Rack-mounted fire suppression system

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-9517371-B1
Application number	US-201213625519-A
Country	US
Kind code	B1
Filing date	Sep 24, 2012
Priority date	Sep 24, 2012
Publication date	Dec 13, 2016
Grant date	Dec 13, 2016

Abstract

A data center includes a plurality of racks on a floor and one or more fire suppression systems coupled to at least some of the racks. The fire suppression systems include reservoirs mounted on the racks, a fire suppression material in the reservoir, and one or more material dispensing devices coupled to the reservoir. The material dispensing devices may dispense fire suppression material onto or into the racks in response to a fire condition.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A data center, comprising:
a floor;
a plurality of racks on the floor, wherein the plurality of racks comprise a plurality of rack-mounted servers; and
one or more fire suppression devices each coupled to at least one of the plurality of racks, wherein at least one of the fire suppression devices comprises:
one or more reservoirs mounted above a top surface of the at least one of the plurality of racks, wherein at least one reservoir of the one or more reservoirs is configured to hold a quantity of fire suppression material sufficient to suppress a fire in multiple ones of a plurality of rack-mounted servers mounted in the at least one rack; and
one or more material dispensing devices mounted to at least one of the reservoirs,
wherein at least one of the material dispensing devices is configured to dispense fire suppression material held in the at least one reservoir onto or into the rack in response to a fire condition.

2. The data center of claim 1 , wherein at least one of the fire suppression devices is configured to mount on a top surface of a rack.

3. The data center of claim 1 ,
wherein the one or more fire suppression devices comprise two or more fire suppression devices,
wherein each of at least two of the two or more fire suppression devices is coupled to a respective top surface of a different one of the racks.

4. The data center of claim 3 , wherein at least one of the fire suppression devices is configured to protect at least two of the racks on the floor.

5. The data center of claim 3 , wherein at least one of the fire suppression devices is configured to dispense fire suppression material onto a rack other than the rack the fire suppression device is mounted on.

6. The data center of claim 3 , wherein the at least two fire suppression devices are structurally cross-coupled to one another.

7. The data center of claim 3 , further comprising a cable tray coupled across the at least two of the fire suppression devices, wherein the cable tray is configured to structurally cross-couple the at least two fire suppression devices such that the at least two racks are stabilized under seismic loads.

8. The data center of claim 1 , wherein at least a part of at least one of the fire suppression devices comprises a ballast portion coupled to the rack by way of one or more spring devices, wherein the ballast portion is configured to stabilize the rack under seismic loads transmitted from the floor to the rack.

9. A fire suppression system, comprising:
one or more mounting portions configured to mount on a rack comprising a plurality of rack-mounted servers;
one or more reservoirs, wherein at least one reservoir of the one or more reservoirs is configured to couple with the one or more mounting portions and mount above a top surface of the rack and hold a quantity of fire suppression material sufficient to suppress a fire in multiple ones of the plurality of rack-mounted servers mounted in the rack; and
one or more material dispensing devices mounted to at least one of the reservoirs,
wherein at least one of the material dispensing devices is configured to dispense fire suppression material held in the at least one reservoir onto or into the rack in response to a fire condition.

10. The fire suppression system of claim 9 , wherein the mounting portions are configured to mount the fire suppression system on the top surface of the rack.

11. The fire suppression system of claim 9 , wherein the one or more material dispensing devices comprise two or more material dispensing devices, wherein each of at least two of the material dispensing devices is on a different side of the rack.

12. The fire suppression system of claim 9 , wherein at least one of the material dispensing devices comprises a head, wherein the head is configured to rotate or oscillate to distribute the fire suppression material.

13. The fire suppression system of claim 9 , wherein at least one of the material dispensing devices overhangs the rack.

14. The fire suppression system of claim 9 , further comprising a release mechanism configured to release at least a portion of the fire suppression material from the reservoir in response to a fire condition.

15. The fire suppression system of claim 9 , wherein at least one of the one or more reservoirs is configured for at least a portion of the fire suppression material to be pressurized.

16. The fire suppression system of claim 9 , further comprising at least one thermal fuse configured to dispense at least a portion of the fire suppression material in response to a fire condition.

17. The fire suppression system of claim 9 , wherein the reservoir is configured to couple to the rack by way of one or more shock mount devices, wherein the reservoir is configured to couple to the rack such that the one or more shock mount devices absorb at least a portion of an energy from one or more seismic loads transmitted from a floor to the rack.

18. The fire suppression system of claim 17 , wherein the fire suppression material in the reservoir comprises a liquid, wherein the liquid partially fills the reservoir, wherein the reservoir is configured such that the liquid moves within the reservoir in response to side-to-side seismic loads such that the seismic loads are dampened.

19. A method of suppressing a fire in rack-mounted servers, comprising:
coupling a reservoir of fire suppression material mount above a top surface of the rack comprising a plurality of rack-mounted servers, wherein the reservoir holds a quantity of fire suppression material sufficient to suppress a fire in multiple ones of rack-mounted servers mounted in the rack, wherein coupling the reservoir to the top surface of the rack comprises coupling the reservoir to the rack via one or more mounting portions configured to mount on the rack; and
dispensing, in response to fire condition, via one or more material dispensing devices mounted to the reservoir, at least a portion of the fire suppression material held in the reservoir onto or into the rack.

20. The method of claim 19 , wherein the fire suppression material is dispensed in response to a release element reaching a predetermined temperature.

21. The method of claim 19 , further comprising dispensing at least a portion of the fire suppression material onto a rack other than the rack on which the reservoir is mounted.

22. The method of claim 19 , wherein at least one of the one or more material dispensing devices comprises a head that rotates or oscillates, wherein at least a portion of the fire suppression material is dispensed through a head that rotates or oscillates to distribute the fire suppression material on or in the rack.

Assignees

• Amazon Tech Inc

Inventors

• Gardner Brock R
• Morales Osvaldo P
• Czamara Michael P

Classifications

• A62C3/16 Primary

  in electrical installations, e.g. cableways · CPC title

• A62C35/02

  with containers for delivering the extinguishing substance · CPC title

• A62C3/002

  for warehouses, storage areas or other installations for storing goods · CPC title