EP0021232B1 - Device for a burglary alarm system - Google Patents

Abstract

1. Means for giving an alarm in the case of unauthorized entry into a protected area, particularly an alarm system for protecting buildings against burglary, in which there is a control station (10), to which are connected peripheral devices (20, 30, 40, 50, 60), whereof some are optionally installed in neighbourhood areas, in the form of alarm sensors, controls, alerting devices, etc, by means of an existing power supply mains (90), in which an identically constructed control device (80) is provided in the control station (10) and also in the peripheral devices (20, 30, 40, 50, 60), said control device being clearly individualized by an identification code within the means, in which each control device (80) has a transmitter and a receiver for control signals interchangeable between control devices, a logic circuit, a signal store and a programme store, in which a predetermined change of state in the vicinity of a peripheral device (20, 30, 40, 50, 60) is recognized by the logic circuit of its control device (80) and is indicated by its transmitter to all the other control devices and is recorded there, in which certain selected changes of state can be supplied to an alerting device (11, 21, 41) for giving an alarm and in which all the control devices (20, 30, 40, 50, 60) within a means are identified by a uniform group code, characterized in that each control device (80) is constructed as a microprocessor having a storage capacity such that the changes of state of all the peripheral devices (20, 30, 40, 50, 60) leading to an alarm being given, and also the changes of state from neighbourhood areas are stored with an external group code, so that a group code emitted by an external means not belonging to one's own means and arranged in the reception area of the receiver of a control device (80) is received, decoded and evaluated by all the control devices (80) within one's own means, and that the transmission of a control signal is suppressed until the transmission of another control signal already started at the start of a transmission process in the reception area is at an end, it also being possible for said signal to come from an external means.

Description

The invention relates to an arrangement for alarming in the event of unauthorized entry into a protected area, in particular an alarm system for protecting buildings against intrusion, in which a control center is present, to which peripheral devices, some of which may be installed in neighboring areas, in the form of alarm sensors, Operating devices, alarm devices or the like are connected via an existing network of electrical lines, in which an identically designed control device is arranged in the control center and in the peripheral devices, which is clearly individualized by an identification code within the arrangement, in which each Control device has a transmitter and a receiver for control signals interchangeable between control devices, a logic circuit, a signal memory and a program memory, in which a predetermined change of state in the area of a peripheral device by the Logic circuit of your control device is recognized and reported by its transmitter to all other control devices and registered there, in which certain selected changes in state can be fed to an alarm transmitter to trigger an alarm, and in which all control devices within an arrangement are identified by a uniform group code.

Such a circuit arrangement is known from German Offenlegungsschrift 27 52 959. However, this arrangement is of a relatively rigid structure, because it is fundamentally controlled by a station at which an alarm is triggered, every other station within a system in order to give an acoustic alarm there, for example. Such a system is not flexible enough to be adapted to a wide variety of individual requirements and desires. However, it is particularly important for an alarm system that its structure and its function can be adapted to local conditions as well as to the wishes and customs of the users.

The invention has for its object to provide an arrangement for alarming in the event of unauthorized entry into a protected area of the type mentioned above, which ensures an excellent adaptability to individual requirements and at the same time a high degree of operating comfort and security and with extremely flexible training comparable third-party systems in neighboring areas can work together.

To achieve this object, the invention provides that each control device is designed as a microprocessor with such a memory capacity that the state changes leading to the alarm of all peripheral devices and also the state changes reported from neighboring areas are stored with a group code marked as foreign, so that the group code sent by a control device in the reception area of the receiver, not belonging to its own arrangement, is received, decoded and evaluated by all control devices within its own arrangement, and that the transmission of a control signal is suppressed until In the reception area, a transmission of another control signal that has already begun at the start of a transmission process has ended, the signal also being able to come from an external arrangement.

Advantageous further developments and preferred embodiments of the subject matter of the invention result from the subclaims.

According to the invention, the essential technical progress can be achieved that a very flexible and effective interaction of the peripheral devices with each other as well as with a control center, even with comparable third-party systems, is achieved in that all peripheral devices are equipped with "intelligence", each in one Microprocessor is embodied; Flexibility and security are further increased by the fact that it does not even have to be determined in terms of equipment which of the peripheral devices should take on the role of the control center. Rather, it is possible to use a corresponding control voltage to transfer the role of the control center to a peripheral device selected for this purpose, without intervening in the device design. The decision as to which peripheral device should work as the control center can also be changed quickly and easily. It does not even need to be actively intervened by the users of an alarm system to transfer the role of the control center from one peripheral device to another, because this happens automatically, for example, when the peripheral device that is currently working as the control center is disturbed or damaged should be.

The 'interaction of the microprocessors in the peripheral devices with one another as well as the interaction of the microprocessors in the peripheral devices with the microprocessor in the control center result in radio ease of use and monitoring tion control, fault identification, sabotage monitoring, operational safety and mobility of a control panel are extremely diverse advantageous properties.

The manufacture of an arrangement according to the invention is also very economical in that the microprocessors used are completely identical in terms of device technology and are automatically assigned their intended purpose when inserted into a peripheral device or into the control center. It is preferably provided that the revocable change in the function program when the control device is inserted into the control center or one of the peripheral devices can be carried out by applying a predefinable voltage level to one of the connection contacts. A microprocessor is programmed in this way, for example, by a certain voltage level in such a way that it takes over the functions of the control center, while programming is carried out by a different voltage level in such a way that the corresponding microprocessor takes over the tasks of a peripheral device.

It is advantageously provided that an external group code, which is emitted by a comparable external arrangement which may be located in the reception area of the receiver of a control device and which does not belong to its own arrangement, is received, decoded and evaluated by all control devices within its own arrangement. A group code received from an external arrangement is preferably also stored in each microprocessor. Furthermore, it is preferably provided that the transmission of a control signal is suppressed if another control signal whose transmission has started earlier is already being transmitted in the reception area at the beginning of the transmission process, the transmission preferably being suppressed by a predetermined time period and after a predetermined number of Suppressions an alarm can be triggered.

In this way, the advantage can be achieved that different alarm systems can be installed in different neighboring apartments or houses within a certain reception area, without fear of mutual interference or interference. In such an installation, the devices of a specific system recognize and also register that a similar system with a different group code is installed in the neighboring area. However, it is also ensured that only signals with the group code intended for this system are evaluated within a specific system. This also ensures that the transmission of a specific signal can be briefly suppressed or delayed, but this is in no way disadvantageous, since the delay time for a possibly necessary alarm is absolutely negligible. In this way, the additional advantage is achieved that in the event of a possible failure attempt by feeding coded signals, an alarm is given in any case, since after a predeterminable number of suppressions or delays, an alarm signal will be issued in any case.

The security of the system is also increased in that the status changes selected for alarming are preferably stored in each microprocessor and that an alarm can be triggered by any peripheral unit equipped with a microprocessor.

A further advantageous development of the subject of the invention is characterized in that at least one of the peripheral units is designed as a remote switching device which can be connected to the power supply network at any point in the reception area of the arrangement at a distance from the control center and that all operating and Display elements are present which are necessary for the operation and for monitoring the entire arrangement for alarming. The mobility of the control unit achieved thereby enables the highest possible comfort for the operation and monitoring of an alarm system. The correct functioning of the system and any faults can be clearly displayed on the control unit, which is preferably designed as a remote switching device.

Another preferred embodiment of the subject of the invention is characterized in that a neighborhood call device can be connected to the control center as a peripheral device, which has at least one alarm detector and display elements that provide sufficient information about the operating state of the alarm system. In principle, several neighborhood call devices can also be connected. It is thus possible to take precautions at several points outside of a protected area without any installation effort, so that the status of a particular alarm system can be monitored and an alarm which may have been triggered can be detected.

An additional security arises from the fact that when the alarm system is armed, the status of each peripheral device is queried by the control center and confirmed by the peripheral device by a corresponding feedback. Should one of the peripheral devices be put out of operation after the alarm system has been armed, this would mean a change of state, which has already been mentioned above would immediately trigger an alarm.

In principle, it is also possible for an alarm to be triggered by one of the peripheral devices even if the control device in the control center should not be functional.

• Fig. 1 in einer schematischen Darstellung ein Blockschaltbild der erfindungsgemäßen Anordnung und
• Fig. 2 ein Blockschaltbild, welches den Netzanschluß für die verschiedenen Teile einer Alarmanlage veranschaulicht.

The invention is described below, for example with reference to the drawing. In this show:

• Fig. 1 is a schematic representation of a block diagram of the arrangement according to the invention and
• Fig. 2 is a block diagram which illustrates the network connection for the various parts of an alarm system.

According to FIG. 1, there is a control center 10 to which an optical alarm transmitter 12 and large sirens 11 a and 11 b are connected directly. Furthermore, a telephone dialer (TWG) 13 is connected directly to the control center 10.

These alarm devices connected directly to the control center can be monitored against sabotage, so that an alarm is always triggered if an attempt is made to disturb, damage or shut down one or more of these alarm devices. Under certain circumstances, several alarm devices of the same type can also be connected to the control center 10, as is indicated, for example, for the large sirens 11 a and 11 b.

The peripheral devices designated 20, 30, 40, 50 and 60 are operationally connected to the head office. However, there is no direct wiring and therefore no installation between the control center and the peripheral equipment is required. Rather, each peripheral device, like the control center 10, is connected to a power supply network, as can be seen from FIG. 2. The dash-dotted lines between the control center and the peripheral devices are intended to indicate that there is an operational connection between these components, i.e. there is a signal connection, but no direct line connection in the form of a line specially laid for the alarm system. Since all peripheral devices as well as the control center are connected to a power supply network, there is of course also a signal connection between the individual peripheral devices.

A motion detector 30 can be, for example, an infrared motion detector or another corresponding device. A control lamp 31 for the mains voltage and a control lamp 32 for an alarm or a fault are arranged on the motion detector 30. For example, opening contacts can be connected to the motion detector 30 or to its control part. A contact 33 is shown in FIG. 1, for example, which is arranged in a loop, which is connected to the control part of the motion detector 30.

A neighborhood call device 40 can also be connected to the power supply network at any point inside or outside the protected area. As shown in FIG. 1, this device has a control lamp 42 for the mains voltage, a further control lamp 43 for arming and finally a control lamp 44 for disarming. A small siren 41 is also connected to the neighborhood call device 40. If an alarm is triggered, the alarm status is indicated acoustically by the small siren 41. Of course, optical alarm devices or additional control lamps can also be provided on the neighborhood call device 40 in order to also visually indicate an alarm.

Furthermore, an alarm sensor connection device 50 can be connected to the network, which serves to connect a loop with contacts such as 53a, 53b, and 53c. The alarm sensor connection device 50 has a control lamp 51 for the mains voltage and a control lamp 52 for an alarm or a fault. If the system is armed, an alarm is triggered as soon as one of the contacts 53a, 53b or 53c should be opened.

Finally, a remote switching device 20 is provided, which is the actual operating element for the alarm system shown in FIG. 1. The remote switching device 20 has a key switch 22, on which the system can be switched on and off. The term "sharpening" is used in the present description instead of the term "switching on". A system that is switched on is accordingly "armed" and a system that is switched off is "armed".

Furthermore, the remote switching device 20 has a display device 23, in which the number "15" is shown in FIG. 1, for example. The display device 23 can be used, for example, to display the peripheral device in the area in which an alarm was triggered after the triggering of an alarm. A switching element (not shown) can also be provided, which switches the display device 23 in such a way that in the switched state a possibly defective battery is displayed, which is preferably present in the peripheral devices as well as in the control center as an emergency power supply.

Furthermore, a control lamp 24 for an alarm or a fault, a further control lamp 25 for the mains voltage, an additional control lamp 26 for arming and finally a control lamp 27 for disarming are attached to the remote switching device 20.

A small siren 21 is connected directly to the remote switching device 20 and triggers a signal in the event of an alarm.

Furthermore, an internal siren 60 is provided, which is designed as a peripheral device and can be connected to the network at any point. The system is designed so that either an internal alarm is given or an external alarm is triggered. In the case of an internal alarm, for example, only the internal siren 60 and / or one of the small sirens 21 or 41 is sounded. In the event of an external alarm, the optical alarm device 12 responds as well as the two large sirens 11 a and 11 b, and the alarm continues to be reported via the telephone dialer 13. Both an internal alarm and an external alarm are preferably displayed on the neighborhood call device 40 in a suitable manner.

Each peripheral device as well as the control center are individualized by a special device code, i.e. clearly marked. Furthermore, all devices within a certain system are identified by a uniform group code. The coding can expediently be carried out by soldering diodes into a matrix.

Normally, within an arrangement or an alarm system, the signals transmitted in a special function code are only evaluated by the devices with the same group code. As already explained above, however, signals can also be received and registered from a neighboring arrangement arranged in the reception area. This means that if several systems of the same type are installed within a certain reception area, interference can be avoided, since, according to the above explanations, transmission of a signal can be suppressed if another device is already in use at the start of the transmission process should have started to emit a signal. After waiting for a certain delay, the device in question then tries to send out a signal again. It is preferably provided that an alarm is triggered after a predetermined number of unsuccessful attempts.

Any change in the status of one of the peripheral devices leads to an alarm. Furthermore, an alarm is also triggered if, for example, a request from the control center 10 to one of the peripheral devices remains without a clear response signal. A change in state occurs, for example, when the motion detector 30 detects movement in its monitored area, when one of the contacts 33, 53a, 53b or 53c should be opened, or when, for example, one of the peripheral devices is disturbed, damaged or from the network should be separated.

In order to increase the reliability of the system, it can also be provided that the entire system is reset to the basic state by an operating element (not shown). For example, all memories that are assigned to the control devices or microprocessors are deleted. Such a return to the so-called basic state can be expedient under certain circumstances if the program running in one of the microprocessors should have caught itself in a so-called totan loop. It can also be provided under other predetermined conditions to bring the system into the basic state.

It can be seen from FIG. 2 that the control part 80 of a peripheral device or the control center is connected to the power line 90 via a power adapter 70. For illustration, only part of the devices present in a practical embodiment is shown in the control part 80. Accordingly, in the illustration in FIG. 2, the control part 80 contains a microprocessor 81, to which an indicator part 82, an operating part 83 and an alarm part 84 are connected.

The mains adapter essentially serves to ensure the correct signal transmission between the control part 80 and the mains cable.

As shown in FIG. 2, the signals are discharged from the power line 90 via a transformer 71 and also fed back into the network via the transformer 71. A filter 72 can be connected to the transformer 71. In connection with the mobility of the control unit on the remote switching device 20, this results in a clear function check, and it is possible to ensure a particularly high level of safety with an extremely good ease of use.

Claims (11)

1. Means for giving an alarm in the case of unauthorized entry into a protected area, particularly an alarm system for protecting buildings against burglary, in which there is a control station (10), to which are connected peripheral devices (20, 30, 40, 50, 60), whereof some are optionally installed in neighbourhood areas, in the form of alarm sensors, controls, alerting devices, etc, by means of an existing power supply mains (90), in which an identically constructed control device (80) is provided in the control station (10) and also in the peripheral devices (20, 30, 40, 50, 60), said control device being clearly individualized by an identification code within the means, in which each control device (80) has a transmitter and a receiver for control signals interchangeable between control devices, a logic circuit, a signal store and a programme store, in which a predetermined change of state in the vicinity of a peripheral device (20, 30, 40, 50, 60) is recognised by the logic circuit of its control device 80 and is indicated by its transmitter to all the other control devices and is recorded there, in which certain selected changes of state can be supplied to an alerting device (11, 21, 41) for giving an alarm and in which all the control devices (20, 30, 40, 50, 60) within a means are identified by a uniform group code, characterized in that each control device (80) is constructed as a microprocessor having a storage capacity such that the changes of state of all the peripheral devices (20, 30, 40, 50, 60) leading to an alarm being given, and also the changes of state from neighbourhood areas are stored with an external group code, so that a group code emitted by an external means not belonging to one's own means and arranged in the reception area of the receiver of a control device (80) is received, decoded and evaluated by all the control devices (80) within one's own means, and that the transmission of a control signal is suppressed until the transmission of another control signal already started at the start of a transmission process in the reception area is at an end, it also being possible for said signal to come from an external means.

2. Means according to claim 1, characterized in that the identification code in each control device (80) is fixed by diodes in a diode matrix.

3. Means according to one of the claims 1 or 2, characterized in that the transmission of a control signal can be suppressed for a predetermined period of time.

4. Means according to claim 3, characterized in that an alarm is given, following a predetermined number of suppressions.

5. Means according to one of the preceding claims, characterized in that at least one of the peripheral devices is constructed as a remote control device (20), which can be connected to the power supply mains (90) at a distance from control station (10) at any random point within the reception area of the means and that on the remote control device (20) are provided all the control and indicating elements necessary for operating and monitoring the entire alarm- giving means.

6. Means according to any one of the preceding claims, in which a neighbourhood control device (40) with alerting device (41) can be connected by means of the supply mains (90) to control station (10) in the form of a peripheral device, characterized in that indicating devices are provided, which provide adequate information on the operating state of the alarm system.

7. Means according to one of the preceding claims, characterized in that when the control station (10) contacts the alarm system, the status of each peripheral device (20, 30, 40, 50, 60) is interrogated and actuated by a corresponding reply from the peripheral device.

8. Means according to one of the preceding claims, characterized in that a change of state in the vicinity of a particular peripheral device (20, 30, 40, 50, 60) is transferred to all the remaining control devices (80), immediately after its occurrence and independently of an interrogation signal from the control station (10).

9. Means according to one of the preceding claims, characterized in that a setting device is provided, by means of which an internal or external alarm can be predetermined.

10. Means according to claim 9, characterized in that the internal alarm is given by an internal siren (60).

11. Means according to one of the preceding claims, characterized in that given peripheral devices (20, 30, 40, 50, 60) can be monitored in such a way that if an incorrect reply to a status interrogation signal is transmitted from the control station (10) an alarm is given.

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