A FIRE PROTECTION SYSTEM FOR AN AIRCRAFT

Abstract: An aircraft fire protection system which includes a plurality of water spray nozzles (28) spaced along a plurality of longitudinal conduits (32, 34) all cross-connected by a plurality of transverse conduits (36), with ''chocking'' type flow restrictors (38) spaced between groups of spray nozzles (28) to limit flow following conduit rupture. Conduits are connected to the aircraft on-board water supply system via a pump and a non-return valve in series and, additionally or alternately, a plurality of externally mounted self-sealing couplings (66, 68) are interconnected to the conduits, one of which couplings, should be accessible to fire-fighting personnel for fire tender hose hookup regardless of aircraft orientation and attitude. A two-way flow restrictor includes a housing (40) with a captured ball valve element (54) with flutes (56) by-passing opposing seating shoulders (46, 48) for the ball to provide two predetermined ''choked'' flow rates for normal and reverse flow modes.

Description: A FIRE PROTECTION SYSTEM FOR AN AIRCRAFT The present invention relates to systems for the prevention of fires aboard aircraft / including aircraft which have crashed. There are two principal major fire hazards in 5. aircraft cabins, namely: (a) In-flight fire in the cabin spaces; and (b) Fire on the ground, following a crash, which spreads into the cabin. Both of these involve combustion of the fabric and 10. furnishings inside the aircraft and the emission of toxic fumes. Hand-held fire extinguishers are of limited use in the in-flight fires and totally ineffective in the major fires which follow crashes. Internal spray systems have been proposed for 15. commercial and military aircraft, but they have not been adopted because they require the aircraft to carry large quantities of water or other non-toxic extinguishing liquids and the weight penalty is unacceptable. 20. The majority of survivable crashes occur within the perimeter of an airfield and fire tenders are able to extinguish external fires within a matter of minutes. But in this brief period, a large number of passengers will have died from the effects of: 25. (a) Toxic fumes given off by the burning furnishings; (b) External fumes ducted through the aircraft by the chimney effect; (c) Flash-over fires in the aircraft furnishings; 30. and (d) High temperature in the cabin. The present invention makes it possible to operate a cabin spray system without the need to carry large additional quantities of water or other fluid in the aircraft. This is achieved by: (a) The use of aircraft's domestic water supply (fresh and used) to cope with in-flight fires 5. during the immediate period following a crash; and/or (b) Pumping water from the ordinary hoses of the fire tenders into special connectors mounted at the extremities of the aircraft, one of 10. which is certain to be accessible to the firemen. Each of these two capabilities individually and especially in combination will provide the time necessary for safe aircraft evacuation. Some airlines 15. ' or aircraf regulatory bodies may prefer to use a system having one or the other of the capabilities, but a system having the capabilities in combination would be expected to dramatically increase the chances for survival compared to aircraft without such protection. 20. In accordance with the present invention as embodied and broadly described herein, the fire protection system for an aircraft of the type having an on-board water supply system which comprises a plurality of spray nozzles dispersed throughout the 25. aircraft passenger cabin and a plurality of distribution conduits interconnecting the plurality of spray nozzles. The system also includes means for selectively connecting the distribution conduits to the aircraft's on-board water supply system. 30. Preferably, the distribution conduits are configured to supply each of the plurality of spray nozzles along at least two alternate flow paths whereby a redundancy is achieved. It is also preferred that the fire protection system further comprises means for limiting the flow of water in the distribution conduits in the event of a rupture in one of the distribution conduits upstream of 5. one or more of the plurality of spray nozzles. It is still further preferred that the fire protection system further comprises means for optionally connecting the distribution conduits to a source of pressurised water external to the aircraft, 10. the external source connection means being positioned to be accessible to fire-fighting personnel outside the aircraft regardless of the orientation of the aircraft. In accordance with the invention as embodied and broadly described herein, the fire protection system 15. for an aircraft to be supplied with pressurised water from a source external to the aircraft comprises a plurality of spray nozzles dispersed throughout the aircraft passenger cabin; conduit means located internal to the aircraft interconnecting the plurality 20. of spray nozzles; and at least one self-sealing coupling mounted on the external fuselage of the aircraft and being interconnected with the plurality of spray nozzles by the conduit means. Further in accordance with the invention as 25. embodied and broadly described herein, the apparatus for restricting the flow of a fluid in a conduit to a predetermined maximum value for a given fluid flow pressure drop comprises a flow restrictor housing having a through-bore, an enlarged bore portion within 30. the housing, and an internal housing shoulder positioned at the juncture of the enlarged bore portion and the downstream part of the enlarged through-bore. The apparatus further includes a valve body positioned with the enlarged bore portion and movable by the action of the flowing fluid into abutment with the shoulder. Still further, the apparatus includes a set of flutes formed in the housing and spaced about the 5. inner periphery of the enlarged bore position, the set of flutes by-passing the shoulder. The flutes are sized so that the combined cross-sectional flow area yields the desired fluid flow rate value for the given fluid flow pressure drop. 10. Summarising the description of the aircraft fire protection system shown in the figures, and operation thereof depending upon the aircraft body size, preferably three or more longitudinal conduits 32,34 are installed on each side within cabin 14. Sited at 15. intervals along these pipes are spray nozzles 28, so disposed to provide complete coverage of the aircraft interior with finely dispersed droplets of water. The longitudinal conduits are supplied with water from feed inlets at the extremities of the aircraft. Thus, there 20. are two self-sealing couplings 66 forward and two aft on the fuselage, and one self-sealing coupling 68 at each wing tip, each able to be supplied from the airfield fire tender's hose pipes, these being fitted with matching self-sealing couplings. The aircraft's 25. couplings are installed in non-pressurised parts of the aircraft. Feeder pipes 67 from the couplings to the interior sprinkler system are led through standard bulkhead fittings where they pass through the pressurised bulkheads. 30. The longitudinal conduits 32,34 and transverse conduits 36 in the cabin are of titanium to save weight. The fir- able conduits 70 in the wings are of plastic, their flexibility making it easier to pass 35. weight. The flexible conduits 70 in the wings are of plastic, their flexibility making it easier to pass them through existing lightening holes in the wing ribs. Self-sealing couplings 66,68 are disposed so that 5. some of the couplings will be accessible, regardless of the attitude of the aircraft. They will be supplied with water from the first tender to arrive on the scene of the accident, at a normal pressure of 9 bar (110psi). However, the sprinkler system is effective 10. provided the pressure is no less than 2.3 bar (35 psi). Should one or both wings be sheared off in the accident, and plastic flexible conduits 70 thus become damaged, non-return valves 72 in the wing roots where the conduits join the internal conduit distribution 15. system will close when water is applied to one or more of the other external hose couplings which remain serviceable. If the wing is intact, but on fire, then the plastic conduit will survive if it is full of water. If the plastic conduit 70 is destroyed by fire 20. before it is filled with water via its respective coupling 68, then, again, any of the other couplings 66 can be used by the firemen to drench the cabin. Should the accident cause a fracture of the conduits within the cabin, it will still be possible to 25. achieve drenching of the cabin via the separate system parts. The sprinkler nozzles are arranged in groups along longitudinal conduits 32,34 with flow restrictors 38 between those groups. The flow restrictors "choke", limiting the quantity of water which can spill 30. from the fractured conduit ends to that quantity which would normally have been supplied to the sprayers on the broken-off section. This will ensure that all spray nozzles 28 supplied with water will function as intended. Flow restrictors 38 are of a novel but simple and reliable design which enables when to restrict to two different flow values, depending upon 5. the direction of water flow. Thus, it is possible to ensure successful drenching of the cabin 14, no matter where along the conduit length a fracture occurs. The weight of the system 10 is estimated as 45 kg (1001b.) for a Boeing 737 installation, and this low 10. figure would be acceptable to any airline interested in passenger safety. The appended drawing, which is considered a part of the present specification and which, in conjunction with the written portion of the specification, serves 15. to explain the principles and operation of the aircraft fire control system of the present invention, includes the following figures: Figure 1 is an overall schematic view of one embodiment of the aircraft fire control system, made in 20. accordance with the present invention; Figure 2 is a schematic showing a portion of the aircraft fire control system depicted in Figure 1 ; and Figure 3 is a schematic detail of the flow restrictor element of the aircraft fire control system 25. depicted in Figure 1. Reference will now be made to the present preferred embodiment of the invention, an example of which is depicted in the accompanying drawing. With initial reference to Figure 1 , there is shown 30. an aircraft fire protection system constructed in accordance with the present invention and designated generally by the numeral 10. Fire protection system 10 is shown installed in aircraft 12 (shown in dotted lines) having passenger cabin 14 disposed along the aircraft longitudinal axis 16 and wings 18,20 defining the transverse direction. The aircraft depicted in Figure 1 is of the type having an on-board "domestic" 5. water supply system 22. As best seen in Figure 2, domestic water supply system 22 includes clean water reservoir 24 and used water reservoir 26. In accordance with the present invention, the aircraft fire protection system includes a plurality of 10. spray nozzles dispersed throughout the aircraft cabin. As embodied herein, and as best seen in Figure 1 , a plurality of sprinkler heads 28 are arrayed along cabin 14 and directed to provide coverage to all occupied parts of cabin 14. The individual nozzles 28 can be 15. directed from below, as well as from the side and from above, the passenger seating positions, and configured and sized to provide mist or shower-type sprays. Sprinkler heads should be operable at least over the range of water supply pressures of about 35 psi to 110 20. psi. One skilled in the art would be able to construct and position suitable sprinkler heads given current knowledge in the art and the present specification. In accordance with the present invention, the aircraft fire protection system further includes 25. conduit means for interconnecting and distributing water to the spray nozzles. As embodied herein, and with continued reference to Figure 1 , conduit means designated generally by the numeral 30 includes a plurality of longitudinal conduits 32,34 running the 30. length of cabin 14, with at least one longitudinal conduit on each transverse side of axis 16. Preferably, a plurality (e.g., three or more) of longitudinal conduits 32, 34 are used on each transverse side, although Figure 1 only shows one each for purposes of clarity. Longitudinal conduits 32,34 should be strong but relatively lightweight, and titanium conduits are preferred. These can be run along the non-pressurised space outside the cabin, with 5. only the spray nozzles penetrating the pressurised portion. Conduit means 30 further includes at least one transverse conduit 36 for interconnecting longitudinal conduits 32, 34. Preferably, a plurality of transverse 10. conduits 36 (three being shown in Figure 1), spaced along axis 16 are employed to achieve a redundancy in the water supply flow path to each spray nozzle 28. In this same vein, transverse conduits 36 are closed ring- type, which act like distribution plenums. In the 15. event of an aircraft crash followed by rupture of one of longitudinal conduits 32,34 and/or transverse conduits 36 there would exist an alternative flow to each spray nozzle 28, as can be appreciated from studying the configuration of conduit means 30 in 20. Figure 1. To assist in achieving the flow path redundancy, flow restrictors 38 are placed in longitudinal conduits 32,34 between groups of spray nozzles 28 to limit or "choke" the flow that would leak out of the ruptured 25. conduit downstream of the restrictor. Preferably, flow restrictors 38 are sized to limit the rupture flow rate to approximately that of the combined downstream spray nozzle capacity, and it is further preferred that the flow restrictors be "two-way" to accommodate the 3d. alternate redundant flow path design. A novel flow restrictor 38, which is simple in design and which can be constructed to have two different choke flow rates. depending on flow direction, is discussed henceforth. In accordance with the present invention, the two- way flow restrictor includes a housing with a through- bore and an enlarged bore portion capturingly holding a 5, valve body. As embodied herein, and with reference to Figure 3, flow restrictor 38 includes housing 40 with through-bore 42, a central portion 44 of which is enlarged in cross-sectional diameter. Respective internal shoulders 46, 48 are formed in the housing at 10. the junctures of portions 50,52 of the through-bore 42 and enlarged bore portion 44. Ball type valve body 54 is positioned in enlarged bore portion 44 and is movable by action of the flowing fluid into engagement with either of shoulder 46,48, depending upon the 15. direction of fluid flow. Importantly, and further in accordance with the present invention, flutes are provided spaced about the internal periphery of the housing and by-passing the respective shoulders to provide a predetermined flow 20. path past the valve body. As embodied herein, two sets of flutes 56,58 are formed in the internal periphery of housing 40 to by-pass shoulders 46,48, respectively. As depicted in Figure 3, the flutes in sets 56 and 58 are of different size to provide a different 25. preselected "choke" flow rate. Thus, the "choke" flow rate for fluid flow right to left in Figure 3 would be greater than that "choke" flow rate in the opposite direction owing to the larger sizes of the flutes in set 58 relative to set 56. Alternatively, the number 30. of flutes can be varied, while the flute size is kept constant, to achie e different "choke" flow rates, as one skilled in the art would immediately appreciate. Still further in accordance with the present invention, the aircraft fire protection system includes means for selectively connecting said distribution conduits to the aircraft on-board water supply system. As embodied herein, and with initial reference to 5. Figure 1 , selective connection means designated generally by the numeral 60 is shown connecting domestic water supply system 22 with the centrally located one of transverse ring-type conduits 36. Other connection locations are, of course, possible due to 10. the interconnections of conduit means 30, as well as a connection between supply systems 22 and one of longitudinal conduits 32,34. With reference now to Figure 2, selective connection means 60 can, for example, include water pump 62 and non-return valve 64 15. in series and change over valve 64 selectively connectable to clean water reservoir 24, used water reservoir 26, individually, or both, simultaneously. Further in accordance with the present invention, the aircraft fire protection system can also include 20. means for optionally connecting the distribution conduits to a source of pressurised water external to the aircraft. As embodied herein, and with reference again to Figure 1 , a plurality of self-sealing couplings 66 are distributed about the external 25. aircraft fuselage on both sides of the aircraft and are individually connected via feeder pipes 67 to transverse conduits 36 at the front and rear of the aircraft. This distribution should allow at least one of self-sealing couplings 66 to be accessible to fire 30.- fighting personnel for virtually any non-standard orientation of the aircraft, such as following a crash where the aircraft may be on its side or have some fuselage portions damage. Additional self-sealing couplings 68 can be located at the wing tips and can be connected to the central one of transverse conduits 36 via flexible conduits 70 in which are disposed non¬ return valves 72 located near the wing roots due to the high propensity for the wings to be sheared off following a crash landing. Flexible conduits can be fabricated from plastic piping to provide the required flexibility. 10.

Claims: CLAIMS : 1. A fire protection system (10) for an aircraft (12), characterised by a plurality of spray nozzles (28) dispersed throughout the aircraft passenger cabin; a plurality of distribution conduits (32,34,36) interconnecting the spray nozzles; and a fire extinguishing fluid supply system arranged to supply extinguishing fluid to the conduits. 2. A system as claimed in Claim 1 characterised in that the extinguishing fluid supply system comprises an on board water system (22). 3. A system as claimed in Claim 1 or Claim 2 characterised in that the extinguishing fluid supply system comprises at least one self-sealing coupling (66,68) mounted on the external surface of the aircraft and connected to the conduits (32,34,36), whereby an external pressurised source of extinguishing fluid, e.g. water, can be connected to the conduits via the coupling. 4. A system as claimed in any preceding claim characterised in that the distribution conduits include: a plurality of longitudinal conduits (32,34) running along the longitudinal axis of the aircraft, at least one of the longitudinal conduits being located on each side of the aircraft, the spray nozzles (28) being spaced along the longitudinal conduits; and at least one crossover (36) conduit extending generally transverse to, and interconnecting, the longitudinal conduits (32,34). 5. A system as claimed in Claim 4 characterised in that the crossover conduit (36) is a closed ring- type conduit encircling the passenger cabin. 6. A system as claimed in Claim 5 characterised in that the distribution conduits include a plurality of closed ring-type crossover conduits (36) spaced along the longitudinal axis of the aircraft. 7. A system as claimed in any preceding claim characterised in that the distribution conduits (32,34,36) are configured to supply each of the plurality of spray nozzles (28) along at least two flow paths whereby a redundancy is achieved. 8. A system as claimed in any preceding claim characterised by means (38) for limiting the flow of fluid in the distribution conduits (32,34,36) in the event of a rupture in one of the plurality of distribution conduits upstream of one or more of the spray nozzles (28). 9. A system as claimed in Claim 8 characterised in that the flow limiting means comprises a plurality of flow restrictors (38) spaced along the longitudinal conduits (32,34) between groups of the spray nozzles (28). 10. A system as claimed in Claim 9 characterised in that each flow restrictor (38) is configured to restrict the maximum flow rate of fluid to a value approximately equal to that of the combined capacity of the downstream spray nozzles (28). 11. A system as claimed in any of Claims 3 to 10 characterised by at least one pair of self-sealing couplings (66 ) mounted on the external fuselsge on opposite sides of the aircraft and connected to a transverse conduit (36). 12. A system as claimed in any of Claims 3 to 11 characterised by a pair of self-sealing couplings (68), one located at or near the tip of each wing of the aircraft; a pair of flexible conduits (70) one connecting each wing-tip coupling (68) to the distribution conduits; and a pair of non-return valves (72) one positioned in each flexible conduit (70) at or near the root of the respective wing. 13. A system as claimed in any of Claims 3 to 12 characterised by a plurality of self-sealing couplings (66,68) distributed about the fuselage of the aircraft, each being connected with the spray nozzles (28) by means of the conduits (32,34,36) the couplings (66,68) being distributed to be accessible to fire-fighting personnel external to the aircraft regardless of the orientation of the aircraft. 14. Apparatus for restricting the flow of a fluid in a conduit to a predetermined maximum value for a given fluid ϋow pressure drop, characterised by a flow restrictor housing (40) having a through-bore (42); an enlarged bore portion (44) within the housing; an internal housing shoulder (46) positioned at the junction of the enlarged bore portion with the downstream part of the non-enlarged through-bore; a valve body (54) positioned within the enlarged bore (44) portion and movable by the action of the flowing fluid into abutment with the shoulder (46); and a set of flutes (56) formed in the housing and spaced about the inner periphery of the enlarged bore portion (44), the flutes (56) by-passing the shoulder (46), the flutes (56) being sized so that the combined cross- sectional flow area yields the desired fluid flow rate value for the given fluid flow pressure drop. 15. Apparatus as claimed in Claim 14 characterised by a second internal shoulder (48) positioned at the junction of the enlarged bore portion (44) and the upstream part of the non-enlarged through- bore and a second set of flutes (58) formed in the housing to by-pass the second shoulder (48) for restricting the fluid flow rate during reverse flow through the apparatus.

Inventors: STEEL JAMES, STEEL, JAMES
Applicants: STEEL JAMES, STEEL, JAMES
Application year: 1987
Main classification: A62C3
IPC codes: A62C3