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Fire apparatus piercing tip ranging and alignment system

  • US 10,286,239 B2
  • Filed: 09/15/2017
  • Issued: 05/14/2019
  • Est. Priority Date: 02/08/2017
  • Status: Active Grant
First Claim
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1. A fire-fighting vehicle, comprising:

  • a chassis;

    a boom assembly movably coupled to the chassis;

    a penetrating nozzle coupled to the boom assembly, the penetrating nozzle including;

    a piercing tip extending along a longitudinal axis and configured to be selectively repositioned between a first position that is spaced from a surface of an object having an interior cavity and a second position that is within the interior cavity of the object; and

    an outlet configured to be selectively fluidly coupled to a supply of fire suppressant, wherein the outlet is positioned to supply fire suppressant into the interior cavity when the piercing tip is in the second position;

    an actuator configured to rotate the penetrating nozzle relative to the chassis;

    a range sensor configured to provide range data relating to a distance between the piercing tip and the surface; and

    a controller comprising a processing circuit configured to receive the range data, wherein the controller is configured to engage the actuator such that the penetrating nozzle sweeps through an angular range at least one of automatically and in response to a user request, wherein the controller is configured to store the range data corresponding to various angular positions of the penetrating nozzle as the actuator rotates the penetrating nozzle, and wherein the controller is configured to determine an angular orientation of the piercing tip relative to the surface using the stored range data; and

    wherein the controller is configured to determine a target range of angular orientations for the penetrating nozzle relative to the surface, wherein the controller is configured to determine the target range of angular orientations based on an evaluation of orientations that have elevated likelihoods of successfully penetrating the surface, wherein the target range of angular orientations includes an angular orientation in which the distance between the piercing tip and the surface is smallest.

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