Alarm valve station of a fire extinguishing system, in particular a sprinkler or spray water extinguishing system, and fire extinguishing system

• US 10,441,833 B2
• Filed: 12/18/2015
• Issued: 10/15/2019
• Est. Priority Date: 12/19/2014
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Minimax GmbH & Company KG (MX International SARL)
• Original Assignee: Minimax GmbH & Company KG (MX International SARL)
• Inventors: Pohl, Matthias, Stachowitz, Frank, Kempf, Peter, Kunert, Georg
• Primary Examiner(s): McCalister, William M
• Application Number:
  US15/537,325
• Publication Number:
  US 20170326396A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,397 Days
• CPC Class Codes: A62C 35/60 wet, i.e. containing extinguishing material even when not in use
• CPC Class Codes: A62C 35/605 operating and sounding alarm automatically
• CPC Class Codes: A62C 35/68 Details, e.g. of pipes or valve systems valves in general F16K
• CPC Class Codes: A62C 37/44 only the sensor being in the danger zone
• CPC Class Codes: A62C 37/50 Testing or indicating devices for determining the state of readiness of the equipment
• CPC Class Codes: F16K 1/20 with axis of rotation arranged externally of valve member
• CPC Class Codes: F16K 15/033 spring-loaded
• CPC Class Codes: F16K 27/0227 with the valve members swinging around an axis located at the edge of or outside the valve member
• CPC Class Codes: F16K 27/12 Covers for housings
• CPC Class Codes: F16K 37/0041 for measuring valve parameters F16K37/0033 takes precedence
• CPC Class Codes: F16K 37/005 for measuring fluid parameters F16K37/0033 takes precedence
• CPC Class Codes: Y10T 137/8326 Fluid pressure responsive indicator, recorder or alarm

Abstract

An alarm valve station (80) of a fire extinguishing system (100) includes a fire extinguishing system valve (1) having a housing (2, 3) which has a fluid inlet chamber (8), a fluid outlet chamber (9) and a closing body (4a) reciprocable between a blocking state and a release state, wherein the fluid inlet chamber (8) and the fluid outlet chamber (9) are separated from each other in the blocking state and communicate with each other in fluid-conducting relationship in the release state. In particular it is proposed that the evaluation unit is connected in signal-conducting relationship to one or more actuators, and is adapted to control the actuator or actuators by the control commands, wherein the alarm valve station preferably has one or more sensors and the evaluation unit is connected in signal-conducting relationship to the sensor or sensors and is adapted to control the actuator or actuators in dependence on the sensor data present thereat.

Claims

1. An alarm valve station of a fire extinguishing system, comprising:

a fire extinguishing system valve that feeds a plurality of sprinkler nozzles, comprising a housing which has a fluid inlet chamber, a fluid outlet chamber and a closing body reciprocable between a blocking state and a release state, wherein the fluid inlet chamber and the fluid outlet chamber are separated from each other in the blocking state and communicate with each other in fluid-conducting relationship in the release state to flow a fire extinguishing fluid from the fluid inlet chamber to the fluid outlet chamber,

an alarm passage in fluid communication with at least one of the fluid inlet and fluid outlet of the housing, and

an electronic evaluation unit which is integrated in the housing, arranged externally on the housing or arranged in the proximity of the fire extinguishing system valve,

wherein the evaluation unit

is connected in signal-conducting relationship to one or more actuators associated with at least one of the closing body and the alarm passage, and

is adapted to control the actuator or actuators by the control commands, wherein

the alarm valve station has one or more sensors that monitor at least one of the fluid inlet chamber, the fluid outlet chamber, the closing body, and the alarm passage, and the evaluation unit is connected in signal-conducting relationship to the sensor or sensors and is adapted to control the actuator or actuators in dependence on the sensor data present thereat.

2. An alarm valve station according to claim 1, wherein the evaluation unit has a data interface for receiving control commands of the data interface and is adapted to control the actuator or actuators by the control commands which are received and subjected to further processing.

3. An alarm valve station according to claim 1, wherein the one or more actuators comprise an actuator of the closing body that is a control drive of the closing body and the electronic evaluation unit is adapted to move the closing body selectively into the release or into the blocking position by means of the control drive.

4. An alarm valve station according to claim 1, wherein the one or more actuators comprise an actuator of the closing body in the form of a pilot control drive and the electronic evaluation unit is adapted to either lock or unlock the closing body by the pilot control drive.

5. An alarm valve station according to claim 1, wherein the alarm valve station has a testing valve for flooding the alarm passage, wherein the one or more actuators comprise an actuator of the testing valve that is a control drive of the testing valve and the electronic evaluation unit is adapted to move the testing valve selectively into the release or into the blocking position by the control drive.

6. An alarm valve station according to claim 1,

wherein the evaluation unit is connected in signal-conducting relationship to the one or more sensors for receiving data for data processing into at least one of:

state information, or

operating instructions

and is adapted to transmit the state information and/or operating instructions to a display unit.

7. An alarm valve station according to claim 1, comprising a display unit adapted to receive the state information and/or operating instructions from the evaluation unit and to display same.

8. An alarm valve station according to claim 7, wherein the display unit is integrated in the housing.

9. An alarm valve station according to claim 7, wherein the display unit is arranged externally on the housing or in the proximity of the alarm valve station.

10. An alarm valve station according to claim 7, wherein the display unit is adapted to reproduce numerical values and/or text characters, wherein the display unit includes an LCD or LED display.

11. An alarm valve station according to claim 7, wherein the display unit is in the form of a portable communication device.

12. An alarm valve station according to claim 7, wherein the evaluation unit and/or display unit includes an input device for the input of control commands.

13. An alarm valve station according to claim 12, wherein the input device has pressure-sensitive input elements.

14. An alarm valve station according to claim 7, wherein arranged on the housing of the fire extinguishing system valve is a fixing device for reversibly releasably fixing the display unit.

15. An alarm valve station according claim 2, wherein the data interface is adapted for unidirectional or bidirectional, wireless data exchange with a remotely spaced data processing unit.

16. An alarm valve station according to claim 7, wherein the display unit and the evaluation unit are connected in signal-conducting relationship by a data interface.

17. An alarm valve station according to claim 7, wherein the display unit and the evaluation unit are connected in signal-conducting relationship by means of a second dedicated data interface which is in the form of:

USB interface, PCI interface, PCI express interface, Thunderbolt interface, or WPAN interface including VFIR-lrDA, IFIR-lrDA, Bluetooth or NFC.

18. An alarm valve station according to claim 17, wherein the display unit and the evaluation unit are adapted to mutually identify each other by the dedicated interface and to automatically form the signal-conducting connection.

19. An alarm valve station according to claim 1, wherein the one or more sensors include one or more pressure sensors integrated in the housing.

20. An alarm valve station according to claim 1, wherein the one or more sensors include one or more temperature sensors adapted to detect the fluid temperature within the fire extinguishing system valve and/or the temperature in one or more further components of the alarm valve station and/or the ambient temperature of the alarm valve station.

21. An alarm valve station according to claim 1, wherein the one or more sensors include one or more internal measuring devices for detecting the water hardness and/or for detecting a flow speed.

22. A fire extinguishing system, comprising:

at least one fluid line, and

an alarm valve station to which one or more fluid lines are connected, wherein

the alarm valve station is designed according to claim 1.