MANUALLY OR REMOTELY CONTROLLED, TELESCOPIC, FIRE-FIGHTING ROBOT,AUTOMATICALLY CONNECTED TO THE WATER PIPE SYSTEM AND HUNG ON MONORAIL IN TUNNELS

Abstract: The fire-fighting robot of the present patent application serves to the extinction of fire in tunnels. It is overhung (Figs. 1 and 2) from a carriage running on a monorail secured to the tunnel vault. An oleodynamic, telescopic piston allows the carriage to be lowered up to the road surface. Such a feature permits the robot to overcome any obstacle, to rescue people and transport wounded men without the hindrance of the traffic and to fight the fire also from below. In order to have a continuous fire extinction the robot is connected to the antifire piping installed above the monorail by a flexible pipe with a lenght of 30 metres through an automatic arm. A device under the cabin changes, upon opening, into two stretchers for transporting people and wounded men and is provided with oxygen masks. The cabin is fire-resisting and cooled.

Description: MANUALLY OR REMOTELY CONTROLLED, TELESCOPIC, FIRE-FIGHTING ROBOT, AUTOMATICALLY CONNECTED TO THE WATER PIPE SYSTEM AND HUNG ON MONORAIL IN TUNNELS The fire- ighting robot of the present patent application serves to the extinction of fire in road and railway tunnels. The robot (Figs. 1 and 2) is overhung from a carriage running on a monorail secured to the tunnel vault . An oleodynamic, telescopic piston (P) is connected between carriage and robot and allows the latter to be lowered up to the road surface. Such a feature permits the robot to overcome any obstacle placed under the tunnel vault such as lighting installation and ventilation system, In addition, it allows hurt people to be helped and transported without the hindrance of the traffic and to fight the fire also from below without being directly attacked by the flue gases. The robot is equipped with a 380 V, 46 kVA diesel generator (A) (Fig. 6), the current of which is transformed to 24 V and rectified. All of the motors (traverse motor, hydraulic pump, fire pump, fire hose motor, etc.) are 24 V dc motors. The air intake pipe of the generator is connected to a trunk reaching the ground so that the same can also operate when smoke spreads throughout the high portion of the tunnel . If the generator cannot operate because of the excessive smoke, a 24 V, 1600 Ah battery (5 hours discharge) is put into operation, thus allowing a complete autonomy of operation for at least 3 hours. The antifire outfit (Fig. 6) consists of: two water nozzles (E) with a flow rate of 500 litres/minute and a throw of 40 metres; a foam monitor nozzle (F) with a flow rate of 1.000 litres/minute and a throw of 30 metres; a water tank (Fig. 5) of 1.000 litres; a foam tank of 500 litres. In order to ensure the necessary continuity of the fire extinguishing operation there is provided a connection between the robot and the water pipe system DN 125 installed above the monorail (Figs. 4 and 7) . To this end, quick-coupling joints (K) are provided along the piping (Q) every 20 metres and a fire hose DN 65 with a length of 30 metres is installed on the carriage . The robot is connected to the water pipe system automatically by an arm means (Fig. 7) which couples the male connector (M) of the fire hose to the female quick-coupling joint (K) when the robot comes across two permanent magnets secured to the monorail : the first (Z) slows down the carriage, the second (V) operates the device. In order to help people, a mechanical articulated- quadrilateral device is installed under the cabin of the robot (Fig. 4) and, when it opens, changes into a seat and a stretcher. Once opened the device controls the opening of doors from which air masks come out . Such a device can carry up to 10 people. The cabin (Fig. 8) is provided with fire-resisting panels and glasses able to resist to fire for 180 minutes. Furthermore, a pipe provided with a cooling water nozzle for cooling the shield and the outside apparatus is installed around the deck. The carriage can reach a speed of 50 km/hour and carry two operators in the cabin. To this end, two oxygen respirators connected to the air ventilation system and provided with four air cylinders with 60 litres at 200 bars are available in the cabin. However, the presence on board of the operator is not indispensable as the carriage is completely automatic and can be remote-controlled. To this end, a radio link and two TV cameras, one of which being an infrared camera, are provided on the monorail . The state of art in the fire-fighting installations particularly in case of fire in tunnels provides: a) automatic, fixed extinguishing installations (without helping people) ; b) intervention of the fire-brigade with vehicles (fire trucks, tank trucks, foam trucks, ambulance) . The fixed installations of the type of water and/or foam sprinklers and foam nozzles require a lot of apparatus all over the surface to be protected. Thus, if sprinklers should be installed in a tunnel, it would be necessary to put a sprinkler under the vault every 9 square metres with a lot of piping connected to one another and to control and alarm valves. In addition, several pumping means should be installed along the tunnel to provide for the necessary water supply. The same applies to a hypothetical fixed foam installation. On the other side, both above installations have some important limits. In fact, because of the smoke under the vault a greater number of sprinklers located elsewhere could be operated with the result of an ineffectiveness of the installation. The foam production of the nozzles of a fixed installation could also be difficult because of the lack of air and the simultaneous presence of smoke hindering the development of bubbles . Such installations, as known, do not have any means for helping people. The intervention of the fire-brigade with fire trucks, tank trucks, foam trucks, and ambulance, when a service tunnel is not provided, is often delayed or prevented by possible vehicles obstructing the road, by high temperatures and the strong smoke that reduces the range of visibility and makes the respiration difficult, thus forcing the operators to use the oxygen respirators having an autonomy not greater than 45 minutes since the beginning. Furthermore, all of the fire-brigade's vehicles are operated by heat engines that need large amounts of air not ensured at all in case of strong smoke. The robot overcomes all of the above problems, namely: - as far as the fixed installations is concerned, the robot requires just a monorail under the vault with only one water piping equipped with quick-coupling joints every 20-25 metres and protected from the fire and frost by a suitable insulation; - as far as the intervention of the fire-brigade with vehicles is concerned, the robot has no problem of traffic because it runs high above and then can reach the site of fire in a few minutes, thus preventing the fire from reaching the stage of general development with high temperatures and propagation to the near vehicles. Therefore, the risks both for injured people and rescuers are reduced. The robot can also operate with high temperatures and strong smoke without aboard operator and supplied by the outfit batteries. It has no problem of water supply because it is automatically connected to the fixed water pipe system with a range of operation of 30 metres from the connection point plus the throw of the water nozzles that can reach 40 metres. It can help and transport people involved in road accidents even without fire. Monorail The monorail (Fig. 3) is made of steel profiles and is secured to the vault of the tunnel every 4 metres by chemical dowels. Expansion joints are provided along the axis thereof every 20 metres. The monorail is protected from fire by intumescent paint or vermiculite. Permanent magnets (Z) for slowing down automatically the carriage before its automatic coupling are installed every 20 metres (Fig. 7) . Platbands for supporting the antifire piping DN 125 made of steel are welded to the high portion of the rail every three metres. The piping is provided with expansion joints every 30 metres and is protected from fire and frost by glass wool and sheet-steels. A female quick-coupling joint (K) DN 80 made of stainless steel is provided in the antifire piping (Q) every 20 metres. It can be closed automatically, i.e. it is provided with a washer which is pushed by the water pressure . Carriage The carriage (Figs. 3 and 4) is equipped with six wheels DN 20, four of which are drive wheels each provided with 10 HP dc motors. The central wheels are driven. The four motors operate simultaneously during the shift step, only one motor being in operation in case of fire. Oleodynamic, telescopic, 4 -withdrawal piston (P) is anchored under the frame of the carriage and allows the cabin to be lowered by seven metres up to the road surface in one minute. The central unit (L) with a 10 HP motor-driven pump and tank is secured to the static portion of the piston which crosses the cabin all over the height thereof to reduce the overall dimensions. The fire-resisting, electric cables of the shift motors and the piston are wound around two pulleys (I) located on the carriage and the cabin so as to allow the cable to be extended and retracted without forming loops and exposing the minimum length to the fire. The carriage, the oleodynamic central unit and the fixed portion of the piston are protected by a shield which is capable of resisting to the fire for 180 minutes . Cabin The cabin has the shape of a parallelepiped (Figs. 4, 6, 8) with size 4.5x2x1.8 m and a carrying structure made of steel profiles. The size can be optimized. The outer shield (Fig. 8) is made of panels and glasses capable of resisting to the fire for 180 minutes . The openings due to the crossing of piston, electric cables, silencer, aspiration pipe, antifire piping connected to the water pipe system are protected by fire-resisting seals. An articulated quadrilateral steel structure is hinged under the cabin (Fig. 4) and, when it opens, changes into two stretchers for carrying people and/or wounded men and provided with supports, safety belts and oxygen mask for the protection of the respiratory tract . Electric equipment The electric equipment (Fig. 6) includes: a 380 V, 46 kVA diesel generator (A) ; a 24 V transformer (B) ,- a rectifier (C) ; a 24 V battery (D) with twelve 1600 Ah elements (5 Ah discharge); 16 dc motors (shift, central unit, fire pumps, water nozzle, stretcher drive unit; monitors and guns. A control unit controls the power rate for the distribution to the users as well as the operation of the generator and the automatic switching on of the battery. All of the electric cables are fire resisting cables able to resist to fire for 180 minutes according to the regulations in force. Antifire equipment The robot is equipped with: a water tank (Figs. 5 and 6) with a capacity of 1.000 litres under pressure provided with input check valve ; a foam tank with a capacity of 500 litres; three vertical multistage motor-driven pump (X) made of stainless steel, two of which having a power of 22 HP, the third 10 HP; two motor-driven water nozzles with a flow rate of 500 litres/minutes at 8 bar, and a throw of 400 metres; a foam gun with a flow rate of 1.000 litres/minute at 8 bar, and a throw of 30 metres; a delivery collector; electrically controlled throttle valve; on/off valves. A piping for cooling the shield of the cabin (Fig. 4) is installed on the periphery of the deck (N) carrying a set of atomizing nozzles (U) . In addition, a specific piping supplies three full-jet nozzles directed upwards that provide for the cooling of the carriage and the piston. Automatic arm for the connection to antifire piping An antifire water nozzle (Fig. 7) is installed on board of the robot and consists of a motor-driven drum DN 1000 around which a pipe NBR PN 10 protected from fire is wound. When the carriage moves forward, the motor of the drum is switched on automatically under control and lays the pipe. Likewise, when the carriage moves back, the drum rotates in the opposite direction and winds the pipe. A quick-coupling male joint (M) is connected at the end of the water nozzles (Fig. 7) and is inserted into the female joint (K) connected to the antifire piping (Q) by means of an automatic connection device consisting of an arm secured to the axis of the drum, at one end of which a head provided with two pistons PI and P2 orthogonal to each other and an oleodynamically controlled collet chuck (Y) are carried. The collet chuck carries a piston P3 and an electromagnet (S) on an axis parallel to the male joint. Under rest condition the pipe is wound and the male joint is blocked by the collet chuck, while the two pistons are in the retracted state. During the coupling the vehicle traverses to the right in Fig. 7, the head of piston PI is brought near the piping, electromagnet (S) passes by a permanent magnet (Z) located two metres before the female joint, and a transducer detects the signal and slows down the carriage . When the electromagnet passes by the permanent magnet (V) located on the female joint, the carriage slows down, the transducer causes the joints to line up through piston P2 and then controls the traverses of piston P3 for releasing the female joint and piston PI for inserting the male joint into the female joint. A limit switch disengages the collet chuck, and at the same time the carriage moves forward and the pistons retract. During the disconnection, the carriage moves back and the pipe is rewound. A limit switch on the drum slows down the carriage and causes the arm to move forward. When striker (R) located at the centre of the collet chuck is pushed against the male joint and simultaneously electromagnet (S) faces the fixed magnet (V), the collet chuck closes, piston P3 moves forward and releases the female joint, while piston PI moves back and pulls out the male joint, and the carriage starts to run again. Central unit for the protection of respiratory tract Four air cylinders with a capacity of 60 litres at 200 bar are provided for the protection of the respiratory tract of any operator and carried people. The air cylinders supply a piping system to which the masks are connected through a pressure reducer of the first stage . The same central unit serves also to pressurize the drive cabin through a suitable valve system. Control apparatus A PLC is provided for controlling the essential functions of the apparatus and for energizing the users according to the available power. It controls the opening and/or the closure of the valves, the starting and/or the stop of the motors, the levels of water and foam, the charge of the battery, the level of fuel, the air amount, etc. A specific instrument with radio link is provided for the remote control of the robot. There are further installed two TV cameras, two head lamps, a pyrometer, and a megaphone .

Claims: Claims 1. A vehicle for fighting fire and rescuing people in tunnels, characterized in that it is overhung from a carriage running along a monorail secured to the vault of the tunnel . 2. The vehicle of claim 1, characterized in that there is provided an oleodynamic piston causing the cabin to lower to the road surface and having the cylinder capable of being retracted inside the cabin. 3. The vehicle of the preceding claims, characterized in that there is provided a drum around which a flexible piping is wound which is capable of being unwound and rewound by a motor which is synchronized with shift motors and allows the vehicle to be shifted keeping the hydraulic connection. 4. The vehicle of the preceding claims, characterized in that there is provided an automatic arm allowing the male joint connected to the flexible pipe to be inserted into the female joint connected to the antifire piping secured to the monorail. 5. The vehicle of the preceding claims, characterized in that there is provided an electromagnet (S) on the connecting arm that generates an electric signal when it faces the permanent magnet (V) secured to the female joint, said electric signal controlling a piston P3 through a transducer for unlocking the female joint and for causing piston PI to move forward for inserting the male joint into the female joint, thus establishing the hydraulic connection between vehicle and piping system. 6. The vehicle of the preceding claims, characterized in that there is provided an automatic arm equipped with a collet chuck which is driven when the joint pushes the striker R. 7. The vehicle of the preceding claims, characterized in that there is provided a mechanical, articulated quadrilateral device in its underlying portion which upon opening changes into two stretchers for transporting people and wounded men. 8. The vehicle of the preceding claims, characterized in that there is provided a battery controlled by a PLC which establishes the priority of supplying the users and allows them to operate without other energy sources . 9. The vehicle of the preceding claims, characterized in that there is provided an air system connected to the masks in the drive cabin and a set of compartments located under the cabin and able to open automatically when the stretchers are deployed. 10. The vehicle of the preceding claims, characterized in that there is provided a radio link with antennas on the monorail which allows the vehicle to be remote controlled. 11. The vehicle of the preceding claims, characterized in that there is provided a fire-resisting shield, a cooling system with nozzles directed upwards to the carriage, cables and fire-resisting seals allowing the vehicle to operate at high temperatures.

Inventors: PIATTI DOMENICO, PIATTI, DOMENICO
Applicants: PIATTI DOMENICO, PIATTI, DOMENICO
Application year: 2000
Main classification: A62C3
IPC codes: A62C3, A62C27