Exterior fire suppression system

Abstract

An exterior fire suppression system that includes: a conduit line providing pressurized flow of a fire-suppressing material; a plurality of variable flow spray nozzles coupled to the conduit line and operable to disperse a variable spray of the fire-suppressing material onto the exterior of the building; a pump; a reservoir tank in fluid communication with the pump and the conduit line, the reservoir tank configured to store the fire-suppressing material; a control system operable to control a flow of the fire-suppressing material from the reservoir tank, the pressurized flow of the fire-suppressing material through the conduit line via the pump, and the dispersion of the fire-suppressing material through the plurality of variable flow spray nozzles; and a power supply operably connected to provide electric power to the pump and the control system.

What is claimed is: 
     
         1 . An exterior fire suppression system comprising:
 a conduit line configured to transport a pressurized flow of a fire-suppressing material, the conduit line configured to be attached to an exterior of a building;   a plurality of variable flow spray nozzles coupled to the conduit line, the plurality of variable flow spray nozzles operable to disperse a variable spray of the fire-suppressing material onto the exterior of the building;   a pump;   a reservoir tank in fluid communication with the pump and the conduit line, the reservoir tank being configured to store the fire-suppressing material;   a control system operable to control a flow of the fire-suppressing material from the reservoir tank, the pressurized flow of the fire-suppressing material through the conduit line via the pump, and the dispersion of the fire-suppressing material through the plurality of variable flow spray nozzles; and   a power supply operably connected to provide electric power to the pump and the control system.   
     
     
         2 . The exterior fire suppression system of  claim 1 , wherein the fire-suppressing material is water. 
     
     
         3 . The exterior fire suppression system of  claim 1 , wherein the fire-suppressing material is a gaseous agent. 
     
     
         4 . The exterior fire suppression system of  claim 3 , wherein the fire-suppressing material is carbon dioxide. 
     
     
         5 . The exterior fire suppression system of  claim 1 , wherein the fire-suppressing material is a wet chemical agent. 
     
     
         6 . The exterior fire suppression system of  claim 1 , wherein the fire-suppressing material is a dry chemical agent. 
     
     
         7 . The exterior fire suppression system of  claim 1 , wherein the fire-suppressing material is a foam-generating liquid. 
     
     
         8 . The exterior fire suppression system of  claim 1 , further comprising one or more thermal indicators coupled to the power supply, wherein the one or more thermal indicators are configured to detect a presence of fire and to transmit a signal to the control system indicating the presence of fire. 
     
     
         9 . The exterior fire suppression system of  claim 8 , wherein in response to the signal from the one or more thermal indicators indicating the presence of fire, the control system is configured to cause the fire-suppressing material to be fed into the conduit line via the pump and dispersed through the variable flow spray nozzles attached thereto. 
     
     
         10 . The exterior fire suppression system of  claim 9 , wherein the reservoir tank is a water reservoir tank and the fire-suppressing material is water. 
     
     
         11 . The exterior fire suppression system of  claim 9 , wherein the fire-suppressing material dispersed by the plurality of variable flow spray nozzles is in a form selected from the group consisting of liquid, gas, vapor, and foam. 
     
     
         12 . The exterior fire suppression system of  claim 8 , wherein the control system comprises a computer-readable medium on which is encoded an executable program code for suppressing a fire, the executable program code comprising:
 instructions for receiving the signal from the one or more thermal indicators indicating the presence of a fire; and   instructions for causing the fire-suppressing material to be transferred into the conduit for dispersion by the plurality of variable spray nozzles in response to receiving the signal from the one or more thermal indicators.   
     
     
         13 . The exterior fire suppression system of  claim 1 , wherein the power supply comprises a primary power source and a secondary power source.