案例库 · 工程与运营 · 产品决策 · 1874-1882
这条还没译成中文，下面是英文原文。
The automatic sprinkler opens only near the fire, by melting a fusible link it carries
Parmelee's sprinkler head was held shut by a fusible link, so heat melted just the heads where fire was.
Henry S. Parmelee · Grinnell
那一手
Early firefighting dumped water on a whole structure through perforated pipes, or relied on a watchman, which flooded remote areas and often arrived too late or not at all. The problem was getting water only where the fire was, automatically.
In 1874 Henry S. Parmelee patented a sprinkler head that held a valve shut by a fusible link. When a fire heated the head, the link melted, the valve opened, and water discharged at that spot. Frederick Grinnell's 1882 variant used a sensitive metal disc and a toothed deflector to shape the spray.
The mechanism relies on the fire itself as the sensor, so no electronics or person is needed, and each head operates independently. Grinnell and later a glass-bulb replacement turned this into the standard sprinkler technology.
为什么管用
- A fusible link responds directly to heat, the fire's own signature, so no separate detector or power is required.
- Only the heads near the fire open, so a small fire gets water while the rest of the building stays dry.
- The valve is simple and mechanical, making it cheap, reliable and easy to reset.
- The fire insurance industry's interest gave it a commercial push once its loss reduction was shown.
可以搬走什么
Put the detection at the point of action and let it be triggered by the very thing it protects against, so a single failure or a distant fire doesn't flood the whole system.
后来呢
Grinnell's improved sprinkler and the later glass-bulb head became the standard for automatic fire suppression, and sprinklers were eventually required by law in many buildings, while insurance used them to set rates for industrial property.
资料来源
- A brief history of automatic fire sprinkler systems
- 150 years of the sprinkler: from cotton thread to glass ampoules
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