Keeping Sprinkler Head Assembly Consistent
Posted on 10/19/2018 | by The Orbitform Blog Team
It’s a tragedy nobody expects will happen to them - a fire. There's only a small window of opportunity to put it out before everything is lost. Industrial sprinkler systems are key to fire & safety protection in building structures. However, when sprinkler heads malfunction, the system only puts out a part of the fire, leaving the rest of the fire to run rampant.
One fire sprinkler manufacturer came to Orbitform looking to solve this exact issue… “inconsistent assembly of sprinkler heads”. The current pin forming process resulted in the pins buckling. A bent pin restricts the deflector plate from dropping at the appropriate angle, resulting in a small percentage of room area coverage with water.
Solution’s Lab performed orbital riveting testing to determine the best process, tooling geometry, and machine set-up parameters. Our engineering department designed a custom fixture to locate and secure the components in place, ensuring part component alignment, and prevention of pins bending during the forming process. Our lab testing led us to forming both pins at the same time, which prevented the deflector plate from tilting during forming. Orbitform’s multi-point orbital forming head package become the optimum solution.
The process improvement, head configuration, and custom fixture solved the root issue of malfunctioning sprinkler heads. The deflector plate now drops straight down when activated, allowing an even spray of water that helps contain a room fire, minimizing damage that could have been catastrophic.