What are Automatic Fire Curtains?

What are Automatic Fire Curtains?

Automatic fire curtains are now regularly used as an alternative to fire shutters, and building designers are requiring curtains to replace partition walls spanning large openings.

Large single roller systems using support rollers were trialled but the supporting rollers soon damaged the fabric. Also the integrity of the fabric could not be guaranteed when the panels were sewn together on site.

An overlapping system was preferred and subsequently tested to BS 476: pt22. Rollers with an overlap of 600 mm were installed in a mild steel head box joined with a common bottom bar. Integrity rating of 240 minutes and 60 minutes were achieved respectively.

Fire curtains with multiple rollers use the same gravity fail safe method of operation as single roller fire curtains.

Rollers with a diameter of 76 mm will be used for all multiple roller fire curtains.

The head box is manufactured from 1.2mm galvanised steel. The box can be powder coated to any standard RAL finish.

As shown in the diagram below the rollers will include for a 600mm overlap. The rollers must be positioned one above the other (over & under) to prevent the curtain gaping at the top and losing integrity. Curtains with a drop of 3.0m or less would be housed in a head box with dimensions of 180mm wide x 290mm high.

Fire curtain systems require side guides to provide a seal between the curtain fabric & the structure of the building. A fire will cause either positive or negative pressures, these pressures can cause the curtain to billow & pull the curtain fabric out of the side guides. Fabric retaining tabs are fixed to the edge of the curtain to prevent this occurring. The side guides are extruded from 2 mm galvanised steel. Powder coating is available as an optional extra. Unit dimensions 100 mm D x 50 mm W.