Fire extinguishers – Automatic valves – Pressure controlled
Patent
1995-08-09
1997-08-05
Pike, Andrew C.
Fire extinguishers
Automatic valves
Pressure controlled
137113, A62C 3568
Patent
active
056532911
DESCRIPTION:
BRIEF SUMMARY
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to a valve for a fire fighting installation and, in particular, for a fire fighting installation operating with a high drive pressure of extinguishing liquid. A high pressure in this context means a pressure within the range of about 30 bar to about 300 bar, whereas conventional low pressure installations have an operating pressure of about 5-10 bar. The source for the extinguishing liquid preferably is at least one hydraulic accumulator connected to the outgoing line of the installation to which a number of automatically releasable spray heads are connected.
Known high pressure valves are expensive and, in most cases, electrically operated, which is a drawback in fire situations.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
The object of the invention is to provide a new valve which is reliable without access to electric current and is of a simple structure and, thus, cheap.
The valve according to the invention is characterized by a housing, an inlet into the housing and connectable to a high-pressure extinguishing-liquid source, an outlet from the housing and connectable to an outgoing line, and a spindle which is movable in the housing between a standby position in which the spindle closes a connection in the housing from the inlet to the outlet, and an activated position in which the spindle opens the connection from the inlet to the outlet. The housing has a channel, which connects the outlet to a liquid space that is under the influence of liquid pressure from a secondary liquid source with a lower pressure than said high pressure source. The spindle is arranged to be under the influence of the force of a spring that acts in the opposite direction from the pressure influence in said liquid space on the spindle. The pressure of the secondary liquid source and the force of said spring are mutually adapted in such a way that, when the secondary liquid source acts with full pressure on the spindle via said liquid space, the spindle is held in the standby position and, when the pressure of the secondary liquid source has decreased to a predeterminable value due to liquid delivery to a released spray head, the spring drives the spindle to the activated position.
A nonreturn valve is preferably positioned in the channel of the valve housing. In the activated state, the valve prevents the pressure of the high pressure source from entering said liquid space.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
In the following, the invention is described with reference to an exemplifying preferred embodiment shown in the attached drawings.
FIG. 1 is an elevational view, partly in cross section, showing a valve in a standby state.
FIG. 2 is an elevational view, partly in cross section, showing the valve in an activated state.
DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT
A hydraulic accumulator 1 with a high charge pressure (e.g., 200 bar) is called in the following the primary accumulator. It has an outlet tube 2 which, preferably, is provided with a number of apertures in its wall in order to deliver first liquid and then a mixture of liquid and the drive gas of the accumulator as described in Finnish patent application Ser. No. 924752.
A valve housing 3 has an inlet 4 connected to the tube 2 and an outlet 5.
The outlet 5 is connected to an outgoing line 6 having a number of automatically releasable spray heads, only one being shown in the drawing.
In the standby position of the valve 3 shown in FIG. 1, a connection between the inlet 4 and the outlet 5 is closed by one end of a valve spindle 7.
The valve spindle 7 has a channel 8 starting from the inlet 4 and leading to an annular space 9 axially between the spindle and the surrounding valve housing. The cross-sectional area of an end face of a piston-like part 10 of the spindle 7 in the annular space 9 is equal to that of the part of the spindle 7 at the inlet 4, which is under the influence of the pressure of the hydraulic accumulator 1. The pressure action of the primary accumulator 1 on the spindle 7 is thus reversed (i.e., compens
REFERENCES:
patent: 3860073 (1975-01-01), Willms
patent: 4073464 (1978-02-01), Hansen et al.
patent: 4109726 (1978-08-01), Hansen et al.
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