Fire protection and security monitoring system

• US 6,229,429 B1
• Filed: 05/14/1999
• Issued: 05/08/2001
• Est. Priority Date: 05/15/1998
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Daniel J. Horon
• Original Assignee: Daniel J. Horon
• Inventors: Horon, Daniel J.
• Primary Examiner(s): POPE, DARYL C
• Application Number:
  US09/311,979
• Time in Patent Office: 725 Days
• Field of Search: 340/506, 340/511, 340/517, 340/521, 340/524, 340/525, 340/531, 340/533, 340/825.06, 340/825.36, 340/825.49
• US Class Current: 340/286.01
• CPC Class Codes: G08B 25/14 Central alarm receiver or annunciator arrangements

Abstract

A facility monitoring system includes a monitoring station receiving inputs from different control panels, each panel supporting detectors and other devices. Data from the panels are scanned, segmented into categories and presented in a standard format including a category identifying devices by type and state or condition. The monitoring station stores graphic information including site maps and floor plans to provide backgrounds, and device images positionable on the backgrounds to accurately depict device locations in the facility.

Claims

1. A facility monitoring system, including:

a plurality of devices disposed at different locations throughout a monitored facility, each device being adapted to generate a condition signal that varies in response to changing conditions proximate the device to alternatively indicate at least two different states;

a facility monitoring station having a memory for storing facility mapping information, location information and device image information;

said facility monitoring station further having an image generator adapted to produce a visible image including a map depicting the monitored facility and a plurality of device images displayed on the map to depict said devices, each device image being associated with a different one of the devices; and

a transmission pathway for linking the devices and the facility monitoring station, to provide said condition signals as inputs to the image generator;

wherein the image generator is adapted to selectively alter the device images in response to changes in the condition signals, by altering each of the device images in response to a change in an associated condition signal generated by the associated device, thus to visually indicate a change of state with respect to the associated device; and

wherein the image generator further is adapted to permit a system user to selectively position each of the device images on the map to depict the location of its associated device.

2. The system of claim 1 wherein:

said change in the associated condition signal alters at least one of the following characteristics of the associated device image;

a color of the image, a shape of the image, and a periodic interrupting of the display of the image.

3. The system of claim 2 wherein:

the device image is alterable in its shape, and when representing at least one of the alternative states has a shape representing a shape of the associated device.

4. The system of claim 2 wherein:

the device image is alterable as to color, with first, second and third different colors of the device image representing respectively a standby state, a fault state, and an alarm state.

5. The system of claim 1 wherein:

said transmission pathway includes a control panel between the devices and the facility monitoring station.

6. The system of claim 5 wherein:

the facility monitoring station is coupled to the control panel in a manner to receive device information from the control panel relating to each device coupled to the control panel and thereby added to a circuit governed by the control panel, and based on the device information, generate a list of devices added to the circuit and not yet represented by an associated device image on the map.

7. The system of claim 6 wherein:

the image generator further is adapted to display a new device list in conjunction with the map, to allow use of a cursor to transfer a device listing from the new device list to the map as a device image representing the associated device and positionable to represent a location of the associated device.

8. The system of claim 7 wherein:

the image generator further is adapted to generate the device images in a plurality of shapes corresponding to a plurality of types of devices, and the facility monitoring station further includes an associative component for matching a selected one of the device image shapes to a device name in the new device list, whereby said transfer of the listed device to the map generates a device image of the selected shape corresponding to the device.

9. The system of claim 5 wherein:

the facility monitoring station is coupled to the control panel to receive textual descriptive information regarding a device entered to the control panel as the device is added to the circuit, and incorporates a parsing means for segmenting portions of the added device information into a plurality of different categories; and

wherein the image generator further is adapted to display the added device information in a format governed by the categories.

10. The system of claim 1 wherein:

the memory further stores a textual instruction set associated with one of the states, and the image generator is adapted to produce an image of the instruction set after one of the condition signals provides the selected state to the image generator.

11. The system of claim 10 wherein:

the image generator further is adapted to generate the instruction set in response to a user command after receiving the indication of the selected state.

12. The system of claim 1 wherein:

said memory further is adapted for storing a list of entries, each entry in the list identifying an associated one of said plurality of devices linked to the facility monitoring station by the transmission pathway;

said facility monitoring station further includes an information management component operatively associated with the memory for generating said list of entries; and

said image generator further is adapted to generate each of said device images in association with a selected one of the devices in response to a deletion of the entry on said list associated with the selected device, and to display the associated device image on the map to represent the selected device.

13. The system of claim 12 wherein:

the image generator further is adapted to display the list in conjunction with said map depicting the monitored facility, to allow a user to transfer the selected entry from the list to the map, thereby to delete the selected entry and generate the associated device image.

14. The facility monitoring system of claim 1 wherein:

said facility monitoring station includes a first control panel and a second control panel of a type different than the first control panel;

the devices include at least one first device linked by the transmission pathway to the first control panel, and at least one second device linked by the transmission pathway to the second control panel;

the memory includes a first data storage area for storing system information including at least panel and device identifying information arranged in a plurality of categories, and a second data storage area for receiving data from said control panels; and

said image generator further is adapted to produce an image of the matched data, arranged in a standard format according to said categories.

15. The system of claim 14 further including:

a means for associating types of devices with different ones of the device images.

16. The system of claim 14 wherein:

the memory further is adapted to store device information from each of the control panels relating to each device coupled to the control panels, and based on the device information, generates a list of entries representing devices coupled to the facility monitoring station by the transmission pathway and not yet represented by an associated device image.

17. The system of claim 16 wherein:

the image generator further is adapted to display the list of devices so coupled and not yet represented by an associated device image in conjunction with the map, to allow use of a cursor to transfer a selected entry from the list to the map as a device image representing the associated device.

18. The system of claim 17 wherein:

the image generator further is adapted to generate the device images in a plurality of shapes corresponding to a plurality of types of devices, and an associative component is provided for matching a selected one of the device image shapes to a device name on the list, whereby said transfer of the entry to the map generates a device image of the selected shape corresponding to the device type.

19. The system of claim 14 wherein:

the memory includes a sector for storing a master list of all devices coupled to the facility monitoring station.

20. The system of claim 19 further including:

a means for selecting, from the master list, only devices that indicate a state other than a normal or standby state.

21. The system of claim 18 wherein:

the image generator further is adapted to display the visible image in a vector-based format.

22. The system of claim 1 wherein:

the image generator further is adapted to display the visible image in a vector-based format.