JP5171581B2 - Alarm - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to an alarm device capable of performing an interlocking operation within a group.

  There is an alarm device that detects the heat and smoke generated in the room and gives an alarm. Such an alarm device may perform an alarm operation in conjunction with a plurality of alarm devices provided in each room, in addition to each alarm device independently performing an alarm operation.

  When a plurality of alarm devices perform an alarm operation in conjunction with each other, the plurality of alarm devices are divided into several groups, and alarm operations in the group are performed in conjunction with each other. Therefore, a process for grouping a plurality of alarm devices is required.

  2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, there has been proposed an alarm device that constructs a wireless system having a single system identification code as a whole and performs a predetermined interlocking operation when a wireless signal that matches the system identification code is received. In such an alarm device, as a technique for registering a system identification code in each alarm device, “the registration switch 13E is operated, and the fire alarm device 1 from another wireless residential fire alarm device 1 for a predetermined time. When a wireless signal including a system identification code and a fire signal stored in is received, it is rewritten and registered in the ID storage means 15A as the received system identification code (for example, Patent Document 1). reference).

Japanese Patent Laying-Open No. 2008-33428 (page 7, FIG. 3)

According to the technique disclosed in Patent Document 1, it is possible to perform grouping for a plurality of alarm devices to perform interlocking operations.
However, since it is necessary to operate a registration switch provided in the alarm device, the grouping process needs to be performed with the alarm device removed. Therefore, when the grouping is performed again on the existing alarm device, it is necessary to remove the installed alarm device once. An alarm device is usually installed in a place where installation / removal work is difficult, such as a ceiling or a wall surface near the ceiling, and therefore a great deal of labor is required for installation and removal.

  In addition, because the radiation pattern and reception sensitivity of communication radio waves differ between the installed state and the removed state, it is necessary to check whether communication is possible between alarm devices in the group with the alarm device installed. There is. Therefore, if communication failure is detected after installation, it is necessary to perform grouping work and communication confirmation with other alarm devices after removing the alarm device. Cost.

  The present invention has been made to solve the above problems, and provides an alarm device that can be grouped by a simple operation.

An alarm device according to the present invention includes a state detection unit, a state determination unit that determines a state based on an output signal of the state detection unit, a control unit that outputs an alarm based on a determination result of the state determination unit, A transmission / reception unit that transmits / receives a state signal to / from another alarm device, an electric field strength measurement unit that measures an electric field strength of the state signal received by the transmission / reception unit, and a threshold value of the electric field strength a storage unit, or operating as a master alarm device or either operates as a slave alarm device, a warning device which have a, an operation setting unit for setting, the operation setting section, predetermined the alarm When a response signal to a registration request signal transmitted to another alarm device is received within a predetermined time after the power is turned on in a state where the device is installed in the location , and the electric field strength of the response signal is equal to or greater than the threshold value As a child alarm Configured to not receive a response signal in response to the registration request signal within a predetermined time, or if the electric field strength of the response signal is less than the threshold, which is set to operate as a parent alarm is there.

The alarm device according to the present invention operates as a child alarm device when a response signal to the registration request signal is received within a predetermined time and the electric field strength of the response signal is equal to or greater than a threshold value. When the response signal for the registration request signal is not received within a predetermined time, or when the electric field strength of the response signal is less than the threshold value, the alarm device operates as a parent alarm device.
This eliminates the need for operations such as operating alarm switches in grouping. Therefore, the labor of the user in grouping can be greatly reduced.
In addition, since grouping and communication confirmation can be performed with the alarm device installed, the labor of the user can be further reduced.

Embodiment 1 FIG.
In the first embodiment, a case where the present invention is applied to a fire alarm device that is driven by a battery and performs wireless communication will be described as an example.

FIG. 1 is a functional block diagram showing the main configuration of the fire alarm according to Embodiment 1 of the present invention.
In FIG. 1, a fire alarm 100 includes a control circuit 1, a battery 2, a power supply circuit 3, a battery voltage detection circuit 4, a transmission / reception circuit 5, an antenna 6 for transmitting and receiving radio signals, a fire detection circuit 7, and an alarm sound control circuit. 8. An indicator lamp circuit 9 is provided. The control circuit 1 also has a storage unit 10 that stores various types of information.

  The battery 2 supplies DC power to the power supply circuit 3. The power supply circuit 3 controls the voltage of the battery 2 to a predetermined voltage and supplies it to the control circuit 1, the transmission / reception circuit 5, the fire detection circuit 7, the alarm sound control circuit 8, and the indicator lamp circuit 9.

  The battery voltage detection circuit 4 detects the voltage of the battery 2 applied to the power supply circuit 3 and outputs a battery voltage detection signal corresponding to the detected voltage to the control circuit 1. When the battery voltage detection circuit 4 detects that the remaining battery level has dropped or exceeds the threshold value for running out of the battery, the control circuit 1 drives the alarm sound control circuit 8 and the indicator lamp circuit 9 and The transmission / reception circuit 5 outputs a state signal including cut state information.

  The fire detection circuit 7 corresponds to a state detection unit of the present invention, detects a physical quantity or a physical change of a detection target such as smoke or heat based on a fire phenomenon, and outputs a signal corresponding to the detection content to the control circuit 1 To do. The alarm sound control circuit 8 is a circuit for controlling the sounding operation by a buzzer / speaker or the like. The indicator lamp circuit 9 is a circuit that controls the lighting operation of indicator lamps such as light emitting diodes.

The transmission / reception circuit 5 is connected to an antenna 6 for transmitting / receiving a radio signal, and includes a transmission circuit 51 and a reception circuit 52. The reception circuit 52 performs a reception sampling operation at a predetermined period to process a radio signal input from the antenna 6 and performs reception processing in the case of a signal addressed to itself. In addition, reception processing is not performed for signals other than those addressed to the device itself. The received signal is output to the control circuit 1. Further, the transmission circuit 51 is controlled by the control circuit 1 to perform transmission processing of a signal such as a status signal.
The electric field strength measuring unit 53 is controlled by the control circuit 1 and measures the electric field strength of the radio signal input from the antenna 6. The measured value is output to the control circuit 1.

  The control circuit 1 has a function as a state discriminating unit that discriminates a fire state based on a signal output from the fire detection circuit 7, and controls the alarm sound control circuit 8 and the indicator lamp circuit 9 to stop the alarm and alarm. I do. Moreover, while performing a required process based on the signal which the transmission / reception circuit 5 received, the transmission / reception circuit 5 is controlled as needed and a status signal etc. are transmitted to another fire alarm.

  The control circuit 1 includes an operation setting unit 11. The operation setting unit 11 has a function of setting whether the fire alarm device 100 operates as a parent device or a child device. In accordance with the setting of the operation setting unit 11, the control circuit 1 controls the operation of each functional block so as to perform an operation as a parent device or a child device described later.

  The storage unit 10 stores an operation program of the control circuit 1 and various data. The operation program includes both an operation program when operating as a parent device and an operation program when operating as a child device. The control circuit 1 controls each functional block according to one of the operation programs based on the setting of the operation setting unit 11.

2 is a block diagram showing a data configuration of the storage unit 10, FIG. 2A shows a data configuration when operating as a master unit, and FIG. 2B shows a data configuration when operating as a slave unit. . The storage unit 10 stores an operation program and various data in addition to the data shown in FIG.
In FIG. 2, the storage unit 10 stores an identification code 101, an electric field strength threshold 102, and group information 110.
The identification code 101 is an ID uniquely determined so as not to be duplicated in order to identify the fire alarm device 100, and is stored at the time of factory shipment.
The electric field strength threshold 102 is a threshold used when making a determination regarding whether grouping is possible, which will be described later, and is stored at the time of factory shipment.

The group information 110 is information related to the group to which the fire alarm device 100 belongs, and the stored contents differ depending on whether the group operates as a master unit or a slave unit. In the storage unit 10, at least the storage area of the group information 110 can be rewritten.
In the case of the parent device shown in FIG. 2A, a group ID 111 that is an ID unique to the group, an in-group address 112 that is an address assigned to each fire alarm device 100 in the group, and a child device that exists in the group The number 113 of child devices, which is a number, and the child device ID 114 of the child devices existing in the group are stored. When there are a plurality of slave units in the group, the master unit stores all the slave unit IDs 114. The handset ID 114 is, for example, the identification code 101 that each handset has uniquely.
In the case of the slave shown in FIG. 2B, the master ID 115 is stored as group information. The base unit ID 115 is, for example, the identification code 101 of the base unit of the group to which the base unit ID 115 belongs.

When a fire occurs in the installed environment, the fire alarm device 100 configured in this way detects the fire by the fire detection circuit 7 and gives an alarm by sound or an indicator lamp.
In addition, the fire alarm 100 performs an interlocking operation to be described later in a group composed of one master unit and one or a plurality of slave units. There may be a case where there is no child device and a group is formed by only one parent device.

The interlocking operation means that the parent device or the child device in the same group performs the alarm operation in conjunction with the alarm operation based on the fire detected by the parent device or the child device. The fire alarm device 100 that operates as a master device will be specifically described as a master device 100a, and the fire alarm device 100 that operates as a slave device will be described as a slave device 100b.
When the base unit 100a detects a fire, the base unit 100a performs an alarm operation and transmits information related to the fire as an interlocking signal to the slave unit 100b. And the subunit | mobile_unit 100b which received the interlocking | linkage signal transmitted by the main | base station 100a performs a required alarm with an audio | voice and an indicator lamp. Thereafter, when the base unit 100a no longer detects a fire, the base unit 100a self-recovers and stops the alarm, and stops transmission of the interlock signal to the slave unit 100b. And the subunit | mobile_unit 100b which stopped receiving an interlocking signal also stops an alarm.
As described above, when the parent device 100a in the group transmits the interlock signal to the child device 100b, for example, even when a fire occurs in one room in the dwelling unit, an alarm can be given to another room.

Next, the regular transmission operation during fire monitoring (steady state) between the parent device 100a and the child device 100b will be described.
The regular transmission is performed at a predetermined cycle (for example, once every 15 to 20 hours).
When the base unit 100a (for example, the dedicated address 1) reaches a predetermined transmission timing, the base unit 100a or the status information of the group to which the base unit 100a belongs and information including a self-address and group ID for identifying the transmission source are obtained. It transmits to the subunit | mobile_unit 100b as a status signal. This status signal may be transmitted repeatedly a predetermined number of times. By doing in this way, the probability of normal reception by the child device 100b can be increased.
When the slave device 100b (for example, address 2) receives the status signal from the master device 100a, the slave device 100b includes, for example, status information regarding the device status such as the remaining battery level, and a self-address and group ID for identifying the transmission source. Information is transmitted as a status signal to base unit 100a.
At this time, the master unit 100a and the slave unit 100b can distinguish which fire alarm signal is from the address information included in each status signal.
Examples of information on the parent device 100a or the group to which it belongs include the sensor state (deterioration, contamination, etc.) of the fire detection circuit 7, the address or group ID of the child device in which an abnormality has occurred, and wireless communication is not established Examples include slave unit addresses and group ID information. On the other hand, examples of the status information of the slave unit transmitted from the slave unit 100b to the master unit 100a include the sensor status (deterioration, contamination, etc.) of the fire detection circuit 7, the number of reception processes (the number of processes for radio other than the standard), etc. Is mentioned.
By performing such regular transmission, the parent device 100a and the child device 100b can confirm whether or not each fire alarm device 100 in the group is operating normally.

  As described above, the fire alarm device 100 belongs to a specific group and operates as a parent device or a child device, and the fire alarm devices 100 in the group perform an interlocking operation. Therefore, the fire alarm 100 needs to perform a grouping process for joining any group.

Next, the grouping process of the fire alarm 100 will be described.
As shown in FIG. 3, a case where a new terminal 100c joins a group A composed of a parent device 100a and a child device 100b will be described as an example. The master unit 100a, the slave unit 100b, and the new terminal 100c are all fire alarms 100. In addition, the new terminal 100c does not belong to any group.

  FIG. 4 is a flowchart showing a processing procedure of base unit 100a and new terminal 100c when new terminal 100c joins group A in the state of FIG.

  When the new terminal 100c is powered on (S201), it transmits a registration request signal by the transmission / reception circuit 5 (S202). The registration request signal includes its own identification code 101, information indicating that it does not belong to a group, and information regarding its own terminal type (for example, a sensor type (such as smoke or heat) or a terminal having a relay function). At least.

Master device 100a waits until it receives a registration request signal from new terminal 100c (S301), and when it receives a registration request signal, it measures the electric field strength of the registration request signal (S302).
Then, it is determined whether or not the electric field strength of the registration request signal is equal to or higher than the electric field strength threshold stored in the storage unit 10 (S303). If the electric field strength is less than the threshold, no processing is performed (S305). The process returns to the reception standby state (S301).
On the other hand, if it is determined that the value is equal to or greater than the threshold value, base unit 100a transmits a response signal to new terminal 100c (S304). The response signal includes at least information regarding the identification code 101 of the parent device 100a, the group ID 111, the intra-group address 112 of the parent device 100a, and the electric field strength of the registration request signal received from the new terminal 100c.

The new terminal 100c determines whether or not a response signal has been received (S203), and if not, a predetermined time (for example, about 1 minute) has elapsed since the registration request signal was transmitted (S202). Whether or not (S209). If the predetermined time has not elapsed, the operation for determining whether or not the response signal has been received is repeated.
On the other hand, when the predetermined time has elapsed, it is determined that there is no group to which the new terminal 100c can join, and the initial setting process as the parent device is performed in order to establish a new group as the parent device itself. (S210).

When the new terminal 100c receives a response signal from the parent device 100a (S203), the new terminal 100c measures the electric field strength of the response signal (S204). Then, it is determined whether or not the electric field strength of the response signal is greater than or equal to the electric field strength threshold stored in the storage unit 10 (S205).
When the electric field strength of the response signal is less than the threshold value, it is determined that there is no group to which the new terminal 100c can join, and the initial setting as the parent device is to establish a new group by itself. A setting process is performed (S210).
On the other hand, when it is determined that the electric field strength of the response signal is equal to or greater than the threshold, a group joining notification is transmitted to notify the parent device 100a that the group A is joined (S206).

  The base unit 100a waits until a group join notification is received from the new terminal 100c (S306). When the group join notification is received, the base unit 100a registers the new terminal 100c as a slave unit of group A (S307). At this time, the identification code 101 of the new terminal 100c is additionally registered in the storage unit 10 as the slave unit ID 114, and the number of slave units 113 is updated from 1 to 2.

In the initial setting as the slave unit in step S207, the identification code 101 of the master unit 100a included in the response signal is stored in the storage unit as the master unit ID 115. At the same time, the group ID 111 and the intra-group address 112 of the parent device 100a included in the response signal are stored as the group ID 111 and the intra-group address 112 in its own storage unit 10.
Subsequently, the operation setting unit 11 performs setting so as to operate as a slave (S208), and the grouping process ends.
Thereafter, various operations are controlled by the control circuit 1 so that the new terminal 100c functions as a slave device of the group A. As shown in FIG. 3B, the group A includes a parent device 100a, a child device 100b, and a new terminal 100c as a child device.

Further, in the initial setting as the parent device in step S210, the new terminal 100c serves as the parent device and performs processing for constructing a new group. Specifically, the group ID 111 is issued and stored in the storage unit 10, and the intra-group address of the new terminal 100 c itself is set and stored in the storage unit 10. Further, 0 (zero) is stored as the number of slave units 113.
Subsequently, the operation setting unit 11 performs setting so as to operate as a parent device (S211), and the grouping process is terminated.
Thereafter, various operations are controlled by the control circuit 1 so that the new terminal 100c functions as a parent device of a new group.

  When the new terminal 100c performs a grouping process in an environment where there are a plurality of existing groups, if the new terminal 100c transmits a registration request signal, there is a possibility of receiving response signals from a plurality of parent devices. In this case, according to the flowchart described with reference to FIG. 4, only the response signal of the parent device that first received the response signal is processed and joined to the group of the parent device.

  As described above, according to the fire alarm device 100 according to the first embodiment, since the grouping process can be performed only by wireless communication after the power is turned on, for example, registration provided in the fire alarm device 100 such as a dip switch or the like. They can be grouped together without operating the switch. Therefore, an operation such as removing the installed fire alarm 100 is unnecessary, and the operation for grouping can be greatly simplified.

Further, in order to perform the interlocking operation within the group, it is necessary that signals can be transmitted and received with each other. According to the fire alarm device 100 according to the first embodiment, in the process for grouping, the registration request signal and the response signal are transmitted and received between the parent device 100a and the new terminal 100c, and the electric field strength is measured mutually. The grouping is performed only when both electric field strengths are equal to or greater than the threshold value. That is, communication confirmation can be performed in the grouping process, and the trouble of separately performing communication confirmation can be saved.
In addition, in the conventional case, after performing the grouping process, the fire alarm 100 is installed, and then the communication is confirmed. If communication failure is found in the communication confirmation, the fire alarm 100 is removed and grouped. I had to start over from processing. However, according to the fire alarm device 100 according to the first embodiment, a situation in which a communication failure is not found after grouping does not occur, so that the operation burden when the fire alarm device 100 is installed can be reduced.

In addition, when it can be grouped with the existing fire alarm 100, it operates as a slave unit, and when it cannot be grouped, it operates as a master unit. That is, the fire alarm device 100 can operate as a parent device or a child device. Therefore, manufacturing and introduction costs can be reduced as compared with a case where a dedicated machine as a parent machine or a child machine is provided.
Furthermore, the electric field strength of the received radio wave may change due to a change in the installation environment of the fire alarm device 100, and another fire alarm device 100 may have to be grouped again. Even in such a case, new grouping can be easily performed, and the fire alarm device 100 can operate as either a parent device or a child device. Therefore, it is not necessary to replace the fire alarm device 100, and the burden of introducing the user can be reduced.

Embodiment 2. FIG.
In the first embodiment described above, when a new terminal performs grouping processing in an environment where there are a plurality of existing groups, it joins the group in which the parent device that transmitted the response signal first exists.
In the second embodiment, another operation example when a new terminal joins a group in an environment where a plurality of existing groups exist will be described.

  FIG. 5 is a diagram for explaining a system configuration according to the second embodiment, and a case where new terminals are grouped in an environment where group A and group B exist will be described as an example. In FIG. 5, the group A is configured by the parent device 100a, and the group B is configured by the parent device 100d. In such an environment, the new terminal 100e is grouped. Note that the parent device 100a, the parent device 100d, and the new terminal 100e are all the fire alarm devices 100 described in the first embodiment.

FIG. 6 is a flowchart showing a processing procedure of the new terminal 100e when the new terminals 100e are grouped in the state of FIG.
In FIG. 6, since only the operation of the new terminal 100e is different from that of the first embodiment, the description of the processing procedure of the parent device 100a and the parent device 100d is omitted. Of the operations of the new terminal 100e, the same processes as those in FIG. 4 described above are denoted by the same reference numerals, and different processes (steps S401 to S403) will be mainly described.

  When receiving the response signal (S203), the new terminal 100e measures the electric field strength of the response signal (S204), and temporarily stores the electric field strength value in the storage unit 10 (S401). At this time, the electric field strength is stored together with the identification code 101 of the base unit that is the transmission source of the response signal so that the electric field strength of the response signal is associated with the base unit of the transmission source.

  Then, after the registration request signal is transmitted (S202) until a predetermined time elapses (S209), the reception of the response signal is determined. When the response signal is received from another master unit (S203), Similarly, the electric field intensity of the response signal is measured (S204), and temporarily stored in the storage unit 10 so that the electric field intensity and the parent device of the transmission source are associated with each other (S401).

  Then, when a predetermined time has elapsed (S209), it is determined whether or not there is a field strength threshold stored in the storage unit 10 among the field strengths stored in step S401 (S402). Is initialized as a base unit (S210). If no response signal has been received, the process proceeds in step S402 on the assumption that there is no signal strength threshold value or more.

When the electric field intensity value equal to or greater than the electric field intensity threshold value is stored in the storage unit 10 (S402), as shown in FIG. 100a) is selected (S403) and joined to the group (for example, group A) to which the parent device belongs.
If there are a plurality of master units having the maximum electric field strength, any one is selected according to an arbitrary agreement. Alternatively, a means for measuring the installation distance between the parent device and the new terminal may be separately provided, and the parent device having a shorter installation distance may be selected.

  As described above, according to the second embodiment, when response signals are received from a plurality of master units, the base unit group having the maximum electric field strength is joined. Therefore, the communication state from the parent device to the new terminal 100e can be kept high. In addition, the same effect as in the first embodiment can be obtained.

  In the above description, the case where the present invention is applied to a fire alarm device that is driven by a battery and performs wireless communication is described as an example, but the power supply method and communication method of the fire alarm device are not limited. In addition to fire alarms, it can also be applied to alarms for detecting abnormalities. Moreover, you may use for the receiver and detector of an automatic fire alarm system.

It is a block diagram which shows the structure of the alarm device which shows Embodiment 1 of this invention. It is a block diagram which shows the structure of the memory | storage part of an alarm device. It is a conceptual diagram which shows the system configuration | structure when a new terminal joins an existing group. It is a flowchart which shows the process sequence of a main | base station and a new terminal in the case of grouping a new terminal. It is a conceptual diagram which shows the system configuration in case the new terminal joins the existing group which shows Embodiment 2 of this invention. It is a flowchart which shows the process sequence of a new terminal in the case of grouping a new terminal.

Explanation of symbols

  DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Control circuit, 2 Battery, 3 Power supply circuit, 4 Battery voltage detection circuit, 5 Transmission / reception circuit, 6 Antenna, 7 Fire detection circuit, 8 Alarm sound control circuit, 9 Indicator light circuit, 10 Memory | storage part, 11 Operation setting part, 51 Transmitter circuit, 52 receiver circuit, 53 electric field strength measuring unit, 100 fire alarm, 101 identification code, 102 electric field strength threshold, 110 group information, 111 group ID, 112 group address, 113 number of slave units, 114 slave unit ID, 115 Base unit ID.

Claims (1)

A state detector;
A state determination unit that determines a state based on an output signal of the state detection unit;
A control unit that outputs a warning based on the determination result of the state determination unit, and an alarm device comprising:
A transmission / reception unit that transmits / receives status signals to / from other alarm devices;
An electric field strength measuring unit for measuring the electric field strength of the state signal received by the transceiver unit;
A storage unit for storing a threshold value of the electric field intensity;
Or operating as a master alarm device or either operates as a slave alarm device, a warning device which have a, an operation setting section for setting a,
The operation setting unit receives a response signal for a registration request signal transmitted to another alarm device within a predetermined time after turning on the power in a state where the alarm device is installed at a predetermined location , and the response When the electric field strength of the signal is equal to or higher than the threshold, it is set to operate as a child alarm device, and a response signal for the registration request signal cannot be received within a predetermined time, or the electric field strength of the response signal is An alarm device configured to operate as a parent alarm device when it is less than the threshold value .

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