Fire alarm system

Abstract

To obtain a fire alarm system that can reduce the area required for the installation of fire alarm receivers and emergency telephone equipment. [Solution] The fire alarm system 1 comprises a fire receiver 10 connected to a fire detector 2 via a transmission line 5 and having a telephone base unit 14 for emergency telephones, and a telephone repeater 40 connected to the fire receiver 10 via a first telephone line 7 and a transmission line 5 and connected to a telephone handset 4 via a second telephone line 9. The telephone repeater 40 comprises a first telephone circuit 45 connected to the first telephone line 7, a second telephone circuit 51 connected to the second telephone line 9, a call line switching circuit 50 that connects the second telephone circuit 51 to the first telephone circuit 45 when an incoming call is received from the telephone handset 4, a sound generation circuit 42 that generates a signal tone, a contact 52 provided between the connection line from the first telephone circuit 45 to the call line switching circuit 50 and the sound generation circuit 42, and a control circuit 41 that, when a predetermined signal is received from the fire receiver 10 via the transmission line 5, turns on the contact 52 to output the signal tone generated by the sound generation circuit 42 to the telephone handset 4 via the second telephone circuit 51.

Description

[[TECHNICAL FIELD]]

[0001] The present invention relates to a fire alarm system that performs a call between a master telephone unit and a slave telephone unit for an emergency telephone. [[BACKGROUND ART]]

[0002] Conventionally, there is an emergency telephone device that includes a master telephone unit and enables a call between the master telephone unit and dispersedly installed slave telephone units for emergency telephones (see, for example, Patent Document 1). [[PRIOR ART DOCUMENTS]] [[PATENT DOCUMENTS]]

[0003] [[Patent Document 1]] Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 5-20585 [[SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION]] [[Problem to be Solved by the Invention]]

[0004] The emergency telephone device described in Patent Document 1 is installed as a separate device from the fire receiver in the vicinity of the fire receiver. Therefore, in order to install the fire receiver and the emergency telephone device, a space for installing these two devices is required. For this reason, depending on the size of the room in which the fire receiver is installed, it may be unavoidable to abandon the installation of the emergency telephone device. It is also conceivable to install the emergency telephone device in a room separate from the fire receiver, but this makes it difficult for one person to operate both the fire receiver and the emergency telephone device.

[0005] The present invention is made against the background of the above problems, and provides a fire alarm system capable of reducing the area required for installing a fire receiver and an emergency telephone device. [[Means for Solving the Problem]]

[0006] The fire alarm system according to the present invention comprises a fire receiver connected to a fire detector via a transmission line and having a telephone base unit for an emergency telephone, and a telephone repeater connected to the fire receiver via a first telephone line and the transmission line and connected to a telephone handset via a second telephone line, wherein the telephone repeater comprises a first telephone circuit connected to the first telephone line, a second telephone circuit connected to the second telephone line, a call line switching circuit that connects the second telephone circuit to the first telephone circuit when an incoming call is received from the telephone handset, a sound generation circuit that generates a signal tone, a contact provided between the connection line from the first telephone circuit to the call line switching circuit and the sound generation circuit, and a control circuit that, when a predetermined signal is received from the fire receiver via the transmission line, turns on the contact, thereby outputting the signal tone generated by the sound generation circuit to the telephone handset via the second telephone circuit. [Effects of the Invention]

[0007] According to the present invention, it is not necessary to install an emergency telephone device separately from the fire alarm receiver. Therefore, a device that combines the functions of a fire alarm receiver and an emergency telephone device can be installed in a smaller installation area compared to conventional devices. [Brief explanation of the drawing]

[0008] [Figure 1] This diagram illustrates the configuration of the fire alarm system 1 according to Embodiment 1. [Figure 2] This diagram illustrates the configuration of the fire alarm receiver according to Embodiment 1. [Figure 3] This is a diagram illustrating the database 261 according to Embodiment 1. [Figure 4] This diagram illustrates the configuration of the telephone repeater 40 according to Embodiment 1. [Figure 5] This figure illustrates an example of the display of the operation display unit 12 according to Embodiment 1. [Figure 6] This is a system configuration diagram of the distributed fire alarm system 100 according to Embodiment 2. [Figure 7] This diagram illustrates the configuration of the fire alarm receiver 10 according to Embodiment 2. [Figure 8] This diagram illustrates the configuration of the main repeater 80 according to Embodiment 2. [Modes for carrying out the invention]

[0009] Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. The present invention is not limited to the following embodiments and can be modified in various ways without departing from the spirit of the invention. Furthermore, the present invention includes all possible combinations of the configurations shown in each of the following embodiments. In addition, the apparatus shown in the drawings is an example of the apparatus of the present invention and the apparatus of the present invention is not limited by the apparatus shown in the drawings. Also, in each drawing, parts with the same reference numerals are the same or equivalent, and this is common throughout the entire specification. In each drawing, the relative dimensions or shapes of each component may differ from those of the actual components.

[0010] Embodiment 1. (System configuration of fire alarm system 1) Figure 1 is a diagram illustrating the configuration of a fire alarm system 1 according to Embodiment 1. The fire alarm system 1 comprises a fire alarm receiver 10 and a telephone repeater 40. The fire alarm receiver 10 is equipped with a telephone base unit 14 for emergency telephones, and communication is possible between this telephone base unit 14 and a telephone handset 4 connected to the telephone repeater 40. Fire detectors 2 are installed in the fire alarm receiver 10 via transmission lines 5. In the example in Figure 1, multiple transmission lines 5 are connected to the fire alarm receiver 10, and a fire detector 2 is connected to each of the transmission lines 5. Furthermore, a detector repeater 3 may be connected to the transmission line 5 to detect when a so-called P-type fire detector (such as a contact type, not shown) detects a fire and transmits a fire signal to the fire alarm receiver 10. When a fire detector 2 detects a physical change associated with a fire, it transmits a fire signal to the transmission line 5 indicating that there is a fire. The fire signal includes information that can identify the fire detector 2 (e.g., an address number), and the fire alarm receiver 10 can identify the location of the fire. Furthermore, upon receiving a fire signal, the fire alarm receiver 10 outputs a signal to terminal equipment such as an alarm device (buzzer or light), a smoke control device (fire door or shutter), or fire extinguishing equipment, to indicate the occurrence of a fire and activate the terminal equipment. In addition, an emergency broadcasting system 60 is connected to the fire alarm receiver 10 in this embodiment. The emergency broadcasting system 60 is a device that broadcasts emergency information within the building when a fire detector 2 is activated, when the fire alarm receiver 10 confirms the occurrence of a fire, etc.

[0011] The housing 11 that constitutes the outer casing of the fire alarm receiver 10 is equipped with an operation display unit 12, operation buttons 13, and a telephone base unit 14. The operation display unit 12 is, for example, a liquid crystal display with a touch panel, and functions as a screen display device that accepts operations from the operator and displays information indicating the occurrence of a fire in the form of text or graphics. The operation buttons 13 are input devices and are used to operate the fire alarm receiver 10. Alternatively, a screen display device such as a liquid crystal display without a touch panel may be provided in place of the operation display unit 12. The telephone base unit 14 is used by connecting it to a telephone jack, which is a connection terminal provided on the housing 11.

[0012] In this embodiment, the fire alarm receiver 10 is connected to the emergency broadcasting equipment 60 via a communication line 8. The fire alarm receiver 10 is equipped with connection terminals F and T, which are connected to the communication line 8. The number of connection terminals F and T is equal to the number of types of signals to be transmitted to the emergency broadcasting equipment 60. For example, if the fire alarm receiver 10 monitors a multi-story building, the same number of connection terminals F and T as the number of floors can be provided to output information for each floor to the emergency broadcasting equipment 60. Connection terminal F outputs a fire detection signal, and connection terminal T outputs an emergency telephone incoming call signal.

[0013] The fire alarm receiver 10 and the telephone repeater 40 are connected via a transmission line 5 and a telephone line 7. In Figure 1, two transmission lines 5 are connected to the fire alarm receiver 10, and only one telephone repeater 40 is connected to each transmission line 5, but it is possible to connect multiple telephone repeaters 40 to a single transmission line 5. In addition, one set of telephone lines 7, consisting of two connecting wires, is connected to the fire alarm receiver 10, and this telephone line 7 is branched to the same number of telephone repeaters 40, with each branched wire being connected to a telephone repeater 40. That is, even if multiple telephone repeaters 40 are installed in the fire alarm system 1, only one set of telephone lines 7 is drawn from the fire alarm receiver 10. Voice communication takes place between the telephone handset 4 connected to the telephone repeater 40 and the telephone base unit 14 of the fire alarm receiver 10 via the telephone line 7.

[0014] The telephone repeater 40 is a device that is placed between the telephone base unit 14 and the telephone handset 4 to relay calls. Multiple telephone handsets 4 can be connected to the telephone repeater 40. The telephone repeater 40 and the telephone handsets 4 are connected by a telephone line 9 consisting of two connecting wires.

[0015] (Configuration of the fire alarm receiver 10) Fig. 2 is a diagram explaining the configuration of the fire receiver according to the first embodiment. The fire receiver 10 includes an operation display unit 12, an operation button 13, a master telephone unit 14, a first emergency broadcast cutoff switch 15, a second emergency broadcast cutoff switch 16, a control circuit 20, a transmission circuit 21, a telephone circuit 23, a short circuit detection circuit 24, a signal transfer circuit 25, and a storage device 26. The circuits and the like constituting the fire receiver 10 shown in Fig. 2 are accommodated or installed in a housing 11 (see Fig. 1).

[0016] The control circuit 20 is configured of dedicated hardware, or a microcomputer having a memory and a CPU (Central Processing Unit). The control circuit 20 is provided with input / output ports connected to the operation display unit 12, the operation button 13, the first emergency broadcast cutoff switch 15, the second emergency broadcast cutoff switch 16, the transmission circuit 21, the telephone circuit 23, the short circuit detection circuit 24, the signal transfer circuit 25, and the storage device 26. The control circuit 20 controls each circuit via the input / output ports.

[0017] The transmission circuit 21 is connected to a transmission line 5, and acquires a fire signal transmitted to the transmission line 5 when the fire detector 2 detects a fire. Then, the transmission circuit 21 outputs the fire signal to the control circuit 20. The fire detector 2 continues transmitting the fire signal when a fire is detected, and stops transmitting the fire signal when it detects that the fire has been extinguished. The transmission circuit 21 continues outputting the fire signal to the control circuit 20 while the fire signal is detected. In addition, the transmission circuit 21 of the present embodiment detects an emergency telephone incoming signal, an in-call signal, and a hold signal transmitted from the telephone repeater 40 to the transmission line 5, and outputs the detected signals to the control circuit 20. Each of the signals includes information that can identify the telephone repeater 40 that transmitted the signal (hereinafter referred to as an address number) and information that can identify the slave telephone unit 4 connected to the telephone repeater 40 (hereinafter referred to as a serial number), so the fire receiver 10 can identify which slave telephone unit 4 the signal is transmitted from. Further, when calling the slave telephone unit 4, the transmission circuit 21 transmits a slave unit call signal to the telephone repeater 40. This signal also includes the address number of the telephone repeater 40 and the serial number of the slave telephone unit 4 in the same manner as described above, so that the called slave telephone unit 4 can be identified.

[0018] The telephone circuit 23 is a circuit that enables voice communication between the master telephone unit 14 and the slave telephone unit 4 connected to the telephone repeater 40. The telephone circuit 23 is connected to a telephone jack provided in the fire receiver 10, which functions as a connection terminal for the master telephone unit 14, and to the telephone line 7. The telephone line 7 is composed of two connection wires, and connects the telephone circuit 23 to the telephone repeater 40. The telephone circuit 23 is a circuit that detects when the master telephone unit 14 is picked up. Further, the telephone circuit 23 converts voice input from the master telephone unit 14 into an audio signal and outputs the audio signal to the telephone line 7, and also converts the audio signal input from the telephone line 7 into voice and outputs the voice to the master telephone unit 14. Note that the conversion of voice into audio signals and the conversion of audio signals into voice may also be performed on the side of the master telephone unit 14 and the slave telephone unit 4.

[0019] The short-circuit detection circuit 24 is a circuit that detects a short circuit of the telephone line 7 via the telephone circuit 23. The short-circuit detection circuit 24 monitors the voltage of the telephone line 7, and detects a short circuit of the telephone line 7 by detecting a voltage change caused by the short circuit of the telephone line 7.

[0020] The signal transmission circuit 25 is a circuit that transmits a transmission signal to an emergency broadcasting facility 60. The signal transmission circuit 25 includes a fire signal transmission circuit 251 and an emergency telephone signal transmission circuit 252. The fire signal transmission circuit 251 is connected to the connection terminal F, and outputs a transmission signal notifying of a fire to the emergency broadcasting facility 60 when the fire receiver 10 receives a fire alarm from the fire detector 2. The emergency telephone signal transmission circuit 252 is connected to the connection terminal T, and outputs a transmission signal notifying of an incoming emergency telephone call to the emergency broadcasting facility 60 when there is an incoming call from the slave telephone unit 4.

[0021] The storage device 26 is a rewritable memory such as an EEPROM (Electrically Erasable Programmable Read-Only Memory). In addition to programs executed by the control circuit 20, the storage device 26 stores a database 261.

[0022] The first emergency broadcast cutoff switch 15 is a switch that toggles whether or not the fire alarm transmission circuit 251 outputs a transmission signal to the emergency broadcasting equipment 60. The second emergency broadcast cutoff switch 16 is a switch that toggles whether or not the emergency telephone transmission circuit 252 outputs a transmission signal to the emergency broadcasting equipment 60. The first emergency broadcast cutoff switch 15 and the second emergency broadcast cutoff switch 16 can be switched on and off by the operator. For example, when testing the fire alarm system 1, the first emergency broadcast cutoff switch 15 and the second emergency broadcast cutoff switch 16 are turned off to prevent unnecessary emergency broadcasts from being made inside the building.

[0023] Figure 3 is a diagram illustrating the database 261 according to Embodiment 1. The database 261 stores, in association with information that identifies the connection terminal T connected to the emergency broadcasting equipment 60 (T1, T2, T3 in Figure 3), address numbers that identify the telephone repeater 40 (C1, C2 in Figure 3), and serial numbers that identify the telephone handset 4 connected to the telephone repeater 40 (D11, D12, D21 in Figure 3). In the example in Figure 3, the telephone repeater C1 and the telephone handset D11 are associated with connection terminal T1. In this example, when an incoming call is received from the telephone handset D11, a relay signal is output from connection terminal T1 to the emergency broadcasting equipment 60.

[0024] (Configuration of telephone repeater 40) Figure 4 is a diagram illustrating the configuration of a telephone repeater 40 according to Embodiment 1. The telephone repeater 40 comprises a control circuit 41, a sound generation circuit 42, a transmission circuit 43, a telephone circuit 45, a disconnection detection circuit 46, a contact input detection circuit 48, a signal input circuit 47, a plurality of telephone jacks 49, a call line switching circuit 50, a telephone circuit 51, and a contact 52.

[0025] The control circuit 41 consists of dedicated hardware or a microcomputer having memory and a CPU (Central Processing Unit). The control circuit 41 is provided with a sound generation circuit 42, a transmission circuit 43, a telephone circuit 45, a disconnection detection circuit 46, a contact input detection circuit 48, a signal input circuit 47, a call line switching circuit 50, and input / output ports connected to the contact 52. The control circuit 41 controls each circuit via the input / output ports.

[0026] The sound generation circuit 42 is a circuit that generates a ringing sound output to the cordless phone 4 to call the cordless phone 4, a busy signal output to the cordless phone 4 when the base phone unit 14 is busy, and a hold signal output when a call is put on hold. The busy signal and hold signal may be the same, or other common sounds may be used as appropriate. Alternatively, the circuit may generate a ringing sound output to the base phone unit 14 while the cordless phone 4 is being called. The sound generation circuit 42 is connected via a contact 52 to a connecting line that connects the telephone circuit 45 and the call line switching circuit 50. When the contact 52 is turned on, the sound generated by the sound generation circuit 42 is output to the telephone circuit 45 and the telephone circuit 51 connected by the call line switching circuit 50.

[0027] The transmission circuit 43 is connected to the transmission line 5 and, when an incoming call is received from the telephone handset 4, transmits an incoming call signal to the transmission line 5. As shown in Figures 1 and 2, the fire alarm receiver 10 is connected to this transmission line 5, and the incoming call signal is transmitted from the telephone repeater 40 to the fire alarm receiver 10. The incoming call signal contains information that identifies the telephone handset 4 that received the call, as described above.

[0028] The telephone circuit 45 is connected to the fire alarm receiver 10 via the telephone line 7 (see Figure 2) and is a circuit that enables voice communication between the telephone handset 4 and the telephone base unit 14 of the fire alarm receiver 10. One end of the connecting wire drawn from the telephone circuit 45 is connected to the call line switching circuit 50. The other end of the connecting wire drawn from the telephone circuit 45 is connected to the telephone circuit 51 corresponding to each of the multiple telephone jacks 49. The telephone circuit 45 is a circuit that enables voice communication between the telephone handset 4 and the telephone base unit 14 of the fire alarm receiver 10. The telephone circuit 45 converts the voice output from the telephone handset 4 and input via the telephone line 9 into an audio signal and outputs it to the telephone line 7, and also converts the audio signal input from the telephone line 7 into voice and outputs it to the telephone circuit 51. Note that if the telephone handset 4 performs the conversion from voice to audio signal and from audio signal to voice as described above, the telephone circuit 45 does not need to perform the conversion.

[0029] The disconnection detection circuit 46 is a circuit that detects whether or not the telephone line 7 is disconnected, and is connected to the telephone line 7 via the telephone circuit 45. The disconnection detection circuit 46 illustrated in Figure 4 includes a contact 461 and a current detection circuit 462. When the contact 461 is closed, the current detection circuit 462 detects whether or not the telephone line 7 is not disconnected, or whether or not it is disconnected.

[0030] The signal input circuit 47 is connected to the equipment 70 via the power line 71 and is a circuit that inputs and outputs control signals to and from the equipment 70. Here, the equipment 70 is a device that is linked to the fire alarm receiver 10 via the telephone repeater 40. Examples of equipment 70 include smoke control devices such as fire doors or shutters, and fire extinguishing devices such as fire pumps.

[0031] The contact input detection circuit 48 is a circuit that detects when the contacts of the equipment 70 connected to the power line 71 are turned on, that is, when the equipment 70 is electrically connected to the telephone repeater 40.

[0032] The telephone jack 49 is the connection terminal for the telephone handset 4. The telephone repeater 40 is provided with multiple telephone jacks 49. The same number of telephone circuits 51 are provided as the number of telephone jacks 49. The telephone circuit 51 is a circuit that detects when the receiver of the telephone handset 4 is picked up. The telephone circuit 51 is also a circuit that relays voice and voice signals between the telephone handset 4 and the telephone circuit 45. Similar to the telephone circuit 45, the telephone circuit 51 does not need to perform voice and voice signal conversion if the telephone handset 4 performs the conversion.

[0033] The call line switching circuit 50 is a circuit that selectively connects one of several telephone circuits 51 to the telephone circuit 45. The call line switching circuit 50 has contacts 501, 502, and 503, each connected to a telephone circuit 51. When any of the contacts 501, 502, or 503 is closed, the telephone circuit 51 corresponding to the closed contact is connected to the telephone circuit 45.

[0034] (Operation of fire alarm system 1) First, let's look at an example of a one-to-one call between a single cordless phone handset 4 and a base phone unit 14. Assume that the cordless phone handset 4 is connected to one of the multiple telephone jacks 49 of the telephone repeater 40. When the handset of the cordless phone handset 4 connected to the telephone repeater 40 is picked up, the telephone circuit 51 to which the handset 4 is connected detects this and outputs a signal to the control circuit 41. The call line switching circuit 50, which receives the control output from the control circuit 41, connects the telephone circuit 51 and telephone circuit 45 corresponding to the cordless phone handset 4 whose handset has been picked up. Then, an incoming call signal is sent to the transmission line 5 via the transmission circuit 43. Also, contact 52 is turned on, and the hold tone generated by the sound generation circuit 42 is output to the cordless phone handset 4.

[0035] When the fire alarm receiver 10 detects an incoming call signal from the telephone repeater 40 via the transmission circuit 21, it displays information indicating the incoming call on the operation display unit 12 and outputs an audio message indicating the incoming call from a speaker or the like. This allows the person monitoring the fire alarm receiver 10 to know that an emergency call has been received from the telephone handset 4. At this time, the operation display unit 12 displays information that identifies the telephone handset 4 that received the call, such as the building, floor, area, and address of the building where the telephone handset 4 is installed. When the person monitoring the receiver picks up the receiver of the telephone base unit 14, an audio call is made between the telephone base unit 14 and the telephone handset 4 via the telephone line 7. When the receiver detects an incoming call from the telephone handset 4 via the transmission circuit 21, the relay circuit 25 outputs a relay signal from the connection terminal T corresponding to the telephone handset 4 to the emergency broadcasting equipment 60. The emergency broadcasting equipment 60, having received the emergency telephone relay signal, makes a designated emergency broadcast.

[0036] In the above operation, the connection between the base telephone unit 14 and the telephone handset 4 is automatically established simply by picking up the handset. However, the connection may also be established when the operation display unit 12 of the fire alarm receiver 10 is operated. Specifically, the connection between the telephone circuit 51 and the telephone circuit 45 by the call line switching circuit 50 is established when the information section indicating an incoming call displayed on the operation display unit 12 of the fire alarm receiver 10, which has received an incoming call signal, is operated. The fire alarm receiver 10 sends a connection control signal to the telephone repeater 40, and the connection is established when the repeater receives this signal. In this way, when the handset of one of the telephone handsets 4 is picked up, it is possible to select which telephone handset 4 to talk to.

[0037] Next, the operation when calling a telephone handset 4 from the telephone base unit 14 will be explained. Assume that a telephone handset 4 is connected to the telephone jack 49 of the telephone repeater 40. The operation display unit 12 of the fire alarm receiver 10 displays information on all telephone handsets 4 connected to the fire alarm system 1. The information on each telephone handset 4 may also be displayed on the operation display unit 12 using the building, floor, area, and address of the building where each telephone handset 4 is installed. In this way, the operator can intuitively select the telephone handset 4 they wish to call using the information displayed on the operation display unit 12. Once the telephone handset 4 is identified by the operation display unit 12 and the receiver of the telephone base unit 14 is picked up, a transmission signal containing information identifying the telephone handset 4 to be called is sent from the transmission circuit 21 via the transmission line 5 to the telephone repeater 40 to which the specific telephone handset 4 is connected. This transmission signal is received by the transmission circuit 43 of the telephone repeater 40.

[0038] Upon receiving the outgoing signal, the telephone repeater 40 generates a ringtone via the sound generation circuit 42 if the called telephone handset 4 is not in use. The call line switching circuit 50 then connects the telephone circuit 51 and telephone circuit 45 of the called telephone handset 4. Furthermore, contact 52 is turned on, and the ringtone generated by the sound generation circuit 42 is output to the telephone handset 4. When the operator hears the ringtone and picks up the receiver of the telephone handset 4, a voice call is made between the telephone handset 4 and the telephone base unit 14.

[0039] If the telephone repeater 40, which has received the outgoing signal, has the receiver of the called telephone handset 4 picked up, the control circuit 41 generates a call-in signal, and the generated call-in signal is transmitted to the fire alarm receiver 10 via the transmission circuit 43. Upon receiving the call-in signal, the fire alarm receiver 10 displays information on the operation display unit 12 indicating that a call is in progress or that the receiver of the telephone handset 4 has been picked up.

[0040] Next, we will explain the operation when a call is made between the base telephone unit 14 and two cordless telephones 4 connected to one telephone repeater 40. First, let's assume that one cordless telephone 4 is in a call with the base telephone unit 14. The call line switching circuit 50 of the telephone repeater 40 is connected to the telephone circuit 45 of the cordless telephone 4 that is in the call. At this time, if the receiver of the other cordless telephone 4 is picked up, the call line switching circuit 50 closes the contact corresponding to the other cordless telephone 4 whose receiver has been picked up, and connects the telephone circuit 45 to the telephone circuit 51 corresponding to the other cordless telephone 4. As a result, a voice call is made between the two cordless telephones 4 and the base telephone unit 14. Alternatively, as described above, a voice call may be made between two selected cordless telephones 4 and the base telephone unit 14 based on the operation of the operation display unit 12 of the fire alarm receiver 10.

[0041] Next, we will explain the operation when the telephone base unit 14 of the fire alarm receiver 10 is in a call with a telephone handset 4 connected to one telephone repeater 40 (referred to as telephone repeater 40A for distinction), and the handset of a telephone handset 4 connected to another telephone repeater 40 (referred to as telephone repeater 40B for distinction) is picked up. Assume that the telephone handset 4 connected to telephone repeater 40B is picked up while the telephone base unit 14 and the telephone handset 4 connected to telephone repeater 40A are in a call. Telephone repeater 40B connects the telephone circuit 45 to the telephone circuit 51 of the telephone handset 4 whose handset has been picked up by the call line switching circuit 50. Telephone repeater 40B also notifies the fire alarm receiver 10 of the incoming emergency call via the transmission circuit 43 and transmission line 5. Since the telephone base unit 14 of the fire alarm receiver 10 is in a call with telephone handset 4 of telephone repeater 40A, it sends a call in progress signal to telephone repeater 40B via the transmission line 5. The sound generation circuit 42 of the telephone repeater 40B generates a call-in tone when it receives a call signal, and the generated call-in tone is output to the telephone handset 4 via the ON contact 52. As a result, the person who picks up the receiver of the telephone handset 4 connected to the telephone repeater 40B can hear the call-in tone and understand that the telephone base unit 14 is busy.

[0042] Next, the operation when putting an emergency telephone call on hold will be explained. Assume that a call is in progress between the base telephone unit 14 and the telephone handset 4. To put the call on hold on the base telephone unit 14, the operator presses a hold button (not shown) located on the fire alarm receiver 10 or the base telephone unit 14. When the hold button is pressed, a hold signal is transmitted from the transmission circuit 21 of the fire alarm receiver 10 to the transmission line 5. The telephone repeater 40, which receives the hold signal via the transmission line 5, generates a hold tone using the sound generation circuit 42 and outputs this hold tone to the telephone handset 4 via an ON contact 52. This allows the operator of the telephone handset 4 to understand that the base telephone unit 14 is on hold. To put the call on hold on the telephone handset 4, the operator presses a hold button located on the telephone repeater 40 or the telephone handset 4. When the hold button is pressed, a hold signal is transmitted from the transmission circuit 43 of the telephone repeater 40 to the transmission line 5. The operation display unit 12 of the fire alarm receiver 10, which receives the hold signal via the transmission line 5, displays information indicating that the telephone handset 4 is on hold.

[0043] Next, we will explain the operation when fire detection and emergency telephone calls occur at the same time. When fire detector 2 detects a fire, a fire signal is transmitted to transmission line 5, and the fire signal is transmitted to fire receiver 10. Upon receiving the fire signal, fire receiver 10 outputs information to the operation display unit 12 indicating the occurrence of a fire and the location of the fire detector 2 that detected the fire, and also emits an alarm sound. This allows the person monitoring fire receiver 10 to understand that a fire has occurred. Subsequently, when the receiver of telephone handset 4 is picked up, telephone handset 4 and the telephone base unit 14 of fire receiver 10 are connected as described above, and voice communication becomes possible between telephone handset 4 and telephone base unit 14.

[0044] Figure 5 illustrates an example of the display of the operation display unit 12 according to Embodiment 1. Figure 5(a) shows an example of the display of the operation display unit 12 when a fire alarm has been received but no incoming call has been received from the telephone handset 4. Information indicating the occurrence of a fire is displayed in the first area 121, which is part of the display screen of the operation display unit 12. In this state, if an incoming call is received from the telephone handset 4, as shown in Figure 5(b), information indicating the occurrence of a fire is displayed in a part of the first area 121, and information indicating the incoming call from the telephone handset 4 is displayed in the remaining part of the first area 121. In this way, the information received by the fire alarm receiver 10 is displayed in the first area 121, which is a defined area, and if there is multiple pieces of information to be received, the first area 121 is divided to display multiple pieces of information. Therefore, by focusing on the first area 121, which is a defined area, the monitor can obtain information from the monitoring area. When the fire alarm receiver 10 receives multiple pieces of information, multiple pieces of information are displayed in the first area 121, so the monitor can grasp multiple pieces of information at the same time.

[0045] Unlike the example in Figure 5, if a fire is detected after an emergency phone call has been received, information indicating the emergency phone call will first be displayed in the first area 121. If a fire is subsequently detected, information indicating the emergency phone call will be displayed in part of the first area 121, and information indicating the occurrence of the fire will be displayed in the remaining part. Furthermore, if a terminal device such as a smoke control or fire extinguishing device is connected to the fire alarm system 1, and the terminal device is activated, information indicating that the terminal device has been activated may be displayed in the first area 121, following the example in Figure 5. In addition, if a gas leak detector is connected to the fire alarm system 1, and a gas leak is detected, information indicating that the terminal device has been activated may also be displayed in the first area 121, following the example in Figure 5. If the fire alarm receiver 10 receives multiple pieces of information as exemplified here, for example, four or more pieces of information, the information may be displayed in each of the four divided areas of the first area 121.

[0046] Next, we will explain how to increase or decrease the number of telephone repeaters 40 or telephone handsets 4 that constitute the fire alarm system 1. As shown in Figure 3, the storage device 26 of the fire alarm receiver 10 stores a database 261. When increasing or decreasing the number of either or both telephone repeaters 40 and telephone handsets 4, the operator rewrites the database 261. Rewriting the database 261 is done, for example, using a personal computer or dedicated terminal connected to the fire alarm receiver 10. By rewriting the database 261 of the fire alarm receiver 10, the connection terminal F connected to the emergency broadcasting equipment 60 can be associated with the telephone repeaters 40 and telephone handsets 4. For this reason, it is easy to add telephone repeaters 40 and telephone handsets 4 to the existing fire alarm system 1. In addition, the fire alarm receiver 10 of this embodiment can support both a small number of lines and a large number of lines by rewriting the database 261.

[0047] Next, the operation for detecting a break in the telephone line 7 will be explained. The detection of a break in the telephone line 7 is performed by an instruction from the fire alarm receiver 10. The fire alarm receiver 10 transmits a break detection signal to the telephone repeater 40 connected to it via the transmission line 5, instructing it to detect the break. The transmission of the break detection signal from the fire alarm receiver 10 to the telephone repeater 40 is performed periodically. If multiple telephone repeaters 40 are connected to the fire alarm receiver 10, the break detection signal is transmitted to each telephone repeater 40 at non-overlapping intervals. Upon receiving the break detection signal, the telephone repeater 40 closes the contact 461 of the break detection circuit 46, and determines whether or not there is a break based on the value of the current detected by the current detection circuit 462 at this time. Then, information regarding whether or not there is a break in the telephone line 7 is transmitted to the fire alarm receiver 10 via the transmission line 5.

[0048] Furthermore, a short circuit in the telephone line 7 is monitored, for example, by a fire alarm receiver 10. The fire alarm receiver 10 monitors the voltage applied to the telephone line 7 and detects that a short circuit has occurred in the telephone line 7 when the voltage falls below a threshold.

[0049] As described above, according to this embodiment, since the fire alarm receiver 10 also functions as an emergency telephone device, there is no need to install a separate emergency telephone device in addition to the fire alarm receiver 10. Therefore, the area required for installing the device that combines the functions of a fire alarm receiver and an emergency telephone device can be reduced compared to conventional methods. Consequently, the flexibility in the size of the room in which the fire alarm receiver 10 is installed is increased.

[0050] Furthermore, only one set of telephone lines 7, consisting of two connecting wires, is drawn from the fire alarm receiver 10, which functions as an emergency telephone device, and connected to the telephone repeater 40. Even if there are multiple telephone handsets 4, only one set of telephone lines 7 is connected to the fire alarm receiver 10. Therefore, the complexity of the wiring around the fire alarm receiver 10 is suppressed, and wiring costs can be reduced.

[0051] Furthermore, the telephone repeater 40 in this embodiment is equipped with a sound generation circuit 42, and the sound generated by the sound generation circuit 42 is output to the telephone handset 4. The sound such as the call tone or hold tone output to the telephone handset 4 is generated by the sound generation circuit 42 of the telephone repeater 40, so the fire alarm receiver 10 does not need to generate sound for each telephone repeater 40. For this reason, even if multiple telephone repeaters 40 are installed in the fire alarm system 1, the processing load on the fire alarm receiver 10 does not increase. In addition, since the sound such as the call tone or hold tone does not flow through the telephone line 7 connecting the fire alarm receiver 10 and the telephone repeater 40, it is possible to suppress the occurrence of noise during calls using the telephone line 7.

[0052] Embodiment 2. This embodiment describes a distributed fire alarm system 100. This embodiment will primarily describe the differences from Embodiment 1.

[0053] (System configuration of distributed fire alarm system 100) Figure 6 is a system configuration diagram of a distributed fire alarm system 100 according to Embodiment 2. The distributed fire alarm system 100 has a fire alarm receiver 10 and a main repeater 80, and the fire alarm receiver 10 and the main repeater 80 are connected by a communication network. Specifically, the fire alarm receiver 10 and the main repeater 80 are connected by a communication line 90 and an audio signal line 91. The fire alarm receiver 10 has the same configuration as the fire alarm receiver 10 described in Embodiment 1, except for the configuration relating to the connection with the communication line 90 and the audio signal line 91. In this embodiment, for the sake of distinction, the transmission line connected to the fire alarm receiver 10 is referred to as the first transmission line 5A, and the transmission line connected to the main repeater 80 is referred to as the second transmission line 5B. Although Figure 6 shows an example in which one main repeater 80 is connected to the distributed fire alarm system 100, multiple main repeaters 80 may be connected. Furthermore, in Figure 6, for the purpose of distinction, the telephone repeater connected to the fire alarm receiver 10 is indicated by reference numeral 40A, and the telephone repeater connected to the main repeater 80 is indicated by reference numeral 40B. Telephone repeaters 40A and 40B have the same configuration as the telephone repeater 40 described in Embodiment 1.

[0054] The main repeater 80 is connected to the fire detector 2 and the telephone repeater 40 via the second transmission line 5B. When the main repeater 80 receives a fire signal from the fire detector 2 connected to the second transmission line 5B, it transmits a signal to the fire alarm receiver 10 via the communication line 90 to indicate the occurrence of a fire. The main repeater 80 also relays voice calls between the telephone handset 4 connected to the telephone repeater 40B and the telephone base unit 14 of the fire alarm receiver 10.

[0055] The communication line 90 is, for example, a metal cable or an optical cable, and transmits communication signals between the fire alarm receiver 10 and the main repeater 80. The audio signal line 91 consists of two connecting wires and transmits audio signals between the fire alarm receiver 10 and the main repeater 80. The audio signal line 91 can also be a single optical cable.

[0056] (Configuration of the fire alarm receiver 10) Figure 7 is a diagram illustrating the configuration of the fire alarm receiver 10 according to Embodiment 2. In addition to the configuration described in Embodiment 1, the fire alarm receiver 10 includes a first signal conversion circuit 27 and a second signal conversion circuit 28. The first signal conversion circuit 27 is a circuit that converts an audio signal corresponding to the voice input from the telephone base unit 14 to the telephone circuit 23 into a signal corresponding to a communication protocol applicable to communication using the audio signal line 91, and sends the converted signal to the audio signal line 91. The second signal conversion circuit 28 is a circuit that converts information acquired via the first transmission line 5A into a signal corresponding to a communication protocol applicable to communication using the communication line 90, and sends the converted signal to the communication line 90.

[0057] (Configuration of the main repeater 80) Figure 8 is a diagram illustrating the configuration of the main repeater 80 according to Embodiment 2. The main repeater 80 comprises a control circuit 81, a storage device 82, a transmission circuit 83, a telephone circuit 85, a short-circuit detection circuit 86, a first signal conversion circuit 87, and a second signal conversion circuit 88.

[0058] The control circuit 81 consists of dedicated hardware or a microcomputer having memory and a CPU (Central Processing Unit). The control circuit 81 is provided with input / output ports connected to the storage device 82, transmission circuit 83, telephone circuit 85, short-circuit detection circuit 86, first signal conversion circuit 87, and second signal conversion circuit 88. The control circuit 81 controls each circuit via the input / output ports.

[0059] The transmission circuit 83, telephone circuit 85, and short-circuit detection circuit 86 have the same functions as the transmission circuit 21, telephone circuit 23, and short-circuit detection circuit 24 of the fire alarm receiver 10 described in Embodiment 1 and Figure 7. The first signal conversion circuit 87 and the second signal conversion circuit 88 have the same functions as the first signal conversion circuit 27 and the second signal conversion circuit 28 of the fire alarm receiver 10 described in Figure 7. As can be seen by comparing Figure 7 and Figure 8, the main repeater 80 does not have the operation display unit 12 and operation buttons 13, the configuration for connecting to the emergency broadcasting equipment 60 (see Figure 1), or the telephone base unit 14 that the fire alarm receiver 10 has. The main function of the main repeater 80 is to transmit various signals from the fire detector 2 and the telephone repeater 40 connected to the second transmission line 5B connected to the main repeater 80 to the fire alarm receiver 10.

[0060] (Telephone repeater 40) The telephone repeaters 40A and 40B connected to the distributed fire alarm system 100 in this embodiment have the same basic functions as the telephone repeater 40 described in Embodiment 1.

[0061] (Operation of the distributed fire alarm system 100) This section describes the operation when a call is made between a telephone handset 4 of a telephone repeater 40B connected to a main repeater 80 and a telephone base unit 14 of a fire alarm receiver 10. When the handset of the telephone handset 4 connected to the telephone repeater 40B is picked up, an incoming call signal, which is a signal indicating an incoming call, is sent from the telephone repeater 40B to the main repeater 80 via the second transmission line 5B, as described in Embodiment 1. Upon receiving the incoming call signal from the telephone handset 4, the main repeater 80 converts the incoming call signal into a signal corresponding to the communication protocol of the communication line 90 using the second signal conversion circuit 88 and sends it to the communication line 90. When the fire alarm receiver 10 receives the incoming call signal via the communication line 90, it displays information indicating an incoming call on the operation display unit 12 and outputs an audio signal indicating an incoming call. This allows the observer of the fire alarm receiver 10 to be aware of the incoming emergency call from the telephone handset 4. When the observer picks up the handset of the telephone base unit 14, a voice call is made between the telephone base unit 14 and the telephone handset 4 via the voice signal line 91 and the telephone line 7. If the fire alarm receiver 10 is connected to the emergency broadcasting equipment 60 (see Figure 1), a transfer signal is transmitted from the fire alarm receiver 10 to the emergency broadcasting equipment 60, as described in Embodiment 1.

[0062] Next, we will explain the operation when a call is made between the base telephone unit 14 and two cordless telephones 4 connected to one telephone repeater 40B. First, let's assume that one cordless telephone 4 connected to the telephone repeater 40B is in a call with the base telephone unit 14. At this time, if the receiver of the other cordless telephone 4 is picked up, the telephone repeater 40B connects the other cordless telephone 4 whose receiver has been picked up to the main repeater 80 via the telephone line 7. As a result, a voice call is made between the two cordless telephones 4 and the base telephone unit 14 via the telephone line 7 and the voice signal line 91.

[0063] Next, we will explain the operation when the telephone base unit 14 of the fire alarm receiver 10 is in a call with a telephone handset 4 connected to telephone repeater 40A, and the handset of a telephone handset 4 of another telephone repeater 40B is picked up. First, assume that the telephone handset 4 connected to telephone repeater 40A and the telephone base unit 14 are in a call. Telephone repeater 40B connects the telephone handset 4, whose handset has been picked up, to the main repeater 80 via the telephone line 7. Telephone repeater 40B also notifies the main repeater 80 of the incoming emergency call via the second transmission line 5B. The main repeater 80 transmits the incoming call signal to the fire alarm receiver 10 via the communication line 90. The fire alarm receiver 10, knowing that the telephone base unit 14 is in a call with telephone handset 4 of telephone repeater 40A, sends a call-in signal to the main repeater 80 via the communication line 90. The main repeater 80 sends the call-in signal to telephone repeater 40B via the second transmission line 5B. When the telephone repeater 40B receives a call signal, it generates a call tone and outputs the generated call tone to the telephone handset 4. As a result, the person who picks up the receiver of the telephone handset 4 can hear the call tone and understand that the base telephone unit 14 is busy.

[0064] As described above, according to this embodiment, the same effects as in Embodiment 1 can be obtained in the distributed fire alarm system 100. In the distributed fire alarm system 100, the operation related to emergency telephone calls made between the telephone base unit 14 of the fire alarm receiver 10 and the telephone handset 4 connected to the telephone repeater 40A is the same as that described in Embodiment 1.

[0065] (modified version) Figure 1 illustrates that the fire alarm receiver 10 is provided with multiple connection terminals F and T for connecting to the emergency broadcasting equipment 60. Instead of installing multiple connection terminals F and T on the fire alarm receiver 10, a repeater that adds connection terminals F and T may be placed between the emergency broadcasting equipment and the fire alarm receiver 10. [Explanation of Symbols]

[0066] 1 Fire alarm system, 2 Fire detector, 3 Repeater for detector, 4 Cordless telephone, 5 Transmission line, 5A First transmission line, 5B Second transmission line, 7 Telephone line, 8 Communication line, 9 Telephone line, 10 Fire alarm receiver, 11 Housing, 12 Operation display unit, 13 Operation buttons, 14 Main telephone unit, 15 First emergency broadcast cutoff switch, 16 Second emergency broadcast cutoff switch, 20 Control circuit, 21 Transmission circuit, 23 Telephone circuit, 24 Short circuit detection circuit, 25 Alarm transfer circuit, 26 Memory device, 27 First signal conversion circuit, 28 Second signal conversion circuit, 40 Telephone repeater, 40A Telephone repeater, 40B Telephone repeater, 41 Control circuit, 42 Sound generation circuit, 43 Transmission circuit, 45 Telephone circuit, 46 Disconnection detection circuit, 47 Signal input circuit, 48 Contact input detection circuit, 49 Telephone jack, 50 51 Telephone line switching circuit, 52 Contact, 60 Emergency broadcasting equipment, 70 Equipment, 71 Power line, 80 Main repeater, 81 Control circuit, 82 Memory device, 83 Transmission circuit, 85 Telephone circuit, 86 Short circuit detection circuit, 87 First signal conversion circuit, 88 Second signal conversion circuit, 90 Communication line, 91 Voice signal line, 100 Distributed fire alarm system, 121 First area, 251 Fire alarm transfer circuit, 252 Emergency telephone alarm transfer circuit, 261 Database, 461 Contact, 462 Current detection circuit, 501 Contact, 502 Contact, 503 Contact, F Connection terminal, T Connection terminal.

Claims

1. A fire alarm receiver connected to a fire detector via a transmission line and having a telephone base unit for an emergency telephone, The system includes a telephone repeater connected to the fire alarm receiver via a first telephone line and the transmission line, and connected to the telephone handset via a second telephone line. The aforementioned telephone relay device A first telephone circuit connected to the first telephone line, A second telephone circuit connected to the aforementioned second telephone line, When an incoming call is received from the aforementioned telephone handset, a call line switching circuit connects the second telephone circuit to the first telephone circuit, A sound generation circuit that generates a signal tone, A contact is provided between the connecting line from the first telephone circuit to the call line switching circuit and the sound generation circuit, The system includes a control circuit that, when a predetermined signal is received from the fire alarm receiver via the transmission line, turns on the contact, thereby outputting the signal tone generated by the sound generation circuit to the telephone handset via the second telephone circuit. Fire alarm system.

2. If the predetermined signal received from the fire alarm receiver via the transmission line is a call signal indicating that the base telephone unit is in a call with another telephone unit, The sound generation circuit generates a call sound in response to the call signal, The control circuit, by turning on the contact, outputs the generated call tone to the telephone handset via the second telephone circuit. The fire alarm system according to claim 1.

3. If the predetermined signal received from the fire alarm receiver via the transmission line is a hold signal indicating that a call has been put on hold at the telephone base unit, The sound generation circuit generates a hold sound in response to the hold signal, The control circuit, by turning on the contact, outputs the generated hold tone to the telephone handset via the second telephone circuit. The fire alarm system according to claim 1 or 2.

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