Wide-area fire alarm system

Abstract

To provide a wide-area fire alarm system that enables easy and simple setting of various information necessary for signal transmission and reception of alarms set up in residential units in a monitoring object area, as well as wide-area monitoring and operation management of alarms.SOLUTION: In a wide-area fire alarm system, a wireless interlocking type alarm 10 is placed in each of a plurality of residential units 12 existing in a monitoring object area and connected to a server 20 via a communication network. The server 20 remotely sets the transmission power and relay delay time for alarms to relay a fire interlock signal so that when the alarm 10 detects a fire, the alarm operation by the alarms in other residential units spreads in a ripple pattern over time centered on the alarm operation of the residential unit where the fire has been detected.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 1

Description

[Technical Field]

[0001] The present invention relates to a wide-area fire alarm system that monitors and issues an alarm in the event of a fire occurring in a restaurant or residential building in a densely built-up urban area. [Background technology]

[0002] According to the Fire and Disaster Management Agency White Paper, a fire that burns an area of ​​33,000 m2 (10,000 tsubo) or more is considered a "major fire," but there has not been a major fire spreading through urban areas during normal times since the Sakata Fire in 1976.

[0003] However, in urban areas densely populated with wooden buildings, roads are narrow and there are dilapidated buildings, making it difficult for fire trucks and firefighters to enter in the event of a fire. Furthermore, when weather conditions such as wind direction at the time of the fire are added, there is a risk of the fire spreading over a wide area.

[0004] On the other hand, in recent years, residential fire alarms that detect and warn of fires in homes have become widespread. Hereinafter, "fire alarms" will be simply referred to as "alarms."

[0005] These types of alarms have a sensor unit and an alarm unit integrated into the alarm, and sound a fire alarm when it detects a fire due to smoke or heat, etc. Because the alarm can monitor for fires and sound an alarm on its own, they are easy to install and inexpensive, and have become widely used as their installation in ordinary homes has become mandatory.

[0006] In addition, wireless interlocking fire alarm systems have been put into practical use and are becoming widespread, in which multiple alarm devices communicate with each other so that when a fire alarm sound is emitted from any one alarm device, the other alarm devices also interlock and emit fire alarm sounds.

[0007] However, in such conventional wireless-linked fire alarm systems, when one alarm receives a wireless signal from another alarm, multiple wireless signals using the same communication frequency may arrive at the same time, causing a signal collision. The frequency of signal collisions increases as the number of alarms installed in an alert area increases, which limits the number of alarms that can be installed in one alert area.

[0008] To solve this problem, a known fire alarm system forms groups consisting of multiple alarm devices, uses different communication frequencies for each group, and when forming the groups, sets a maximum number of alarm devices to prevent the frequency of signal collisions from becoming too high, and places repeaters between the multiple groups formed in this way to link them together (Patent Document 2).

[0009] In a fire alarm system in which groups are linked together using different communication frequencies, the number of linked alarm devices can be increased overall by linking multiple groups within a surveillance area. Since the communication frequencies of alarm devices in different groups are different, even if a signal from an alarm device in one group and a signal from an alarm device in another group arrive at an alarm device in that group at the same time, no signal collision occurs, and signals can be sent and received reliably.

[0010] By installing a group-linked alarm system in facilities with a floor area of ​​less than 3,000 square meters that are not required to install fire alarm equipment, such as group homes that provide household support for the elderly or intellectually disabled, it is possible to avoid the problem of signal conflicts while increasing the number of linked alarms throughout the group home to the necessary and sufficient number, making it possible to provide fire monitoring functions that are essentially equivalent to those provided by installing fire alarm equipment, at a low cost.

[0011] For this reason, it is conceivable to apply the conventional group-linked fire alarm system to wide-area fire alarm systems that monitor fires in urban areas with a high concentration of wooden buildings. In this case, the dwellings in the urban areas to be monitored would be divided into groups of 15 dwelling units, each corresponding to the maximum number of alarms that can be configured in a group, with a limit placed on the frequency of signal collisions to prevent a high frequency of signal collisions, and alarm groups with different communication frequencies would be formed. Furthermore, repeaters that convert the frequency of the fire interlocking signals would be installed between the groups to enable interlocking between the groups.

[0012] If such a conventional group-linked alarm system is applied to a wide-area fire alarm system aimed at urban areas, when an alarm in one dwelling unit detects a fire and sounds an alarm, a fire alarm can be output from alarms in other dwelling units in the same group and from alarms installed in dwelling units in all other groups.

[0013] However, if a wide-area fire alarm system simultaneously issues a fire alarm from the alarms of all units in a group, that is, all units in the monitored area, in the event of a fire in one unit, this could result in fire alarms being issued in units in groups where the fire is less urgent and located a considerable distance from the unit where the fire occurred, which could cause unnecessary confusion and could increase the inconvenience in the event of a false alarm or false alarm.

[0014] In addition, the division of residential units into groups in monitored areas is based on the residents' agreement to monitor each other for fires, and must be carried out with due consideration given to neighborhood relationships among local residents, such as neighborhood associations.As it is not possible to unambiguously divide residential units into groups based on map information, etc., there is also the problem that dividing residential units into groups takes a lot of time and effort.

[0015] To solve this problem, the applicant has proposed a wide-area fire alarm system in which wirelessly linked alarms are installed in each of multiple dwelling units in the monitored area, and in the event of a fire, the alarm in the dwelling unit where the fire occurred will be the center of the alarm operation, and as time passes, fire alarm operations by alarms in other dwelling units will spread in a ripple-like manner throughout the monitored area (Patent Document 1).

[0016] For this reason, the alarm is set with a transmission power for transmitting the fire linkage signal so that multiple alarms installed in other dwelling units adjacent to the dwelling unit where the alarm is located are within the communication area, and the relay delay times from when the fire linkage signal is received until it is relayed and transmitted are set to be different for the multiple alarms installed in other dwelling units adjacent to the dwelling unit that detected the fire, thereby reducing communication errors caused by signal collisions when the fire linkage signal is relayed and transmitted in a ripple pattern. [Prior art documents] [Patent documents]

[0017] [Patent Document 1] Patent Publication No. 2021-99675 [Patent Document 2] Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2010-33236 [Patent Document 3] Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2011-034373 Summary of the Invention [Problem to be solved by the invention]

[0018] However, with such wide-area fire alarm systems, it is necessary to individually set the transmission power and relay delay time for the many dwellings in monitored areas such as urban areas where houses and shops are densely packed, which creates the problem of making it time-consuming and laborious to set up the alarms.

[0019] Furthermore, when a fire occurs in a monitored area, the alarm in the apartment where the fire occurred will be activated, and as time passes, fire alarms in other apartments will activate in a ripple-like manner throughout the monitored area.However, it is not possible to grasp the nature of these alarm activations even from within the fire monitoring area, and operation and management of the large number of alarms must all be done on-site, making it desirable to have a systematic operation and management that grasps the overall picture of the monitored area.

[0020] The present invention aims to provide a wide-area fire alarm system that allows for simple and easy setting of various information necessary for signal transmission and reception by alarm devices installed in dwellings in the monitored area, and enables wide-area monitoring and operational management of alarm devices. [Means for solving the problem]

[0021] (Wide-area fire alarm system) The present invention provides a wide-area fire alarm system, an alarm device installed in each of a plurality of dwelling units present in a monitoring area; a host device that is connected to the alarm device via a communication network and that sets the transmission power and relay delay time in the alarm device to relay and transmit a fire interlocking signal so that when the alarm device detects a fire, the alarm device will activate the alarm in the dwelling unit that detected the fire and then the alarm devices in the other dwelling units will activate the alarm in a ripple-like manner over time; The present invention is characterized in that:

[0022] (Transmission power and relay delay time setting details) The higher-level device is The transmission power of the alarm is set so that the communication area of ​​the fire interlocking signal transmitted when the alarm installed in the dwelling unit detects a fire includes other alarms installed in multiple other dwelling units adjacent to the dwelling unit; A relay delay time is set in the alarm device so that alarm devices installed in other multiple dwelling units adjacent to the dwelling unit in which the alarm device is installed take different times from when they receive the fire interlocking signal until they relay and transmit it.

[0023] (Setting relay delay time for a group of residences) The upper device divides the dwelling units in the monitored area into dwelling unit groups of a predetermined number of dwelling units, and sets different relay delay times for the alarms of each dwelling unit in each dwelling unit group in a predetermined order.

[0024] (Relay delay time thinning setting) If the dwelling unit group has fewer than a predetermined number of dwelling units, the host device sets mutually different relay delay times in the alarm devices of each dwelling unit in a predetermined order with some of the delay times thinned out.

[0025] (Fire alarm unit display by host device) When an alarm detects a fire and outputs a fire alarm, or when it receives a fire linkage signal from another alarm and outputs a fire alarm indicating a fire in another dwelling unit, it sends a fire alarm notification signal to a higher-level device, When the higher-level device receives a fire alarm notification signal from the alarm device, it displays the fire alarm operation of the dwelling unit that has output a fire alarm.

[0026] (Removal of Fire Alarm Display on Dwelling Units Due to Alarm Stoppage or Fire Recovery) When the alarm is stopped or the fire is restored after detecting a fire, the alarm sends an alarm stop notification signal or a fire restoration notification signal to the host device, When the higher-level device receives an alarm stop notification signal or a fire restoration notification signal from the alarm device, it erases the display of the fire alarm operation for the dwelling unit for which the alarm has been stopped or the fire restoration has been carried out. [Effects of the Invention]

[0027] (Basic effect) The present invention is a wide-area fire alarm system comprising an alarm device installed in each of a number of dwelling units in a monitored area, and a host device connected to the alarm devices via a communications network, which sets a transmission power and relay delay time in the alarm device to relay a fire linkage signal so that when the alarm device detects a fire, alarm actions by the alarm devices of the other dwelling units will spread in a ripple-like manner over time, with the alarm action of the dwelling unit that detected the fire as the center.As a result, the transmission power and relay delay time for the alarm device that causes alarm actions by the alarm devices of the other dwelling units to spread in a ripple-like manner over time, with the alarm action of the dwelling unit that detected the fire as the center, can be set remotely from a host device such as a server, and the transmission power and relay delay time can be set efficiently even if there are a large number of dwelling units, ranging from hundreds to thousands, in the monitored area.

[0028] (Effect of detailed settings of transmission power and relay delay time) In addition, the upper device sets the transmission power of the alarm so that the communication area for the fire interlocking signal transmitted by the alarm installed in a dwelling unit when it detects a fire includes other alarms installed in a number of other dwelling units adjacent to the dwelling unit in question, and sets a relay delay time in the alarm so that the time between when the alarms installed in a number of other dwelling units adjacent to the dwelling unit in which the alarm is installed differs from one another when they receive the fire interlocking signal and when they relay and transmit it.As a result, the fire interlocking signal transmitted by the alarm in the dwelling unit where a fire has occurred is received by at least the alarms in adjacent dwelling units and an alarm operation is carried out, but the relay transmission of the fire interlocking signal is carried out after a different relay delay time when the next fire interlocking signal is received, and because this means that even if a communication method without carrier sense is used for communication between alarms, communication errors due to signal collisions in the relayed fire interlocking signals are sufficiently suppressed, and as a result, the alarm operation by the alarms in the dwelling units is carried out over a wide area, with ripples spreading from the dwelling unit where the fire has occurred.

[0029] (Effect of setting relay delay time for a dwelling unit group) In addition, the upper device divides the dwelling units in the monitored area into dwelling unit groups of a predetermined number of dwelling units, and sets different relay delay times for the alarms of each dwelling unit in a dwelling unit group in a predetermined order.As a result, the grouping of dwelling units for setting relay delay times can be done uniquely based on map information of the monitored area, and setting relay delay times by grouping dwelling units can be done simply and easily.

[0030] (Effect of thinning out relay delay time settings) Furthermore, when a dwelling unit group has fewer than a predetermined number of dwelling units, the upper device sets different relay delay times for the alarms of each dwelling unit in a predetermined order with some of the times thinned out, so that even if an attempt is made to form a dwelling unit group based on the predetermined number of dwelling units, it may be the case that some of the dwelling units do not exist in some locations based on actual map information. In this case, relay delay times corresponding to the existing dwelling units are set, and relay delay times corresponding to the non-existent dwelling units are thinned out and not used.

[0031] (Effect of displaying fire alarm units by the host device) Furthermore, when an alarm detects a fire and outputs a fire alarm, or when it receives a fire linkage signal from another alarm and outputs a fire alarm indicating a fire in another dwelling unit, it sends a fire alarm notification signal to a higher-level device, and when the higher-level device receives a fire alarm notification signal from the alarm, it displays the fire alarm operation of the dwelling unit that output the fire alarm.For example, by displaying a monitoring map showing the dwellings in the monitored area on the higher-level device and displaying the dwellings that have received a fire alarm notification signal in red, it is possible to visually grasp the alarm operations of the alarms in the dwelling units that are increasing in number, like ripples spreading from the dwelling unit where the fire occurred.

[0032] Furthermore, after the host device sets the transmission power and relay delay time in the alarm, it sends an alarm test signal to the alarm to trigger a test alarm, making it possible to check the alarm test operation in the monitored area, with new dwelling units triggering test alarms spreading out in a ripple pattern, centered on the dwelling unit that first triggered the test alarm.If there are any dwelling units that have failed to trigger a test alarm, and no test alarm is triggered, the host device can instruct the alarm to increase the transmission power of the dwelling units adjacent to the dwelling unit that has failed to trigger the test alarm, and then another alarm test can be carried out to confirm that the test alarm is triggered normally, making it possible to simply and easily adjust the transmission power of the alarm.

[0033] (Effect of erasing the fire alarm display when the alarm is stopped or the fire is restored) Furthermore, when the alarm is stopped or fire restoration is performed after detecting a fire, the alarm sends an alarm stop notification signal or fire restoration notification signal to the higher-level device, and when the higher-level device receives an alarm stop notification signal or fire restoration notification signal from the alarm, it erases the display of the fire alarm operation for the dwelling unit for which the alarm has been stopped or fire restoration has been performed.Therefore, for example, if the higher-level device displays the alarm operation for the dwelling unit that received the fire alarm notification signal on a monitoring map showing the dwellings in the monitored area, it can be easily and simply seen how the alarm operation of the alarm device is stopped as the alarm is stopped or fire restoration is performed. [Brief explanation of the drawings]

[0034] [Figure 1] FIG. 1 is an explanatory diagram showing an outline of a wide-area fire alarm system provided with wirelessly linked alarm devices and a server as a higher-level device. [Figure 2] This is an explanatory diagram showing a dwelling unit map showing the dwelling units to be monitored by the wide-area fire alarm system and the locations of alarm devices. [Figure 3] This is an explanatory diagram showing the layout of alarms and a group of nine dwelling units arranged in a 3x3 grid, which is the basic unit of a wide-area fire alarm system. [Figure 4] 4 is a time chart showing relay delay times set in alarm devices of the dwelling unit group of FIG. 3. [Figure 5] FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing an embodiment of a wireless linked alarm device used in a wide-area fire alarm system. [Figure 6] FIG. 10 is an explanatory diagram showing a relay delay map used to set a relay delay time in a monitoring area. [Figure 7] FIG. 7 is an explanatory diagram showing the setting of relay transmission times for dwelling units in a monitoring area based on the relay delay map of FIG. 6. [Figure 8] FIG. 10 is an explanatory diagram showing how a fire alarm operation spreads in a ripple-like manner from the dwelling unit where the fire occurred. [Figure 9] 2 is a flowchart showing a control operation of the server shown in FIG. 1; [Figure 10] 6 is a flowchart showing the control operation of the alarm device shown in FIG. 5. [Figure 11] 11 is a flowchart showing details of the fire alarm control in step S26 of FIG. 10. [Figure 12] 11 is a flowchart showing details of linked reception control in step S28 of FIG. 10. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0035] DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Preferred embodiments of a wide-area fire alarm system according to the present invention will be described in detail below with reference to the accompanying drawings. However, the present invention is not limited to the following embodiments.

[0036] [Basic concept of the embodiment] First, the basic concept of the embodiment will be explained. The embodiment generally relates to a wide-area fire alarm system that is composed of alarm devices installed in each of a plurality of dwelling units in a monitored area, and a host device that is connected to the alarm devices via a communication network.

[0037] Here, an "alarm device" is a device that is installed in each of multiple dwelling units in the monitored area, detects fires, issues an alarm, and sends a fire linkage signal to alarm devices in other dwelling units to issue an alarm, and also sends a fire linkage signal sent from other alarm devices to issue an alarm.

[0038] In addition, a "monitored area" is an area where there are many dwellings that are monitored for fires by installing alarms, and the size of the area is arbitrary, but the concept includes a wide area, such as a large area divided into specified administrative districts such as cities, towns, and villages.

[0039] Furthermore, a "host device" is a host device that is connected to an alarm device via a communication network and centrally manages and controls multiple alarm devices, and is made up of a computer device with communication capabilities, such as a server, and is a concept that also includes central devices, center devices, central monitoring devices, etc.

[0040] Furthermore, a "communications network" refers to a communications network that connects a host device and multiple alarm devices via communications lines, and includes wireless communications lines, wired communications lines, or a combination of both, such as the Internet, public wireless LAN communications networks, and mobile phone networks. For alarm devices, this also includes wireless communications networks that do not require carrier sensing in accordance with STD-30, the standard for specified low-power radio stations in the 426 MHz band. "Carrier sensing" refers to a mechanism that checks for the reception of signal radio waves in the same frequency band before transmitting a signal radio wave (carrier wave) in order to eliminate signal radio wave collisions (interference), and does not transmit the signal radio wave if a signal radio wave in the same frequency band is received, and transmits the signal radio wave if a signal radio wave in the same frequency band is not received.

[0041] The higher-level device of this embodiment sets the transmission power and relay delay time in the alarm to relay the fire linkage signal so that when the alarm detects a fire, the alarm action of the dwelling unit that detected the fire will be the center and alarm actions by the alarms of the other dwelling units will spread in a ripple-like manner over time.

[0042] Here, "setting the transmission power of the alarm by the higher-level device" means setting the transmission power so that other alarms installed in multiple other dwelling units adjacent to dwelling unit 12 are within the communication area for the fire-linked signal that is transmitted when the alarm installed in dwelling unit 12 detects a fire.

[0043] In addition, "setting the relay delay time of the alarm by the higher-level device" means setting a delay time so that the time taken for other alarms installed in multiple other dwelling units adjacent to the dwelling unit in which the alarm is installed differs from one another after receiving the fire linkage signal to starting relay transmission.

[0044] The host device also divides the dwelling units in the monitored area into dwelling unit groups of a predetermined number of dwelling units, and sets different relay delay times in the alarm devices of each dwelling unit in a predetermined order. In this case, if the dwelling unit group has fewer than the predetermined number of dwelling units, different relay delay times are set in the alarm devices of each dwelling unit in a predetermined order with some of the times thinned out.

[0045] Furthermore, when the host device receives a fire alarm notification signal accompanying a fire alarm operation from an alarm device, it displays the fire alarm operation of the dwelling unit that issued the fire alarm, allowing the fire alarm operation of the alarm device to be visually confirmed as ripples spread from the dwelling unit where the fire broke out. In this case, when the host device receives an alarm stop notification signal or fire recovery notification signal accompanying the alarm device's alarm stop or fire recovery, it erases the display of the fire alarm operation of the corresponding dwelling unit, making it possible to simply and easily grasp the progress of the fire alarm operation of the alarm device as it stops.

[0046] Specific embodiments are described below. In the specific embodiments shown below, the "host device" is a "server," the alarm device is a "wireless-linked alarm device," the "communications network" is a communications network that combines "STD-30, the standard for specified low-power radio stations in the 426 MHz band," "public wireless LAN communications network," and "the Internet," and the "dwelling unit group" is a "dwelling unit group of nine units in a 3x3 matrix."

[0047] [Specific details of the embodiment] The wide-area fire alarm system will be explained in more detail below.

[0048] a. Wide-area fire alarm system a1. System overview a2.Server functional configuration b. Relay delay time set in the alarm device by the server b1. Basic unit of dwelling unit group b2. Avoiding signal collisions by relay transmission b3. Relay delay time c. Alarm c1. Alarm configuration c2. Fire control function c3.Relay control function d. Server-based relay delay time setting for alarm devices in monitored areas d1.Relay delay map d2. Setting the actual relay delay time for alarms in the monitored area e. Wide-area fire alarm operation f. Control operation of wide-area fire alarm system f1. Server-based monitoring and control f2. Alarm control operation f3. Fire alarm control f4. Controlling reception of interlocking signals g. Modifications of the present invention

[0049] [a. Wide-area fire alarm system] The wide-area fire alarm system will be explained in more detail below. In this explanation, reference will be made to Figure 1, which shows an outline of the wide-area fire alarm system equipped with wirelessly linked alarm devices and a server as a host device, and Figure 2, which shows a map of the dwelling units monitored by the wide-area fire alarm system and the locations of the alarm devices.

[0050] (a1. System Overview) As shown in FIG. 1, in the wide-area fire alarm system of this embodiment, wirelessly linked alarm devices 10 are installed in a plurality of dwelling units 12 in the area to be monitored.

[0051] Figure 2 is an example of a dwelling unit map 14 showing a monitored area, with an alarm device 10 installed in each of multiple dwelling units 12 located in the monitored area, such as an urban area densely populated with houses and shops. Note that in Figure 2, the alarm devices 10 are indicated by circles within the dwelling units, and the alarm device 10 and dwelling unit 12 are only indicated for one dwelling unit, with the other numbers omitted.

[0052] When an alarm device 10 detects a fire, it outputs a fire alarm indicating that a fire has broken out within the dwelling unit, and also sends a fire interlocking signal to alarm devices 10 in other dwelling units 12 to cause them to output fire alarms indicating that a fire has broken out in those other dwelling units. Note that the fire alarm that an alarm device 10 outputs when it detects a fire is sometimes referred to as the "interlocking source alarm," and the fire alarm that it outputs when it receives a fire interlocking signal from another alarm device is sometimes referred to as the "interlocking destination alarm."

[0053] Furthermore, if an alarm stop operation is performed during a fire alarm or if fire recovery is detected, the alarm device 10 that detects a fire will stop the fire alarm and send an alarm stop linkage signal or a fire recovery linkage signal to alarm devices in other dwelling units to stop the fire alarm.

[0054] The alarm device 10 transmits and receives signals using a communications protocol that does not require carrier sensing and conforms to STD-30 (radio equipment standard for low-power security system radio stations), known as the standard for specified low-power radio stations in the 426 MHz band, for example.

[0055] The alarm device 10 is connected to a server 20, which functions as a higher-level device, via a communication network made up of a communication adapter 16 installed in the dwelling unit 12, a public wireless LAN communication network 28 such as WiFi, and the Internet 26, and transmits and receives packet signals to and from the server 20.

[0056] The communications adapter 16 converts signals transmitted from the alarm device 10 via specified low-power radio in the 426 MHz band into packet signals for wireless transmission over the public wireless LAN communications network 28 using a protocol conversion method, and also converts packet signals received via the public wireless LAN communications network 28 into specified low-power radio signals in the 426 MHz band for wireless transmission.

[0057] In addition, the communication adapter 16 may be provided with a mobile phone communication function conforming to a mobile phone communication protocol instead of a public wireless LAN communication function, or may be provided with both a public wireless LAN communication function and a mobile phone communication function, and switch to the public wireless LAN communication function if it is in a service area of ​​a public wireless LAN communication network, or switch to the mobile phone communication function if it is in a service area of ​​a mobile phone network, or switch to one of the two if it is in both service areas, taking into account, for example, usage fees and communication speed.

[0058] (a2. Server functional configuration) The functional configuration of the server will be explained in more detail below. The server 20 shown in Figure 1 is composed of a computer circuit equipped with a CPU, memory, and various input / output ports, and the functions of the fire monitoring control unit 22 and database 24 are realized by the execution of a program by the CPU.

[0059] When an alarm 10 installed in a dwelling unit 12 in the monitored area detects a fire, the fire monitoring control unit 22 of the server 20 remotely controls the alarm 10 in each dwelling unit 12 to set the transmission power P and relay delay time Td for relaying and transmitting the fire linkage signal so that the alarm action by the alarms in other dwelling units spreads in a ripple pattern over time, centered on the alarm action of the dwelling unit that detected the fire.

[0060] Here, the fire monitoring control unit 22 of the server 20 controls the setting of the transmission power P by setting the transmission power P so that the communication area of ​​the fire-linked signal transmitted when the alarm 10 installed in the dwelling unit 12 detects a fire includes alarms installed in multiple other dwelling units adjacent to the dwelling unit 12.

[0061] The transmission power setting of the alarm device 10 in accordance with instructions from the server 20 is, for example, by dividing the transmission power P of the alarm device 10 into three stages of transmission power Pmax, Pmid, Pmin - high, medium, and low - and switching the setting so that the required communication area is obtained. Note that the transmission power setting for the alarm device 10 may be set in multiple stages of three or more, or the setting may be changed continuously.

[0062] In addition, the fire monitoring control unit 22 of the server 20 controls the setting of the relay delay time Td by setting the relay delay time Td for the alarm 10 of each dwelling unit 12 so that the times taken by alarms installed in multiple other dwelling units adjacent to the dwelling unit 12 in which the alarm 10 is installed differ from each other after receiving the fire linkage signal until they relay and transmit it.

[0063] The database 24 of the server 20 stores various setting information necessary for fire monitoring, including map information such as the dwelling unit map 24 shown in Figure 2, which shows the dwelling units in the monitored area, the dwelling unit address assigned to each dwelling unit, the transmission power and relay delay time set for each dwelling unit, and network addresses such as IP addresses assigned to each dwelling unit.

[0064] [b. Relay delay time set in the alarm device by the server] The relay delay time set in the alarm devices by the server will be explained in more detail below. For this explanation, reference will be made to Figure 3, which shows the layout of alarm devices and a dwelling unit group consisting of nine dwelling units in a 3x3 matrix, which is the basic unit of the wide-area fire alarm system.

[0065] (b1. Basic unit of dwelling unit group) The basic unit of a dwelling unit group will be explained in more detail. As shown in Figure 3, the fire monitoring control unit 22 of the server 20 shown in Figure 1 divides the multiple dwelling units in the monitoring area into dwelling unit groups of 9 dwelling unit units, with a 3x3 grid, and sets a dwelling unit address unique to the dwelling unit and mutually different relay delay times Td1 to Td9 in a predetermined order for each of the alarm devices 10 (10-1) to 10 (10-9) installed in the dwelling units 12 (12-1) to 12 (12-9) in the dwelling unit group.

[0066] Furthermore, in order to prevent the timing at which the alarm devices 10 (10-1) to 10 (10-9) installed in the dwelling units 12 (12-1) to 12 (12-9) receive a fire linkage signal from another alarm device and then relay and transmit the signal from that alarm device from overlapping, the fire monitoring control unit 22 of the server 20 sets mutually different relay delay times Td1 to Td9.

[0067] Here, one alarm device 10 (10-1) to 10 (10-8) is installed in each of the dwelling units 12 (12-1) to 12 (12-8), but in the central dwelling unit 12 (12-9), for example, three alarm devices 10 (10-9) are installed, for example, divided into rooms, so that linked alarms are issued within the dwelling unit.

[0068] In this way, when multiple alarm devices 10 (10-9) are installed in the same dwelling unit 12 (12-9), the alarm device 10 (10-9) that detects a fire will transmit a fire interlocking signal that includes the dwelling unit address unique to that dwelling unit, and since the dwelling unit address of the fire interlocking signal matches the dwelling unit address of the other alarm devices 10 (10-9) in the dwelling unit, in this case they will output a fire interlocking alarm indicating a fire within the dwelling unit, but will not relay the transmission to the alarm devices 10 (10-1) to 10 (10-8) in the other dwelling units.

[0069] Furthermore, when the three alarm devices 10 (10-9) installed in dwelling unit 12 (12-9) receive a fire interlocking signal that requires relaying from another dwelling unit, they each relay a fire interlocking signal, but by setting different relay delay times, they prevent the timing of relay transmission from overlapping. Note that the following explanation will be given using the example of a case where one alarm device 10 is installed in each dwelling unit.

[0070] (b2. Avoiding signal collisions by relay transmission) Avoiding signal collisions through relay transmission will now be explained in more detail.In this embodiment, when an alarm device in a certain dwelling unit detects a fire, alarm control is performed in which a fire-linked signal is relayed so that the alarm device in the dwelling unit that detected the fire is the center and alarm signals from alarm devices in other dwelling units spread in a ripple-like pattern over time, but in order to achieve this, it is important to avoid signal collisions when multiple alarm devices receive and relay fire-linked signals from other dwelling units.

[0071] In order to avoid signal collisions due to such relay transmission of fire interlocking signals, the fire monitoring control unit 22 of the server 20 shown in Figure 1 sets relay delay times Td1 to Td9 so that the times from when the alarm devices 10 (10-1) to 10 (10-9) installed in the dwelling units 12 (12-1) to 12 (12-9) of the dwelling unit group shown in Figure 3 receive an interlocking signal from another alarm device to when they start relay transmission are different from one another.

[0072] Furthermore, when an alarm device 10 (10-1) to 10 (10-9) in a dwelling unit group detects a fire in its own dwelling unit, it transmits a fire linkage signal multiple times at predetermined time intervals, including the dwelling unit address unique to that dwelling unit, a sequence number SN indicating the number of transmissions, and a relay count RN which increases by one from an initial value of 0 depending on the number of transmissions.

[0073] Furthermore, when an alarm device 10 (10-1) to 10 (10-9) in a dwelling group receives a fire interlocking signal from a dwelling unit address different from its own, it determines that the fire interlocking signal is from an alarm device in another dwelling unit and performs relay transmission control. This relay transmission control relays a fire interlocking signal containing a relay number "RN-1", which is the received relay number RN minus 1, when the relay number RN is 1 or greater, and does not relay a fire interlocking signal when the relay number RN is RN=0.

[0074] In the following description, a fire interlock signal received from another dwelling unit means that a fire interlock signal has been received from a dwelling unit address different from the dwelling unit address of the dwelling unit.

[0075] Furthermore, when alarm devices 10 (10-1) to 10 (10-9) in a dwelling unit group receive a fire linkage signal from another dwelling unit, if the received sequence number (SN) is the same as a sequence number that has already been received, they will not relay the fire linkage signal.

[0076] In this way, the alarm devices 10 (10-1) to 10 (10-9) perform relay control based on the relay delay time setting, the number of relays (RN), and the sequence number (SN), to control the relay so as to avoid signal collisions as much as possible in the relayed and transmitted fire interlocking signals, even when using a communication protocol that complies with STD-30, which does not require carrier sensing.

[0077] (b3. Relay delay time) The relay delay time will be explained in more detail below with reference to Figure 4, which shows the relay delay times set in the alarm devices for the dwelling unit group in Figure 3.

[0078] Here, Figure 4 is a time chart showing the relay transmission by the surrounding eight alarm devices 10 (10-1) to 10 (10-8) when the alarm device 10 (10-9) located in the center of Figure 3 detects a fire and transmits a fire linkage signal twice, with the alarm device 10 (10-9) showing transmission T and the alarm devices 10 (10-1) to 10 (10-8) showing reception R and transmission T.

[0079] As shown in Figure 4, the alarm device 10 (10-9) located in the center of Figure 3 transmits the first fire interlocking signal 18 (18-1) at time t1. The sequence number SN of the first fire interlocking signal 18 (18-1) is SN=1, and the number of relays RN is RN=0.

[0080] The first fire interlocking signal 18 (18-1) transmitted by the alarm device 10 (10-9) is received by the surrounding eight alarm devices 10 (10-1) to 10 (10-8), but because the relay count RN=0, no relay transmission is carried out.

[0081] Next, at time t2, the alarm device 10 (10-9) transmits a second fire interlocking signal 18 (18-2) with sequence number SN = 2 and relay count RN = 1, which is received by the surrounding eight alarm devices 10 (10-1) to 10 (10-8). Because the relay count RN of the second fire interlocking signal 18 (18-2) is 1, the alarm devices 10 (10-1) to 10 (10-8) begin relay control, and relay-transmit fire interlocking signals with relay count RN = 1-1 = 0 at different times when different relay delay times Td1 to Td8 have passed since the second reception end time t3.

[0082] Furthermore, at time t4, the alarm device 10 (10-9) transmits a third fire interlocking signal 18 (18-3) with sequence number SN=3 and relay count RN=2. By shifting the timing of relay transmission in this way in accordance with the relay delay times Td1 to Td8, it is possible to avoid signal collisions. Note that the relay delay time Td9 of the alarm device 10 (10-9) is set to a time other than Td1 to Td8.

[0083] [c.Alarm] The alarm will now be described in more detail with reference to Figure 5, which shows an embodiment of a wireless interlocking type alarm used in a wide-area fire alarm system.

[0084] (c1. Alarm configuration) The configuration of the alarm device will be explained in more detail below. As shown in Figure 5, the alarm device 10 comprises a processor 40 known as a one-chip CPU, and for the processor 40 there are provided a smoke detection section 32 which functions as a fire sensor section, an alarm stop switch 34 which functions as an operation section, an LED 36 which includes a drive circuit which functions as a display section, a speaker 38 which includes a drive circuit which functions as an audio alarm section, and a communications section 42 which is connected to an antenna 44.

[0085] The processor 40 is provided with a CPU 46, and a bus 62 extending from the CPU 46 is connected to a control logic 48, a ROM 50, a RAM 52, an AD conversion port 54, an input port 56, an output port 58, an audio output port 60, and a communication port 64. The control logic 48 realizes various hardware functions such as bus control associated with the control processing of the CPU 46.

[0086] The smoke detector 32 is connected to the AD conversion port 54, the alarm stop switch 34 is connected to the input port 56, the LED 36 is connected to the output port 58, the speaker 38 is connected to the audio output port 60, and the communication unit 42 is connected to the communication port 64.

[0087] The smoke detector 32 has a known scattered light type smoke detector structure, and drives an infrared LED light emitter intermittently at a predetermined cycle, amplifies the scattered light received by a light receiver such as a photodiode, and outputs a smoke concentration detection signal. Note that a temperature detector may be provided instead of the smoke detector 32, and the temperature detector may use a thermistor as a temperature detection element, in which case it outputs a temperature detection signal that is a voltage signal corresponding to changes in resistance value due to temperature.

[0088] The communication unit 42 sends and receives linkage signals for fires, etc. to and from other alarm devices in accordance with a specified communication protocol. In Japan, this communication protocol complies with STD-30 (Radio Equipment Standard for Low-Power Security System Radio Stations), known as the standard for specified low-power radio stations in the 426 MHz band, and allows communication that does not require carrier sensing.

[0089] The communication unit 42 is also provided with a transmitting unit and a receiving unit, and the transmitting unit can be instructed by the fire monitoring control unit 22 of the server 20 shown in Figure 1 to switch between three levels of transmission power Pmax, Pmid, and Pmin, for example, large, medium, and small, with the maximum transmission power of 10mW for STD-30 as an upper limit, and the transmission power can be adjusted so that other dwelling units adjacent to the dwelling unit are within the communication area.

[0090] The CPU 46 is provided with a fire control unit 66 and a relay control unit 68 as functions realized by executing a program.

[0091] (c2. Fire control function) The fire control function of the alarm will now be explained in more detail. Fire alarm control by the fire control unit 66 of the alarm unit 10 is as follows: The fire control unit 66 reads the smoke density detection signal output from the smoke detector unit 32 from the AD conversion port 54, and if the smoke density is above a predetermined threshold value that corresponds to the fire detection sensitivity that is set at that time, it detects a fire and performs control to output a fire alarm indicating a fire in the dwelling.

[0092] In this case, as a fire alarm, the fire control unit 66 repeatedly outputs an alarm sound from the speaker 38 indicating a fire in the residence, such as "Woohoo, the fire alarm has been activated, please check," and also causes the LED 36 to light up, for example, to display an alarm indicating a fire in the residence.

[0093] When a fire alarm is output, the fire control unit 66 generates a fire linkage signal in a format that conforms to a predetermined communication protocol, with the address of its own dwelling unit, sequence number SN=1, number of relays RN=0, and command set to "fire," and instructs the communication unit 42 to control the transmission of the fire linkage signal to alarm devices in other dwelling units, causing the alarm devices in other dwelling units that receive the fire linkage signal to output a fire alarm.

[0094] In addition, when fire detection continues based on the smoke density detection signal from the smoke detector 32, the fire control unit 66 controls the repeated transmission of the fire linkage signal while increasing the sequence number SN and the number of relays RN by one each time a predetermined time T has elapsed since the first transmission of the fire linkage signal, until a predetermined number of times is reached.

[0095] The time interval for transmitting the second and subsequent fire interlocking signals is arbitrary, but since it determines the speed at which the alarm action spreads like a ripple from the dwelling unit where the fire occurred, it may be set to a constant time interval, or the time interval may be lengthened as the number of transmissions increases. Note that the number of times the fire interlocking signal is transmitted when fire detection continues determines the rate at which the alarm action spreads like a ripple from the dwelling unit where the fire occurred, and is arbitrary, it may be set to a predetermined number of transmissions corresponding to the distance at which the risk of fire is high, for example, several times.

[0096] Furthermore, when the fire control unit 66 receives a fire linkage signal from the same dwelling unit address sent by another alarm device in the same dwelling unit, if no alarm is in progress, it will repeatedly output an audio alarm such as "Woohoo! Another fire alarm has been activated. Please check," from the speaker 38, and will also control the LED 36 to flash, for example, to output an alarm indicating that another alarm device in the dwelling unit has detected a fire.

[0097] Furthermore, when the fire control unit 66 receives a fire linkage signal sent by an alarm in another dwelling unit with a different dwelling unit address, if no alarm is in progress, it will repeatedly output an audio alarm from the speaker 38 indicating a fire in the other dwelling unit, such as "Woo-woo! A fire alarm in another dwelling unit has been activated. Please check," and will also control the LED 36 to flash, for example, to display an alarm indicating a fire in the other dwelling unit.

[0098] In this case, by pre-registering the names of the other dwellings in correspondence with their addresses, it is possible to repeatedly output an audio alarm indicating a fire in another dwelling, such as "The fire alarm at Mr. / Ms. A's house has been activated. Please check."

[0099] Furthermore, for alarm stop control and fire restoration control, the fire control unit 66 transmits an alarm stop interlocking signal and a fire restoration interlocking signal in the same manner as in the case of fire interlocking control.

[0100] (c3. Relay control function) The relay control function of the alarm device will now be described in more detail. Relay control of the fire interlocking signal by the relay control unit 68 of the alarm device 10 is as follows: If the number of relays RN included in the fire interlocking signal received from another dwelling unit is RN=0, the relay control unit 68 performs control so that the received fire interlocking signal is not relayed.

[0101] In addition, if the relay count RN contained in the fire linkage signal received from another dwelling unit is RN=1 or more, the relay control unit 68 generates a fire linkage signal with the relay count (RN-1) by subtracting one from the received relay count RN, and controls the signal to be relayed and transmitted after a predetermined relay delay time Td set in advance by instructions from the fire monitoring control unit 22 of the server 20 shown in Figure 1 has elapsed.

[0102] In addition, the relay control unit 68 stores the sequence number SN contained in the previously received fire interlocking signal, and if the sequence number SN of a newly received fire interlocking signal is the same as the previous one, it means that the signal has already been relayed, so it controls the signal not to be relayed.

[0103] Furthermore, when the relay control unit 68 receives a fire linkage signal from another alarm device in the same dwelling unit address, it performs control so as not to relay the received fire linkage signal.

[0104] The relay control unit 68 also controls the relay transmission of the fire alarm stop and fire recovery linkage signals in the same manner as the fire linkage signal.

[0105] [d. Setting the relay delay time for alarm devices in the monitored area by the server] The setting of relay delay times for alarm devices in monitored areas by the server will be explained in more detail below. In this explanation, reference will be made to Figure 6, which shows the relay delay map used to set relay delay times for monitored areas.

[0106] (d1. Relay delay map) The relay delay map will be explained in more detail below. The relay delay map is stored in the database 24 of the server 20 shown in Figure 1. As shown in Figure 6, the relay delay map 70 is a virtual two-dimensional matrix representation of the dwellings in the monitored area, with delay numbers 1 to 9 shown within each rectangular dwelling unit indicating the relay delay time Td set in the alarm device installed in the dwelling. Here, delay numbers 1 to 9 represent, for example, each of the relay transmission delay times Td1 to Td9 shown in Figure 4.

[0107] The relay delay map 70 may have any desired vertical and horizontal size, and it is desirable that the size of the rectangles that make up the matrix be roughly the same as the size of the dwelling units on the map of the area to be monitored.

[0108] As shown in the upper left corner with circles marking the delay numbers, the relay delay map 70 uses a group of nine dwelling units, each 3x3 in size as shown in Figure 3, as its basic unit, and for the eight dwelling units surrounding the central dwelling unit, delay numbers 1 to 8 are assigned clockwise starting from the upper left corner, with delay number 9 assigned in the center.

[0109] Next, a relay delay map 70 is created by arranging 3×3 dwelling unit groups, to which delay numbers 1 to 9 are assigned, in the horizontal and vertical directions as basic units.

[0110] A feature of this relay delay map 70 is that no matter which central dwelling unit is selected, the delay numbers of the eight dwelling units surrounding the central dwelling unit will always be arranged in a different number sequence, and there will be no multiple identical numbers.

[0111] For example, if delay number 5 is taken as the center, the delay numbers of the surrounding eight dwelling units will be in the order (9-4-8-7-1-3-2-6). Also, if any delay number 7 is taken as the center, the delay numbers of the surrounding eight dwelling units will be in the order (4-8-9-6-2-1-3-5).

[0112] Using this property of relay delay map 70, as shown in the central 7x7 area in Figure 6 where delay numbers are circled, when a fire is detected in the dwelling unit with delay number 9, located in the center, and the alarm device transmits the first fire interlocking signal (relay count RN=0), the alarm devices in the surrounding eight dwelling units receive the fire interlocking signal and output a fire alarm. The alarms issued by the alarm devices in the surrounding eight dwelling units in response to the transmission of this first fire interlocking signal are called the first loop alarm or alarm operation.

[0113] Next, when the alarm in the dwelling unit with the same delay number 9 transmits a second fire interlocking signal (relay count RN=1), the alarms in the surrounding 8 dwelling units receive the fire interlocking signal and relay the fire interlocking signal (relay count RN=1-1=0) in the order of delay numbers (1-2-3-4-5-6-7-8), causing the alarms in the surrounding 16 dwelling units to issue a fire alarm. This fire alarm by the alarms in the surrounding 16 dwelling units is called the second loop alarm or alarm operation.

[0114] Similarly, when the third fire linkage signal is sent, a third loop alarm is sounded by alarm devices in the 24 apartments surrounding the outside of the second loop alarm.

[0115] In other words, as the alarm in the dwelling unit that detected the fire repeatedly sends out a fire linkage signal, the fire alarm will sound in a ripple-like pattern, spreading outward from the dwelling unit where the fire occurred, with the first loop alarm, second loop alarm, third loop alarm, and so on.The ripple-like spread of the alarm can be set as desired by determining the number of times the alarm that detected the fire sends out.

[0116] Furthermore, if a fire spreads from the first unit to another unit, multiple alarms will be triggered, with ripples spreading outward from the alarm in the newly burned unit.

[0117] (d2. Setting the actual relay delay time for alarms in the monitored area) The actual relay delay time settings for alarms in the monitored area will now be described in more detail with reference to Figure 7, which shows the relay delay time settings for dwellings in the monitored area based on the relay delay map in Figure 6.

[0118] The fire monitoring control unit 22 of the server 20 shown in FIG. 1 sets the relay delay time in the alarm devices in the area to be monitored in the following procedure.

[0119] (1) Select any dwelling unit that is surrounded by multiple other dwelling units and set the delay number to 9. (2) Set delay numbers (1-2-3-4-5-6-7-8) clockwise starting from the upper left corner for the eight dwelling units surrounding delay number 9. If no matching dwelling unit exists, skip the number and leave it as an empty number. (3) Hereafter, delay numbers 1 to 9 are set in the same manner as in (1) and (2) above, and this is repeated until delay numbers have been set for all dwelling units.

[0120] The setting of delay numbers based on the relay delay map 50 for such alarm devices in the monitored area can be done manually while the dwelling unit map 14 shown in Figure 2, which shows the dwelling units in the monitored area, is displayed on the display of the server 20, or it can be done by program control, which groups nine dwelling units in a 3x3 matrix on the dwelling unit map 14 and automatically assigns different delay numbers 1 to 9 to them.

[0121] [e. Wide-area fire alarm operation] The wide-area fire alarm operation will be explained in more detail with reference to Figure 8, which shows how the fire alarm operation spreads in a ripple pattern around the dwelling unit where the fire has occurred.

[0122] As shown in Figure 8, if a fire breaks out in a dwelling unit 80 (hereinafter referred to as the "fire-caused dwelling unit") located in the monitored area, the alarm indicated by delay number 9 installed in the fire-caused dwelling unit 80 will detect the fire and transmit a first fire linkage signal including sequence number SN=1 and relay number RN=0.

[0123] The fire linkage signal transmitted from the dwelling unit 80 where the fire occurred is received by the eight dwelling units 62 shown in hatching that are located adjacent to the dwelling unit 80 where the fire occurred, and a first loop fire alarm is output simultaneously.

[0124] Next, after a predetermined time has elapsed, the alarm in the apartment 80 where the fire occurred transmits a second fire linkage signal including sequence number SN=2 and relay number RN=1, which is received by the eight apartments 82 shown in hatching that are located adjacent to the apartment 80 where the fire occurred.

[0125] The alarm device in dwelling unit 82 receives a relay count RN of 1, and so relays and transmits a fire interlocking signal with the relay count RN reduced by one, RN = 1 - 1 = 0. In this case, the alarm devices in the eight dwelling units 82 relay and transmit fire interlocking signals at different times after the relay delay times Td1 to td8 corresponding to delay numbers 1 to 8 have elapsed. The second fire interlocking signal relayed and transmitted by the eight dwelling units 82 is received by the 12 dwelling units 84 adjacent to them, indicated by the sandy areas, and a second loop fire alarm is simultaneously output.

[0126] Furthermore, when the alarm in the fire-affected dwelling unit 80 transmits a third fire linkage signal including sequence number SN=3 and relay number RN=2, the fire linkage signal is relayed to the alarms in the outer dwelling units surrounding dwelling unit 84, and a third loop fire alarm is issued.

[0127] [f. Control operation of wide-area fire alarm system] The control operation of the wide-area fire alarm system will now be described in more detail.

[0128] (f1. Server-based monitoring and control) First, the monitoring control by the server will be explained in more detail. In this explanation, the flowchart of Fig. 9 showing the control operation by the server shown in Fig. 1 will be referred to. The monitoring control by the server is the control operation by the fire monitoring control unit 22 of the server 20 in Fig. 1.

[0129] 9, the fire monitoring control unit 22 of the server 20 sets and adjusts parameters such as transmission power and relay delay time for alarm devices installed in dwelling units in the monitored area in steps S1 to S12. Note that the transmission power of the alarm devices is set to the minimum power Pmin out of three levels: high, medium, and low, as the default.

[0130] In step S1, the fire monitoring control unit 22 reads in a dwelling unit map 14 of the area to be monitored, such as that shown in Fig. 2, stored in the database 24, and displays it on the display. Then, in step S2, it sets dwelling unit groups based on nine dwelling units in a 3x3 matrix, as shown connected by dotted lines in Fig. 7, sets delay numbers 1 to 9 in step S3, and generates a list of delay numbers corresponding to the dwelling unit addresses in step S4. The processing of steps S2 to S4 is repeated until it is determined in step S5 that all dwelling units have been monitored.

[0131] Next, the fire monitoring control unit 22 proceeds to step S6, where it generates a delay time setting signal including the dwelling unit address and delay number and sends it to the dwelling unit, thereby performing control to set a delay number in the alarm device for each dwelling unit, and the alarm device sets a relay delay time Td corresponding to the delay number instructed by the server 20. Note that in step S6, it is also possible to send a delay time setting signal including the corresponding relay delay time instead of the delay number, and set the relay delay time in the alarm device.

[0132] Next, when the fire monitoring control unit 22 determines in step S7 that setting of delay numbers for all dwelling units has been completed, it proceeds to step S8 and sends a test alarm signal specifying the dwelling unit address to the alarm device in the dwelling unit, instructing it to activate a test alarm. The alarm device in the dwelling unit that received this test alarm instruction performs a test alarm operation without outputting a fire alarm, and transmits a fire interlocking signal due to the test alarm, and a fire alarm notification signal is sent to the server 20.

[0133] Next, the fire monitoring control unit 22 proceeds to step S9 and displays a dwelling unit map showing the test alert dwelling units for which a linked alarm was activated based on the fire alarm notification signal received by the test alert.If it determines in step S10 that there are any unaltered dwelling units for which a linked alarm was not activated, it proceeds to step S11 and specifies the address of the dwelling unit adjacent to the center side of the unaltered dwelling unit that is transmitting a fire linked signal, and transmits a transmission power change signal, thereby changing the setting to increase the transmission power from the default minimum power Pmin to medium power Pmid.

[0134] Next, the fire monitoring control unit 22 returns to step S8 and issues a test alarm instruction specifying the same dwelling unit address, and displays a dwelling unit map showing the operation of the linked alarm in step S9.If the existence of a dwelling unit that has not been notified is not determined in step S10 due to a change in the transmission power setting, it determines that the transmission power has been appropriately adjusted and proceeds to step S12, repeating the processing from step S8 until it is determined that the alarm test has been completed for all dwelling units.

[0135] Next, when the fire monitoring control unit 22 determines in step S12 that the alarm test for all dwelling units has been completed, it proceeds to step S13 and moves on to operational monitoring.If, during operational monitoring, it determines in step S14 that a fire alarm notification signal has been received from the alarm device, it proceeds to step S15 and changes the display color of the dwelling unit for which a fire alarm operation has been performed to red, for example, to display the dwelling unit where the fire has occurred on the dwelling unit map, and displays the progression of the alarm operation following the fire, i.e., the spread of the fire as the number of dwelling units where the fire has occurred increases, on the dwelling unit map of the area being monitored.

[0136] In addition, if an alarm stop notification signal or a fire restoration notification signal is received after the fire alarm operation is displayed on the dwelling unit map in step S15, the display of the dwelling unit where the fire occurred on the map, which has been changed to red to indicate the fire alarm operation, is controlled to return to its original display color and erase the display of the alarm operation, but this point is not shown in the illustration.

[0137] (f2. Alarm control operation) Next, the control operation of the alarm device will be explained in more detail. In this explanation, reference will be made to the flowchart in Figure 10, which shows the control operation of the alarm device shown in Figure 5. The alarm device control operation is controlled by the fire control unit 66 and relay control unit 68 provided in the CPU 46 of the alarm device 10.

[0138] As shown in Figure 10, when the fire control unit 66 of the alarm device 10 determines in step S21 that it has received a delay number setting signal sent from the server 20, it proceeds to step S22, and reads out and sets the relay delay time Td that has been stored in advance in correspondence with the delay number.

[0139] Next, the process proceeds to step S23, and when the fire control unit 66 determines that it has received a transmission power setting signal transmitted from the server 20, the process proceeds to step S24, where it changes the transmission power set as the default to the transmission power instructed by the server 22.

[0140] The change in transmission power setting upon receiving a transmission power setting signal in steps S23 and S24 is a process that is carried out when a transmission power setting signal is received for an alarm in an adjacent dwelling unit where there is an alarm that has failed to sound an alarm during the test alarm activation by the server 20, but this is not shown in the figures.

[0141] Once the relay delay time and transmission power have been set in steps S21 to S24, the fire control unit 66 proceeds to step S25 to monitor whether or not a fire alert has been issued, and if it detects in step S25 that a fire alert has been issued from the smoke density detection signal of the smoke detector unit 32, it proceeds to step S26 to perform fire alert control. Also, if the fire control unit 66 determines in step S27 that a fire interlocking signal has been received from an alarm device in another dwelling unit, it proceeds to step S28 to perform interlocking signal reception control.

[0142] Furthermore, when the fire control unit 66 detects an alarm stop operation using the alarm stop switch 34 in step S29 during a fire alarm, it proceeds to step S30 to stop the alarm, and then in step S31 sends an alarm stop linkage signal to the alarm devices in other dwelling units, and sends an alarm stop notification signal to the server 20, which returns the dwelling units that are displayed in red on the dwelling unit map to indicate alarm operation to their original display color and erases the alarm operation display.

[0143] Furthermore, if the fire control unit 66 determines in step S32 during a fire alarm that the fire has been restored, that is, the smoke concentration detection signal from the smoke detector unit 32 drops below a predetermined threshold, it proceeds to step S33 to stop the alarm, and then proceeds to step S34 to send a fire restoration linkage signal to alarm devices in other dwelling units and a fire restoration notification signal to the server 20, which is reflected in the display of the dwelling unit map in the same manner as in step S31.

[0144] (f3. Fire alarm control) Next, the fire alarm control in step S26 of Fig. 10 will be described in more detail with reference to the flowchart of Fig. 11 which shows the details of the fire alarm control in step S26 of Fig. 10.

[0145] If the fire control unit 66 of the alarm device 10 detects a fire alert in step S25 of Figure 10, it proceeds to the fire alert control of Figure 11, outputs a fire alarm indicating that a fire has occurred in the dwelling unit in step S41, and then proceeds to step S42, sends a fire alarm notification signal to the server 20, and displays the dwelling unit in which the fire has occurred on the dwelling unit map in red, for example.

[0146] Next, the fire control unit 66 proceeds to step S43, sets the sequence number SN to SN=1 indicating the first transmission, sets the number of relays RN to the initial value of RN=0, and in step S44 transmits the first fire linkage signal with SN=1, RN=0, its own dwelling unit address, and the command set to fire.

[0147] Next, if the fire control unit 66 determines in step S45 that a predetermined time has elapsed, it proceeds to step S46, and if the sequence number SN is less than a predetermined final value (maximum number of transmissions), it proceeds to step S47, increments the sequence number SN and the number of relays RN by one each, and in step S44 sends a second fire interlock signal with SN=2, RN=1, its own dwelling address, and the command as fire, and if it determines in step S46 that the sequence number SN has reached its final value (maximum number of transmissions), it returns to the control of Figure 10.

[0148] (f4. Interlock signal reception control) Next, the interlocking signal reception control in step S28 of Fig. 10 will be described in more detail with reference to the flowchart of Fig. 12, which shows the details of the interlocking signal reception control in step S28 of Fig. 10.

[0149] When the fire control unit 66 determines in step S27 of Figure 10 that it has received an interlocking signal from another alarm device, it proceeds to the interlocking signal reception control of Figure 12, and obtains the dwelling unit address Ai and command in addition to the sequence number SN and relay count RN from the fire interlocking signal received in step S51.

[0150] Next, the fire control unit 66 proceeds to step S52, and if it determines that the command is a fire linkage, it proceeds to step S53; if it determines that a linkage alarm is not in progress, it compares the received dwelling unit address with its own dwelling unit address in step S54, and if it determines that they match, it proceeds to step S55, and outputs a fire linkage alarm indicating a fire in its own dwelling unit; if it determines that they do not match, it proceeds to step S56, and outputs a fire linkage alarm indicating a fire in another dwelling unit, and then proceeds to step S57, and sends a fire alarm notification signal to the server 20, and displays the dwelling unit on the dwelling unit map for which a linkage alarm has been output in red, for example.

[0151] If the fire control unit 66 determines in step S52 that the command is not for fire linkage, it proceeds to step S58, but if it determines that the command is for stopping the fire alarm linkage or for fire recovery, it proceeds to step S59 and stops the fire linkage alarm. When stopping the fire linkage alarm, the output of the audio alarm may be stopped, and the alarm display may be left on for a predetermined time period in order to later check the operation of the alarm device.

[0152] Next, the relay control unit 68 operates and proceeds to step S60, and if it determines that the received dwelling address is the dwelling address of another dwelling, it proceeds to step S61 to determine whether the sequence number SN has already been received, and if it determines that it has not been received, it proceeds to step S62 to determine whether the number of relays RN=0, and if it determines that RN=0 is not true, in step S63 the number of relays RN is decremented by one to (RN-1), and in step S64 the fire linkage signal is relayed after a preset relay delay time Td.

[0153] On the other hand, if it is determined in step S60 that the receiving dwelling address matches the own address, if it is determined in step S61 that the sequence number SN has already been received, or if it is determined in step S62 that the number of relays RN=0, steps S63 and S64 are skipped and the fire interlock signal is not relayed.

[0154] [g. Modifications of the present invention] Modifications of the wide-area fire monitoring system according to the present invention will now be described. In addition to the above-described embodiment, the wide-area fire monitoring system according to the present invention includes the following modifications.

[0155] (Display of the dwelling unit where the fire occurred) In the above embodiment, when the server 20 receives a fire alarm notification signal from an alarm device 10 that has performed a fire alarm operation, it displays the fire alarm dwelling unit that issued the fire alarm on the dwelling unit map, but it may also be configured to identify and display the dwelling unit where the fire occurred among the fire alarm dwelling units.

[0156] The server 20 is free to display the fire alarm units and the units where the fire has occurred, but for example, when an alarm device detects a fire and activates an interlocking source fire alarm, it sends an interlocking source alarm notification signal to the server 20, and when it receives a fire interlocking signal from an alarm device in another unit and activates an interlocking destination fire alarm, it sends an interlocking destination alarm notification signal to the server 20. In response, the server 20 will display the dwelling unit where the fire has occurred in red on the dwelling unit map when it receives an interlocking source alarm notification signal from the alarm device, and will display the interlocking destination dwelling unit on the dwelling unit map in orange when it receives an interlocking destination alarm notification signal from the alarm device. This makes it possible to visually grasp the ripple-like spread of interlocking alarm units from the dwelling unit where the fire has occurred, and also makes it possible to visually grasp the spread of the fire from the display of the increasing number of dwelling units where the fire has occurred.

[0157] In addition, if the fire is restored after detecting it, the alarm will send a fire restoration signal to the server and erase the display of the apartment where the fire occurred, allowing people to visually understand how the fire is being extinguished and contained through firefighting activities.

[0158] (Communication Network) In addition to the communication network shown in the above embodiment, the communication network that connects the alarm device in each dwelling unit to the server may also be a communication network that is used in a gas meter reading system in which a server automatically reads the gas meter installed in the dwelling unit, or in an electricity meter reading system in which a server automatically reads the electricity smart meter installed in the dwelling unit, to connect the alarm device in the dwelling unit to the server.

[0159] Furthermore, the network connecting the alarm devices in each dwelling unit and the server for communication may be a wired communications network instead of a wireless network. This wired communications network can be achieved by disposing a gateway device in each dwelling unit and connecting it to the Internet via a signal line, and by providing the gateway device with a wireless communications unit for communicating with the alarm devices.

[0160] (parent-child method) In the above embodiment, when multiple alarm devices are installed in a dwelling unit, there is no distinction between parent and child devices and the alarm devices communicate with each other, but it is also possible to provide a parent unit and multiple child devices, give the parent unit repeater functions and enable communication for linked alarms between parent units in different dwelling units.

[0161] (Alarm) The above embodiment has taken as an example an alarm device that detects fire and issues an alarm, but the present invention can also be applied to alarm systems that employ gas leak alarms, CO alarms, and various types of burglar alarms, as well as systems that include a combination of these alarm devices.

[0162] Furthermore, the above embodiment takes as an example a case where the sensor unit and alarm output processing unit are provided integrally in the alarm device, but in another embodiment, the alarm device may have the sensor unit and alarm output processing unit separate from each other.

[0163] (others) Furthermore, the present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiment, but includes appropriate modifications that do not impair the objects and advantages thereof, and is not limited by the numerical values ​​shown in the above-described embodiment. [Explanation of symbols]

[0164] 10,10(10-1)~10(10-9):Alarm 12(12-1)~12(12-9), 82, 84: Dwelling units 14: Apartment map 16: Communication adapter 20: Server 22: Fire monitoring control unit 24: Database 26: Internet 28: Public wireless LAN network 30: Access point 32: Smoke Detection Department 34: Alarm stop switch 36: LED 38: Speaker 40: Processor 42: Communications Department 46:CPU 48: Control logic 50:ROM 52:RAM 54: AD conversion port 56: Input port 58: Output port 60: Audio output port 64: Communication port 66: Fire Control Department 68: Relay control unit 70: Relay Delay Map 80: Fire breakout unit

Claims

1. an alarm device installed in each of a plurality of dwelling units present in a monitoring area; a host device that is connected to the alarm device via a communication network and that sets a transmission power and a relay delay time in the alarm device to relay a fire interlocking signal so that when the alarm device detects a fire, the alarm device will activate the alarm in the dwelling unit that detected the fire and then the alarm devices in the other dwelling units will activate the alarm in a ripple-like manner over time; A wide-area fire alarm system comprising:

2. The wide-area fire alarm system according to claim 1, The higher-level device is setting the transmission power of the alarm device so that other alarm devices installed in a plurality of other dwelling units adjacent to the dwelling unit are included in the communication area of ​​the fire interlocking signal that is transmitted when the alarm device installed in the dwelling unit detects a fire; A wide-area fire alarm system characterized in that the relay delay time is set in the alarms installed in multiple other dwelling units adjacent to the dwelling unit in which the alarm is installed so that the time from receiving the fire linkage signal to relaying and transmitting it differs from one another.

3. 3. The wide-area fire alarm system according to claim 2, A wide-area fire alarm system characterized in that the upper device divides the dwellings in the monitored area into dwelling unit groups of a predetermined number of dwelling units, and sets the relay delay times, which are different from each other, to the alarm devices of each dwelling unit in each dwelling unit group in accordance with a predetermined order.

4. 4. The wide-area fire alarm system according to claim 3, A wide-area fire alarm system characterized in that, when the dwelling unit group is less than the specified number of dwelling units, the upper device sets the relay delay times, which are different from each other, to the alarm devices of each dwelling unit in accordance with a specified order that has been partially thinned out.

5. 3. The wide-area fire alarm system according to claim 2, When the alarm device detects a fire and outputs a fire alarm, or when the alarm device receives the fire linkage signal from another alarm device and outputs a fire alarm indicating a fire in another dwelling unit, the alarm device transmits a fire alarm notification signal to the higher-level device, A wide-area fire alarm system characterized in that, when the upper device receives the fire alarm notification signal from the alarm device, it displays the fire alarm operation of the dwelling unit that issued the fire alarm.

6. 6. The wide-area fire alarm system according to claim 5, When the alarm is stopped or the fire is restored after detecting a fire, the alarm device transmits an alarm stop notification signal or a fire restoration notification signal to the higher-level device, A wide-area fire alarm system characterized in that, when the upper device receives the alarm stop notification signal or the fire restoration notification signal from the alarm device, it erases the display of the fire alarm operation for the dwelling unit where the alarm has been stopped or the fire restoration has been performed.

Images