JP5091747B2 - Fire alarm system - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to a fire alarm system in which a plurality of fire alarm devices transmit and receive radio signals using radio waves as a medium.

  For radio stations used in Japan, the characteristics of radio waves used (RF characteristics) such as occupied frequency bandwidth and adjacent channel leakage power must satisfy the provisions of the Radio Law. In the Radio Law, different standards (communication standards) are defined for each purpose of use. For example, the “specified low-power radio station” defined in Article 6 of the Radio Law Enforcement Regulations uses a telemeter for automatically displaying or recording the measurement results of remote measuring devices using radio waves. , For telecontrol that transmits signals for the purpose of starting, changing or terminating the function of a device at a remote point using radio waves, and transmission of information processed mainly by machines or transmission of processed information "Specified low-power radio station telemeter, telecontrol and data transmission radio equipment standard (Radio Industry Association Standard ARIB STD-T67)" or mainly fire "Small power," which is defined for wireless facilities of low power security systems that report theft or other abnormalities Curie tee system of the radio station radio equipment standards (Association of Radio Industries and Businesses Standard RCR STD-30) ", and the like.

  On the other hand, since the obligation to install fire alarms in houses has been legislated to reduce the number of victims of house fires, multiple fire alarms are linked using radio signals from the viewpoint of ease of installation in existing houses. A fire alarm system is desired. Such a fire alarm system has a function in which a plurality of fire alarms (radio stations) installed at multiple locations sense the fire and sound an alarm sound, and any one of the fire alarms When a fire is detected, the relevant fire alarm sounds an alarm sound and transmits information (fire detection information) notifying the fire detection to other fire alarms by radio signal, so that not only the fire source fire alarm A plurality of fire alarms can be interlocked to sound an alarm sound all at once, thereby quickly and reliably informing the occurrence of a fire. Such a fire alarm is driven by a battery as a power source in order to take advantage of the characteristic of transmitting fire detection information by radio signal, and is usually in a place where maintenance (battery replacement) is difficult such as indoor ceilings. Since it is installed, it is desirable that it can be used without maintenance for a long period of time such as several years.

Here, in the fire alarm system as described above, when a fire is detected, a wireless signal is transmitted between a plurality of fire alarms. At that time, each fire alarm is arbitrarily (asynchronously). ) When wireless signals are transmitted, the wireless signals collide. In order to avoid such a collision, for example, Patent Document 1 describes a fire alarm system in which a plurality of fire alarm devices transmit radio signals by a TDMA (Time Division Multiple Access) method. In the conventional example described in Patent Document 1, since each fire alarm device stores and transmits a radio signal in a time slot assigned to itself, the above-described collision can be avoided.
JP 2006-343983 A

  By the way, in the conventional example described in Patent Document 1, since each fire alarm always transmits a radio signal in synchronization with the TDMA method, at least a synchronization signal for defining a time slot is periodically ( For example, it must be received every few seconds to several minutes). However, the opportunity for the fire alarm to transmit a radio signal is when a fire occurs or when each fire alarm is checked to see if it has run out of battery (life confirmation). Since a fire may not occur once before the end of its life (for example, several years to 10 years), it is practically sufficient to confirm the life and death once a day. The period of not transmitting is much longer than the period of transmitting. Therefore, as in the conventional example described in Patent Document 1, when a radio signal is always transmitted in synchronization with the TDMA method, a fire does not occur and life and death are not confirmed. However, since the synchronization signal must be constantly transmitted and received, the battery life is shortened. On the other hand, once a fire is detected, each fire alarm device transmits a radio signal at a relatively high frequency. Therefore, it is not desirable that information transmission be delayed due to a collision of radio signals.

  The present invention has been made in view of the above circumstances, and an object thereof is to provide a fire alarm system capable of reducing delay in information transmission due to collision of radio signals while extending battery life.

In order to achieve the above object, the invention of claim 1 is a fire alarm system comprising a plurality of fire alarms and transmitting a radio signal using radio waves as a medium between the plurality of fire alarms, When a fire alarm is detected by a fire detection means, a fire detection means for detecting a fire, a warning means for informing a fire alarm, a transmission means for transmitting a radio signal, a reception means for receiving a radio signal, and a fire detection means Causes the alarm means to notify the fire alarm and causes the other fire alarm to transmit a radio signal including a fire alarm message for notifying the fire alarm from the transmitting means, and is transmitted from the other fire alarm by the receiving means. When a radio signal is received and the fire alarm message is received, the alarm means is notified of a fire alarm, and the reception means is intermittently activated to receive a radio signal transmitted from another fire alarm. When the fire alarm message is received, the alarm means notifies the fire alarm and a battery for power supply is provided, and a radio signal including the fire alarm message is transmitted from any fire alarm In this case, the control unit of the specific fire alarm device that has received the wireless signal causes the wireless signal including the fire alarm message to be transmitted from the transmission unit to all other fire alarm devices, and the wireless signal is received by the reception unit. The control means of the other fire alarm device transmits a wireless signal including a response message for confirming reception of the wireless signal from the transmission means to the specific fire alarm device, and the control device of the specific fire alarm device control means, a radio signal including a response message sent from the all the other fire alarm after received by the receiving means, is transmitted from the transmitting means a synchronizing signal having a constant period, those Control means for a particular fire alarm causes transmitted from the transmitting means included in the synchronizing signal message to other fire alarm, the control means of the other fire alarm, the synchronization from the transmission unit of a particular fire alarm after the transmission of the signal is started, and characterized in that transmitted from the transmitting means to store the radio signal to a particular time slot assigned to the self among the plurality of time slots defined by those synchronizing signal To do.

  According to a second aspect of the present invention, in the first aspect of the invention, when the control means of the specific fire alarm device cannot receive the radio signal including the response message from all the other fire alarm devices by the reception means, the fire alarm is performed again. A radio signal including a message is transmitted from a transmission unit.

  According to a third aspect of the present invention, in the second aspect of the invention, when the control means of the specific fire alarm device transmits a radio signal including a fire alarm message from the transmission means a predetermined number of times or more, all the other fire alarms Regardless of whether or not a radio signal including a response message from the receiver has been received by the receiving means, a synchronization signal having a fixed period is transmitted from the transmitting means.

The invention of claim 4 is the invention of claim 2 or 3, wherein the control means of the specific fire alarm device does not transmit the synchronization signal from the transmission means, and its own fire detection means does not detect the fire. If a wireless signal including a fire alarm message is not received from any other fire alarm device, a wireless signal including a periodic monitoring message is periodically transmitted to all other fire alarm devices. The control means of the other fire alarm device monitors whether or not the other means except the transmission means and the reception means have failed and whether or not the battery has run out. The reception means wirelessly includes the periodic monitoring message. When the signal is received, a radio signal including a notification message for notifying whether there is a failure and whether the battery has run out is transmitted from the transmission unit, and the control unit of the specific fire alarm is configured to Abnormal information on the presence or absence of a failure in the other fire alarm device and the presence or absence of the battery is acquired based on the notification message included in the information, and a radio signal including a response message is received by the receiving means from all the other fire alarm devices If not, a wireless signal including a fire alarm message is transmitted to other fire alarms that have not transmitted the notification message from the transmission means of the specific fire alarm device, as well as other fire alarms that have been notified of battery exhaustion by the notification message. without re-post to at least one, and characterized in that transmitted from the transmitting means a synchronizing signal having a constant period.

The invention of claim 5 is the invention of claim 3, wherein the control means of the specific fire alarm device does not transmit a synchronization signal from the transmission means, and its own fire detection means does not sense a fire and When no radio signal including a fire alarm message is received from any other fire alarm, a radio signal including a periodic monitoring message is periodically transmitted from the transmission means to all other fire alarms. The control means of the other fire alarm device monitors the presence / absence of a failure of the other means except the transmission means and the reception means and the presence / absence of the battery, and the reception means transmits a radio signal including the periodic monitoring message. When received, the transmitter transmits a radio signal including a notification message to notify whether there is a failure and whether the battery has run out, and the control unit of the specific fire alarm is included in the radio signal received by the receiver. When the failure information in the other fire alarms and the presence / absence of the battery out are acquired based on the notification message, and the radio signal including the response message cannot be received by the receiving means from all the other fire alarms A wireless signal including a fire alarm message , at least one of the other fire alarm devices that did not transmit the notification message from the transmission means of the specific fire alarm device and the other fire alarm device that has notified the battery exhaustion by the notification message one respect to and decreases the predetermined number of times to re-post or.

  The invention according to claim 6 is the invention according to any one of claims 1 to 5, in which the control means of the specific fire alarm device does not transmit the synchronization signal from the transmission means, and its own fire detection means fires. If no radio signal including a fire alarm message is received from any other fire alarm, a radio signal including a periodic monitoring message is sent to all other fire alarms. The control means of the other fire alarm is monitored periodically for the presence or absence of a failure of the other means except the transmission means and the reception means and the presence or absence of the battery. When a wireless signal including a monitoring message is received, a wireless signal including a notification message notifying whether there is a failure and whether a battery is dead is transmitted from the transmission unit, and the control unit of the specific fire alarm is received by the reception unit Nothing Based on the notification message included in the signal, obtains abnormal information on the presence or absence of a failure in other fire alarms and whether or not the battery is exhausted, and other battery alarms that did not send the notification message and the battery has expired in the notification message Regardless of whether or not the reception means has received a wireless signal including a response message from at least one of the other fire alarm devices that have notified the above, a transmission signal is transmitted from the transmission means. .

The invention of claim 7 is the invention according to any one of claims 1 to 6, wherein the control means of each fire alarm device notifies the fire alarm by the alarm means when the fire detection means stops detecting the fire. In a specific fire alarm that has received a radio signal including a recovery notification message for notifying the stop of fire alarm notification and transmitting the radio notification signal from the transmission means, and the control means determines the source of the recovery notification message. If all other fire alarms include a wireless signal including a recovery notification message from the transmission means, and other fire alarms that have received the wireless signal have not detected a fire with the fire detection means, control means to transmit a radio signal including a response message to the restoration notification message to the transmitting means, the control means of the specific fire alarm is either the all other fire alarm After received by the receiving means a radio signal including a response message sent, characterized in that stops the transmission of the synchronization signal by the transmitting means.

  The invention according to claim 8 is the invention according to claim 7, wherein the control means of the specific fire alarm is notified again when a radio signal including a response message cannot be received by the receiving means from all the other fire alarms. If the wireless signal including the message is transmitted from the transmitting unit, and the wireless signal is transmitted from the transmitting unit a predetermined number of times or more, whether the wireless signal including the response message has been received by the receiving unit from all the other fire alarms. Regardless of whether or not, transmission of the synchronization signal by the transmission means is stopped.

  The invention according to claim 9 is the invention according to any one of claims 1 to 8, wherein the control means of all the fire alarms other than the specific fire alarm has a period during which the synchronization signal cannot be received by the receiving means. The receiving means is paused when it continues for a predetermined time or longer.

  The invention according to claim 10 is the invention according to any one of claims 1 to 9, wherein the control means of the specific fire alarm device transmits a radio signal including a fire alarm message from any fire alarm device The control means of the specific fire alarm device that has received the wireless signal causes all other fire alarm devices to transmit a wireless signal including a fire alarm message from the transmission means, and transmits from all the other fire alarm devices. After the wireless signal including the response message is received by the receiving unit, a synchronization signal having a fixed period is transmitted from the transmitting unit.

According to the present invention, when no fire is detected by any of the fire alarms, each fire alarm transmits an asynchronous radio signal, and when any of the fire alarms detects a fire, the other fire alarms When a fire is reported to a specific fire alarm, a specific fire alarm transmits a synchronization signal with a certain period, and the specific fire alarm transmits a message for other fire alarms in the synchronization signal, and other fire alarms are transmitted. Alarms are assigned to each time slot defined by the synchronization signal and time-division multiplex transmission of radio signals is performed, so when there is little frequency of radio signal transmission because there is no fire. Asynchronous transmission of radio signals suppresses power consumption and extends battery life. When a fire is detected by any of the fire alarms, that is, when the frequency of radio signal transmission is relatively high By time-division multiplexing transmission of signals, collisions can be avoided and information transmission delays can be reduced, and when switching between asynchronous communication and time-division multiplexing transmission from other fire alarms excluding specific fire alarms Since a response message for confirming reception of a radio signal is returned to a specific fire alarm device, switching between asynchronous communication and time division multiplex transmission is surely performed in all fire alarm devices.

  Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings.

  FIG. 1 is a system configuration diagram of this embodiment, and a fire alarm system is configured by a plurality of (only two in the drawing) fire alarm devices TR. In the following description, when the fire alarm devices TR are individually shown, they are expressed as fire alarm devices TR1, TR2,..., TRn, and when collectively shown, they are expressed as fire alarm devices TR.

  The fire alarm TR transmits a radio signal using radio waves as a medium from the antenna 3 and receives a radio signal transmitted from another fire alarm TR by the antenna 3, and a sound (buzzer sound or voice message). Etc.), the alarm unit 5 for notifying (sounding from the speaker) a fire alarm (hereinafter referred to as “alarm sound”), and the alarm unit 5 when a fire is detected by the fire detection unit 4 using a microcomputer as a main component. A control unit 1 that causes a radio signal including a fire alarm message to be sent to the other fire alarm device TR and a fire alarm message to be transmitted to another fire alarm device TR, and an alarm sound to be output as will be described later An operation input receiving unit 6 that receives an operation input for stopping the operation and a battery power supply unit 7 that supplies an operating power to each unit using a battery such as a dry battery as a power source. The operation input receiving unit 6 has one or more switches (for example, push button switches). When the switch is operated, an operation input corresponding to each switch is received and an operation signal corresponding to the operation input is controlled. Output to part 1. A unique identification code is assigned to each fire alarm device TR1, TR2,..., And the destination of the radio signal and the fire alarm devices TR1, TR2,.

  The radio transmission / reception unit 2 transmits / receives a radio signal using radio waves as a medium in accordance with “specific low power radio stations” defined in Article 6 of the Radio Law Enforcement Regulations. In addition, the fire detection unit 4 detects fire by detecting smoke, heat, flames, and the like generated with the fire, for example. However, detailed configurations of the wireless transmission / reception unit 2 and the fire detection unit 4 are well known in the art and will not be described in detail.

  The control unit 1 realizes various functions to be described later by executing a program stored in the memory with a microcomputer. When the fire detection unit 4 detects the occurrence of a fire, the control unit 1 drives a buzzer included in the alarm unit 5 to sound an alarm sound, or an alarm voice message (stored in a memory or the like in advance) ( For example, in order to notify the fire alarm by causing the speaker to sound “fire”, etc., and to notify the fire alarm also in other fire alarm devices TR, a wireless signal including a fire alarm message is transmitted from the wireless transmission / reception unit 2. Send it. Also, when the wireless transmission / reception unit 2 receives a wireless signal transmitted from another fire alarm device TR, the control unit 1 controls the alarm unit 5 to sound an alarm sound. That is, in the control unit 1, when the fire detection unit 4 detects a fire, the alarm unit 5 sounds an alarm sound to notify the fire alarm, and the wireless transmission / reception unit 2 transmits a radio signal including the fire alarm message. Have.

  Here, the “specified low-power radio stations” prescribed in Article 6 of the Radio Law Enforcement Regulations mainly stipulate radio equipment for low-power security systems that carry out reports of fire, theft, and other abnormalities, or control associated therewith. In addition, there is a “low-power security system radio equipment radio equipment standard (Radio Industry Association Standard RCR STD-30)”, and in this standard, radio signals may be transmitted continuously (transmission The period (period) is 3 seconds or less, and the period during which the wireless signal should not be transmitted (pause period) provided between the transmission period and the transmission period is defined as 2 seconds or more. For this reason, the control unit 1 according to the present embodiment transmits a radio signal during a transmission period that conforms to the standard, stops transmission during a pause period, and enables reception.

  In order to make the battery life of the battery power supply unit 7 as long as possible, the control unit 1 repeatedly counts a predetermined intermittent reception interval by a timer built in the microcomputer and starts the wireless transmission / reception unit 2 every time the intermittent reception interval is counted. Then, it is checked whether or not a desired radio wave (a radio signal transmitted by another fire alarm device TR) can be received. If the radio wave is not captured, the radio transceiver 2 is immediately stopped and shifted to a standby state. The average power consumption is greatly reduced. The radio wave reception check is performed based on the received signal strength indication signal (Receiving Signal Strength Indication: RSSI signal) output from the wireless transmission / reception unit 2 and is a DC voltage signal proportional to the magnitude of the received signal strength. The details are well known in the art and will be omitted.

  Further, the control unit 1 of a specific fire alarm device TR1 (hereinafter referred to as a master station) activates the wireless transmission / reception unit 2 periodically (for example, every 24 hours) to establish other fire alarm devices TR2, TR3,. A radio signal including a periodic monitoring message is transmitted in order to confirm (periodic monitoring) whether or not (hereinafter referred to as a slave station) is operating normally. In the slave stations TR2,..., The control unit 1 monitors whether or not the fire detection unit 4 has failed and whether or not the battery power supply unit 7 has run out of battery at regular intervals (for example, every hour), and the monitoring result ( The presence / absence of a failure and the presence / absence of a battery are stored in a memory (not shown), and when a periodic monitoring message is received from the master station TR1, a radio including a notification message for notifying the monitoring result stored in the memory A signal is returned to the master station TR1. After transmitting the radio signal including the notification message, the control unit 1 of the master station TR1 switches the radio transmission / reception unit 2 to the reception state and receives the radio signal transmitted from each fire alarm device TR2,. There is a slave station TR2, ... that does not send a radio signal containing a notification message within a predetermined time after sending a radio signal containing the message, or there is a failure in a notification message sent by any of the slave stations TR2, ... Alternatively, when the result of monitoring that the battery has run out is to be notified, the slave station TR2,... Malfunctions by driving a buzzer provided in the alarm unit 5 to sound a notification sound (communication is disabled or there is a fault, the battery is dead Etc.) has also been reported. When the control unit 1 of the master station TR1 and the slave stations TR2,... Determines that a failure or a battery has run out, a warning sound for immediately informing the occurrence of an abnormality (failure or battery runout) from the alarm unit 5. (Buzzer sound, voice message, etc.) are sounded from the speaker of the alarm unit 5.

  Further, the control unit 1 of the master station TR1 detects the fire and causes the alarm unit 5 to sound an alarm sound and transmits a fire alarm message to each of the slave stations TR2,..., Or any of the slave stations TR2. After receiving the fire alarm message from..., The wireless transmission unit 2 is caused to transmit a synchronization signal at a constant period. This synchronization signal is a signal that defines a time slot necessary for performing TDMA (time division multiple access) wireless communication between a plurality of fire alarms TR, and one cycle is a plurality of times. Each of the slave stations TR2,... Is assigned one time slot different from each other. Then, a message from the master station TR1 to the slave stations TR2,... Is transmitted in a synchronization signal, and a radio signal including a message from the slave station TR2,... To the master station TR1 is assigned to each slave station TR2,. Stored in the current time slot and transmitted. Therefore, it is possible to reliably avoid collision of radio signals transmitted from a plurality of fire alarm devices TR (the master station TR1 and the slave stations TR2,...). Although the time slot assignment for each fire alarm device TR may be fixed, the time slot assignment information may be notified to each slave station TR2,... By a synchronization signal transmitted from the master station TR1.

  FIG. 2 shows a frame format of a radio signal transmitted and received by the fire alarm device TR. A synchronization bit (preamble: PA), a frame synchronization pattern (unique word: UW), a destination address DA, a source address SA, a message M, One frame is composed of a CRC code. Here, if the identification code of each fire alarm device TR is set as the destination address DA, only the fire alarm device TR of the identification code receives a radio signal and acquires a message. By setting a special bit string that is not assigned to the fire alarm TR (for example, a bit string with all bits set to 1), a wireless signal is broadcast (multicast) to obtain a message for all the fire alarm TRs. Can be made. For example, a radio signal including a fire alarm message is broadcast from the master station TR1 to all the slave stations TR2,. The control unit 1 transmits the radio signal for one frame from the radio transmission / reception unit 2 continuously in a number that can be transmitted within one transmission period when the radio signal is transmitted asynchronously. When transmitting and receiving data in the TDMA system, it is not necessary to store a plurality of frames of radio signals in one time slot.

  Next, referring to the time chart of FIG. 3, the transmission / reception operation of the present embodiment when shifting to the TDMA wireless communication will be described.

  For example, when the fire detection unit 4 detects a fire in the slave station TR2, the control unit 1 of the slave station TR2 sounds an alarm sound from the alarm unit 5 and activates the wireless transmission / reception unit 2 to transmit a radio signal including a fire alarm message. It transmits to all other fire alarm devices TR (master station TR1 and other slave stations TR3,...). At this time, the control unit 1 of the transmission source slave station TR2 continuously transmits the radio signal by the number of frames that can be transmitted within the transmission period, and the radio transmission / reception unit 2 during the pause period (reception period) after the transmission period. To the receiving state. Note that each fire alarm device TR is intermittently received asynchronously. However, if the transmission period is repeated a certain number of times (for example, three times), a radio signal including a fire alarm message can be received.

  Here, if the specific low-power radio is used, the wireless communication distance can be sufficiently covered within an area of a normal house, so that the fire source child station TR2 can receive another fire alarm TR (master station TR1). It is usually possible to send a message to the other slave stations TR3,. However, as described above, the master station TR1 periodically monitors the slave stations TR2 to TR5, and the normality of the communication path is confirmed between the master station TR1 and each of the slave stations TR3 to TR5. However, since the communication path between the slave stations TR2 to TR5 has not been confirmed, there is a possibility that a message does not reach a certain slave station due to the influence of an obstacle, for example.

  Therefore, the control unit 1 of the master station TR1 that has received the fire alarm message continuously transmits a radio signal including the fire alarm message to the other slave stations TR3 to TR5 other than the source slave station TR2 a plurality of times. . When the control unit 1 of the other slave stations TR3 to TR5 receives a fire alarm message transmitted from the slave station TR2 or the master station TR1, it immediately sounds an alarm sound from the alarm unit 5 and sends a fire alarm message from the radio transceiver unit 2. A response message (ACK) for confirming reception is returned by a radio signal. In addition, when all of the fire alarms TR notify the fire alarm (sounds an alarm sound) when a fire is detected by at least one fire alarm TR in this manner, hereinafter, it is referred to as “fire interlocking”. .

  When receiving the ACK from all the other slave stations TR3 to TR5, the control unit 1 of the master station TR1 causes the radio transmission / reception unit 2 to transmit a synchronization signal for defining a time slot at a constant period. In the present embodiment, the first time slot TS1 is the slave station TR2, the second time slot TS2 is the slave station TR3, the third time slot TS3 is the slave station TR4, and the fourth time slot TS4 is the slave station. Each is assigned to TR5.

  Here, the master station TR1 periodically monitors each of the slave stations TR2 to TR5, and the normality of the communication path is confirmed between the master station TR1 and each of the slave stations TR3 to TR5. The communication path between the stations TR2 to TR5 has not been confirmed. Therefore, when a large number of slave stations TR2,... Are arranged, the number of communication paths between the slave stations TR2,. Since the exhaustion becomes intense, as described above, the specific fire alarm device TR1 is set as the master station, and the other fire alarm devices TR2,. By notifying a message (to be described later), even if there are slave stations that cannot establish a communication path with each other, it is possible to reliably link the fire.

  Further, when the interlocking is started by sounding an alarm sound from all the fire alarm devices TR, a synchronization signal is transmitted from the master station TR1 at a constant cycle as described above, and the operation shifts to TDMA communication. The control unit 1 of the master station TR1 repeatedly transmits a fire warning message to all the slave stations TR2,. Then, the control unit 1 of each slave station TR2,... Checks the state of the alarm unit 5 every time it receives a fire alarm message transmitted from the master station TR1, and if the alarm unit 5 is stopped, the alarm unit 5 Sound the alarm again. Therefore, after the fire alarm is started to be notified by all the fire alarms TR, all the other fire alarms (children) are set in a plurality of time slots defined by the synchronization signal transmitted by the specific fire alarm (master station) TR1. Stations) TR2,... Can be assigned to perform wireless communication by time division multiple access (TDMA) to avoid collisions. Furthermore, all other fire alarms from a specific fire alarm (master station) TR1 The fire alarm can be reliably notified to the slave stations TR2,. As a result, a plurality of fire alarms TR can be effectively interlocked while avoiding collision of radio signals.

  By the way, the periodic monitoring is performed almost once a day. Even if the communication path is normal in the regular monitoring described above, the cause (from generation of a new noise source or sudden failure) Etc.), a communication path between any of the slave stations TR3 to TR5 and the master station TR1 may not be established. Therefore, when the control unit 1 of the master station TR1 does not receive an ACK from any of the slave stations TR3 to TR5 (for example, TR5), the radio signal including the fire alarm message is transmitted again from the radio transceiver unit 2, and the slave station TR5 When the ACK is received from the wireless transmission / reception unit 2, the wireless transmission / reception unit 2 transmits the synchronization signal. However, if the ACK cannot be received from the slave station TR5 even if the fire alarm message is transmitted a predetermined number of times, the control unit 1 of the master station TR1 stops the retransmission of the fire alarm message and sends it to the radio transceiver unit 2. Send a sync signal. In addition, the control unit 1 of the master station TR1 transmits a radio signal including the above-described fire alarm message to a slave station that has not been able to establish a communication path in the regular monitoring or has received a notification message that the battery has run out in the regular monitoring. The synchronization signal may be transmitted regardless of whether retransmission is not performed, the number of retransmissions is reduced, or whether a response message is received from the slave station. However, for the slave station that has notified only the monitoring result with failure by the notification message in the periodic monitoring, it is possible that the alarm unit 5 can sound an alarm sound in response to the fire alarm message. It is desirable that the control unit 1 of the station TR1 retransmits a radio signal including a fire alarm message.

  By the way, the fire alarm system of this embodiment is in a state where no fire is detected in any of the fire alarms TR (standby state), and in a state where all the fire alarms TR are sounding an alarm sound (linked sounding) State), as described later, only the fire alarm TR that detects the fire (fire source) sounds the alarm sound, and the fire alarm TR other than the fire source stops the alarm sound (interlocked) The operation state is transited between (stop state). That is, when a fire is detected by at least one of the fire alarm devices TR in the standby state, as described above, the fire alarm is sent from the fire slave station TR2 and the master station TR1 to all the other slave stations TR3,. When the message is transmitted, an alarm sound is generated in all the fire alarm devices TR including the master station TR1 and the slave stations TR2,.

  When an operation input for stopping the alarm sound is received by the operation input receiving unit 6 of any fire alarm device TR in the interlocking sounding state, if the fire alarm device TR is the master station TR1, The station TR1 transmits a message (alarm stop message) requesting the stop of the alarm sound to all the slave stations TR2,... Or if the fire alarm device TR is the slave station TR2,. When the master station TR1 receives the alarm stop message from the stations TR2,... And transmits the alarm stop message to the other slave stations TR2,. Transition to the stop state. However, when an operation input for stopping the alarm sound is received by the operation input receiving unit 6 of the fire source fire alarm device TR, the alarm sound is also stopped in the fire alarm device TR of the fire source. Here, the control unit 1 of the master station TR1 keeps the fire detection status of the master station TR1 and each slave station TR2,... Updated as needed in a memory (not shown), and all the fire alarms TR as will be described later. When a fire is no longer detected in, transition from the fire-linked state to the standby state.

  When the interlocking ringing state is changed to the interlocking stop state, the control unit 1 of the master station TR1 starts a time limit for a predetermined alarm sound stop time (for example, 5 minutes). Then, after the alarm sound stop time has elapsed, the control unit 1 of the master station TR1 refers to the fire detection status held in the memory, and if all the fire alarms TR have not detected fire, When a recovery notification message is sent, a transition is made from a fire-linked state to a standby state, and if a fire is detected by at least one fire alarm TR, the fire is stopped by sending a fire alarm message using a synchronization signal. Transition from state to linked ringing state. Even when any fire alarm device TR newly detects a fire in the interlock stop state, the control unit 1 of the master station TR1 transmits a fire alarm message by a synchronization signal to change from the interlock stop state to the interlock ringing state. Transition.

  For example, as shown in the time chart of FIG. 4, in a fire-linked state (linked ringing state) in which the master station TR1 is a fire source, an operation input for stopping an alarm sound is received by the operation input reception unit 6 of the slave station TR4 that is not a fire source. When the alarm stop message is transmitted from the slave station TR4 by being accepted, the control unit 1 of the master station TR1 that has received the alarm stop message transmits the alarm stop message M2 by the synchronization signal and sets the time limit of the alarm sound stop time. Do. However, in the master station TR1 that is the source of fire, the alarm unit 5 continues to sound an alarm sound. After the alarm sound stop time has elapsed, the control unit 1 of the master station TR1 confirms the fire detection status of its own fire detection unit 4 and the fire detection status of the slave stations TR2,..., And at least one of the fires is detected. When the alarm device TR detects a fire, the fire alarm message is transmitted again to each of the slave stations TR2,.

  On the other hand, as shown in the time chart of FIG. 5, if the fire is extinguished within the warning sound stop time and the fire detection unit 4 stops detecting the fire, the control unit 1 of the master station TR1 After a lapse of time, a recovery notification message is transmitted to each slave station TR2,... By a synchronization signal, and when an ACK returned from all the slave stations TR2,. Is stopped from wireless communication using the TDMA method (hereinafter referred to as “synchronous communication”) to wireless communication using intermittent transmission and reception (hereinafter referred to as “asynchronous communication”).

  Further, as shown in the time chart of FIG. 6, if the fire at the fire station extinguishes and the fire detection unit 4 of the slave station TR 4 does not detect the fire in the interlocking ringing state with the slave station TR 4 as the fire source, A recovery notification message is transmitted from the station TR4 to the parent station TR1. The control unit 1 of the master station TR1 that has received the recovery notification message refers to the fire detection status held in the memory, and if no fire is detected by all the fire alarms TR, the recovery notification message M3 is sent by a synchronization signal. It transmits to each slave station TR2,. When the control unit 1 of the master station TR1 receives ACKs returned from all the slave stations TR2,..., Transitions from the interlock stop state to the standby state, and stops the transmission of the synchronization signal, thereby stopping the asynchronous communication from the synchronous communication. Return to.

  On the other hand, as shown in the time chart of FIG. 7, when a fire is newly detected by another fire alarm device (for example, the slave station TR3), a recovery notification message is received from the slave station TR4 that is the first fire source. The control unit 1 of the master station TR1 refers to the fire detection status held in the memory, and since the slave station TR3 is detecting a fire, it does not send a recovery notification message and continues to send a fire alarm message. Maintain a fire-linked condition.

  Here, the processing performed by the control unit 1 of the master station TR1 in the fire-linked state is briefly summarized with reference to the flowchart of FIG. When a fire alarm message is received from any of the slave stations TR2,... In the standby state (step S1), the control unit 1 of the master station TR1 updates the fire detection status held for each slave station TR2,. (Change from fire non-detection to fire detection) (step S2) On the other hand, if a recovery notification message is received from the fire slave station TR2,... (Step S3), the fire detection status of the slave station TR2,. Update from detection to non-fire detection (step S4). When a recovery notification message is not received from any of the slave stations TR2,... In the fire-linked state, when the alarm stop message is received from any of the slave stations TR2,. Is determined to be stopped and a synchronization signal including an alarm stop message is transmitted from the wireless transmission / reception unit 2 (step S6). Also, an alarm stop message is periodically transmitted by a synchronization signal from the transition from the interlocking sounding state to the interlocking stop state until the alarm sound stop time elapses (steps S7, S8, S6), and the alarm sound stop time. (Step S8), it is determined whether or not the fire alarms (master station TR1 and slave stations TR2,...) That are detecting fire remain by referring to the fire detection status held in the memory (step S8). S9) If at least one fire alarm is still being detected, it is determined that the fire interlocking is continued and a synchronization signal including a fire alarm message is transmitted from the wireless transceiver 2 (step S10). If the fire alarm is not fire-detected, the recovery from the fire-linked state to the standby state is determined, and a synchronization signal including a recovery notification message is transmitted from the wireless transmission / reception unit 2 (step S11).

  Here, if any of the slave stations TR2,... Does not return an ACK in response to the recovery notification message, the control unit 1 of the parent station TR1 transmits a radio signal including the recovery notification message from the radio transmission / reception unit 2 again. It is desirable to stop the radio transmission / reception unit 2 from transmitting a synchronization signal when an ACK is received from the slave stations TR2,..., Or when a predetermined time has elapsed after the recovery notification message is retransmitted a predetermined number of times. Further, when the master station TR1 fails in the interlocking ringing state or the interlocking stop state and the synchronization signal is not transmitted, the radio transmission / reception unit 2 of the slave stations TR2,... Remains in the reception state in order to receive the synchronization signal. If the control unit 1 of the slave stations TR2,... Continues to receive a synchronization signal for a predetermined time (for example, a time corresponding to several cycles of the synchronization signal) or longer, the battery may be consumed significantly. It is desirable to suppress battery consumption by stopping the transmission / reception unit 2 (returning from synchronous communication to asynchronous communication).

  Thus, according to the present embodiment, when no fire is detected by any fire alarm TR, each fire alarm TR transmits a radio signal asynchronously, and a fire is detected by any fire alarm TR. When a fire is notified to other fire alarms TR, a specific fire alarm (master station) TR1 transmits a synchronization signal with a fixed period, and each fire alarm is sent to a time slot defined by the synchronization signal. Since the devices (slave stations) TR2,... Are assigned and communicate synchronously, there is no fire, so when the frequency of transmitting radio signals is low, asynchronous communication is used to reduce power consumption and extend battery life. When a fire is detected by any of the fire alarms TR, that is, when the frequency of wireless signal transmission is relatively high, it is possible to avoid collision and reduce information transmission delay by performing synchronous communication.In addition, when switching between asynchronous communication and synchronous communication, the other fire alarms (slave stations) TR2, except for the specific fire alarm (master station) TR1, are wirelessly connected to the specific fire alarm (master station) TR1. Since a response message for confirming reception of the signal is returned, there is an advantage that switching between asynchronous communication and synchronous communication is surely performed in all the fire alarm devices TR.

It is a block diagram of a fire alarm device (master station and slave station) in an embodiment of the present invention. It is a frame format of the radio signal in the same as above. It is a flowchart for demonstrating the operation | movement which changes to a fire interlocking state from a standby state same as the above. It is a time chart for demonstrating the operation | movement which changes to the interlocking stop state from the interlocking ringing state same as the above. It is a time chart for demonstrating the operation | movement which changes to the interlocking stop state from the interlocking ringing state same as the above. It is a time chart for demonstrating the operation | movement which changes to a standby state from a fire interlocking state same as the above. It is a time chart for demonstrating the operation | movement in a fire interlocking state same as the above. It is a flowchart for demonstrating operation | movement of the master station in a fire interlocking state same as the above.

Explanation of symbols

TR1 Fire alarm (master station)
TR2 Fire alarm (slave station)
1 Control unit (control means)
2 Wireless transmission / reception unit (reception means, transmission means)
4 Fire detection part (fire detection means)
5 Alarm section (alarm means)
6 Operation input reception unit (operation input reception means)

Claims (10)

A fire alarm system comprising a plurality of fire alarms and transmitting a radio signal using radio waves as a medium between the plurality of fire alarms,
Each fire alarm detects a fire with a fire detecting means for detecting a fire, an alarm means for notifying a fire alarm, a transmitting means for transmitting a wireless signal, a receiving means for receiving a wireless signal, and a fire detecting means. Sometimes the alarm means is notified of the fire alarm and the radio signal including the fire alarm message for notifying the other fire alarm device of the fire alarm is transmitted from the transmitting means, and the receiving means is transmitted from the other fire alarm device. When the fire alarm message is received and the alarm means is notified, the alarm means is notified of the fire alarm, and the receiver means is intermittently activated to receive a radio signal transmitted from another fire alarm and fire. A control means for notifying the alarm means of a fire alarm when an alarm message is received, and a battery for power supply;
When a radio signal including a fire alarm message is transmitted from any fire alarm, the control means of the specific fire alarm that has received the radio signal includes a fire alarm message for all other fire alarms A wireless signal is transmitted from the transmission means,
The control means of the other fire alarm device that has received the wireless signal by the receiving means transmits a wireless signal including a response message for confirming that the wireless signal has been received from the transmitting means to the specific fire alarm device. Let
The control unit of the specific fire alarm device receives a radio signal including a response message transmitted from all the other fire alarm devices by the reception unit, and then transmits a synchronization signal of a certain period from the transmission unit,
The control means for the specific fire alarm includes a message for the other fire alarm included in the synchronization signal and transmitted from the transmission means, and the control means for the other fire alarm is transmitted from the transmission means for the specific fire alarm. after transmission of the synchronization signal is started, characterized in that transmitted from the transmitting means to store the radio signal to a particular time slot assigned to the self among the plurality of time slots defined by those synchronizing signal And fire alarm system.   The control means of the specific fire alarm device causes the wireless signal including the fire alarm message to be transmitted again from the transmission means when the wireless signal including the response message cannot be received by the reception means from all the other fire alarm devices. The fire alarm system according to claim 1.   The control means of a specific fire alarm can receive a radio signal including a response message from all the other fire alarms when the radio signal including the fire alarm message is transmitted more than a predetermined number of times from the transmission means. 3. The fire alarm system according to claim 2, wherein a synchronization signal having a constant period is transmitted from the transmission means regardless of whether or not the transmission is performed. The control means of the specific fire alarm does not transmit a synchronization signal from the transmission means, and its own fire detection means does not detect a fire and includes a fire alarm message from any other fire alarm In the case of not receiving a radio signal, let all other fire alarms periodically transmit a radio signal including a regular monitoring message from the transmission means,
The control means of the other fire alarm device monitors the presence / absence of failure of other means other than the transmission means and the reception means and the presence / absence of the battery, and has received a radio signal including the regular monitoring message by the reception means. In the case, the transmission means transmits a radio signal including a notification message notifying whether there is a failure and whether the battery is exhausted,
The control means of the specific fire alarm device acquires abnormal information on the presence or absence of a failure and the presence or absence of the battery in the other fire alarm device based on the notification message included in the wireless signal received by the receiving means, When the reception means cannot receive wireless signals including response messages from all fire alarms, other fire alarms that did not transmit the notification message from the transmission means of the specific fire alarm vessel and without re-post to at least one of the other fire alarm which has notified the battery dead notification message, according to claim 2 or, characterized in that to transmit from the transmission means a synchronizing signal having a constant period 3. The fire alarm system according to 3. The control means of the specific fire alarm does not transmit a synchronization signal from the transmission means, and its own fire detection means does not detect a fire and includes a fire alarm message from any other fire alarm In the case of not receiving a radio signal, let all other fire alarms periodically transmit a radio signal including a regular monitoring message from the transmission means,
The control means of the other fire alarm device monitors the presence / absence of failure of other means other than the transmission means and the reception means and the presence / absence of the battery, and has received a radio signal including the regular monitoring message by the reception means. In the case, the transmission means transmits a radio signal including a notification message notifying whether there is a failure and whether the battery is exhausted,
The control means of the specific fire alarm device acquires abnormal information on the presence or absence of a failure and the presence or absence of the battery in the other fire alarm device based on the notification message included in the wireless signal received by the receiving means, When the reception means cannot receive wireless signals including response messages from all fire alarms, other fire alarms that did not transmit the notification message from the transmission means of the specific fire alarm vessels and fire alarm system according to claim 3, wherein the decreasing the predetermined number of times to re-post to at least one of the other fire alarm which has notified the battery dead notification message. The control means of the specific fire alarm does not transmit a synchronization signal from the transmission means, and its own fire detection means does not detect a fire and includes a fire alarm message from any other fire alarm In the case of not receiving a radio signal, let all other fire alarms periodically transmit a radio signal including a regular monitoring message from the transmission means,
The control means of the other fire alarm device monitors the presence / absence of failure of other means other than the transmission means and the reception means and the presence / absence of the battery, and has received a radio signal including the regular monitoring message by the reception means. In the case, the transmission means transmits a radio signal including a notification message notifying whether there is a failure and whether the battery is exhausted,
The control means of the specific fire alarm device obtains abnormality information on the presence or absence of a failure in the other fire alarm device and the presence or absence of the battery based on the notification message included in the radio signal received by the reception means, and the notification message Regardless of whether or not the reception means can receive a wireless signal including a response message from at least one of the other fire alarm devices that did not transmit the battery and at least one of the other fire alarm devices that have notified the battery exhaustion in the notification message, The fire alarm system according to any one of claims 1 to 5, wherein a synchronization signal having a constant period is transmitted from the transmission means. The control means of each fire alarm stops the notification of the fire alarm by the alarm means when the fire detection means stops detecting the fire and sends a radio signal including a recovery notification message for notifying the stop of the fire alarm notification. Send from the sending means,
In the specific fire alarm that has received the wireless signal, the control means causes the transmission means to transmit a wireless signal including the recovery notification message to all other fire alarms including the transmission source of the recovery notification message,
In other fire alarms that have received the wireless signal, if the fire detection means does not detect a fire, the control means causes the transmission means to transmit a wireless signal including a response message to the recovery notification message,
The control means of the specific fire alarm is characterized by stopping the transmission of the synchronization signal by the transmitting means after receiving the wireless signal including the response message transmitted from all the other fire alarms by the receiving means. The fire alarm system according to any one of claims 1 to 6.   The control means of the specific fire alarm device causes the wireless signal including the recovery notification message to be transmitted again from the transmission means when the wireless signal including the response message cannot be received by the reception means from all the other fire alarm devices. When a wireless signal is transmitted from the transmission means a predetermined number of times, the transmission means transmits a synchronization signal regardless of whether or not the reception means has received a wireless signal including a response message from all the other fire alarms. The fire alarm system according to claim 7, wherein the fire alarm system is stopped.   The control means of all other fire alarms excluding a specific fire alarm stop the receiving means when the period during which the synchronizing signal cannot be received by the receiving means continues for a predetermined time or more. 9. The fire alarm system according to any one of items 8.   When a radio signal including a fire alarm message is transmitted from any of the fire alarms, the control unit of the specific fire alarm is controlled by the control unit of the specific fire alarm that has received the radio signal. A radio signal including a fire alarm message is transmitted from the transmission means to the alarm device, and a radio signal including response messages transmitted from all the other fire alarm devices is received by the reception means, and then a synchronization signal having a constant period is received. Is transmitted from a transmission means, The fire alarm system of any one of Claims 1-9 characterized by the above-mentioned.

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