Horizontal sidewall fire protection sprinkler

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-10046190-B2
Application number	US-201515500841-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Aug 3, 2015
Priority date	Aug 1, 2014
Publication date	Aug 14, 2018
Grant date	Aug 14, 2018

Abstract

A horizontal sidewall fire protection sprinkler includes a sprinkler body, a sealing assembly, a sleeve body, a yoke, a load screw, levers, a soldered link, a slide plate, a deflector support member, a deflector, and a spring. When ambient temperature in an occupancy reaches a predetermined temperature, the soldered link fails, the levers release, and the yoke and the load screw are forced away from the sprinkler body. The spring forces the slide plate and the deflector support member away from an inner wall of the sprinkler body toward an opening at an outer end of the sleeve body, and the deflector support member and the deflector protrude from the outer end of the sleeve body. The sealing assembly is released from a sealed state, and the fire protection sprinkler outputs fluid from a fluid supply to the occupancy.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A horizontal sidewall fire protection sprinkler configured (i) to change from a non-actuated state to an actuated state when ambient temperature in an occupancy reaches a predetermined temperature, and (ii), when in the actuated state, to receive a fluid from a fluid supply and to output the fluid to the occupancy in the actuated state, the fire protection sprinkler comprising:
(A) a sprinkler body having an inlet, an outlet, and an inner wall near the inlet, the inlet and the outlet defining a fluid passage;
(B) a sealing assembly that has an outer surface that is configured to seal the outlet of the sprinkler body when the sealing assembly is in a sealed state and the fire protection sprinkler is in the non-actuated state;
(C) a sleeve body, having (a) an inner end that is secured to an outer surface of the sprinkler body, and (b) an outer end with an opening;
(D) a yoke mounted in the opening of the sleeve body, the yoke substantially spanning a diameter of the opening of the sleeve body;
(E) a load screw configured to be positioned in a loaded position, in which the load screw is urged by the yoke toward the outer surface of the sealing assembly, thereby holding the sealing assembly in the sealed state when the fire protection sprinkler is in the non-actuated state;
(F) levers configured to move from (a) a retaining position, when the fire protection sprinkler is in the non-actuated state, in which the levers hold (i) the yoke in the opening of the sleeve body and (ii) the load screw in the loaded position, and (b) a released position, when the fire protection sprinkler is in the actuated state, in which the levers do not hold either of (i) the yoke in the opening of the sleeve body and (ii) the load screw in the loaded position;
(G) a soldered link configured (i) to maintain the levers in the retaining position when the fire protection sprinkler is in the non-actuated state, and (ii) to fail when ambient temperature in the occupancy reaches the predetermined temperature and the fire protection sprinkler is in the actuated state, thereby releasing the levers so that the levers move from the retaining position to the released position;
(H) a slide plate configured to move from (i) a retracted position near the inner wall of the sprinkler body when the fire protection sprinkler is in the non-actuated state, to (ii) an extended position near the outlet of the sleeve body, the slide plate having an outer surface, and a central aperture that surrounds a portion of the fluid passage of the sprinkler body when the slide plate is in the retracted position;
(I) a deflector support member that is connected to the outer surface of the slide plate and extends from the outer surface of the slide plate toward the opening at the outer end of the sleeve body;
(J) a deflector that is (i) mounted on the deflector support member and (ii) positioned between the load screw and the outer surface of the sealing assembly; and
(K) a spring provided in the sprinkler body between the inner wall of the sprinkler body and the slide plate, the spring being configured to force (i) the slide plate, and (ii) the deflector support member away from the inner wall of the sprinkler body toward the opening of at the outer end of the sleeve body when the soldered link fails and the fire protection sprinkler is in the actuated state,
wherein, when the fire protection sprinkler is in the actuated state, the deflector support member and the deflector protrude from outer end of the sleeve body.

2. The horizontal sidewall fire protection sprinkler of claim 1 , wherein the deflector support member includes:
(a) at least one tower; and
(b) at least one guide pin that is slidably retained in the at least one tower, and is configured to move from a retained position, in which the at least one guide pin is housed in the at least one tower, to an extended position, in which the at least one guide pin extends from the at least one tower,
wherein the deflector is mounted to the at least one guide pin,
wherein the slide plate has at least one aperture configured to retain that at least one guide pin and the at least one tower, and
wherein, when the soldered link fails and the fire protection sprinkler is in the actuated state, the spring forces the at least one guide pin to move from the retained position to the extended position.

3. The horizontal sidewall fire protection sprinkler of claim 2 , wherein a subassembly, including the at least one tower, the at least one guide pin, and the deflector, is configured to move:
(a) from (i) a housed position, in which the subassembly is housed within the sleeve body and the at least one guide pin is housed within the at least one tower, to (ii) a partially-protruded position, in which the at least one tower protrudes partly from the sleeve body, the at least one guide pin is in the retained position within the at least one tower, and the deflector is spaced from the sleeve body an initial protrusion distance; and
(b) from (i) the partially-protruded position to (ii) a fully-protruded position, in which the at least one tower protrudes partly from the sleeve, the at least one guide pin is in the extended position, and the deflector is spaced from the sleeve body a final protrusion distance that is greater than the initial protrusion distance.

4. The horizontal sidewall fire protection sprinkler of claim 2 , wherein the at least one guide pin is configured to be inserted through the at least one aperture on the slide plate and is secured to the slide plate with a nut.

5. The horizontal sidewall fire protection sprinkler of claim 1 , wherein the sealing assembly comprises:
(a) a spring washer seated at the outlet of the sprinkler body; and
(b) a closure element received in the washer and sealing the outlet of the sprinkler body,
wherein, when the fire protection sprinkler is in the non-actuated state, the load screw retains the closure element and the spring washer in a sealed position in the outlet of the sprinkler body.

6. The horizontal sidewall fire protection sprinkler of claim 5 , further comprising (L) a ball that is provided between the load screw and the closure element, wherein, when the fire protection sprinkler is in the non-actuated state, the load screw, via the ball and the closure element, causes the sprinkler washer to deflect.

7. The horizontal sidewall fire protection sprinkler of claim 1 ,
wherein the sleeve body has a retaining flange that defines the opening at the outer end of the sleeve body, and
wherein the yoke is self-centering and self-seating on the retaining flange, and has terraced tabs, including a top tab that serves as a vertical seating medium, a middle tab that serves as a horizontal centering medium with an inner diameter of the retaining flange, and a bottom tab that serves as a load bearing medium for the levers when the levers are in the retaining position.

8. The horizontal sidewall fire protection sprinkler of claim 1 , further comprising:
(L) a diffuser, attached to the deflector and positioned between the load screw and the seal assembly, the diffuser including a convex solid portion positioned so that a center of the convex solid portion aligns with an axis of the fluid passage in the sprinkler body,
wherein, when the fire protection sprinkler is in the non-actuated state, the diffuser transmits the force from the load screw to the seal assembly, and when the fire protection sprinkler is in the actuated state and outputs the fluid received from the fluid supply, the fluid strikes the convex solid portion of the diffuser.

9. The horizontal sidewall sprinkler of claim 8 , wherein the deflector includes:
(a) a horizontally extending upper planar portion ext

Assignees

• Reliable Automatic Sprinkler Co Inc

Inventors

• Polan George S
• Jimenez Juan

Classifications

• A62C37/08

  comprising an outlet device containing a sensor, or itself being the sensor, i.e. self-contained sprinklers · CPC title

• A62C37/09 Primary

  telescopic or adjustable · CPC title

• A62C31/03

  adjustable, e.g. from spray to jet or vice versa · CPC title

• B05B1/267

  the liquid or other fluent material being deflected in determined directions · CPC title

• A62C37/12

  with fusible links · CPC title