In-floor electrical fitting with intumescent spider bracket
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Solution Overview
Problem
There is a need for more versatile intumescent structures within in-floor electrical fittings to enhance their fire ratings, as existing poke-through fittings require fire ratings equivalent to the concrete floor and often rely on intumescent materials that expand when heated to prevent fire passage.
Innovation Solution
The in-floor fitting incorporates a spider bracket assembly with a metal housing and an upper body made of intumescent material, featuring a modular design with separable access walls and compartments to securely route cables and improve fire resistance, allowing for efficient separation of power and data cables and reducing the need for external junction boxes.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Ease of operation
If poke-through fittings pass completely through the concrete floor to enable cable routing through plenum space, then cable installation becomes simpler and more flexible, but the fire rating requirement becomes more stringent (must match or exceed floor fire rating)
Solution Approach 1:
The fitting is divided into separate components: an upper body portion that remains in the finished floor and a lower body portion that extends into the plenum space. This segmentation allows the fire-rated portion to be isolated and protected while the cable routing portion extends freely for installation flexibility.
Solution Approach 2:
A firestop material or fire rating assembly acts as an intermediary between the upper and lower body portions, providing the necessary fire barrier while allowing the fitting to maintain its cable routing function through the plenum space.
2Reliability
If intumescent material is added inside the fitting to improve fire rating, then fire resistance increases, but the device complexity and manufacturing difficulty increase
Solution Approach 1:
The fire rating assembly is merged with the fitting structure itself, integrating fire protection functionality into the existing design rather than adding separate complex intumescent mechanisms. This reduces overall device complexity while maintaining fire resistance.
Solution Approach 2:
The fire rating is improved by changing material parameters (using fire-resistant materials in the upper body and firestop materials) rather than changing the structural configuration or adding complex moving parts, thereby avoiding increased device complexity.
3Adaptability or versatility
If a modular design with separable access walls and compartments is implemented to route cables securely, then cable organization and fire separation improve, but manufacturing complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The fitting is segmented into modular components including separable access walls and compartments that can be manufactured separately and assembled together. This allows for simplified manufacturing of individual parts while providing versatile cable routing capabilities when assembled.
Solution Approach 2:
The modular components are designed with universal features that allow them to serve multiple functions: structural support, cable routing, fire separation, and access. This multi-functionality reduces the need for specialized parts, simplifying manufacturing while maintaining versatility.
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 modular design enhances fire resistance and reduces infrastructure requirements by allowing secure cable routing within the fitting, improving aesthetics and safety while maintaining compliance with fire rating codes.
Implementation Method 1
Some in-floor fittings employ intumescent material inside of them to improve their fire ratings. Intumescent material rapidly expands when heated, thereby closing openings within the fitting so that a fire cannot pass through those openings.
Data Source
AI summary
An in-floor electrical fitting has a lower body that includes two half-bodies made of intumescent material. Each half-body includes a removable access wall that is also made of intumescent material and that is inserted into slots formed in the half-body. The removable access wall has at least one reduced-thickness section that can be broken off from the removable access wall to create a passageway through the removable access wall. During installation, the two access walls can be removed to allow an installer to a lay a conduit that will pass through the passageway through each access wall when the access walls are reinserted. An installer can pass power wires from one small compartment to another through the conduit while complying with code requirements calling for the separation of power and data cables.