JP2009218084A - Guide light device - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a guide light device in which an LED is used as a light source, which does not make a passerby panicked, and in which by a simple circuit constitution, a voltage of a storage battery can be measured with precision. <P>SOLUTION: A signal treatment circuit 14 switches off a charging circuit 12. The signal treatment circuit 14 switches on a transistor Q3, and on the transistor Q2. Furthermore, the signal treatment circuit 14 directs a CPU 18 to switch off the transistor Q4 and to switch on the transistor Q5. At this time, since a resistance value of a resistor R1 is higher than that of the resistor R2, a current value of a constant driving current supplied to LEDs 16, 17 is reduced from the peak value of the pulse-like driving current supplied to the LEDs 16, 17 in an emergency. By this, the LEDs 16, 17 are continuously lighted on dimly. At this stage, the signal treatment circuit 14 makes the CPU 18 measure the voltage of the storage battery E. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2009,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to a guide light device used for safely guiding a person from a building to an exit when a disaster such as a fire occurs.

  Conventionally, a guide light device that displays an emergency exit location, an evacuation route, and the like has been widely used. In such a guide light device, AC power is always obtained from a commercial power source, and a storage battery is charged by the AC power source. In an emergency (when a disaster occurs) when power supply from the AC power supply cannot be received, DC power is supplied from the storage battery to the lamp.

  FIG. 5 is a diagram showing a configuration of a conventional guide light device. The conventional guide lamp device 102 includes an xenon lamp 116 filled with xenon gas, a storage battery E, and an AC / DC converter that generates a DC power supply voltage of about 3 to 6 V after stepping down the AC100V power supply voltage of the commercial power supply 104. 111, a charging circuit 112 for trickle charging the storage battery E with the DC power supply voltage output from the AC / DC converter 111, a booster circuit 113 for boosting the DC power supply voltage of the storage battery E to 24V, and further boosting the DC24V power supply voltage Then, the flashing circuit unit 115 that drives the xenon lamp 116 to flash by the boosted DC power supply voltage, the CPU 117 that controls the flashing circuit unit 115, and the transistor Q12 is turned on and off to switch the transistor Q11 on and off. Signal to switch whether to supply DC power A processing circuit 114, an operation unit 120 accepting an operation by inspection personnel, etc., the.

With this configuration, the guide lamp device 102 trickle-charges the storage battery E by the charging circuit 112 at any time when power from the commercial power source 104 can be supplied. Further, in the event of an emergency signal received from the outside of the apparatus main body, DC power is supplied from the storage battery E to the xenon lamp 116 to cause the xenon lamp 116 to blink.
An inspector who checks the guide lamp device 102 always presses a switch provided in the operation unit 120 and inputs an emergency signal to the signal processing circuit 114 to blink the xenon lamp 116. Thereby, the inspector checks whether or not the flashing of the xenon lamp 116 continues for a predetermined time or more.
Note that Patent Document 1 also shows a guide lamp device using a fluorescent lamp as a light source.
JP-A-2-148506

However, the conventional guide lamp device using the xenon lamp 116 as a light source has the following drawbacks.
First, when the xenon lamp 116 is blinked, the amount of current discharged from the storage battery E becomes large, so that the voltage value of the storage battery E also changes greatly. For this reason, the guide lamp device 102 cannot accurately measure the voltage of the storage battery E, and thus cannot be automatically checked.
Next, when inspecting the guide light device 102, the xenon lamp 116 must be blinked to inspect the guide light device 102. Therefore, even if the inspection was performed at night when there were few people, there was a risk that passers-by would feel panic.

  Further, in order to start the discharge of the xenon lamp 116, the guide lamp device 102 needs to apply a voltage of several kilovolts to the xenon lamp 116. Further, in order to maintain the light emission of the xenon lamp 116, the guide lamp device 102 needs to apply a voltage of 200 V or more to the xenon lamp 116. As described above, since it is necessary to use a high voltage, there is a great danger when the cover of the xenon lamp 116 is damaged. Further, in order to make the xenon lamp 116 blink, the storage battery E needs to have a high capacity. Further, a complicated circuit configuration is required for starting discharge of the xenon lamp 116 and maintaining light emission of the xenon lamp 116. Specifically, a transformer T1 for boosting to a high voltage, a large-capacity electric field capacitor C1, a dedicated protection circuit for preventing overvoltage to the electric field capacitor C1, and the like are required. This means that materials for the complicated circuit configuration must be prepared and a process for the complicated circuit configuration must be set up, and this contributes to high manufacturing costs and complexity of the manufacturing process. It was.

  An object of the present invention is to provide a guide light device that uses an LED as a light source, does not cause a pedestrian to feel panic, and has a simple circuit configuration and has an automatic inspection function for accurately measuring the voltage of a storage battery. is there.

  The guide light device of the present invention has the following configuration in order to solve the above problems.

(1) a charging circuit for charging a storage battery with a commercial power source;
A control circuit for stopping charging of the storage battery by the charging circuit when an emergency signal is received in an emergency, and supplying a pulse-shaped drive current that is duty-controlled from the storage battery to the light emitter to cause the light emitter to blink. In a guide light device comprising:
The light emitter is composed of LEDs,
The control circuit includes:
When a specific operation for automatically checking the voltage of the storage battery is performed, charging of the storage battery by the charging circuit is stopped, and a constant driving current is supplied from the storage battery to the LED to continuously connect the LED. Turn on
An automatic inspection switching circuit that reduces the current value of the constant driving current supplied to the LED from the peak value of the pulsed driving current supplied to the LED in an emergency when the LED is continuously lit; ,
After the specific operation is performed, voltage measuring means for measuring the voltage of the storage battery is provided.

  In this configuration, the storage battery is charged by the charging circuit at all times. On the other hand, in an emergency, the control circuit supplies DC power from the storage battery to the LED to cause the LED to blink. Thus, the guide light device safely guides a person from the building to the exit when a disaster such as a fire occurs.

Further, in this configuration, when the inspector performs a specific operation during the inspection, charging of the storage battery is stopped, and a constant driving current is supplied to the LED. At this time, the automatic inspection switching circuit included in the control circuit reduces the current value of the constant drive current supplied to the LED from the peak value of the pulsed drive current supplied to the LED in an emergency. As a result, the LED is dimly lit continuously. At this stage, the voltage measuring means automatically measures the voltage of the storage battery.
At this time, although the LED is continuously lit, there is no change in the amount of current discharged from the storage battery, so the voltage value of the storage battery does not change. Therefore, the voltage measuring means can accurately measure the voltage of the storage battery.
Further, when inspecting the guide light device, the LED is continuously lit in a dimmed state to inspect the guide light device. Therefore, even if the inspection is performed at night when there are few people, there is no risk that the passerby will feel panic.
Moreover, in order to make the LED blink, a high capacity battery such as a xenon lamp is unnecessary for the storage battery. Furthermore, the LED does not need to use a high voltage like a xenon lamp, so there is no danger. Furthermore, in order to cause the LED to emit light, a complicated circuit configuration such as a xenon lamp is unnecessary. Therefore, the manufacturing cost can be reduced and the manufacturing process can be simplified. Furthermore, unlike a xenon lamp, the LED can easily change the blinking cycle and the light emission luminance simply by adjusting the amount of current supplied to the LED. Therefore, it can be set to blink more suitable for evacuation guidance than a xenon lamp.
As described above, by using the LED as the light source, the voltage of the storage battery can be accurately measured with a simple circuit configuration without causing a passerby to feel panic.

(2) The automatic inspection switching circuit is
A parallel resistor circuit in which a first resistor and a second resistor having a resistance value lower than that of the first resistor are connected in parallel and connected in series to the LED;
In the emergency, the current supplied to the first resistance side is turned off and the current supplied to the second resistance side is turned on. When the specific operation is performed, the first resistance side And a switching circuit for turning off the current supplied to the second resistor side.

In this configuration, the switching circuit is composed of, for example, a plurality of switching elements. The switching element is, for example, a transistor. The parallel resistance circuit adjusts the current value of a constant driving current supplied to the LED.
In this configuration, since the resistance value of the first resistor is higher than that of the second resistor, the resistance value when a specific operation is performed (that is, during inspection) is higher than the resistance value in an emergency. Therefore, the current value of the constant drive current supplied to the LED is reduced from the peak value of the pulsed drive current supplied to the LED in an emergency.

(3) Provided with an informing means for informing the measurement result of the voltage measurement by the voltage measuring means.

  With this configuration, the inspector can be notified of the measurement result of the storage battery voltage.

(4) The automatic inspection switching circuit performs duty control with a duty ratio of 100% with respect to the current supplied to the first resistance side when the specific operation is performed.

  In this configuration, since there is no change in the amount of current discharged from the storage battery, there is no change in the storage battery voltage. Therefore, the voltage measuring means can measure an accurate value.

  According to the present invention, by using an LED as a light source, the voltage of the storage battery can be accurately measured with a simple circuit configuration without causing a passerby to feel panic.

  Hereinafter, the guide light device which is an embodiment of the present invention is explained.

  FIG. 1 is a diagram showing a state when a guide lamp device according to an embodiment of the present invention is installed at an evacuation exit. A plurality of guide light devices 100 are installed at each evacuation exit in the building, and are generated in the vicinity of the pictogram 1 for notifying people of the evacuation exit, the light emitting unit 2 in which LEDs 16 and 17 described later are incorporated, and the guide light device 100. A smoke detector 3 for detecting smoke. With this configuration, the guide light device 100 safely guides a person from the building to the exit when a disaster such as a fire occurs.

FIG. 2 is a diagram showing a main configuration of the guide lamp device according to the embodiment of the present invention. The guide lamp device 100 includes a storage battery E, an AC / DC converter 11 that generates a DC power supply voltage of about 3 to 6 V after stepping down the AC100V power supply voltage of the commercial power supply 4, and a DC output from the AC / DC converter 11. A charging circuit 12 that trickle-charges the storage battery E with the power supply voltage, a boosting circuit 13 that boosts the DC power supply voltage of the storage battery E to 24 V, and a light emitting diode (hereinafter referred to as a light emitting diode) that emits light by the drive current of the storage battery E output from the boosting circuit 13 (Referred to as LEDs) 16, 17; a blinking circuit 15 that drives the LEDs 16 and 17 to blink by switching on and off of the transistor Q4 by duty control; and Signal processing circuit for switching whether to supply the drive current of the storage battery E 4, a, an operation unit 20 for accepting an operation by inspection personnel or the like.
Furthermore, the guide light device 100 includes a smoke detector 3 that detects smoke. The light emitting unit 2 of the guide lamp device 100 is connected to a center 6 that transmits an emergency signal in an emergency.

  The AC / DC converter 11 and the charging circuit 12 correspond to the “charging circuit” of the present invention. The blinking circuit 15 and the signal processing circuit 14 correspond to the “control circuit” of the present invention. The blinking circuit 15 corresponds to the “automatic inspection switching circuit” of the present invention. The transistors Q4 and Q5 correspond to the “switching circuit” of the present invention, and the resistors R1 and R2 correspond to the “parallel resistance circuit” of the present invention. Here, the blinking circuit 15 is an example of an automatic inspection switching circuit, and other circuit configurations may be adopted.

The operation unit 20 is provided with a plurality of keys such as an inspection start key for starting the inspection of the voltage of the storage battery E. When any key of the operation unit 20 is pressed, a control signal corresponding to the pressed key is transmitted to the signal processing circuit 14. Here, details of the inspection start key will be described later.
In the implementation, the operation unit 20 may be provided in the center 6. In this case, the inspector instructs the guide light devices (including the guide light device 100) in the building to start the voltage check of the storage battery E from the center 6.

  The signal processing circuit 14 and the CPU 18 are connected by a control line, and the CPU 18 performs current control and voltage measurement of the storage battery E in accordance with an instruction from the signal processing circuit 14. Further, the CPU 18 incorporates a timer circuit (not shown) that measures time.

  The booster circuit 13 is a boost converter that stabilizes and outputs the storage battery E to 24V. When the transistor Q1 of the switching element is on, the inductor L is excited, and when the transistor Q1 is off, the energy stored in the inductor L is superimposed on the battery voltage E by the diode D2 and stabilized by the aluminum electrolytic capacitor C. The step-up control IC 19 is preset to perform on / off control so that the voltage across the aluminum electrolytic capacitor C is 24V.

The blinking circuit 15 is a parallel resistance circuit in which a resistor R1 and a resistor R2 are connected in parallel and is connected in series to the LEDs 16, 17, a transistor Q4, a transistor Q5, and a transistor Q4, Q5. And a CPU 18 for controlling on / off. The transistor Q4 is a transistor that turns on the current supplied to the resistor R2 side in an emergency and turns off the current supplied to the resistor R2 side during inspection. The transistor Q5 is a transistor that turns off the current supplied to the resistor R1 in an emergency and turns on the current supplied to the resistor R1 during inspection.
In addition, as for LED16,17, it is desirable to use LED of a wavelength with high visibility also in the environment where smoke was filled. This makes it easier to find emergency exits from a distance full of smoke.

  With the above configuration, in the guide lamp device 2, trickle charging of the storage battery E is performed by the charging circuit 12 at any time when power from the commercial power source 4 can be supplied. Normally, the booster circuit 13 and the transistor Q2 are turned off. In an emergency when an emergency signal is received from the center 6, the signal processing circuit 14 turns on the transistor Q2, supplies DC power to the LEDs 16, 17 from the storage battery E, and causes the LEDs 16, 17 to blink. Here, a voltage of 24V is applied to the smoke detector 3 by turning on the transistor Q2. When the smoke detector 3 detects smoke, that is, when smoke is generated in the vicinity of the guide light device 2, the smoke detector 3 sends a stop signal to the CPU 18 because the person should not be guided to this vicinity. Send to. When the stop signal is received, the CPU 18 turns off the transistor Q4 and turns off the LEDs 16 and 17. At this time, even if the stop signal is not received, the CPU 18 latches with the transistor Q4 turned off. Here, to release the latch, the emergency signal is reset from the center 6.

  On the other hand, when the smoke detector 3 does not detect smoke, that is, when the stop signal is not received, the CPU 18 keeps the LEDs 16 and 17 blinking. This blinking is achieved when the CPU 18 turns off the transistor Q5 and turns on / off the transistor Q4 (for example, at a duty ratio of 30%) (see FIG. 3A). By this blinking, the guide light device 2 safely guides a person from the building to the exit when a disaster such as a fire occurs.

  FIG. 4 is a flowchart showing an operation performed at the time of inspection by the signal processing circuit of the guide lamp device according to the embodiment of the present invention. This operation assumes a scene in which an inspector presses an inspection start key to check whether the voltage value of the storage battery E indicates a normal value (threshold level) or more and whether the LEDs 16 and 17 emit light normally. is doing.

  When the inspection start key is pressed, the signal processing circuit 14 turns off the charging circuit 12 (S1). Thereby, the charge to the storage battery E by the charging circuit 12 stops.

  Next, the signal processing circuit 14 turns on the transistor Q3 and turns on the transistor Q2 (S2). Thereby, DC power is supplied from the storage battery E to the LEDs 16 and 17 so that the LEDs 16 and 17 are continuously lit.

  Further, the signal processing circuit 14 instructs the CPU 18 to turn off the transistor Q4 (S3) and turn on the transistor Q5 (S4). Here, the CPU 18 outputs a duty signal (duty ratio 100%) and turns on the transistor Q5. Thus, a constant drive current as shown in FIG. 3B is supplied from the storage battery E to the LEDs 16 and 17. At this time, since the resistance value of the resistor R1 is higher than the resistance R2, the resistance value at the time of inspection becomes higher than the resistance value at the time of emergency. Therefore, the current value of the constant drive current supplied to the LEDs 16 and 17 is smaller than the peak value of the pulsed drive current supplied to the LEDs 16 and 17 in an emergency (see FIG. 3B). As a result, the LEDs 16 and 17 are continuously dimly lit.

  Finally, the signal processing circuit 14 causes the CPU 18 to measure the voltage of the storage battery E (S5). The signal processing circuit 14 determines whether or not the storage battery E can be used by checking whether or not the voltage value of the storage battery E is a normal value (threshold level) or more (S6). When the voltage value of the storage battery E is less than the normal value (threshold level), the signal processing circuit 14 causes the CPU 18 to emit light to notify the abnormality of the voltage value of the storage battery E (S7). Thereby, the inspector can easily know the measurement result of the voltage of the storage battery E.

At this time, even if the LEDs 16 and 17 are continuously lit, there is no change in the amount of current discharged from the storage battery E, so the voltage value of the storage battery E does not change. Therefore, the CPU 18 can accurately measure the voltage of the storage battery E.
Moreover, when inspecting the guide lamp device 100, the LED lamps 16 and 17 are continuously lit in a dimmed state to check the guide lamp device 100. Therefore, even if the inspection is performed at night when there are few people, there is no risk that the passerby will feel panic.

  In this embodiment, the supply current to the LEDs 16 and 17 on average is 150 ms / 500 ms × 800 mA = 240 mA in an emergency (see FIG. 3A), and the applied voltage to the LEDs 16 and 17 is 24 V. The power is 5.76W. When the storage battery E is 3.6 V and the efficiency of the booster circuit 13 is 90%, the discharge current from the storage battery E is 5.76 W / 3.6 V / 0.9 = 1.78 A. Therefore, when blinking for 25 minutes, the discharge capacity from the storage battery E is 1.78 A × 25 minutes / 60 minutes = about 742 mAh. On the other hand, in the xenon lamp used in the current specification, the discharge capacity from the storage battery E is 3.4 A × 25 minutes / 60 minutes = about 1420 mAh. Therefore, in order to make the LEDs 16 and 17 blink, the storage battery E does not need a high capacity such as a xenon lamp.

  Further, the LEDs 16 and 17 do not need to use a high voltage unlike a xenon lamp, so there is no danger. Further, in order to cause the LEDs 16 and 17 to emit light, a complicated circuit configuration such as a xenon lamp is unnecessary. Therefore, the manufacturing cost can be reduced and the manufacturing process can be simplified. Furthermore, unlike the xenon lamps, the LEDs 16 and 17 can easily change the blinking cycle and the light emission luminance simply by adjusting the amount of current supplied to the LEDs 16 and 17. Therefore, it can be set to blink more suitable for evacuation guidance than a xenon lamp.

  As described above, by using the LEDs 16 and 17 as the light source, it is possible to accurately measure the voltage of the storage battery E with a simple circuit configuration without making a passerby feel panic.

  If an emergency signal is input during the operation of FIG. 4, that is, if both a control signal and an emergency signal corresponding to the pressed inspection start key are input, the signal processing circuit 14 Operates with priority on signal.

The figure which shows a mode when the guide light apparatus which is embodiment of this invention is installed in the evacuation exit The figure which shows the main structures of the guide light apparatus which is embodiment of this invention. The figure which shows an example of the current waveform supplied to LED The flowchart which shows the operation | movement which the signal processing circuit of the guide light apparatus which is embodiment of this invention performs at the time of an inspection. The figure which shows the main structures of the conventional guide light apparatus

Explanation of symbols

1-pictogram 2-light emitting unit 3-smoke detector 4-commercial power supply 5-voltage measuring device 6-center 11-AC / DC converter 12-charging circuit 13-boosting circuit 14-signal processing circuit 15-flashing circuit 18-CPU
19-Boost IC
20-Operation unit 100-Guide light device 102-Guide light device 104-Commercial power supply 111-AC / DC converter 112-Charging circuit 113-Boosting circuit 114-Signal processing circuit 115-Flashing circuit unit 116-Xenon lamp 117-CPU
120-operation unit

Claims (4)

A charging circuit for charging the storage battery with a commercial power source;
A control circuit for stopping charging of the storage battery by the charging circuit when an emergency signal is received in an emergency, and supplying a pulse-shaped drive current that is duty-controlled from the storage battery to the light emitter to cause the light emitter to blink. In a guide light device comprising:
The light emitter is composed of LEDs,
The control circuit includes:
When a specific operation for automatically checking the voltage of the storage battery is performed, charging of the storage battery by the charging circuit is stopped, and a constant driving current is supplied from the storage battery to the LED to continuously connect the LED. Turn on
An automatic inspection switching circuit that reduces the current value of the constant driving current supplied to the LED from the peak value of the pulsed driving current supplied to the LED in an emergency when the LED is continuously lit; ,
A guide lamp device comprising voltage measuring means for measuring a voltage of the storage battery after the specific operation is performed. The automatic inspection switching circuit is
A parallel resistor circuit in which a first resistor and a second resistor having a resistance value lower than that of the first resistor are connected in parallel and connected in series to the LED;
In the emergency, the current supplied to the first resistance side is turned off and the current supplied to the second resistance side is turned on. When the specific operation is performed, the first resistance side The guide lamp device according to claim 1, further comprising a switching circuit that turns on a current supplied to the second resistor and turns off a current supplied to the second resistance side.   The guide lamp device according to claim 1, further comprising a notification unit that notifies a measurement result obtained by measuring the voltage by the voltage measurement unit.   The guide light according to claim 2 or 3, wherein when the specific operation is performed, the automatic inspection switching circuit performs duty control with a duty ratio of 100% with respect to a current supplied to the first resistance side. apparatus.

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