System and method of delivering foam to a firefighting bucket

Abstract

A foam delivery system for delivering firefighting foam solution to a firefighting bucket that is suspended by at least one cable from a helicopter. A firefighting foam solution is carried aboard the helicopter in one or more foam storage containers. The foam delivery system facilitates the delivery of the foam solution to the bucket and facilitates the mixture of the delivered foam solution with the water, the resultant mixture being effective in fighting fires, in one embodiment, more effective than the use of water alone. The foam solution is delivered from the cabin to the firefighting bucket through a hose. The hose includes a container segment and a bucket segment, the two segments detachably coupled together by an automatic release coupling system.

Description

FIELD OF THE INVENTION [0001] The present invention relates generally to a system and method of fighting fires, and more specifically, a system and method of delivering foam to a firefighting bucket. BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION [0002] Helicopter or aircraft-carried firefighting buckets, often called dump-buckets, that are carried to fight fires are presently used. Such a method of fighting fires is often used to fight forest fires where the use of a large amount of water is necessary and the target location is remote or difficult to access by land-based vehicles. [0003] Firefighting buckets are generally filled by being dipped into a body of water while it is suspended beneath a hovering helicopter. Some buckets need to be fully submerged under water while other buckets may be filled from relatively shallow water sources with the use of a pump to draw water into the bucket. [0004] Several different types of firefighting foam are made that, when added to water, increase the effective...

AI Technical Summary

Benefits of technology

[0007] According to another aspect of the present invention, a foam delivery system to deliver firefighting foam solution to a firefighting bucket is disclosed. The foam delivery system includes a firefighting bucket suspended by at least one cable from a helicopter; a support tray removably secured in a cabin of the helicopter; a first container located in the support tray, the first container containing firefighting foam solution, the container further including a gauge, a dispensing valve, and a vent valve; a first segment of hose having a container end and a coupling end, the container end of the first segment of hose removably coupled to the dispensing valve, the coupling end including an automatic release coupling system, the automatic release coupling system including a first coupling located at the coupling end of the first segment, the first coupling including a release

Problems solved by technology

Such a method of fighting fires is often used to fight forest fires where the use of a large amount of water is necessary and the target location is remote or difficult to access by land-based vehicles.

Presently, there are limited ways to incorporate firefighting foam into aircraft-carried bucket firefighting systems.

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