Systems and methods for electronically controlling discharge nozzles

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-12440713-B2
Application number	US-202017615651-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Jun 2, 2020
Priority date	Jun 3, 2019
Publication date	Oct 14, 2025
Grant date	Oct 14, 2025

Abstract

A fire suppression system includes a controller. The controller is configured to receive sensor data regarding a fire condition from a sensor. The controller is also configured to determine a fire suppression response profile based on the sensor data. The controller is also configured to selectively control a flow rate of each of multiple electronically controllable variable flow rate nozzles over time to provide a fire suppressant agent to multiple zones according to the fire suppression response profile.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A fire suppression system comprising:
a controller configured to:
receive sensor data regarding a fire condition from a sensor indicating a location of an area in which the fire condition is detected;
determine a fire suppression response profile based on the sensor data and a type of appliance at the location that the fire condition is detected; and
transmit a control signal to each of a plurality of electronically controllable variable flow rate nozzles, the control signal being pulse width modulated based on the fire suppression response profile, to selectively control a flow rate of each of the plurality of electronically controllable variable flow rate nozzles over time to provide a fire suppressant agent to a plurality of zones according to the fire suppression response profile, wherein the flow rate of each of the plurality of electronically controllable variable flow rate nozzles is independently adjustable by transitioning each of the electronically controllable variable flow rate nozzles between an activated state and a deactivated state over a time period.

2. The fire suppression system of claim 1 , wherein the controller is configured to control operation of ones of the plurality of electronically controllable variable flow rate nozzles that are near or at a detected fire to target and suppress the detected fire.

3. The fire suppression system of claim 1 , further comprising:
the plurality of electronically controllable variable flow rate nozzles configured to provide fire suppressant agent to the plurality of zones of an area; and
the sensor configured to obtain sensor data regarding the fire condition at one or more of the plurality of zones of the area.

4. The fire suppression system of claim 1 , wherein the controller is configured to modify the flow rate of the plurality of electronically controllable variable flow rate nozzles based on the fire condition changing.

5. The fire suppression system of claim 1 , wherein the fire suppression response profile comprises one or more discharge time intervals and one or more discharge rates, wherein each of the one or more discharge rates is associated with a corresponding one of the one or more discharge time intervals.

6. The fire suppression system of claim 1 , wherein the fire suppression response profile comprises a feedback control scheme that uses the received sensor data of the fire condition in real-time to control operation of one or more of the plurality of electronically controllable variable flow rate nozzles.

7. The fire suppression system of claim 1 , wherein the fire suppression system is configured to automatically decrease or increase a response area within a protected zone based on the fire condition.

8. The fire suppression system of claim 1 , wherein the fire suppression system is configured to automatically reactivate in response to an additional fire event occurring until an entirety of available fire suppressant agent is exhausted.

9. A method for operating variable flow rate nozzles to suppress a fire, the method comprising:
receiving fire condition data from a sensor indicating a location of an area in which a fire condition is detected;
detecting the fire condition based on the fire condition data;
determining a fire suppression response profile based on a type of appliance at the location that the fire condition is detected in response to detecting the fire condition;
modifying a flow rate of one or more of the variable flow rate nozzles over time according to the fire suppression response profile to suppress a fire by controlling the one or more variable flow rate nozzles using a pulse width modulated signal determined based on the fire suppression response profile, wherein the flow rate of each of the plurality of electronically controllable variable flow rate nozzles is independently adjustable by transitioning each of the electronically controllable variable flow rate nozzles between an activated state and a deactivated state.

10. The method of claim 9 , wherein determining the fire suppression response profile comprises selecting a fire suppression response profile from a database of fire suppression response profiles based on at least one of:
whether a fire condition is detected in any of the zones of the area; or
a location of the fire condition detected in any of the zones of the area.

11. The method of claim 9 , further comprising:
controlling the operation of one or more of the variable flow rate nozzles that are near or at the detected fire to target and suppress the detected fire; and
activating additional ones of the variable flow rate nozzles or deactivating ones of the variable flow rate nozzles in response to the fire condition changing.

12. The method of claim 9 , wherein the fire suppression response profile is a control scheme, wherein the controller is configured to input real-time fire condition data to the control scheme to operate the variable flow rate nozzles.

13. A fire suppression system comprising:
a plurality of pulse width modulated (PWM) nozzles configured to provide fire suppressant agent to a plurality of zones of an area, wherein each of the plurality of PWM nozzles is configured to independently transition between an activated state and a deactivated state;
one or more sensors configured to obtain fire condition data at one or more of the plurality of zones of the area; and
a controller configured to:
receive the fire condition data from the one or more sensors;
detect a presence of a fire condition in any of the zones of the area based on the fire condition data;
in response to detection of the presence of the fire condition, determine a fire suppression response profile based on a type of appliance at a location at which the fire condition is detected;
generate a pulse width modulation signal based on the fire suppression response profile; and
provide the pulse width modulation signal to one or more of the plurality of PWM nozzles to operate the PWM nozzles to distribute the fire suppressant agent according to the fire suppression response profile, wherein the flow rate of each of the PWM nozzles is independently adjustable by adjusting the pulse width modulation signal of each of the PWM nozzles.

14. The fire suppression system of claim 13 , wherein determining the fire suppression response profile comprises selecting a fire suppression response profile from a database of fire suppression response profiles based on at least one of:
whether a fire is detected in any of the zones of the area;
a location of the fire detected in any of the zones of the area; or
an appliance type at the location of the fire.

15. The fire suppression system of claim 14 , wherein the controller is configured to receive an update from a remote or local device to update the database with new fire suppression response profiles.

16. The fire suppression system of claim 13 , further comprising a plurality of the one or more sensors, wherein each of the plurality of the one or more sensors are configured to obtain fire condition data at a corresponding zone of the area.

17. The fire suppression system of claim 13 , wherein the controller is configured to modify the pulse width modulation signals provided to one or more of the plurality of PWM nozzles based on the fire condition data changing.

18. The fire suppression system of claim 13 , wherein the fire suppression response profile comprises one or more discharge time intervals and one or more discharge rates, wherein each of the one or more discharge rates is as

Assignees

• Tyco Fire Products Lp

Inventors

• Troutt Sean S
• Staszak Adam

Classifications

• A62C3/006

  for kitchens or stoves · CPC title

• A62C31/005

  using nozzles · CPC title

• A62C37/44

  only the sensor being in the danger zone · CPC title

• A62C37/04

  with electrically-controlled release · CPC title

• A62C37/40 Primary

  with electric connection between sensor and actuator · CPC title