can encompass all aspects of the recharging process, including the discharging of full containers, and that can be modified for existing Halon units already in the field.
As described above, from the prior art known conventional equipment, the present invention includes new equipment different from the conventional equipment required for recharging and discharging charged dry powder containing containers. In an aspect, the present invention provides the ability to discharge fully charged bottles or cylinders and capture the powder, and to recharge the bottles or the cylinders without removing from the unit. The present invention also provides staging positions for various tasks, including discharge, torque, refill, recharge, visual inspection and evacuation of the dry powder residue. The design of the system disclosed herein can be modified for an existing Halon unit, thus creating of transportable hardware to meet civilian or military mission requirements for either Halon or dry powder.
In a specific embodiment, the present invention provides a dry powder fire extinguisher recharging system for charging and discharging bottles, cylinders or a suitable container, with dry powder. The system has a frame unit for accommodating various components. The various components may include a clamp assembly, locking plungers, a torque idler, a fill valve, a fill gauge, a recharge line, a discharge line, a socket and an extension.
The clamp assembly may have clamp arms capable of rotating 180°, and removable locking pins for locking in the clamp arms. The clamp assembly can clamp at least one bottle assembly with a bottle in a pre-discharge or a discharge condition. Locking plungers may lock the clamp assembly into various stages or positions, and a torque idler may torque and untorque a valve. A fill valve may control recharging of the bottle assembly to desired pressures with a pressurizing agent, such as dry nitrogen, and a fill gauge may pressurize the bottle assembly to the desired pressures.
An extension can slide in and out of the torque idler to engage the socket to an integrated hex of the bottle assembly, such as to torque or remove the valve. A recharge line charges the bottle assembly with the pressurizing agent, and a discharge line discharges a fully charged bottle unit. The recharge line maybe connected to a Schrader fitting on the bottle assembly during recharging, and the discharge line is connected to a discharge port on the bottle assembly during discharging.
The dry powder fire extinguisher recharging system may also have a valve service area by the frame unit to re-service the valve. The valve service area has a valve fixture that is mounted on a side table. In addition, the system can have a sprayer gun to remove dry powder residue from the valve during re-servicing of the valve, and a sprayer wand to evacuate dry powder residue from the bottle unit to a dust containment container. There may also be present a discharge hose to provide a flexible connection between the canister and either the discharge line or the sprayer wand. Further, a service valve may be for selecting a pressurizing agent (e.g., nitrogen or shop air) to service the sprayer wand or the sprayer gun. The fill valve may feed the service valve with a pressurizing agent.
Optionally, a dust collection bag may be used to diffuse the dry powder coming from the discharge hose, and to allow the dry powder to settle into the container. If the dust collection bag is used, the container should be sufficiently large to accommodate the dust collection bag.
Thus, the present invention provides for a fire extinguishing recharging equipment that is mission capable and can encompass all aspects of the recharging process, including the discharging of full containers, and that can be modified for existing Halon units already in the field.
An embodiment of the present invention is understood by referring to
The system illustrated in
Full 360° rotation of the bottle and valve assembly can be achieved through the use of the present invention. As such, staging positions for various tasks, including discharge, torque, refill, recharge, visual inspection and evacuation of powder residue, may be provided.
Referring now in greater detail to
The torque idler 3 may be used to torque and un-torque the valve. The torque idler may remove any cantilever forces while applying the required torque to the valve. The recharge line 4 can be used to recharge the bottle via the valve with dry nitrogen. The discharge line 5 may be used to discharge a fully charged bottle. Discharging may be done when the bottles require preventive maintenance and are fully charged, thus requiring evacuation of the dry powder. Both the recharge and the discharge lines may be secured during transport by keeping them in the stowed position. When charging the bottle assembly, the recharge line may be connected to a Schrader fitting on the valve. Likewise, the discharge line, when in use, may be connected to a discharge port on the valve.
The sprayer wand assembly 6 can be used to evacuate any dry powder residue from the bottle to allow a visual inspection. For example, shop air or dry nitrogen may be used to expel the residue. A mirror 7 can be used to view the pressure gauge on the valve. The mirror may be of a convex type. The mirror and pressure gauge may assure the pressure has either been obtained during the refill process or is fully dissipated before removal of the valve from the bottle.
The discharge hose 8 provides a flexible connection between the canister and either the discharge line or the sprayer wand. When a bottle discharge is necessary, the hose can be connected to the discharge line, and during the discharge the powder may be captured into the canister assembly. The sprayer gun 9 may be used to access hard to reach places to evacuate the powder residue during the re-servicing of the valve. To evacuate the powder, either shop air or dry nitrogen may be used, as discussed herein above.
Referring now to
Referring now to
The valve 17, illustratively shown in
The dry powder service unit according to the present invention may be used in conjunction with conventional fire extinguishers, such as those based on the release of pressurized CO2 or N2. Conventional fire extinguishers containing CO2 or N2 and various mixtures of inert gases are limited in the ability to effectively deliver contents in open spaces. To overcome this limitation, such a conventional fire extinguisher may have added thereto, the dry powder extinguishing capabilities described herein, thereby increasing the fire extinguishing effectiveness of the device and reducing the concentration of conventional, and environmentally unfriendly, fire extinguishing agents required for effective fire fighting.
Operation of the system can be more readily understood by reference to
Loading: The operator may determine which bottle size (e.g., 2 or 12 pound bottle) requires servicing. Once the bottle size is determined, the operator may check the clamp arms for proper setting. One may need to change the clamp arms depending on the size of the bottle being changed. For example, changing from a 12 to a 2 pound bottle, or vice versa, may require the change of the position of the clamp arms. The operator may grasp one of the arms of the clamp assembly 1 and turn the locking pin 0° to 90°. The locking pin may be pulled straight up and out. The operator may then rotate the arm 180° from position “C” (see
Bottle Discharge: For bottle discharge (e.g., 2 or 12 pound bottles), the discharge hose 8 may be placed in the discharge “G” position (
Valve Removal/Service: The valve may be removed (
Bottle Cleaning And Visual Inspection: For bottle cleaning, the operator may disengage the locking plungers and rotate the assembly to the 9 o'clock position, as shown in
Bottle Refill And Valve Reinsertion: To fill the extinguisher bottle with dry powder, the operator may turn the clamp assembly to the 6 o'clock position and thread into the extinguisher bottle a pre-measured refill bottle. The pre-measured refill bottle (shown in
Valve Torque/Charging: To apply torque, the clamp assembly is turned into the 3 o'clock position (
Bottle Removal: To remove a fully recharged bottle assembly from the DPSU, the assembly may be turned to the 6 o'clock position and the bottle unclamped from the clamp assembly.
Based on the above procedures for a fully charged bottle, one skilled in the art may operate the DPSU in situations involving an already discharged bottle, a partially discharged bottle or a charged bottle.
While this invention has been described with a reference to specific embodiments, it will be obvious to those of ordinary skill in the art that variations in the systems and methods disclosed herein may be used. It is thus intended that the invention may be practiced otherwise than as specifically described herein. Accordingly, this invention includes all modifications encompassed within the spirit and scope of the invention as defined by the claims.