Abstract:
The present disclosure relates to a sprinkler head of fuse type, and more particularly, to a sprinkler head of fuse type which may perform an accurate and rapid elastically pressing operation when a fire occurs and particularly prevent any minute opening which may cause a fuse to be cooled due to a leaked fire fighting water and not to function.

Description:
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION 
       [0001]    This application claims priority to Korean Patent Application No. 2010-60383, filed on Jun. 25, 2010, and all the benefits accruing therefrom under 35 U.S.C. §119, the contents of which in its entirety are herein incorporated by reference. 
       BACKGROUND 
       [0002]    1. Field 
         [0003]    The present disclosure relates to a sprinkler head of fuse type, and more particularly, to a sprinkler head of fuse type which may perform an accurate and rapid elastically pressing operation when a fire occurs and particularly prevent any minute opening which may cause a fuse to be cooled due to a leaked fire fighting water and not to function. 
         [0004]    2. Description of the Related Art 
         [0005]    Generally, fire extinguishing equipment is installed in a building against a fire. Among such fire extinguishing equipment, a sprinkler head of fuse type is mostly widely used. 
         [0006]    In the sprinkler head of fuse type, a fire fighting water with a predetermined pressure is always filled in a discharging pipe. In this state, a heat sensing plate mounted to the sprinkler head transmits the heat generated by a fire to a fuse included in the sprinkler head of fuse type. The fuse is melted by the transmitted head to perform an elastically pressing operation for opening so that the fire fighting water is injected and dispersed from the discharging pipe installed at the ceiling. 
         [0007]    However, in a general sprinkler head of fuse type, if the fuse starts being partially melted by an initial heat generated by a fire, a minute opening operation is performed for injecting a fire fighting water. If the minute opening operation is performed as mentioned above, the fire fighting water may leak out. At this time, the fuse which is being melted is cooled by the leaking fire fighting water so that the fuse is not perfectly melted but cooled again, which causes the sprinkler head of fuse type not to operate. 
         [0008]    Accordingly, even though the sprinkler head of fuse type is configured to suitably extinguish an initial-stage fire rapidly, the fire is not extinguished at an initial stage due to the above problem, and the fire becomes bigger. 
       SUMMARY 
       [0009]    The present disclosure is directed to providing a sprinkler head of fuse type which may perform an accurate and rapid elastically pressing operation when a fire occurs and particularly prevent a fuse from being cooled and not functioning due to a leaked fire fighting water during a minute opening operation. 
         [0010]    In one aspect, there is provided a sprinkler head of fuse type, which includes: a housing coupled to a discharging pipe to inject water through a discharging hole formed therein; a frame coupled to a lower end of the housing and having a hooking projection formed at a lower inner periphery thereof; and a valve disposed in the frame so that an upper end thereof closes the discharging hole of the housing, wherein a pin portion protruding from an upper surface of a head portion of a piston pin is inserted into a lower surface of the valve, and a fit-supporting plate and a ball balancer disposed below the fit-supporting plate to close the lower end of the frame are coupled around a screw portion protruding from a lower surface of the head portion of the piston pin, wherein the sprinkler head of fuse type includes: an elastic body disposed between the valve and the piston pin so that an upper end thereof is elastically supported by the valve and a lower end thereof is elastically supported by the piston pin; a ball hooked by the hooking projection of the frame to contact between the fit-supporting plate and the ball balancer; a heat sensing unit disposed at a lower portion of the ball balancer to be coupled to the screw portion of the piston pin so that the heat sensing unit deviates below the frame when a fuse included therein is melted by heat; and a deflector located in the frame and disposed between the valve and the frame to disperse the water injected through the discharging hole while falling down and being hooked by the hooking projection when the heat sensing unit deviates. 
         [0011]    The valve may include an upper protrusion and a lower protrusion which respectively protrude on upper and lower surfaces based on the head portion by a predetermined length, and a pin groove may be formed in the lower surface of the lower protrusion so that the pin portion is inserted therein. 
         [0012]    The deflector may include: a body having a hollow structure; a rim portion connected to a front end of the body and bent upwards; a sprinkling unit bent upwards and disposed along a circumference with a gap so that water is sprinkled in a radial direction to an upper surface of the rim portion; and a hooking member connected to an upper end of the sprinkling unit and hooked by the hooking projection. 
         [0013]    The heat sensing unit may include: a cylinder having a hollow structure; a first heat sensing plate integrated with the cylinder and disposed at a lower end of the cylinder; second and third heat sensing plates disposed at an upper portion of the first heat sensing plate and coupled around the cylinder; a fuse piston inserted into a coupling hole formed in the cylinder and coupled to the screw portion of the piston pin; and a fuse disposed between a flange of the fuse piston and a bending portion formed at a center of the cylinder to form a shaft tube whose inner diameter becomes narrowed in a upward direction so that the fuse contacts the flange and the bending portion. 
         [0014]    A spring guide may be coupled between the valve and the head portion of the piston pin so that an upper end of the spring guide is supported by the valve and a lower end of the spring guide is supported by the piston pin while surrounding the elastic body. 
         [0015]    A spring guide may be bent downwards and connected to a rim of the valve so that a receiving groove in which the elastic body is inserted is formed. 
         [0016]    A spring guide may be integrally connected to an inner front end of a body of the deflector so that a lower end of the spring guide is supported by the head portion of the piston pin while surrounding a lower portion of the elastic body. 
     
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
         [0017]    The above and other aspects, features and advantages of the disclosed exemplary embodiments will be more apparent from the following detailed description taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings in which: 
           [0018]      FIG. 1  is a sectional view showing a sprinkler head of fuse type according to an exemplary embodiment of the present disclosure; 
           [0019]      FIG. 2   a  is an enlarged view showing the A portion of  FIG. 1 ; 
           [0020]      FIG. 2   b  is a sectional view showing a valve and a spring guide of  FIG. 2   a;    
           [0021]      FIG. 3  is a sectional view showing operations of the sprinkler head of fuse type according to the exemplary embodiment; 
           [0022]      FIG. 4  is a sectional view showing a sprinkler head of fuse type according to another embodiment of the present disclosure; 
           [0023]      FIG. 5  is an enlarged view showing the B portion of  FIG. 4 ; 
           [0024]      FIG. 6  is a sectional view showing operations of the sprinkler head of fuse type according to the exemplary embodiment; 
           [0025]      FIG. 7  is a sectional view showing a sprinkler head of fuse type according to another embodiment of the present disclosure; 
           [0026]      FIG. 8  is an enlarged view showing the C portion of  FIG. 7 ; and 
           [0027]      FIG. 9  is a sectional view showing operations of the sprinkler head of fuse type according to the exemplary embodiment. 
       
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION 
       [0028]    Exemplary embodiments now will be described more fully hereinafter with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which exemplary embodiments are shown. The present disclosure may, however, be embodied in many different forms and should not be construed as limited to the exemplary embodiments set forth therein. Rather, these exemplary embodiments are provided so that the present disclosure will be thorough and complete, and will fully convey the scope of the present disclosure to those skilled in the art. In the description, details of well-known features and techniques may be omitted to avoid unnecessarily obscuring the presented embodiments. 
         [0029]    The terminology used herein is for the purpose of describing particular embodiments only and is not intended to be limiting of the present disclosure. As used herein, the singular forms “a”, “an” and “the” are intended to include the plural forms as well, unless the context clearly indicates otherwise. Furthermore, the use of the terms a, an, etc. does not denote a limitation of quantity, but rather denotes the presence of at least one of the referenced item. The use of the terms “first”, “second”, and the like does not imply any particular order, but they are included to identify individual elements. Moreover, the use of the terms first, second, etc. does not denote any order or importance, but rather the terms first, second, etc. are used to distinguish one element from another. It will be further understood that the terms “comprises” and/or “comprising”, or “includes” and/or “including” when used in this specification, specify the presence of stated features, regions, integers, steps, operations, elements, and/or components, but do not preclude the presence or addition of one or more other features, regions, integers, steps, operations, elements, components, and/or groups thereof. 
         [0030]    Unless otherwise defined, all terms (including technical and scientific terms) used herein have the same meaning as commonly understood by one of ordinary skill in the art. It will be further understood that terms, such as those defined in commonly used dictionaries, should be interpreted as having a meaning that is consistent with their meaning in the context of the relevant art and the present disclosure, and will not be interpreted in an idealized or overly formal sense unless expressly so defined herein. 
         [0031]    In the drawings, like reference numerals denote like elements. The shape, size and regions, and the like, of the drawing may be exaggerated for clarity. 
         [0032]    Hereinafter, a sprinkler head of fuse type according to an exemplary embodiment of the present disclosure will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings. 
       Embodiment 1 
       [0033]      FIG. 1  is a sectional view showing a sprinkler head of fuse type according to an exemplary embodiment of the present disclosure,  FIG. 2   a  is an enlarged view showing the A portion of  FIG. 1 ,  FIG. 2   b  is a sectional view showing a valve and a spring guide of  FIG. 2   a , and  FIG. 3  is a sectional view showing operations of the sprinkler head of fuse type according to the exemplary embodiment. 
         [0034]    As shown in  FIGS. 1 to 3 , a sprinkler head of fuse type  10  includes a housing  14  coupled to a discharging pipe  12  installed at the ceiling, a frame  16  screwed to the lower end of the housing  14 , a valve  18  located in the frame  16  to close a discharging hole  20  formed at the inner lower end of the housing  14 , and a heat sensing unit  22  mounted to the lower end of the frame  16  and detached downwards from the frame  16  to move the valve  18  downwards when a fuse  86  is melted. 
         [0035]    Hereinafter, the sprinkler head of fuse type  10  configured as above will be described in detail. 
         [0036]    As shown in the figures, the housing  14  has a cylindrical shape. A male screw  24  is formed on the outer periphery of the housing  14 , and a socket  26  is integrally formed at the center of the housing  14 . A female screw is formed on the inner periphery of the socket  26 . 
         [0037]    In addition, the valve  18  is disposed in the housing  14  to close the discharging hole  20 , and for closing the discharging hole  20 , the valve  18  is configured so that the upper end of the valve  18  closes the discharging hole  20 . 
         [0038]    In detail, the valve  18  has an upper protrusion  30  and a lower protrusion  32  which respectively protrude on upper and lower surfaces based on a head portion  28  by a length. A pocket ring  34  is coupled through the upper protrusion  30  of the valve  18  configured as above, and a gasket  36  to be coupled to the upper protrusion  30  is configured to press the upper surface of the pocket ring  34 . 
         [0039]    Therefore, when the valve  18  closes the discharging hole  20  of the housing  14 , the gasket  36  closes the discharging hole  20  in a state that the pocket ring  34  of the valve  18  is hooked by a step  38  formed on the lower inner periphery of the housing  14 . However, the gasket  36  may not be used, and the upper protrusion  30  of the valve  18  may be directly inserted into the discharging hole  20  to close the discharging hole  20 . 
         [0040]    A spring guide  44  is disposed at the lower portion of the valve  18  so that the upper and lower ends thereof are respectively supported by a head portion  28  of the valve  18  and a head portion  42  of a piston pin  40 , explained later. The spring guide  44  has a hollow structure (see  FIGS. 2   a  and  2   b ). 
         [0041]    In addition, an elastic body  46  serving as an elastically pressing member is disposed between the spring guide  44  and the lower protrusion  32  to surround the outer surface of the lower protrusion 32 . The elastic body  46  may use a coil-type elastic spring. 
         [0042]    The upper end of the elastic body  46  disposed as above is elastically supported by the head portion  28  of the valve  18 , and the lower end is elastically supported by the head portion  42  of the piston pin  40 , so that an elastically pressing force is applied in upper and lower directions. 
         [0043]    Meanwhile, a deflector  48  coupled through the spring guide  44  includes a body  50  having a hollow structure so that the spring guide  44  is coupled through the inner center thereof, a rim portion  52  connected to the front end of the body  50  and bent upwards, and a sprinkling unit  54  bent upwards and disposed along the circumference with a gap so that water is sprinkled in a radial direction to the upper surface of the rim portion  52 . In addition, a hooking member  56  having a ring shape is disposed at the upper end of the deflector  48 , and the upper end of the sprinkling unit  54  disposed along the circumference is connected and fixed to the lower surface of the hooking member  56 . 
         [0044]    The hooking member  56  is hooked to a hooking projection  58  of the frame  16 , explained later, when moving downwards. In addition, if the sprinkling unit  54  is disposed along the circumference with a gap, a gap is formed between adjacent sprinkling units  54 , and this gap functions as a sprinkling hole  60  through which water may be injected and dispersed outwards. 
         [0045]    Meanwhile, the piston pin  40  mentioned above is coupled to a pin groove  62  formed in the lower surface of the valve  18 . In detail, the piston pin  40  has a pin portion  64  protruding from the head portion  42  and inserted into the pin groove  62  in the upper surface, and a screw portion  66  protruding downwards from the lower surface. 
         [0046]    A fit-supporting plate  68  is coupled around the screw portion  66  of the piston pin  40 , and a ball balancer  70  located below the fit-supporting plate  68  and disposed to close the lower end of the frame  16  is also coupled around the screw portion  66 . 
         [0047]    The hooking projection  58  is formed at the inner lower end of the frame  16  along the circumference, and a plurality of balls  71  disposed along the circumference are arranged between the fit-supporting plate  68  and the ball balancer  70  to contact the fit-supporting plate  68  and the ball balancer  70  while being hooked by the hooking projection  58 . 
         [0048]    The heat sensing unit  22  coupled to the screw portion  66  of the piston pin  40  is disposed at the lower portion of the ball balancer  70 . The heat sensing unit  22  includes a cylinder  72  formed to have a hollow structure, a first heat sensing plate  74  integrated with the cylinder  72  and disposed at the lower end thereof, second and third heat sensing plates  76  and  78  coupled around the cylinder  72  while being disposed to the upper portion of the first heat sensing plate  74 , a fuse piston  82  inserted into a coupling hole  80  in the cylinder  72  and coupled to the screw portion  66  of the piston pin  40 , and a fuse  86  provided to contact the inner surface of the cylinder  72  and a flange  84  of the fuse piston  82 . 
         [0049]    In detail, the first heat sensing plate  74  is integrally provided to the lower end of the cylinder  72 , and a bending portion  90  is formed at the center of the cylinder  72  to form a shaft tube  88  whose inner diameter is gradually decreased in an upward direction. 
         [0050]    The fuse  86  is provided along the inner circumference of the cylinder  72  while being disposed between the bending portion  90  and the flange  84  of the fuse piston  82 . In addition, an insulator  92  surrounding the outer circumference of the shaft tube  88  is coupled between the shaft tube  88  and the ball balancer  70 , and the insulator  92  is made of plastic material to intercept heat transfer between the ball balancer  70  and the cylinder  72  so that the heat may be concentrated to the fuse  86 . 
         [0051]    Now, operations of the sprinkler head of fuse type  10  configured as above will be described. First, if a fire occurs, the first to third heat sensing plates  74 ,  76  and  78  and the cylinder  72  are heated by the heat from the fire so that the fuse  86  made of lead is melted. 
         [0052]    If the fuse  86  starts being melted, an adhesion between the fuse  86  and the cylinder  72  becomes weakened, and the bending portion  90  of the cylinder  72  gradually moves down toward the flange  84  of the fuse piston  82  due to an elastically pressing force of the elastic body  46  which was compressed as in  FIG. 1 . In other words, if the fuse  86  is melted, the cylinder  72  moves downwards. 
         [0053]    If the cylinder  72  gradually moves down as described above, the insulator  92  and the ball balancer  70  also gradually move downwards. Here, in a general case, the valve and the deflector which close the discharging hole  20  of the housing  14  move downwards along with the cylinder  72  moving downwards. 
         [0054]    Accordingly, a fire fighting water leaking through the discharging hole  20  minutely opened cools the melting fuse  86 , which causes an operation error. However, in this embodiment, the upper end of the elastic body  46  is elastically supported by the head portion  28  of the valve  18 , and the lower end is elastically supported by the head portion  42  of the piston pin  40 . Therefore, due to the elastically supporting structure where an elastically pressing force is applied in upper and lower directions, even though the heat sensing unit  22 , the fit-supporting plate  68  and the ball balancer  70  move downwards slightly, the valve  18  does not move downwards at all from the discharging hole  20 , so long as the balls  71  does not deviate entirely from the hooking projection  58 . 
         [0055]    For this reason, minute leakage of the fire fighting water is prevented, and the fuse  86  is entirely melted. Accordingly, the process is performed favorably until the balls  71  entirely deviate from the hooking projection  58 . For example, at the instant that the balls  71  are driven inwards and entirely deviate from the hooking projection  58 , the elastic body  46  is perfectly restored and gives an elastically pressing force so that all of the heat sensing unit  22 , the spring guide  44 , the elastic body  46 , the fit-supporting plate  68 , the balls  71 , and the ball balancer  70  are entirely separated from the frame  16 . Accordingly, the deflector  48  entirely moves downwards together with the valve  18  which was closing the discharging hole  20  of the housing  14  (see  FIG. 3 ). 
         [0056]    As described above, if the valve  18  and the deflector  48  entirely move downwards, the hooking member  56  of the deflector  48  is hooked by the hooking projection  58 , and the valve  18  is hooked and supported by the body  50  of the deflector  48 . Accordingly, the fire fighting water received in the discharge hole  20  is sprinkled in a radial direction through the sprinkling hole  60  between adjacent sprinkling units  54  from the deflector  48  and the discharging hole  20  of the housing  14 , for the purpose of extinguishing the fire. 
       Embodiment 2 
       [0057]    In Embodiment 1 described above, the spring guide has a hollow structure and is individually mounted. However, in Embodiment 2, the spring guide is integrally configured with the valve. 
         [0058]      FIG. 4  is a sectional view showing a sprinkler head of fuse type according to another embodiment of the present disclosure,  FIG. 5  is an enlarged view showing the B portion of  FIG. 4 ,  FIG. 6  is a sectional view showing operations of the sprinkler head of fuse type according to the exemplary embodiment. 
         [0059]    As shown in  FIGS. 4 to 6 , a valve  102  of a sprinkler head of fuse type  100  of this embodiment has an upper protrusion  30  and a lower protrusion  32  which respectively protrude from upper and lower surfaces based on the head portion  28  of a valve  102 . 
         [0060]    A spring guide  104  is integrally connected to the lower surface of the head portion  28  in a length direction of the lower protrusion  32  and surrounds the lower protrusion  32 . In this configuration, a receiving groove  106  for receiving the elastic body  46  is provided between the lower protrusion  32  and the spring guide  104 . 
         [0061]    Other configurations of Embodiment 2 and operations of the sprinkler head of fuse type  100  when a fire occurs are identical to those of Embodiment 1 described above, and thus they are indicated by the same reference numerals and not described in detail here. For reference, in Embodiment 2, the spring guide  104  is integrated with the head portion  28  of the valve  102 , and therefore the spring guide  104  does not deviate during operations (see  FIG. 6 ). 
       Embodiment 3 
       [0062]    In Embodiment 1 described above, the spring guide has a hollow structure and is individually mounted. In addition, in Embodiment 2, the spring guide is integrally configured with the valve. However, in Embodiment 3, a deflector serving as a spring guide is suggested. 
         [0063]      FIG. 7  is a sectional view showing a sprinkler head of fuse type according to another embodiment of the present disclosure,  FIG. 8  is an enlarged view showing the C portion of  FIG. 7 , and  FIG. 9  is a sectional view showing operations of the sprinkler head of fuse type according to the exemplary embodiment. 
         [0064]    As shown in the figures, a valve  18  of a sprinkler head of fuse type  200  of this embodiment includes an upper protrusion  30  and a lower protrusion  32  which respectively protrude on the upper and lower surfaces based on the head portion  28  of the valve  18  as in Embodiments 1 and 2. In addition, the elastic body  46  is coupled to surround the outer surface of the lower protrusion  32 , and the upper end of the elastic body  46  disposed as above is elastically supported by the head portion  28  of the valve  18  and the lower end is elastically supported by the head portion  42  of the piston pin  40 . 
         [0065]    In the above configuration, in Embodiment 3, a deflector  202  is coupled to the outer side of the elastic body  46  to guide the elastic body  46 . In other words, the deflector  202  integrally has a spring guide  204  which is bent downwards from the inner front end of the body  50  with a hollow structure, and the lower end of the spring guide  204  is supported by the head portion  42  of the piston pin  40 . Accordingly, in Embodiment 3, the spring guide  204  integrally provided to the deflector  202  surrounds the lower portion of the elastic body  46 . 
         [0066]    In other words, though the spring guide  44  and  104  of Embodiments 1 and 2 is separately provided to guide the elastic body, the spring guide  204  of Embodiment  3  is formed by bending the body  50  of the deflector  202  to give a guiding function. 
         [0067]    Other configurations of Embodiment 3 and operations of the sprinkler head of fuse type  200  when a fire occurs are identical to those of Embodiment 1 described above, and thus they are indicated by the same reference numerals and not described in detail here. 
         [0068]    The sprinkler head of fuse type according to the present disclosure prevents a fire fighting water from leaking since a minute opening of a discharging hole is not performed before a heat sensing unit is entirely eliminated due to the structure where an elastic body disposed between a valve and a fit-supporting plate. Therefore, it is possible to solve a problem that the fuse is cooled and does not operate due to a leaked fire fighting water when the fuse is partially melted. 
         [0069]    While the exemplary embodiments have been shown and described, it will be understood by those skilled in the art that various changes in form and details may be made thereto without departing from the spirit and scope of the present disclosure as defined by the appended claims. 
         [0070]    In addition, many modifications can be made to adapt a particular situation or material to the teachings of the present disclosure without departing from the essential scope thereof. Therefore, it is intended that the present disclosure not be limited to the particular exemplary embodiments disclosed as the best mode contemplated for carrying out the present disclosure, but that the present disclosure will include all embodiments falling within the scope of the appended claims.