JP2024043404A - Alarm - Google Patents

Abstract

The present invention provides a fire alarm capable of stably detecting smoke even if the flow of smoke is disturbed by sound waves generated by the output of an alarm.
A smoke detection unit 2 that includes a light receiving element 12 and a light emitting element 13 and detects a smoke concentration value; a processing unit 16 that makes a fire determination using at least the smoke concentration value as one of the determination factors; In an alarm equipped with an alarm output section 3 configured to be able to output an alarm by sounding, the processing section 16 is configured to output the smoke concentration value and the /Or the fire determination based on the smoke density value is treated as invalid.
[Selection diagram] Figure 3

Description

The present invention relates to an alarm device that detects a fire or the like and issues an alarm.

BACKGROUND ART Conventionally, there is an alarm device that determines a fire by detecting smoke generated by a fire and outputs an alarm. Such an alarm device has a light emitting element and a light receiving element as a smoke sensor to detect the smoke, and utilizes the fact that the light output from the light emitting element is scattered by the smoke. By detecting this scattered light with a light-receiving element, the smoke concentration value is detected and smoke is detected, and an alarm output section for outputting the alarm is provided (for example, see Patent Document 1). ).

Additionally, some of these alarms are equipped with various sensors in addition to the light-emitting element and light-receiving element, and are designed to output alarm sounds other than fire alarms from the alarm output section. be. For example, the sensors include a CO sensor, a gas leak sensor, a heat sensor, and the like.

JP2020-21262A

Although the alarm output from an alarm device can clearly communicate an abnormality such as a fire outbreak to those around the alarm device, the problem is that the sound waves generated by the alarm output disturb the flow of smoke. was there. Therefore, conventional alarm devices cannot detect a normal smoke concentration during an alarm, which may cause problems such as false alarms and delays in determining fire. Particularly, in an alarm device equipped with the above-mentioned sensors, a normal fire judgment cannot be made while the alarm sound is being outputted based on the outputs of the sensors, which is a problem.

The present invention aims to provide an alarm that can stably detect smoke even if the flow of smoke is disturbed by sound waves generated by the output of an alarm.

The present invention includes a smoke detection unit that includes a light receiving element and a light emitting element and detects a smoke concentration value, a processing unit that makes a fire determination using at least the smoke concentration value as one of the determination factors, and a an alarm output section configured to be able to output an alarm; the processing section is configured to detect the smoke density value and/or the smoke density value in the fire determination while the alarm output section is sounding; This alarm device is characterized in that a fire judgment based on a smoke density value is treated as invalid.

Note that the present invention further includes a CO sensor for detecting carbon monoxide, the alarm includes a CO detection alarm, and the processing section is configured to cause the alarm output section to sound and to output the CO detection alarm. During the output, the smoke concentration value and/or the fire determination based on the smoke concentration value may be treated as invalid in the fire determination.

Further, in the present invention, the processing section is configured to perform the fire determination and failure determination of the smoke detection section using at least the smoke concentration value as one of the determination factors, and while the alarm output section is ringing, , in the fire determination, the smoke concentration value and/or the fire determination based on the smoke concentration value are treated as invalid, and in the failure determination, the smoke concentration value and/or the fire determination based on the smoke concentration value is treated as invalid. It is possible that the determination is treated as valid.

Furthermore, the present invention may cause the processing unit to process the fire determination based on the smoke concentration value and/or the smoke concentration value detected at the same time as the start of sounding of the alarm output unit in the fire determination. It is also possible to

In the present invention, the processing section processes the smoke concentration value and/or the fire determination based on the smoke concentration value as invalid in fire determination while the alarm output section is sounding the alarm. The sound waves generated by the ringing enable stable smoke detection even if the flow of smoke is disturbed.

FIG. 2 is a plan view of the base of the fire alarm according to the embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 3 is a plan view of the middle plate of the fire alarm according to the embodiment of the present invention, and is a diagram showing the flow of smoke in a state where no sound is emitted. FIG. 2 is a plan view of the mid-plate of the fire alarm according to the embodiment of the present invention, showing the smoke flow during an audio alarm. FIG. 3 is a block diagram of a processing unit in an embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 3 is a diagram showing how fire determination is performed while an alarm is being output according to the present invention.

Embodiments of the present invention will be described based on FIGS. 1 to 4. First, the configuration of the fire alarm 1 will be described based on FIGS. 1 to 3, taking as an example the fire alarm 1 including the smoke detection section 2 and the CO sensor 4. In this embodiment, the front and rear directions are determined based on the state in which the fire alarm 1 is attached to a mounting surface on a ceiling surface or the like.

The fire alarm 1 includes a smoke detection section 2 and an alarm output section 3, and in this embodiment, a CO sensor 4 provided to detect carbon monoxide and a CO sensor 4 that drives the fire alarm 1. It further includes a power source means 5 (for example, a battery, etc.) provided to secure a power source for the operation. Further, the fire alarm 1 includes a housing for accommodating each of these components.

The casing includes a main body 6 and a front cover (not shown) attached to the front side of the main body 6. The main body part 6 has a base part 7 and a middle plate 8 located on the front side of the base part 7, and the front cover is attached to the further front side of the middle plate 8.

The base part 7 has a board 9 and an alarm output part 3 placed thereon, and is provided with a smoke detection part 14 of the smoke detection part 2, which will be described later. Further, the middle plate 2 is provided with a smoke introduction section 15 of the smoke detection section 2, which will be described later, and a flow constituting a smoke flow path 10 for introducing smoke S from the outside of the fire alarm 1 into the smoke introduction section 15. A road wall 11 is provided.

On the substrate 9, a light emitting element 12, a light receiving element 13, and a CO sensor 4, which will be described later, are mounted, as well as various elements such as a microcomputer that constitutes a processing section 16, which will be described later. Further, an alarm output section 3 and a power supply means 5 are also connected to the board 9.

The smoke detection unit 2 has a light-emitting element 12 and a light-receiving element 13, and is provided to detect the smoke concentration value C. The smoke detection unit 2 detects the smoke concentration value C by having the light-receiving element 13 detect scattered light generated when the light output by the light-emitting element 12 is scattered by the smoke S. For this reason, the light-emitting element 12 and the light-receiving element 13 are arranged so that the light from the light-emitting element 12 is not directly incident on the light-receiving element 13.

In the present embodiment, the smoke detection section 2 is composed of two stages: a smoke detection section 14 located on the back side and a smoke introduction section 15 located on the front side, and at least the inside of the smoke detection section 14 is a dark box. It's looking like it's going to happen. Further, the light emitting element 12 and the light receiving element 13 are provided in the smoke detection section 14, and are operated intermittently at prescribed time intervals in order to save the power supply means 5. The smoke density value C detected by the light emitting element 12 and the light receiving element 13 is output to a sampling section of the processing section 16, which will be described later.

The alarm output unit 3 is configured to sound an alarm A, which will be described later, and is provided, for example, as a speaker. Examples of alarm A include various alarms, such as a fire alarm sound and/or a fire alarm voice (fire alarm) that notifies the occurrence of a fire, and a CO detection alarm and/or a CO detection alarm voice (CO detection alarm) that notifies the detection of CO by the CO sensor 4. The alarm output unit 3 may be capable of outputting both voice and non-voice sounds (hereinafter referred to as non-voice sounds), such as a sound of a certain frequency or a sweep sound, or may be capable of sounding only voice or non-voice sounds.

In the present embodiment, the alarm output unit 3 is capable of sounding both the voice A _V and the non-voice sound A _S (hereinafter, in this embodiment, the voice A _V and the non-voice sound A _S are collectively referred to as an alarm A). ), and for example, the non-audio sound _AS is sounded a plurality of times at predetermined intervals, followed by the sound _AV . Further, when the alarm output section 3 receives a fire signal from the processing section 16 (in this embodiment, a fire determination section 20 described later) or a CO detection signal from the CO sensor 4, The device is configured to be able to emit the corresponding voice _AV and non-voice sound _AS .

Next, the configuration of the processing unit 16 that performs fire detection using the smoke concentration value C detected by the smoke detection unit 2 in this embodiment as one of the determination factors will be described. The processing unit 16 has a sampling unit 17, a recording unit 18, a counter circuit 19, a fire detection unit 20, and a failure detection unit 21.

The sampling unit 17 receives the output from the smoke detection unit 2, compares the smoke concentration value C based on the output of the smoke detection unit 2 with the fire threshold Th recorded in the recording unit 18, makes a fire judgment J, and determines whether there is a fire. It is determined whether the smoke density value C is greater than or equal to the threshold Th. When the smoke density value C is greater than or equal to the fire threshold Th, a fire output F is sent to the counter circuit 19, and when it is less than the fire threshold Th, a non-fire signal is sent. The output N is output as the fire judgment result.

On the other hand, although the smoke S that has reached the fire alarm 1 is normally introduced into the smoke introduction section 15 via the smoke flow path 10 (see FIG. 2A), the alarm output section 3 does not respond to the alarm A ( In this embodiment, while the sound A _V or the non-sound sound A _S ) is being output, a part of the smoke S ₁ circulates around the edge of the casing under the influence of the sound waves of the alarm A. As a result, a phenomenon may occur in which the smoke does not enter the housing, and a normal smoke concentration value C may not be detected (see FIG. 2B).

Also, depending on the positional relationship between the alarm output section 3 and the smoke detection section 2, the sound waves of the alarm A may work to push out the smoke that has entered the smoke detection section 2, and in this case, the smoke concentration value is also normal. This causes C to not be detected. In reality, it takes a certain amount of time for the smoke S introduced into the alarm device 1 to reach the smoke detection unit 2, so immediately after the alarm A starts sounding, the normal smoke concentration value C can be detected.

Therefore, while the alarm output section 3 is sounding the alarm A, the sampling section 17 processes the smoke concentration value C as invalid and does not output it to the counter circuit 19. That is, in this embodiment, while the alarm output section 3 is sounding the alarm A, the processing section 16 processes the smoke concentration value C as being invalid in the fire determination.

The counter circuit 19 is configured to operate based on the fire output F from the sampling section 17 when the smoke concentration value C based on the output of the smoke detection section 2 is equal to or higher than the fire threshold Th. The fire determination section 20 determines that there is a fire when the counter circuit 19 operates a predetermined number of times while the output from the sampling section 17 is output a predetermined number of times, and outputs a fire signal to at least the alarm output section 3. It looks like it will.

The failure determination section 21 is provided in the smoke detection section 2 to perform failure determination based on the smoke concentration value C based on the output of the smoke detection section 2 . The failure determination unit 21 outputs a failure signal when determining that the smoke detection unit 2 is malfunctioning. The fire alarm 1 notifies the outside of the failure based on the failure signal. The means for this notification can be selected as appropriate, such as outputting a failure notification sound and/or failure notification sound from the alarm output unit 3, or providing a separate indicator light (not shown), and You may turn on or do so.

At this time, the failure determination section 21 may receive the smoke concentration value C directly from the smoke detection section 2, but may also receive it via the sampling section 17 as in the present embodiment. In either case, the failure determination section 21 processes the smoke concentration value C as valid even while the alarm output section 3 is sounding the alarm A.

That is, in the present embodiment, while the alarm output section 3 is sounding the alarm A, the processing section 16 processes the smoke concentration value C as valid in the failure determination. Therefore, in the fire alarm 1, even while the alarm output section 3 is sounding the alarm A, it is possible to determine the failure of the smoke detection section 2. Note that when the alarm A based on the fire determination is sounding, the smoke concentration value C is greater than or equal to the fire threshold Th, so the failure determination of the smoke detection unit 2 is not performed.

Next, fire determination in the fire alarm 1 of this embodiment will be described based on FIG. 4, taking as an example a fire determination when the alarm output unit 3 is sounding the alarm A based on CO detection by the CO sensor. In FIG. 4, the case where the smoke density value C is invalidated, the fire determination J is not performed, and the fire determination result is not output from the sampling section 17 to the counter circuit 19 is shown by a broken line.

The conditions for a fire determination can be set as appropriate, but in the fire alarm 1 of this embodiment, when the alarm output unit 3 is not sounding, the condition for a fire determination is that the counter circuit 19 has operated six times while the sampling unit 17 has output a fire determination result to the counter circuit 19 eight times.

On the other hand, when the alarm output unit 3 sounds and the output of alarm A starts, the fire judgment result until the alarm output unit 3 stops sounding is not output to the counter circuit 19, so sampling is not performed during this time. The condition for fire determination is that the counter circuit 19 operates three times while the fire determination result is output from the section 17 to the counter circuit 19 four times. By doing so, the time required for fire determination by the fire alarm 1 can be made the same even when the alarm output unit 3 is sounding as when it is not sounding.

When smoke S is introduced into the fire alarm 1 while the alarm output unit 3 is sounding, the light from the light-emitting element 12 is scattered by the smoke S, and the scattered light is detected by the light-receiving element 13, converted into a smoke concentration value C according to the amount of light received, and output to the sampling unit 17.

The sampling unit 17 compares the smoke concentration value C with the fire threshold Th recorded in the recording unit 18 and outputs either the fire output F or the non-fire output N to the counter circuit 19. For example, in FIG. 4, at time i, the smoke density value C is less than the fire threshold Th, so the non-fire output N is output to the counter circuit 19, and from time ii to time xi, the smoke density value C is less than the fire threshold Th. , is greater than the fire threshold Th, so the fire output F is output to the counter circuit 19. The counter circuit 19 is operated by the input of the fire output F from the sampling section 17, and turns the counter.

At this time, the sampling section 17 treats the smoke concentration value C while the alarm output section 3 is sounding and outputting the CO detection alarm A as invalid. In FIG. 4, at time h during the output of alarm A, the smoke concentration value C is lower than the fire threshold Th due to the influence of alarm A, but this value is treated as invalid, so the sampling unit 19 However, it is not outputted as non-fire output N.

When the fire determination unit 20 confirms that the result counter circuit 19 has operated three times out of the previous four fire determinations J of the sampling unit 17, that is, that the fire output F has been output three times, it determines that there is a fire. , outputs a fire signal. In FIG. 4, for example, at time iv, the fire output F is output a total of three times at time ii, time iii, and time iv between time i and time iv, and at time iv, the counter circuit 19 is output three times. Since it was activated, it would be determined that there was a fire.

Suppose that the smoke concentration value C while the alarm output unit 3 is sounding is not treated as invalid, and a fire judgment is made in the same way as the fire judgment conditions when the alarm output unit 3 is not sounding, like in a conventional alarm. Assuming that, as shown by the two-dot chain line in FIG. 4, at time e and time f, the smoke concentration value C falls below the fire threshold Th due to the influence of the sound wave of alarm A, as at time h. If this occurs, the fire will not be determined until time point vi, and the fire determination will be delayed compared to the above.

In the present embodiment, the sampling unit 17 makes the fire determination immediately before the alarm output unit 3 starts sounding, that is, immediately before each of the audio _AV and non-audio sounds _AS is output. The timing at which the smoke detection section 1 detects the smoke concentration value C and the timing at which the alarm output section 3 starts sounding are adjusted. By doing this, in this embodiment, the smoke density value C that becomes invalid is reduced, and a fire can be determined more quickly.

As described above, in the alarm 1 of this embodiment, by processing the smoke concentration value C while the alarm output unit 3 is sounding as invalid during fire judgment, it is possible to provide an alarm 1 that can stably detect smoke even if the flow of smoke S is disturbed by the sound waves generated by the output of alarm A.

Further, as a secondary effect of the fire alarm 1 of the present embodiment, since the smoke concentration value C continues to be detected even while the alarm output unit 3 is sounding, judgments other than fire judgments, such as When the smoke concentration value C is used for failure determination of the smoke detection unit 2, etc., stable smoke detection can be performed without stopping the determination. In this case, the failure determination is performed, for example, as follows.

As mentioned above, the smoke detector 2 is arranged so that the light from the light-emitting element 12 does not normally enter the light-receiving element 13 directly. However, a small amount of light is incident on the light-receiving element 13 due to reflection within the smoke detector 14, and a small and constant detection value is measured by the light-receiving element 13.

If foreign matter such as dust enters the smoke detection section 14 or the wall surface of the smoke detection section becomes soiled, this detected value may become higher than the initial value although it does not exceed the fire threshold Th. Furthermore, if the light emitting element 12 or the light receiving element 13 is contaminated or the amount of light emitted by the light emitting element 12 is reduced, this detected value may become lower than the initial value.

In this way, if the detected value of the light receiving element 13 is higher or lower than the initial value for a predetermined period of time, the failure determining section 21 determines that the smoke detecting section 2 has failed. If the sampling unit 17 stops the fire detection itself while the alarm output unit 3 is ringing, failure detection will no longer be performed, but in the case of the alarm 1 of this embodiment, the detection of the smoke concentration value C is not performed. Therefore, failure determination of the smoke detection unit 2 can be continued.

The present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiment, and can be modified as appropriate without departing from the spirit of the invention.

(1) The fire alarm device 1 of the above embodiment is an example of an alarm device to which the present invention can be applied. , well-known smoke type fire alarm), it is applicable not only to the fire alarm 1 but also to various fire alarms. In particular, the presence or absence of the CO sensor 4 can be selected as appropriate.

(2) The conditions for fire determination in the above embodiment are merely examples, and can be set as appropriate as necessary.

(3) In the above embodiment, while the alarm output section 3 sounds and outputs the alarm A, the smoke concentration value C detected by the smoke detection section 2 is treated as invalid, but the processing section 16 The fire determination itself based on the smoke concentration value C by the fire determination section 20 while the alarm output section 3 is sounding may be treated as invalid. It is also possible to process both the smoke density value C and the fire determination based on the smoke density value C as invalid.

(4) In the above embodiment, while the alarm output unit 3 is sounding, the smoke density value C and/or the fire determination based on the smoke density value C is treated as invalid, but the alarm output unit 3 is sounding. It is also possible to process the fire determination based on the smoke density value C and/or the smoke density value C at the same time as the start as valid. At the start of the sound and immediately after, it is considered that the smoke concentration value C of the smoke S introduced into the alarm 1 is detected before the alarm output part 3 starts sounding. This is because the effect of the ringing is absent or can be ignored.

(5) The alarm A that can be output by sounding the alarm output unit 3 is not limited to the fire alarm or the CO detection alarm, but also a gas detection alarm or a fire whose determination factor is other than the smoke concentration value C. Various types of alarms can be used, such as a fire alarm based on heat (temperature), an alarm notifying that the power supply means 5 is exhausted, and the like. It is also possible to separately provide sensors for detecting these alarms.

1 Fire alarm 2 Smoke detection section 3 Alarm output section 4 CO sensor 5 Power supply means 6 Main body section 7 Base section 8 Middle plate 9 Substrate 10 Smoke channel 11 Channel wall 12 Light emitting element 13 Light receiving element 14 Smoke detection section 15 Smoke Introduction part 16 Processing part 17 Sampling part 18 Recording part 19 Counter circuit 20 Fire judgment part 21 Failure judgment part A Alarm C Smoke concentration value F Fire output J Fire judgment N Non-fire output S Smoke Th Fire threshold

Claims (4)

a smoke detection unit having a light receiving element and a light emitting element and detecting a smoke concentration value;
a processing unit that makes a fire determination using at least the smoke concentration value as one of the determination factors;
An alarm device comprising: an alarm output section configured to be able to output an alarm by sounding,
The processing unit processes the smoke concentration value and/or the fire determination based on the smoke concentration value as invalid in the fire determination while the alarm output unit is sounding. . further comprising a CO sensor for detecting carbon monoxide,
The alarm includes a CO detection alarm,
The processing unit processes the smoke concentration value and/or the fire determination based on the smoke concentration value as invalid in the fire determination while the alarm output unit sounds and the CO detection alarm is output. The alarm device according to claim 1, characterized in that: An alarm device according to claim 1 or 2, characterized in that the processing unit performs the fire judgment and the failure judgment of the smoke detection unit using at least the smoke density value as one of the judgment factors, and while the alarm output unit is sounding, in the fire judgment, the smoke density value and/or the fire judgment based on the smoke density value are processed as invalid, and in the failure judgment, the smoke density value and/or the failure judgment based on the smoke density value are processed as valid. An alarm according to claim 1 or 2, characterized in that, in the fire judgment, the processing unit processes the smoke density value and/or the fire judgment based on the smoke density value at the same time as the alarm output unit starts to sound as a valid fire judgment.

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