Emergency lighting testing device and system

Abstract

An emergency lighting testing device (2) has a housing (4) containing a controller which connects via cables and Wago connectors (8) with an emergency lamp (3) in an emergency lighting system in a building. A first connector (8) routes mains power supply to the emergency lamp (3) through a switch in the controller which can thus switch power supply to the emergency lamp (3) on and off. A second connector (8) connects between the controller and a back-up battery power supply for the emergency lamp (3) and includes a sensor for the controller to sense the operating condition of the emergency lamp (3) back-up battery power supply. The controller has a communication module mounted within the housing (4) which communicates with a remote monitoring station (20) via a cloud platform (22), communicating with servers (23) and a dashboard (24) at the remote monitoring station (20).

Description

Introduction

[0001] This invention relates to an emergency lighting testing device and system, and in particular for retrofit to existing emergency lighting systems.Background of the Invention

[0002] Many buildings are required to provide emergency lighting which operates upon failure of the main supply to illuminate exit routes and exits from the building. Currently, to meet existing regulations it is required that a qualified electrician be physically present to carry out four required inspections annually. This can cause major disruption to persons working in the building as the inspections generally are carried out during normal working hours. During the inspection, depending on the jurisdiction you are in, some tests can take up to 3 hours to complete.

[0003] There are a number of manufacturers of emergency lighting systems, and a few have introduced remote testing capabilities on their products. All current testing capabilities offered by manufacturers are in-built to the emergency light and incorporate the need to have the light running on an IP network to allow for the testing to take place. These emergency lighting systems are relatively expensive to purchase and deploy and are in-built during the manufacturing process and thus can only be incorporated into a new emergency lighting unit during manufacture. The emergency lighting systems also need to run on a specifically deployed DALI (Digital Addressable Lighting Interface) network which is an additional cost to deploy and maintain. Thus, it will be appreciated that the installation and maintenance of such emergency lighting systems is relatively expensive. In addition to their expense, it is not possible to fit these remote testing systems to existing emergency lighting systems which constitute the vast majority of emergency lighting systems currently in use.

[0004] The present invention is directed towards overcoming these problems.Summary of the Invention

[0005] According to the invention, there is provided an emergency lighting testing device, comprising: a controller; a first connector for connection between the controller and an emergency lamp mains power supply for routing the emergency lamp mains power supply through a switch in the controller which is operable to control the mains power supply to the emergency lamp; a second connector for connection between the controller and a battery supply for the emergency lamp and including a sensor such that the controller can sense the operating condition of the emergency lamp battery power supply, and the controller having a communication module for communicating with a remote monitoring station.

[0006] In another embodiment, the communication module is an NB-loT module.

[0007] In another embodiment, the long-range communication module connects to the remote monitoring station via a cloud platform.

[0008] In another embodiment, the remote monitoring station includes servers and a dashboard.

[0009] In another embodiment, the controller is mounted within a housing having a rectangular base with outwardly extending side walls at each side of the base and a cover closing an outer end of the side walls, mounting tabs projecting laterally outwardly at opposite sides of the base, each mounting tab having a keyhole slot for reception of a screw fastener to secure the housing on a support surface such as a wall or ceiling adjacent the emergency lamp.

[0010] In another embodiment, the first connector and the second connector comprise cables and Wago connectors.

[0011] In another embodiment, the system comprises: operating the emergency lamp in a normal operating mode with the controller switch closed for delivering mains power supply to the emergency lamp; sensing mains current supplied to the battery when the emergency lamp is in the normal operating mode; opening the controller switch to cut off mains power supply to the emergency lamp; sensing current delivered by the battery to the emergency lamp; closing the controller switch to re-connect mains power supply to the emergency lamp; and sensing the mains current to the battery after re-connecting the mains power supply to the emergency lamp. Brief Description of the Drawings

[0012] The invention will be more clearly understood by the following description of some embodiments thereof, given by way of example only, with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which: Fig. 1 is a schematic illustration of an emergency lighting testing system of the invention; Fig. 2 is a schematic illustration of an emergency lighting testing device of the invention; Fig. 3 is a perspective view of the device of Fig. 2; Fig. 4 is an elevational view of the device; Fig. 5 is a side elevational view showing one side of the device; Fig. 6 is another side elevational view showing an opposite side of the device; Fig. 7 is a plan view of the device; Fig. 8 is an underneath plan view of the device; Fig. 9 is a rear elevational view of the device; Fig. 10 is a perspective view of a breaker box portion of the device; Fig. 11 is an elevational view of the breaker box; Fig. 12 is a side elevational view of the breaker box, showing one side of the breaker box; Fig. 13 is a side elevational view of the breaker box, showing an opposite side of the breaker box; Fig. 14 is a plan view of the breaker box; Fig. 15 is an underneath plan view of the breaker box; and Fig. 16 is a rear elevational view of the breaker box. Detailed Description of the Preferred Embodiments

[0013] Referring to the drawings, there is illustrated an emergency lighting testing system according to the invention, indicated generally by the reference numeral 1. Fig. 2 shows an emergency lighting testing device 2 according to the invention incorporated into the emergency lighting testing system 1 of the invention. The device 2 can be retrofitted to an emergency lamp 3 of an emergency lighting system. Only one emergency lamp 3 is shown for illustration purposes, however in practice there will usually be a number of emergency lamps 3 in the emergency lighting system, a device 2 of the invention being connected to each emergency lamp 3 in the emergency lighting system.

[0014] The device 2 has a housing 4 with a rectangular base 5, with side walls 6 extending outwardly from each side of the base 5, and an outer cover 7 closing an outer end of the side walls 6. The housing 4 contains a controller 10 which connects via cables and Wago connectors 8 with the emergency lamp 3. An associated cable support 9 is provided on one of the side walls 6.

[0015] One or more mounting tabs 11 project laterally outwardly from the base 5, each tab 11 having at least one through hole for fixing the housing 4 by means of a screw fastener to a support surface, such as a wall or ceiling, adjacent the emergency lamp 3. In this case tabs 11 project laterally outwardly at opposite sides of the base 5. Each tab 11 has a pair of spaced-apart outer circular through holes 14 and a central keyhole slot 15 between the outer holes 14 for ease of fixing the housing 4 to a support surface such as a ceiling or wall adjacent the emergency lamp 3..

[0016] Two connectors 8 are provided. A first connector 8 is connected between the controller 10 in the housing 4 and the emergency lamp 3 mains power supply to control the mains power supply to the emergency lamp 3. Mains power supply is routed through a switch in the controller 10 to control the mains power supply to the emergency lamp 3 by switching the mains power supply to the emergency lamp 3 on or off as directed by the controller 10.

[0017] A second connector 8 connects between the controller 10 and a back-up battery 16 power supply for the emergency lamp 3. A current sensor 12 of the controller 10 senses the operating condition of the emergency lamp 3 back-up battery 16 power supply. The controller 10 may optionally include a number of additional sensors, such as a temperature and humidity sensor 26, barometric pressure sensor and CO 2 sensor.

[0018] The connectors 8 allow quick attachment (typically within 8-10 minutes) of the device 2 to the emergency lamp 3, which is particularly advantageous for retrofitting relatively large emergency lighting systems which may include hundreds of emergency lamps 3.

[0019] Fig. 10 to Fig. 16 show a breaker box 30 with quick connectors for connection to battery and power of fixture.

[0020] The controller 10 has an NB-loT communication module 18 mounted within the housing 4 which communicates using NB-loT technology with a remote monitoring station 20 via a cloud platform 22, communicating with servers 23 and a dashboard 24 at the remote monitoring station 20.

[0021] Each device 2 sits outside and adjacent the emergency light 3 that it is associated with and communicates with the servers 23 at the remote monitoring station 20 through NB-loT technology. The device 2 can send and receive data at any time to / from the remote monitoring station 20.

[0022] In use, devices 2 can be readily easily and quickly connected to each emergency lamp 3 in an emergency lighting system. Conveniently, installation can be carried out by any qualified electrician without any specialist IT training. Before the electrician attaches each device 2 to the associated emergency lamp 3 it has been prepopulated on the dashboard 24 and clearly outlines which emergency lamp 3 the device 2 has to be installed on. Once installed, subsequent testing can be carried out remotely, controlled from the remote monitoring station 20, at any convenient time and outside normal working hours so as not to disrupt or inconvenience the workforce in the building.

[0023] Prior to installation of the system 1 at a site, a site survey is carried out to determine number and locations of emergency lights. NB-loT readiness of the site is tested while on site. A new site is created on the web portal, and the devices 2 are added to site. An install sheet is printed from the web portal and supplied to the electrician.

[0024] Within the frontend a new site is created for each install. Devices 2 are then added using their location as the key, i.e. "outside room 101", "front entrance", etc. This will create a site list of devices 2 which will then be presented to the installation electrician. The site list has a Device ID, Site ID, and location for each device 2 for that site. As the electrician goes through the process of installing the devices 2, i.e. connecting them to the emergency lights 3, he will use this site list when he comes to commissioning the devices 2. When fully connected and with power restored to the emergency light 3, the electrician will connect using a commissioning port and an Android phone 28 (using a supplied cable) to the device 2.

[0025] Post commissioning, the site of each device 2 and location within that site is known to the back-end services. These associations are made at commission time. When this is complete, a test-schedule for devices 2 in that site can be created using a rule. This rule takes the form of a crontab which allows very precise scheduling for repetitive tests.

[0026] The devices 2 in a site can have multiple schedules to allow for any end customer requirements. During the devices 2 regular 'heartbeats', these tests are relayed to them in advance of the test being required to execute. Due to the devices 2 being designed to always be in sync with the backend servers time, the devices 2 then control the start time based on their own internal real-time clock.

[0027] When a test starts, the following steps are conducted by the device 2. 1. The power is interrupted by triggering a latch relay within the device 2. 2. The battery current is then measured to ensure that the direction of flow has changed to indicate that the power has correctly been interrupted and that the emergency lamp 3 has started to operate in a correct manner. 3. During the course of the test time, the battery current is periodically measured and those results are stored. It will be noted that they are not sent until after the test concludes. 4. At the end of the test time, the process is repeated in reverse to ensure that the power has been restored correctly. 5. Finally, the current readings are sent over NB-IoT to the backend services. It will be noted that the device 2 does not decide on the pass or failure of a test, this is calculated in the backend.

[0028] If clear problems happen in the course of the flow above, the device 2 will abort the test and send that information. This can happen, for example, if there was already a power interruption within the site so when the device 2 attempted to interrupt the power, no change in the current flow would be detected on the battery circuit as it would already be in emergency mode or may indeed be drained if the power interruption / failure was too long.

[0029] It will be appreciated that the device 2 of the invention is easily installed and allows monitoring and testing of an emergency lighting system. It can be fitted to any existing emergency lighting system at relatively low cost and can send and receive test data to and from each emergency lamp 3 using a cheap communication gateway which can incorporate up to 3,000 devices 2 at any time. It can be installed on an emergency lamp 3 which uses 220V or 110V. The required four annual inspections can be provided by a single mandatory on-site inspection and three remote inspections via the system 1 of the invention. Also, an inspection and testing can be carried out at any convenient time. The invention provides for remote testing and management of emergency lighting testing requirements remotely. Full details of historic tests are available on a web portal. This provides the test reports required by the relevant regulatory bodies. The device 2 is operated by a high capacity primary cell and has been designed to operate without maintenance for about 10 years.

[0030] The terms "comprise" and "include", and any variations thereof required for grammatical reasons, are to be considered as interchangeable and accorded the widest possible interpretation.

[0031] The invention is not limited to the embodiments hereinbefore described but may be varied in both construction and detail within the scope of the appended claims.

Claims

1. Emergency lighting testing device (2), comprising: a controller (10); a first connector (8) for connection between the controller (10) and an emergency lamp (3) mains power supply for routing the emergency lamp mains power supply through a switch in the controller (10) which is operable to control the mains power supply to the emergency lamp (3); a second connector (8) for connection between the controller (10) and a battery (16) supply for the emergency lamp (3) and including a sensor (12) such that the controller (10) can sense the operating condition of the emergency lamp battery (16) power supply, and the controller (10) having a communication module (18) for communicating with a remote monitoring station (20).

2. The emergency lighting testing device (2) as claimed in claim 1, wherein the communication module is an NB-loT module (18).

3. The emergency lighting testing device (2) as claimed in claim 1 or claim 2, wherein the communication module (18) connects to the remote monitoring station (20) via a cloud platform (22).

4. The emergency lighting testing device (2) as claimed in any one of the preceding claims, wherein the remote monitoring station (20) includes servers (23) and a dashboard (24).

5. The emergency lighting testing device (2) as claimed in any one of the preceding claims, wherein the controller (10) is mounted within a housing (4) having a rectangular base (5) with outwardly extending side walls (6) at each side of the base (5) and a cover (7) closing an outer end of the side walls (6), mounting tabs (11) projecting laterally outwardly at opposite sides of the base (5), each mounting tab (11) having a keyhole slot (15) for reception of a screw fastener to secure the housing on a support surface adjacent the emergency lamp (3).

6. The emergency lighting testing device (2) as claimed in any one of the preceding claims, wherein the first connector (8) and the second connector (8) comprise cables and Wago connectors.

7. An emergency lighting testing system (1) incorporating the device (2) as claimed in any one of the preceding claims, wherein the system (1) comprises: operating the emergency lamp (3) in a normal operating mode with the controller switch closed for delivering mains power supply to the emergency lamp (3); sensing mains current supplied to the battery (16) when the emergency lamp (3) is in the normal operating mode; opening the controller switch to cut off mains power supply to the emergency lamp (3); sensing current delivered by the battery (16) to the emergency lamp (3); closing the controller switch to re-connect mains power supply to the emergency lamp (3); and sensing the mains current to the battery (16) after re-connecting the mains power supply to the emergency lamp (3).

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