JPS63239597A - Wireless type alarm - Google Patents

Abstract

(57) [Summary] This bulletin contains application data before electronic filing, so abstract data is not recorded.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention (Field of Industrial Application) The present invention relates to a wireless alarm device that transmits security information such as gas leakage, fire, etc. wirelessly and issues alarms, etc. The present invention relates to a wireless alarm device that transmits a signal to automatically check whether the device is functioning normally.

(Prior Art) Conventionally, the applicant of the present invention has proposed a wireless alarm device of this type, as disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-open No. 157699/1983.

This wireless alarm device requires an AClooV inside the dwelling unit.
An abnormality detector powered by a gas leak detector, such as a gas leak detector, and a transmitter that charges the steady detection output 6V of the gas leak detector and uses it as a power source are installed, and when a gas leak is detected by the gas leak alarm, The transmitter only operates and repeatedly transmits detection information over a certain period of time.

On the other hand, a receiver installed in a manager's room has a built-in battery as a power source, and is not always ready to receive data, but only intermittently within a certain reception window time T3 at each predetermined cycle T4. An intermittent reception method is adopted in which reception is possible only during periods of time, ensuring battery life.

The transmission time T1 at the time of abnormality detection is set to be slightly longer than the intermittent reception cycle T4 of the receiver that uses the intermittent reception method (T1>T4), so that reception is possible even without synchronizing transmission and reception. It is possible to always receive the transmitted radio wave from the transmitter at the timing of the reception frame time, and once the transmitted radio wave is received, the reception frame time is extended until the reception is completed, and when the reception of the abnormal signal continues for a predetermined period of time, Specifically, a gas leak alarm or emergency gas shutoff is performed based on the last detected information received.

On the other hand, since such wireless alarm devices do not operate unless there is an actual fire or gas leak, they are used for a certain period of time to confirm whether they are operating normally under normal monitoring conditions. For example, it is necessary to have an automatic check function that sends a test signal every 8 hours and checks whether it is received normally.

(Problem to be Solved by the Invention) However, in a wireless alarm device that employs such a conventional intermittent reception method, the test signal is not transmitted beyond the intermittent reception cycle T4 during testing as well as during abnormality detection. If the test signal is not continuously transmitted, the test signal transmitted at the timing of the reception window cannot be reliably received.

However, the intermittent reception period T4 in the intermittent reception method is set to a relatively long time, for example several tens of seconds or more, and if the test signal is transmitted for a time exceeding this intermittent reception period T4, the test signal When the reception frame time is set at the beginning of the transmission time, a test signal reception operation that extends the reception frame time is performed for approximately the duration of the test signal transmission time, and an abnormality such as a fire or gas leak occurs. There was a problem in that the battery life of the receiver, which was originally expected to be about 10 years, was extremely shortened due to the operation of receiving the test signal.

(Means for Solving the Problems) The present invention has been made in view of the above-mentioned problems in the prior art, and it is possible to reliably test using an intermittent reception method even if the transmission time of the test signal carried out every fixed time period is short. An object of the present invention is to provide a wireless alarm device capable of receiving signals and ensuring sufficient battery life of a receiver.

In order to achieve this object, the present invention includes an anomaly detector, a transmitter, and a receiver having a built-in battery, and the transmitter repeats the operation for a certain period of time T1 only when the anomaly detector detects an anomaly. Detection information is transmitted wirelessly, and the receiver becomes receivable only within a predetermined reception time period T3 that is set intermittently, and when it receives a radio wave transmitted from the transmitter within the reception time period T3. A test signal is transmitted to the transmitter in a wireless alarm device in which the reception frame time is extended until the reception of the transmitted radio waves is completed and the alarm unit is activated based on the last received detection information. a timer means for measuring and outputting a predetermined time period T5; and a test signal transmitting means for transmitting a test signal having a time width T6 slightly longer than the reception window time T3 of the receiver each time an output of the timer means is received. and a reset means for resetting the timer means and starting the next time measurement when the test signal transmitting means finishes transmission.

(Function) In the wireless alarm device of the present invention having such a configuration, the intermittent reception period T4 of the receiver is set by the timer means of the transmitter.
Test time period T5 (=n XT4), which is 0 times
For example, measure T5=8 hours, and every time the test time period T5 is reached, a test signal with a time width T6 slightly longer than the reception frame interval T3 is transmitted, and when the transmission of the test signal is finished, the timer means is reset and the next Measurement of the test time period T5 is started, and on the other hand, the receiver performs an intermittent reception operation in which a predetermined reception frame time 3 is set every time the intermittent reception period T4 is counted by the timer means. Because it is repeated,
Even if a time error occurs between the timer of the transmitter and the timer of the receiver, the timing between the reception slots will always occur between the transmission time of the test signal. As a result, the test signal transmission time is only slightly longer than the T3 between reception frames, and normally, the T3 between reception frames is set to a very short time of several tens of milliseconds to several hundred milliseconds. Therefore, the transmission time T6 of the test signal only needs to be about 2 to 10 seconds, and even if the test signal is transmitted at regular intervals, the battery life of the receiver will not decrease significantly, and automatic inspection can be carried out over a long period of time. This allows continued abnormality monitoring.

(Example) FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing the basic configuration of the present invention.

First, to explain the configuration, a gas leak alarm 1 as an abnormality detector and a transmitter 2 that wirelessly transmits detection information according to the detection state of the gas leak alarm 1 are installed in the dwelling unit. The gas leak alarm 1 is powered by a commercial AC 100 V and outputs a voltage signal corresponding to the detection state, which is 6 V in a normal monitoring state, 12 V1 when a gas leak is detected, and O■ when a trouble is detected that causes a power down. In addition, the transmitter 2 is the gas leak alarm 1
It is operated by the power supply from the charging of the steady output 6■, and only when the detection state of the gas leak alarm 1 changes, that is, from the steady monitoring state to the gas leak detection state, or from the steady monitoring state to the trouble state, for a certain period of time. It operates and transmits detection information via FM radio waves from the transmitting antenna 3. Incidentally, the power source of the transmitter 2 may be directly supplied with commercial AC 100V.

On the other hand, a receiver equipped with a receiving antenna 4 and an alarm device 6 are installed outside the residence, and the receiver 5 receives the transmitted radio waves from the transmitter 2 and reproduces the detected information, and the address and alarm included in the detected information. The detected content is determined from the data, and the alarm 6 is caused to display an alarm for gas leakage or trouble. In addition, the receiver 5
has a built-in battery as a power source, and as will be explained later, uses an intermittent reception method to reduce battery consumption. That is, by adopting the intermittent reception method, the receiver 5 becomes capable of receiving signals only during a certain reception frame set for each intermittent reception cycle, and performs reception processing when a transmitted radio wave is received within this reception frame. It becomes like this. Furthermore,
The alarm device 6 is equipped with a buzzer and a lamp for warning of a gas leakage problem, or an actuation means for closing a solenoid valve provided at a gas main valve in the event of a gas leakage.

Further, the transmitter 2 shown in FIG. 1 is provided with means for transmitting a test signal at each predetermined test time period, and correspondingly, the receiver 5 transmits a test signal at a timing between reception frames. It has a reception function of receiving the transmitted radio waves and displaying whether or not the device operates normally according to the reception result of the test signal.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing an embodiment of the transmitter 2 in the embodiment of FIG.

In Fig. 2, the transmitter 2 has a normal output of 6V, which is output as a voltage signal from the gas leak alarm 1, and a gas leak output 1.
2V, a detection circuit 7 equipped with a voltage comparator that detects the trouble output Ov, and a predetermined period T1 when the detection circuit 7 outputs 1q indicating a change in the detection state.
For example, a transmission control circuit 8 that supplies power to create a transmission state for T1 = 60 seconds, and a detection circuit 7
A data code setting circuit sets a data code as an information pulse including an address and data based on the detection output of
A modulation oscillation circuit 10 is provided which transmits an information pulse given from a data code setting circuit 9 on an FM wave in a VHF or UHF band from a transmitting antenna 3 under power supply from the data code setting circuit 9. Furthermore, a power supply circuit 11 is provided, and this power supply circuit 11 charges the output voltage of the gas leak alarm 1 and supplies power to each circuit section.

Furthermore, the transmitter 2 is provided with a test circuit 12 .

FIG. 3 is a circuit block diagram showing an embodiment of the test circuit 12 installed in the transmitter 2 of FIG.

In FIG. 3, the test circuit 12 is provided with a clock generator 20 that generates clock pulses that serve as a reference for time measurement, and the clock pulses from the clock generator 20 are used by a test timer 22 that measures a predetermined test time period T5. The test timer 22 outputs a timer output to the test pulse generator 24 after measuring the test time period T5, for example, T5=8 hours. Test pulse generator 24
is composed of, for example, a monostable multivibrator, which is triggered when it receives a timer output from the test timer 22 and outputs a test pulse over a test signal sending time T6.

The pulse width T6 of the test pulse generated by the test pulse generator 24 is set to be slightly longer than the reception window time T3 in a receiver adopting an intermittent reception method, which will be explained later. The reception frame time T3 is approximately several tens of milliseconds to several hundred milliseconds, for example, T3 = 80 msec.
Therefore, the time width T6 of the test pulse is, for example, T6
=2 to 10 seconds.

The output pulse of the test pulse generator 24 is applied to the detection circuit 7 and data code setting circuit 9 shown in FIG. 2 via the OR gate 26, and the output of the test pulse to the detection circuit 7 operates the transmission control circuit 8. Then, transmission power is supplied to the modulation oscillation circuit 10 over the test pulse generation time T6 to cause the modulation oscillation circuit 10 to perform a transmission operation. Also, the data code setting circuit 9
The test pulse for is converted into detection information consisting of a preset test code and address, and
The test signal is modulated by the transmitting antenna 3 and the test signal radio wave is transmitted.

Furthermore, the test circuit 12 shown in FIG. 3 is provided with a manual test switch 28, and the output of the test switch 28 is input to an OR gate 26,
It is also possible to perform a manual test by closing 8.

Furthermore, a test pulse generation circuit 24 and a test switch 28
The output of is given as a reset signal to the test timer 22 via the OR gate 29, and the test timer 22 is reset when the test pulse falls to the L level.

FIG. 4 is a block diagram showing an embodiment of the receiver 5 which is connected to the embodiment of FIG. 1.

In FIG. 4, reference numeral 13 denotes an FM receiving circuit, which detects FM radio waves in the VHF or UHF band received by the receiving antenna 4, and produces audio output corresponding to information pulses.

14 is a code processing circuit which shapes the waveform of the information pulse as the audio output output from the FM receiving circuit, reproduces the pulse, and checks the address included in the information pulse, and when it matches the own address code, It decodes the data code and outputs a processed signal based on the decoding result. A starting circuit 15 outputs a starting signal for activating the alarm 6 based on the output of the code processing circuit 14.

On the other hand, a power supply control circuit 16 is provided as means for setting an intermittent reception frame time T3 in the FM reception circuit 13. The power supply control circuit 16 intermittently supplies power to the FM reception circuit 13 from a power supply circuit 17 using a dry battery, and the time during which the power is supplied intermittently is set as the reception window time T3 in the FM reception circuit 13. Transmitted radio waves can be received only within this reception frame interval T3.

FIG. 5 is a circuit block diagram showing a specific embodiment of the power supply control circuit 16 provided in the receiver 5 of FIG. 4.

In FIG. 5, numeral 30 is a clock generator that generates clock pulses that serve as a reference for time measurement, and the clock pulses from the clock generator 30 are input to an intermittent reception timer 32. The intermittent reception timer 32 generates a timer output when it measures a predetermined intermittent reception period T4, for example, T4=50 seconds based on a clock pulse. The output of the intermittent reception timer 32 is input to the retrigger timer 34,
When the retrigger timer 34 receives the timer output, it is triggered and generates a pulse output over a reception frame time T3, for example, T3=80 msec. The signal is supplied to the receiving circuit 13 for a time T3. Further, the output of the retrigger timer 34 is input to the intermittent reception timer 32 as a reset signal, and the output of the retrigger timer 34
The intermittent reception timer 32 synchronizes with the falling edge of the pulse output.
is reset, and time measurement for the next intermittent reception cycle T4 begins.

Furthermore, the retrigger timer 34 is supplied with the output of the code processing circuit 14 shown in FIG. , retrigger timer 3
4, the timer output continues to be generated while the transmitted radio waves are being received, thereby performing a reception operation that extends the reception time frame.

Referring again to FIG. 4, the receiver 5 is provided with a battery voltage drop detection circuit 18, which outputs a battery voltage drop detection signal to the startup circuit 15 when the battery voltage in the power supply circuit 17 drops below a certain level. Then, the alarm 6 displays an alarm indicating the decrease in battery voltage.

Further, the code processing circuit 14 has a function of decoding the test signal, and controls the test display circuit 19 according to the result of decoding the test signal, so that the test result is displayed on the alarm 6.

Next, the operation of the above embodiment will be explained with reference to the time chart of FIG.

FIG. 6 shows the signal waveform when a gas leak is detected by the gas leak alarm device 1 on the transmitting side, for example at time t.
When a gas leak is detected by the gas leak alarm 1 in step 1, the output voltage of the gas leak alarm 1 rises from 6V to 12V, and the detection circuit 7 of the transmitter 2 shown in FIG. Control circuit 8 transmits detection output for leak detection
give to

Therefore, the transmission control circuit 8 supplies transmission power to the modulation oscillation circuit 10 during a predetermined constant transmission time T1, for example, T'1 = 60Sec, and at the same time, the gas leak detection output of the detection circuit 7 is transmitted to the data code setting circuit 9. given to
An information pulse consisting of a combination of an address indicating the transmitter 2 and data indicating a gas leak is output to the modulation oscillation circuit 10, and the modulation oscillation circuit 10 repeats the information pulse over a fixed transmission time T1 and transmits FM radio waves from the transmitting antenna 3. will be sent by.

The information pulses transmitted from the transmitter 2 repeatedly transmit n information pulse trains during time T1, as shown enlarged by the arrow, and further, as shown enlarged by the arrow, the information pulse train For example, the address is composed of a pulse code of 12 bits and the data of 4 bits.

On the other hand, on the side of the receiver 5 shown in FIG. 4, the power supply control circuit 16 does not create a receivable state every intermittent reception cycle T4 = 50 sec, and the intermittent reception period T3 = 80 msec.
is set, and when the gas leak is detected at time t1, the transmitter 2 transmits the detection information for T1 time, and the transmitted radio wave is received at the timing between the reception frames corresponding to this transmission time. do. Since this transmitted radio wave contains n information pulses, the code processing circuit 14 decodes the reception of the first information pulse that enters between the reception frames, and checks it with its own address to find a match. When it is determined, the retrigger timer 34 of the power supply control circuit 16 shown in FIG. A timer output is generated until the end of reception, and the FM receiving circuit 13 is maintained in the power supply state until the end of reception.

Then, when the nth and final information pulse is received,
1 to 1 for the retrigger timer 34 of the code processing circuit 14
The trigger control is stopped, and at the stop timing of the retrigger timer, gas leak detection information based on the last information pulse decoded by the code processing circuit 14 is output to the starting circuit 15, and the starting circuit 15 activates the alarm 6 to prevent gas leakage. It will start issuing a warning.

Next, the automatic inspection operation will be explained with reference to the time chart shown in FIG.

The time chart in FIG. 7 shows that a manual test is performed by turning on the test switch 28 installed in the test circuit 12 of the transmitter 2 shown in FIG. 3 between times t1 and t2, and then Indicates a state in which automatic inspection based on measurement has been started.

First, if the test switch 28 installed in the test circuit 12 of the receiver is turned on at time t1, then the OR gate 26
A test signal is outputted to the detection circuit 7 and data code setting circuit 9 of the transmitter 2 shown in FIG. The detection circuit 7 that has received the test signal controls the transmission control circuit 8 to control the modulation oscillation circuit 10 while the test signal is being obtained.
to create a transmitting operating state by supplying transmitting power to the transmitter. on the other hand,
The data code setting circuit 9 that receives the test signal creates pulse information consisting of its own address information and a preset test code and outputs it to the modulation oscillation circuit 10, and the pulse information including this test code is FM modulated. The signal is then transmitted from the transmitting antenna 3.

At this time, on the receiver 5 side, the intermittent reception timer 32 of the power supply control circuit 16 shown in FIG. The FM receiving circuit 13 is turned on by outputting a pulse signal that becomes the interval T3 and turning on the switch 36.
Intermittent reception is performed by supplying power from the power supply circuit 17 to the FM reception circuit 13, and the FM reception circuit 13 receives the transmission radio wave at the timing between the first reception slot that receives the transmission radio wave of the test signal transmitted from time t1. The code processing circuit 14 repeatedly triggers the retrigger timer 34 built into the power supply control circuit 14 each time it receives an information pulse containing one test signal by determining whether the address matches its own address. As a result, the reception slot is extended until time t2 when transmission of the transmission radio waves including the test signal ends.

Assuming that the test switch 28 stops transmitting the test signal at time t2, the test timer 22 of the test circuit 12 shown in FIG. The test timer 22 starts measuring four times of a new test time period T5 from the timing of the end of the test at time t2.

Furthermore, when the transmission of the test signal is finished at time t2, the fifth
As the output pulse of the retrigger timer 34 in the power control circuit 16 of the receiver 5 shown in the figure disappears,
The intermittent reception timer 32 is reset at the falling edge of the pulse, and from time t2, the intermittent reception timer 32 starts measuring a new intermittent reception period T4.

In this way, at time t2 when the transmission of the test signal by the test switch 28 ends, the test timer 22 of the transmitter 2 and the intermittent reception timer 32 of the receiver 5 are simultaneously reset to start a new time measurement. Therefore, the time difference between the test timer 22 and the intermittent reception timer 32 can be corrected.

After time t2, on the receiver 2 side, the intermittent reception timer 32 generates a timer output after counting the intermittent reception period T4, and the retrigger timer 34 operates to supply power to the FM reception circuit 13 for the reception frame time T3. The setting operation of the reception frame time in which the reception is enabled and the reception is enabled is repeated.

On the other hand, the test timer 22 provided in the test circuit 12 of the transmitter measures the opening time 111T5=8 hours during the test based on the clock pulse from the clock generator 20, and assuming that the intermittent reception cycle T4=50 seconds. ,576
At time t3, eight hours after the intermittent reception period T4 has elapsed, the test timer 22 generates a timer output, and the test pulse generator 24 generates a test pulse having a time width of T6=2 to 10 seconds. This test pulse is applied to the transmission control circuit 8 and data code setting circuit 9 of the transmitter 2, and information pulses including the test signal are transmitted for 16 hours.

Here, the test timer 22 of the transmitter 2 and the intermittent reception timer 32 of the receiver 5 are each provided with an independent clock generator 20.3.
Since time is counted using a clock pulse of 0, the two counting times will not completely match, and a time lag will occur between the two.

However, since the transmission time T6 of the test signal transmitted from the transmitter 2 is slightly longer than the reception window time T3 at the receiver 5, a time lag occurs between the timers of the transmitter 2 and the receiver 5. However, this time difference is absorbed by the test signal transmission time T6, and the timing of the reception frame time always falls within the test signal transmission time T6. As a result, the test signal transmitted at time t3 The information pulse containing the test signal is received at a timing that coincides with the receiving operation time of the receiver 2, and when the transmission of the information pulse containing the test signal is completed at time t4, the test signal contained in the last received information pulse is received. It decodes the content and displays whether or not the test signal was received normally.

In addition, the extension of the reception frame time for receiving the test signal is at most the test signal transmission time T6 = 2 to 108eC.
Compared to the conventional case where the test signal is transmitted over a period exceeding the intermittent reception period T3,
The receiving operation time for receiving the test signal is sufficiently short, and a decrease in battery life due to reception of the test signal in the receiver 5 can be sufficiently suppressed.

In the above embodiment, the test switch 28' is turned on to perform a manual test, and then the automatic inspection based on time measurement by the timer is performed, but the present invention is not limited to this. It is also possible to provide means for transmitting a test signal of at least the intermittent reception period T4 or more to the receiver 5 when power is detected to be turned on to the receiver 2, perform a test, and then proceed to automatic inspection based on time measurement by a timer. good.

(Effects of the Invention) As described above, according to the present invention, the timer means of the transmitter adjusts the test time period, and each time the test time period is reached, a test signal with a time width slightly longer than the reception frame time is sent. When the transmission of the test signal is completed, the timer means is reset and the time measurement of the open period is started for the next test. Since the intermittent reception operation is repeated in which a predetermined reception frame time is set each time a count is made, even if there is a time error between the transmitter timer and receiver timer, the signal will always be received during the transmission time of the signal to Test 1. The timing of the frame time is now included, and by simply transmitting a test signal slightly longer than the reception frame time, it is possible to reliably perform intermittent reception and automatically check whether the device is functioning normally.

Furthermore, since the transmission time of the test signal is slightly longer than the reception time frame, the operating time of the receiver for receiving the test signal is at most within the signal transmission time. Compared to the case where the test signal is not transmitted beyond the period, the operating time of the receiver to receive the test signal is sufficiently short, and the receiver's battery life does not decrease significantly, and it can be used for a long period of time, including automatic inspection. However, abnormality monitoring can be continued.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

Fig. 1 is an explanatory diagram showing the basic configuration of the present invention, Fig. 2 is a block diagram showing an embodiment of the transmitter shown in Fig. 1, and Fig. 3 is an illustration of a test circuit for the transmitter shown in Fig. 2. 4 is a block diagram showing an embodiment of the receiver shown in FIG. 1; FIG. 5 is a block diagram showing an embodiment of the power supply control circuit in the receiver shown in FIG. 4. FIG. 6 is a time chart showing the transmission/reception operation based on gas leak detection, and FIG. 7 is a time chart showing the transmission/reception operation of the test signal. 1: Gas leak alarm 2: Transmitter 3: Transmitting antenna 4: Receiving antenna 5: Receiver 6: Alarm 7: Detection circuit 8: Transmission control circuit 9: Data code setting circuit 10: Modulation oscillation circuit 11: Power supply circuit 12: Test circuit 13: FM reception circuit 14 Nikon processing circuit 15: Start-up circuit 16: Power supply control circuit 17: Power supply circuit 18: Battery voltage drop detection circuit 19: Test display circuit 20.30 Nikon lock generator 22: Test timer 24: Test pulse generator 26. 29: OR gate 28: Test switch 32: Intermittent reception timer 34: Retrigger timer 36: Switch

Claims (1)

[Claims] An abnormality detector, a transmitter, and a receiver with a built-in battery,
The transmitter repeatedly transmits detection information wirelessly for a certain period of time only when the abnormality detector detects an abnormality,
The receiver is in a receivable state only within a predetermined reception frame time that is set intermittently, and when it receives a transmission radio wave from the transmitter in the receivable state, the reception frame time remains until the end of reception of the transmission radio wave. In a wireless alarm device configured to operate an alarm unit, etc. based on the extended and last received detection information, the transmitter measures and outputs a predetermined time period for transmitting a test signal. a timer means; a test signal transmitting means for transmitting a test signal having a time width slightly longer than the reception window time of the receiver each time an output of the timer means is received; and the timer means when transmission by the test signal transmitting means is completed. 1. A wireless alarm device comprising a reset means for resetting the.