JP2009163723A - Alarm - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide an alarm providing a user with a cause of an alarm without giving anxiety to the user using the alarm. <P>SOLUTION: The alarm respectively detects one or more detection objects and respectively outputs alarm signals corresponding to the detection objects. The alarm is provided with an alarm cause holding part for holding an alarm cause output by an alarming part, an alarm output elapsed time measuring part for measuring the time elapsed from a latest alarm signal output by the alarming part, a power state detecting part for detecting that the power is supplied again after the supply of the power to the power source part is cut off, and an alarm cause information outputting part for detecting that the power is supplied again after the supply of the power to the power state detecting part is cut off, and outputting, from the alarming part, the alarm cause held by the alarm cause holding part when the elapsed time measured by the alarm output elapsed time measuring part is not longer than a prescribed time. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2009,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to an alarm device, and more particularly, an alarm device having a combined detection function of gas leak detection and incomplete combustion detection, and an alarm device having a fire detection function in addition to these detections, the cause of the alarm output The present invention relates to an alarm device suitable for obtaining information.

  Conventionally, a gas sensor that detects the concentration of a gas to be detected, and an alarm that is output when the gas sensor detects a gas to be detected that exceeds a predetermined concentration, and an alarm cause that is output when a gas leak is detected (alarm cause information) Is known (for example, refer to Patent Document 1). This alarm cause information is displayed, for example, by changing the blinking pattern of the power display lamp.

Alternatively, an alarm device having an alarm history storage unit for storing a cause of an alarm output by detecting an object to be detected and having a switch for giving a command to output the cause of the alarm by an LED display or sound is known. (For example, refer to Patent Document 2).
According to these alarm devices, a manager (a gas equipment-related company, a fire source manager, etc.) can determine the cause of the output of the alarm afterwards by displaying the alarm cause information. For this reason, when the administrator performs the recovery work, it is possible to take measures suitable for the cause.
JP 2001-216581 A JP 2007-102260 A

However, even if the alarm cause display function described above is a useful function for the administrator, the user of gas etc. does not necessarily know this function, and the user cannot There was a problem that unfamiliar displays were suspicious or could be mistaken for an alarm failure.
Moreover, since the cause of the alarm is deleted when the alarm is reset (the power supplied to the alarm is turned off and then turned on again), the conventional alarm has no means to know the cause. . For this reason, although the alarm device issued an alarm, the cause of the alarm could not be investigated when the user cut off the power supplied to the alarm device.

  The present invention has been made to solve the above-described problems, and an object of the present invention is to provide an alarm device capable of grasping the cause of the alarm without causing anxiety to the user who uses the alarm device. Is to provide.

In order to achieve the above-described object, the alarm device of the present invention detects one or more detection targets, converts each detection level into an electric signal level, and outputs the detection unit, and the detection unit outputs the detection unit. A determination control unit that determines whether the level of each electric signal exceeds a predetermined threshold value, and the determination control unit determines that the level of each electric signal output by the detection unit exceeds a predetermined threshold value. An alarm unit that outputs an alarm signal corresponding to the detection target, and a power source unit that receives power from a predetermined power source and supplies operating power to the detection unit, the determination control unit, and the alarm unit, respectively. An alarm device comprising:
The determination control unit further includes an alarm cause holding unit that holds an alarm cause output by the alarm unit, an alarm output elapsed time measurement unit that measures an elapsed time from the latest alarm signal output by the alarm unit, After the supply of power to the power supply unit is cut off, a power supply state detection unit that detects the supply of power again, and after the power supply state detection unit cuts off the supply of power supply, When the elapsed time measured by the alarm output elapsed time measuring unit is less than or equal to a predetermined time, the alarm cause held by the alarm cause holding unit for a predetermined time is detected from the alarm unit. And an alarm cause information output unit for outputting.

Further, the alarm cause information output unit of the present invention outputs the alarm cause from the alarm unit after waiting for a predetermined time after the power supply state detection unit detects that the power is supplied again. It is said.
Preferably, the detection unit is a gas sensor that detects at least one or both of methane gas and CO gas.

More preferably, the detection unit further includes a fire sensor for detecting a fire.
The above-described alarm device can be easily confirmed by the user who uses gas or the like or the manager thereof by re-powering on the power source that gives the alarm device the cause of the alarm. In addition, when the power is not turned on again, the alarm device keeps the display of the normal operation state, so that it is possible to prevent the user from being suspicious or mistaken for the alarm device failure. There is an effect.

Hereinafter, an alarm device according to an embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.
1 and 2 are diagrams for explaining an embodiment of the present invention, and the present invention is not limited to these drawings.
Now, FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a main part configuration of an alarm device according to an embodiment of the present invention. In this figure, 1 is a gas detection unit that detects the presence of combustible gas (for example, methane gas, hydrogen gas, etc.) and CO, and 2 is a fire detection unit that detects the occurrence of a fire. Each of these detection units 1 and 2 outputs an electric signal having a level corresponding to the detection level of each detection target, and constitutes a detection unit 3.

  Incidentally, each of the detection units 1 and 2 uses various sensors such as a known gas sensor, smoke sensor, temperature sensor, etc., and since these are well-known sensors, the description thereof is omitted. Of course, the detection unit 3 may be configured by only one of the gas detection unit 1 and the fire detection unit 2 described above. Alternatively, the gas detector 1 may detect only a specific combustible gas or CO. In short, the type of the detection unit 3 is not limited in the alarm device of the present invention as long as it can detect a desired detection target (detected target).

  Reference numeral 4 denotes a determination control unit that receives electrical signals output from the detection units 1 and 2 of the detection unit 3 and determines whether the levels of these electrical signals exceed a predetermined level. When the determination control unit 4 determines that the level of the electric signal output from each of the detection units 1 and 2 exceeds a predetermined level, the determination control unit 4 drives the alarm unit 5 that outputs an alarm signal corresponding to the detection target. . Specifically, the alarm unit 5 outputs an alarm by voice, sound, lamp display, or the like for each detection target.

The determination control unit 4 stops the alarm output from the alarm unit 5 when there is no more target to be detected (automatic return function).
Furthermore, the alarm device of the present invention includes an alarm cause holding unit 10 that holds at least one latest alarm cause output from the alarm unit 5. The alarm cause holding unit 10 is, for example, an EEPROM (Electrical Erasable Programmable Read-Only Memory) or a memory such as a flash memory in which the held data does not disappear even when the power is turned off. The alarm cause holding unit 10 is not limited to the above-described memory as long as the alarm cause output from the alarm unit 5 can be held.

The alarm device is supplied with power from a predetermined power source such as commercial alternating current and converts the voltage into a voltage suitable for the operation of each unit included in the alarm device, and the power source supplied to the power source unit 6. After the supply is cut off, a power supply state detection unit 12 for detecting that the power supply is supplied again is provided.
Incidentally, the power supply state detection unit 12 periodically receives time information measured by a counter or a clock (not shown) provided in the alarm device, or an alarm output elapsed time measurement unit (to be described later) in a predetermined area of the alarm cause holding unit 10 or another time not shown. The information may be written in a nonvolatile memory or the like, and the determination control unit 4 may be configured to confirm that the power is turned on again from the time information held in the nonvolatile memory or the like when the power is turned on again. There are various embodiments of this kind of power re-on detection means, but it is out of the spirit of the present invention, and further description is omitted.

  The alarm output elapsed time measuring unit 11 is a counter that measures the elapsed time by counting, for example, an internal clock that operates the alarm device, and is initialized (zero) every time an alarm is output from the alarm unit 5. . The determination control unit 4 can obtain the elapsed time of the alarm output from the alarm unit 5 from the counter value counted by the alarm output elapsed time measuring unit 11.

In the alarm device of the present invention, after the power supply to the alarm device is cut off, the power supply state detector 12 detects that the power is supplied again, and the alarm output elapsed time measuring unit 11 measures the alarm device. When the elapsed time is equal to or shorter than the predetermined time, the alarm cause information output unit 13 is provided to output the alarm cause held by the alarm cause holding unit 10 from the alarm unit 5 for a predetermined time.
An example of the operation when the detector 3 detects gas and outputs an alarm from the alarm unit 5 in the alarm device of the present invention configured as described above will be described with reference to FIG. Incidentally, since the same applies to the detection of fire, the description thereof is omitted.

First, at time t ₁ in FIG. 2, when the detection level of the gas detection unit 1 exceeds a predetermined alarm setting level, the determination control unit 4 causes the alarm unit 5 to output a predetermined alarm. This alarm is made by voice, sound, lamp display, or the like. The determination control unit 4 holds the alarm event (gas detection) and time t ₁ detected at this time in the alarm cause holding unit (nonvolatile memory) 10 as the alarm cause (alarm generation event information and generation time information). Let Incidentally, the time information measured by the alarm output elapsed time measuring unit 11 is used as the generation time (time t ₁ : base time) at this time.

Then, at time t _2, the the detection level of the gas detection section 1 and the determination control section 4 below a predetermined alarm set level is determined, the judgment control unit 4 stops the alarm output by the alarm section 5.
The time _{t 3} in FIG. 2 shows the time after the time _{t 1} 10 days.
After alarm output in the manner described above is stopped, power is supplied to the alarm until time t ₃ is an end cut, when it is turned on again the power supply state detector 12, the cutting / Cycle Detect and notify the determination control unit 4. Then, upon receiving this detection of disconnection / re-insertion, the determination control unit 4 compares the alarm generation time held in the alarm cause holding unit 10 with the measurement time measured by the alarm output elapsed time measurement unit 11. When the determination control unit 4 determines that the power is turned off / returned is less than a predetermined time (for example, 10 days) after the alarm is output, the alarm cause information output unit 13 outputs the alarm cause information. To give instructions. Upon receiving this instruction, the alarm cause information output unit 13 turns on or blinks a lamp assigned in advance for each alarm cause information held by the alarm cause holding unit 10 for a short time Δt (for example, 1 second). 5 is output. That is, when the power to the alarm device is turned off / on again, the alarm device outputs the alarm cause information from the alarm unit 5 for a very short time.

The determination control unit 4 does not output alarm cause information from the alarm unit 5 when it is determined that the power is turned on again after a predetermined time (for example, 10 days) has elapsed.
Thus, according to the alarm device of the present invention, when the alarm cause holding unit 10 holds the output alarm and the power is turned on again within a predetermined period, the alarm cause information output unit 13 receives the alarm cause information from the alarm unit 5. Since the alarm cause information is output, it is possible for the user or administrator to confirm the alarm cause information detected by the alarm device later.

Moreover, the alarm device of the invention outputs alarm cause information from the alarm unit 5 (for example, the lamp is turned on and blinks) for a short period Δt immediately after the power is turned on even when the user does not know the existence of the above-described function. Therefore, it is difficult for the user to imagine that the alarm is defective.
In the present invention, the period from time t ₁ to time t ₃ described above is not limited to 10 days. In other words, the period during which the user makes an inquiry to the administrator is considered to be between several days after the alarm is issued, and the period from time t _{1 to} t ₃ may be 7 days or 3 days. . In short, it may be set to a preferable period depending on the alarm device to be applied.

The time of holding the alarm causes the holding unit 10 described above, instead of the time t ₁ detection level of the gas detection section 1 may be used the time t ₂ that below a predetermined alarm setting level. Alternatively, the time to be held may be set between t ₁ ~t _2. In short, it is only necessary to know that the alarm cause has occurred, and the time (base time) to be held in the alarm cause holding unit 10 is not limited.

  Further, in FIG. 2, the output of the alarm unit 5 after the power is turned on is set to Δt immediately after the power is turned on, but the start timing of Δt starts after waiting for a predetermined time, for example, after displaying the initial ringing prevention time of the alarm device. May be. Further, the period of Δt is not limited to lighting or blinking the lamp for 1 second as described above. Alternatively, the start timing of Δt may be less than 5 seconds so as not to be suspicious even if the user does not know about this function.

  The alarm device of the present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiment, and various modifications may be made without departing from the gist of the present invention. For example, in the above-described embodiment, the latest alarm cause is output from the alarm unit 5, but the alarm cause holding unit 10 holds a plurality of alarm causes so that when the power is turned off / on again, Of course, the alarm cause information output unit 13 may output the alarm cause 5 from the alarm unit 5 in the order of alarm causes. By configuring in this way, the administrator can easily confirm a plurality of alarm causes, and when performing a recovery work, it is possible to take measures suitable for the cause.

The block diagram which shows the principal part structure of the alarm device which concerns on one Embodiment of this invention. The graph which shows the ringing cause display function of the alarm device which concerns on one Embodiment of this invention.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Gas detection part 2 Fire detection part 4 Judgment control part 5 Alarm part 6 Power supply part 10 Alarm cause holding part 11 Alarm output elapsed time measurement part 12 Power supply state detection part 13 Alarm cause information output part

Claims (4)

A detection unit that detects one or more detection targets, converts the detection levels into electrical signal levels, and outputs the electrical signals;
A determination control unit for determining whether the level of each electrical signal output by the detection unit exceeds a predetermined threshold value;
When it is determined by the determination control unit that the level of each electric signal output by the detection unit exceeds a predetermined threshold value, an alarm unit that outputs an alarm signal corresponding to the detection target,
An alarm device comprising a power supply unit that receives power from a predetermined power source and supplies operating power to each of the detection unit, the determination control unit, and the alarm unit,
The determination control unit further includes an alarm cause holding unit that holds an alarm cause output by the alarm unit;
An alarm output elapsed time measuring unit that measures an elapsed time from the latest alarm signal output by the alarm unit;
After the supply of the power supply to the power supply unit is cut off, a power supply state detection unit that detects the supply of power again,
When the power supply state detection unit detects that the power supply has been supplied again after the power supply is cut off, and the elapsed time measured by the alarm output elapsed time measurement unit is less than or equal to a predetermined time An alarm cause information output unit for outputting an alarm cause held by the alarm cause holding unit from the alarm unit.   The alarm cause information output unit outputs the alarm cause from the alarm unit after waiting for a predetermined time after the power supply state detection unit detects that the power is supplied again. The alarm device according to 1.   The alarm device according to claim 1, wherein the detection unit includes a gas sensor that detects at least one or both of methane gas and CO gas. The alarm device according to claim 1, wherein the detection unit includes a fire sensor that detects a fire.

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