TECHNICAL FIELD

The present concerns a fire extinguishing system, and more particularly a smart, remotely operable fire extinguishing system. BACKGROUND

In cities, fire extinguishing is problematic for large or high-raise buildings, especially where such buildings are located near other buildings. It is especially difficult for firemen, who must manually or mechanically aim high pressure water jets at the fire core on upper level floors, which can be unsuccessful or inefficient. Furthermore, fire hoses being heavy and cumbersome are difficult to use manually, whereas mechanical, collapsible towers of firefighting cars have a rather limited scope. These limitations often require firemen to physically access high, heavily smoking areas, where the fire is set. This can lead to loss of critical firefighting time, which may result in casualties and/or serious injuries to the firemen and/or the building occupants. Additionally, delays in reaching the fire can often results in increased material losses and water damage to areas otherwise not affected by the fire.

For domestic dwellings, fires remain an acute urban problem because residents may not have time to escape their burning homes, owing to the rapid spread of fires within the home. In addition, for less able-bodied persons, escaping from a fire can be potentially hazardous, especially for persons with heart conditions.

Finally, woodland fires, if they are not contained, can be catastrophic not only for the loss of the woodland, but also for the destruction of wildlife habitat. This can have an immediate and long-term impact on a country's environment and economy.

Other than conventional systems which rely on a fire-onset-alarm-firefighting- salvage cycle, in which the solution to the aforesaid problems involves the use of firefighters with water hoses either brought to the scene of a fire on a fire truck or the use of sprinkler systems within commercial and residential buildings, or firefighting airplanes, the inventor is not aware of any stand-alone, smart firefighting devices which does not require human intervention, and which can significantly increase the chance for human and wildlife survival, and for saving property, which is safe, environmental-friendly, water and energy-efficient and easy to maintain.

Thus, there is a need for an improved fire extinguisher that addresses the aforesaid problems.

BRIEF SUMMARY

I have designed a novel fire extinguisher system, which can significantly reduce the loss of property and prevent casualties during a fire. The system can be used inside and outside of buildings, on streetlights and in woodland areas that would otherwise be inaccessible to conventional firefighting apparatus and firefighting personnel. Accordingly, there is provided a smart firefighting system for extinguishing a local fire, comprising: a) one or more sensors mounted in an enclosure; b) a controller located remote from the enclosure and in communication with the sensors; and c) one or more fire extinguishers located adjacent the enclosure for deploying fire retardant onto the local fire, the fire extinguishers being in communication with the controller and operable upon receipt of a command from the controller.

In one example, the fire extinguishers are located in at least one wall of the enclosure. In another example, the fire extinguishers are located within ceiling panels of the enclosure. In another example, the fire extinguishers are located adjacent at least one enclosure window. In another example, the fire extinguishers are integral with external building moldings adjacent at least one enclosure window.

In one example, the fire extinguishers are movably mounted on guide rails located on an external building wall to permit movement of the fire extinguishers to the local fire.

In another example, the fire extinguishers are connected to a municipal water supply. One or more pumps are connected in series to the fire extinguishers and the water supply to pump water onto the local fire.

In one example, the sensor includes a temperature detector. In one example, the sensor includes an substance analyzer to analyze the contents of smoke and flame composition. The substance analyzer is in communication with the controller and issues a report on the fire extinguishing process, including the substances involved in the onset of the fire.

In one example, the controller is in communication with a computer. In one example, the enclosure is a room in a high-rise building. The enclosure is a room in a house.

According to another aspect .there is provided a smart firefighting system for extinguishing a local fire, comprising: a) one or more sensors mounted on a support; b) a controller located remote from the support and in communication with the sensors; and c) one or more fire extinguishers located adjacent the local fire for deploying fire retardant onto the local fire, the fire extinguishers being in communication with the controller and operable upon receipt of a command from the controller.

In one example the local fire is located in woodland. In one example, the support is a light pole located away from a building having the local fire located therein.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE FIGURES

Figure 1 is a diagrammatic representation of a fire fighting system located in a room of a building

Figure 2 is diagram of a room showing steerable fire extinguishers;

Figure 3A is a perspective view of a firefighting system located on or over a building exterior;

Figure 3B is a perspective view of a deployed firefighting system fighting a building fire;

Figure 4 illustrates a perspective view of a fire fighting system located on streetlight poles;

Figure 5 are perspective views of a fire fighting system located adjacent a house exterior; and Figure 6 illustrates a perspective view of a plurality of fire fighting systems located in remote woodland.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Unless otherwise specified, the following definitions apply:

The singular forms "a", "an" and "the" include corresponding plural references, unless the context clearly dictates otherwise.

As used herein, the term "comprising" is intended to mean that the list of elements following the word "comprising" are required or mandatory, but that other elements are optional and may or may not be present. As used herein, the term "consisting of is intended to mean including and limited to whatever follows the phrase "consisting of. Thus the phrase "consisting" of indicates that the listed elements are required or mandatory and that no other elements may be present. Referring now to Figure 1 , there is illustrated a smart firefighting system 10 for extinguishing a local fire 12. Broadly speaking, the system 10 comprises one or more sensors 14_mounted in an enclosure 16. The enclosure 16 is typically a room in a high-rise building 20 or it may be a room in a house. One or more fire extinguishers 18 are located adjacent the enclosure 14 and are typically mounted within a wall 22 or ceiling 24 so as to be hidden from view. In one example, the fire extinguishers 18 are conventional sprinklers. In another example, the fire extinguishers are fire-proof hoses which can direct a focused jet of fire retardant 26, such as water or foam onto the local fire 12. The fire extinguishers 18 are in communication with the sensors 14 and a controller 28 which is located remote from the sensors 14. The fire extinguishers 18 are operable upon receipt of a command from the controller 28 via the sensors 14. The sprinklers are equipped with a long hose 30, which may include a light (not shown) located at the end of the hose. The light can be easily detached from the hose 30 and used by anyone to extinguish fires in specific areas or to extinguish a fire set on an individual's clothes, for example.

Referring now to Figure 2, the fire extinguishers 18 are moveably mounted on the wall 22 to permit steering such that the fire retardant 26 can be directed to a specific area in the room where the local fire 12 is located. This advantageously permits the local fire to be contained and extinguishing before it spreads to other parts of the room.

Referring now to Figures 3A and 3B, the firefighting system 10 is located exterior of a building 32. The fire extinguishers 18 are located adjacent at least one room window 34 and can be deployed as required. The fire extinguishers 18 are integral with external building moldings 36 and, as illustrated, are located adjacent the window 34. In one example, the fire extinguishers 18 are movably mounted on guide rails 38 located on an external building wall 40 to permit movement of the fire extinguishers 18 to the room where the local fire is located. In the example illustrated, the system 10 is located adjacent the building such as, for example, on or over an exterior wall in the form of a panel, a molding or an architectural ornament. It is to be understood that although a high-rise building is illustrated, the device 10 may be used to extinguish fires in any type of structure, surfaces, construction or on boats, and the like. The system 10 that is located exterior a building is used to fight a fire whose flames or heat have broken through the building windows. In this case, the flames can move to other levels in the building away from where the initial fire is set. The fire fighting system 10, when used on buildings which include a plurality of moldings or ornaments, is integrated into the building's facade and exterior walls. This does not modify or affect the appearance of the building's facade. The fire extinguisher sprinklers deploy from all the building's sides upon receipt of a fire signal from the sensors located in the room. When deployed, the fire fighter sprinklers launch a powerful jet of a fire retardant such as water or other retardant known to those skilled in the art. Since the deployable sprinklers are an integral part of the building structure and facade, from bottom to top, the entire building is protected against fire no matter how many floors it has. This essentially eliminates the need for the presence of firefighters to rescue humans or animals from the building.

Referring again to Figure 1 , the fire extinguishers 18 are connected to a municipal water supply 31. This means that the system 10 can be retrofitted into an existing sprinkler system with the need for re-plumbing. To aid deployment of the fire retardant at sufficient pressure to extinguish the fire, one or more pumps 33 are connected in series to the fire extinguishers 18 and the water supply to pump water onto the local fire. The fire extinguishers 18 can alternatively be connected to another source of fire retardant that is independent from the municipal water supply.

The sensor 14 includes a temperature detector (not shown). The temperature detector is calibrated to detect sudden and abnormal increases in temperature in excess of ambient temperature. An optional camera can be located in the sensor which can capture images of the room and relay them to the controller, which can then determine if the rise in temperature is attributable to a local fire. To aid selection of the correct fire retardant and to notify firemen, the sensor includes an substance analyzer for analyzing the composition of smoke and flame at the local fire. The substance analyzer is in communication with the controller issues a report on the fire extinguishing process, including the substances involved in the onset of the fire.

Referring again to Figure 1 , the controller 28 is connected to a system computer 35, which can be wirelessly connected to the controller 28 such as by Bluetooth™, cellular telephone, or with or without GPS support.

In buildings equipped with the fire fighting system 10 that include an interior sprinkler system, the system 10 may also include a plurality of fire-proof cameras, which can operate with the exterior system 10 simultaneously. Additional human and pet fume breathing apparatuses can strategically located. Referring now to Figures 4 and 5, the fire fighting system 10 can be strategically located on light poles or street lamps 42 located away from the building 20. In this case, the fire extinguishers can be steerable so as to direct the fire retardant to the location needed. Advantageously, the exterior fire fighting system may also be used to wash the exterior of a building in a matter of seconds. This can be carried out during regular maintenance checks to ensure the fire extinguisher retain their ability to deploy fire retardant.

The fire fighting system's external sprinklers are not merely limited to moldings or ornaments on the building. They are steerable, and can also be built or embedded into the building's structure and deploy multi-directionally, as required. They are equipped with lighting devices to illuminate the building or room in the event of a night fire, and can be fixed or rotating, such as for example, in the same manner as garden water sprinklers and the like. For extreme cold-weather countries, the fire fighting system interior and exterior piping is properly fire-and- freezing isolated so as to ensure optimum flow of the fire retard ant.

Referring now to Figure 6, a plurality of fire fighting systems 50 can be remotely located in woodland areas that are inaccessible to firefighters. This alternative design of the previously described firefighting system 10 can be used to supplement conventional firefighting in woodland areas, which typically use firefighting aircraft. The system 50 operates essentially identically to the system 10. A plurality of fire extinguishers 52 are mounted on fire hydrants 54 located throughout the woodland area with sensors 56 mounted on the fire hydrants 54. Fire retardant is pumped to the fire hydrants 54 either from nearby water sources such as lakes, rivers or reservoirs, or from independent fire retardant supplies, which would be replenished regularly during fire season. The fire fighting system 50 may include infra red cameras, thermometers, hygrometers and chemical sensors which are powered using solar panels. Advantageously, the sensors 56 are in communication with a remotely located controller 58 and compute, which are typically located in forestry stations. Any observed increase in temperature or detection of flames using the cameras, will cause activation of the system 50 so that the fire is extinguished or contained. Moreover, if the local conditions near the system 50 are optimal for fire ignition, the forestry authorities can be alerted so that fire fighting aircraft can be deployed to damp down an area that could potentially ignite.

Operation

An operation of the system 10 will now be described with reference to Figure 1. When a fire incident begins, such as through an electrical fault, discarded cigarette and the like, the fire is generally localized in the local area such as the room. An increase in local temperature is detected by the sensors and a signal is then sent to the controller which relays a report to the system computer. The system computer then relays information to the controller containing the correct fire fight procedures. The controller then signals the fire extinguishers to deploy and begin directing fire retardant onto the local fire until it is contained or extinguished. Simultaneous with activation of the system, building alarm systems are activated to alert residents of the fire. Such alarm systems may include loudspeaker or messages sent to the residents' television sets or computers. Messages can also be relayed to the local fire department so that the emergency services can be deployed. Feedback from the chemical sensors can be relayed to the firefighting personnel in cases where specific fire retardants are needed to extinguish, for example, a foam fire where toxic fumes might be present.

In high rise building, a fire might spread rapidly and with sufficient force that the windows are broken. If the system is additionally located on the exterior of the building, the system is activated and the externally located fire extinguishers are deployed to direct fire retardant into the room to prevent the fire from spreading to nearby floors or other buildings.

Generally speaking by the time the local fire department reaches the fire, the fire is extinguished or at least controlled thereby lessening the risk to firefighters. Advantageously, since the entire firefighting operation has been filmed by the fire fighting system cameras, a video and data report is generated by the fire fighting system computer, which can be used by the Fire Department and insurance companies, for official statistics, and to determine the cause of the fire. Additionally, the Police Department can use the chemical-related data collected by the fire fighting system on the substances/gases that gave raise to the fire to begin criminal investigation.

Other embodiments

From the foregoing description, it will be apparent to one of ordinary skill in the art that variations and modifications may be made to the invention described herein to adapt it to various usages and conditions. Such embodiments are also within the scope of this invention.