JP6691382B2 - Fire extinguisher - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to a fire extinguisher that sprays a fire extinguishing agent in response to a fire around a kitchen stove.

BACKGROUND ART Conventionally, there has been known a fire extinguisher that sprays a fire extinguishing agent when a fire occurs around a kitchen range.
For example, a fire extinguisher has been proposed in which the fuse metal such as solder that has blocked the opening of the extinguishant discharge nozzle receives a flame and melts and falls, whereby the extinguishant is discharged from the opening (for example, , Patent Documents 1 and 2.).

JP-A-8-107942 JP, 2004-242993, A

However, in the case of the fire extinguishing devices of the above Patent Documents 1 and 2, since the fuse metal is melted and dropped to release the extinguishing agent, once the extinguishing agent is released, replace it with a new device having fuse metal. There must be.
That is, the fire extinguisher using fuse metal has problems that the cost is increased because the main part of the fire extinguisher is disposable, and that it takes time to replace the device.

  An object of the present invention is to provide a fire extinguisher that has excellent maintainability and can be used repeatedly.

In order to solve the above problems, the invention described in claim 1 is
A fire extinguisher installed near the range of a kitchen,
A fire extinguisher housing part that houses the aerosol type simple fire extinguisher in a replaceable manner,
Based on the image data obtained by imaging the range, while detecting the occurrence of a fire, a fire sensor that detects the position of the flame of the fire,
When the fire sensor detects a fire, a fire extinguishing agent releasing means for releasing a fire extinguishing agent from the aerosol-type simple fire extinguisher,
A discharge direction switching means for switching the discharge direction of the fire extinguishing agent that has started to be discharged so that the fire extinguishing agent is sprayed toward the position of the flame detected by the fire sensor,
It is characterized by having.

With the fire extinguisher having the above configuration, when a fire occurs in the kitchen range, the fire can be immediately detected, and the fire extinguishing agent can be automatically discharged toward the flame of the fire to perform the initial fire extinguishing. .
If the fire extinguishing agent is released by this fire extinguisher, remove the used aerosol type simple fire extinguisher and attach a new aerosol type simple fire extinguisher to prepare for an emergency fire immediately. The monitoring of the kitchen by can be started immediately.
As described above, the fire extinguisher that can be repeatedly used by exchanging the aerosol-type simple fire extinguisher has excellent maintainability and can be effectively used as a fire extinguisher with reduced cost.

The invention according to claim 2 is the fire extinguisher according to claim 1,
The fire extinguisher housing section stores a plurality of aerosol-type simple fire extinguisher,
When the extinguishing agent is discharged from any one of the plurality of aerosol type simple extinguishers, and when the remaining amount of the extinguishing agent of the extinguishing agent becomes less than or equal to a predetermined value, the extinguishing agent is discharged from another aerosol type simple extinguisher. A control unit for controlling the operation of the extinguishing agent releasing means is provided so as to release the agent.

  According to the above configuration, by using a plurality of aerosol-type simple fire extinguishers one by one, the extinguishing agent can be released for a longer period of time, which enables more reliable automatic fire extinguishing.

  ADVANTAGE OF THE INVENTION According to this invention, the fire extinguisher which is excellent in maintainability and can be used repeatedly is obtained.

It is the schematic which shows the kitchen which installed the fire-extinguishing apparatus of this embodiment. It is the schematic which shows the fire extinguisher of Embodiment 1, and is the state (a) with which the front cover is attached to the case main body, and the state (b) with the front cover removed from the case main body. It is the schematic which shows the inside of the fire-extinguisher housing part of the fire-extinguishing apparatus of Embodiment 1 in side view. It is a block diagram which shows the control system of the fire extinguisher of this embodiment. It is the schematic which shows the fire-extinguishing apparatus of Embodiment 2, and is the state (a) with which the front cover is attached to the case main body, and the state (b) with the front cover removed from the case main body. It is the schematic which shows the inside of the fire-extinguisher housing part of the fire-extinguishing apparatus of Embodiment 2 in side view. It is a flow chart about fire extinguishing operation of a fire extinguisher of this embodiment.

  Hereinafter, an embodiment of a fire extinguisher according to the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings. However, the embodiments described below are provided with various technically preferable limitations for carrying out the present invention, but the scope of the present invention is not limited to the following embodiments and illustrated examples.

(Embodiment 1)
FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram showing a kitchen 1 in which a fire extinguisher 100 of this embodiment is installed.
A range 2 is arranged in the kitchen 1, and a hood fan 3 is provided above the range 2.
The fire extinguisher 100 is installed on the wall surface 1a near the range 2.
The fire extinguisher 100 is a device that detects a fire that has occurred in the range 2 of the kitchen 1 and automatically sprays a fire extinguishing agent.

As shown in FIGS. 2A, 2B, 3 and 4, the fire extinguishing apparatus 100 is housed in the fire extinguisher housing portion 10 disposed on the wall surface 1a of the kitchen 1 and the fire extinguisher housing portion 10. The aerosol type simple fire extinguisher 20 (hereinafter simply referred to as simple fire extinguisher 20), the image capturing unit 30 that takes an image of the range 2 of the kitchen 1, and the extinguishant release that releases the fire extinguishing agent from the simple fire extinguisher 20 toward the range 2 A means 40, a discharge direction switching means 50 that adjusts the direction of the simple fire extinguisher 20 to switch the discharge direction of the extinguishing agent, a power supply unit 60 that supplies electric power to each unit of the device, a control unit 70 that integrally controls each unit of the device, and the like. Is equipped with.
The control unit 70 is configured to include, for example, a CPU that performs various arithmetic processes and the like, and a ROM that stores various control programs and data that are executed by the CPU.

The fire extinguisher housing portion 10 is a case body that houses the simple fire extinguisher 20 in a replaceable manner, and includes a case body 11 fixed to the wall surface 1a and a front cover 12 detachably attached to the case body 11. There is. In the present embodiment, two simple fire extinguisher 20 are housed in the fire extinguisher housing section 10.
The case main body 11 of the fire extinguisher housing portion 10 is provided with a fire extinguisher holder 11a that holds the simple fire extinguisher 20. The fire extinguisher holder 11a of the present embodiment is a bowl-shaped member having a hemispherical shape, and is supported by a support (not shown) so that its posture can be changed.
Further, the case body 11 is provided with an image pickup section 30, a fire extinguishing agent discharging means 40, a discharging direction switching means 50, and a control box 80 in which a power source section 60 and a control section 70 are stored. .
The front cover 12 of the fire extinguisher container 10 has an opening 12a through which the simple fire extinguisher 20 discharges a fire extinguisher, and a window 12b through which the imaging unit 30 images the range 2 from inside the fire extinguisher container 10. And are provided. For example, a transparent acrylic plate is fitted in the window portion 12b.
It should be noted that the fire extinguisher housing portion 10 is formed by including a material or member having a heat insulating property or a heat insulating property so that the temperature of the simple fire extinguisher 20 and the like housed therein does not rise due to the heat of the range 2.

The simple fire extinguisher 20 is a fire extinguishing agent spray that extinguishes the extinguishing agent in the form of a spray by the pressure of the liquefied gas or the compressed gas, and a push button 21 that is a switch that releases the extinguishing agent, and the push button 21 is pressed. And a nozzle 22 from which the extinguishing agent is ejected.
A state in which the simple fire extinguisher 20 is set at a predetermined position of the fire extinguisher holder 11a of the case body 11 is the reference posture, and the simple fire extinguisher 20 arranged in the reference posture has the nozzle 22 of the simple fire extinguisher 20 on the upper surface of the range 2 as a reference. Point to a point (for example, the center point).
The simple fire extinguisher 20 is a disaster prevention article that is widely used for initial fire extinguishing applications. For example, a person who discovers a fire uses the fire extinguishing agent by pointing the nozzle 22 toward the flame and pushing down the push button 21. It is what is done.
That is, the fire extinguisher 100 of this embodiment is an automatic fire extinguisher using the well-known simple fire extinguisher 20.

The image capturing unit 30 is, for example, a camera having an image capturing element such as a CCD and an optical lens having a predetermined viewing angle (field angle), and captures an image of the range 2. The image data of the range 2 captured by the image capturing unit 30 is transmitted to the control unit 70.
The control unit 70 performs image processing calculation related to flame detection based on the image data of the range 2 captured by the image capturing unit 30 and determines whether or not a fire has occurred in the range 2.
Then, the control unit 70 detects the fire that has occurred in the range 2 based on the image data of the range 2 captured by the image capturing unit 30 and also detects the position of the detected flame of the fire.
That is, the imaging unit 30 and the control unit 70 cooperate to function as a fire sensor.

  Here, a technique relating to the detection of flame by image processing calculation is disclosed in, for example, Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 8-138169, and therefore will not be described in detail in this specification. In addition, by setting the judgment conditions for flame detection such as the shape and size of the flame, the fluctuation of the flame, and the passage of time in advance, flames caused by fire and other flames (for example, flames in a gas range) , Flames such as flambés during cooking) are identified, and only flames due to fires that are symmetrical to extinguishing are detected and detected.

The extinguishant releasing means 40 is, for example, an actuator whose operation is controlled by the control unit 70, and in the first embodiment, a solenoid is adopted.
The solenoid serving as the extinguishant releasing means 40 operates when the control unit 70 detects the occurrence of a fire, sticks out the push bar, and pushes down the push button 21 of the simple fire extinguisher 20 to release the extinguishant toward the range 2. Let The solenoid (extinguishing agent discharging means 40) is arranged so that the arrangement is switched following the simple fire extinguisher 20 whose direction is switched by the discharging direction switching means 50 described later.
The extinguishant releasing means 40 is not limited to a solenoid, and a fire extinguishing agent can be similarly emitted even if it is a hydraulic cylinder or a pneumatic cylinder, for example. In addition, even if the mechanism is such that the push-down fitting is lowered by driving the motor and the push button 21 is pushed down, or the mechanism in which the simple fire extinguisher 20 is raised by driving the motor to push the push button 21 against the push-fitting fitting, the fire extinguishing agent is released. be able to.

The operation of the fire extinguishing agent releasing means 40 is controlled by the controller 70, and the fire extinguishing agent discharging means 40 operates so as to use the plurality of simple fire extinguishers 20 one by one.
Specifically, the control unit 70 causes the fire extinguishing agent to be released from any one of the plurality (two in the present embodiment) of the simple fire extinguisher stored in the fire extinguisher housing unit 10, and the simple fire extinguisher 20. When the remaining amount of the extinguishant is less than the predetermined value, the operation of the extinguishant releasing means 40 is controlled so that the extinguishant is released from the other simple fire extinguisher 20.
For example, in the case of the present embodiment, the right extinguishant discharging means 40 is initially operated so as to release the extinguishant from the right simple extinguisher 20, and then the left simple extinguisher 20 is caused to release the extinguishant. The operation of the extinguishing agent discharging means 40 on the left side is controlled so as to operate.

Here, the control unit 70 determines whether or not the remaining amount of the fire extinguishing agent of the simple fire extinguisher 20 has become equal to or less than a predetermined value.
For example, the time until the simple fire extinguisher 20 can release the fire extinguisher is set in advance until the fire extinguisher is used up, and the control unit 70 measures the elapsed time after the simple fire extinguisher 20 starts to discharge the fire extinguisher. In this way, it is possible to determine whether or not the remaining amount of the extinguishant has become equal to or less than the predetermined value.
Further, a sensor for measuring the weight of the simple fire extinguisher 20 may be provided, and it may be determined based on the measured weight whether or not the remaining amount of the extinguishant has become equal to or less than a predetermined value.
Further, a sensor for measuring the injection pressure of the simple fire extinguisher 20 may be provided, and it may be determined whether the remaining amount of the extinguishant has become equal to or less than a predetermined value based on the measured pressure.

The discharge direction switching means 50 is, for example, an actuator whose operation is controlled by the control unit 70, and in the first embodiment, the first motor 51 and the first motor 51 that switch the posture of the fire extinguisher holder 11a holding the simple fire extinguisher 20. Two motors 52 are used.
The first motor 51 swings the simple fire extinguisher 20 held by the fire extinguisher holder 11a in the pitching direction by rotating the rubber roller 51a that is brought into contact with the bottom surface side of the fire extinguisher holder 11a. Then, the direction of the nozzle 22 is switched. In addition, the second motor 52 rotates the rubber roller 52a that is brought into contact with the side surface of the fire extinguisher holder 11a to rotate the simple fire extinguisher 20 held by the fire extinguisher holder 11a in the yawing direction. The direction of the nozzle 22 is switched by rocking.
Then, the discharge direction switching means 50 (the first motor 51 and the second motor 52) sprays the fire extinguishing agent toward the position of the flame of the fire detected by the fire sensor (control unit 70), so that the simple fire extinguisher 20 The posture of the fire extinguisher holder 11a holding the fire extinguisher is switched to switch the discharge direction of the fire extinguishing agent by the simple fire extinguisher 20.

The power supply unit 60 is, for example, a dry battery or a rechargeable battery, and is loaded in the control box 80.
Further, a household power source may be used as the power source unit 60 to supply power to each unit of the apparatus.

With such a fire extinguisher 100, when a fire occurs in the range 2 of the kitchen 1, the fire is promptly detected, and the fire extinguishing agent is automatically discharged toward the flame of the fire to perform the initial fire extinguishing. be able to.
In particular, since the fire extinguisher 100 is configured to be replaceable with the simple fire extinguisher 20 that is widely used for initial fire extinguishing purposes, the remaining amount of the fire extinguishing agent of the simple fire extinguisher 20 becomes a predetermined value or less, When the expiration date of the simple fire extinguisher 20 has passed, the fire extinguisher 100 can be repeatedly used by replacing it with a new simple fire extinguisher 20.

(Embodiment 2)
Next, a second embodiment of the fire extinguisher according to the present invention will be described. The same components as those of the first embodiment are designated by the same reference numerals and the description thereof will be omitted.

As shown in FIGS. 5 (a), 5 (b) and 6, the fire extinguisher 100 according to the second embodiment covers the push button 21 and the nozzle 22 of the simple fire extinguisher 20 housed in the fire extinguisher housing section 10. The solenoid valve as the extinguishant releasing means 40 attached to the, the liquid feed pipe 41 having one end connected to each solenoid valve and the other end connected to the movable nozzle 42, and the direction of the movable nozzle 42 are adjusted. A discharge direction switching means 50 for switching the discharge direction of the extinguishant is provided.
It should be noted that the front cover 12 of the fire extinguisher container 10 has an opening 12a for discharging the fire extinguishing agent from the movable nozzle 42, and a window for the imaging unit 30 to image the range 2 from inside the fire extinguisher container 10. 12b are provided.

A part of the solenoid valve attached to the simple fire extinguisher 20 pushes down the push button 21 of the simple fire extinguisher 20.
Then, when the control unit 70 detects the occurrence of a fire, the solenoid valve serving as the extinguishing agent releasing means 40 is operated and opened, so that the extinguishing agent injected from the nozzle 22 of the simple fire extinguisher 20 is supplied to the liquid supply pipe 41. It discharges toward the range 2 through the movable nozzle 42.

The liquid feed pipe 41 is a flexible tube that bends following the movement of the movable nozzle 42 described below.
The movable nozzle 42 is a member having a hemispherical shape (substantially spherical shape) in which a small hole 42a for discharging the fire extinguishing agent is formed, and is supported by a support body (not shown) whose direction can be changed. A state in which the movable nozzle 42 is supported by a support body (not shown) in the fire extinguisher housing portion 10 is a reference posture, and the movable nozzle 42 arranged in the reference posture has its small hole 42a as a reference point on the upper surface of the range 2. (Eg towards the center point).

The discharge direction switching unit 50 is, for example, an actuator whose operation is controlled by the control unit 70, and in the second embodiment, the first motor 51 that switches the direction of the movable nozzle 42 to which the other end of the liquid supply pipe 41 is connected, The second motor 52 is adopted.
The first motor 51 swings the movable nozzle 42 in the pitching direction by rotating the rubber roller 51a that is in contact with the lower side of the movable nozzle 42, and switches the direction. In addition, the second motor 52 rotates the rubber roller 52a that is brought into contact with the side portion of the movable nozzle 42 to swing the movable nozzle 42 in the yawing direction to switch its direction.
Then, the discharge direction switching means 50 (first motor 51 and second motor 52) of the movable nozzle 42 so as to spray the fire extinguishing agent toward the position of the fire flame detected by the fire sensor (control unit 70). By switching the direction, the discharge direction of the fire extinguishing agent by the simple fire extinguisher 20 is switched.

  Like the fire extinguisher 100 of the second embodiment, when a fire occurs in the range 2 of the kitchen 1, the fire is promptly detected, and the fire extinguishing agent is automatically supplied to the flame of the fire. Can be released to provide initial fire extinguishing. Moreover, when the remaining amount of the fire extinguishing agent of the simple fire extinguisher 20 becomes less than or equal to a predetermined value or when the expiration date of the simple fire extinguisher 20 has passed, the fire extinguisher 100 is replaced by a new simple fire extinguisher 20. Can be used repeatedly.

(Operation control)
Next, the fire extinguishing operation of the fire extinguisher 100 of this embodiment will be described.
First, in order to monitor the kitchen 1 by the fire extinguisher 100, the fire extinguisher 100 is activated, and the imaging unit 30 images the range 2 of the kitchen 1.
Then, the control unit 70 of the fire extinguisher 100 determines whether or not a fire has occurred, based on the image data of the range 2 obtained by the image pickup unit 30 (step S101).
If the control unit 70 does not detect the occurrence of the fire (step S101; NO), the imaging of the range 2 by the imaging unit 30 is continued.

When the control unit 70 detects the occurrence of a fire (step S101; YES), one of the fire extinguishing agent discharging means 40 is activated to discharge the fire extinguishing agent from the one simple fire extinguisher 20 toward the range 2 (step S102). ).
Further, the discharge direction switching means 50 is operated so as to spray the fire extinguisher toward the position of the fire flame detected by the control unit 70, and the discharge direction of the fire extinguishing agent by the one simple fire extinguisher 20 is switched (step S103). ).
For example, in the case of the device of the first embodiment, in step S107, the discharge direction switching means 50 is operated so that the extinguishant can be sprayed from the other simple fire extinguisher 20 toward the flame position of the fire. The discharge direction of the extinguishant by the simple fire extinguisher 20 is also changed.
Further, in the case of the device of the second embodiment, the discharge direction switching means 50 switches the direction of the movable nozzle 42 to switch the discharge direction of the extinguishant.
Note that the imaging of the range 2 by the imaging unit 30 continues even after the extinguishing agent is released.

Next, the control unit 70 determines whether or not there is still a flame due to fire based on the image data of range 2 (step S104).
When the control unit 70 determines that there is no fire flame (step S104; NO), the process proceeds to step S111.
When the control unit 70 determines that the flame due to the fire is still present (step S104; YES), the control unit 70 determines whether or not the extinguishing agent remains in the one simple fire extinguisher 20 (step S105).
When the control unit 70 determines that the extinguishant does not remain in the one simple fire extinguisher 20 (step S105; NO), the process proceeds to step S107.

When the control unit 70 determines that the fire extinguishing agent remains in the one simple fire extinguisher 20 (step S105; YES), the control unit 70 moves the position of the flame of the fire based on the image data of the range 2. It is determined whether or not (step S106).
When the control unit 70 determines that the position of the fire flame has moved (step S106; YES), the process returns to step S103, and the fire extinguishing work by the one simple fire extinguisher 20 is continued. When the control unit 70 determines that the position of the fire flame has not moved (step S106; NO), the process returns to step S104, and the fire extinguishing work by the one simple fire extinguisher 20 is continued.

In step S107, the control unit 70 activates the other extinguishing agent releasing means 40 to release the extinguishing agent from the other simple fire extinguisher 20 toward the range 2 (step S107).
Next, the control unit 70 determines whether the position of the fire flame has moved based on the image data of range 2 (step S108).
When the control unit 70 determines that the position of the fire flame has not moved (step S108; NO), the fire extinguishing work by the other simple fire extinguisher 20 is continued.
When the control unit 70 determines that the position of the fire flame has moved (step S108; YES), the discharge direction switching unit 50 so that the fire extinguishing agent is sprayed toward the position of the fire flame detected by the control unit 70. Is operated to switch the discharge direction of the extinguishant by the other simple fire extinguisher 20 (step S109).

Next, the control unit 70 determines whether or not there is still a flame due to a fire based on the image data of range 2 (step S110).
When the control unit 70 determines that there is no fire flame (step S110; NO), the process proceeds to step S111.
When the control unit 70 determines that the flame due to the fire is still present (step S110; YES), the process returns to step S108, and the fire extinguishing work by the other simple fire extinguisher 20 is continued.

In step S111, the control unit 70 stops the operation of the extinguishing agent releasing means 40 to stop the release of the extinguishing agent, and returns to step S101.
The discharge direction switching unit 50 operates so as to return the direction of the simple fire extinguisher 20 or the movable nozzle 42 to the reference posture.

As described above, the fire extinguisher 100 of the present embodiment promptly detects a fire when a fire occurs in the range 2 of the kitchen 1, and automatically releases the fire extinguishing agent toward the flame of the fire, The initial fire can be extinguished.
When the fire extinguishing agent is discharged by the fire extinguisher 100, if the simple fire extinguisher 20 after use is removed and a new simple fire extinguisher 20 is attached, the fire extinguisher 100 is prepared immediately in case of a fire. The monitoring of the kitchen 1 by can be promptly started.
As described above, since the fire extinguisher 100 of the present embodiment can be repeatedly used by replacing the simple fire extinguisher 20, it has excellent maintainability and can be effectively used as a fire extinguisher with reduced cost.

  Moreover, since the simple fire extinguisher 20 and various actuators of the fire extinguisher 100 are covered by the fire extinguisher container 10 and protected from oil stains in the kitchen 1, the fire extinguisher 100 is easy to maintain from the viewpoint of cleaning. Is excellent.

  In addition, in the above-mentioned embodiment, although it is assumed that the two simple fire extinguishers 20 are housed in the fire extinguisher housing section 10, the present invention is not limited to this, and three or more simple fire extinguishers are provided. The fire extinguisher 20 may be stored.

Further, in the above-described embodiments, the plurality of (two in the present embodiment) simple fire extinguishers 20 stored in the fire extinguisher housing unit 10 are used one by one, and the extinguishing agent of one simple fire extinguisher 20 is used. The case where the fire extinguishing agent is released from the other simple fire extinguisher 20 when the remaining amount of is less than or equal to the predetermined value has been described as an example, but the present invention is not limited to this, and for example, a flame of a fire. When it is large, the fire extinguishing agent may be discharged from all the simple fire extinguisher 20.
Further, for example, when three simple fire extinguishers 20 are stored, the extinguishant may be initially discharged from the two simple fire extinguishers 20, and then the extinguishant may be released from the one simple fire extinguisher 20. Alternatively, the extinguishant may be initially released from one simple fire extinguisher 20, and then the extinguishant may be released from two simple extinguishers 20.

  In addition, it is needless to say that the specific detailed structure and the like can be appropriately changed.

1 Kitchen 1a Wall surface 2 Range 3 Hood fan 10 Fire extinguisher container 11 Case body 12 Front cover 12a Opening 12b Window 20 Aerosol simple fire extinguisher (simple fire extinguisher)
21 push button 22 nozzle 30 imaging unit (fire sensor)
40 Fire Extinguishing Agent Discharging Means 41 Liquid Supply Pipe 42 Movable Nozzle 50 Discharge Direction Switching Means 51 First Motor 52 Second Motor 60 Power Supply 70 Control Part (Fire Sensor)
80 Control box 100 Fire extinguisher

Claims (2)

A fire extinguisher installed near the range of a kitchen,
A fire extinguisher housing part that houses the aerosol type simple fire extinguisher in a replaceable manner,
Based on the image data obtained by imaging the range, while detecting the occurrence of a fire, a fire sensor that detects the position of the flame of the fire,
When the fire sensor detects a fire, a fire extinguishing agent releasing means for releasing a fire extinguishing agent from the aerosol-type simple fire extinguisher,
A discharge direction switching means for switching the discharge direction of the fire extinguishing agent that has started to be discharged so that the fire extinguishing agent is sprayed toward the position of the flame detected by the fire sensor,
Fire extinguisher characterized by having. The fire extinguisher housing section stores a plurality of aerosol-type simple fire extinguisher,
When the extinguishing agent is discharged from any one of the plurality of aerosol type simple extinguishers, and when the remaining amount of the extinguishing agent of the extinguishing agent becomes less than or equal to a predetermined value, the extinguishing agent is discharged from another aerosol type simple extinguisher. The fire extinguisher according to claim 1, further comprising a control unit that controls the operation of the extinguishant releasing means so as to release the fire extinguishing agent.

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