Fire Hose Deployment Wagon for Robotic Firefighting

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Solution Overview

Problem

Firefighting operations pose significant risks to human firefighters due to hazards like toxic smoke, heat, and obstructed paths, necessitating the development of remote-controlled robotic vehicles for safer fire management.

Innovation Solution

A fire hose deployment device for a firefighting robotic vehicle, comprising a wagon body with wheels and a front tongue hitched to the robotic vehicle, carrying a fire hose with one end connected to a master stream nozzle and the other to a fluid source, allowing remote deployment and operation of the hose for effective fire suppression.

Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles

VSEngineering Contradiction Analysis

1Reliability

If firefighters directly operate in hazardous environments, then fire suppression effectiveness is improved, but safety of personnel deteriorates due to toxic smoke, heat, and structural hazards

Engineering Contradiction:

Improvefire suppression effectivenessVSAvoidpersonnel safety

Core Design Contradiction:

ReliabilityVSObject-affected harmful factors

Solution Approach 1:

A robotic vehicle serves as an intermediary between firefighters and hazardous fire environments. The robot carries a master stream nozzle and fire hose deployment wagon, allowing firefighters to suppress fires remotely without direct exposure to toxic smoke, heat, and structural collapse risks while maintaining fire suppression effectiveness through high-volume water delivery

Inventive Principle:

Principle #24Intermediary (Mediator)

2Reliability

If fire hoses are manually deployed through obstructed paths, then fire suppression capability is improved, but operational difficulty and time consumption increase due to narrow corridors and debris

Engineering Contradiction:

Improvefire suppression capabilityVSAvoidhose deployment difficulty

Core Design Contradiction:

ReliabilityVSEase of operation

Solution Approach 1:

The fire hose deployment wagon is designed to be self-deploying through the robotic vehicle's movement. As the robot traverses obstructed terrain using tracked propulsion, the hose automatically feeds out from the wagon through guides that prevent tangling, eliminating the need for manual hose handling and significantly reducing deployment time and operational difficulty in narrow, debris-filled corridors

Inventive Principle:

Principle #25Self-service

3Reliability

If robotic vehicles are equipped with heavy fire hoses and nozzles, then fire suppression effectiveness is improved, but mobility and terrain adaptability deteriorate

Engineering Contradiction:

Improvefire suppression effectivenessVSAvoidterrain mobility

Core Design Contradiction:

ReliabilityVSAdaptability or versatility

Solution Approach 1:

The fire suppression system is segmented into modular components: a master stream nozzle mounted on the robotic vehicle, a separate fire hose deployment wagon carrying the hose, and a fluid source connection system. This segmentation allows the robot to carry only essential components (nozzle and wagon) rather than pre-assembled heavy hose assemblies, improving mobility while maintaining fire suppression effectiveness through the high-capacity master stream capability

Inventive Principle:

Principle #1Segmentation

Data Source

PatentUS9623271B2Fire hose deployment device

Publication Date: 2017.04.18 ROM ACQUISITION CORP

AI summary

A fire hose deployment device for a firefighting robotic vehicle comprises a wagon body having a bottom and two generally vertical sides, a front tongue coupled to the wagon body and hitched to a rear hitch of the robotic vehicle. The wagon body has left and right wheels coupled to the wagon near the rear of the wagon body, and the wagon body carries a fire hose with a first end coupled to a nozzle on the robotic vehicle and a second end coupled to a fluid source.