Fire bucket, use thereof and method of using it

Abstract

The invention relates to a fire bucket 1 for liquid-based fire extinguishing. Furthermore, the invention relates to the use of a fire bucket 1 for extinguishing fires in metallic scrap piles. Furthermore, the invention comprises a method of using a fire bucket 1 for extinguishing fires in metallic scrap piles.

Description

[0001] The invention relates to a fire bucket for liquid-based extinguishing of a fire where the fire bucket is provided at the top with a lifting connection and an inlet for supplying liquid, including water, and at the bottom is provided with a movable bottom plate that can be moved by activation of a connected trigger mechanism, and where the movable bottom plate is placed over a fixed bottom ring where a gasket, including a U-shaped gasket, is placed between the bottom plate and the bottom ring.

[0002] Furthermore, the invention relates to the use of a fire bucket.

[0003] Furthermore, the invention relates to a method of using a fire bucket comprising a base frame, a lifting connection, a release mechanism, a bottom plate and a gasket for extinguishing a fire, including a self-ignited fire, in a predominantly metallic scrap pile.

[0004] Self-ignited fires in metallic scrap piles are a growing problem.

[0005] One of the reasons for the problem is that scrap metal, including shredded scrap, more often contains batteries such as lithium-ion batteries, which are often highly flammable.

[0006] The problem means that companies that process, store or transport scrap metal have to spend more and more resources on expensive firefighting equipment or rely on the rapid assistance of professional firefighting teams.

[0007] If self-ignited fires are not extinguished quickly, a fire can come out of control, resulting in financial costs and risk to people, animals and nature in the area.

[0008] The relevant prior art is described in the following document: (D1): CN 216418113 U (SHAANXI JINHAO GENERAL AVIATION LTD RESPONSIBILITY COMPANY) 03 / 05 / 2022 D1 describes a fire bucket (see fig. 1) for liquid-based extinguishing of a fire characterized in that the fire bucket (1) at the top is provided with a lifting connection (7) and an inlet (the bucket is open at the top and is therefore suitable for filling the bucket; the bucket also has a water inlet and outlet (4) at the bottom, as it is suitable for use with a helicopter)) for supplying liquid, including water, and at the bottom is provided with a movable bottom plate (fig. 4, plate 21 and gasket 22), which can be moved by activating an attached release mechanism (8) (see fig. 1 and 4).

[0009] However, there is a problem with the state of the art as described in D1, as the water discharge rate cannot be regulated. The rate of discharge does, however, have an impact on the effectiveness of fire extinguishing, as the optimal discharge rate is dependent on the materials that are burning.

[0010] It is therefore an object of the invention to provide a fire bucket that can extinguish a fire in a metallic scrap pile quickly, efficiently and relatively cheaply, where the rate of discharge of the water to extinguish a fire can be regulated, thereby optimising the extinguishing efficiency.

[0011] The object of the invention is achieved by a fire bucket of the type specified in the introduction to claim 1, characterized in that the movement of the bottom plate in the horizontal plane is limited by a number of horizontal guides.

[0012] This ensures that the horizontal movement of the base plate is controlled.

[0013] As stated in claim 2, it is a further characteristic of the invention that the movement of the base plate in the vertical plane is limited by a number of vertical guides.

[0014] This makes it possible to store liquid in a fire bucket that can be quickly and easily discharged over a fire by activating a trigger mechanism, where the discharge rate of the extinguishing liquid is controlled by the horizontal guides described in claim 1 and the vertical guides described in claim 2, where the discharge rate is a function of the bottom plate opening in relation to the bottom ring.

[0015] Other suitable designs for the fire bucket are listed in claims 2 to 6.

[0016] As mentioned, the invention also relates to the use of a fire bucket for liquid extinguishing, including water extinguishing of fires, including self-ignited fires in material piles, including scrap piles, including metallic scrap piles for recycling, including cut metal scrap piles.

[0017] By using the fire bucket to extinguish fires in metallic scrap piles, self-ignited fires in scrap piles can be extinguished quickly, efficiently and inexpensively, significantly reducing the risk of fires developing chaotically and endangering the surroundings.

[0018] As mentioned, the invention also comprises a method of using a fire bucket for extinguishing a fire, characterized in that the application comprises the following sub-processes: the fire bucket is filled with liquid, including water, including rainwater, lake or sea water, the fire bucket is placed on the base frame, the liquid-filled fire bucket is, when extinguishing a fire, lifted from the base frame below by a crane equipped with a grab, including a scrap grab, where the crane's grab lifts the fire bucket in the lifting connection and places the fire bucket over the source of the fire, and when the liquid-filled fire bucket is correctly positioned over the burning material, the fire bucket is lowered until the trigger mechanism hits the top of the burning material, whereby the trigger mechanism activates the bottom plate to lift it from the gasket and liquid flows out of the fire bucket and extinguishes the fire, after emptying liquid from the fire bucket, the fire bucket is refilled with liquid and placed back on the base frame, and it is ready for use again.

[0019] This makes it possible to extinguish fires in scrap piles quickly, efficiently and inexpensively with a fire bucket filled with liquid that is always ready for use.

[0020] The invention will now be explained in more detail with reference to the drawings in which: Fig. 1 shows a fire bucket placed on a base frame, Fig. 2 shows a fire bucket depicted obliquely from below, Fig. 3 shows a side view of a fire bucket, Fig. 4 shows a section of a fire bucket viewed obliquely from above, Fig. 5 shows a section of the lower part of a cut-through fire bucket, Fig. 6 shows a detail from a section of the interior of a fire bucket, Fig. 7 shows a section of a cut-through fire bucket viewed from below, and Fig. 8 shows a base frame for a fire bucket.

[0021] In Figure 1, 1 denotes a fire bucket placed on a base frame 6.

[0022] The top of the fire bucket is equipped with a lifting connection 2, which is attached to the fire bucket 1 with mounting brackets 3.

[0023] Between the lifting connection 2 and the mounting brackets 3 there is an inlet 4 that can be used to fill the fire bucket 1 with liquid, including water, such as rainwater, lake water or sea water.

[0024] Fig. 2 shows a fire bucket 1 seen in a perspective oblique view from below, where it can be seen that the mounting brackets 3 are mounted to the fire bucket using reinforcing elements 7.

[0025] In the embodiment shown, the fire bucket 1 is also equipped with a reinforcement ring 8, which is located near the centre between the top and bottom of the fire bucket 1.

[0026] The fire bucket 1 is equipped with a collar flange 9 at the bottom, which can be placed on a base frame 6.

[0027] Figure 2 also shows that the fire bucket 1 is provided at the bottom with a base plate 10, which is placed above a base ring 11, wherein the base plate 10 is also connected via a coupling element 12 to a release mechanism 5, which in the embodiment shown comprises a circular plate.

[0028] Fig. 3 shows the same fire bucket design as fig. 1 and fig. 2 in a side view.

[0029] Figure 4 shows a section of a fire bucket 1 viewed obliquely from above, which shows that the lifting connection 2 is designed so that it is easily enclosed by the grab of a crane, for example a so-called scrap grab.

[0030] It can also be seen in Figure 3 that the mounting brackets 3 in the pictured fire bucket 1 are mounted to the upper part of the fire bucket 1 with bolts 13.

[0031] Fig. 5 shows a section of the lower part of a cut-through fire bucket 1. The base plate 10 can be moved horizontally between a number of horizontal guides 14 that are attached to the inside of the fire bucket 1 by welding. The base plate 10 can furthermore be moved vertically between the base ring 11 attached to the inside of the fire bucket 1 and a number of vertical guides 15. Each vertical guide 15 is mounted to a separate horizontal guide 14.

[0032] Figure 5 also shows that the base plate 10 is connected to the release mechanism 5 via a coupling element 12.

[0033] When a fire bucket 1 is placed in a base frame 6, as shown in Figure 1, gravity will ensure that the base plate 10 is pressed against the base ring 11. In a preferred embodiment, a gasket including a U-shaped gasket is placed between the base ring 11 and the base plate 10 to ensure that the gravitational pressure of the base plate 10 against the base ring 11 makes the bottom of the fire bucket waterproof.

[0034] The fire bucket 1 can thus be filled with water when the release mechanism 5 is not activated, which is the case when a fire bucket is placed in a base frame 6 or freely suspended in a lifting connection 2.

[0035] A fire bucket 1 can thus be filled with water at the inlet 4 either when it is placed on a base frame 6 or if it is suspended from a crane and submerged in a harbour basin, provided the release mechanism 5 is not activated.

[0036] If the release mechanism 5 is subjected to a force from below that is greater than the opposing force of gravity, the release mechanism 5 will press the base plate 10 upwards via the coupling element 12 until it comes into contact with the vertical guides 15.

[0037] If the fire bucket 1 is filled with liquid, such as water, the water will gush out between the opening created between the base plate 10 and the base ring 11 through the activation of the release mechanism 5.

[0038] The speed at which the fire bucket 1 is emptied of water will then be proportional to the opening area between the base plate 10 and the base ring 11.

[0039] Since the opening area is proportional to the distance between the bottom location of the base plate 10 and the point where the base plate 10 hits the vertical guides 15, the vertical position of the vertical guides 15 determines the fluid discharge rate of a fire bucket 1.

[0040] In a preferred embodiment of a fire bucket 1, the position of the vertical guides is adjustable, allowing the liquid discharge rate to be optimized.

[0041] Fig. 6 shows a section of the interior of a fire bucket 1 showing a horizontal guide 14, where the vertical surface facing the base plate 10 limits the horizontal movement of the base plate 10, while the distance between the base plate 10 and the vertical guide 15 indicated by the discharge gap 16 as described above defines the maximum liquid discharge rate of the fire bucket 10. The base plate 10 depicted in Figure 6 rests on a gasket 17 that is placed on the base ring 11, thus making the fire bucket watertight. In fig. 6, the release mechanism 5 is thus not activated.

[0042] Figure 6 shows that the vertical guide 15 is attached to the horizontal guide 14 with bolts (19, 20) located in the bottom two of three holes in the horizontal guide 14, but where it appears that the vertical guide 15 can be moved up to a mounting hole 18 in the horizontal guide 14, thereby increasing the discharge gap 16, which also increases the maximum fluid speed of the fire bucket.

[0043] Figure 7 shows a section of a fire bucket 1, where the base ring 11 is depicted transparently.

[0044] Figure 7 shows that the coupling element 12 in the embodiment shown is equipped with reinforcing elements 21.

[0045] In a preferred design, the fire bucket 1 will be made of steel and will typically hold 2000 litres of water or more.

[0046] A fire bucket 1 can thus be used to extinguish a fire by running through the following sub-processes: the fire bucket (1) is filled with liquid including water, including rainwater, lake or sea water, the fire bucket (1) is placed on the base frame (6), when a fire needs to be extinguished, the liquid-filled fire bucket (1) is lifted from the base frame (6) below with a crane equipped with a grab, including a scrap grab, where the crane grab lifts the fire bucket (1) in the lifting connection (2) and places the fire bucket (1) over the source of the fire, when the liquid-filled fire bucket (1) is correctly positioned over the burning material, the fire bucket (1) is lowered until the trigger mechanism (5) hits the top of the burning material, whereby the trigger mechanism (5) activates the bottom plate (10) to lift it from the gasket (17) and liquid flows out of the fire bucket (1) and extinguishes the fire, after emptying of the liquid from the fire bucket (1), the fire bucket (1) is filled with liquid (1), and if the fire continues, the extinguishing process is repeated, otherwise the fire bucket (1) is repositioned on the base frame (6) and it is ready for use again.

[0047] From the above description and the accompanying figures, it can be seen that: the fire bucket (1) is equipped at the top with a lifting connection (2) and an inlet (4) for the supply of liquid, including water, and at the bottom with a movable base plate (10) that can be moved by activating an attached trigger mechanism (5), the movable base plate (10) is placed over a fixed base ring (11), where between the base plate (10) and the base ring (11) a gasket (17) including a U-shaped gasket (17) is placed, the movement of the base plate (10) in the horizontal plane is limited by a number of horizontal guides (14), the movement of the base plate (10) in the vertical plane is limited by a number of vertical guides (15), the release mechanism (5) is connected to the base plate (10) via a coupling element (12), the vertical position of the vertical guides (15) is adjustable, the fire bucket (1) can be placed on a base frame (6), and each vertical guide (15) is mounted to its own horizontal guide (14). Reference numbers:

[0048] 1: Fire bucket 2: Lifting connection 3: Mounting brackets 4: Inlet 5: Release mechanism 6: Base frame 7: Reinforcement element 8: Reinforcement ring 9: Collar flange 10: Base plate 11: Base ring 12: Coupling element 13: Bolt 14: Horizontal guide 15: Vertical guide 16: Discharge gap 17: Gasket 18: Mounting hole 19: Bolt 20: Bolt 21: Reinforcement element 22: Reinforcement element

Claims

1. Fire bucket (1) for liquid-based extinguishing of a fire, wherein the fire bucket (1) is provided at the top with a lifting connection (2) and an inlet (4) for supplying liquid, including water, and at the bottom is provided with a movable base plate (10) which can be moved by activation of a connected trigger mechanism (5), and wherein the movable base plate (10) is placed above a fixed base ring (11), wherein between the base plate (10) and the base ring (11) a gasket (17), including a U-shaped gasket (17), is placed, characterized in that the movement of the base plate (10) in the horizontal plane is limited by a number of horizontal guides (14).

2. Fire bucket (1) according to claim 1, characterized in that the movement of the base plate (10) in the vertical plane is limited by a number of vertical guides (15).

3. Fire bucket (1) according to claim 1, characterized in that the trigger mechanism (5) is connected to the base plate (10) via a coupling element (12).

4. Fire bucket (1) according to claim 3, characterized in that the vertical position of the vertical guides (15) is adjustable.

5. Fire bucket (1) according to one or more of claims 1 to 4, characterized in that the fire bucket (1) can be placed on a base frame (6).

6. Fire bucket (1) according to claim 2 or 4, characterized in that each vertical guide (15) is mounted to a respective horizontal guide (14).

7. Use of a fire bucket (1) as claimed in one or more of claims 1 to 6 for liquid extinguishing including water extinguishing of fires, including self-ignited fires in material piles, including scrap piles, including metallic scrap piles for recycling, including cut metal scrap piles.

8. A method of using a fire bucket (1) as claimed in one or more of claims 1 to 7, comprising a base frame (6), a lifting connection (2), a release mechanism (5), a base plate (10) and a gasket (17) for extinguishing a fire, including a self-ignited fire in a predominantly metallic scrap pile characterized in that the use comprises the following sub-processes: - the fire bucket (1) is filled with liquid, including water, including rainwater, lake or sea water. - the fire bucket (1) is placed on the base frame (6). - when a fire needs to be extinguished, the liquid-filled fire bucket (1) is lifted from the base frame (6) with a lifting device, including a crane, equipped with a grab including a scrap grab, where the crane grab lifts the fire bucket (1) in the lifting connection (2) and places the fire bucket (1) over the source of the fire, - when the liquid-filled fire bucket (1) is correctly positioned over the burning material, the fire bucket (1) is lowered until the trigger mechanism (5) hits the top of the burning material, whereby the trigger mechanism (5) activates the base plate (10) to lift it from the gasket (17), and liquid flows out of the fire bucket (1) and attempts to extinguish the fire, - after emptying of the liquid from the fire bucket (1), refilling the fire bucket with liquid (1) and if the fire continues, repeating the extinguishing process, or otherwise reposition the fire bucket (1) on the base frame (6) and make it ready for use again.

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