Trigger for a fire extinguisher and fire extinguishing system

Abstract

Trigger (100) for a fire extinguisher (200) comprising a coupling part (110) designed for coupling to the fire extinguisher (200), a sensor device (120) designed to detect at least one environmental property and output a signal corresponding to the detected environmental property, and a release unit (150) designed to receive the signal corresponding to the detected environmental property and a release signal (311) that can assume at least a set and an unset state, and, in the unset state of the release signal (311), to prevent the release of extinguishing agent via a discharge channel (160) of the fire extinguisher (200), wherein the set state causes the extinguishing agent to be ejected when an evaluation of the signal corresponding to the detected environmental property requests the ejection of the extinguishing agent, wherein the release unit (150) comprises a communication unit.which is trained to receive the release signal (311) via a communication channel (310) from an external signal transmitter unit (320).

Description

The present invention relates to a trigger for a fire extinguishing device according to claim 1 and to a fire extinguishing system with a trigger according to the invention.In many fields of technology and in private installations, requirements for fire protection must be observed and prescribe the availability of fire-extinguishing devices. These devices are put into position by a person when required and are actuated by a mechanical trigger.In many situations, in which the fire extinguishing devices, in particular in the form of mobile devices, are on site, however, they are not used because there is no supervisor at the time of a fire. For example, fires often occur in vehicles after the vehicle has been shut down when the operator has left the vehicle. Although the fire-fighting system is also present in private installations, for example in residential houses, in the area of the heating system, it is completely ineffective in the absence of a resident. However, even in the presence of a occupant or an operator, considerable risks arise for the user of the fire-extinguishing device in the event of a fire, because he often only notes the risk at a very late stage and the fire fighting is already associated with considerable risks in this phase.In view of these and other aspects, it is an object of the present invention to provide means that make it possible to increase the effect and the benefit of fire extinguishing devices.Modern fire extinguishing devices are provided with an automatic trigger which has a coupling part which is designed for coupling to a fire extinguishing device. Furthermore, in such an automatic trigger, a sensor device is present which is designed to detect smoke development and / or heat and to output a trigger signal. Furthermore, a triggering unit is provided which is designed to provide an outlet channel for the extinguishing substance of the fire extinguishing device in the presence of the triggering signal.In further embodiments of such a modern fire extinguishing appliance, the automatic release has at least one nozzle as part of the outlet channel. Furthermore, two or more nozzles with different outlet directions can also be provided. For this purpose, one of the two or more nozzles can comprise a shut-off device. For example, the shut-off device is a manually actuatable shut-off device. In further configurations of the automatic trigger, a switching device is provided which is designed for activating and deactivating at least the sensor. In further advantageous embodiments of such a trigger, a second sensor device is provided, which is designed to detect an operational readiness of the mobile fire extinguishing device. Furthermore, in many configurations, a separate and rechargeable energy source is provided for supplying power to the trigger. Advantageously, the coupling part is configured to be coupled instead of a manual operating part of the fire extinguishing device.DE 10 2013 007 569 A1, for example, discloses a triggering unit, wherein a control device evaluates the sensor signals of a sensor device and outputs the result as a triggering signal. The trigger signal is received by the trigger unit in order to thereby open the outlet channel via the valve device. Accordingly, the triggering unit uses only sensor signals output by the control device to control the valve device, namely the triggering signal.It is known, for example, from DE 101 09 832 B4 to automatically trigger a clearing process. A fire sensor holds the locking bolt, which is prestressed by a compression spring, in its initial position locked in position on the lever. The lever is biased in the downward direction by the tension spring forming the energy store. When heated by a fire, the melt solder stretches or tears. As a result, the compression spring pushes the locking bolt back and lifts the locking of the lever. The lever is pivoted downward by the tension spring and presses the release handle downward, whereby the fire extinguisher is released. In addition to this automatic triggering of the extinguishing device, manual triggering of the extinguishing device is also possible. According to DE 101 09 832 B4, an extinguishing process is initiated manually when the push rod is pushed up via the handle and the lever is thereby pivoted up by the actuating section against the spring prestress of the tension spring.EP 2 489 410 A1 relates to a protective device having a pressure container, an elastic extinguishing agent container filled with extinguishing agent and a propellant, in which the elastic extinguishing agent container adjoins at least one elastic component and this elastic component is fluid-permeable. The upper part of the elastic extinguishing agent container is designed as a sealing ring. The operation of the extinguishing device is temperature-independent, so that additional safety measures are not required if the spatial position of the pressure vessel is changed.In order to further increase the effectiveness and the utility of such modern fire extinguishing devices or other systems, according to the invention, in a first aspect a trigger for a fire extinguishing device is provided. The trigger comprises a coupling part which is designed for coupling to the fire extinguishing device. Furthermore, a sensor device is provided which is designed to detect at least one environmental property and to output a signal corresponding to the detected environmental property. Furthermore, the trigger comprises a triggering unit which is designed to receive the signal corresponding to the detected environmental property and an enable signal which can assume at least one set and one converted state and, in the case of a non-set state of the enable signal, to prevent escape of extinguishing substance via an escape channel of the fire extinguishing device, wherein the set state causes the extinguishing substance to be ejected when an evaluation of the signal corresponding to the detected environmental property requests the ejection of the extinguishing substance, wherein the triggering unit comprises a communication unit which is designed to receive the enable signal via a communication channel from an external signal generating unit.The trigger according to the invention accordingly has the property of activating the outlet channel and thus the discharge of fire extinguishing substance on the basis of a detected environmental property and on the basis of the release signal. For this purpose, the release signal assumes at least one set or one non-set or non-set state, so that it is possible, for example, to prevent the activation of the outlet channel if the release signal is provided with its non-set state. In this way, it is possible to prevent triggering of the escape of the extinguishing substance if, for example, the detection and the evaluation of the environmental property lead to a non-clear result.If, for example, the fire extinguishing device is installed in a vehicle in conjunction with the trigger according to the invention, the sensor device can optionally detect a critical environmental state, for example a smoke development which exceeds a threshold value set in the trigger, wherein, however, the detected smoke development does not originate from the own vehicle, for example. In this situation, the release signal can be supplied to the trigger in its non-actuated state, so that an undesired release of the fire extinguishing device is prevented.In this context, an enable signal is to be understood as any desired physical signal which can assume at least two distinguishable states which can be evaluated by the triggering unit. One of these at least two distinguishable states is referred to as an unsetse state and another of the at least two distinguishable states is referred to as an inserted state. The non-set state causes the triggering unit to prevent the escape of extinguishing substance, while the set state causes the extinguishing substance to be ejected if an evaluation of the sensor data also requests the ejection of the extinguishing substance.For example, the triggering unit can be designed such that it presupposes a set state of the release signal or generates the release signal with a set state itself, so that the trigger is potentially ready at any time to activate the escape of the extinguishing substance upon evaluation of the sensor signal. If the evaluation of the sensor signal then indicates the activation of the discharge of the extinguishing substance, this activation can be delayed in an advantageous embodiment according to a preset waiting time, in which the arrival of an enable signal is waited for. If no release signal with an unset state is detected in this time interval, the activation of the fire extinguishing device is started.According to the invention, the triggering unit comprises a communication unit which is designed to receive the enable signal from an external signal transmitter unit via a communication channel. This design of the triggering unit thus makes it possible to remotely control the trigger depending on the design of the communication channel. The communication channel can be designed such that special signal transmitter units are to be used or signal transmitter units can also be used which perform still further functions. For example, in an advantageous embodiment, the communication channel is a wireless communication channel. Wireless communication channels are understood herein to mean transmission channels in which no special transmission lines, for example in the form of electrical lines, optical transmission lines, for example in the form of glass fiber lines, etc., are provided. Wireless communication channels are thus to be understood here as transmission channels in which there is an electromagnetic coupling, an optical coupling in which there is no guidance of the optical signal at least over a certain distance, an acoustic coupling without direct mechanical coupling, a magnetic coupling without direct mechanical connection, etc. In this way, a plurality of physical transmission mechanisms may be used to transmit the trigger signal to the communication unit without direct electrical and / or mechanical coupling.Of course, in other embodiments, direct connection communication channels, for example in the form of an electrical line, a fiber optic connection, etc., may be used.In an advantageous embodiment, the triggering unit is designed, as already described above, to cause the escape of extinguishing substance in the absence of a triggering signal by evaluating the signal corresponding to the detected environmental property. Consequently, in the event of a possible malfunction of the communication channel, the functionality of the fire extinguishing device is not influenced. In particular, a correspondingly short waiting time, which is immaterial for fire fighting, for example, can generally be set, in which triggering of the substance can be prevented if the release signal is provided in the non-activated state. In the absence of the signal and after the expiry of the preset waiting time, the fire extinguishing device is then activated.In a further advantageous embodiment, the communication unit is designed to establish the communication channel to the external signal transmitter unit by means of a mobile communication network. That is, the communication unit is suitably configured to use available resources in the form of a long-range mobile radio network or also in the form of a short-range wireless network, so that existing infrastructure and / or technology can be used efficiently to transmit at least the enable signal. The use of existing networks which are used for mobile communication thus allows a high degree of functional reliability and thus a lower sensitivity to faults, so that, for example, the probability of undesired triggering of the fire extinguishing device can be greatly reduced.In one embodiment, the communication channel can be set up in a mobile radio network which can be accessed via a mobile telephone. For this purpose, a corresponding software application is advantageously loaded onto the mobile telephone and processed on the latter, so that a communication to the communication unit of the trigger of the present invention can be established.In an advantageous embodiment, the communication unit is configured to transmit information that is related to the detected environmental property. In this way, the situation in the environment of the fire extinguishing device can be evaluated on the basis of the transmitted information even at a long distance in order to activate the fire extinguishing device for the extinguishing process or to keep it in a non-activated extinguishing state by means of the release signal. For example, the information regarding the detected environmental property can include the environmental temperature of the fire extinguishing device and / or information about smoke development, so that an additional assessment of the actual situation can be made remotely. With the aid of the enable signal, the assessment of the situation which is carried out in the trigger unit itself can then be "overwritten", if appropriate, if the remote assessment differs from the assessment result on site. For this purpose, the information transmitted via the communication channel can also contain the evaluation result which was obtained at the level of the trigger unit itself. For example, the communication channel is set up if the triggering unit recognizes a critical situation on the basis of the signal representing the environmental property, which would require activation of the next device without additional evaluation. In this case, for example, a corresponding text message with corresponding information can be sent to the mobile telephone of a user, who can then in turn perform an evaluation on the basis of the transmitted information. In other cases, the communication channel can be activated at the user's initiative of the mobile telephone, for example in order to call up corresponding information on the surrounding state of the fire extinguishing device if necessary or regularly. In an advantageous embodiment, the information provided by the communication unit of the trigger unit comprises image information of the environment. The image information can contain an "actual image information" of the environment and / or represent image information in which further information is contained, for example by color representation of temperature values, etc. Furthermore, information values in the form of numbers, threshold values, etc. can also be blended in in the image information, so that the user receives a good overview of the actual position in the vicinity of the fire extinguishing device and can then transmit the enable signal with a corresponding state.In a further aspect of the invention, a fire extinguishing system is provided which has a trigger as described above and which is coupled to the fire extinguishing device. Furthermore, the fire extinguishing system comprises an external signal transmitter unit which is mechanically decoupled from the trigger and is designed to provide the release signal to the trigger at least with the non-set state.The above-mentioned criteria therefore apply in the same way to the fire extinguishing system according to the invention.Advantageous refinements are also specified in the claims and in the following detailed description.A concrete embodiment will be described below with reference to the accompanying figure.In the figure, an automatic trigger 100 is shown, which is coupled to a fire extinguishing device 200, for example a mobile fire extinguishing device. For this purpose, the trigger comprises a coupling part 110 which is suitably designed to establish a mechanical coupling and a flow connection with the device 200. For this purpose, any desired construction can be selected, for example in the form of a screw closure, etc., in order to ensure reliable couplings to the device 200. Further, an outlet passage 160 of the trigger 100 is connected to the device 200 through the coupling part 110 so as to provide a flow passage for the extinguishing agent in the device. For this purpose, a triggering unit 150 is provided, which has suitable drive means, for example an electric motor, an electromagnetic actuator, a pneumatic actuator or the like, in order to actuate a valve device of the device 200, which is not described in more detail, therewith.The trigger further comprises at least one sensor device 120, which may have one or more sensor components, in order to be able to detect smoke development and / or heat therewith. For this purpose, many measuring systems are available which record smoke and / or heat with high reliability and output a corresponding signal which thus indicates at least one environmental property. One or more sensor components can be attached directly to the trigger or also remote therefrom, for example to a hose (not shown) of the device 200. In further embodiments, one or more sensor components may be coupled to the sensor device 120 via wireless channels. This allows wide-area monitoring of the surroundings of the fire extinguisher 200 to be achieved.In an advantageous embodiment, the sensor device 120 comprises a camera 121 which records image information about a part of the environment of the fire extinguishing device 200. The camera 121 may be mounted directly on the trigger, or may be mounted remotely and coupled to the other components of the device via a line or wirelessly. Camera 121 may also collect further data helpful for assessing the situation of the environment. For example, the camera 121 may include a thermal image camera.The sensor device 120 can furthermore have a control device which carries out the evaluation of the sensor signals or at least a part of the sensor signals. In advantageous embodiments, the environmental factors to be detected can be adjusted, so that an adaptation to many situations can be achieved. For example, in some situations it is advantageous to detect and use only smoke development for evaluation, while in other situations only heat development is used. In still other situations, both smoke and heat are used for evaluation.In advantageous embodiments, one or more nozzles 140 are provided as part of the outlet channel 160, so that a precisely defined outlet direction for the extinguishing agent is provided. If, for example, two or more nozzles 140 are provided, these are set by a user in such a way that a desired flow direction for the extinguishing agent results given a given positioning of the device 200. If it is not intended that extinguishing agent should escape in a specific direction in which a nozzle 140 is oriented, in advantageous embodiments a shut-off device is provided for this purpose, which can preferably be actuated manually. Thus, if about 4 nozzles 140 are provided, about 1, 2 or 3 nozzles may be disabled if an etchant discharge is intended in only one of the directions represented by the four nozzles.The trigger 100 further includes a switch or other means 170 for activating / deactivating the trigger 100 so that the device may be turned on and off as needed.Furthermore, a control device 300 is provided which, if necessary, carries out further monitoring functions and control functions. For example, the control device 300 can automatically switch the standby state on and off, for example depending on a programmed-in time sequence. Further environmental influences can also be detected by suitable sensors and used for evaluation in order to put the trigger 100 into the activated state or, if it is already in the activated state, to determine the triggering as well.For example, the control device 300 can put the trigger into an energy saving mode, in which, however, at least one environmental influence is still detected, although a readiness of the trigger is not intended at all. However, when a limit value is exceeded / undershot, the trigger can be set into the activated state, for example if excess smoke development occurs in a time range in which no activity is intended per se.A power source 130 is provided to power the trigger 100, which is preferably rechargeable, but a drop below a certain value will result in triggering an alarm. For this purpose, the energy source 130 itself can have an autonomous control device which performs all the required control and reporting tasks. For this purpose, for example, an optical / acoustic output device is provided, which indicates, for example, the status of the energy source. Other status values of the trigger 100 or of the device 200 can also be displayed on a corresponding display device, for example the pressure of the extinguishing agent and the like.According to the invention, the control unit 300 is also designed as a communication unit which can establish a communication channel 310 in order to connect to an external signal transmitter unit 320. The communication channel 310 is suitably configured to transmit at least one enable signal 311 having at least two distinguishable states. The external signal transmitter unit 320 is, for example, a device specifically matched to the trigger 100, in which corresponding devices for authenticating and / or coding the enable signal 311 are present, so that manipulation of the enable signal 311 from sources of interference is made more difficult. In other advantageous embodiments, the communication channel 310 is configured as a wireless communication channel in a mobile radio network, wherein the unit 300 and the external signal transmitter unit 320 have corresponding transmitter / receiver devices in order to enable wireless communication. In this way, it is possible that at least the release signal 311 is reliably transmitted from the device 320 to the unit 300 which is configured to allow the activation of the fire extinguishing device 200 only if, with the release signal 311 present, it is in its set state. If, upon detection of a critical state, a set-up of the communication channel is not possible or if no release signal with an unset state is received within a preset time period in the unit 300, the activation of the fire extinguishing device 200 is initiated.In further advantageous embodiments, the trigger 100, the fire extinguishing device 200 and the external signal generating unit 320, which together form the fire extinguishing system of the present invention, are designed to exchange further information in addition to the release signal 311. For this purpose, for example, the unit 300 can transmit parts or all of the information recorded by the sensor unit 120 from the environment to the device 320 via the communication channel 310. In particular, in advantageous embodiments, at least some of the information determined by the camera 121 can be transmitted via the channel 310. On the basis of this information, which contains image information, for example, a further assessment of the current situation can be made by the user of the device 320 and the enable signal 311 can then be set accordingly.

Claims

A trigger (100) for a fire-fighting appliance (200), comprising a coupling part (110) configured to be coupled to the fire-fighting appliance (200), a sensor device (120) configured to detect at least one environmental property and to output a signal corresponding to the detected environmental property, and a triggering unit (150) configured to receive the signal corresponding to the detected environmental property and an enable signal (311) that can assume at least one set and one non-set state and, in the non-set state of the enable signal (311), to prevent escape of extinguishing substance via an outlet channel (160) of the fire-fighting appliance (200), wherein the set state causes the extinguishing substance to be ejected when an evaluation of the signal corresponding to the detected environmental property requests the ejection of the extinguishing substance, wherein the triggering unit (150) comprises a communication unit, which is designed to receive the enable signal (311) from an external signal transmitter unit (320) via a communication channel (310).The trigger (100) of claim 1, wherein the communication channel (310) is a wireless communication channel.The trigger (100) according to any one of claims 1 or 2, wherein the trigger unit (150) is further configured to cause the escape of extinguishing substance in the absence of a trigger signal by evaluating the signal corresponding to the detected environmental property.The trigger (100) according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein the communication unit is configured to establish the communication channel (310) to the external signaling unit (320) by means of a mobile communication network.The trigger (100) of claim 4, wherein the communication channel (310) is fabricable in a cellular network accessible via a mobile phone.The trigger (100) according to any one of claims 1 to 5, wherein the communication unit is further configured to transmit information related to the detected environmental characteristic.The trigger (100) of claim 6, wherein the detected environmental characteristic comprises an indication of ambient temperature and / or smoke evolution in the environment.The trigger (100) according to claim 6 or 7, wherein the information comprises image information of the environment.Fire extinguishing system comprising: a trigger (100) according to one of claims 1 to 8, which is coupled to the fire extinguishing device (200), and an external signal transmitter unit (320), which is mechanically decoupled from the trigger (100) and is designed to provide the release signal (311) for the trigger (100) at least with the non-set state.

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