Stovetop Fire Suppressor with Integrated Audible Alert
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Solution Overview
Problem
Conventional stovetop fire suppressors effectively extinguish fires but often fail to automatically alert occupants, leading to potential secondary fires and safety concerns, as they do not trigger smoke alarms reliably, especially when used in cooking environments.
Innovation Solution
A self-contained automatic stovetop fire suppressor that utilizes compressed spring energy to deploy a fire extinguishing agent and simultaneously triggers a continuous audible alarm, ensuring timely notification of occupants and nearby individuals of a fire hazard.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If conventional fire suppressors are used to extinguish stovetop fires, then fire suppression effectiveness is improved, but automatic alert capability deteriorates (occupants are not reliably notified of fire deployment)
Solution Approach 1:
The patent combines the fire suppression function and the alert notification function into a single integrated device. The fire suppressor includes both the extinguishing agent discharge mechanism and an audible alarm system that activates simultaneously, ensuring that occupants are reliably notified while maintaining effective fire suppression.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent introduces an audible alarm as an intermediary communication device between the fire suppression system and the occupants. This mediator ensures that the information about fire deployment is reliably transmitted to occupants, solving the problem of information loss.
2Difficulty of detecting and measuring
If smoke alarms are placed near cooking areas to detect fires early, then fire detection capability is improved, but false alarm rate worsens (smoke alarms trigger unwarranted alarms during normal cooking)
Solution Approach 1:
The patent extracts the alert function from traditional smoke alarms and integrates it directly into the fire suppressor device. This allows the alarm to be triggered specifically by fire conditions detected by the suppressor's activation mechanism, rather than by smoke particles that may be present during normal cooking, thereby reducing false alarms while maintaining detection capability.
Solution Approach 2:
The fire suppressor activates its own alert system automatically when fire conditions are detected and the suppressor is triggered. This self-service approach ensures that the alert is generated only when actual fire suppression is needed, eliminating false alarms from normal cooking activities.
3Speed
If conventional fire suppressors discharge extinguishing agent quickly to suppress fire, then fire suppression speed is improved, but alert notification timing worsens (occupants are not notified in time for secondary fire prevention)
Solution Approach 1:
The patent merges the alert activation with the fire suppression discharge mechanism so that both actions occur simultaneously. When the fire suppressor is triggered by fire conditions, the extinguishing agent is discharged and the audible alarm sounds at the same time, ensuring occupants are notified immediately without delaying the suppression 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
The solution provides reliable fire suppression and continuous audio alerts, enhancing safety by ensuring that occupants are informed of a fire condition, even if they are not present when the fire starts, thereby preventing secondary fires and promoting timely intervention.
Implementation Method 1
A self-contained automatic stovetop fire suppressor that utilizes compressed spring energy to deploy a fire extinguishing agent
Implementation Method 2
triggers a continuous audible alarm, ensuring timely notification of occupants and nearby individuals of a fire hazard
Data Source
AI summary
An automatic stovetop fire suppressor with suppressor activation triggering an audible alert of a fire condition and method are provided herein. A plastic bottom lid is secured to a bottom of a can, forming a closed container. A fire suppressing agent and a sound board are housed within the closed container. As the fire suppressor actuator is triggered, the bottom lid lowers releasing the fire suppressing agent and tripping a sound board alert switch. A microcontroller generates a desired fire condition signal which is played across a low voltage magnetic transducer. The suppressor is user friendly, provides an automated release of fire suppressing agent in the presence of a stovetop fire, and emits a continuing audible alert signal until a user disables the same. The fire suppressing agent and battery powered sound board are stored in the closed from manufactured end to activation of the suppressor in a fire condition.