FR2745502A1 - Fire extinguishing training simulator - Google Patents

Abstract

The simulator uses a target which simulates a fire by use of realistic colours, light effects, heat, smoke movement etc. Different commercially available fire extinguishers are also simulated and can be selected. Interaction between the target simulator and the simulated fire extinguisher is obtained by electromagnetic radiation or ultrasonics. Different barriers to extinguishing fires as well as the type of extinguisher selected are taken into account when extinguishing the simulated fire.

Description

1 - DESCRIPTION
Device for simulating fire and driving it out.

The present invention relates to a simulation device intended for the training and the training of the personnel having to use occasionally or repeatedly fire extinguishing means.

Generally. Fire extinguisher training takes place under the responsibility of either training organizations or the Safety Departments of large companies. In all cases, the practical training sessions take place outdoors and require specially designed areas. Indeed,
The fire is extinguished using a real fire extinguisher after firing kerosene. wood or whatever.

Apart from the obligation to work outdoors, other disadvantages of the current situation are that the extinguishers must be recharged after each use, that the risks of pollution are increased and that the infrastructure necessary for the proper conduct of the sessions is more consistent.

The object of the invention is the production of a system which includes fire simulation and fire extinction simulation. This system: - can be implemented very simply and repeatedly.

- do not use extinguishing agents.

- allows training inside the premises.

- has maximum efficiency thanks to its realism.

The simulation system according to the invention consists of: - a target which is either a simulated fire or a real fire powered by gas - simulators of extinguishing means similar to real extinguishers (adaptation according to the invention of all type of fire extinguisher).

The system according to the invention reproduces in all cases the effects of a real fire. The firing of the target is controlled remotely either by a remote control or by an electronic unit.

The active principle of the invention uses on the one hand the emission-reception of electromagnetic or ultrasonic radiation and on the other hand the possibility of selection offered by these radiation as a function of their wavelength.

The system according to the invention allows. by design. to carry out the entire implementation sequence of the actual extinguishing device and to verify the effectiveness of the action by stopping the activity of the target. The target-extinction set allows the body language to be reproduced. The effect of different extinguishing agents and the type of fire.

The target is equipped with several radiation sensors. These sensors are positioned at the base of the simulated fire or of the real fire so as to reproduce the need for aiming at the base of the flames when trying to extinguish a fire.
The sensors are connected to the system management device which can be electronic or computer. The sensors fitted to the target have the possibility of selecting the wavelengths of the radiation received. Thereby. by assigning a given wavelength range to each extinguisher simulator. the possibilities of realism of the training session are increased. For example, it is impossible to stop the activity of the target if the extinguishing means used is not adapted to the nature of the fire that the target simulates (wood. Hydrocarbons. Electric ...). When the aim is not good or when the extinguishing means is not suitable, an alarm sounds and warns the instructor and the trainee.

The target in the fire / gas version more precisely simulates fires due to hydrocarbons. The target sensors are positioned and programmed in such a way that extinction can only occur by a sweeping action of the fire.

The target in the simulated fire version reproduces the effects of a real fire and in particular the color effect. of movement. heat and smoke thanks to a smoke generation device integrated into the target.

The extinguisher simulators are adaptations of the different types of extinguishers available on the market (cl2. Water. Powder ...). The modifications made for the purposes of the invention are that the extinguishers do not contain an extinguishing agent and that they are equipped with radiation emitters compatible with the sensors fitted to the targets.

The extinguisher simulators make it possible to carry out the training session by faithfully reproducing the duration of action. the weight. the body language and the form of a real means of extinction. They are filled with compressed air in order to simulate the effect of the ejection of the extinguishing agent and the recoil effect which results from it. In the absence of compressed air, the noise of the ejection of the extinguishing agent can be simulated electronically.

The stripping action of the extinguisher simulator .. activates the radiation emitter. The wavelength range of the emitted waves is characteristic of a given type of fire extinguisher. The broadcast begins when the simulator trigger reaches the end of its run. A light beam helps guide operators during the learning phase.

Claims (4)

 2-CLAIMS 1) Fire simulation and fire extinguisher training device not using extinguishing agents consisting of a target which can be a fire simulated by color effects. from light. heat. motion and smoke or real fire / gas and a fire extinguisher simulator simulating the different types of commercially available fire extinguishers. The target-simulator interaction of extinction means being obtained by a system of emission-reception of electromagnetic or ulfrosonic radiations compatible between them and characterized by their wavelength. The whole then making it possible to reproduce the gestural difficulties, the effect of the different extinguishing agents. the nature of the fires and ensuring fire extinguisher compatibility during training sessions. 2) Device according to claim 1. allowing the extinction of a real fire by a simulator of extinguishing means. 3) Device according to claim 1 integrating the generation of smoke in the case of simulated fire. The triggering of the smoke generation being simultaneous to the activation of the simulated fire. 4) Device according to claims 1.2 and 3 characterized by a coding making it possible to identify the nature of the extinguishing agent and to manage its compatibility with the simulated fire (water for wood fire. Powder for hydrocarbon fire. C02 for electric fire ).