COMPRISING THE SPIRAL TUBE

BACKGROUND

The present invention relates to a fire stopping spiral tube having flame retardancy and intumescent and rolled in a spiral form, and a fire stopping system comprising the fire stopping spiral tube. The fire stopping system of the present invention is applicable to an opening formed in a partition structure such as a wall, a cable transit, and others.

When fire occurs, there may be serious damage to life and property. As to damage resulting from fire, in addition to damage caused directly from fire, loss of life caused by suffocation due to toxic gas generated from burning of flammable material and its rapid diffusion has been a problem.

Flame and toxic gas mostly move through a passage, a door, an opening in a partition wall, and cracks in other interior structures of a building. An opening in a partition wall may be formed to extend wires, cables, or pipes from one space to another through the partition wall or transit in a building. For example, the interior of a ship has numerous pipes, wires, and cables, which are complicatedly and technically connected with one another. They are connected by passing through openings in partition walls or transit.

Conventionally, a remaining space in an opening, through which cables and pipes pass, has remained empty or simply been filled with general filling foam or silicon sealants. As a result, there has been a problem that when fire occurs, the general material used to fill the empty space in the opening easily burns or melts, so that flame and toxic gas easily passes through the opening, and thereby increasing damage from fire.

For an opening through which wires and cables pass, the outer sheath of wires and cables easily fuses or burns due to heat, thereby creating that much more space in the opening. As a result, there has been a problem that the spread of flames and gas is accelerated.

In order to resolve these problems, conventional technology has applied a method of filling an opening in a partition wall with a flame retardant filling means, in particular, a heat-expandable flame-retardant filling means.

As an example of a fire stopping system, WO 2006/097290 discloses a fire resisting transit system. Fig. 1 illustrates the transit system. As shown in Fig. 1, the transit system (50) has a structure, in which in order to fill up an opening formed to extend at least one pipe (51) from a first space to a second space, intumescent rubber members (52) are provided in the space of the opening, in which the pipe (51) is not positioned. In other words, the opening has a pipe-occupied part, which is occupied by the pipe (51), and a pipe-free part (55), which is unoccupied by the pipe. The intumescent rubber members (52) are provided in the pipe-free part (55). In this case, the outer part (53) of the pipe (51) is free from being surrounded by a single one of the rubber members.

However, the rubber members used in the fire stopping system described above generate some gas during a fire. Further, because the rubber members have an identical diameter, if the same type of rubber members is used, empty spaces may be created in the opening when filling up the opening with the rubber members. Thus, in order to reduce the creation of empty spaces, various types of rubber members having different diameters are required. This means there is a difficulty to separately prepare rubber members with different diameters. In addition, because the pipe (51) is not completely wrapped by the rubber members, even if the rubber members expand upon fire, there should be a limit for the rubber members to closely press the circumference of the pipe. Thus, there is a problem that toxic gas flows through the circumferential space of the pipe. SUMMARY

The present invention provides a fire stopping system, by which linear materials such as wires, cables or pipes can easily pass through an opening formed in a partition structure like a wall, and which can effectively seal the opening in case of fire.

The present invention also provides a filling means for an opening, which is formed of a flame -retardant heat-expandable material, to be easily applied to the fire stopping system.

With regard to the filling means for an opening, the present invention provides a fire stopping spiral tube having a structure in which a flame retardant sheet having heat expansibility is rolled in a spiral tube form.

It also is an objective of the present invention to provide a fire stopping system comprising the fire stopping spiral tube.

Also, by applying the fire stopping spiral tube to the fire stopping system, whereby the fire stopping spiral tube itself expands upon an increase of temperature due to fire, the present invention more closely seals an opening formed in a partition wall so as to completely block flames and toxic gas.

In order to achieve the foregoing, the present invention provides a fire stopping spiral tube having a structure in which a flame retardant sheet is rolled in a spiral tube form.

According to one embodiment of the present invention, the form of the spiral tube can be made by longitudinally cutting and rolling a sheet formed with a cylinder shape.

According to one embodiment of the present invention, the flame retardant sheet comprises an intumescent filling means and a binder resin. If necessary, the flame retardant sheet may comprise a flame retardant filling means, a heat absorption filling means, a fire resistant filling means, and a plasticizer.

According to the present invention, the intumescent filling means has flame retardancy and expands when temperature increases to more than a certain temperature level. For example, such a intumescent filling means can be selected from a group consisting of expandable graphite, mica, and vermiculite.

According to one embodiment of the present invention, the intumescent filling means has a 10-fold to 350-fold expansion rate.

According to one embodiment of the present invention, the flame retardant sheet can expand 300% to 2,000% within five minutes during which temperature increases from room temperature to 400°C. According to another embodiment of the present invention, the flame retardant sheet can expand 300% to 1,000% within three minutes during which temperature increases from room temperature to 400°C.

According to one embodiment of the present invention, the binder resin can be selected from a group consisting of a polyethylene resin, ethylene vinyl acetate, a polyurethane resin, and rubber.

The present invention also provides a fire stopping system, which is constructed by filling an opening formed through a wall structure partitioning into two sections with the fire stopping spiral tube.

Herein, the term "wall" refers to a structure by which a room is divided into two sections. A wall includes a ceiling or floor structure for dividing floors as well as a generally known wall structure. In the present invention, wall includes a partition or the like for partially partitioning a space.

In the fire stopping system according to the present invention, a generally linear type material passes through the opening formed in the wall structure. According to one embodiment of the present invention, the linear type material is in the state of being wrapped by the fire stopping spiral tube.

Because the spiral of the fire stopping spiral tube of the present invention can be adjusted in the manner that the spiral is tightened or loosened, the tube is useful to easily fill an empty space. Further, the fire stopping spiral tube of the present invention can easily fix each of linear type materials in different sizes when it passes through the fire stopping spiral tube. Even in the case where a linear type material is to additionally pass through the fire stopping spiral tube after construction, the repair work can be easily carried out.

In addition, when the opening is formed in a floor and passes through the floor, leakage of water via spaces between cables or lines is a problem. By using the spiral tube according to the present invention, the spaces between cables or lines can be controlled uniformly, thus the spaces can be easily filled and closed by sealant preventing leakage of water.

According to one embodiment of the present invention, the linear type material may be at least one of a telecommunication cable, a wire, and a pipe.

In the fire stopping system, a portion of the opening, which extends to the wall or floor surface, may be sealed.

The present invention also provides a construction method of the fire stopping system comprising: a step of preparing the fire stopping spiral tube; a step of forming an opening passing through a wall structure partitioning into two sections; and a step of filling the opening by using the fire stopping spiral tube.

According to one embodiment of the present invention, the construction method may further comprise a step of having a linear type material pass through the opening.

Specifically, it is possible to have the linear type material pass through the opening after forming the opening. On the other hand, if a linear type material has already passed through the wall structure in which the opening is not formed, it is possible to form the opening while positioning the linear type material in the opening at the step of forming the opening.

According to one embodiment of the present invention, the linear type material is wrapped by the fire stopping spiral tube. In this case, the linear type material is at least one of a telecommunication cable, a wire and a pipe.

According to one embodiment of the present invention, the construction method may further comprise a step of sealing a portion of the opening, which extends to the wall surface.

If the fire stopping spiral tube and the fire stopping system using the tube according to the present invention are applied, cables, wires, and pipes, which pass through an opening of a partition wall in various buildings and ships, can be effectively fixed, supported, and connected.

By applying the fire stopping spiral tube to the fire stopping system, whereby the fire stopping spiral tube itself expands upon an increase of temperature due to fire, the present invention more closely seals an opening formed in a partition wall so as to completely block flames and toxic gas. Because flames and gas can be effectively blocked, damage to life caused by suffocation due to smoke can be reduced. And, the diffusion speed of flames can be decreased.

In addition, because the fire stopping system of the present invention uses the tube in a spiral form, it can be constructed with simple construction techniques at low facility and material costs. Thus, construction time and costs can be minimized.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS

Fig. 1 is a sectional view of one embodiment of a conventional fire stopping system.

Fig. 2 shows the fire stopping spiral tube according to one embodiment of the present invention.

Fig. 3 shows the spiral portion opened by applying an external force to the fire stopping spiral tube according to Fig. 2.

Fig. 4 shows a cross-section and a radius of the fire stopping spiral tube according to Fig. 2.

Figs. 5a to 5c show the state that a linear type material is wrapped by the fire stopping spiral tube according to one embodiment of the present invention. Fig. 6 shows the fire stopping system installed according to one embodiment of the present invention.

Fig. 7 shows the state that in the fire stopping system illustrated in Fig. 6, an end portion of the opening (20), which extends to the wall surface, is sealed.

Fig. 8 is a sectional view of the fire stopping system according to one embodiment of the present invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

The fire stopping spiral tube, the fire stopping system using the tube, and the construction method of the system according to the present invention will be described with reference to the accompanying drawings. However, the descriptions are merely exemplary in nature for understanding of the present invention and are not meant to limit the scope of the present invention to the exemplary descriptions.

Fig. 2 shows the fire stopping spiral tube (100) according to one embodiment of the present invention. Fig. 3 shows the spiral portion opened by applying an external force to the fire stopping spiral tube according to Fig. 2.

The fire stopping spiral tube of the present invention has a structure in which a flame retardant sheet is rolled in a spiral tube form. The fire stopping spiral tube is used as a filling means for an opening made of the flame-retardant heat-expandable material to be applied to the fire stopping system of the present invention.

Fig. 4 illustrates an inner radius (Rl) and an outer radius (R2) of the spiral in the cross-section of the fire stopping spiral tube according to one embodiment of the present invention. Rl and R2 may vary depending on the degree of rolling the spiral tube. As shown above, because the radius of the fire stopping spiral tube according to the present invention can be freely adjusted, it is effectively used to fill an opening.

Figs. 5a to 5c illustrate that the fire stopping spiral tubes wrap linear type materials having different diameters. Since the fire stopping spiral tube of the present invention is in a spiral form, it can wrap linear type materials having different diameters. For a linear type material with a large diameter, the spiral of the fire stopping spiral tube is loosened or opened to wrap the linear type material with a large diameter. For a linear type material with a small diameter, the spiral of the fire stopping spiral tube is tightened to sufficiently wrap the linear type material with a small diameter.

The fire stopping spiral tube of the present invention can be easily applied even in the state that a linear type material has already passed through a wall, as well as when after an opening (20) is formed in a wall to install the fire stopping system, a linear type material passes through the opening (20).

If a linear type material has already passed through the wall structure before the opening (20) is formed, it is possible to form the opening while allowing the linear type material to be positioned in the opening at the step of forming the opening. Thereafter, it is possible to wrap the linear type material with the fire stopping spiral tube by spreading out the spiral of the fire stopping spiral tube to wrap the linear type material and then tightening the spiral. The remaining space of the opening can be filled with the fire stopping spiral tubes.

Fig. 6 illustrates the fire stopping system installed according to one embodiment of the present invention, in which the fire stopping spiral tubes are positioned in an opening (20) of a wall (30), and linear type materials such as wires, cables, and pipes pass through the opening in the state that they are wrapped by the fire stopping spiral tubes.

Below are the descriptions of the actual fire stopping mechanism according to the physical properties of the components used in the present invention.

First, when fire occurs and, thereby, generates flame and rapidly increasing ambient temperature, the intumescent filling means of the fire stopping spiral tube (100) expands. As a result, the fire stopping spiral tube (100) expands, and, thereby, fills the space of the opening (20) with pressure as much as the expanded volume. Thus, flames and gas generated from fire are blocked from moving through the partition wall. Even if the outer sheath of a cable, a wire, and a pipe fuses due to high heat generated from fire, the intumescent filling means expands, and, thereby, fills the volume space, i.e., the fused sheath of the wire, etc., in the fire stopping system. As a result, flames and toxic gas are almost completely blocked so as to not move through the opening (20).

The flame retardant sheet forming the fire stopping spiral tube according to the present invention comprises an intumescent filling means and a binder resin. If necessary, the flame retardant sheet may comprise additional filling means, such as a flame retardant filling means, a heat conduction inhibitor, a fire resistant filling means, and a plasticizer.

First, the intumescent filling means is a component directly contributing to the heat expansion of the fire stopping spiral tube according to the present invention. The intumescent filling means has flame retardancy and expands when temperature increases to more than a certain temperature level. Examples of the intumescent filling means include expandable graphite, mica, and vermiculite.

The higher the expansion rate of the intumescent filling means, the better the effect is. After the intumescent filling means expands, a char layer is formed so that the flame retardant performance can be maintained. However, if the expansion rate is too great, the char layer cannot be fixed so that the fire stopping performance may be negatively impacted. Further, the expansion of the intumescent filling means should be achieved upon general fire accidents. Thus, an intumescent filling means, which can expand approximately 10-fold to 300-fold at a temperature of more than 200°C, can be easily applied to the present invention. More specifically, any intumescent filling means, which expands approximately 50-fold to 300-fold at a temperature of from 200°C to 1,000°C, can be effectively applied to the fire stopping system of the present invention.

The amount of the intumescent filling means should be sufficient enough to enable the expansion rate of the fire stopping spiral tube as a resulting product to achieve its desired objective. According to one embodiment of the present invention, the amount of the intumescent filling means may be 10% by weight to 40% by weight based on the premised weight percent of the fire stopping spiral tube.

On the other hand, the binder resin is a base material component for the fire stopping spiral tube and performs as a binder to bind the intumescent filling means. For the binder resin, it is possible to use any binder resin component in an amount sufficient enough to bind the intumescent filling means and enable the fire stopping spiral tube and the flame retardant sheet forming the fire stopping spiral tube to maintain their forms.

Preferably, the binder resin has low ignitability at high temperature, produces less gas or fumes in case of burning or pyro lysis, and does not negatively affect the heat expansion of the intumescent filling means. Examples of the binder resin include a polyethylene resin, ethylene vinyl acetate, a polyacrylic resin, a polyurethane resin, and rubber. These binder resins may be used solely or mixed for use.

Meanwhile, the blending amount of each of the binder resins above may vary depending on use purposes. In the present invention, the binder resin is used in an amount of approximately 40% by weight to 65% by weight.

Meanwhile, in order to produce the fire stopping spiral tube, if necessary, a flame blocking agent, a heat resistant filling means, a cross-linking agent, and an antifoaming agent, as well as filling means such as a flame retardant filling means, a heat conduction inhibitor, a fire resistant filling means, and a plasticizer, may be additionally used.

The production of the fire stopping spiral tube according to the present invention will be described with the examples provided below.

Examples 1 to 4

The spiral tube was produced with the composition ratio provided in Table 1 below. Table 1

PE refers to a polyethylene resin, and EVA refers to ethylele vinyl acetate.

The binder resin, the intumescent filling means, the flame retardant filling means, the heat conduction inhibitor, the fire resistant filling means, and the additives are mixed in a container. Then, a flame retardant sheet in a cylindrical tube form was produced using an extruder. The tube is longitudinally cut and rolled at a processing temperature of 60°C to 70°C. As a result, the spiral tube as illustrated in Fig. 2 was produced.

Experiment Example 1 - Experiment for Expansion Rate

In order to measure a free expansion rate of the fire stopping spiral tube produced in Examples 1 to 4, a specimen (diameter: 44mm; thickness: 4mm) was prepared and put into a furnace. While increasing temperature from room temperature to 400°C for three minutes, the expansion rate was calculated. As a result, it was confirmed that the expansion rates of the fire stopping spiral tubes produced in Examples 1 to 4 were 800%, 1,050%, 1,200%, and 850%, respectively.

It was confirmed that the fire stopping spiral tube of the present invention can achieve the great expansion performance with the expansion rate of around 1,000% for the short period of three minutes during which temperature increases from room temperature to 400°C.

Examples 5 to 8

By using the fire stopping spiral tube produced in Examples 1 to 4, a fire stopping system was produced. The method of creating the fire stopping system will be described with reference to Figs. 6 to 8.

The opening (20) was formed through a wall (30) in which the fire stopping system (10) of the present invention was installed. Then, the fire stopping spiral tube produced in Examples 1 to 4 was cut to have a length corresponding to the thickness of the wall. For working convenience, a frame (21) was installed in the opening(20).

Thereafter, the fire stopping spiral tubes, which wrap linear type materials (200), e.g., two wires, three telecommunication cables, and two pipes, were provided in the opening (20) of the wall (30). The remaining space of the opening was filled with the fire stopping spiral tubes, which do not wrap anything. Cables were positioned in the fire stopping spiral tubes. Fig. 6 shows the completed installation of the fire stopping system.

Thereafter, the opening of the wall surface was closed by sealing a portion of the opening, which extends to the wall surface. For the sealing, a silicon sealant surface treating agent was used to easily carry out the finishing treatment.

Fig. 7 shows the state of the fire stopping system according to Fig. 6 after an end portion of the opening, which extends to the wall surface, has been sealed. Fig. 8 is a sectional view of the fire stopping system according to the embodiment of Fig. 7.

Experiment Example 2 - Fire Stopping Experiment

An actual fire stopping test was conducted for the fire stopping system produced in Examples 5 to 8. The fire stopping test was conducted by applying fire to one surface of the fire stopping system shown in Figs. 6-8. Specifically, while applying heat of 500 ^° C to one side of the wall in which the fire stopping system was installed, as shown in Figs. 6-8, the degree of stopping fire was observed. As a result of the IMO 754.18 test, it was confirmed that the temperature of the reverse surface of the heated surface maintained at 50°C to 70°C. As a result of the fire stopping test, it was confirmed that the fire stopping system of the present invention achieved excellent fire stopping performance.

In the particular test conducted, the fire stopping test confirmed that the opening was completely blocked.

Numerous substitutions, modifications, and variations to the present invention that has been described are possible by one of ordinary skill in the art of the present invention within the technical gist of the present invention. Thus, the scope of the present invention is not limited to the examples described herein and the appended drawings.