A fire collar

A fire collar that may be secured to a wall in which there exists a penetration through which services, such as a cluster of plastic coated copper wires and/or metal tubes, extend so as to prevent flames, hot air and/or smoke generated by a fire situated on a side of the wall opposite to that on which the fire collar is located, having passed through the penetration, from spreading beyond the fire collar, said fire collar including:

• a body having an open-ended passage, such as a bore, that includes a first opening and an opposing second opening through which the services in use shall extend, said passage having an internal face;
• mounting means, associated with said body for mounting said body to the wall in the vicinity of the penetration;
• a layer or a segment of intumescent material located within said passage such that it at least overlies said internal face;
• a layer of a protective material that extends about said segment of intumescent material and interposed between said intumescent material and said internal face;
• retaining means for retaining said intumescent material in close proximity to said internal face, and actuation means, including a plurality of torsion springs operatively connected to said body, each of said torsion springs having a spring body and two tails, including an elongate first tail having a tip that is spaced remote from said spring body, and wherein said first tail of each spring in use is capable of moving from a non-operating mode proximal to the layer of intumescent material to an operating mode in which it extends into said passage and wherein the spring force will be sufficiently strong enough that said tips will be able to push apart at least an outer layer of services before becoming imbedded deeper within the cluster.

A fire collar that may be secured to a wall in which there exists a penetration through which services, such as a cluster of plastic coated copper wires, extend so as to prevent flames, hot air and/or smoke generated by a fire situated on a side of the wall opposite to that on which the fire collar is located, having passed through the penetration, from spreading beyond the fire collar, said fire collar including:

• a body consisting of a long, flat, strip of a flexible material having a first end portion and an opposing second end portion;
• connection means associated with said first and second end portions for connecting said end portions together such that said body generally resembles a cylinder having an open-ended bore that includes a first opening and an opposing second opening and wherein said cylindrically shaped body includes a broad internal face and an opposing external face;
• mounting means, associated with said body for mounting said cylindrically shaped body to the wall in the vicinity of the penetration such that the cluster of wires extend through said open-ended bore;
• a layer of a segment of intumescent material located within said open-ended bore that at least overlies a substantial portion of said internal face;
• a layer of a protective material that extends about said segment of intumescent material and interposed between said intumescent material and said internal face;
• retaining means for retaining said intumescent material in close proximity to said internal face;
• and
• actuation means, including a plurality of torsion springs operatively connected to said body, each of said torsion springs having a spring body and two tails, including a first tail, and wherein said first tail of each spring in use is capable of moving from a non-operating mode proximal to the layer of intumescent material to an operating mode in which it extends into said passage and wherein a spring force will be sufficiently strong enough that said tips will be able to push apart at least an outer layer of wires before becoming imbedded deeper within the cluster.