Method and device for the early detectiion of fire and for fighting fire indoors and outdoors, especially in living areas, of homes and buildings

• US 20030038718A1
• Filed: 09/05/2002
• Published: 02/27/2003
• Est. Priority Date: 03/08/2000
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Torsten Clauss
• Original Assignee: Torsten Clauss
• Inventors: Schmidt, Andreas, Jansen, Wassili, Clauss, Torsten
• Granted Patent: US 6,801,132 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 340/521
• CPC Class Codes: A62C 37/40 with electric connection between sensor and actuator

Abstract

The invention relates to a method and device for the early detection of fire and for fighting fire indoors and outdoors, especially in living areas, of homes and buildings. According to the invention, a central freely programmable domestic control block comprising an intelligent bus system, sensors, and actuators controls, regulates and monitors the domestic technical system and, at the same time, sensors detect the direct and indirect fire characteristics, which are monitored by a separate check, control and regulating block that activates an extinguishing agent supply system when a set value has been exceeded. The aim of the invention is to improve a method and device of the aforementioned type such that the extinguishing agent is variably and selectively discharged with a high degree of efficacy by the provision of a system which can be modularly integrated in the security design of a building. The extinguishing agent is variably and selectively discharged according to the origin and progression of the fire while simultaneously minimizing the water consumption, decreasing the damage caused by water in the case of a fire, and increasing the economic efficiency. To this end, the invention provides that the check, control and regulating block interactively communicates with the control block of the domestic technical system, and that an extinguishing agent supply system is actuated which integrates all available extinguishing agent sources of a house and initiates the discharge of extinguishing agent with a variable quantity and distribution according to the origin and progression of the fire.

Claims

1. A method for early detection of fighting of fires in the interiors and exteriors of homes or buildings in which a central control unit with an intelligent bus system, sensors and actuators controls, regulates and monitors the lighting, heating, air conditioning, windows, jalousies, intrusion protection and alarm devices, and in which individual sensors simultaneously detect the direct and indirect combustion characteristics (conditions caused by fire) in the dwelling and residence places, which are monitored by a separate check, control and regulating unit which, upon the overstepping of a setpoint value activates an extinguishing supply system to release an extinguishing agent, characterized in that, based upon detected changes in time and/or space of the fire-caused conditions, the domestic discharge, supply and removal processes are controlled by the following steps:

a) separate or simultaneous monitoring and controlling the changes in time and/or space by a smoke detection, temperature detection, gas detection, scent detection or image detection;

b) determining the deviation from a setpoint value with the check, control and regulating unit;

c) interrogating with at least one additional sensor through the check, control and regulating unit for distinction of a permissible controlled flame from an impermissible uncontrolled flame to the extent the deviation determined in step b) exceeds the setpoint value;

d) interactive control of the central domestic control unit with the check control and regulating unit and triggering an alarm by the central domestic control unit;

e) simultaneously and in parallel with step d) controlling the extinguishing agent supply system as a function of the change in conditions caused by the fire for variably releasing the extinguishing agent in terms of quantity and distribution until, according to step b) there is no longer a deviation detected from the setpoint value.

2. The method according to claim 1, characterized in that the extinguishing agent is water, preferably drinking water, whereby other consumers in the interior of the house are separated by the extinguishing agent supply system and/or other sources provided for the extinguishing agent are connected thereto and in that the extinguishing agent is discharged separately, stepwise in a pulsatile or continuous operation in the early phase of fire development and as a finer spray mist and in dependence on further fire development as a coarser spray jet.

3. The method according to claim 1, characterized in that initially the water from the household heating or another domestic source, for example water from solar apparatus, is used before the system is connected to public drinking water.

4. The method according to claim 1, characterized in that as the extinguishing agent, gas, foam, aerosol or powder from separate containers are used.

5. The method according to claim 1, characterized in that ionization smoke alarms, optical smoke alarms, maximum heat alarms, heat-differential alarms, flame alarms, scent detectors or multifunctional detectors are used as sensors.

6. The method according to claim 1, characterized in that to discriminate a permissible controlled flame from an impermissible uncontrolled flame, a flicker detector is used.

7. The method according to claims 1 to 6, characterized in that the amount of distribution of the extinguishing agent is freely controllable and selective as a function of the course of combustion.

8. An apparatus for carrying out the method according to claim 1 with a central freely programmable domestic control unit connected to an intelligent bus system, sensors and actuators for the control, regulation and monitoring of the lighting, heating, air-conditioning, windows, jalousies, intrusion protection, alarm devices or the like, a central check, control and regulating unit for interaction with the freely programmable domestic control unit and for controlling an extinguishing agent supply system for feeding extinguishing agent, sensors for the direct and indirect detection of fire indicators (conditions caused by fire) in the individual living and dwelling rooms and extinguishing agent actuators for delivering the extinguishing agent, characterized in that, the check, control and regulating unit (4) is in interactive connection with the bus system (3) the domestic control (2), the extinguishing agent supply system (9) and the extinguishing agent actuators (6) for data exchange, control and regulation, and that the check control and regulating unit (4) is associated with a respective plurality of sensors (5, 7) for detecting the temperature, the smoke and gas concentrations, the scent, and images and that the extinguishing agent actuators (6) are each associated with separately triggerable signal generators (7) for release of the extinguishing agent.

9. The apparatus according to claim 8, characterized in that, the extinguishing agent supply system (9) is connected to a pipe network (8) with extinguishing agent actuators (6) which can be connected with the public drinking water supply line (11), the home heating system (14) and storage systems (15) for alternative energy sources separately or together to make and close off the connections by a separating unit (19).

10. The apparatus according to claims 8 and 9, characterized in that, the extinguishing agent actuators (6) are nozzles for discharging a spray cone of extinguishing agent whose ratio of fine droplets and coarse droplets is controllable between a zero value and a maximum value.

11. The apparatus according to claims 8 and 9, characterized in that, the extinguishing agent actuators (6) are sprinklers for the separate discharge of fine droplet or coarse droplet spray cones.