PROCESS AND APPARATUS FOR FIRE FIGHTING BY DETECTING AND LOCATING HIDDEN BURNING MATERIAL AND HOT EMBERS BEHIND WALLS, PARTITIONS AND THE LIKE

摘要

A process and apparatus for fire fighting by detecting and locating hidden burning material, such as hot embers, hot coals, hot spots and the like behind intervening optically opaque cooler obstructions such as walls, partitions, smoke, etc. by sensing the direction and relative strength of short radio waves which are generated and radiated by such hot spots. The range of radio waves which can be employed extends from approximately 1,000 megaHertz up to 40,000 megaHertz, the optimum range being from 4,000 megaHertz to 14,000 megaHertz and my presently preferred frequency of operation is approximately 8,000 to 9,000 megaHertz because this frequency (1) is sufficiently low to provide penetration of intervening opaque objects without undue attenuation; (2) is sufficiently high to provide good directivity with portable hand-held apparatus as described; and (3) is sufficiently high to avoid much of the man-made radio interference which exists today. A portable detector and locator for hidden hot spots includes a directional antenna adapted to be aimed and moved about manually and a hand-held sensitive radio receiver coupled to the antenna with an associated indicator device which gives an appropriate signal to the user indicating that a fire or hidden hot spot has been detected and located. The signal may be audible or visual and it changes in character, for example, it gets louder or more powerful or higher in pitch as the temperature of the hidden hot spot increases and also as the user approaches it so that it subtends a greater effective angle within the beamwidth of the antenna.