COMMUNICATIVE ENVIRONMENTAL ALARM SYSTEM WITH VOICE INDICATION
First Claim
1. An environmental condition detection system having:
- a minimum of two environmental condition detectors, each said environmental condition detector comprising (a) at least one sensor for detecting the presence of a selected environmental condition, (b) an audible alarm having at least one prescribed audible tonal pattern active in response to sensing said environmental condition in accordance with a predetermined criterion;
(c) circuitry for playing at least one pre-recorded voice message wherein the message verbally describes the type of detected environmental condition for the duration of detection thereof in accordance with said criterion such that said pre-recorded voice message is emitted during periods of silence in said prescribed audible tonal pattern alarm; and
(d) a transmitter and a receiver for wireless direct communication with other detectors of the system wherein each transmitter transmits user-selectable, coded wireless signals and each said receiver responds to received, coded signals, each said detector emitting at least one electronically pre-recorded voice message, the selection of which is defined by electronic decoding of the received wireless signal transmitted by a condition detector sensing said environmental condition.
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Abstract
The battery powered or 120VAC powered environmental condition detector of the present invention is designed to provide an early warning of the presence of an environmental condition (smoke or carbon monoxide gas or natural gas or propane gas or any multiple combination of these offending agents) to persons in remote areas of a building. The detector sensing the environmental condition emits an audible tonal pattern alarm, while transmitting a radio signal directly to other environmental condition detectors to activate their alarms and to activate an electronically stored human voice recording (or synthesized voice) that indicates the location of the environmental condition detector sensing the environmental condition, or the type of environmental condition, or both. Rechargeable light modules separate from the detector are included that receive the signal from the detector sensing the environmental condition and illuminate areas and paths of egress for the duration of the alarm condition or in case of 120VAC power failure. All components of the system are easy to install due to the modular design and conventional power sources. An intermittent activation of the electronic circuitry in the detector unit may be used to conserve battery energy in the battery powered embodiment.
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Citations
65 Claims
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1. An environmental condition detection system having:
a minimum of two environmental condition detectors, each said environmental condition detector comprising (a) at least one sensor for detecting the presence of a selected environmental condition, (b) an audible alarm having at least one prescribed audible tonal pattern active in response to sensing said environmental condition in accordance with a predetermined criterion;
(c) circuitry for playing at least one pre-recorded voice message wherein the message verbally describes the type of detected environmental condition for the duration of detection thereof in accordance with said criterion such that said pre-recorded voice message is emitted during periods of silence in said prescribed audible tonal pattern alarm; and
(d) a transmitter and a receiver for wireless direct communication with other detectors of the system wherein each transmitter transmits user-selectable, coded wireless signals and each said receiver responds to received, coded signals, each said detector emitting at least one electronically pre-recorded voice message, the selection of which is defined by electronic decoding of the received wireless signal transmitted by a condition detector sensing said environmental condition. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9)
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10. An environmental condition detection system housing:
a minimum of two environmental condition detectors, each said environmental condition detector comprising (a) at least one sensor for detecting the presence of a selected environmental condition, (b) an audible alarm having at least one prescribed audible tonal pattern active in response to sensing said environmental condition in accordance with a predetermined parameter;
(c) circuitry for playing at least one pre-recorded voice message wherein the message verbally describes the location of the detected environmental condition for the duration of detection thereof in accordance with the parameter such that said pre-recorded voice message is emitted during periods of silence in said prescribed audible tonal pattern alarm; and
(d) a transmitter and a receiver for wireless direct communication with other detectors of the system wherein each transmitter transmits user-selectable, coded wireless signals and each said receiver is user-selectable to respond to received, coded signals, each said detector emitting at least one electronically pre-recorded voice message, the selection of which is defined by electronic decoding of the received wireless signal transmitted by a condition detector sensing said environmental condition. - View Dependent Claims (11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 21, 22)
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19. A method for providing environmental condition detection for a multi-section region comprising:
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(a) locating a minimum of two environmental condition detectors in different sections of the region;
(b) setting a selectable coding element in each detector to define the location of the respective detector within a section;
(c) sensing an environmental condition and playing a pre-recorded voice message, which verbally describes at least the location of the sensed condition;
(d) communicating wirelessly with another, selected detector such that the pre-recorded voice message at the sensed location is also emitted at the another detector. - View Dependent Claims (20)
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23. A method for providing environmental condition detection for a multi-section region comprising:
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(a) locating a minimum of two environmental condition detectors in different sections of the region;
(b) sensing an environmental condition and playing a pre-recorded voice message, which verbally describes the type of sensed condition;
(c) communicating wirelessly with another, selected detector such that the pre-recorded voice message at the sensed location is also emitted at the another detector. - View Dependent Claims (24)
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25. A detector comprising:
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a) at least one sensor for sensing the presence of an environmental condition, b) a transmitter for transmitting a radio frequency signal, c) a selector to define a coded radio frequency signal to be transmitted by said transmitter;
d) a receiver for radio signal reception. e) an alarm code selector to define a voice information code to be transmitted in said radio signal, f) an audio transducer that emits selected voice information in response to the receiver receiving a selected radio signal transmitted by another transmitter. - View Dependent Claims (26, 27, 28, 29)
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30. A self-contained ambient condition detector comprising:
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a housing;
at least one ambient condition sensor carried by the housing;
a control element, carried by the housing and coupled to the sensor, for establishing the presence of a selected alarm condition;
a wireless receiver coupled to the control element wherein the receiver and control element receive and decode wireless messages transmitted by other detectors;
a manually settable location specifying member, coupled to the control element whereby a user can specify a location at which the housing is installed;
voice annunciating circuitry and a plurality of stored verbal outputs with one output identifying, at least in part, an alarm type and at least one output identifying, at least in part, an alarm location wherein in response to a receiver wireless message from another detector, the voice annunciation circuitry outputs at least one of a verbal alarm type and a verbal alarm location. - View Dependent Claims (31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36, 37, 38, 39)
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40. An alarm system comprising:
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a plurality of wirelessly coupled, self-contained detectors wherein each detector includes a transceiver for wireless transmission of and reception of coded messages, directly communicated between detectors, wherein the messages include at least alarm specifying information transmitted by a detector exhibiting an alarm condition; and
wherein at least some detectors include voice output circuitry for verbally broadcasting the existence of an alarm condition at a different detector in response to a coded message directly received therefrom. - View Dependent Claims (41, 42, 43, 44, 45, 46, 47, 48)
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49. A detector comprising:
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a housing;
at least a first ambient condition sensor carried by the housing;
a control element, in part programmable, coupled to the sensor, wherein the element incudes circuitry for detecting a first alarm condition;
an alarm indicating audible output device coupled to the control element wherein the control element, in response to an alarm condition, drives the output device to repetitively emit a first, interrupted, plurality of alarm tones wherein at least some of the tones are spaced apart from one another by a first time interval, and wherein others of the tones are closer together; and
a voice circuit for storing at least a first verbal, alarm-type output message, coupled to the control element and associated with the first sensor, wherein the circuit, in response to the presence of a first detected alarm condition, injects the verbal, alarm-type output message repetitively into the first intervals. - View Dependent Claims (50, 51, 52, 53, 54, 55, 56, 57)
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58. An ambient condition detector comprising:
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first and second, different, ambient condition sensors;
control electronics which includes a programmed processor, coupled to the sensors wherein the electronics emits at least two, different, pre-stored alarm indicating tonal, output patterns wherein each pattern is associated with respective one of the sensors;
voice output circuitry, coupled to the electronics, wherein the voice circuitry includes at least two pre-stored verbal alarm starting output messages wherein each of the pre-stored messages is associated with a respective one of the tonal output patterns and verbalizes the respective alarm type and wherein the control electronics, in response to a detected alarm condition, outputs an audio representation of a respective one of the tonal patterns and an interleaved respective verbal alarm type message. - View Dependent Claims (59, 60, 61, 62, 63, 64, 65)
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Specification