Gutter-anchored portable fire sprinkler structure
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing fire sprinkler systems are limited in their portability, installation ease, and versatility, often requiring roof attachment and lacking efficient winterization and cooling capabilities.
Innovation Solution
A gutter-anchored structure for portable fire sprinklers made from a monolithic plastic body with a flat base, rectangular prolongations, hollow cylindrical outlets, and a cantilever bar, allowing for easy installation and detachment, and incorporating a tubular housing for anchoring to gutters, enabling versatile use for both fire protection and cooling.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If fire sprinklers are attached to roofs, then fire protection is provided, but installation complexity and lack of portability increase
Solution Approach 1:
The sprinkler system is divided into separate components: a gutter-mounted anchor unit and a detachable sprinkler head assembly. This segmentation allows the system to be installed in simple stages and enables easy removal and relocation, resolving the contradiction between reliable fire protection and installation complexity.
Solution Approach 2:
A gutter-mounted anchor structure serves as an intermediary between the building infrastructure and the sprinkler system. The anchor provides a stable mounting point while remaining independent of roof attachment, simplifying installation and enabling portability without compromising fire protection reliability.
2Reliability
If fire sprinklers are permanently installed, then fire protection is reliable, but portability and ease of service deteriorate
Solution Approach 1:
The sprinkler system transitions from a static permanent installation to a dynamic portable system. The gutter anchor remains fixed while the sprinkler head assembly can be detached, moved, and reattached, providing both reliability during use and portability for service and relocation.
Solution Approach 2:
By separating the mounting mechanism from the sprinkler components, the system achieves both permanent-like reliability during operation and portability when needed, allowing easy service and relocation without compromising fire protection.
3Reliability
If sprinkler systems remain connected to water supply, then fire protection is ready, but winterization complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The detachable connection between the gutter anchor and sprinkler assembly allows simple winterization by disconnecting the water supply line. This segmentation enables the system to be quickly prepared for winter without complex draining or protection procedures.
Solution Approach 2:
The sprinkler assembly can be completely removed from the gutter anchor during winter months, extracting the water-consuming component from the system. This eliminates the need for winterization of the mounted unit while maintaining fire protection readiness when reinstalled.
4Device complexity
If single-function sprinkler systems are used, then design simplicity is maintained, but versatility deteriorates
Solution Approach 1:
The gutter-mounted anchor structure serves multiple functions: it anchors fire sprinklers, provides mounting for cooling spray nozzles, and can support other water-based protection systems. This multi-functionality increases versatility while maintaining relatively simple design through a common mounting platform.
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
The solution provides a portable, easy-to-install, and versatile fire sprinkler system that can be winterized by detaching the water hose and anchored to gutters, offering effective fire protection and reducing cooling bills through evaporative cooling.
Implementation Method 1
spraying water on the roof surface; the water evaporates and cools the surface, impliedly the house
Data Source
AI summary
A plastic body incorporating a flate base, with a top side and a bottom side, is encompassed by a rim perpendicular on it. A pair of rectangular prolongations extends from a side of flat base. Each rectangular prolongation terminates into a downwardly extending end, bent back at 90 degrees and provided with a tapered plate, inwardly directed for tangentially contacting an interior of a gutter. A cantilever bar, having a bent longitudinal axis of symmetry, is located at midway between the pair of rectangular prolongations. A slanted, ribbed plate extending transversally at the bottom end of cantilever bar is adapted to tangentially contact a gutter, respectively a curvilinear external surface of the latter. A tubular housing projecting perpendicularly out of the bottom side of the flat base is used for inserting a pole for positioning and anchoring the gutter-anchored structure.