JP2024157425A - Fire alarm system and fire alarm therefor - Google Patents

Abstract

To enable a person or the like within or near a monitoring area of a fire alarm system to easily specify a location of an origin of a fire in the fire alarm system comprising a plurality of fire alarm devices which are linked together to issue a voice alarm.SOLUTION: When a fire F1 occurs in a space R1, a fire alarm device 11 detects the fire and sends an instruction signal to fire alarm devices 12 to 14 indicating that it has detected the fire, and the fire alarm device announces in a male voice, "it is the fire," to notify people nearby of the occurrence of the fire. The fire alarm devices 12 to 14 receiving the instruction signal from the fire alarm device 11 announce in a female voice, "fire on R1," to notify people nearby of the occurrence of the fire. A person in a building 2, or near the building 2 can easily distinguish between the male voice notification from the fire alarm device 11 and the female voice notification from the fire alarm devices 12 to 14, and can therefore easily recognize a location of an origin of the fire.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 1

Description

The present invention relates to technology for detecting and reporting the occurrence of a fire.

There is a known fire alarm system that has multiple fire alarms arranged within a monitoring area, and when any of the fire alarms detects a fire, the fire alarm that detected the fire (hereafter referred to as the "fire source fire alarm") emits a sound to notify people in the vicinity (people and devices such as robots that can recognize sound) of the fire (hereafter referred to as "alarming") and also sends a signal to other fire alarms (hereafter referred to as "non-fire source fire alarms"), which then trigger the non-fire source fire alarms that receive the signal.

For example, Patent Document 1 is a document that describes the above-mentioned linked fire alarm system. Patent Document 1 proposes a mechanism in which each of the multiple fire alarms in a fire alarm system stores history information of the other fire alarms in addition to its own history information, so that even if one of the fire alarms is damaged by a fire or the like and loses its stored history information, the history information of that fire alarm can be retrieved from the other fire alarms.

JP 2019-61316 A

In some fire alarm systems equipped with multiple fire alarms that sound in tandem, for example, the fire alarm at the source of the fire will say "There's a fire," while other fire alarms will say "There's a fire at number XX," to notify people in the vicinity of the source of the fire. People who hear these sounds can know that the source of the fire is near the location of the fire alarm saying "There's a fire," and that the source of the fire is near the location of the fire alarm indicated by the "XX number" sound made by the fire alarms other than the source of the fire.

However, there are cases where people who hear the sound emitted from a fire alarm cannot distinguish between the sounds emitted from multiple fire alarms, or where they cannot identify the location of the fire alarm that is the source of the fire from the information indicated by the sound, such as "number XX." In such cases, people who are within or near the monitored area cannot identify the location of the source of the fire.

In view of the above circumstances, the present invention aims to provide a fire alarm system equipped with multiple fire alarms that work together to sound an alarm, allowing people within or near the monitored area of the fire alarm system to easily identify the location of the source of a fire.

The present invention provides a fire alarm that includes a detection means for detecting a fire, a transmission means for transmitting an instruction signal to instruct other fire alarms to notify the occurrence of a fire, a reception means for receiving the instruction signal transmitted from the other fire alarms, and a sound generation means for generating a sound in a first pitch band to notify the occurrence of a fire when the detection means detects a fire, and for generating a sound in a second pitch band different from the first pitch band when the reception means receives the instruction signal.

The disaster prevention system according to the present invention is a fire alarm system equipped with multiple fire alarms that work together to sound an alarm, and allows people within or near the area monitored by the fire alarm system to easily identify the location of the source of the fire.

FIG. 1 is a diagram showing an example of the configuration of a fire alarm system according to an embodiment. FIG. 1 is a diagram showing an example of the configuration of a fire alarm according to an embodiment. FIG. 2 is a sequence diagram showing the processing of a fire alarm system according to an embodiment. FIG. 13 is a diagram showing an example of the configuration of a fire alarm according to a modified example. FIG. 13 is a diagram showing the sounding intervals of a fire alarm according to one modified example. FIG. 13 is a diagram showing an example of the configuration of a fire alarm according to a modified example.

[composition]
1 is a diagram showing an example of the configuration of a fire alarm system 1 according to an embodiment of the present invention. The fire alarm system 1 includes a plurality of fire alarms, exemplified by fire alarms 11 to 14. In the following description, the number of fire alarms included in the fire alarm system 1 is assumed to be four, but the number of fire alarms included in the fire alarm system 1 may be any number as long as it is two or more. In the following description, when the fire alarms 11 to 14 are not to be distinguished from one another, they will be collectively referred to as "fire alarm 10."

The fire alarms 11 to 14 are connected to each other wirelessly or by wire and can communicate with each other. The fire alarm system 1 is installed in a building 2. The building may be, for example, an apartment complex or other collective housing, a hotel, an office building, or a commercial facility. Each fire alarm 10 monitors the occurrence of a fire in the space in which it is installed. That is, the monitoring areas of the fire alarms 11 to 14 are space R1, space R2, space R3, and space R4, respectively, as shown in FIG. 1.

Figure 2 shows an example of the configuration of the fire alarm 10. The fire alarm 10 includes a detection means 101, a transmission means 102, a reception means 103, a sound generation means 104, and a storage means 105.

The detection means 101 includes a sensor and detects a fire. The sensor included in the detection means 101 is, for example, a smoke sensor that detects smoke, a heat sensor that detects heat above a predetermined temperature, and a flame sensor that detects flames from captured images. Note that the types of sensors included in the detection means 101 are not limited to these. Furthermore, the detection means 101 may include two or more different types of sensors.

When the detection means 101 of the fire alarm (e.g., fire alarm 11) that is the source of the fire detects a fire, the transmission means 102 transmits an instruction signal to the other fire alarms 10 (e.g., fire alarms 12 to 14) to notify them of the occurrence of a fire.

When another fire alarm 10 that has detected a fire transmits an instruction signal instructing notification of the occurrence of a fire, the receiving means 103 receives the instruction signal.

The sound generating means 104 includes a speaker, and when the detection means 101 of the fire alarm (e.g., fire alarm 11) of the fire source detects a fire, it repeatedly generates a sound in the first pitch range to notify (issue an alert) of the occurrence of a fire to people, etc., within or near the monitored area. Also, when the receiving means 103 of the fire alarm (e.g., fire alarm 12) other than the fire source receives an instruction signal from the fire alarm 10 (e.g., fire alarm 11) of the fire source, it repeatedly generates a sound in the second pitch range to notify (issue an alert) of the occurrence of a fire to people, etc., within or near the monitored area.

In addition, after the receiving means 103 of the fire alarm 10 (e.g., fire alarm 12) other than the source of the fire receives an instruction signal from the fire alarm 10 (e.g., fire alarm 11) of the source of the fire, if the detection means 101 of the fire alarm 10 other than the source of the fire (in this example, fire alarm 12) detects a new fire, it stops emitting the sound in the second pitch band that had been emitted up until then, and repeatedly emits the sound in the third pitch band, thereby notifying (issuing an alert) people, etc. within or near the monitored area of the occurrence of the new fire.

The storage unit 105 stores voice data (for example, sound waveform data) representing the voice generated by the sound generating unit 104. The storage unit 105 stores, for example, the following three types of voice data.
First voice data V1: Voice data in which the sentence "There is a fire" is read out in a voice (low male voice) in a first pitch range (for example, 120 to 180 Hz).
Second voice data V2: Voice data in which the sentence "There's a fire at XX" is read out in a voice (female voice) in a second pitch range (for example, 200 to 300 Hz).
Third voice data V3: Voice data in which the sentence "There's a fire" is read out in a voice (high-pitched male voice) in a third pitch range (e.g., 140 to 200 Hz) at a different speed than the voice represented by the first voice data V1.

The "XX" in "There's a fire at XX" represented by the second voice data V2 is replaced with a word indicating the monitoring area of the other fire alarm 10. Thus, for example, the storage means 105 of the fire alarm 11 stores voice data of reading out sentences such as "There's a fire at R2,""There's a fire at R3," and "There's a fire at R4" as the second voice data V2. Also, the storage means 105 of the fire alarm 12 stores voice data of reading out sentences such as "There's a fire at R1,""There's a fire at R3," and "There's a fire at R4" as the second voice data V2. Hereinafter, these second voice data V2 are differentiated by adding sub-numbers as follows:
- Second voice data V2-1: "There's a fire in R1."
- Second voice data V2-2: "There's a fire in R2."
- Second voice data V2-3: "There's a fire in R3."
- Second voice data V2-4: "There's a fire in R4."

The sound generating means 104 reads the first voice data V1, the second voice data V2, and the third voice data V3 from the storage means 105 and reproduces the voices represented by the voice data. The voices represented by the first voice data V1, the second voice data V2, and the third voice data V3 may be voices recorded from a person's voice or voices synthesized using known voice synthesis technology.

The sounds represented by the first voice data V1, the second voice data V2, and the third voice data V3 have different timbres. Timbre is "one of the attributes of sound related to hearing, and is an attribute corresponding to the difference when two physically different sounds sound different even if they have the same loudness and pitch" (JIS). For example, sounds with different statistical values of the sound spectrum distribution have different timbres.

The sound generating means 104 receives the identification information of the fire alarm 10 that sent the instruction signal together with the instruction signal, and reads out the second voice data V2 corresponding to the identification information from the storage means 105 and uses it. For example, when a fire alarm 12 other than the source of the fire receives an instruction signal from the fire alarm 11 that is the source of the fire, it generates the voice represented by the second voice data V2-1.

[Action]
3 is a sequence diagram showing the processing of the fire alarm system 1. Below, an operation example of the fire alarm system 1 will be described assuming that, for example, a fire F1 (see FIG. 1) breaks out in a space R1, and then a new fire F2 breaks out in a space R2 due to the spread of the fire F1 or a cause different from the cause of the fire F1.

When a fire F1 occurs in space R1, the fire alarm 11 (detection means 101) detects the occurrence of fire F1 (step S1).

In step S1, when the fire alarm 11 detects a fire F1, the fire alarm 11 (sound generation means 104) starts issuing an alarm by repeatedly generating the voice "There's a fire" (low male voice) represented by the first sound data V1 stored in the memory means 105 (step S2).

Furthermore, the fire alarm 11 (transmission means 102) transmits an instruction signal to the fire alarms 12 to 14 (step S3).

In step S3, when the fire alarms 12 to 14 (respective receiving means 103) receive the instruction signal, the fire alarms 12 to 14 (respective sounding means 104) start issuing an alarm by repeatedly sounding the voice "There's a fire at R1" (female voice) represented by the second voice data V2-1 stored in the respective storage means 105 (step S4).

The operation of the fire alarm system 1 in steps S2 and S4 allows people in or near the monitored area to know that a fire F1 has occurred and that the source of the fire is in space R1 (near the location where the fire alarm 11 is installed).

In this situation, the sound represented by the first sound data V1 emitted by the fire alarm 11 and the sound represented by the second sound data V2 (in this example, second sound data V2-1) emitted by the fire alarms 12 to 14 are in different pitch ranges, so a person can easily distinguish between them even if they are pronounced simultaneously.

In addition, people generally tend to respond more sensitively to lower sound levels than higher sound levels. Therefore, by having the fire alarm 11 near the space R1, where the fire originates, sound a lower tone than the fire alarms 12 to 14 located other than the fire origin, people in the vicinity can easily recognize the location of the fire origin.

If a fire F2 subsequently breaks out in the space R2 due to the spread of the fire F1 or a new cause, the fire alarm 12 detects the outbreak of the fire F2 (step S5). Note that if a fire F2 does not break out, the processes from step S5 onwards are not performed.

In step S5, when the fire alarm 12 detects the outbreak of a fire F2, the fire alarm 12 begins to issue an alarm by repeatedly uttering the voice "There's a fire" (high-pitched male voice) represented by the third voice data V3 (step S6).

The operation of the fire alarm system 1 in step S6 allows people in or near the monitored area to recognize that a new fire F2 has occurred in space R2 (near the location where the fire alarm 12 is installed).

In this situation, the voice represented by the first voice data V1 emitted by the fire alarm 11 and the voice represented by the third voice data V3 emitted by the fire alarm 12 are both male voices, but because they have different pitch ranges, people can easily distinguish between them even if they are pronounced simultaneously. Furthermore, the voice represented by the first voice data V1 emitted by the fire alarm 11 and the voice represented by the third voice data V3 emitted by the fire alarm 12 have different reading speeds, so people can distinguish between them even more easily.

[Modification]
The above-described embodiment is one embodiment of the present invention, and may be modified in various ways within the scope of the technical concept of the present invention. Examples of such modifications are shown below. Note that two or more of the modifications shown below may be combined as appropriate.

[Modification 1]
The sound producing means 104 of the fire alarm 10 (e.g., fire alarms 12-14) other than the fire source may be configured not to produce a sound while the fire alarm 10 (e.g., fire alarm 11) of the fire source is producing a sound, and the sound producing means 104 of the fire alarm 10 (e.g., fire alarm 11) of the fire source may be configured not to produce a sound while the fire alarm 10 (e.g., fire alarms 12-14) other than the fire source is producing a sound.

Figure 4 shows an example of the configuration of the fire alarm 10 in variant 1. In variant 1, the fire alarm 10 is equipped with a clocking means 106. The clocking means 106 continuously measures the elapsed time from a predetermined reference time, and outputs a clock signal to the sounding means 104 at predetermined time intervals.

Figure 5 is a diagram showing the speech interval of the fire alarm 10 in the first modified example. In the first modified example, when the detection means 101 of the fire source fire alarm 10 (e.g., fire alarm 11) detects a fire F1, the transmission means 102 transmits an instruction signal to the other fire alarms 10 (e.g., fire alarms 12-14), and the sound generation means 104 starts to generate the sound represented by the first sound data V1. Thereafter, the sound generation means 104 starts to generate the sound represented by the first sound data V1 at the time t, which is set to the time when the instruction signal is transmitted to the other fire alarms 10, and is obtained by adding 2, 4, 6, ... (even multiples) of the predetermined time length T from the reference time t, i.e., at the time (t+2T), time (t+4T), time (t+6T), ....

Here, the predetermined time length T is, for example, the longest time among the times required to play the sounds represented by the first audio data V1, the second audio data V2, and the third audio data V3 plus a predetermined time (for example, 3 seconds). Therefore, for example, the sound represented by the first audio data V1 that starts to be pronounced at time t ends its pronunciation before time (t+T). Similarly, the sound represented by the first audio data V1 that starts to be pronounced at time (t+2T), time (t+4T), time (t+6T), ... ends its pronunciation before time (t+3T), time (t+5T), time (t+7T), ....

In addition, in variant 1, when the receiving means 103 of a fire alarm 10 other than the fire source (e.g., fire alarms 12-14) receives an instruction signal, the sounding means 104 starts to pronounce the sound represented by the second sound data V2 at a time t that is 1, 3, 5, ... (odd multiple) of a predetermined time length T added to the reference time t, i.e., at time (t+T), time (t+3T), time (t+5T), ..., using the time when the receiving means 103 received the instruction signal as the reference time t.

As described above, the predetermined time length T is longer than the time required to play the sound represented by the second sound data V2, so the sound represented by the second sound data V2 that begins to be pronounced at time (t+T), time (t+3T), time (t+5T), etc., will end before time (t+2T), time (t+4T), time (t+6T), etc.

In variant 1, as described above, each fire alarm 10 determines the timing for starting playback of each of the sounds to be played back repeatedly, and as a result, as shown in FIG. 5, there is no overlap between the period during which the fire alarm 10 at the source of the fire sounds the sound represented by the first sound data V1 and the period during which the fire alarms 10 other than the source of the fire sounds the sound represented by the second sound data V2. Therefore, compared to when the sounding periods of these sounds overlap, people within or near the monitored area can more easily recognize the location of the source of the fire.

In addition, if a fire alarm 10 other than the fire source (e.g., fire alarm 12) detects a new fire, that fire alarm 10 may then emit the sound represented by the third sound data V3 during the period in which the fire source fire alarm 10 (e.g., fire alarm 11) in Figure 5 emits a sound.

In this case, the fire alarm 10 of the new fire source (e.g., fire alarm 12) may transmit an instruction signal to the fire alarms 10 other than the fire source (fire alarms 13, 14). Then, when the fire alarm 10 other than the fire source receives an instruction signal from the fire alarm of the new fire source, it may alternately pronounce either the voice represented by the second voice data V2 corresponding to the first fire source (e.g., "There's a fire at R1" represented by the second voice data V2-1 (female voice)) or the voice represented by the second voice data V2 corresponding to the second fire source (e.g., "There's a fire at R2" represented by the second voice data V2-2 (female voice)) during the pronunciation period of a predetermined time length T (within the period starting at time (t+T), time (t+3T), time (t+5T), ...).

In addition, as described above, instead of the configuration in which the fire alarm 10 other than the fire source alternately produces the sound represented by the second sound data V2 corresponding to the first fire source and the sound represented by the second sound data V2 corresponding to the second fire source within the sounding period of a predetermined time length T, the fire alarm 10 may produce a sound corresponding to the combination of the first fire source and the second fire source, for example, "There is a fire at R1 and R2." In that case, the fire alarm 10 may store second sound data V2 corresponding to various combinations of the first fire source and the second fire source, such as "There is a fire at R1 and R2," "There is a fire at R1 and R3," etc., and select and use the second sound data V2 corresponding to the combination of the fire sources.

[Modification 2]
As an example of a configuration different from variant example 1 in which the sound generation period of the fire source is shifted from the sound generation period of the source other than the fire source, a configuration may be adopted in which the sound generation means picks up the sound generated by other fire alarm devices, and the sound generation of the device itself begins after the sound generation of the sound has finished.

Figure 6 shows an example of the configuration of a fire alarm 10 according to variant 2. In variant 2, the fire alarm 10 includes a sound collection means 107. The sound collection means 107 includes a microphone and collects surrounding sounds to generate sound data.

In variant 2, when the detection means 101 of the fire alarm 10 at the source of the fire (e.g., fire alarm 11) detects a fire, the transmission means 102 transmits an instruction signal to the fire alarms 10 other than the source of the fire (e.g., fire alarms 12-14), and the sound generation means 104 starts to generate the sound represented by the first sound data V1.

When the receiving means 103 of a fire alarm 10 other than the fire source (e.g., fire alarms 12-14) receives an instruction signal from the fire alarm 10 at the fire source (e.g., fire alarm 11), the sound collection means 107 picks up surrounding sounds and sequentially passes the generated sound data to the sound generation means 104. The sound generation means 104 identifies the end timing of the sound generation by the fire alarm 10 at the fire source by comparing the sound data sequentially received from the sound collection means 107 with the first sound data V1. Then, the sound generation means 104 starts to generate the sound represented by the second sound data V2 (e.g., second sound data V2-1) a predetermined time (e.g., 3 seconds) after the identified end timing.

On the other hand, when the sound generating means 104 of the fire alarm 10 at the fire source finishes producing the sound represented by the first sound data V1, the sound collection means 107 picks up surrounding sounds and sequentially passes the generated sound data to the sound generating means 104. The sound generating means 104 identifies the end timing of the sound production by the fire alarms 10 other than the fire source by comparing the sound data sequentially received from the sound collection means 107 with the second sound data V2 (e.g., second sound data V2-1). Then, the sound generating means 104 starts producing the sound represented by the first sound data V1 a predetermined time (e.g., 3 seconds) after the identified end timing.

Even in variant 2, the sound generation period of the fire alarm 10 at the fire source does not overlap with the sound generation period of the fire alarm 10 at any other fire source.

[others]
In the above-described embodiment, the pitch band of the sound of the fire source is lower than the pitch band of the sound of the other sounds, but the pitch band of the sound of the fire source may be higher than the pitch band of the other sounds.

In addition, in the above-described embodiment, the tone of the sound in the pitch range of the fire source is different from the tone of the sound in the pitch range of the non-fire source, but they may be the same.

In addition, in the above-described embodiment, the content of the audio notification in the pitch range of the fire source is different from the content of the audio notification in the pitch range of the non-fire source, but they may be the same.

In the above embodiment, the reading speed of the voice represented by the first voice data V1 and the reading speed of the voice represented by the third voice data V3 are different, but they may be the same. Also, the reading speed of the voice represented by the first voice data V1 and the reading speed of the voice represented by the second voice data V2 may be different.

In addition, in the above-described embodiment, the fire alarm 10 of the second fire source produces a different sound from the fire alarm 10 of the first fire source, but the fire alarm 10 of the second fire source may produce the same sound as the fire alarm 10 of the first fire source. In other words, the fire alarm 10 of the second fire source may produce the sound represented by the first sound data V1, instead of the third sound data V3.

In addition, in the above-described embodiment, the pitch band of the voice represented by the first voice data V1 is, for example, 120 to 180 Hz, and the pitch band of the voice represented by the second voice data V2 is, for example, 200 to 300 Hz, and these pitch bands do not overlap, but these pitch bands may overlap partially. For example, the pitch band of the voice represented by the first voice data V1 may be 120 to 200 Hz, and the pitch band of the voice represented by the second voice data V2 may be, for example, 180 to 300 Hz.

In addition, in the above-described embodiment, the fire alarm system 1 is a residential fire alarm system, but the type of the fire alarm system 1 is not limited to this. For example, the fire alarm system 1 may be an automatic fire alarm system, etc.

1...fire alarm system, 2...building, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14...fire alarms, 101...detection means, 102...transmission means, 103...reception means, 104...sound generation means, 105...storage means, 106...timekeeping means, 107...sound collection means.

Claims (8)

A detection means for detecting a fire;
A transmitting means for transmitting an instruction signal to instruct other fire alarm devices to notify the occurrence of a fire;
a receiving means for receiving the instruction signal transmitted from another fire alarm device;
a sound generating means for generating a sound in a first pitch band to notify the occurrence of a fire when the detection means detects a fire, and for generating a sound in a second pitch band different from the first pitch band when the receiving means receives the instruction signal. The fire alarm according to claim 1 , wherein an upper limit of the first pitch band is lower than a lower limit of the second pitch band. The fire alarm according to claim 1 , wherein a tone color of the sound in the first pitch band is different from a tone color of the sound in the second pitch band. The fire alarm according to claim 1 , wherein the speed at which the notification content is spoken by the voice in the first pitch band is different from the speed at which the notification content is spoken by the voice in the second pitch band. The fire alarm according to claim 1, wherein the sound generation means does not generate a sound in the second pitch band while another fire alarm is generating a sound in the first pitch band. 2. The fire alarm according to claim 1, wherein, when the detection means detects a fire after the receiving means receives the instruction signal, the sound generation means generates a sound in a third pitch band different from both the first pitch band and the second pitch band to notify of the occurrence of a fire. The fire alarm according to claim 6 , wherein an upper limit of the third pitch band is lower than a lower limit of the second pitch band. A fire alarm system comprising a plurality of fire alarm devices according to any one of claims 1 to 7.

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