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EP-3749422-B1 - FIRE APPARATUS VEHICLE WITH HIGH-FLOW ARTICULATED WATER TOWER

EP3749422B1EP 3749422 B1EP3749422 B1EP 3749422B1EP-3749422-B1

Inventors

  • HREN, Davor
  • PINEZIC, Damir
  • PTASCHINSKI, Charlese

Dates

Publication Date
20260513
Application Date
20190208

Claims (15)

  1. A fire apparatus vehicle (10) for delivering water at a rate of up to 0.1 m 3 /s, comprising: a vehicle chassis (30) with a pair of chassis frame rails (35); a turret (50) arranged above and supported by the vehicle chassis (30); and a high-flow articulated water tower (20) configured to deliver water from the fire apparatus vehicle (10), the high-flow articulated water tower (20) supported by the turret (50) and directing a flow of water for delivery from the fire apparatus vehicle (10), characterised in that the articulated water tower (20) includes: a folding tower arm system (70) with a tower arm assembly that has a lower tower arm (74) and an upper tower arm (82), which are configured to fold with respect to each other, and an arm water delivery system (72) configured to convey water from a pump system (40) along the articulated water tower (20) such that the flow of water defines: a divided water flow segment (96) that flows along a first portion of the high-flow articulated water tower (20) along the lower tower arm (74); a combined water flow segment (122) that flows along a second portion of the high-flow articulated water tower (20) downstream of the divided water flow segment (96) along the upper tower arm (82), a water splitter (92) for dividing a volume of water flowing along the tower arm assembly into a pair of flow path segments to define the divided water flow segment (96); wherein the arm water delivery system (72) comprises a pair of lower tower arm water pipes (102) supported on opposites sides of the lower tower arm (74), each lower tower arm water pipe (102) having a main body portion that is parallel to the lower tower arm (74) and an inlet end (104) connected to a respective outlet (100) of the water splitter (92) and an outlet end (106) arranged opposite the water splitter (92), wherein each outlet end (106) defines an angled segment (108) extending angularly away from the respective main body portion of the respective lower tower arm water pipe (102) and the lower tower arm (74) and an elbow (110) that curves back toward the lower tower arm (74) generally perpendicular to the main body portion of the lower tower arm water pipe (102).
  2. The fire apparatus vehicle (10) of claim 1, further comprising: a water flow combiner arranged downstream of the water splitter (92) and upstream of a delivery nozzle (90), the water flow combiner configured to combine the pair of flow path segments of the divided water flow into a single volume of water flowing toward the delivery nozzle (90) as a combined water flow.
  3. The fire apparatus vehicle (10) of claim 2, wherein the tower arm assembly comprises: the folding tower arm system that includes: the lower tower arm (74) that has a lower tower arm inner end (76) that is pivot connected to the turret (50) and a lower tower arm outer end (88) arranged opposite the turret (50); the upper tower arm (82) that has an upper tower arm inner end (84) that is pivot connected to the lower tower arm outer end (80) at a folding tower arm joint (86) and an upper tower arm outer end (88) arranged opposite the folding tower arm joint (86) that supports the delivery nozzle (90).
  4. The fire apparatus vehicle (10) of claim 2, wherein: the water splitter (92) comprises: an inlet (98) that receives water from a pump system (40) supported by the vehicle chassis (30); the pair of outlets (100) that delivers the divided water flow in a downstream direction; and the water flow combiner comprises: a water stem knuckle (120) defined at a folding tower arm joint (86), wherein the water stem knuckle (120) is configured to receive the divided water flow and deliver the combined water flow.
  5. The fire apparatus vehicle (10) of claim 4, wherein the water stem knuckle (120) comprises: a pair of inlets (126) that receives the divided water flow; and an outlet (128) that delivers the combined water flow in a downstream direction toward the delivery nozzle (90).
  6. The fire apparatus vehicle (10) of claim 5, wherein the water stem knuckle (120) comprises: a reinforcement cartridge (140) with ribs (150) that are arranged within a flow path of water flowing through the water stem knuckle (120).
  7. The fire apparatus vehicle (10) of claim 6, wherein the ribs (150) are arranged transversely with respect to longitudinal axes of the lower and upper tower arms (74, 82).
  8. A high-flow articulated water tower (20) for a fire apparatus vehicle (10) for delivering water from the fire apparatus vehicle (10) at a rate of up to 0.1 m 3 /s, the fire apparatus vehicle (10) having a turret (50) configured for rotating the high-flow articulated water tower (20) about a generally vertical axis and a pump system (40) configured to pump water to be delivered from the high-flow articulated water tower (20), the high-flow articulated water tower (20) comprising: a folding tower arm system (70) that includes: a lower tower arm (74) that has a lower tower arm inner end (76) that is pivot connected to the turret (50) at a turret-arm joint (78) and a lower tower arm outer end (80) arranged opposite the turret (50); an upper tower arm (82) that has an upper tower arm inner end (84) that is pivot connected to the lower tower arm outer end (80) at a folding tower arm joint (86) and an upper tower arm outer end (88) arranged opposite the folding tower arm joint (86); an arm water delivery system (72) that includes: a water splitter (92) for dividing a volume of flowing water from the pump system (40) into a pair of flow path segments to define a divided water flow for delivery along the lower tower arm (74), the water splitter (92) including: an inlet (98) that receives water from the pump system (40); and a pair of outlets (100) that delivers the divided water flow in a downstream direction; a pair of lower tower arm water pipes (102) supported on opposites sides of the lower tower arm (74), each lower tower arm water pipe (102) having a main body portion that is parallel to the lower tower arm (74), each lower tower arm pipe including an inlet end (104) connected to a respective outlet (100) of the water splitter (92) and an outlet end (106) arranged opposite the water splitter (92), wherein each outlet end (106) defines an angled segment (108) extending angularly away from the respective main body portion of the respective lower tower arm water pipe (102) and the lower tower arm (74) and an elbow (110) that curves back toward the lower tower arm (74) generally perpendicular to the main body portion of the lower tower arm water pipe (102); a water stem knuckle (120) for combining the flow path segments of the divided water flow into a combined flow path that defines a combined water flow, the water stem knuckle (120) including: a pair of inlets (126) that receives the divided water flow from the outlet ends of the lower tower arm water pipes (102); and an outlet (128) that delivers the combined water flow in a downstream direction; an upper tower arm water pipe (180) that includes an inlet end (182) connected to the water stem knuckle outlet and an outlet end (184) arranged opposite the water stem knuckle (120); and a delivery nozzle (90) that is connected to the upper tower arm water pipe outlet end (184) for delivering the water out of the high-flow articulated water tower (20).
  9. The high-flow articulated water tower (20) of claim 8, wherein the water stem knuckle (120) includes a reinforcement cartridge (140) with first and second ends (142) and that has: a circumferential side wall (146) that defines outer and inner surfaces and extends between the first and second ends (142); and ribs (150) that extend in a longitudinal direction with respect to the reinforcement cartridge (140) and radially inward from the circumferential sidewall inner surface.
  10. The high-flow articulated water tower (20) of claim 9, wherein the reinforcement cartridge (140) includes at least one opening (148) that extends through the circumferential sidewall at an intermediate portion between the first and second ends (142) of the reinforcement cartridge (140), wherein the at least one opening (148) is configured to deliver the combined water flow into the upper tower arm water pipe (180).
  11. The high-flow articulated water tower (20) of claim 10, wherein the reinforcement cartridge (140) includes multiple openings (148) that extend through the circumferential sidewall and are circumferentially spaced from each other.
  12. The high-flow articulated water tower (20) of claim 11, wherein the multiple openings (148) define perimeter shapes that are elongate slots so that the circumferential sidewall defines a perforated segment of the reinforcement cartridge (140) at the intermediate portion.
  13. The high-flow articulated water tower (20) of claim 9, wherein the water stem knuckle (120) includes an outlet collar (170) that concentrically surrounds the reinforcement cartridge (140) and includes an outlet collar opening (174) that defines the water stem knuckle outlet.
  14. The high-flow articulated water tower (20) of claim 13, wherein the water stem knuckle outlet collar (170) is connected to the upper tower waterpipe (180).
  15. The high-flow articulated water tower (20) of claim 8, wherein the upper tower arm water pipe (180) extends longitudinally through an inside space of the upper tower arm (82).

Description

FIELD OF THE INVENTION This invention relates generally to fire apparatus vehicles and, more particularly, to a high-flow articulated water tower for a fire apparatus vehicle. BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION Known articulated water tower fire apparatus vehicles are designed with compromises between vehicle size and water flow rating. Smaller sized fire apparatus vehicles can be beneficial in many situations. These situations include urban uses because the smaller vehicles are more maneuverable through narrow streets than larger ones. Articulated water towers with higher water flow ratings are beneficial for firefighting because they can deliver more water for extinguishing fires than those with lower water flow ratings. US2006/0065411 discloses a vehicular firefighting system including a vehicle a boom pivotally coupled to the vehicle about a horizontal axis and a nozzle pivotally coupled to the boom. JPS53108798 discloses a remote-controlled fire extinguishing device in which an aqueous solution is mixed with a water or a fire extinguishing stock solution is radiated from a high place. US3770062 discloses an apparatus for firefighting including a monitor unit for supporting a nozzle for continuous rotation in a plane and pivotal motion in a further plane. US3346052 discloses a pumper truck having a boom-supported, remotely controlled water delivery nozzle assembly. However, implementing high-flow articulated water towers, such as those with flow rates of about 0.1 m3/s (1500 GPM (gallons per minute)), on small fire apparatus vehicles is challenging. Vehicles with high-flow articulated water towers can experience large reactionary forces, which can be strong enough to make small fire apparatus vehicles unstable. Accordingly, typical fire apparatus vehicles that support high-flow articulated water towers are large vehicles with tandem rear axles or larger chassis. Many of the large fire apparatus vehicles also have at least two pairs of outriggers to further stabilize the large vehicles against the reactionary forces of the high-flow articulated water towers. SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention is directed to a relatively small fire apparatus vehicle, such as a single rear axle vehicle with a GVWR (gross vehicle weight rating) of less than 22680 kg (50k pounds), that has a high-flow articulated water tower that can deliver water at a rate of up to 0.1 m3/s (1500 GPM) and which may have a single outrigger for stabilizing the vehicle. Specific aspects of the invention are recited in the appended claims. According to one example of the disclosure, a fire apparatus vehicle includes a high-flow articulated water tower. The articulated water tower receives water from a pump system that is divided and delivered through a pair of pipes on opposite sides of the lower tower arm. A water stem knuckle is arranged at a joint between the lower tower arm and an upper tower arm. The water stem knuckle may receive the divided flow segments at opposite ends so that the flow segments flow axially toward each other, combine inside the water stem knuckle, and are released radially out of an intermediate portion of the water stem knuckle as a combined flow that is directed along the upper tower arm for delivery out of a nozzle at the end of the articulated water tower. According to another example of the disclosure, a fire apparatus vehicle is provided that includes a vehicle chassis with a pair of chassis frame rails, a turret arranged above and supported by the vehicle chassis, and a high-flow articulated water tower. The high-flow articulated water tower is supported by the turret and is configured to deliver water. The high-flow articulated water tower includes a tower arm assembly and a delivery nozzle supported by the tower arm assembly. An arm water delivery system includes a water splitter that divides a volume of water flowing along the tower arm assembly into a pair of flow path segments as a divided water flow that flows along part of the tower arm assembly. A water flow combiner is downstream of the water splitter and upstream of the delivery nozzle. The water flow combiner joins the divided water flow's pair of flow path segments into a single volume of water or a combined water flow that flows toward the delivery nozzle. According to another example of the disclosure, the tower arm assembly includes a folding tower arm system with lower and upper tower arms. The lower tower arm has an inner end that is pivot connected to the turret and an opposite outer end. The upper tower arm has an inner end that is pivot connected to the lower tower arm outer end at a folding tower arm joint. An outer end of the upper tower arm is arranged opposite the folding tower arm joint and supports the delivery nozzle. According to another example of the disclosure, the water splitter includes an inlet that receives water from a pump system and a pair of outlets that delivers the divided water flow in a downstream direction. The wa