Method and device for de-icing an intake aperture

Cleaning and liquid contact with solids – Processes – Using solid work treating agents

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Details

134 221, 134 37, 134 42, 15304, 340582, B08B 500, B08B 900

Patent

active

061430900

DESCRIPTION:

BRIEF SUMMARY
The present invention relates to apparatus and method for de-icing an intake opening in an intake duct of a fire alarm system through which ambient or equipment air is drawn in and fed to a detector for sensing a fire parameter.
Fire detection devices are also known, for example, under the technical term "equipment protection devices". Typical applications for fire detection devices are EDP equipment and especially individual components thereof, as well as similar electronic equipment such as, for example, measuring, control and regulating equipment, communication devices and related apparatus, and the like. The term "fire parameter" denotes physical values which undergo measurable changes in the vicinity of an incipient fire, e.g. the ambient temperature, the solid, liquid, or gaseous content of the ambient air (formation of smoke particles or aerosols, or steam) or the ambient radiation.
A fire detection device to which the present invention relates splits off a representative fraction of the equipment cooling air by means of a piping or ducting system, or actively draws in ambient or equipment air at predetermined locations and then feeds this representative fraction to the above-mentioned detector. For drawing-in the ambient or equipment air the intake pipes or ducts are provided with intake openings. Of course such a fire detection system is also needed in a refrigerated warehouse or refrigerated store room, if it is desired to detect a fire with high reliability even in the earliest stage of its development. An important prerequisite for this is that the fire detection device can continuously pull in a sufficient representative quantity of air and feed it to the detector. In refrigerated store rooms and refrigerated warehouses this needed continuity of air supply is imperiled through icing-up of the intake openings, and in other spaces or equipments through dirt accumulation.
From each of DE (German patent document) 21 36 968 B2 and DE (German patent document) 33 48 107 C2, there is known an air intake system for a fire detection device having plural intake pipes through which ambient or equipment air is drawn in via intake openings. In the system of DE 21 36 968 B2, cleansing of the intake openings takes place solely through compressed air. In the system of DE 33 48 107 C2 these are electrically heated in response to lessening through-flow of air in order to prevent icing-up of the intake openings. The disadvantage of this air intake system is that electrical leads need to be located in or at least on the intake pipes in order to supply the heating resistors. The electrical leads have the disadvantage that they are difficult to service, that if positioned in the intake pipes they can readily lead to fouling of the pipes through deposit of dust particles on the leads, and finally they are apt to interfere with sensitive electronic equipment through the relatively high heating currents and their accompanying electrical and electromagnetic fields.
In view of these disadvantages, it is an object of the present invention to provide an alternative solution for preventing the icing-up of intake openings of a fire detection device.
This object is achieved in accordance with the invention by the apparatus having the characteristics of claims 1 and 8 as well as by the method having the characteristics of claim 9.
The special advantages of the device according to the invention are that the elastic or flexible element can provide a de-icing apparatus which is easy to implement for the intake openings in an intake duct of a fire alarm system. To that end, the elastic element is attached to the intake duct in such a manner that it covers the intake opening which takes the form of a through-hole in the intake duct, so that the through-hole is positioned coaxially with that intake opening, whereby the diameter of the intake opening is reduced to the diameter of the through-hole in the elastic element. If an ice rim forms on the intake opening, an appropriate compressed air device delivers a compressed air blast thr

REFERENCES:
patent: 3765842 (1973-10-01), Purt
patent: 5035380 (1991-07-01), Weisend, Jr. et al.
patent: 5314145 (1994-05-01), Rauckhorst, III
patent: 5562265 (1996-10-01), Rauckhorst, III

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