System for annunciating emergencies

• US 4,887,291 A
• Filed: 07/23/1987
• Issued: 12/12/1989
• Est. Priority Date: 07/23/1987
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: C Gray & Company Incorporated 15435 Johnson Road Silver Spring MD
• Original Assignee: American Monitoring Systems, Inc.
• Inventors: Stillwell, James T.
• Primary Examiner(s): George, Keith E.
• Application Number:
  US07/076,750
• Time in Patent Office: 873 Days
• Field of Search: 379/37, 379/39, 379/40, 379/42-44, 379/46-51, 379/57, 340/506, 340/509, 340/511, 340/512, 340/507, 340/508, 340/514, 340/516, 340/500
• US Class Current: 379/39
• CPC Class Codes: G08B 25/08 using communication transmission lines G08B13/19658, G08B21/0286, G08B25/016 take precedence
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 11/04 with alarm systems, e.g. fire, police or burglar alarm systems

Abstract

Disclosed is a system that can monitor occupied or unoccupied buildings, and annuciate to a distant point, e.g. a digital pocket paper, emergency events such as burglaries, fires, high or low temperature, high or low flow rate in such devices as boilers and many more. The system has a circuit that makes interfacing with most commercial field detectors especially easy, and a circuit that enables the system to easily access telephone lines, so as to transmit annunciation messages.

Claims

1. A detector and communication system comprising:

one or more detecting means for detecting one or more emergency events;

at least one facility monitor means for annunciating said emergency events responsive to detection of any of said one or more emergency events by any of said one or more detecting means wherein said facility monitor means comprises a programmable computer;

a receiver means for receiving an event message from at least one of said facility monitor means responsive to said detection of any of said one or more emergency events by any of said one or more detecting means;

an electrical port connected to at least one of said detecting means and said programmable computer, said port comprising at least one pair of electrical leads, each pair including one input and one output lead, said port capable of sustaining a voltage between said pair of electrical leads;

power means connected to said port for supplying a voltage to said leads;

wherein said facility monitor is effective to transmit said event message to said receiver means responsive to said detection of any of said one or more emergency events by any of one or more detecting means, and wherein said facility monitor is effective to encode said event message with information sufficient to identify at least which of said one or more facility monitor means is transmitting and which of said one or more detecting means has caused said detection;

wherein said programmable computer is effective to selectively cause said power means to apply a voltage positive with respect to circuit ground on one of said pair of leads, or apply a voltage positive with respect to circuit ground on the other of said pair of electric leads;

wherein said programmable computer is effective to measure the voltage across said pair of leads;

said programmable computer comprises means for transmitting said event message to said receiver means, said computer comprising a memory;

said programmable computer being effective to;

receive in memory one or more precoded annunciation messages;

receive in memory a datum point corresponding to a reference voltage;

compare said reference voltage to said voltage across said pair of leads;

cause said means for transmitting said event message to transmit to said receiver a preselected one of said precoded annunciated messages responsive to said voltage across a said pair of leads deviating from said reference voltage by a preselected amount, whereby said preselected one of said precoded annunciation messages becomes said event message;

wherein said programmable computer is effective to determine that said memory contains no reference voltage, and responsive to determining that said programmable memory contains no reference voltage, and in sequence;

measure the voltage drop across said pair of leads, and if said voltage drop across said pair of leads is non-zero, record said voltage drop across said pair of leads in said memory as a new said reference voltage, and cause said power means to be disenabled from applying any potential positive with respect to ground to either of said pair of leads;

if said voltage drop across said leads is zero, cause said power means to apply a voltage positive with respect to ground to said one of said pair of leads;

measure the magnitude of voltage drop across said pair of leads;

if said voltage drop is non-zero, record said voltage drop in said memory as a new said reference voltage and disenable said power means from applying a voltage positive with respect to ground on said other said pair of leads;

if said voltage drop is zero, cause said power means to apply a voltage positive with respect to ground to said other of said pair of leads;

measure the magnitude of said voltage drop across said pair of leads;

if said voltage drop is non-zero, record said voltage drop in said memory as a new said reference voltage and disenable said power means from applying a voltage positive with respect to ground on said one of said pair of leads;

if said voltage drop is zero, record zero as a new said reference voltage and disenable said power means from applying a voltage positive with respect to ground on said other of said pair of leads.

2. The system of claim 1, wherein said receiver means is a digital pocket pager effective to display visually said message.

3. The system of claim 1, wherein said facility monitor means comprises a circuit means for accessing a telephone line automatically, said circuit means comprising;

a telephone pick-up coil, said pick-up coil isolated from said telephone line by one or more relay contacts;

a sending coil magnetically coupled to said pick-up coil by a magnetic coupling, said sending coil being effective by said coupling to send tone coded data to said telephone line via said pick-up coil;

said sending coil being further effective by said coupling to receive a dial tone signal from said telephone line via said pick-up coil;

a tone decoder means for identifying the presence of a dial tone responsive to a dial tone being received by said sending coil from said pick-up coil;

a tone coder means connected to said sending coil for converting data into coded tone signals;

a control means having a memory for controlling said tone coder means, said control means effective to;

receive in said memory said event message;

operatively connect said pick-up coil to said telephone line by closing said relay contacts responsive to the presence in said memory of said event message; and

cause said message to be transmitted to said tone coder means;

wherein said tone coder means is effective to cause;

said event message to be translated into tone code responsive to said event message being transmitted to said tone coder means from said control means; and

cause the transmission of said event message in tone code to said sending coil effective to send said event message in tone code to said telephone line via said pick-up coil and relay contacts.

4. The system of claim 1, wherein said power means comprises:

one or more operational amplifiers, the output of each of said one or more operational amplifiers being effective to apply a voltage positive with respect to ground on said one of said pair of leads responsive to the inputs of each of said one or more operational amplifiers being driven by said computer;

an electrical lead extending between said computer and said other of said pair of leads, said electrical lead being effective to apply a voltage positive with respect to ground on said other of said pair of leads responsive to said computer selectively causing a voltage positive with respect to ground to be applied to said electrical lead.

5. A circuit means for interfacing with a communications line, said circuit means comprising:

a programmable computer connected to said communications line;

an electrical port comprising at least one pair of electrical leads and connected to said programmable computer, said port capable of sustaining a voltage between said leads, and

a power means connected to said port for supplying a voltage to said pair of electrical leads;

wherein said computer is effective to measure the voltage across said pair of leads;

said computer comprises means for transmitting an event message over said communications line, said computer comprising a memory;

said computer is effective to selectively cause said power means to apply a voltage positive with respect to circuit ground on one of said pair of leads, or apply a voltage positive with respect to circuit ground on the other of said pair of electrical leads;

said computer is effective to selectively reverse voltage polarity between said one and said other of said pair of leads;

wherein said computer is effective to;

receive in said memory one or more precoded annunciation messages;

receive in said memory a datum point corresponding to a reference voltage;

compare said reference voltage to said voltage across said pair of leads;

cause said means for transmitting said event message to transmit over said communications line a preselected one of said precoded annunciation messages responsive to said voltage across said pair of leads deviating from said reference voltage by a preselected amount, whereby said preselected one of said precoded annunciation messages becomes said event message;

wherein said programmable computer is effective to determine that said memory contains no reference voltage, and responsive to determining that said programmable memory contains no reference voltage, and in sequence;

measure the voltage drop across the pair of leads, and if said voltage across said pair of leads is non-zero, record said voltage drop across said pair of leads in said memory as a new said reference voltage, and cause said power means to be disenabled from applying any potential positive with respect to ground to either of said pair of leads;

if said voltage drop across said leads is zero, cause said power means to apply a voltage positive with respect to ground to said one of said pair of leads;

measure the magnitude of voltage drop across said pair of leads;

if said voltage drop is non-zero, record said voltage drop in said memory as a new said reference voltage and disenable said power means from applying a voltage positive with respect to ground on said other said pair of leads;

if said voltage drop is zero, cause said power means to apply a voltage positive with respect to ground to said other of said pair of leads;

measure the magnitude of said voltage drop across said pair of leads;

if said voltage drop is non-zero, record said voltage drop in said memory as a new said reference voltage and disenable said power means from applying a voltage positive with respect to ground on said one of said pair of leads;

if said voltage drop is zero, record zero as a new said reference voltage and disenable said power means from applying a voltage positive with respect to ground on said other of said pair of leads.

6. The circuit means of claim 5, wherein said power means comprises:

one or more operational amplifiers, the output of each of said one or more operational amplifiers being effective to apply a voltage positive with respect to ground on said one of said pair of leads responsive to the inputs of each of said one or more operational amplifiers being driven by said computer;

an electrical lead extending between said computer and said other of said pair of leads, said electrical lead being effective to apply a voltage positive with respect to ground on said other of said pair of leads responsive to said computer selectively causing a voltage positive with respect to ground to be applied to said electrical lead.