Room occupancy fire alarm indicator means and method

• US 5,475,364 A
• Filed: 04/28/1994
• Issued: 12/12/1995
• Est. Priority Date: 05/03/1988
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: Electronic Environmental Controls Incorporated
• Original Assignee: Electronic Environmental Controls Incorporated
• Inventors: Kenet, Ran
• Primary Examiner(s): SWANN III, GLEN R
• Application Number:
  US08/235,628
• Time in Patent Office: 593 Days
• Field of Search: 340/521, 340/522, 340/540, 340/567, 340/628, 340/691, 340/573, 340/525, 340/587, 340/589, 340/584
• US Class Current: 340/522
• CPC Class Codes: G08B 13/19 using infrared-radiation detection systems G08B13/194 takes precedence
• CPC Class Codes: G08B 19/005 combined burglary and fire alarm systems

Abstract

Rooms in a building each have a heating, ventilating and air conditioning system (HVAC), a room control unit having a temperature controller, and various sensors. The control unit monitors the presence of persons in the room, determines the season, sets back the temperature in an empty room by a variable amount which the HVAC can restore in a given time, and restores the temperature to the previous user request when the user returns but to a standard temperature if the user has newly checked in. An outside hallway panel briefly displays, when interrogated by a maid, a person'"'"'s presence. By monitoring maid requests, door status and maid activity, the unit indicates on a room map whether the room is being cleaned, clean, or ready to rent. By establishing the heat loss/gain (l/g) factor of a room with the HVAC off and comparing it with the time to heat or cool the room, HVAC failures are determined. By comparing a room'"'"'s l/g factor with those of its neighbors, room environment failures are determined. A fire alarm is displayed immediately if more than one unit or more than one sensor reports fire; otherwise a fire alarm display is delayed briefly to reduce false alarms. Fire spreading is displayed on a screen room map showing in red rooms over a certain temperature. For fire, the hallway panels indicate those rooms where a person is present.

Claims

1. A method of setting a fire alarm in a building having a number of rooms, each room having a fire sensor adapted to provide an indication of whether there is a fire in the room, said method comprising determining if fire indications have been provided for one or more rooms, and if fire indications have been set for more than one room then immediately providing a fire alarm, but if a fire indication has been provided for only one room, then providing a fire alarm only if said fire indication continues for a short selected period of time, thereby to reduce the likelihood of false alarms.

2. A method according to claim 1 wherein each room contains at least two of a rate of heat rise sensor, a maximum temperature sensor and a smoke sensor, said sensors comprising the fire sensor in each room, said method comprising the step of determining whether there are fire indications from more than one sensor in a room, and if so then providing a fire alarm immediately without waiting said short selected period of time.

3. A method according to claim 1 and including the step of determining whether there is a fire alarm for more than a predetermined number of rooms in said building, and if so, then providing a visual indication outside each room in which a person is present, to indicate to a person outside the room the presence of a person in the room.

4. A method according to claim 1 and including the step of determining whether there is a fire alarm for more than a predetermined number of rooms in said building, and if so, then providing a visual indication outside each room in which a person is present, to indicate to a person outside the room the presence of a person in the room, and providing a different visual indication outside each room if no person is present in the room, to indicate to a person outside the room whether the visual indications are functioning.

5. A method according to claim 1 and including the step of determining .whether there is a fire alarm for more than a predetermined number of rooms in said building, and if so, then providing a visual indication outside each room in which either a person or a fire is present.

6. A method of indicating to firefighting and other personnel whether a room is occupied in a building having a plurality of rooms, each room having presence sensing means therein to sense the presence or absence of a person in said room, there being a passage area outside but immediately adjacent each room, said building having a fire alarm, there being an indicating light in said passage area immediately adjacent each room, said method comprising determining when said fire alarm has been operated, and if said fire alarm has been operated, then operating said indicating lights outside those rooms in which a person is present to indicate to a person in said passage area the presence of a person in said room.

7. A method according to claim 6 wherein said method comprises flashing said indicating light in said passage areas adjacent rooms in which a person is present.

8. A method according to claim 7 wherein there is a second indicating light in each passage area and of a colour different from that of said first mentioned indicating light, said method comprising, when said alarm has been operated, then flashing said first mentioned indicating light if a person is present in said room and operating said second indicating light steadily if no person is present in said room.

9. A method according to claim 8 wherein said first mentioned light is flashed if there is a person present in said room or if there is a fire in said room.

10. A method according to claim 8 wherein said first mentioned light is red and said second light is green.

11. A method according to claim 6 wherein each said room includes temperature controlling means, and including the steps of determining, utilizing said presence sensing means, whether or not a person is present in said room and then setting back the temperature of said room if no person is present in said room.

12. A method according to claim 6 and including the steps of displaying a presence indication when a person is present in the room, and when such person has left the room leaving the room vacant then continuing to display said presence indication for a first predetermined period of time thereafter, then setting off said presence indication at the end of said first predetermined period and timing a second predetermined period from the end of said first predetermined period, determining whether a fire alarm is operated during said second predetermined period, and if said fire alarm is operated during said second predetermined period, then restoring the display of said presence indication.

13. A method of indicating the presence or absence of persons in a group of rooms, each room having means for determining the presence of a person therein, said method comprising displaying on a screen a map of said rooms with each room identified by its number, indicating on said map each room where a person is present by differentiating the display for such room from the display of rooms where no person is present, and including the step, if there is a fire in a room, of further displaying an indication of said fire in the display for such room, so that both presence and fire are indicated on the same screen.

14. A method according to claim 13 wherein the display of a room number is in one colour if a person is present in the room and is in a second and different colour if no person is present in the room, and wherein said indication of fire is provided by associating a line of a third colour adjacent the number of such room, said third colour contrasting with said first and second colours.