US-20260124627-A1 - SPRAY MIST NOZZLE FOR FIRE-FIGHTING SYSTEMS, AND FIRE-FIGHTING SYSTEMS HAVING SAME

US20260124627A1US 20260124627 A1US20260124627 A1US 20260124627A1US-20260124627-A1

Abstract

The invention relates to a spray mist nozzle, in particular an open high-pressure spray mist nozzle for firefighting systems, having a housing which is configured with an extinguishing fluid inlet and is configured with multiple recesses for receiving an exchangeable nozzle insert, such a nozzle insert being inserted into one, multiple/plural or all the recesses. The nozzle insert has a main body with a longitudinal axis that has in the longitudinal axis a spray mist outlet for the extinguishing fluid. An exchangeable swirl body is arranged in the main body and is configured to swirl the extinguishing fluid prior to the latter exiting from the spray mist outlet. The spray mist outlet has a minimum opening cross section, and has a widened exit cross section downstream of the minimum opening cross section, wherein a transition from the minimum opening cross section to the exit cross section runs along a convexly curved surface.

Inventors

Frank Rönnfeldt
Stefan Schnell

Assignees

MINIMAX VIKING PATENT MANAGEMENT GMBH

Dates

Publication Date: 20260507
Application Date: 20251114
Priority Date: 20190603

Claims (20)

1 .- 22 . (canceled)
23 . A spray mist nozzle for firefighting systems, comprising: a housing configured with an extinguishing fluid inlet for receiving an extinguishing fluid and at least one recess; a nozzle insert disposed within the at least one recess, the nozzle insert comprising a main body with a longitudinal axis, and a spray mist outlet on the longitudinal axis for the extinguishing fluid; and a swirl body arranged in the main body of the nozzle insert and configured to guide a first part of the extinguishing fluid laterally along the swirl body and to swirl the first part of the extinguishing fluid prior to exiting the spray mist outlet, the swirl body comprising: a first face side including a plurality of grooves to guide the first part of the extinguishing fluid laterally along the swirl body, an opposite second face side downstream from the first face side, the opposite second face side including a plurality of vortex channels oblique to the longitudinal axis to swirl the first part of the extinguishing fluid, and a passage opening that extends through the swirl body from the first face side to the opposite second face side, wherein the passage opening is aligned with the spray mist outlet of the main body of the nozzle insert, and wherein a second part of the extinguishing fluid flows through the passage opening.
24 . The spray mist nozzle of claim 23 , wherein the plurality of grooves are perpendicular to the longitudinal axis.
25 . The spray mist nozzle of claim 23 , wherein each of the plurality of grooves extends from the passage opening to an outer circumference of the swirl body.
26 . The spray mist nozzle of claim 25 , wherein each of the plurality of grooves includes: a planar base; and a pair of parallel side walls extending from opposing edges of the base.
27 . The spray mist nozzle of claim 23 , wherein each of the plurality of vortex channels are parallel to and offset from a respective plane containing the longitudinal axis.
28 . The spray mist nozzle of claim 27 , wherein each of the plurality of vortex channels is inclined at an angle relative to the second face side of the swirl body, and/or wherein a channel base of each of the plurality of vortex channels is oriented parallel to a seat surface of the swirl body, and/or the channel base of each of the plurality of vortex channels is planar with two opposing parallel side walls.
29 . The spray mist nozzle of claim 27 , wherein the plurality of grooves extend radially from the longitudinal axis to an outer circumference of the swirl body, and wherein the first part of the extinguishing fluid flows through the plurality of radially extending grooves and the plurality of vortex channels, and/or wherein the first part of the extinguishing fluid and the second part of the extinguishing fluid reunite in a free space between the swirl body and the main body and are expelled together through the spray mist outlet.
30 . The spray mist nozzle of claim 23 , wherein the spray mist outlet of the nozzle insert comprises: an opening cross section defining a minimum diameter of the spray mist outlet; an exit cross section defining an exit diameter of the spray mist outlet greater than the minimum diameter of the spray mist outlet, wherein the exit cross section is located downstream of the opening cross section; and a convexly curved surface including a first transition extending from the opening cross section to the exit cross section.
31 . The spray mist nozzle of claim 30 , wherein the first transition that extends from the opening cross section to the exit cross section has a constant surface curvature.
32 . The spray mist nozzle of claim 31 , wherein the spray mist outlet of the nozzle insert further comprises: incident-flow cross section upstream of the opening cross section.
33 . The spray mist nozzle of claim 32 , wherein the convexly curved surface further includes: a second transition extending from the incident-flow cross section to the opening cross section.
34 . The spray mist nozzle as claimed in claim 33 , wherein the second transition that extends from the incident-flow cross section to the opening cross section has a constant surface curvature.
35 . The spray mist nozzle as claimed in claim 32 , wherein the convexly curved surface extends between the incident-flow cross section and the exit cross section and has a constant surface curvature between the incident-flow cross section and the exit cross section.
36 . The spray mist nozzle of claim 30 , wherein the passage opening comprises: a passage cross section that is smaller than or a same size as the exit cross section of the spray mist outlet.
37 . The spray mist nozzle of claim 23 , wherein the passage opening comprises: an axis oriented coaxially in relation to the longitudinal axis of the main body.
38 . The spray mist nozzle of claim 23 , wherein the at least one recess comprises: a first nozzle recess, and wherein the extinguishing fluid inlet defines a mounting direction, the nozzle insert further comprising: a first nozzle insert disposed within the first nozzle recess and oriented parallel to the mounting direction.
39 . The spray mist nozzle of claim 38 , wherein the at least one recess further comprises: a second nozzle recess with a second nozzle insert oriented at a predetermined angle of 55° to 70° to the mounting direction.
40 . The spray mist nozzle of claim 38 , wherein the first nozzle insert has a first nominal K-factor three to four times larger than a second nominal K-factor of the second nozzle insert, or wherein the first nozzle insert has a first nominal K-factor and the second nozzle insert has a second nominal K-factor, wherein the first nominal K-factor is identical to the second nominal K-factor.
41 . The spray mist nozzle of claim 23 , wherein the spray mist nozzle further comprises: an additional recess including a sprinkler insert, the sprinkler insert having: a blocking body which is moved back and forth between a closed state and a release state and is configured to separate the extinguishing fluid inlet from the at least one recess including the nozzle insert in the closed state and to connect the extinguishing fluid inlet to the at least one recess including the nozzle insert in a fluid-conducting manner in the release state, wherein the extinguishing fluid inlet defines a mounting direction, and wherein the additional recess is oriented in the mounting direction, and wherein the at least one recess further includes four or more recesses oriented at an angle relative to the additional recess and distributed uniformly along a circumference of the spray mist nozzle.

Description

PRIORITY CLAIM AND INCORPORATION BY REFERENCE This application is a continuation of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 17/614,185, filed Aug. 1, 2022, which is a 35 U.S.C. § 371 application of International Application No. PCT/EP2020/065276, filed Jun. 3, 2020, which claims the benefit of German Application No. 10 2019 114 868.5, filed Jun. 3, 2019, each of which is incorporated by reference in its entirety. TECHNICAL FIELD The invention relates to a spray mist nozzle, in particular an open high-pressure spray mist nozzle for firefighting systems, having a housing which is configured with an extinguishing fluid inlet and is configured with multiple recesses for receiving an exchangeable nozzle insert, such a nozzle insert being inserted into one, multiple/plural or all the recesses, wherein the nozzle insert has a main body with a longitudinal axis that has in the longitudinal axis a spray mist outlet for the extinguishing fluid, wherein an exchangeable swirl body is arranged in the main body and is configured to swirl the extinguishing fluid prior to the latter exiting from the spray mist outlet. BACKGROUND AND SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION Spray mist nozzles of the type indicated above are known and are generally used for atomizing the extinguishing fluid into fine droplets having the greatest possible homogeneity and for distributing the extinguishing fluid atomized in this way into the spray mist to as large an area as possible of a monitored space. Here, it is basically sought to cover the largest possible spatial volume or spatial area with as little extinguishing agent as possible being used. With spray mist nozzles, it is always necessary for a balance to be struck with respect to the atomization effect thereof and the casting distance which can be achieved, in a manner dependent on the operating pressure and volumetric flow rate of conveyance, by the spray mist nozzles, when it comes to selecting the spray mist nozzle. Spray mist nozzles with a particularly fine formation of droplets, that is to say a strong atomization effect, have a smaller casting distance than nozzles with less intense swirling or a formation of larger droplets with less fine atomization. This interdependency is expressed by the so-called K-factor. The K-factor represents a nozzle constant and provides information about the quantity of water exiting from the sprinkler. It is determined using the following equation: K=Q/p, where Q is the volumetric flow rate in I/min and p is the static pressure before the nozzle in bar. It has been observed, particularly at relatively high operating pressures above 30 bar, in particular in a range of 60 bar to 140 bar and in particular in the case of K-factors of below 1.0, that, for known spray mist nozzles, variations of the K-factor sometimes occur in the spray mist discharge. For the best possible predictability and reproducibility of the firefighting effect of a spray mist nozzle, it is however of great importance to obtain an operating behavior which is as constant as possible. This means that the K-factor of the nozzle has to be as constant as possible too. Consequently, the invention was based on the object of improving a spray mist nozzle of the type indicated in the introduction to the extent that the above-described disadvantages are overcome as far as possible. In particular, the invention was based on the object of improving a spray mist nozzle of the type indicated in the introduction to the extent that the stability of the K-factor is improved. The invention achieves the underlying object in the case of a spray mist nozzle, in particular in the case of an open high-pressure spray mist nozzle according to a first aspect of the invention. In particular, the invention provides a spray mist nozzle for firefighting systems of the type indicated in the introduction in which the spray mist outlet has a minimum opening cross section, and has a widened exit cross section downstream of the minimum opening cross section, wherein the transition from the minimum opening cross section to the exit cross section runs along a convexly curved surface. In other words, the point of the smallest opening cross section is not arranged directly at the exit cross section of the spray mist outlet, but rather is formed recessed to a certain extent in the main body of the nozzle insert, and, toward the exit cross section, the wall of the spray mist outlet is widened in a convexly shaped inverse funnel. Here, the invention makes use of the realization that, through the provision of a convexly curved surface between the point of the minimum opening cross section and the exit cross section, an unexpectedly marked stabilization of the discharge behavior of the spray mist nozzle is realized, and in particular a K-factor varying to a significantly lesser extent can be measured during the operation of the nozzle. The higher the operating pressure and the smaller the K-factor of the spray mist nozzle, the greater the exte