Building alarm system with synchronized strobes
First Claim
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1. A method of synchronizing audible alarms and visual strobes comprising:
- connecting the audible alarms and visual strobes to common power lines;
for each visual strobe, providing a capacitor carrying a charge to be discharged through the visual strobe and a charging circuit powered from the power lines to charge the capacitor to a firing voltage level that is maintained without activating the strobe;
applying power to the audible alarms and visual strobes through the common power lines; and
thereafter, changing the voltage on the power lines to control timing of the audible alarms and visual strobes, the strobes being triggered to flash with the change in voltage on the power lines.
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Abstract
In a building fire alarm system, the light strobes of a network of strobes are synchronized to flash simultaneously. Each strobe has a charging circuit to charge a capacitor which discharges through a flash tube. Once a capacitor is charged, the charging circuit is disabled. A synchronization pulse is applied through common power lines to trigger discharge of each strobe capacitor through the flash tube followed by recharging of the capacitor.
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Citations
12 Claims
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1. A method of synchronizing audible alarms and visual strobes comprising:
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connecting the audible alarms and visual strobes to common power lines;
for each visual strobe, providing a capacitor carrying a charge to be discharged through the visual strobe and a charging circuit powered from the power lines to charge the capacitor to a firing voltage level that is maintained without activating the strobe;
applying power to the audible alarms and visual strobes through the common power lines; and
thereafter, changing the voltage on the power lines to control timing of the audible alarms and visual strobes, the strobes being triggered to flash with the change in voltage on the power lines. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4)
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5. An alarm system comprising:
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a pair of power lines;
at least one audible alarm powered by the power lines; and
at least one visual strobe powered by the power lines, the strobe comprising;
a capacitor for carrying a charge to be discharged through the strobe; and
a charging circuit powered from the power lines to charge the capacitor to a firing voltage level that is maintained without activating the strobe, the strobe being triggered to flash with a change in the voltage on the power lines. - View Dependent Claims (6, 7, 8, 9, 10)
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11. A method of synchronizing audible alarms and visual strobes comprising:
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connecting the audible alarms and visual strobes to common power lines and applying power to the audible alarms and visual strobes through the common power lines;
at each strobe, charging a capacitor to a firing level that is maintained without activating the strobe; and
after the audible alarms and visual strobes have been powered, repeatedly changing the voltage on the power lines to control timing of the audible alarms and visual strobes, the capacitors being discharged through the visual strobes. - View Dependent Claims (12)
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Specification