GB2522418A

GB2522418A - Fire alarm device

Info

Publication number: GB2522418A
Application number: GB1401064.9A
Authority: GB
Inventors: Neil Young; Massimo Defendi
Original assignee: CRANFORD CONTROLS Ltd
Current assignee: CRANFORD CONTROLS Ltd
Priority date: 2014-01-22
Filing date: 2014-01-22
Publication date: 2015-07-29
Also published as: AU2015208916A1; GB201401064D0; WO2015110810A1; EP3097551A1

Abstract

A base or mounting fixture 1 is provided for mounting thereon or therein an alerting device 2 and/or a fire detector. The base 1 comprises a chamber 15 adapted to accommodate therein an alerting device 2. The base 1 further comprises a housing part 6 to accommodate thereon or therein, or comprise, a fire detector mounting base 10. The housing part 6 may comprise a locking arrangement for locking an alerting device 2 in place in or on the base 1. The locking arrangement may comprise one or more clips 16,18. The alerting device 2 may be an audible and/or visual alarm device, and may comprise an external housing 46 that is of a cartridge or cassette form. The locking arrangement may be configured such that it only locks when an alerting device is mounted within the base.

Description

FIRE ALARM DEVICE

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates to fire alarm devices, including in particular, S but not limited to: i) a mounting, base or fixture device for a visual and/or audible alarm device (e.g. for a visual beacon and/or piezoelectric sounder), ii) a mounting, base or fixture device for a fire detector, iii) a combined mounting, base or fixture device for a fire detector and a visual and/or audible alarm device (e.g. for a visual beacon and/or piezoelectric sounder), iv) a housing for a visual and/or audible alarm device (e.g. for a visual beacon and/or piezoelectric sounder), and v) a visual and/or audible alarm device (e.g. a visual beacon and/or piezoelectric sounder).

BACKGROUND

In known fire alarm systems, various types of alerting devices are provided to alert people to an alarm when the fire alarm system detects a fire.

One type of alerting device is a visual alarm device, such as beacons, for example flashing LED beacons. Another type of alerting device is an audible alarm device, such as piezoelectric sounders. Another known type of alerting device is a combined visual and audible alarm device. Detection of the fire is performed by fire detectors such as smoke detectors, heat detectors, and combined smoke and heat detectors. For the avoidance of doubt, and as is well known to the skilled person, fire detectors and alerting devices often further include an indicator LED for indicating to a fire alarm expert which detector or alerting device has activated or has a fault. Such indicator LEDS are not intended to, and to not provide sufficient change in an ambient environment to, alert people to a fire, and should not be confused with the visual alarm devices that perform as alerting devices as discussed earlier above.

For both alerting devices of the types described above, and fire detectors, a conventional approach is to provide simple bases for first fix installation. Such first fix bases contain wiring and electrical connection terminals or contacts, allowing connection to the relevant alerting device or fire detector device that is later attached to the first fix base. Notably the first fix bases typically do not contain any of the functional electronics or other primary functional parts of the alerting device or fire detector, on the contrary they merely provide a fixing and connection function. In some circumstances, some of the electronics relating to the primary alarm functionality may be included in the first fix base, nevertheless such bases will still be recognised by the skilled person as bases rather than alerting devices or fire detectors as such. One defining characteristic of a base is that a base will not include the core device functionality of the device that is to be attached to the base -for example, will not contain a piezoelectric sounder in the case of a base for an audible alarm or will not contain a smoke chamber in the case of a smoke detector or will not contain a heat-responding element in the case of a heat detector.

is It is also known to provide alerting devices of a type where the housing of the alerting device is adapted to receive a heat detector base. It will be appreciated, in particular bearing in mind the discussion in the preceding paragraph, that such an alerting device is not a base as understood in the field of fire alarm systems.

It is further known to provide combined/integrated fire detector and alerting devices, i.e. where a fire detector and an audible and/or visual alarm device are combined in one overall device. In such cases it also known to provide a first fix base to which such a combined/integrated fire detector and alerting device may be fixed.

It is further known to include locking mechanisms such that an alerting device or a fire detector may not easily be removed from its first fix base after installation, other than with the use of a tool, and more particularly a specialist tool matched specifically to the first fix base design and not typically carried by a non-specialist member of the public.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The present inventors have realised it would be desirable to provide a first fix base for installing both an alerting device and a fire detector that facilitates easier installation of the alerting device than is provided by conventional arrangements.

The present inventors have further realised it would be desirable to provide a first fix base arrangement for combined fire detectors and alerting devices that is such as to allow the alerting device's appearance to be not visible to the public after installation, thereby allowing cost effective design that does not require attention to cosmetic finish.

The present inventors have further realised it would be a desirable option to provide a first fix base for installing both an alerting device and a fire detector in which the first fix base itself provides a locking mechanism, preferably requiring a specialist tool for opening, for locking the alerting device in place after installation.

In a first aspect, the invention provides a base for mounting thereon or therein any of the following: i) an alerting device, ii) a fire detector, iii) an alerting device and a fire detector; the base comprising a housing, wherein the housing is adapted to accommodate therein or thereon an alerting device, and the housing is further adapted to accommodate thereon or therein, or comprises, a fire detector base.

The housing may further comprise at least part of a locking arrangement for locking an alerting device in place in or on the base.

The part of the locking arrangement that may be comprised by the housing may comprise at least a part located at a part of the housing that serves to accommodate thereon or therein, or comprises, the fire detector base.

The part of the locking arrangement located at the part of the housing that serves to accommodate thereon or therein, or comprises, the fire detector base may be a plate, and the part of the locking arrangement may comprise one or more elements on one side of the plate, and the other side of the plate may comprise, or may be adapted to have mounted thereon, a fire detector base.

The at least part of a locking arrangement may comprise one or more clips. The base may further comprise one or more holes in the housing aligned respectively with the one or more clips, the holes being for access to unlock the locking arrangement.

The locking arrangement may be arranged such that the base is not locked by the locking arrangement unless an alerting device is mounted in the base.

The housing may comprise a chamber in which an alerting device is to be installed.

The housing may comprise two parts that are attached together by a hinge, and wherein by closing the hinge the two parts are positioned with respect to each other such as to provide the chamber. The locking mechanism may lock the chamber shut.

The base may further comprise a fire detector base. The fire detector base may be removably attached to the base. The fire detector base may be an integrated part of the base.

The base may further comprise an alerting device installed in or on the base.

The alerting device may comprise an external housing that is of a cartridge or cassette form.

The alerting device may be of a type selected from the following types of alerting device: i) an audible alarm device, H) a visual alarm device, Hi) a combined audible alarm and visual alarm device.

In a further aspect, the invention provides an alerting device adapted for use with a base according to any of the above aspects of base.

In a further aspect, the invention provides a method for installing an alerting device and a fire detector, the method comprising: attaching a base to a ceiling or wall or other surface or fixture; making fire alarm wiring connections to the base; placing the alerting device in a chamber of the base; installing a fire detector on a detector base that is attached to, or is comprised by, the base.

The method may further comprise: after the steps of attaching a base to a ceiling or wall or other surface or fixture and making fire alarm wiring connections, and before the step of placing the alerting device in the chamber of the base, closing the chamber, and thereafter opening the chamber. The alerting device may be of a cartridge or cassette form. The base may be a base according to any of the above aspects of base. The alerting device may be an alerting device according to any of the above aspects of alerting device.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

Figure 1 is a schematic illustration (not to scale) of a first fix base for both an alerting device and a fire detector, and also shows an alerting device for use with the first fix base; Figure 2 is a schematic representation showing the elements of Figure 1 in the state of a hinge of the first fix base undergoing closure; Figure 3 is a schematic illustration showing the situation when the closure of the hinge has been completed; Figure 4 is a schematic representation of the alerting device in an exploded view; Figure 5 is a schematic illustration (not to scale) of an alerting device in which the alerting device is a visual alarm device; and Figure 6 is a flowchart showing certain process steps of a method for installing an alerting device using the first fix base and alerting device of Figures 1 to 4.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Figure 1 is a schematic illustration (not to scale) of a first embodiment of a novel device 1 that may be termed as a base, a mounting, a mounting base, or a fixture, and that serves as a base to which either an alerting device, or a fire detector, or both an alerting device and a fire detector, may be operationally fixed. In use, typically but not necessarily, the device 1 will be installed during a first fix process, and then later the alerting device and/or fire detector will be installed during a second fix process. For convenience, therefore, the device 1 will hereinafter be referred to as a first fix base 1. However, it is to be appreciated that this is not limiting, i.e. the present invention is not limited to instances where the device 1 is literally only installed during a first fix process, as it will be appreciated by the skilled person that other ways of installing, replacing, maintaining etc. fire alarm systems are possible without literally following a first fix then second fix demarcation.

Figure 1 also shows an embodiment of an alerting device 2 for use with the first fix base 1. The alerting device 2 is shown in a schematic position of readiness for insertion into the first fix base 1 in a manner that will be described in more detail later below. Also, further details of the alerting device will be described later below.

In this embodiment, the first fix base 1 comprises a housing made up of two parts, which for convenience may be termed a ceiling plate 4 and a detector plate 6. The ceiling plate 4 and the detector plate are attached to each other by a hinge 8.

The detector plate 6 comprises two approximately planar surfaces, which for convenience may be termed an inner surface 12 and an outer surface 14. In this embodiment, the inner surface 12 provides an inner surface of a chamber that is formed in combination with the ceiling plate 4 when the hinge 8 is closed.

In this embodiment, the first fix base 1 further comprises two locking clips, namely a first locking clip 16 and a second locking clip 18, which in this embodiment extend from the inner surface 12 of the detector plate 6. The locking clips 16, 18 operate in conjunction with corresponding locking release holes (namely a first locking release hole 28 and a second locking release hole 30) provided on the first fix base 1 and corresponding locking catches (namely a first locking catch 42 and a second locking catch 44) provided on the alerting device 2, as will be described in more detail later below.

In this embodiment, the first fix base 1 further comprises a conventional fire detector base 10 which is fixed on to the outer surface 14 of the detector plate 6 by screws or any other conventional method. The fire detector base may be any conventional type of fire detector base, including non-addressable bases or addressable bases.

In this embodiment each of the ceiling plate 4, detector plate 6, fire detector base 10, and alerting device 2 are approximately circular in shape.

In this embodiment, the ceiling plate 4 of the first fix base 1 comprises two approximately planar surfaces, which for convenience may be termed an inner surface 20 and an outer surface 22. In this embodiment, the ceiling plate 4 further comprises a circumferential wall 24 extending away from the inner surface 20 of the ceiling plate 4. In this embodiment, the inner surface 20 and the circumferential wall 24 together provide the remaining surfaces of the above mentioned chamber 15 that is formed in combination with the inner surface 12 of the detector plate 6 when the hinge 8 is closed.

In this embodiment, the circumferential wall 24 has three gaps 26 (i.e. three sections where the material of the wall 24 is omitted), which serve to provide positions where light emitting devices of the alerting device may be located when the alerting device includes a visual alarm. In other embodiments, the first fix base may further comprise transparent windows or lenses positioned where the gaps 26 are. Also, in other embodiments, there may be a different number or shape or arrangement of gaps or transparent elements, and indeed in some other embodiments there may be no gaps, for example when no visual alarm is intended to be used.

Further details of the above mentioned locking release holes 28, 30 provided on the first fix base 1 will now be described. The locking release holes, are relatively small diameter (for example, in this embodiment, 2mm diameter) holes in the circumferential wall 24, located at positions on the circumference of the ceiling plate 4 that correspond respectively to the first locking clip 16 and the second locking clip 18 of the detector plate 6. The locking release holes 28, 30 operate in conjunction with the locking clips 16, 18 provided on the first fix base 1 and corresponding locking catches provided on the alerting device 2, as will be described in more detail later below.

In this embodiment, the ceiling plate 4 has a conventional wiring gap 32 in the form of a hole in its flat part, and conventional electrical terminals 34 (the terminals 34 may also be termed contacts 34). The wiring gap 32 is provided for an electrician or other installer to feed connection wires through it when the first fix base 1 is attached to a desired part of a building, for example a ceiling or wall, by attaching the ceiling plate 4 to the relevant part of a building, for example a ceiling or wall, for example using conventional screws. The electrical terminals 34 are provided for the electrician or other installer to electrically connect the connection wires, again in conventional fashion.

In this embodiment, the detector plate 4 has a wiring gap 13 in the form of a hole in it. The wiring gap 13 provides space for wiring and other electrical connections (not shown in Figure 1) between the terminals 34 of the ceiling plate 4 and contacts and terminals (to be described later below) of the fire detector base 10.

Figures 2 and 3 are further a schematic illustrations (not to scale) of the above described first embodiment of a first fix base 1 for both an alerting device and a fire detector. As was the case with Figure 1, Figures 2 and 3 also show an embodiment of an alerting device 2 for use with the first fix base 1. In the case of Figures 2 and 3, and where relevant further Figures described later below, the same items as described previously with reference to Figure 1 are indicated by the same reference numerals.

In overview, an electrician or other installer will typically fix the first fix base 1 to a ceiling, and connect relevant first fix wiring to the terminals 34.

Typically, at that stage, the alerting device 2 will not yet be inserted in the chamber 15 formed between the ceiling plate 4 and the detector plate 6.

Typically, the hingeS would then be closed, leaving the chamber 15 closed but empty. In this embodiment, this facilitates any electrical circuits or wiring to be checked by the installer without any electronics connected to the electrical circuits or wiring. A special continuity link may be provided to facilitate the electrical of the installation circuits prior to the insertion of the alerting device 2 into first fix base 1. At the next stage of installation, e.g. a second fix stage, the hinge 8 will be opened, and the alerting device 2 placed in the open topped form of the chamber 15. As will be described in more detail later below with reference to Figure 4 and Figure 5, the alerting device comprises a plurality (in this embodiment four) of connector pins 75. The connector pins 75 will locate into the terminals 34 and make electrical connections for the alerting device 2.

In this embodiment, the various components are preferably arranged such that the friction fit of the connector pins 75 into the terminals 34 and the interference fit of the first fix base 1 and the alerting device 2 will retain the parts for installation prior to closing the ceiling plate 6 locking the alerting device 2 in place. The hinge 8 will then be closed, closing the chamber 15. Figure 2 is a schematic representation showing the above described elements in the state of the hinge 8 undergoing closure. Figure 3 is a schematic illustration showing the situation when the closure of the hinge S has been completed leaving the chamber 15 completed and with the alerting device 2 now installed by being located within the closed chamber 15. Figure 3 further schematically shows the fire detector base 10 now in a position ready to receive, in conventional fashion, a fire detector (not shown) installed in it by, for example, being clipped in to the fire detector base 10 in a conventional manner. Thus it will be appreciated that the first fix base 1 represents a system that allows, for example at a second fix installation stage, very simple and efficient installation of both an alerting device 2 and a fire detector. Furthermore, once installed the alerting device 2 is substantially not visible to users or otherwise substantially exposed to the surroundings, thereby allowing the alerting device to be packaged and finished in preferred functional and economical fashion rather than requiring additional features or costs for making its appearance attractive or compliant with external technical requirements, and also providing other technical advantages such as being protected so as to tend to prevent or at least reduce dirt ingress and the like or alleviate the effects of impact or heat exposure. Indeed, in this embodiment, the alerting device 2 in effect is in the form of a readily stored and handled cartridge, cassette, or insert, and as such represents in itself a novel and advantageously user-friendly form of alerting device 2 and method by which it may be installed. Also, the overall arrangement is therefore one of improved modularity and interchangeability compared to conventional arrangements. Yet a further advantage is that some or all of these properties are provided at least in part by an item, the first fix base 1 that is also serving as a fire detector base.

Also, in this embodiment, once the alerting device 2 has been placed in the chamber 15 and the hinge B closed to retain the alerting device 2 in the chamber 15, the chamber 15 has become locked in its closed position closed, requiring a specialist tool to thereafter open the hinge 8 and chamber 15 in order to remove the alerting device 2. This locking behaviour is provided by the following features operating in combination, and will be described in more detail later below: the locking clips 16, 18; the locking catches 42, 44; and the locking release holes 28, 30.

It will be appreciated from the above description that an advantage of this embodiment's approach in which the first fix base 1 is openable at a hinge 8 for access to where the alerting device 2 is to be installed, for example rather than as possible in other embodiments where, a different arrangement of chamber may be provided where the alerting device is slid into the chamber sideways, is that by virtue of the hinged opening approach, the electrician or other installer further gains access to the wiring terminals 34 and so on by the same operation as is involved or is to be involved in inserting the alerting device 2 into the first fix base 1.

Returning to Figures 2 and 3, for completeness, it is noted that the fire detector base 10 contains the following further items not shown on or already described with respect to Figure 1: fire detector base terminals 73 (which may also be termed fire detector base contacts 73), and wiring 74 from the fire detector base 10 to the first fix base 1. The wiring may consist of physical wires 74 from the terminals 73 in the fire detector 10 to the first fix base terminal 34.

This wiring (or other form of electrical connection) may be pre-assembled prior to the installation by the supplier or manufacturer, or physical wired and installed when the first fix base is wired and fixed to the wall or ceiling. These wires 74 provide the electrical connections for the fire detector (not shown). One possibility, for example, for an alternative electrical connection rather than the wiring 74 is that the relevant connections may be provided by an automatic dedicated contact arrangement that will make connection to the field wiring when the detector plate 6 of the first fix base 1 is closed by closing the hinge 8.

Further details of the alerting device 2 will now be described with reference to Figure 4. In this embodiment the alerting device 2 is an audible alarm device. Figure 4 is a schematic representation of the alerting device 2 showing the alerting device 2 in an exploded view. The alerting device 2 comprises a housing 46. The housing 46 comprises a first plate 48 and a second plate 50. In this embodiment each of the first plate 48 and the second plate 50, and hence the overall alerting device 2, are approximately circular in shape.

In this embodiment, the first plate 48 of the housing 46 of the alerting device 2 comprises two approximately planar surfaces, which for convenience may be termed an inner surface 52 and an outer surface 54. In this embodiment, the second plate 50 of the housing 46 of the alerting device 2 also comprises two approximately planar surfaces, which for convenience may be termed an inner surface 56 and an outer surface 58. In this embodiment, the second plate 50 further comprises a circumferential wall 60 extending away from the inner surface 56 of the second plate 50. In this embodiment, the inner surface 52 of the first plate 48, the inner surface 56 of the second plate 50, and the circumferential wall 60 of the second plate 50 together provide a chamber 62. (In other embodiments the circumferential wall may instead be provided on the first plate, or may be shared between the first plate and the second plate.) In this embodiment, when the alerting device 2 is located into the first fix base 1, this action forms and completes an acoustic chamber of the alerting device 2.

In this embodiment, the alerting device 2 further comprises a printed circuit board 64 that is mounted on the inner surface 52 of the first plate 48, and yet further comprises a piezoelectric sounder 66 that is mounted on the printed circuit board 64 (or may alternatively be mounted on the inner surface 52 of the first plate 48 and electrically connected to the printed circuit board 64). Also mounted on the printed circuit board 64 are other conventional electronic circuit elements (the majority of which are not shown in Figure 4) for driving the piezoelectric sounder 66 in conventional fashion. The printed circuit board 64, piezoelectric sounder 66 and other electronic components are thus located within the chamber 62 of the housing 46 of the alerting device 2.

In this embodiment, the first plate 48 and the second plate 50 of the housing 46 each include a gap 68 in their otherwise approximately circular shape, such that the housing 46 as a whole includes this gap 68. This gap 68 is positioned such that when the alerting device 2 is placed within the first fix base 1, the gap 68 of the alerting device 2 aligns with the previously described gap wiring gap 13 in the detector plate 6 of the first fix base 1. These two gaps 13, 68 in combination allow space for the above described wiring 74 wiring and other electrical connections between the terminals 34 of the first fix base and the above described terminals 73 of the fire detector base.

In this embodiment, the locking clips 16, 18 are integrally moulded parts of the detector plate 6. They are each shaped with a barb, such that, when the alerting device 2 is placed inside the chamber 15 of the first fix base 1 and the hinge 8 of the first fix base 1 is closed thereby leaving the alerting device 2 retained in the chamber 15, the barb of the first locking clip 16 catches on to the first locking catch 42 of the alerting device 2, and the barb of the second locking clip 18 catches on to the second locking catch 44 of the alerting device 2. The alerting device 2 is in this condition locked in place inside the closed chamber of the first fix base 1. Thus the arrangement is tamper proof in terms of a casual member of the public unarmed with a specialist tool. In this embodiment the specialist tool is one that can simultaneously be inserted into both the first locking release hole 28 and the second locking release hole 30 located in the circumferential wall 24 of the ceiling plate 4 of the first fix base 1, and then made to apply pressure against the first locking clip 16 and the second locking clip 18, thereby simultaneously releasing the first locking clip 16 and the second locking clip 18 from the first locking catch 42 and the second locking clip 44 respectively, thereby unlocking the chamber 15, and allowing the hinge 8 to be opened, thereby allowing the alerting device 2 to be removed from the first fix base 1 if desired. One example of such a tool is a simple plastic moulded tool with two suitable pin shapes joined together by a linking part of the moulding.

Such a specialist tool may optionally and advantageously be supplied with the alerting device 2 and/or the first fix base 1. In this embodiment, by virtue of the locking mechanism involving the use of elements on the alerting device 2, in this case the first locking catch 42 and the second locking catch 44, a particular advantage is provided in that the chamber 15 of the first fix base 1 is only locked when the alerting device 2 is installed in the first fix base 1 as is desirable (or according to certain standards compulsory), yet nevertheless the chamber is not locked at the first fix stage, even when the hinge is closed, thereby avoiding inconvenience to the electrician or other installers at the first fix stage or other stages prior to insertion of the alerting device 2. However, this latter aspect need not be employed in other simpler embodiments, and in such other embodiments all elements of the locking mechanism may be present in the first fix base 1, for example locking catches may be provided as part of the ceiling plate 4. In such cases the advantages derived from locking the installed alerting device 2 in place are still provided, although the additional advantage of being able to close the hinge 8 of the first fix base 1 without locking it prior to insertion of the alerting device 2 is not provided. However, this may in itself be an advantage in other circumstances, for example where it is desirable or required to lock the first fix base closed after first fix installation, for example to prevent tampering prior to performance of the second fix. Examples of such further embodiments in which all elements of the locking mechanism are present in the first fix base 1, for example where locking catches are provided as part of the ceiling plate 4, include ones in which locking catches are provided in the circumferential wall 24 of the ceiling plate 15 alongside to, or adjacent, the locking release holes 28 and 30.

In the above embodiment, the alerting device is an audible alarm device.

However, in other embodiments this need not be the case, and the alerting device 2 may be a visual alarm device or a combined audible and visual alarm device. Figure 5 is a schematic illustration (not to scale) of an embodiment of the alerting device 2 in which the alerting device 2 is a visual alarm device. The same items as described previously with reference to the audible alarm device embodiment of Figure 4 are indicated by the same reference numerals.

As shown in Figure 5, the visual alarm alerting device 2 is the same as the audible alarm alerting device 2 shown in, and described earlier with reference to, Figure 4, except for the following details. Instead of a piezoelectric sounder 66, in this embodiment the alerting device 2 comprises three light emitting diodes (LED5) mounted on the printed circuit board 64 (in other embodiments there may be a different number i.e. quantity of LEDs 70 other than three, and in other embodiments, one or more LEDs may be mounted on the second plate 50 on the circumferential wall 60, located for example at the positions of the gaps 72 described below). In this embodiment each LED 70 is located at a position near a respective position at the outer edge of the printed circuit board 64 at a location that corresponds to the location of a respective one of the three gaps 26 in the circumferential wall 24 of the ceiling plate 4 of the first fix base 1. (In further embodiments, one or more of the LEDs 70 may be mounted on the housing 46, for example on the second plate 50, rather than on the printed circuit board 64.) Also, in this embodiment, three corresponding gaps 72 are provided in the circumferential wall 60 of the second plate 50 of the housing 46 of the alerting device 2. Accordingly, in operation, light emitted from the LEDs 70 in the case of an alarm is visible in the surroundings in which the first fix base and alerting device are located. In other embodiments, the housing 46 may further comprise transparent windows or lenses positioned where the gaps 72 are.

Also, in other embodiments, there may be a different number or shape or arrangement of gaps or transparent elements.

Returning now to a discussion of the earlier described audible alarm alerting device 2 of Figure 4, in that device there were no gaps 72 and/or transparent elements in the positions of the above described gaps 72 provided in the circumferential wall 60 of the second plate 50 of the housing 46 of the alerting device 2, which gave an advantage that the outer appearance of the overall arrangement when the alerting device 2 is inside the chamber 15 of the first fix base is one of a continuous outer wall, which is cosmetically desirable and also technically advantageous in certain circumstances, for example to avoid dust ingress or allow easier cleaning. However, in other embodiments of an audible alarm alerting device 2, the gaps 72 and/or transparent elements in the positions of the above described gaps 72 may be provided in the circumferential wall 60 of the second plate 50 of the housing 46 of the alerting device 2, which gives a different advantage of allowing a uniform design with embodiments of the visual alarm type of alerting device. In yet further embodiments, a combination of audible alarm and visual alarm is provided by the alerting device 2. For example, in yet further embodiments, a piezoelectric sounder 66 may be mounted on the printed circuit board 64 of the alerting device 2 (or elsewhere with in the chamber 62 of the alerting device 2 and electrically connected to the printed circuit board 64) of Figure 5 in addition to the LEDs 70.

It will be appreciated that a further advantage of the alternative embodiments of audible alarm alerting device 2, visual alarm alerting device 2, and combined audio and visual alarm alerting device 2, is that all these different possibilities may be provided in uniform sized and shaped housings 46, thus further extending the aspect previously mentioned earlier above of the above embodiments advantageously allowing the possibility of providing the alerting devices 2 in the form of user-friendly, readily stored and handled cartridges/cassettes/inserts, with improved modularity and interchangeability compared to conventional arrangements.

Yet another advantage of the above embodiments is that an alerting device may easily be installed either before or after a fire detector is installed on the combined first fix base, because the hinge S of the first fix base 1 can be opened anytime before or after a fire detector has been installed on the fire detector base (thereby allowing at any time compared to detector installation, separate insertion of an alerting device 2, or removal of an alerting device 2, or exchange of one alerting device 2 for another alerting device 2).

It will be appreciated from the above description that yet a further advantage of this embodiment approach will be that different variants and future variants of the alerting device 2 can be provided without changing the nature of the first fix base 1.

It will be apparent to the skilled person that various embodiments of novel processes for installing an alerting device 2 have also been described in the course of the above description of various embodiments of novel first fix bases and alerting devices. For convenience, by way of example, one such embodiment of a method of installing an alerting device 2 will now be described again with reference to Figure 6, which is a flowchart showing certain process steps of the method.

At step s2, the first fix base 1 is attached to the ceiling (or on surfaces or locations other than ceilings as such, for example on a wall, or other building part, or indeed on any suitable part or fixture of a building or other construction, e.g. a vehicle) and the fire alarm wiring connections are made. (If the fire detector base 10 is not pre-fitted and wired, then the fire detector base 10 may be fitted to the top of the detector plate 6 of the first fix base 1 and connections made from the terminals 73 on the fire detector base 10 to the terminals 34 in the first fix base 1.) At step s4, the chamber 15 of the first fix base is closed. This is not essential, and may be omitted, however is advantageous if required or desired to protect the installation connections prior to the fitting of the alerting device 2 In this embodiment, steps s2 and s4 in combination represent a first fix installation process, and thereafter, typically be at a later date than steps s2 and s4 have been performed, steps s6 to s12 below represent a second fix installation process.

At step s6, the chamber 15 of the first fix base 1 is opened.

At step sB, the alerting device 2, for example in cassette form, is placed in the chamber 15 of the first fix base 1.

At step sb, the chamber of the first fix base 1 is closed.

At step si 2, a fire detector is installed on the detector base 10 of the first fix base 1.

It should be noted that where feasible certain of the process steps depicted in the flowchart of Figure 6 and described above may be omitted or such process steps may be performed in differing order to that presented above and shown in Figure 6.

In the above embodiments, the first fix base 1 comprises two parts, which for convenience may be termed a ceiling plate 4 and a detector plate 6. It will be appreciated that the terms "ceiling" and "detector" are used merely for convenience of reference, and are not limiting, for example the first fix base 1 may be installed on surfaces or locations other than ceilings as such, for example on a wall, or other building part, or indeed on any suitable part or fixture of a building or other construction, e.g. a vehicle.

In the above embodiments, the ceiling plate 4 and the detector plate 6 are attached to each other by a hinge 8. However, this need not be the case, and in other embodiments the two parts may be permanently or removably fixed together by any other suitable means.

In the above embodiments, a chamber for receiving the alerting device is formed by the inner surface 12 of the detector plate 6 and the inner surface 20 and wall 24 of the ceiling plate 4. However, this need not be the case, and in other embodiments a chamber, or indeed any other suitable arrangement, may be provided by any other suitable parts provided on a first fix base for receiving the alerting device.

In the above embodiments a locking mechanism for locking an installed alerting device in place is provided as part of an element that also serves to support a fire detector base. However, this need not be the case, and in other embodiments no locking mechanism is provided for locking the alerting device in place, or in yet further arrangements conventional locking mechanisms may be added that however do not contain features that are part of the arrangement for fixing a fire detector base.

Also, as mentioned in more detail previously above, in other embodiments the locking mechanism is included, but any or all of the particular details of the clips, holes, catches etc., and their locations, quantities, and so on, may be varied, whilst nevertheless advantageously providing a locking mechanism for retaining an installed alerting device, where the locking mechanism makes use of at least some elements thereof that are provided as part of or attached to the arrangement for also mounting or supporting or receiving a fire detector base.

In this embodiment, the first fix base 1 further comprises a conventional fire detector base 10 which is fixed on to the outer surface 14 of the detector plate 6 by screws or any other conventional method. However, this need not be the case, and in other embodiments the detector plate or other suitable part of a first fix base may instead be suitable for receiving or adapted to receive a fire detector base. In other words, depending on the commercial supply relationships and so on, a first fix base as described above except that the fire detector base is not provided or installed, so that different manufacturers' different versions of fire detector base may for example later be installed by an end user (for example an electrician on site) or an intermediate manufacturer prior to end-user purchase. Or, as described already above, the fire detector base may indeed be installed during original manufacture. In this latter case, the fire detector base may be produced first as a separate part to the detector plate 6 and then attached to the detector plate 6, or may alternatively be produced integrally, for example in an original moulding process, as an integral part of a combined detector plate/detector base.

In the above embodiments each of the ceiling plate 4, detector plate 6, fire detector base 10, and alerting device 2 are approximately circular in shape.

However, this need not be the case, and in other embodiments these elements may be other shapes, for example if the fire detector is to be a different shape.

In the above embodiments, the ceiling plate 4 of the first fix base 1 comprises two approximately planar surfaces and a circumferential wall 24 extending away from the inner surface 20 of the ceiling plate 4. However, this need not be the case, and in other embodiments some or all of the wall may be omitted from the ceiling plate, and, for example, may instead be provided as part of the detector plate, or may be provided instead as a separate part, or in yet further embodiments other retaining means for retaining the alerting device may be employed in place of a wall, for example spaced apart rods, or a mesh (any of which may be provided on the ceiling plate or the detector plate or on both the ceiling plate and the detector plate). Indeed, in yet further embodiments, the alerting device may be retained in the first fix base by other retaining means that are different in concept to a surrounding barrier or barriers.

For example, a clip arrangement or other fixing arrangement may be employed, for example one in which a clip is provided on the housing 46 of the alerting device 2, and a corresponding part for the clip to fix to is provided on or in a part of the first fix base 2. This latter arrangement may preferably be arranged such that the alerting device is "clicked" into place and retained by the clicking action.

In the above embodiments the various wiring terminals, connections, and gaps in the various housings for wires to pass through, are as described.

However, any or all of these details may be varied in other embodiments, and in such other embodiments any alternative wiring connection and wiring routes and other connectivity elements may be arranged as desired according to the particular design constraints under consideration, including for example for use with addressable fire-alarm systems. In yet further embodiments, the terminals, wiring, and other connections of the first fix base may be arranged such that an electrician or other installer can conveniently install a continuity link during, for example, the first fix installation process, to accommodate and enable ring loop testing.

Furthermore, in those embodiments described above where for example an integrally moulded combined detector plate/detector base is used, the detector plate/detector base may include terminals/contacts and other electrical connections that provide some or all of the required connections between the detector base and the remainder of the first fix base.

It will also be appreciated that in further embodiments, details of the construction and design of the alerting device 2 may be different to the details of the above described embodiments. For example, any housing arrangements, -20 -printed circuit arrangements, shapes, plate and/or wall structures, active elements, numbers or types of audible components and/or visual alarm components, connection details, and the like, may be varied as desired by the skilled person. Indeed, in some embodiments of first fix base 1 an advantage tends to occur that different designs of alerting device can be used in them in an interchangeable and modular manner. In a corresponding manner, in further embodiments, a common alerting device design, or at least housing design thereof, may be usable with a number of different designs of first fix base, providing yet further modularity advantages.

Also, in further embodiments, audible alarm components other than piezoelectric sounders may be used, and/or visual alarm components other than LEDs may be used.

Again, for the avoidance of doubt, and as is well known to the skilled person, it is emphasised that fire detectors and alerting devices often further include one or more indicator LEDs for indicating to a fire alarm expert which detector or alerting device has activated or has a fault. Such indicator LEDS are not intended to, and to not provide sufficient change in an ambient environment to, alert people to a fire, and should not be confused with the visual alarm devices that perform as alerting devices as discussed earlier above. As such, it will be appreciated that the above described LEDs 70 of the alerting device 2, and in other embodiments alternative or additional visual alarm components for alerting the public to the presence of alarm condition, are different to indicator LEDS as discussed earlier in this paragraph. Accordingly, although in the above described embodiments of a first fix base 1 and embodiments of an alerting device 2 no indicator LEDS have been described or shown as included, nevertheless in yet further embodiments of a first fix base 1 and embodiments of an alerting device 2 one or more such indicator LEDS may indeed also be provided in conventional fashion. -21 -

Claims

CLAIM S1. A base for mounting thereon or therein any of the following: i) an alerting device, ii) a fire detector, iii) an alerting device and a fire detector; the base comprising a housing, wherein the housing is adapted to accommodate therein or thereon an alerting device, and the housing is further adapted to accommodate thereon or therein, or comprises, a fire detector base.
2. A base according to claim 1, wherein the housing further comprises at least part of a locking arrangement for locking an alerting device in place in or onthebase.
3. A base according to claim 2, wherein the part of the locking arrangement comprised by the housing comprises at least a part located at a part of the housing that serves to accommodate thereon or therein, or comprises, the fire detector base.
4. A base according to claim 3, wherein the pad of the locking arrangement located at the part of the housing that serves to accommodate thereon or therein, or comprises, the fire detector base is a plate, and the part of the locking arrangement comprises one or more elements on one side of the plate, and the other side of the plate comprises, or is adapted to have mounted thereon, a fire detector base.
5. A base according to any of claims 2 to 4, wherein the at least part of a locking arrangement comprises one or more clips.
6. A base according to claim 5, further comprising one or more holes in the housing aligned respectively with the one or more clips, the holes being for access to unlock the locking arrangement. -22 -
7. A base according to any of claims 2 to 6, wherein the locking arrangement is arranged such that the base is not locked by the locking arrangement unless an alerting device is mounted in the base.
8. A base according to any of claims 1 to 7, wherein the housing comprises a chamber in which an alerting device is to be installed.
9. A base according to claim 8, wherein the housing comprises two parts that are attached together by a hinge, and wherein by closing the hinge the two parts are positioned with respect to each other such as to provide the chamber.
10. A base according to claim 9, wherein the locking mechanism locks the chamber shut.
11. A base according to any of claims 1 to 10, further comprising a fire detector base.
12. A base according to claim 11, wherein the fire detector base is removably attached to the base.
13. A base according to claim ii, wherein the fire detector base is an integrated part of the base.
14. A base according to any of claims ito 13, further comprising an alerting device installed in or on the base. -23 -
15. A base according to claim 14, wherein the alerting device comprises an external housing that is of a cartridge or cassette form.
16. A base according to claim 14 or claim 15, wherein the alerting device is of a type selected from the following types of alerting device: i) an audible alarm device, ii) a visual alarm device, Hi) a combined audible alarm and visual alarm device.
17. An alerting device adapted for use with a base according to any of claims ltol3.
18. An alerting device according to claim 17, comprising an external housing that is of a cartridge or cassette form.
19. An alerting device according to claim 17 or 18, of a type selected from the following types of alerting device: i) an audible alarm device, ii) a visual alarm device, iii) a combined audible alarm and visual alarm device.
20. A method for installing an alerting device and a fire detector, the method comprising: attaching a base to a ceiling or wall or other surface or fixture; making fire alarm wiring connections to the base; placing the alerting device in a chamber of the base; installing a fire detector on a detector base that is attached to, or is comprised by, the base.
21. A method according to claim 20, further comprising: -24 -after the steps of attaching a base to a ceiling or wall or other surface or fixture and making fire alarm wiring connections, and before the step of placing the alerting device in the chamber of the base, closing the chamber, and thereafter opening the chamber.
22. A method according to claim 20 or claim 21, wherein the alerting device is of a cartridge or cassette form.
23. A method according to any of claims 20 to 22, wherein the base is a base according to any of claims 1 to 16.
24. A method according to any of claims 20 to 23, wherein the alerting device is an alerting device according to any of claims 17 to 19.
25. A base as substantially described herein with reference to the accompanying drawings.
26. An alerting device as substantially described herein with reference to the accompanying drawings.
27. A method for installing an alerting device and a fire detector as substantially described herein with reference to the accompanying drawings.