Intumescent Insert Outlet Openings for Faster Fire Sealing
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing fire protection installation boxes take longer to achieve hot gas tightness during a fire due to the delayed reaction of intumescent materials, and they often lack insertion openings in areas where they are needed, such as the floor region.
Innovation Solution
The installation box features intumescent inserts with outlet openings that allow the intumescent material to expand and fill the box body more quickly, including the base area, by positioning the intumescent carrier with outlet openings at the bottom and along the depth of the box body, ensuring direct contact with the interior volume or a thin membrane, which accelerates the reaction and sealing of critical areas like cable and pipe entries.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If intumescent material is enclosed completely within the box body, then fire protection is provided, but the reaction time is delayed and critical areas like cable entries are not sealed quickly
Solution Approach 1:
The intumescent insert is divided into multiple segments or sections, with outlet openings positioned at strategic locations including the bottom area. This segmentation allows different portions of the intumescent material to expand through different outlet openings at different times, enabling the bottom area and critical cable entry points to be sealed first, thereby reducing the overall reaction time while maintaining fire protection
Solution Approach 2:
Outlet openings are introduced as a new dimensional feature in the intumescent insert design, creating controlled pathways for the intumescent material to expand outward. This dimensional change allows the sealing action to occur at multiple locations simultaneously (bottom, sides, cable entries) rather than waiting for uniform expansion from within, significantly accelerating the fire protection response
2Stability of the object's composition
If intumescent insert is designed without outlet openings, then material containment is maintained, but sealing of critical areas is delayed
Solution Approach 1:
The intumescent insert is designed with non-uniform properties: the bulk material remains enclosed and contained for stability, while localized outlet openings are strategically positioned at the bottom and sides to enable rapid sealing of critical areas. This local quality differentiation allows the system to maintain overall material containment while achieving fast sealing where it is most needed
3Reliability
If intumescent material reacts quickly, then fire protection is enhanced, but uncontrolled expansion may occur
Solution Approach 1:
The outlet openings serve as intermediary structures that mediate between the intumescent material and the box interior. These controlled pathways allow the material to expand rapidly in a directed manner, achieving quick fire protection while preventing uncontrolled expansion. The outlet openings act as the intermediate step that transforms potential uncontrolled expansion into controlled, beneficial sealing action
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
This design enables faster sealing of hot gases, prioritizing the critical bottom area and ensuring quicker fulfillment of the intumescent layer's sealing function, thus enhancing fire protection by rapidly reacting to hot gas penetration and sealing potential leak points.
Implementation Method 1
the intumescent material has a reaction temperature of approximately 200°C. If this temperature is exceeded, the intumescent material reacts and expands, depending on the material used, to 20 to 40 times its original volume.
Data Source
Figure 1
Figure 2~3
Figure 4~6
AI summary
The invention relates to an installation box for installing electrical and/or electronic components, comprising a box body 2 with a base 4 and a circumferential side wall 5, and a mounting opening 7 enclosed by the side wall 5, the inner side wall 5 having several rib-like projections extending in the direction of the depth of the box body, wherein the installation box 1, 1.1, 1.2 further comprises at least one intumescent insert 3 with a layered structure, provided by an intumescent carrier 16 as the first layer and intumescent material 17 connected to it on one side as a further layer, which follows the inner side wall profile in the circumferential direction of the box body 2, wherein the intumescent carrier 16 is located on the inside of the box body and the intumescent material 17 is located on the side of the intumescent carrier 16 facing the side wall 5 of the box body 2.A special feature is that the intumescent insert(s) 3 are each arranged between two circumferentially spaced can projections 11, 13, and that the at least one intumescent insert 3 is positioned in the can body 2 such that at its end pointing towards the bottom of the can body 2, at least sectionally, one or more outlet openings 20 are provided between the intumescent carrier 16 and the can body 2, and/or one or more outlet openings 20 are provided in the intumescent carrier, limited to a section extending in the direction of the depth of the can body.