WO2002030515A1

WO2002030515A1 - Fire-fighting system

Info

Publication number: WO2002030515A1
Application number: PCT/BG2001/000015
Authority: WO
Inventors: Jordan Marinov Jordanov; Atanas Petrov Semerdjiev; Liudmil Mihailov Georgiev
Original assignee: BETA JSC
Current assignee: BETA JSC
Priority date: 2000-10-13
Filing date: 2001-10-12
Publication date: 2002-04-18
Anticipated expiration: 2003-04-13
Also published as: AU2001295303A1; BG104854A

Abstract

The present invention relates to a fire-fighting system and especially to an all-purpose rough terrain fire-fighting vehicle which may be directed into close proximity to and/or the fire area. The system comprises a motorized all-terrain vehicle and fire-fighting equipment. The vehicle includes a body and an operator cab inside the body. The body is equipped with thermoproof, impactproof and explosion proof armor for prevention of high temperatures, falling objects and explosions. The front part of the body is double beveled from its upper and bottom part, in order to form a very strong sharp edge, which enables the penetration through the burning objects. The body is capable for holding inside at least one water storage tank. The body of the vehicle is capable for sealing-off. The fire-fighting equipment include at least one high volume nozzle for directing of fighting fluid onto the fire. The nozzle is connected to the source of fighting fluid.

Description

FIRE-FIGHTING SYSTEM

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates to a fire-fighting system and especially to an all-purpose rough terrain fire-fighting vehicle which may be directed into close proximity to and/or the fire area. The system may be used for fighting wildland and interface fires, for example spread in rough country and mountain terrains, impenetrable forest localities, agricultural fields and areas, airports, petrochemical plants, oil refineries and conflagrations in various other municipality and industry environments. The system may be performed for work under conditions of nuclear, chemical and/or biological pollution, which may result from the fire.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

It is well known that vast tracts land and property have been destroyed every year by brush land fires, timber fires and/or urban wild fires. In case of fire, besides the bringing of the fire under control, it is also important to reach quickly in close proximity the center of the fire, in order to prevent a new inflammation of the fire or to perform life-saving operations.

Fire protection and fire-fighting equipment are well known from the practice and the literature. Example of fire-fighting system comprising all-terrain fire- fighting vehicle including thermoshielded body and operator cab inside the body, the system further comprising different fire-fighting equipment including an onboard water tank, is disclosed in US Patent 6,289,995. The known fire-fighting system may be effective for fighting wildland fires, but it is not adapted for use in environment polluted areas and is not protected against impacts of falling burning objects in urban areas.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The aim of the invention is to provide an all-purpose rough terrain fire- fighting system, which is able to come quickly near to and to work specified period of time under the conditions of close proximity to and/or the fire area.

Surprisingly it has been found that this and other aims of the invention are achieved by the fire-fighting system herein disclosed. The system according to the invention comprises a motorized all-terrain vehicle and a plurality of fire-fighting equipment. The vehicle includes a body and an operator cab inside the body. The body is equipped with thermoproof, impactproof and explosion proof armor for prevention of high temperatures, falling objects and explosions. It is possible for the vehicle to reach and work specified period of time under conditions of immediate proximity to and/or the fire area. The front part of the body is double beveled from its upper and bottom part, in order to form a very strong sharp edge, which enables the penetration through the burning objects. The operator cab is located inside of the body. That makes the construction more compact and convenient for sealing-off and for avoiding the contact with the fire environment. The body is capable for holding inside at least one water storage tank. When the vehicle is provided with a water storage tank, it may operate independently from the presence of any external source of fighting fluid. Preferably the body of the vehicle is capable for sealing-off. Thus the system is able to operate under condition of radioactive, chemical and/or biological pollutions, which may result from the fire.

The fire-fighting equipment include at least one high volume nozzle for directing of fighting fluid onto the fire. The nozzle is connected to the source of fighting fluid. In most of the cases the fighting fluid is water.

In one preferred embodiment the vehicle is a tracked motorized vehicle. Thus the tracks and the bottom bevel of the front part of the body enable the pressing of the burning objects to the ground, which decreases the penetration of oxygen and suppresses the flames respectively. It is created the penetration ability of the system to different burning objects, which in combination with its squeezing ability enables the bringing of fires under control and fighting of fires located as in hard acceptable places as well in dense built-up city and industrial areas. The movement of the system through non-stable burning objects is facilitated.

In one embodiment of the invention the vehicle is amphibious. This enables quick crossing of water areas, which intercept the path to the fire.

In another embodiment the upper part of said body is flat and surrounded by a protection fence. This allows transportation of life saving and other relief equipment, as well as of additional crew. The body may be adapted for connecting conventional attachable equipment, like scull, dozer arrangement, lifting equipment etc, which are suitable for fighting fires.

In one embodiment the fire-fighting system is provided with remote control block for guiding the vehicle and for controlling the operation of the fire-fighting equipments. This allows the protection of the crew when the conditions are very hard. Preferably the fire-fighting equipment include a plurality of valves for fighting fluid under pressure, said valves are located on the sides of said body, so that to form a fluid screen around or at least at the sides of the system. This screen serves for fire-fighting and for decrease of the temperature around the vehicle. It is possible some of the valves to be directed toward the wheels or tracks for cooling them. The nozzle may be mounted on a pivotable turret, which enables the easy directing of powerful stream of fighting fluid to the predetermined field in and/or around the fire.

Different fire-fighting agents such as water as fighting fluid, foam, powder or chemicals may be used singularly or simultaneously with the invention. Preferably the fire-fighting equipment include at least one tank for fighting fluid, placed inside the body of the vehicle. Besides it is possible a tank for foam to be provided for foaming the water. The fire-fighting equipment may include also powder installation for directing and dispersing of powder to the fire area in order to cover in smoldered fires. It is preferable the fire-fighting equipment to include water atomizing supply system for providing regulated flows of air and water for atomizing the water.

The invention relates also to a method for fire-fighting using a fire-fighting vehicle, the vehicle has a body including a plurality of valves for fighting fluid under pressure, said valves are located on the sides of the body. The method comprises the steps of pumping water from a source of fighting fluid and a step for dispersing fighting fluid around the vehicle from said plurality of valves, so that to form a fluid screen around the system for fire-fighting and for decrease of the temperature around said vehicle. The fighting fluid which passes through a part of said valves may be directed towards the wheels of the vehicle in order to cool them. BREAF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

Figure 1 shows a perspective view of the fire-fighting system according to the invention.

Figure 2 shows a side section of the fire-fighting system of Fig. 1. Figure 3 shows an upper view at removed cover of the body of the fire- fighting system of Fig. 1.

Figure 4 shows a line diagram for control of the fire-fighting equipment.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF A PREFERRED EMBODIMENT Referring now to the drawings, there is shown a fire-fighting system according to one preferred embodiment of the invention. The system includes a motorized vehicle having a body 1 and an operator cab 2 located inside of the body 1. Vehicle is the type of rough terrain tracked vehicle but may be performed as wheeled rough terrain vehicle. The body 1 is covered with an armor, which is thermoproof, impactproof and explosion proof and serves as a protection from high temperatures, ^■ falling objects and exposures. Preferably the armor has a thickness in the range from about 4 mm to about 15 mm and most preferable from about 8 mm to 13 mm. The front part of the body 1 is beveled from its upper and bottom part, so that it forms sharp edge 3 for enabling the penetration through fire areas and squeezing of the burning objects to the ground. The beveling of the bottom part of the body 1 allows the sleeping of the vehicle towards the opposite object, its relative climbing on it and the following taking down of the object and its squeezing under the effect of the weight of the system. The operator cab 2 is provided in this case with 4 seats, one of which is for the driver. Depending on the purposes the cab may be adjusted for more or less passengers. There are available two windows 4 for observation for the crew members from the front seats. The access to the cab 2 is possible through the hatches 5 located on the upper part of the body 1. In this embodiment of the invention the body 1 of the vehicle is adapted for sealing-off. The windows and the hatches may be sealed-off and preserved against penetration of liquid, gaseous, and radiating external agents. The upper part of the body 1 is flat and surrounded by a short protection fence 6, which is enough for transportation of life saving and other relief equipment, as well as for the transportation of additional crew. It is possible also the body 1 to be adapted for connecting with conventional attachable equipment. Fig. 1 shows the means for connection 7, in this case - hooks. It is possible the tracked vehicle to be amphibious, This is an advantage at overcoming of water areas crossing the path to the fire, which decreases the time needed for reaching of the place of the disaster considerably and for dully starting of the rescuing actions. In this case (see Figs 2 and 3) the floating ability of the vehicle is achieved by means of adjustable guide vanes 8 in form of plates, which are bent along a streamline curve. These vanes 8 are attached to the body 1 so that they are placed with their concave side towards the tracks 9 of the vehicle. Thus at moving of the crawled tracks 9 the water is pushed out to the vanes 8 and by adjusting of their position there is obtained floating effect. The body 1 of the shown embodiment is provided with illumination means 10, for example searchlights, for movement at night and overcoming of the smoke from the fire.

For the purposes of the present invention it is easy to be adapted a low silhouette military armored transport vehicle, for example MTLB-U. It has high cross- country capability and high maneuverability at different unfavorable conditions of usage, including high temperatures and ruins. The thickness of its armor is about 12 mm. This vehicle is amphibious and is adapted for sealing-off. Inside the body 1 three sections are provided, a front section for the operator and crew cab 2, central - for the engine and the fuel tanks, and one rear section which is the effective volume of the vehicle provided for specialized equipment.

The most part of the fire-fighting equipments are located in the effective volume of the body 1 , where they are protected against damages and other influences. A high volume water nozzle 11 for directing of fighting fluid towards the fire is mounted at the top of the body 1 on a turret. The nozzle 11 is connected to a source of fighting fluid. In the common case water is used as a fighting fluid. In this case inside the body 1 two large volume water tanks 12 are placed symmetrically in the body . Each of them has capacity of 5000 I. In this preferred embodiment of the invention the fire- fighting equipment include a plurality of valves 13 for fighting fluid under pressure (see fig. 1), which are placed at the sites of the body 1 , so that the fighting fluid to form a fluid screen around the system. Some of the valves 13 may be directed towards the tracks 9 for cooling of the wheels 14 of the tracks 9, The fire-fighting equipments also include a tank for foaming agent 15 and a container for powder 16. The foaming agent and/or the powder limit the oxygen access to the flames, which enables their bringing under control. The dispersing of the foaming agent and/or the powder is done by special installations not shown on the drawings. The fire-fighting equipment also includes water atomizing supply system, not shown on the drawings, which is self contained and is connected to the above described water tank and provides regulated flows of air and water for atomizing the water. Thus the atomized water provides a more effective fire- fighting agent. It is clear that the fire-fighting equipment also include necessary pumps and their engines, valves, delivery conduits and other auxiliary devices and connections for ensuring the operation of all fire-fighting equipment. The movement control of the system as well as the control of the operation of the fire-fighting equipment could be done manually by the driver and the craw in the cab 2 or by means of separate block for remote control, not shown on the drawings.

Although the description above contains many specifics, these should not be construed as limiting the scope of the invention but as merely providing illustrations of some of the presently preferred embodiment of this invention. Thus, the scope of this invention should be determined by the appended claims and their legal equivalents.

Claims

1. Fire-fighting system comprising a motorized vehicle having a body and an operator cab located inside said body, the system further comprising equipment for fighting of fires, said equipment including at least one nozzle for directing of fighting fluid towards the fire, said nozzle is connected to a source of fighting fluid, wherein: a) said body is covered with a thermoproof, impactproof and explosion proof armor; b) said body is capable for arranging inside the body of at least one water storage tank; c) said body is adapted for sealing-off; d) the front part of said body is beveled from its upper and bottom sides, so that it forms a sharp edge enabling the penetrating through burning objects and their squeezing to the ground.

2. Fire-fighting system according to claim 1 , wherein the thickness of said armor is from about 4 mm to about 15 mm.

3. Fire-fighting system according to claim 1 or 2, wherein said vehicle is a motorized tracked vehicle.

4. Fire-fighting system according to claim 3, wherein said vehicle is a low silhouette military armored transport vehicle.

5. Fire-fighting system according to any one of the preceding claims, wherein said vehicle is amphibious.

6. Fire-fighting system according to claim 1 , wherein the upper part of said body is flat and surrounded by a protection fence.

7. Fire-fighting system according to claim 1 , wherein the body is adapted for connecting conventional attachable equipment.

8 Fire-fighting system according to claim 1 , wherein said fire-fighting equipment further comprise a plurality of valves for fighting fluid under pressure, said valves are located on the sides of said body, so that to form a fluid screen around the system.

9. Fire-fighting system according to claim 9, wherein some of said valves are directed towards the wheels or track-laying system for cooling them.

10. Fire-fighting system according to claim 1 , wherein said nozzle is a high volume water nozzle mounted on a pivotable turret.

11 . Fire-fighting system according to claim 1 , wherein said fire-fighting equipment further include at least one water storage tank for fighting fluid located inside the body.

12. Fire-fighting system according to claim 1 , wherein said fire-fighting equipment further include water atomizing supply system for providing regulated flows of air and water for atomizing the water.

13. Fire-fighting system according to claim 12, wherein said fire-fighting equipment further include a powder installation and a foam tank.

14. Fire-fighting system according to claim 1 , wherein the system further comprises a remote control block for guiding said vehicle and for controlling the operation of said fire-fighting equipment.

15. Method for fire-fighting by fire-fighting vehicle having a body including a plurality of valves for fighting fluid under pressure, said valves are located on the sides of said body, said method comprising the steps of pumping fighting fluid from a source of fighting fluid, wherein further comprising a step for dispersing a fighting fluid around said vehicle from said plurality of valves, so that to form a fluid screen around the system for fire-fighting and for decrease of the temperature around said vehicle.

16. Method according to claim 14, wherein the fighting fluid which passes through a part of said valves is directed towards the wheels of said vehicle in order to cool them.