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US 6,658,801 B2Granted
Portable fire curtain system
OwnerPatrick Kilduff, Thomas Oswaldinventors
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A portable fire curtain system to provide a cloak to cover a vented opening. When deployed it will alleviate the incoming wind, which is fueling the fire. The fire curtain is made of one sheet of a fire resistant or fire proof material that is folded and sewn together. Encapsulated within the fire curtain are 6 bars of high-tempered aluminum running laterally. Each corner of the fire curtain has holes that are drilled through the top and bottom bars. Four 5 foot cable leaders with loops, (one to each corner) will be secured to these holes. Two 40 foot ropes with snaps on all ends will be connected to these cable leaders to be used in the deployment. The ropes are packed in two rope deployment bags in order to prevent the ropes from tangling.
Claims20
A portable fire curtain system for affixing vertically to a building opening so as to block the building opening, said portable fire curtain system comprising:
- (a) a fire curtain comprising a substantially rectangular piece of material, said rectangular piece of material when positioned vertically having an upper edge, a lower edge, two side edges, a front side, and a back side, said piece of material thus having two upper corners and two lower corners, each of said two upper corners having a hole located a predetermined distance therefrom, said holes being designated the upper two holes, each of said lower two corners having a hole located a predetermined distance therefrom, said holes being designated the lower two holes, each of said upper two holes and said lower two holes extending from the front side to the backside of said piece of material;
- (b) a plurality of spaced stiffeners selected from the group consisting of bars and tubing, said spaced stiffeners being encapsulated into said fire curtain for providing stiffness to said fire curtain, wherein one stiffener designated the uppermost stiffener has holes near the ends thereof corresponding to the upper two holes in the fire curtain, and one stiffener designated the lowermost stiffener has holes near the ends thereof corresponding to the lower two holes in the fire curtain;
- (c) an upper set of curtain connectors selected from the group consisting of cable leaders and ropes, each of said curtain connectors having a first end having means for attaching to the fire curtain and a second end having a loop, each of said curtain connectors being attached their first ends to each of the two upper corners of said fire curtain at their holes;
- (d) a lower set of curtain connectors selected from the group consisting of cable leaders and ropes, each of said curtain connectors having a first end having means for attaching to the fire curtain and a second end having a loop, each of said curtain connectors being attached at their first ends to each of the two lower corners of said fire curtain at their holes;
- (e) an upper bag connector deployment bag having a mouth and a bottom, said upper bag connector deployment bag having a bag connector therein, said bag connector having a first end and a second end, said bag connector being secured near its middle to the bottom of said bag connector deployment bag, said first end and said second end of bag connector having means for attaching to the loops at the second ends of said curtain connectors attached to said upper corners of said fire curtain;
- and
- (f) a lower bag connector deployment bag having a mouth and a bottom, said lower bag connector deployment bag having a bag connector therein, said bag connector having a first end and a second end, said bag connector being secured near its middle to the bottom of said bag connector deployment bag, said first end and said second end of bag connector having means for attaching to the loops at the second ends of said curtain connectors attached to said lower corners of said fire curtain.
4 more elements
A portable fire curtain system for affixing vertically to a building opening so as to block the building opening, said portable fire curtain system comprising:
- (a) a fire curtain comprising a substantially rectangular elongated sheet of fire resistant material which is folded and sewn together, said elongated sheet of fire resistant material when positioned vertically having an upper edge, a lower edge, two side edges, a front side, and a back side, said piece of material thus having two upper corners and two lower corners, each of said two upper corners having a hole located a predetermined distance therefrom, said holes being desighated the upper two holes, each of said lower two corners having a hole located a predetermined distance therefrom, said holes being designated the lower two holes, each of said upper two holes and said lower two holes extending from the front side to the backside of said piece of material;
- (b) a plurality of spaced high tempered aluminum bars encapsulated into said fire curtain for providing stiffness to said fire curtain, wherein one aluminum bar designated the uppermost bar has holes near the ends thereof corresponding to the upper two holes in the fire curtain, and one bar designated the lowermost bar has holes near the ends thereof corresponding to the lower two holes in the fire curtain, said bars being substantially parallel to the upper and lower edges of said fire curtain, and being substantially parallel to one another;
- (c) an upper set of curtain connectors, each of said curtain connectors having a first end having a loop and a second end having a loop, each of said curtain connectors being attached at their first ends to each of the two upper corners of said fire curtain at their holes;
- (d) a lower set of curtain connectors, each of said curtain connectors having a first end having a loop and a second end having a loop, each of said curtain connectors being attached at their first ends to each of the two lower corners of said fire curtain at the holes in the corners;
- (e) an upper rope deployment bag comprising a rope having a first end and a second end, said rope being secured at its middle to the inside of said rope deployment bag, said first end and said second end having snaps attached to each end thereof for attaching to the loops of said curtain connectors attached to said upper corners of said, fire curtain;
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- (f) a lower rope deployment bag having a hole in the bottom thereof, said lower rope deployment bag having a rope having a first end and a second end, said rope being secured at its middle to the inside of said rope deployment bag, a portion of said rope protruding out of said hole, said first end and said second end having a snap attached to each end thereof for attaching to the loops at the second ends of the lower set of curtain connectors, and
- (g) a snap attached to the portion of said rope protruding out of the hole in the bottom of the lower rope deployment bag, whereby a weight can be attached to the bottom rope deployment bag.
5 more elements
A method of rolling a portable fire curtain system, said fire curtain system comprising:
- (a) a fire curtain having a top edge having two corners, a bottom edge having two corners, the distance between the two top corners defining the length of the curtain after it has been rolled up, and two side edges;
- (b) an upper pair of cables, one of said cables being attached at one end to one of the top two corners of the fire curtain, the other of said cables being attached at one end to the other of the top two corners of the fire curtain, the other end of each of said cables being unattached to the fire curtain, each of said cables having a loop at its unattached end;
- (c) a lower pair of cables, one of said cables being attached at one end to one of the bottom two corners of the fire curtain, the other of said cables being attached at one end to the other of the bottom two corners of the fire curtain, the other end of each of said cables being unattached to the fire curtain, each of said cables having a loop at its unattached end;
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- (d) a tote bag for holding the rolled fire curtain system;
- said method comprising the steps of:
- (a) laying the fire curtain on a level surface;
- (b) taking one of the lower cables attached to the bottom corner of the fire curtain and placing it over the opposite bottom corner of the fire curtain, so that the loop thereof extends just beyond the side edge of the fire curtain;
- (c) taking the cable leader attached to the other bottom corner of the fire curtain and placing it over the first bottom corner of the fire curtain, so that the loop thereof extends just beyond the side edge of the fire curtain;
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- (d) rolling the fire curtain from bottom to top so that the above said cables are rolled up within the roll of the fire curtain;
- (e) placing the fire curtain within the tote bag;
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- (f) laying the upper pair of cables along the length of the rolled-up fire curtain, so that when the tote bag is opened the cables will not be tangled with each other.
11 more elements
A method of deploying a portable fire curtain system to cover a target opening, said portable fire curtain system being of the type which comprises:
- (a) a fire curtain having a top edge having two corners, a bottom edge having two corners, the distance between the two top corners defining the length of the curtain after it has been rolled up, and two side edges, said two side edges defining the two ends of the curtain after it has been rolled up;
- (b) an upper pair of cables, one of said cables being attached at one end to one of the top two corners of the fire curtain, the other of said cables being attached at one end to the other of the top two corners of the fire curtain, the other end of each of said cables being unattached to the fire curtain, each of said cables having a loop at its unattached end;
- (c) a lower pair of cables, one of said cables being attached at one end to one of the bottom two corners of the fire curtain, the other of said cables being attached at one end to the other of the bottom two corners of the fire curtain, the other end of each of said cables being unattached to the fire curtain, each of said cables having a loop at its unattached end, said fire curtain initially being rolled up such that the ends of the lower set of cable leaders protrude from the two ends of the rolled up fire curtain;
- (d) an upper rope deployment bag comprising a rope having a first end and a second end, said rope being secured at its middle to the inside of said rope deployment bag, said first end and said second end having snaps attached to each end thereof for attaching to the loops of said pair of cables attached to said upper corners of said fire curtain;
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- (e) a lower rope deployment bag having a hole in the bottom thereof, said lower rope deployment bag having a rope having a first end arid a second end, said rope being secured at its middle to the inside of said rope deployment bag, portion of said rope protruding out of said hole, said first end and said second end having a snap attached to each end thereof for attaching to the loops at the second ends of the lower pair of cables, and
- (f) a snap attached to the portion of said rope protruding out of the hole in the bottom of the lower rope deployment bag, whereby a weight can be attached to the bottom rope deployment bag;
- said method comprising the steps of:
- (a) taking the portable fire curtain system to an elevation above the target opening;
- (b) attaching the ends of the rope of the lower rope deployment bag of the portable fire curtain system to the second end loops of the lower set of cable leaders that are protruding from the ends of the rolled up fire curtain;
- (c) attaching a weight to the snap attached to the portion of rope protruding from the hole in the bottom of the lower rope deployment bag:
- (d) attaching the ends of the rope of the upper rope deployment bag to the second end loops of the upper set of cable leaders;
- (e) dropping the lower rope deployment bag to an elevation that is lower than the target opening;
- (f) securing the ropes from the lower rope deployment bag at the lower elevation;
- (g) securing the ropes from the upper rope deployment bag at the upper elevation;
- (h) placing the rolled-up fire curtain outside the upper elevation, and allowing the fire curtain to unroll;
- (i) taking up the slack in the ropes at the lower elevation, thus maintaining tension in said ropes;
- (j) lowering the fire curtain to cover the target opening;
- (k) maintaining continued tension on all four ropes;
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- (l) maintaining the position of the fire curtain until the fire has been extinguished.
18 more elements
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.