IPC분류정보
국가/구분 |
United States(US) Patent
등록
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국제특허분류(IPC7판) |
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출원번호 |
US-0172685
(2002-06-13)
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발명자
/ 주소 |
- Sears,John J.
- Strieb,Tasche L.
- Holstine,Eric
- Klocek,Kevin
- Allen,Thomas A.
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출원인 / 주소 |
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대리인 / 주소 |
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인용정보 |
피인용 횟수 :
8 인용 특허 :
17 |
초록
▼
A system and method for rapidly and reliably sealing off a selected opening from the passage of smoke, noxious fumes, or contaminated air includes a powered clutch and viscous governor that provides a fail-safe mode of operation. A curtain is positioned in a housing adjacent to an upper limit of an
A system and method for rapidly and reliably sealing off a selected opening from the passage of smoke, noxious fumes, or contaminated air includes a powered clutch and viscous governor that provides a fail-safe mode of operation. A curtain is positioned in a housing adjacent to an upper limit of an opening such as a hoist access-way. The curtain is wrapped around a spindle that is connected to a spool via two cords. The curtain is held in the housing in a stored configuration by a powered clutch so that upon removal of power, either via a controller or by power loss, the clutch releases the spool allowing the cord to unwind lowering and thus deploying the curtain. A capacitor can be included to prevent inadvertent deployments due to momentary power loss. The speed at which the spool rotates, and correspondingly the curtain deploys, is limited by a viscous governor coupled to the spool. The curtain includes flexible magnets that attach to ferrous side rails forming a nearly air tight seal preventing the passage of smoke, noxious fumes or contaminated air through the opening.
대표청구항
▼
We claim: 1. A barrier assembly for sealing off an opening having a top portion and side portions, comprising: a housing mountably adjacent to the top portion of the opening; a curtain assembly coupled to the housing, the curtain assembly being movable between a stored position and a deployed posi
We claim: 1. A barrier assembly for sealing off an opening having a top portion and side portions, comprising: a housing mountably adjacent to the top portion of the opening; a curtain assembly coupled to the housing, the curtain assembly being movable between a stored position and a deployed position, the curtain assembly in the stored position being contained in the housing, and the curtain assembly in the deployed position sealably covering the opening; a coupler coupled to the curtain assembly and being movable between retaining position and a released position, the coupler in the retaining position configured to retain the curtain assembly in the stored position until the coupler is moved to the released position, the coupler in the released position configured to allow the curtain assembly to move toward the deployed position, the coupler operatively coupled to a power source to move to the released position in response to a power failure; a deployment governor connected to the curtain assembly and configured to control deployment speed of the curtain assembly as the curtain assembly moves toward the deployed position; and a rewind control switch configurable to automatically cause the curtain to be moved to the stored position with a resumption of power after the power failure. 2. The assembly of claim 1 wherein the coupler is a powered clutch configured to remain in the engaged position to retain the curtain in the housing in the raised, stored position while power is applied, and wherein the powered clutch moves to the released position to release the curtain assembly when power to the clutch is interrupted. 3. The assembly of claim 2, further including an emergency power source, the emergency power source connected to the powered clutch to prevent inadvertent releases of the curtain assembly due to momentary power losses. 4. The assembly of claim 1 wherein the deployment governor limits the rate of rotation of the spool to a substantially constant rate. 5. The assembly of claim 1 wherein the coupler is a clutch. 6. The assembly of claim 1 wherein the deployment governor's resistance is directly proportional to the weight of the curtain as the curtain moves toward the deployed position. 7. The assembly of claim 1, the assembly being connectable to a primary power supply source, and further comprising an emergency power supply, and wherein the coupler is connected to the emergency power supply. 8. The assembly of claim 7, the assembly being connectable to a primary power supply source, wherein the emergency power supply provides sufficient power to the coupler when power from the primary power supply is interrupted and retains the coupler in the engaged position for a selected time period before the coupler moves to the released position. 9. The assembly of claim 7 wherein the emergency power is a capacitor capable of preventing the coupler from moving to the released position for at least approximately a ten second loss of power from the primary power source. 10. The assembly of claim 1, further comprising a motor connected to the coupler coupled to the rewind control switch and activatable to move the curtain assembly from the deployed position to the stored position, the motor being configured to provide substantially no resistance to deployment of the curtain assembly to the deployed position. 11. An apparatus for sealing off an opening having a top portion and side portions, comprising: a housing postionably adjacent to the top portion opening; a curtain assembly having a curtain of substantially gas impervious, material wound on a spindle, the spindle and the curtain being movable between a raised, stored position in the housing and a lowered, deployed position covering the opening; a coupler coupled to the curtain assembly and connectable to a power source, the coupler being configured to retain the spindle in the housing in the raised, stored position while power is applied to the coupler and release the spindle allowing the spindle and curtain to move toward the lowered, deployed position unrolling the curtain across the opening; a governor coupled to the curtain assembly and configured to control a rate of deployment of the curtain toward the lowered, deployed position; a flexible sealing mechanism sealably engaging the side portions of the opening when the curtain is in the lowered, deployed position; and a rewind control switch configurable to automatically rewind the curtain with a resumption of power after a power failure deployment of the curtain. 12. The assembly of claim 11, wherein the flexible sealing mechanism includes a flexible magnetic strip attached to the curtain and a ferrous metal frame attached to the side portions of the opening the curtain being sized such that as the curtain unrolls from the spindle as the spindle moves toward the lower, deployed position, the flexible magnetic strip magnetically attached to the corresponding ferrous metal frame. 13. A barrier assembly for sealing off an opening having a top portion and side portions, comprising: a housing located adjacent to the top portion of the opening; a curtain of a substantially gas impervious material, the curtain having edge portions and being movable between a raised, stored position and a lowered, deployed position, the curtain being fully contained in the housing above the opening when in the raised, stored position, the curtain extending over and fully covering and substantially sealing the opening when in the lowered, deployed position; a flexible sealing mechanism attached to and extending along the edge portions of the curtain, the sealing mechanism sealably engaging the side portions of the opening when the curtain is in the lowered, deployed position; a spindle connected to the curtain with the curtain being wound around the spindle when in the raised, stored position and with the curtain winding onto and off of the spindle as the curtain moves between the raised, stored position and the lowered, deployed position, the spindle having end portions and a pulley attached to each end portion; a cord attached to the pulley at each end of the spindle; a drive shaft coupled to the cord and being rotatable to wind the cord around a spool and roll the curtain toward the raised, stored position and to unwind to allow the curtain to move toward the lowered, deployed position; a powered drive coupleable to the drive shaft and rotatable to rotate the drive shaft in one rotational direction, and move the curtain toward the raised, stored position and to hold the curtain in the raised, stored position; a coupler connected to the drive shaft, the coupler being movable between an engaged position and a released position and configured to couple the drive shaft to the powered drive when in the engaged position and to uncouple the drive shaft from the powered drive when in the released position allowing the curtain to unroll toward the lowered, deployed position; a deployment governor connected to the drive shaft and positioned to limit a speed at which the drive shaft rotates when the curtain unrolls and moves toward the lowered, deployed position, thereby controlling the rate of deployment of the curtain over the opening. 14. A barrier assembly for sealing off an opening having a top portion and side portions, comprising: a housing located adjacent to the top portion of the opening; a curtain of a substantially gas impervious material, the curtain having edge portions and being movable between a raised, stored position and a lowered, deployed position, the curtain being fully contained in the housing above the opening when in the raised, stored position, the curtain extending over and fully covering and substantially sealing the opening when in the lowered, deployed position; a spindle connected to the curtain with the curtain being wound around the spindle when in the raised, stored position and with the curtain winding onto and off of the spindle as the curtain moves between the raised, stored position and the lowered, deployed position, the spindle having end portions and a pulley attached to each end portion; a cord attached to the pulley at each end of the spindle; a drive shaft coupled to the cord and being rotatable to wind the cord around a spool and roll the curtain toward the raised, stored position and to unwind from the spool to allow the curtain to move toward the lowered, deployed position; a powered drive coupleable to the spool or drive shaft and rotatable to rotate the spool in one rotational direction, and wind the cord onto the spool, rewind the curtain onto the spindle, and move the curtain toward the raised, stored position and to hold the curtain in the raised, stored position; a coupler connected to the spool, the coupler being movable between an engaged position and a released position and configured to couple the spool to the powered drive when in the engaged position and to uncouple the spool from the powered drive when in the released position allowing the curtain to unroll toward the lowered, deployed position; a deployment governor connected to the spool and positioned to limit a speed at which the spool rotates when the curtain unrolls and moves toward the lowered, deployed position, thereby controlling the rate of deployment of the curtain over the opening; and a rewind control that stops the powered drive to limit the upward movement of the spindle and rewinding of the curtain.
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