Ultra high pressure water fire fighting system

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-10843017-B2
Application number	US-201615239698-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Aug 17, 2016
Priority date	Aug 18, 2015
Publication date	Nov 24, 2020
Grant date	Nov 24, 2020

Abstract

A fire fighting vehicle includes a chassis, an engine coupled to the chassis, a fluid tank configured to store a fluid, a fluid delivery system, and a controller. The fluid delivery system includes a first pump, a second pump, a low pressure discharge, a first high pressure discharge, and a second high pressure discharge. The first pump is coupled to the fluid tank and configured to pump the fluid therefrom at a first pressure. The second pump is positioned downstream of and coupled to the first pump in a serial arrangement. The controller is configured to selectively vary at least one of a speed, a power output, and a torque output of the engine and thereby provide the fluid to at least one of the first high pressure discharge and the second high pressure discharge at a target discharge pressure.

First claim

The invention claimed is:

1. A fluid delivery system for a fire fighting vehicle, the fluid delivery system comprising:
a low pressure discharge;
a low pressure pump having an inlet positioned to receive a fluid from a fluid tank and an outlet fluidly coupled to the low pressure discharge;
a high pressure pump having an inlet fluidly coupled to the outlet of the low pressure pump such that the low pressure pump and the high pressure pump are arranged in a serial configuration;
a turret coupled to an outlet of the high pressure pump;
a hose reel coupled to the outlet of the high pressure pump;
a clutch positioned to facilitate selectively coupling the high pressure pump to the engine; and
a controller coupled to the clutch;
wherein the fluid delivery system is selectively reconfigurable between a first mode of operation and a second mode of operation;
wherein the low pressure pump provides a first fluid output (i) to the high pressure pump during the first mode of operation and (ii) to the low pressure discharge during the second mode of operation;
wherein the high pressure pump receives the first fluid output from the low pressure pump and provides a second fluid output that has a higher pressure than the first fluid output to at least one of the turret and the hose reel during the first mode of operation;
wherein the controller engages the clutch to selectively couple the high pressure pump to the engine in response to the fluid delivery system being operated in the first mode of operation such that the at least one of the turret and the hose reel receive the second fluid output; and
wherein the controller disengages the clutch to selectively decouple the high pressure pump from the engine in response to the fluid delivery system being operated in the second mode of operation such that the turret and the hose reel do not receive the second fluid output, but the low pressure discharge receives the first fluid output.

2. A fluid delivery system for a fire fighting vehicle, the fluid delivery system comprising:
a low pressure discharge;
a low pressure pump having an inlet configured to receive a fluid from a fluid tank and an outlet coupled to the low pressure discharge;
a high pressure pump having an inlet coupled to the outlet of the low pressure pump such that the low pressure pump and the high pressure pump are arranged in a serial configuration, wherein the high pressure pump is configured to be selectively driven by an engine of the fire fighting vehicle; and
a turret coupled to an outlet of the high pressure pump;
a hose reel coupled to the outlet of the high pressure pump; and
a controller;
wherein the fluid delivery system is selectively reconfigurable between a first mode of operation and a second mode of operation;
wherein the low pressure pump provides a first fluid output (i) to the high pressure pump during the first mode of operation and (ii) to the low pressure discharge during the second mode of operation;
wherein the high pressure pump receives the first fluid output from the low pressure pump and provides a second fluid output that has a higher pressure than the first fluid output to at least one of the turret and the hose reel during the first mode of operation; and
wherein, during the first mode of operation, the controller:
operates the engine at a first set point in response to receiving a first discharge signal associated with discharging the second fluid output from the turret;
operates the engine at a second set point that is less than the first set point in response to receiving a second discharge signal associated with discharging the second fluid output from the hose reel; and
operates the engine at a third set point that is greater than the second set point in response to receiving both the first discharge signal and the second discharge signal.

3. The fluid delivery system of claim 2 , further comprising the fluid tank, wherein the fluid tank includes at least one of a water tank configured to store water and an agent tank configured to store an agent.

4. The fluid delivery system of claim 3 , the fluid tank comprising the agent tank configured to store the agent, further comprising an agent distribution system coupled to the low pressure pump and the agent tank, wherein the agent distribution system is configured to regulate an amount of the agent within the fluid provided to the low pressure pump.

5. The fluid delivery system of claim 2 , wherein the low pressure discharge includes a structural discharge.

6. The fluid delivery system of claim 2 , further comprising a user interface coupled to the controller and configured to receive a discharge input from an operator of the fire fighting vehicle to discharge the second fluid output from the turret, wherein the user interface is configured to provide the first discharge signal to the controller in response to receiving the discharge input.

7. The fluid delivery system of claim 6 , further comprising a flow sensor coupled to the controller and configured to provide the second discharge signal relating to a flow of the second fluid output through the hose reel.

8. The fluid delivery system of claim 7 , wherein the controller
operates the engine at a fourth set point that is different than the first set point, the second set point, and the third set point for a period of time during a transition from discharging the second output fluid from one of the turret and the hose reel to both the turret and the hose reel.

9. The fluid delivery system of claim 2 , wherein the controller is further configured to provide an output relating to an operating characteristic of the engine based on a fluid discharge condition of the at least one of the turret and the hose reel.

10. The fluid delivery system of claim 9 , wherein the fluid discharge condition includes a flow rate, further comprising a flow sensor coupled to the controller and configured to provide a signal relating to the flow rate associated with the at least one of the turret and the hose reel.

11. The fluid delivery system of claim 9 , wherein the fluid discharge condition includes a discharge input, further comprising a user interface coupled to the controller and configured to receive the discharge input from an operator of the fire fighting vehicle to discharge the fluid from the at least one of the turret and the hose reel.

12. The fluid delivery system of claim 11 , wherein the controller is configured to selectively couple the high pressure pump to the engine in response to the discharge input.

13. The fluid delivery system of claim 2 , further comprising a relief system positioned to regulate fluid pressure between (i) the low pressure pump and (ii) the high pressure pump and the low pressure discharge, wherein the relief system is configured to regulate the pressure at the outlet of the low pressure pump to a target pressure such that the fluid is provided at the low pressure discharge and the high pressure pump at the target pressure.

14. The fluid delivery system of claim 2 , wherein the controller is configured to prevent the fluid delivery system from being operated in the second mode unless the fire fighting vehicle is determined to be in a parked configuration.

Assignees

• Oshkosh Defense Llc

Inventors

• Shively Jason R
• Kay David R
• Mccomber Scott A
• Newlin Seth M
• Woelfel John D

Classifications

• A62C27/00 Primary

  Fire-fighting land vehicles · CPC title

• A62C33/04

  Supports or clamps for fire hoses · CPC title

• A62C35/026

  the extinguishing material being put under pressure by means other than pressure gas, e.g. pumps · CPC title