JP7527169B2 - Disaster prevention equipment - Google Patents

Description

The present invention relates to a disaster prevention device, such as a fire alarm, that switches to a backup power supply battery in the event of a commercial AC power outage.

Traditionally, nickel-cadmium batteries have been used as backup power sources for fire receivers and repeaters installed in fire alarm systems.

Nickel-cadmium batteries are suitable for high-output applications due to their low internal resistance, and they discharge steadily in both voltage and current from the beginning of use until just before discharging stops. Even if they are discharged until the voltage is almost zero, the capacity can be restored by performing a recovery charge. They can withstand somewhat rough handling as a battery, can be used in low temperatures, and are known to have low natural discharge. On the other hand, problems with nickel-cadmium batteries are that they have a lower discharge capacity for the same volume compared to nickel-metal hydride batteries, and because the cadmium used is harmful, they have an impact on the natural environment, making it necessary to collect used batteries.

In recent years, nickel-metal hydride batteries have become popular as a small-sized alternative to nickel-cadmium batteries. Nickel-metal hydride batteries have a battery capacity about 2.5 times that of nickel-cadmium batteries, have less impact on the environment because they do not use cadmium, and have the same voltage per cell of 1.2 volts as nickel-cadmium batteries, making them compatible.

On the other hand, nickel-metal hydride batteries are more vulnerable to over-discharge than nickel-cadmium batteries, and generate flammable hydrogen gas when heated or over-discharged, limiting their use in completely sealed locations.

In addition to nickel-cadmium batteries, nickel-metal hydride batteries are used in the backup power supplies of fire control devices and repeaters, and the certification regulations stipulate a capacity conversion time known as the K value for each battery, separately for normal and fire conditions.

As the current capacity conversion time, for receivers, the K1 value in normal times and the K2 value in case of fire are as follows:
Nickel-cadmium battery K1 = 1.8 (hours), K2 = 1/3 (hours)
Nickel-metal hydride battery K1 = 2.7 (hours), K2 = 0.5 (hours)
It is stipulated in.

Also, in the case of a repeater,
Nickel-cadmium battery K1 = 2.1 (hours), K2 = 0.5 (hours)
Nickel-metal hydride battery K1 = 3.15 (hours), K2 = 0.75 (hours)
It is stipulated in.

As such, the current K value requires a higher K value for nickel-metal hydride batteries because nickel-metal hydride batteries were originally less stable and reliable than nickel-cadmium batteries.

Japanese Patent Application Publication No. 09-035157 Japanese Patent Application Publication No. 11-086163 JP 2004-013257 A

In recent years, however, many of the problems with nickel-metal hydride batteries have been resolved and they are highly regarded for their safety. As a result, there is a growing trend to replace the nickel-cadmium batteries used in existing fire receivers and repeaters, for example, with nickel-metal hydride batteries as backup power sources for these devices. As a result, there is also discussion about changing the K value required for nickel-metal hydride batteries to a value comparable to that of nickel-cadmium batteries.

However, when upgrading existing fire alarm receivers and repeaters by replacing their backup power supplies with nickel-metal hydride batteries, although safety is improved, nickel-metal hydride batteries have their own characteristics and problems that nickel-cadmium batteries do not have.

For this reason, when using nickel-metal hydride batteries in fire alarms or repeaters, in order to consider the safety of nickel-metal hydride batteries, it is necessary to install additional monitoring equipment that monitors the battery state and phenomena specific to nickel-metal hydride batteries, such as overcharging and temperature, and shuts down charging and issues a fault alarm if an abnormality is detected, which is a factor preventing the switch to nickel-metal hydride batteries.

The present invention aims to provide a disaster prevention device that enables easy monitoring and control of the battery status when the battery in the backup power supply unit is replaced with a nickel-metal hydride battery by adding the minimum necessary monitoring functions.

(Disaster prevention equipment)
The present invention provides a disaster prevention device that includes a standby power supply unit that switches to power supply from a battery when a commercial AC power supply fails, and includes a first monitoring means that monitors a predetermined first battery state common to the batteries,
When a nickel-metal hydride battery is provided as the battery of the standby power supply unit, second monitoring means can be attached for monitoring a predetermined second battery state different from the first battery state for the nickel-metal hydride battery.

(Battery failure detection under normal and fire conditions)
When the first monitoring means or the second monitoring means detects an abnormality in monitoring either the first battery state or the second battery state of the nickel-metal hydride battery, during normal monitoring, it outputs a fault alarm for the nickel-metal hydride battery and cuts off charging to the nickel-metal hydride battery, and in the event of a fire, it outputs a fault alarm without cutting off charging to the nickel-metal hydride battery.

(Sharing of fault alarm section)
The second monitoring means causes a fault notification section provided corresponding to the first monitoring means to output a fault alarm for the nickel metal hydride battery.

(Monitoring contents)
the first monitoring means monitors an overcurrent and an overvoltage as a first battery state of the nickel-metal hydride battery;
The second monitoring means monitors the temperature, long-term charging, and full charging as a second battery state of the nickel metal hydride battery.

(Normal and fire control for abnormality detection)
When the first monitoring means or the second monitoring means determines that the nickel-metal hydride battery has an overcurrent abnormality, an overvoltage abnormality, a high temperature abnormality, or a long-term charging abnormality, during normal monitoring, it outputs a fault alarm for the nickel-metal hydride battery and cuts off charging of the nickel-metal hydride battery, and in the event of a fire, it outputs a fault alarm for the nickel-metal hydride battery;
When the second monitoring means determines that the nickel-metal hydride battery is fully charged, it cuts off charging of the nickel-metal hydride battery during normal monitoring, but continues charging of the nickel-metal hydride battery in the event of a fire.

(Receivers and repeaters)
The disaster prevention device includes a receiver or a repeater of a fire alarm system.

(Basic Effects)
The present invention is a disaster prevention device equipped with a standby power supply unit that switches to power supply from a battery in the event of a power outage of the commercial AC power supply, and equipped with a first monitoring means for monitoring a predetermined first battery state common to the batteries. When a nickel-metal hydride battery is provided as the battery in the standby power supply unit, a second monitoring means for monitoring a predetermined second battery state different from the first battery state can be attached to the nickel-metal hydride battery. Therefore, for example, when a nickel-cadmium battery used in the standby power supply unit of a disaster prevention device such as an existing fire receiver or repeater is replaced with a nickel-metal hydride battery, the first monitoring means can be used as is to monitor the battery state of the nickel-metal hydride battery by the first monitoring means for the same battery state as the nickel-cadmium battery provided in the nickel-cadmium battery before replacement, i.e., the first battery state common to the batteries, and a newly provided second monitoring means can be used to simplify the configuration of the second monitoring means for monitoring the nickel-metal hydride battery. Therefore, when the battery in the standby power supply unit is replaced from a nickel-cadmium battery to a nickel-metal hydride battery, monitoring of the battery state can be easily performed by adding the minimum necessary monitoring function.

(Effect of detecting battery failures during normal operation and during fire)
Furthermore, if the first monitoring means or the second monitoring means detects an abnormality in monitoring either the first battery state or the second battery state of the nickel-hydrogen battery, during normal monitoring, it outputs a fault alarm for the nickel-hydrogen battery and cuts off charging to the nickel-hydrogen battery, and in the event of a fire, it outputs a fault alarm without cutting off charging to the nickel-hydrogen battery.Therefore, during normal monitoring, charging is cut off and an alarm is issued to protect the nickel-hydrogen battery, but in the event of a fire, charging of the nickel-hydrogen battery can be continued to ensure operation by the battery in the backup power supply unit.

(Effect of sharing the fault alarm unit)
Furthermore, the second monitoring means uses a fault notification unit provided corresponding to the first monitoring means to output a fault alarm for the nickel-metal hydride battery. Therefore, even if the battery is replaced with a nickel-metal hydride battery, a fault alarm for the nickel-metal hydride battery can be issued using the alarm notification unit provided corresponding to the existing nickel-cadmium battery, and changes to circuits and equipment required for replacement with a nickel-metal hydride battery can be kept to a minimum.

(Effect of control on abnormality detection during normal and fire conditions)
In addition, if the first monitoring means or the second monitoring means detects an overcurrent abnormality, overvoltage abnormality, high temperature abnormality or long-term charging abnormality in the nickel-hydrogen battery, it will output a fault alarm for the nickel-hydrogen battery and cut off charging to the nickel-hydrogen battery during normal monitoring, and output a fault alarm for the nickel-hydrogen battery in the event of a fire.If the second monitoring means detects that the nickel-hydrogen battery is fully charged, it will output a fault alarm for the nickel-hydrogen battery and cut off charging to the nickel-hydrogen battery during normal monitoring, and will continue charging of the nickel-hydrogen battery in the event of a fire.This makes it possible to achieve greater reliability and safety while ensuring the battery performance of the standby power supply unit from abnormalities in the battery status of the replaced nickel-hydrogen battery and the monitoring status of the disaster prevention device at that time.

An explanatory diagram showing the outline of an existing P-type fire receiver as an example of a disaster prevention device. A block diagram showing the power supply unit and the standby power supply unit provided in the fire control panel of FIG. A flowchart showing the monitoring control of the first monitoring unit in FIG. 2. A flowchart showing the monitoring control of the second monitoring unit in FIG.

Below, an embodiment of a disaster prevention device according to the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings. Note that the present invention is not limited to the following embodiment.

[Basic Concept of the Embodiment]
The embodiment generally relates to a disaster prevention device that operates by switching to a backup power supply unit using a battery when the commercial AC power supply is interrupted. Here, the term "disaster prevention device" refers to a device that performs disaster prevention in a target area, and specifically, a concept that includes a fire receiver and a repeater of a fire alarm system that performs disaster prevention for fires or gas leaks. Also, the term "backup power supply unit" refers to a device that switches to a battery when the commercial AC power supply is interrupted to operate the disaster prevention device, for example, a fire receiver.

The backup power supply unit provided in the disaster prevention device of this embodiment is equipped with nickel-cadmium batteries, and is designed to replace the nickel-cadmium batteries with nickel-metal hydride batteries when the disaster prevention device is renewed. Note that "replacement" is a concept that includes "replacement."

For this reason, the disaster prevention device of this embodiment is provided with a first monitoring means and a second monitoring means, the first monitoring means being provided in advance in the disaster prevention device, and the second monitoring means being attachable to the disaster prevention device.

Here, the "first monitoring means" monitors a predetermined first battery state common to the batteries. Also, the "second monitoring means" monitors a predetermined second battery state, different from the first battery state, for the nickel-hydrogen battery when the nickel-hydrogen battery is provided as the battery of the standby power supply unit. And, when, for example, a nickel-cadmium battery provided in the standby power supply unit is replaced with a nickel-hydrogen battery, the first monitoring means and the second monitoring means monitor the first battery state and the second battery state of the replaced nickel-hydrogen battery.

The "predetermined first battery state common to the batteries" is arbitrary, but may be, for example, an overcurrent or overvoltage of the battery. The "second battery state different from the first battery state for the nickel-metal hydride battery" is arbitrary, but may be, for example, a temperature specific to nickel-metal hydride batteries excluding the first battery state common to the batteries, such as overcurrent and overvoltage, long-term charging, and full charging.

When the first monitoring means or the second monitoring means detects an abnormality in monitoring the first and second battery states of the nickel-metal hydride battery, during normal monitoring, it outputs a fault alarm for the nickel-metal hydride battery and cuts off charging to the nickel-metal hydride battery, and in the event of a fire, it outputs a fault alarm without cutting off charging to the nickel-metal hydride battery.

Specific embodiments are described below. In the embodiments described below, a P-type (Proprietary-type) fire receiver installed in an existing fire alarm system is used as an example of a disaster prevention device.

[Specific Contents of the Embodiment]
(Fire alarm receiver)
Fig. 1 is an explanatory diagram showing an outline of the functional configuration of an existing P-type fire receiver as an example of a disaster prevention device. As shown in Fig. 1, a fire alarm line 16, as well as a control line, smoke control line, and alarm line (not shown) are drawn from a fire receiver 10 installed in an existing fire alarm system to a monitoring area. A fire detector 18, a transmitter 20, etc. are connected to the fire alarm line 16. An automatic opening device (latch release device) for a fire door is connected to the control line (not shown), and a smoke control detector is connected to the smoke control line.

The fire receiver 10 is equipped with a control unit 12, which is composed of a computer circuit equipped with a CPU, memory, and various input/output ports. The control unit 12 is provided with a line receiving unit 14, a display unit 22, an operation unit 24, an alarm unit 26, and a reporting unit 28.

The fire receiver 10 is also provided with a power supply unit 30 and a standby power supply unit 32. The power supply unit 30 receives 100 volts AC commercial AC power and converts it into DC power of a specified voltage, supplying power to each circuit unit within the fire receiver 10 and the fire alarm line 16. When the power supply unit 30 detects a power outage in the commercial AC power supply, it switches to supplying standby power from the standby power supply unit 32, and supplies power to each circuit unit within the fire receiver 10 and the fire alarm line 16.

The backup power supply unit 32 is configured to use nickel-cadmium batteries, and in this embodiment, an example is shown in which the existing nickel-cadmium batteries are replaced with nickel-metal hydride batteries.

The standby power supply unit 32 charges the battery in use and monitors the battery status of the battery being charged by rectifying the commercial AC power input via the power supply unit 30. Because the standby power supply unit 32 is intended to use a nickel-cadmium battery, it is provided with a function for monitoring overvoltage and overcurrent as the battery status during charging of the nickel-cadmium battery, i.e., the first battery status common to all batteries.

When the nickel-cadmium battery in the standby power supply unit 32 is replaced with a nickel-metal hydride battery, the first battery state, overvoltage and overcurrent, during charging of the nickel-metal hydride battery is monitored using the monitoring function provided for the existing nickel-cadmium battery, but in order to newly monitor the second battery state specific to the replaced nickel-metal hydride battery, i.e., the second battery state different from the first battery state, overvoltage and overcurrent, the monitoring function for the second battery state specific to the nickel-metal hydride battery, such as battery temperature, full charge, long-term charging, etc., is realized by using a detachable adapter that can be attached.

[Outline of power supply unit and standby power supply unit]
FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing an embodiment of a power supply unit and a standby power supply unit provided in the fire control panel of FIG.

As shown in FIG. 2, the power supply unit 30 includes an AC connector 34, a rectifying and smoothing circuit unit 36, a power failure detection unit 38, and a relay 40 with a switching relay contact 42. The backup power supply unit 32 includes a battery connector 44, a nickel-metal hydride battery 46, a battery storage case 48, a charge/discharge control unit 50, a first monitoring unit 60 that functions as a first monitoring means, and a second monitoring unit 70 that functions as a second monitoring means.

Of these, the battery connector 44, the charge/discharge control unit 50, and the first monitoring unit 60 are provided as existing circuit functions that correspond to the case where a nickel-cadmium battery is connected to the battery connector 44, and a second monitoring unit 70 that can be retrofitted as an adapter 82 is provided in association with connecting a nickel-metal hydride battery 46 that has been replaced with a nickel-cadmium battery to the battery connector 44.

The power supply unit 30 inputs a specified AC voltage, which is obtained by stepping down commercial AC voltage using a transformer, via an AC connector 34, and converts it to a specified DC voltage using a rectifying and smoothing circuit unit 36 before outputting it. A power outage detection unit 38 and a relay 40 are provided on the output side of the rectifying and smoothing circuit unit 36. The relay 40 has a changeover relay contact 42, with the power supply line from the rectifying and smoothing circuit unit 36 connected to side a, and the backup power supply line from the backup power supply unit 32 connected to side b.

When the power failure detection unit 38 detects an AC power supply, i.e., when it detects a DC power supply voltage from the rectifying and smoothing circuit unit 36, it turns on the built-in switching element to energize the relay 40, switching the changeover relay contact 42 to side a shown in the figure, and supplying the DC power supply voltage from the rectifying and smoothing circuit unit 36 to the receiver circuit unit.

When the commercial AC power supply is interrupted, the DC power supply voltage from the rectifier smoothing circuit section 36 disappears, causing the switching element provided in the power failure detection section 38 to turn off, and the relay 40 stops being energized and is restored. As a result, the switching relay contact 42 switches to side b, and the backup power from the nickel-metal hydride battery 46 provided in the backup power supply control section 32 is supplied to the receiver circuit section via the charge/discharge control section 50.

[Backup power supply configuration]
(Charge/discharge control unit)
The charge/discharge control unit 50 performs, for example, half-wave rectification on the AC voltage input from the AC connector 34, and charges the nickel-metal hydride battery 46 connected to the battery connector 44 via a switching element. When a power outage is detected by the power outage detection unit 38 and the relay 40 is restored so that the changeover relay contact 42 switches to side b, the charge/discharge control unit 50 supplies backup power generated by discharging the nickel-metal hydride battery 46 to the receiver circuit unit via the switching element.

The charge/discharge control unit 50 is also provided with a voltage sensor 52, a current sensor 54, and a charge cutoff unit 56. The voltage sensor 52 detects the battery voltage of the nickel-hydrogen battery 46, which is charged and discharged, via a switching element, and outputs a voltage detection signal E1. The current sensor 54 detects the charging current and discharging current flowing to the nickel-hydrogen battery 46 via a switching element, and outputs a current detection signal E2. The charge cutoff unit 56 cuts off the switching element provided in the charge/discharge line to the battery connector 44 when an abnormality detection signal E4 from the first monitoring unit 60 or an abnormality detection signal E6 from the second monitoring unit 70 is input.

(First monitoring unit)
The first monitoring unit 60 has a function of monitoring, for example, an overvoltage and an overcurrent as a predetermined first battery state common to batteries including nickel-cadmium batteries and nickel-metal hydride batteries. The first monitoring unit 60 is provided with a voltage monitoring unit 62 and a current monitoring unit 64.

The voltage monitoring unit 62 and current monitoring unit 64 are configured for use with a nickel-cadmium battery connected to the battery connector 44, but because the nickel-metal hydride battery 46 installed in place of the nickel-cadmium battery has the same voltage per cell of 1.2 volts, the nickel-metal hydride battery 46, which has the same number of battery cells connected in series, can obtain the same battery voltage as the nickel-cadmium battery, and the battery voltage and battery current can be monitored for the nickel-cadmium battery that has been replaced with it, just as with the nickel-cadmium battery.

The voltage monitoring unit 62 determines that an overvoltage abnormality has occurred when the battery voltage of the nickel-metal hydride battery 46 detected by the voltage sensor 52 exceeds a predetermined threshold voltage, and outputs an overvoltage determination signal to the output control unit 66.

When the output control unit 66 receives an overvoltage determination signal during normal monitoring when the fire alarm signal E8 is not received from the control unit 12 in FIG. 1, it outputs an abnormality detection signal E4 based on an overvoltage abnormality to the charge cutoff unit 56 of the charge/discharge control unit 50 via the diode D1, turns off the switching element provided in the charge/discharge line to the battery connector 44 to cut off and stop charging the nickel-metal hydride battery 46, and further outputs an abnormality warning signal E5 to the display unit 22 and alarm unit 26 shown in FIG. 1, and outputs a backup power supply abnormality warning by lighting or flashing the backup power supply failure indicator light and outputting an alarm sound from the speaker of the alarm unit 26.

In addition, when the output control unit 66 receives an overvoltage determination signal during a fire when the fire alarm signal E8 is received, it does not cut off charging to the nickel-metal hydride battery 46, but outputs an abnormality warning signal E5 via diode D2 to the display unit 22 and alarm unit 26 shown in FIG. 1, and outputs a backup power supply abnormality warning by turning on or blinking the backup power supply failure indicator light and outputting an alarm sound from the speaker of the alarm unit 26.

The current monitoring unit 64 determines that an overcurrent abnormality has occurred when the charging current or discharging current for the nickel-metal hydride battery 46 detected by the current sensor 54 exceeds a predetermined threshold current, and outputs an overcurrent determination signal to the output control unit 66.

When the output control unit 66 receives an overcurrent determination signal during normal monitoring when the fire alarm signal E8 is not received from the control unit 12 in FIG. 1, it outputs an abnormality detection signal E4 based on an overcurrent abnormality to the charge cutoff unit 56 of the charge/discharge control unit 50, turns off the switching element provided in the charge/discharge line to the battery connector 44 to cut off or stop charging or discharging the nickel-metal hydride battery 46, and further outputs an abnormality warning signal E5 to the display unit 22 and alarm unit 26 shown in FIG. 1, and outputs a backup power supply abnormality warning by lighting or flashing the backup power supply failure indicator light and outputting an alarm sound from the speaker of the alarm unit 26.

In addition, when the output control unit 66 receives an overcurrent determination signal during a fire when the fire alarm signal E8 is received, it does not cut off charging to the nickel-metal hydride battery 46, but outputs an abnormality warning signal E5 to the display unit 22 and alarm unit 26 shown in FIG. 1, and outputs a backup power supply abnormality warning by turning on or blinking the backup power supply failure indicator light and outputting an alarm sound from the speaker of the alarm unit 26.

(Second monitoring unit)
The second monitoring unit 70 monitors the specified battery states of the nickel-metal hydride battery, and monitors second battery states specific to the nickel-metal hydride battery 46 that are different from the specified first battery states of overvoltage and overcurrent that are common to batteries, such as monitoring for full charge due to a drop in peak voltage during charging, monitoring for full charge due to a sudden increase in temperature during charging, and monitoring for a long charging time that exceeds the time required for full charge.

For this reason, the second monitoring unit 70 is provided with the functions of a temperature monitoring unit 72, a -ΔV monitoring unit 74, a ΔT/Δt monitoring unit 76, and a long charge monitoring unit 78.

(Temperature monitoring section)
The temperature monitoring unit 72 inputs a temperature detection signal E3 detected by a temperature sensor 84 such as a thermistor provided in the battery storage case 48 of the nickel-metal hydride battery 46, and if the detected temperature becomes equal to or higher than a predetermined threshold temperature, determines that a high temperature abnormality has occurred, and outputs a high temperature determination signal to the output control unit 68.

When the output control unit 68 receives a high temperature determination signal during normal monitoring when the fire alarm signal E8 is not received from the control unit 12 in FIG. 1, it outputs an abnormality detection signal E6 based on a high temperature abnormality to the charge cutoff unit 56 of the charge/discharge control unit 50 via diode D3, turns off the switching element provided in the charge/discharge line to the battery connector 44 to cut off and stop charging the nickel-metal hydride battery 46, and outputs an abnormality warning signal E7 via diode D4 to the display unit 22 and alarm unit 26 shown in FIG. 1, and outputs a backup power supply abnormality warning by lighting or flashing the backup power supply failure indicator light and outputting an alarm sound from the speaker of the alarm unit 26.

Temperature management is important for nickel-metal hydride batteries 46; the ambient temperature for optimal charging efficiency is said to be 10 to 30°C. If overcharging continues, the battery temperature will rise, so if an abnormal rise in temperature is detected, charging will be cut off to protect the nickel-metal hydride batteries 46.

In addition, when the output control unit 68 receives a high temperature determination signal during a fire when the fire alarm signal E8 is received, it does not cut off charging to the nickel-metal hydride battery 46 in order to maintain battery performance as much as possible during a fire, but outputs an abnormality warning signal E7 to the display unit 22 and alarm unit 26 shown in FIG. 1, and outputs a backup power supply abnormality warning by turning on or blinking the backup power supply failure indicator light and outputting an alarm sound from the speaker of the alarm unit 26.

(-ΔV monitoring unit)
The -ΔV monitoring unit 74 monitors whether the nickel-metal hydride battery 46 is fully charged. It inputs a voltage detection signal E1 detected by the voltage sensor 52, and determines that the nickel-metal hydride battery 46 is fully charged when the amount of battery voltage drop -ΔV relative to the peak voltage during charging of the nickel-metal hydride battery 46 drops to or above a predetermined threshold value, and outputs a full charge determination signal to the output control unit 68.

The nickel-metal hydride battery 46 experiences a phenomenon in which the battery voltage rises over charging time, and when the battery is fully charged, the battery voltage drops by a certain voltage from the peak voltage. The -ΔV monitoring unit 74 detects this phenomenon of the battery voltage dropping during full charge and determines whether the battery is fully charged.

When the output control unit 68 receives a full charge determination signal during normal monitoring when the fire alarm signal E8 is not received, it outputs an abnormality detection signal E6 based on full charge to the charge cutoff unit 56 of the charge/discharge control unit 50 via diode D3, and controls the switching element provided in the charge/discharge line to the battery connector 44 to turn off and stop charging the nickel-metal hydride battery 46.

In addition, if the output control unit 68 receives a full charge determination signal during a fire when the fire notification signal E8 is received, the output control unit 68 will not cut off charging of the nickel-metal hydride battery 46 in order to maintain battery performance as much as possible during a fire.

(ΔT/Δt monitoring unit)
The ΔT/Δt monitoring unit 76 also monitors whether the nickel-metal hydride battery 46 is fully charged. It inputs the voltage detection signal E1 detected by the voltage sensor 52, and determines that the battery is fully charged if the rate of temperature increase per unit time ΔT/Δt increases to or exceeds a predetermined threshold value while the nickel-metal hydride battery 46 is being charged, and outputs a full charge determination signal to the output control unit 68.

The nickel-metal hydride battery 46 experiences a gradual increase in battery temperature over charging time, and when the battery is fully charged, the battery temperature increases rapidly. The ΔT/Δt monitoring unit 76 detects this sudden increase in the temperature rise rate ΔT/Δt during full charge and determines whether the battery is fully charged.

When the output control unit 68 receives a full charge determination signal from the ΔT/Δt monitoring unit 76 during normal monitoring when the fire alarm signal E8 is not received, the output control unit 68 outputs an abnormality detection signal E6 based on full charge to the charge cutoff unit 56 of the discharge control unit 50 via the diode D3, and controls the switching element provided in the charge/discharge line to the battery connector 44 to turn off and stop charging the nickel-metal hydride battery 46.

In addition, if the output control unit 68 receives a full charge determination signal during a fire when the fire alarm signal E8 is received, the output control unit 68 will not cut off charging of the nickel-metal hydride battery 46 in order to maintain battery performance as much as possible during a fire.

(Long charge monitor unit)
The long charge monitoring unit 78 judges an abnormality where the nickel-metal hydride battery 46 is not determined to be fully charged by the -ΔV monitoring unit 74 and the ΔT/Δt monitoring unit 76 and instead goes beyond full charge and into long-term charging. It inputs a voltage detection signal E1 detected by the voltage sensor 52 to start a timer, and when the charging time measured by the timer reaches or exceeds a predetermined set time without being reset by the full charge judgment of the -ΔV monitoring unit 74 or the ΔT/Δt monitoring unit 76, it judges that a long charge abnormality has occurred and outputs a long charge abnormality judgment signal to the output control unit 68.

When the output control unit 68 receives a long-charge abnormality determination signal from the long-charge monitoring unit 78 during normal monitoring when the fire alarm signal E8 is not received, it outputs an abnormality detection signal E6 to the charge cutoff unit 56 of the charge/discharge control unit 50 via diode D3, turns off the switching element provided in the charge/discharge line to the battery connector 44 to cut off and stop charging the nickel-metal hydride battery 46, and outputs an abnormality warning signal E7 via diode D4 to the display unit 22 and alarm unit 26 shown in FIG. 1, and outputs a backup power supply abnormality warning by lighting or flashing the backup power supply failure indicator light and outputting an alarm sound from the speaker of the alarm unit 26.

In addition, when the output control unit 80 receives a long-charge determination signal during a fire when the fire alarm signal E8 is received, it does not cut off charging to the nickel-metal hydride battery 46 in order to maintain battery performance during a fire as much as possible, but outputs an abnormality warning signal E7 to the display unit 22 and alarm unit 26 shown in FIG. 1, and outputs a backup power supply abnormality warning by turning on or blinking the backup power supply failure indicator light and outputting an alarm sound from the speaker of the alarm unit 26.

[Monitoring control by first monitoring unit]
Fig. 3 is a flow chart showing the monitoring control of the first monitoring unit in Fig. 2. The example shows a case where the function of the first monitoring unit 60 shown in Fig. 2 is realized by a computer circuit equipped with a CPU, a memory, an input/output port, etc.

As shown in FIG. 3, the first monitoring unit 60 reads the battery voltage of the nickel-metal hydride battery 46 in step S1, and if it determines in step S2 that the battery voltage is equal to or greater than a predetermined threshold voltage, it proceeds to step S3 to determine an overvoltage, and if it determines in step S4 that there has been no fire notification and that normal monitoring is in progress, it proceeds to step S5 to instruct the output of a fault alarm and the cut-off of charging. On the other hand, in the event of a fire, it determines in step S4 that there has been a fire notification, and it proceeds to step S6 to instruct the output of a fault alarm without cutting off charging.

The first monitoring unit 60 also reads the battery current of the nickel-metal hydride battery 46 in step S7, and if it determines in step S8 that the current is equal to or greater than a predetermined threshold current, it proceeds to step S9 to determine an overcurrent, and if it determines in step S10 that there has been no fire notification and that normal monitoring is in progress, it proceeds to step S11 to instruct the output of a fault alarm and the cut-off of charging. On the other hand, in the event of a fire, it determines in step S10 that there has been a fire notification, and it proceeds to step S12 to instruct the output of a fault alarm without cutting off charging.

[Monitoring control by second monitoring unit]
Fig. 4 is a flow chart showing the monitoring control of the second monitoring unit in Fig. 2. The example shows a case where the function of the second monitoring unit 70 shown in Fig. 2 is realized by a computer circuit equipped with a CPU, a memory, an input/output port, etc.

As shown in FIG. 4, the second monitoring unit 70 reads the battery temperature of the nickel-metal hydride battery 46 in step S21, and if it determines in step S22 that the battery temperature is equal to or higher than a predetermined threshold temperature, it proceeds to step S23 to determine that a high temperature abnormality has occurred, and if it determines in step S24 that normal monitoring is in progress with no fire notification being transmitted, it proceeds to step S25 to instruct output of a fault alarm and cut-off of charging. On the other hand, in the event of a fire, for which it is determined in step S24 that a fire notification has been transmitted, it proceeds to step S26 to output a fault alarm without cutting off charging.

The second monitoring unit 70 also detects the temperature rise rate ΔT/Δt of the nickel-metal hydride battery 46 in step S27, and if it determines in step S28 that the rise rate is equal to or greater than a predetermined rise rate threshold, it proceeds to step S29 to determine that the battery is fully charged, and if it determines in step S30 that there has been no fire notification and that normal monitoring is in progress, it proceeds to step S31, where it does not output a fault alarm and instructs the battery to cut off charging. On the other hand, in the event of a fire and it is determined in step S30 that there has been a fire notification, step S31 is skipped and charging is not cut off.

The second monitoring unit 70 also detects a voltage drop -ΔV from the peak voltage of the nickel-metal hydride battery 46 in step S32, and if it determines in step S33 that the drop is equal to or greater than a predetermined drop threshold, it proceeds to step S34 to determine that the battery is fully charged, and if it determines in step S35 that there has been no fire notification and that normal monitoring is in progress, it proceeds to step S36, where it does not output a fault alarm and issues a command to cut off charging. On the other hand, in the event of a fire and it is determined in step S35 that there has been a fire notification, step S36 is skipped and charging is not cut off.

Furthermore, the second monitoring unit 70 starts a timer when charging starts in step S37, and when it determines in step S38 that a predetermined set time has elapsed, it proceeds to step S39 to determine that a long-term charging abnormality that exceeds the time for full charging has occurred, and when it determines in step S40 that normal monitoring is in progress with no fire notification being transmitted, it proceeds to step S41 to instruct the output of a fault alarm and the cutting off of charging. On the other hand, in the event of a fire and it is determined in step S40 that a fire notification has been transmitted, it proceeds to step S42 to instruct the output of a fault alarm.

[Modifications of the present invention]
In the above embodiment, the monitoring of the second battery state of the nickel-metal hydride battery by the second monitoring unit is exemplified by temperature monitoring, -ΔV monitoring (voltage drop monitoring), ΔT/Δt monitoring (temperature rise rate monitoring), and long charge monitoring, but this is optional, and other battery states and battery phenomena specific to nickel-metal hydride batteries may also be monitored.

In addition, the above embodiment takes as an example a fire receiver for a P-type fire alarm system, but the same applies to a fire receiver installed in an R-type (Record-type) fire alarm system that sets an address in a fire detector to monitor fires.

In addition, the above embodiment takes a fire receiver installed in a fire alarm system as an example of a disaster prevention device, but the same can be applied to the backup power supply unit of a repeater installed in a fire alarm system, and further, the present invention can be applied to an appropriate disaster prevention device that switches to a battery in the backup power supply unit to supply power when the commercial AC power supply is interrupted.

In addition, while the above embodiment has been described as an example of a fire alarm system that monitors fires, it can also be applied to a monitoring panel for disaster prevention equipment that has a backup power switching function that detects and issues an alarm when appropriate abnormalities, such as gas leaks and theft, are detected in addition to fires.

Furthermore, the present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiment, but includes appropriate modifications that do not impair its objectives and advantages, and is not limited by the numerical values shown in the above-described embodiment.

10: Fire receiver 12: Control unit 18: Fire detector 20: Transmitter 30: Power supply unit 32: Backup power supply unit 36: Rectification and smoothing circuit unit 38: Power failure detection unit 40: Relay 42: Switching relay contact 44: Battery connector 46: Nickel-metal hydride battery 48: Battery storage case 50: Charge/discharge control unit 52: Voltage sensor 54: Current sensor 56: Charge cutoff unit 60: First monitoring unit 62: Voltage monitoring unit 64: Current monitoring units 66, 80: Output control unit 70: Second monitoring unit 72: Temperature monitoring unit 74: -ΔV monitoring unit 76: ΔT/Δt monitoring unit 78: Long charge monitoring unit 82: Adapter 84: Temperature sensor

Claims (6)

A disaster prevention device is provided with a standby power supply unit that switches to a power supply from a battery when a commercial AC power supply is interrupted, and a first monitoring means that monitors a predetermined first battery state common to the batteries,
A disaster prevention device characterized in that, when a nickel-metal hydride battery is provided as the battery in the standby power supply unit, a second monitoring means can be attached to monitor the nickel-metal hydride battery for a predetermined second battery state different from the first battery state.
In the disaster prevention device described in claim 1, when the first monitoring means or the second monitoring means detects an abnormality in monitoring either the first battery state or the second battery state of the nickel-hydrogen battery, during normal monitoring, it outputs a fault alarm for the nickel-hydrogen battery and cuts off charging to the nickel-hydrogen battery, and in the event of a fire, it outputs a fault alarm without cutting off charging to the nickel-hydrogen battery.
3. The disaster prevention device according to claim 2, wherein the second monitoring means outputs a fault alarm for the nickel-metal hydride battery using a fault notification unit provided corresponding to the first monitoring means.
The disaster prevention device according to claim 1,
the first monitoring means monitors an overcurrent and an overvoltage as the first battery state of the nickel-metal hydride battery;
A disaster prevention device according to claim 1, wherein the second monitoring means monitors temperature, long-term charging, and full charging as the second battery state of the nickel-metal hydride battery.
The disaster prevention device according to claim 4,
when the first monitoring means or the second monitoring means determines that an overcurrent abnormality, an overvoltage abnormality, a high temperature abnormality, or a long-term charging abnormality has occurred in the nickel-metal hydride battery, during normal monitoring, it outputs a fault alarm for the nickel-metal hydride battery and cuts off charging of the nickel-metal hydride battery, and in the event of a fire, it outputs a fault alarm for the nickel-metal hydride battery;
A disaster prevention device characterized in that when the second monitoring means determines that the nickel-metal hydride battery is fully charged, it cuts off charging of the nickel-metal hydride battery during normal monitoring, and continues charging of the nickel-metal hydride battery in the event of a fire.
The disaster prevention device according to claim 1, characterized in that the disaster prevention device includes a receiver or repeater for a fire alarm system.

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