JP7592406B2 - Alarm system - Google Patents

Description

The present invention relates to an alarm system that links an alarm device with a television device that has HDMI (registered trademark)-CEC functionality.

Traditionally, alarms that detect and warn of fires in homes (residential fire alarms) have become widespread. These alarms have an integrated sensor and alarm unit inside the alarm, and sound a fire alarm when a fire is detected. As the alarm unit can monitor for fires and sound an alarm on its own, they are easy to install and inexpensive, and have come into widespread use as their installation in ordinary homes has become mandatory.

In addition, wireless linked alarm systems have also been put to practical use and are widespread. In these systems, multiple alarms are used as wireless linked alarms to form an linked group, and when a fire is detected in any one alarm and an alarm sound is output indicating the linked source, a fire linkage signal is transmitted, and other alarms also link to each other and output an alarm sound indicating the linked destination.

In this type of wirelessly linked alarm system, if a fire is detected by an alarm, the source alarm that detected the fire will output a voice message, for example, "Woohoo, there's a fire, there's a fire," while the destination alarm will output a voice message saying, "Woohoo, another fire alarm has been activated, please check." In addition, the operation indicator light of the source alarm will be lit, and the operation indicator light of the destination alarm will flash, so that it is possible to distinguish between the source and destination alarms from the indication of the operation indicator light.

In addition, the fire alarm can be stopped by operating the alarm's test switch while the fire alarm is being output. At this time, an alarm stop linkage signal is sent to other alarms, which then link and stop the fire alarms.

In addition, if an alarm device issues a fire alarm due to a factor other than a fire, the fire may be restored during the fire alarm. In this case, the fire alarm will also be stopped and a fire restoration linkage signal will be sent to other alarm devices, causing the fire alarms to be linked and stopped.

Furthermore, if the alarm detects a fault such as a dead battery, a communications test abnormality, or equipment failure, it will output a dead battery alarm, a communications test abnormality alarm, or an equipment failure alarm, and will also send a corresponding fault linkage signal to other alarms to cause them to output a fault alarm.

The alarm function of such alarms is designed to output fire alarms, alarm stop, fire recovery, dead battery and equipment failure alarms in the same way, even for stand-alone alarms that do not have a linking function.

JP 2011-113114 A JP 2014-225055 A JP 2015-087885 A

Conventional alarms are limited to sound output from a speaker and visual display via an operation indicator light. When a fire alarm is issued, the user is required to check the source of the fire and, in the event of a fire, to quickly call 119 and evacuate. Instructions on how to evacuate are included in the instruction manual that comes with the purchased alarm, and are encouraged to be read by the user.

However, in an emergency situation where a fire alarm has been issued, it is difficult for users to act in accordance with the instruction manual, and the response is left to their own judgment at the time, which can result in delays in identifying the source of the fire and calling 119, and in delays in evacuation.

In addition, when an alarm malfunctions, for example when a low battery alarm is issued, the user is required to replace the battery. However, the method for battery replacement can be difficult to understand even from the instruction manual, leading to the problem that the battery is left unreplaced and the alarm loses its fire monitoring function due to a dead battery.

The objective of the present invention is to provide an alarm system that realizes fire monitoring functions equivalent to those of fire alarm system receivers, enabling a quick and appropriate response, by linking with a remote-controlled television device with HDMI (registered trademark)-CEC functionality, which is installed in almost all ordinary homes. Note that HDMI is a registered trademark, but this trademark will not be mentioned in the following explanation.

(Alarm System)
The present invention relates to a fire detector that detects a detection target in a monitoring area and transmits a status signal according to its own status to the outside;
a relay device that outputs predetermined information stored in advance based on a status signal received from the fire detector;
a television device that performs display based on the predetermined information received from the relay device ;
a remote control device for controlling the television device;
Equipped with
The remote control device is capable of remotely controlling the relay device,
The relay device is
displaying information related to the predetermined information being output on the television device under control of the remote control device ;
When a fire detection signal is received as a status signal from a fire detector, fire alarm information including guidance for checking whether there is a fire or not is output to the television device and displayed .

(Fire detection processing)
The relay device is
When a fire confirmation signal is received from the remote control device , the specified fire confirmation information is output to the television device and displayed,
When a non-fire confirmation signal is received from the remote control device , predetermined non-fire information is output to the television device and displayed.

(Alarm System)
The present invention also includes a fire detector that detects a detection target in a monitoring area and transmits a status signal according to its own status to an outside,
a relay device that outputs predetermined information stored in advance based on a status signal received from the fire detector;
a television device that performs display based on the predetermined information received from the relay device;
a remote control device for controlling the television device;
Equipped with
when the television device receives a control signal from the remote control device while performing a display based on the predetermined information output from the relay device, the television device selects a signal for the relay device based on the control signal from among signals that can be output for general purposes, and transmits the signal to the relay device;
The repeater device prestores control content corresponding to the repeater device-directed signal, and executes control related to the output of predetermined information to the television device corresponding to the received repeater device-directed signal.

( Confirmed fire information and non-fire information)
The confirmed fire information includes at least one of guidance for calling 119, initial fire extinguishing, and evacuation, and the non-fire information includes guidance for fire detector restoration operations.

(Fault detection)
When the relay device receives a fault detection signal as a status signal,
Predetermined fault alarm information corresponding to the type of fault in the fault detection signal is output to a television set for display.

(Play video on how to replace the battery)
The fault detection signal includes a dead battery detection signal;
When the relay device receives the dead battery detection signal,
A predetermined video showing how to replace the battery is read out and transferred to a television set for playback.

(Remote control device)
The remote control device controls the television device remotely ,
The television device transmits a predetermined control signal to the relay device based on a predetermined operation signal received from the remote control device.

(Fire detector control)
The remote control device controls the fire detector via the relay device.

(Basic Effects)
The present invention is an alarm system comprising a fire detector which detects an object to be detected in a monitored area and transmits a status signal according to its own status to the outside; a relay device which outputs predetermined information stored in advance based on the status signal received from the fire detector and causes the television device to display it; the television device which performs the display based on the predetermined information; and control means for controlling the relay device based on operation, wherein the relay device causes the television device to display information related to the predetermined information being output based on control from the control means, wherein the control means is a remote control device which controls the television device, and the television device transmits a predetermined control signal to the relay device based on a predetermined operation signal received from the remote control device. Therefore, when a fire is detected by the fire detector, predetermined information, for example fire alarm information (fire alarm content), is read and transferred from the relay device, and a fire alarm screen including operation guidance for the remote control device is displayed on the television device and a voice message is output, and when the remote control device is operated in accordance with the operation guidance in this state, an operation signal is transmitted from the television device to the relay device, and the screen content is switched to by the transfer of, for example, fire-related information, thereby significantly enhancing the communication of the fire alarm to the user compared to alarm output by the speaker and operation indicator light of a conventional alarm device, enabling a quick and appropriate response when the alarm device is activated.

(Effects of fire detection processing)
In addition, when the relay device receives a fire detection signal as a status signal, it outputs fire alarm information including guidance for confirming whether there is a fire or not to the television set for display, and when it receives a fire confirmation signal from the control means, it outputs specified fire confirmation information to the television set for display, and when it receives a non-fire confirmation signal from the control means, it outputs specified fire confirmation information to the television set for display, and the fire confirmation information includes at least one of guidance for calling 119, initial fire extinguishing, or evacuation, thereby realizing a fire monitoring function equivalent to that of a fire receiver with a display device provided in a fire alarm system, enabling rapid and appropriate response.

When a fire receiver with a display installed in a fire alarm system receives a fire alert signal from a fire detector, it issues a fire alarm by flashing the fire indicator light, displaying the location of the fire, outputting the main sound, and outputting a local sound alarm. Next, a monitor or other person checks the location of the fire, and if there is a fire, 119 is called, initial fire extinguishing is carried out, and evacuation guidance is given. Meanwhile, if there is no fire, the local sound alarm is stopped and restored.

Similar to the fire receiver of such a fire alarm system, the alarm system of the present invention works in conjunction with a relay device and a television device with a remote control device. When a fire detection signal is received from a fire detector, fire alarm information including guidance for confirming whether there is a fire or not is displayed on the television device's screen. The user can then confirm the source of the fire and use the remote control device to confirm the fire, which will then switch to a fire confirmation screen, which will then switch to a screen displaying information about the confirmed fire including guidance for calling 119, initial fire extinguishing, or evacuation. The user can then calmly confirm the source of the fire, and if there is a fire, call 119 and then evacuate quickly, allowing them to take appropriate action.

On the other hand, if there is no fire, performing a non-fire confirmation operation using the remote control device will switch to a non-fire information screen that includes guidance on how to stop the alarm using the remote control device, and performing the alarm stop operation using the remote control will stop the fire alarm from the fire detector. Next, the screen will switch to a recovery information screen that includes guidance on eliminating the non-fire causes and on how to perform recovery operations using the remote control device, and the user can remove the smoke and water vapor that are the non-fire causes by ventilating the room by turning on the exhaust fan or opening a window, and then performing a recovery operation using the remote control device to remotely restore the fire detector and return it to its normal monitoring state.

(Effect of non-fire information)
In addition, non-fire information includes guidance on how to restore the fire detector. If a fire alarm is issued due to factors other than fire, such as smoke or steam from cooking, the fire cause will disappear over time and the fire will be restored. Therefore, the fire restoration information indicates that there is no fire and indicates measures such as ventilating the room to eliminate the non-fire cause, thereby reassuring users that the fire has been restored in the event of a non-fire alarm, and by providing guidance on ventilation, etc. to eliminate the cause of the non-fire alarm, it enables users to make quick and appropriate decisions and take action.

(Effect of fault detection)
In addition, when the relay device receives a fault detection signal as a status signal, it outputs predetermined fault warning information corresponding to the type of fault in the fault detection signal to the television device for display. By playing back the fault warning information on the television device, it is possible to simply and easily determine whether the fault is due to, for example, a dead battery, a communication test abnormality, or an equipment malfunction. If necessary, video information can be played back to show how to respond depending on the type of fault, making it possible to appropriately take different responses depending on the type of fault.

(Effect of playing a video on how to change the battery)
In addition, the fault detection signal includes a low battery detection signal, and when the relay device receives the low battery detection signal, it reads out a specified video showing how to replace the battery and transfers it to the television device for playback.Therefore, by using the playback operation on the remote control device to play the video showing the battery replacement method, the user can understand the specific battery replacement method and take action simply and easily.

FIG. 1 is an explanatory diagram showing an outline of an alarm system. FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing the external appearance of the alarm device. FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing the functional configuration of an alarm device. FIG. 4 is a block diagram showing the functional configuration of the alarm adapter. FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing a functional configuration of a television device. FIG. 4 is an explanatory diagram showing the settings of physical addresses of a television device, an alarm adapter, and a player device. FIG. 2 is an explanatory diagram showing a remote control device. 2 is an explanatory diagram showing a list of operation functions performed by operation buttons on a remote control device; FIG. FIG. 13 is an explanatory diagram showing a fire alarm screen displayed on a television device. FIG. 13 is an explanatory diagram showing a fire confirmation screen displayed on the television device. FIG. 13 is an explanatory diagram showing a non-fire screen displayed on a television device. FIG. 13 is an explanatory diagram showing a recovery screen displayed on the television device. FIG. 13 is an explanatory diagram showing an alarm stop screen displayed on a television device. FIG. 13 is an explanatory diagram showing a fire restoration screen displayed on a television device. FIG. 13 is an explanatory diagram showing a low battery warning screen displayed on the television device. FIG. 13 is an explanatory diagram showing a communication test abnormality screen displayed on a television device. FIG. 13 is an explanatory diagram showing a device failure warning screen displayed on the television device. 10 is a flowchart showing the control operation of the alarm adapter. 20 is a flowchart showing details of the fire alarm operation command reception control in step S5 of FIG. 18. 20 is a flowchart showing details of the operation command reception control for a fault alarm in step S15 of FIG. 18. 10 is a flowchart showing a control operation of the television device. FIG. 1 is an explanatory diagram showing an outline of an alarm system using an HDMI switch; FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing the functional configuration of an HDMI switch together with a television device. 4 is an explanatory diagram showing settings of physical addresses of a television device, an HDMI switch, an alarm adapter, and a player device. FIG.

Below, an embodiment of the alarm system 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]
First, a basic concept of the embodiment will be described. The embodiment generally relates to an alarm system. The alarm system of the embodiment includes a fire detector, a relay device, a television device, and a remote control device that functions as a control unit.

A fire detector detects a detection target in its monitoring area and transmits a status signal according to its own condition to the outside. Here, the "monitoring area" refers to the area monitored by the fire detector, which is an outdoor or indoor space with a certain extent, and is a concept that includes areas such as rooms, hallways, and stairs of a building such as a house. Furthermore, "detection target" refers to physical phenomena such as smoke and heat that accompany a fire. Furthermore, "status signal according to its own condition" is a concept that includes not only detection signals of detection targets such as smoke and heat, but also signals that indicate its own operating state, operating state, fault state, etc.

The relay device is an intermediate device that connects multiple devices or equipment with different functions and transfers signals between them and converts formats between them. In this embodiment, it functions as an alarm adapter that outputs pre-stored information based on a status signal received from a fire detector and displays it on a television device. In detail, when the relay device receives a fire detection signal, it transmits a one-touch play control signal to the television device, thereby transferring fire alarm information to the television device.

Here, "fire warning information" refers to information indicating that a fire has occurred, and is a concept that includes multiple types of information such as text (writing), still images, videos, and audio, and also includes a concept called content.

The "one-touch play control signal" is a control signal that automatically transfers fire alarm information from the relay device to the television device for playback. In detail, it controls the transfer of fire alarm information by determining the transfer path along the transmission line from the relay device to the television device, and also controls the power to be turned on when the television device is powered off, and when information transferred from a player device connected to another input terminal is being received and played, it stops the reception and playback of information from the other player device and switches to the reception and playback of fire alarm information from the relay device.

The television device has an input terminal connected to a transmission path from the relay device, and receives and plays back the fire alarm information transferred from the relay device. Here, "playback" means outputting multiple types of information contained in the received "fire alarm information," such as text (sentences), still images, video, and audio, in a manner that can be recognized by humans.

The remote control device allows remote control of the television device, such as channel selection, volume adjustment, and video playback stop. Here, the fire alarm information played on the television device includes operation guidance for the remote control device.

In addition, while the television device is playing back the fire alarm information, it transmits the operation signal received from the remote control device to the relay device, and the relay device performs a predetermined control corresponding to the operation signal received from the television device.

The transfer of information between the relay device and the television device that constitute the alarm system of this embodiment is, as an example, based on the HDMI (High Definition Multimedia Interface) standard. Therefore, the relay device is connected to the HDMI terminal of the television device via an HDMI transmission path, and when it receives a fire detection signal from the alarm, it reads out the fire alarm information and transfers it to the television device via the HDMI transmission path for playback.

In addition, the control between the relay device and the television device is based on the HDMI-CEC standard. Therefore, when the relay device receives a fire detection signal from the alarm, it transmits a one-touch play CEC command, which is a one-touch play control signal, to the television device via the HDMI transmission path, and transfers and plays back the fire alarm information.

In addition, when the television device receives a specified operation signal from the remote control device while playing back fire alarm information, it transmits a CEC command for operation corresponding to the operation signal to the relay device via the HDMI transmission path, and the relay device performs a specified control corresponding to the CEC command for operation received from the television device.

In the specific embodiment shown below, the "fire detector" is a "wireless-linked alarm that detects fires and issues an alarm", the "relay device" is an "alarm adapter", the "transmission path" is an "HDMI transmission path", the "input terminal" is an "HDMI terminal", the "one-touch play control signal" is a "one-touch play CEC command", the "control signal for operation" is an "operation CEC command", the "fire detection signal" is a "fire alarm-linked signal", the "fault (low battery) detection signal" is a "fault (low battery)-linked signal", the "fire alarm information" is a "fire alarm content", the "fire confirmation information" is a "fire confirmation content", the "non-fire information" is a "non-fire content", the "recovery information" is a "recovery content", and the "fault alarm information" is a "fault alarm content". Note that "fault alarms" include "low battery alarms", "communication test abnormality alarms", "equipment failure alarms", etc.

[Specific Contents of the Embodiment]
The specific contents of the alarm system according to this embodiment will be described in more detail below. The contents will be described separately as follows.
Overview of the alarm system
b. Alarm 0065
b1. Appearance of the alarm 0065
b2. Functional configuration overview
b3. Fire control function 0074
c. Alarm adapter 0082
d. Television set 0099
e. Remote control device 0109
f. Playing fire content on a television device 0117
f1. Fire alarm screen 0118
f2. Alarm stop screen 0136
f3. Fire recovery screen 0140
f4. Battery warning screen 0144
f5. Communication test error screen 0151
f6. Equipment failure alarm screen 0156
g. Alarm adapter control operation 0161
g1. Alarm adapter control 0162
g2. Fire alarm operation command reception control 0169
g3. Fault alarm operation command reception control 0174
h. Control operation of the television device 0180
i. Alarm system using HDMI switch 0184
j. Modifications of the present invention

[a. Overview of the alarm system]
FIG. 1 is an explanatory diagram showing an outline of an alarm system according to the present invention, taking as an example an alarm system constituted by a wireless-linked alarm device (residential fire alarm device) installed in a residence.

In the example of FIG. 1, alarm devices 10 (10-1) to 10 (10-5) that detect and issue fire alarms are installed in the kitchen, living room, children's room 1, children's room 2, and master bedroom of house 12. The alarm devices 10 (10-1) to 10 (10-5) are equipped with the function of wirelessly transmitting and receiving linking signals for fires and the like between each other, and monitor fires throughout the house. In addition, the alarm devices 10 (10-1) to 10 (10-5) form a linking group by using the same channel frequency. In this embodiment, the maximum number of alarm devices that can form a linking group is, for example, 15.

A television set 14 is installed in the living room of the house 12, and functions as a sink under the HDMI-CEC standard. The television set 14 is provided with three HDMI terminals, allowing the connection of up to three playback devices or playback/recording devices that function as sources.

In this embodiment, an alarm adapter 16 that functions as a relay device is connected to one of the HDMI terminals of the television device 14, and player devices 18 (18-1), 18 (18-2) such as a DVD player and a CD player are connected to the remaining two HDMI terminals. A remote control device 15 is provided for the television device 14. The remote control device 15 enables remote operation of the television device 14, such as channel selection, volume adjustment, and stopping recording and playback, via infrared communication.

The HDMI-CEC standard television device 14 also has a remote control pass-through function that converts remote control operation signals into specific CEC commands and transfers them to the alarm adapter 16 and player devices 18 (18-1) and 18 (18-2) connected to the HDMI terminal. The remote control pass-through function of the television device 14 makes it possible to perform recording and playback operations such as playback, recording, pausing, and stopping of the player devices 18 (18-1) and 18 (18-2), for example.

In addition, by previously allocating the relationship between the commands sent by button operations on the remote control device 15 and the control functions of the alarm adapter 16, the remote control pass-through function of the television device 14 makes it possible to operate the alarm adapter 16 from the remote control device 15.

When the alarm adapter 16 receives a fire linkage signal from any of the alarm devices 10 (10-1) to 10 (10-5), it reads out pre-stored fire alarm content and transfers it to the television device 14 as an HDMI stream, causing the television device 14 to play the specified fire alarm content in the form of images and audio.

If a fire breaks out in the child's room 1 of the house 12, the alarm device 10 (10-3) detects the fire and outputs a fire alarm indicating the linkage source by an alarm sound and an alarm display. In this case, the fire alarm indicating the linkage source outputs a voice message such as "Woosh, woosh, there's a fire, there's a fire" and lights up the operation indicator light.

Furthermore, the alarm device 10 (10-3) that detects a fire wirelessly transmits a fire interlocking signal indicating the occurrence of a fire to the other alarm devices 10 (10-1), 10 (10-2), 10 (10-4), and 10 (10-5). When the other alarm devices 10 (10-1), 10 (10-2), 10 (10-4), and 10 (10-5) receive a fire interlocking signal from the interlocking source alarm device 10 (10-3), they output a fire alarm indicating the interlocking destination by an alarm sound and alarm display. In this case, the fire alarm indicating the interlocking destination outputs a voice message such as "Woosh woosh, there's a fire! There's a fire! Another alarm has been activated," and flashes the operation indicator light.

The fire interlocking signal sent from the alarm 10 (10-3) is also received by the alarm adapter 16. The alarm adapter 16 establishes a transfer path over the HDMI transmission line by sending a one-touch play CEC command in the HDMI-CEC standard to the television device 14, reads out pre-stored fire alarm content, and sends it to the television device 14 as an HDMI stream. Having received the fire alarm content from the alarm adapter 16, the television device 14 reproduces and outputs the fire alarm content by displaying it on the screen and outputting audio.

The fire alarm content transferred from the alarm adapter 16 includes operation guidance for the remote control device 15, and by viewing the remote control operation guidance on the fire alarm screen displayed on the television device 14, the user can use the remote control device 15 to operate the alarm adapter 16 as required when a fire alarm is output.

The fire alarm screen of the fire alarm content displayed on the television device 14 shows remote control operation guidance for confirming whether there is a fire or not, and when the user confirms a fire and operates the remote control to confirm the fire, the operation signal for confirming the fire is converted into a CEC command for the fire confirmation operation and sent to the alarm adapter 16, and the alarm adapter 16 reads the fire confirmation content and transfers it as an HDMI stream to the television device 14 for playback.

The fire confirmation screen of the fire confirmation content played on the television device 14 displays guidance on calling 119, initial fire extinguishing, and evacuation. Therefore, by viewing the fire alarm screen and fire confirmation screen on the television device, the user can calmly confirm the source of the fire, and if there is a fire, call 119, and then take appropriate action quickly, such as initial fire extinguishing if possible and evacuating quickly.

On the other hand, when the user confirms that there is no fire and performs a non-fire remote control operation, a CEC command confirming that there is no fire is sent to the alarm adapter 16, and the alarm adapter 16 reads out the non-fire content and transfers it as an HDMI stream to the television device 14 for playback.

The non-fire screen of the non-fire content played on the television device 14 displays remote control operation guidance for stopping the alarm, and when the alarm stop button is pressed on the remote control device 15, an alarm stop signal is sent to the alarm adapter 16, which sends an alarm stop linkage signal to the alarm device 10 to stop the fire alarm, and also reads out the recovery content and transfers it as an HDMI stream to the television device 14 for playback.

The recovery screen of the recovery content played on the television device 14 shows guidance for eliminating non-fire causes and guidance for recovery operations using the remote control device; the user can remove the smoke and water vapor that are the non-fire causes by ventilating the room by turning on the exhaust fan or opening a window, and then by pressing the recovery button on the remote control device 15, a recovery signal is sent to the alarm adapter 16, which then sends a recovery linkage signal to the alarm 10 to restore it, returning the alarm system to its original fire monitoring state.

In addition, when an alarm stop operation is performed on an alarm device 10 (10-3) that has detected a fire while it is outputting a fire alarm, it stops its own alarm and sends an alarm stop interlocking signal to the other alarm devices to perform the alarm stop operation.In addition, when an alarm device 10 (10-3) that has detected a fire detects that the fire has been restored, it stops its own alarm and sends a fire restoration interlocking signal to the other alarm devices to perform the alarm stop operation.

At this time, the alarm adapter 16 also receives the alarm stop linkage signal, reads out the pre-stored specific alarm stop content, and transfers it as an HDMI stream to the television device 14 for playback.

In addition, when alarm devices 10 (10-1) to 10 (10-5) detect a fault such as a dead battery, a communications test abnormality, or an alarm failure, they output a dead battery alarm, a communications test abnormality alarm, or an equipment failure alarm indicating the linkage source, and also send a dead battery interlocking signal, a communications test abnormality interlocking signal, or an equipment failure interlocking signal to other alarm devices, which then output a dead battery alarm, a communications test abnormality alarm, or an equipment failure alarm indicating the linkage destination.

At this time, the alarm adapter 16 also receives the low battery linkage signal, the communication test abnormality linkage signal, or the equipment failure linkage signal, reads out the pre-stored specific low battery warning content, communication test abnormality content, or equipment failure warning content, and transfers each as an HDMI stream to the television device 14 for playback.

[b. Alarm]
(b1. Appearance of the alarm)
FIG. 2 is an explanatory diagram showing the external appearance of a wireless alarm device, with FIG. 2(A) showing a front view and FIG. 2(B) showing a side view.

As shown in Figure 2, the alarm 10 is composed of a main body 19 and a cover 20. A smoke inlet is opened in the center of the cover 20, and a smoke detector 28 is placed inside, which detects a fire when smoke from a fire reaches a predetermined concentration. An acoustic hole 26 is provided on the lower left side of the cover 20, and a speaker is built in behind this, allowing the output of an alarm sound or voice message.

A test switch 22 is provided below the smoke detector 28. The test switch 22 also functions as a switch to instruct the alarm device to stop the alarm; when the test switch 22 is operated during a fire alarm, the alarm stops, and when the test switch 22 is operated under normal conditions, a functional check begins and the results are notified. Furthermore, a communication test is performed when the test switch 22 is pressed and held. Inside the test switch 22, an operation indicator light 24 using an LED that displays an alarm is located as shown by the dotted line, and the lighting, flashing, etc. of the internal operation indicator light 24 can be visually confirmed via the test switch 22.

(b2. Overview of Functional Configuration)
Figure 3 is a block diagram showing the functional configuration of the alarm device. As shown in Figure 3, the alarm device 10 is equipped with a processor 30, to which is provided a communication section 32 which is connected to the smoke detection section 28, test switch 22, operation indicator light 24, speaker 36 and antenna 34, and it operates from a battery power source (not shown) with a guaranteed battery life of more than 10 years.

The processor 30 is provided with a CPU 38, and a control logic 40, a ROM 42, and a RAM 44 are connected to a bus 48 from the CPU 38. The control logic 40 realizes various hardware functions such as bus control associated with the control processing of the CPU 38.

The smoke detector 28 has a known scattered light type smoke detector structure, drives an infrared LED light emitter to emit light intermittently at a predetermined cycle, amplifies the scattered light received by a light receiver such as a photodiode, and outputs a smoke concentration detection signal. Note that a temperature detector may be provided instead of the smoke detector 28, and the temperature detector may use a thermistor as a temperature detection element, in which case it outputs a temperature detection signal that is a voltage signal corresponding to the change in resistance value due to temperature.

The communication unit 32 transmits and receives linkage signals for fires, etc., to and from other alarm devices in accordance with a specific communication protocol. In Japan, this communication protocol complies with STD-30 (standard radio equipment for specific low-power security system radio stations), known as the standard for specific low-power radio stations in the 426 MHz band.

For specific low-power security system radio station equipment in the 426 MHz band, 48 channels with a frequency bandwidth of 12.5 kHz are allocated between 426.2500 MHz and 426.8375 MHz, and one of the channel frequencies is assigned to an interlocking group consisting of multiple alarm devices for use.

The communication unit 32 MSK-modulates data signals such as fire interlocking signals output from the processor 30, then FM-modulates them and transmits them from the antenna 34 as signal radio waves at the assigned channel frequency of 426 MHz band. It also receives signal radio waves transmitted from other alarm devices, FM-demodulates them, then MSK-demodulates them, and further performs bit determination to demodulate data signals such as fire interlocking signals.

(b3. Fire control function)
The CPU 38 is provided with the functions of a fire control unit 46 which are realized by executing a program, and the control functions of the fire control unit 46 are as follows: The fire control unit 46 reads the smoke density detection signal output from the smoke detector unit 28 after AD conversion, detects a fire when the smoke density is equal to or higher than a predetermined threshold, and performs control to output a fire alarm indicating the linked fire.

When a fire alarm is output, the fire control unit 46 generates a fire linkage signal, instructs the communication unit 32, controls the communication unit 32 to transmit the fire linkage signal to other alarm devices, and causes the other alarm devices that receive the fire linkage signal to output a fire alarm indicating the linkage destination.

In addition, when the fire control unit 46 receives a fire linkage signal sent by another alarm device in the same linked group in the dwelling unit, it controls the output of a fire alarm indicating the linked destination.

The fire control unit 46 also transmits an alarm stop linkage signal and a fire recovery linkage signal in the same manner as the fire linkage signal for alarm stop control by operating the test switch 22 and fire recovery control in which the smoke concentration in the smoke detector falls below the threshold.

The fire control unit 46 also performs an automatic communication test, for example, once every 72 hours. The automatic communication test sends a communication test signal from a specified alarm device and causes the other alarm devices to send a communication test response signal; if there is an alarm device from which the communication test response signal is not received, for example, three times in a row, it is determined that a communication test abnormality has occurred and a communication test abnormality alarm is output from all alarm devices that were able to communicate normally.

The fire control unit 46 also monitors battery depletion, and when it detects battery depletion due to a drop in battery voltage, etc., it outputs a battery depletion warning indicating the linkage source and sends a battery depletion linkage signal to other alarm devices to output a battery depletion warning indicating the linkage destination.

The fire control unit 46 also monitors equipment failures such as circuit anomalies, and when it detects an equipment failure, it outputs an equipment failure alarm indicating the link source and sends an equipment failure linkage signal to other alarm devices to output an equipment failure alarm indicating the link destination.

Furthermore, when the fire control unit 46 receives a recovery linkage signal sent from the alarm adapter 16, it performs recovery control to cancel the fire or fault alarm state and return to the normal fire monitoring state.

[c. Alarm Adapter]
Figure 4 is a block diagram showing the functional configuration of the alarm adapter. As shown in Figure 4, the alarm adapter 16 comprises a processor 50, to which a communications section 52 connected via an antenna 54, a CEC interface 58 and an HDMI transmission section 60 are provided, and the CEC interface 58 and HDMI transmission section 60 are connected to an HDMI terminal 56.

The alarm adapter 16 is powered by a battery (not shown). Alternatively, a rechargeable secondary battery such as a lithium-ion battery may be used as the battery, and the battery may be charged by receiving a DC power supply from the television device 14 via the HDMI cable.

The processor 50 is provided with a CPU 62, and a control logic 64, a ROM 66, and a RAM 68 are connected to a bus 65 from the CPU 62.

The communication unit 52 is the same as the communication unit 32 in FIG. 3, and transmits and receives linkage signals for fires, etc. according to the communication protocol of STD-30 (standard specification for radio equipment of specific low-power security system radio stations), which is known as the standard specification for specific low-power radio stations in the 426 MHz band.

The CPU 62 is provided with the functions of an adapter control unit 70 that are realized by executing a program. Furthermore, content 72 is pre-stored in the RAM 68. The content 72 in the RAM 68 includes fire alarm content, confirmed fire content, non-fire content, recovery content, fire alarm stop content, fire recovery content, low battery alarm content, communication test abnormality content, and equipment failure alarm content. These contents are created in advance as alarm programs that combine still images, video, and audio.

The CEC interface 58 and HDMI transmitter 60 transmit control signals via an HDMI cable in accordance with the HDMI-CEC standard, enabling coordinated operation between devices.

Of these, CEC, known as home appliance control, is an independent function based on a single line that daisy-chains all devices on the HDMI link, and devices that support HDMI-CEC can exchange information with all devices on the CEC line.

The control commands transmitted in both directions between the alarm adapter 16 and the television device 14 conform to the CEC protocol. Hereinafter, control commands conforming to the CEC protocol will be referred to as "CEC commands."

The adapter control unit 70 provided in the CPU 62 utilizes the "One Touch Play" function provided as a common command of the CEC standard. For example, when a fire linkage signal is received from the alarm device 10, it instructs the CEC interface 58 to send a One Touch Play CEC command to the television device 14, which then turns on the television device 14 or switches the input to other player devices to determine the transfer path. When a transfer path determination notification is received from the television device 14, it reads out the fire alarm content from the contents 72 in the RAM 68 and instructs the HDMI transmission unit 60 to transfer the video, audio, and various packet data to the television device 14 as an HDMI stream using a method called TMDS (Transition Minimized Differential Signaling).

In addition, when the adapter control unit 70 receives a fire confirmation signal from the television device 14 by operating the remote control device 15 while reading out the fire alarm content and transferring it to the television device 14, it reads out the fire confirmation content from the content 72 in the RAM 68 and instructs the HDMI transmission unit 60 to transfer it to the television device 14 as a fire confirmation HDMI stream.

In addition, when the adapter control unit 70 receives a non-fire confirmation signal from the television device 14 by operating the remote control device 15 while reading out the fire alarm content and transferring it to the television device 14, it reads out the non-fire content from the content 72 in the RAM 68 and instructs the HDMI transmission unit 60 to transfer it to the television device 14 as an HDMI stream.

In addition, when the adapter control unit 70 receives an alarm stop signal from the television device 14 by operating the remote control device 15 while reading out non-fire content and transferring it to the television device 14, it transmits an alarm stop linkage signal to the alarm device 10 to stop the fire alarm, and also reads out recovery content from the content 72 in the RAM 68 and instructs the HDMI transmission unit 60 to transfer it to the television device 14 as a recovery HDMI stream.

In addition, when the adapter control unit 70 receives a recovery signal from the television device 14 by operating the remote control device 15 while reading out the recovery content and transferring it to the television device 14, it transmits a recovery linkage signal to the alarm device 10 to stop the fire alarm.

In addition, if the adapter control unit 70 receives an alarm stop linkage signal after receiving a fire alarm linkage signal from the alarm device 10, it reads out the fire alarm stop content from the content 72 in the RAM 68 and instructs the HDMI transmission unit 60 to transfer it to the television device 14 as an HDMI stream.

In addition, if the adapter control unit 70 receives a fire restoration linkage signal after receiving a fire alarm linkage signal from the alarm device 10, it reads out the fire restoration content from the content 72 in the RAM 68 and instructs the HDMI transmission unit 60 to transfer it to the television device 14 as an HDMI stream.

In addition, when the adapter control unit 70 is in the normal monitoring state and receives a low battery linkage signal, a communication test abnormality linkage signal, or an equipment failure linkage signal from the alarm device 10, it reads out the low battery warning content, the communication test abnormality content, or the equipment failure warning content from the content 72 in the RAM 68, instructs the HDMI transmission unit 60, and controls the transfer of each as an HDMI stream to the television device 14.

Furthermore, when the adapter control unit 70 receives an alarm stop signal operated by the remote control device 15 while reading out fault content such as low battery warning content, communication test abnormality content or equipment failure warning content and transferring it to the television device 14 for playback, it stops reading out and playback of the fault content and sends an alarm stop linkage signal to the alarm device 10 to stop the fault alarm, and when a predetermined time, for example 24 hours, has elapsed since the fault alarm was stopped, it sends an alarm stop release linkage signal to the alarm device 10 to resume the fault alarm and starts reading out and playback of the fault content. As a result, when a fault alarm screen is displayed on the television device 14, the fault alarm of the television device 14 and the alarm device 10 can be temporarily stopped by operating the remote control.

[d. Television Equipment]
Fig. 5 is a block diagram showing the functional configuration of the television device. As shown in Fig. 5, the television device 14 functions as a sink of the HDMI-CEC standard, and a memory 76, a tuner 78, a decoder 80, an output control unit 82, a HDD 84, and a remote control receiving unit 85 are connected to a bus 75 of a CPU 74. An antenna reception signal is input to the tuner 78, and a digital broadcast signal selected from the channel is demodulated by the decoder. The output control unit 82 outputs the signal to a display unit 86 such as a liquid crystal color display and a piece 87 to play the television broadcast. Also, the television device 14 can be remotely controlled by the remote control device 15.

In addition, the television device 14 is provided with three HDMI terminals 90 (90-1) to 90 (90-3) that function as HDMI terminals for connecting a playback device or a playback/recording device, and pairs of CEC interfaces 92 (92-1) to 92 (92-3) and HDMI receivers 94 (94-1) to 94 (94-3) are connected between the television device 14 and the bus 75 of the CPU 74 in correspondence with the HDMI terminals 90 (90-1) to 90 (90-3). Note that in the HDMI-CEC standard, three logical addresses (4, 8, 11) are assigned to playback devices, so the television device 14 is provided with a maximum of three HDMI terminals 90 (90-1) to 90 (90-3).

In this embodiment, the alarm adapter 16 is connected to the HDMI terminal 90 (90-1) of the television device 14, and the player devices 18 (18-1) and 18 (18-2) are connected to the remaining HDMI terminals 90 (90-2) and 90 (90-3).

As shown in FIG. 5, when the alarm adapter 16 and player devices 18 (18-1), 18 (18-2) are connected to the HDMI terminals 90 (90-1) to 90 (90-3) of the television device 14 with HDMI cables, a hot plug detection function known as HPD (Hot-Plug-Detect) starts a startup communication sequence between the television device 14 (sink device) and the alarm adapter 16 and player devices 18 (18-1), 18 (18-2) (source devices), and the television device 14 recognizes the connection of the alarm adapter 16 and player devices 18 (18-1), 18 (18-2), and for example, the physical addresses required for transferring the HDMI stream are set.

Figure 6 is an explanatory diagram showing the settings of the physical addresses of the television device, alarm adapter, and player device. As shown in Figure 6, the three HDMI receiving units 94 (94-1), 94 (94-2), and 94 (94-3) of the television device 14 are set to physical addresses (1.0.0.0), (2.0.0.0), and (3.0.0.0). When the alarm adapter 16 and player devices 18 (18-1) and 18 (18-2) are connected via an HDMI cable and hot plug detection is performed, the physical address (1.0.0.0) is set to the HDMI transmitting unit 60 of the alarm adapter 16, and the physical addresses (2.0.0.0) and (3.0.0.0) are set to the HDMI transmitting units 96 and 98 of the player devices 18 (18-1) and 18 (18-2).

One-touch play of the alarm adapter 16 is an operation in which the alarm adapter 16 changes the mode of the television device 14 to display video data, and switches the input of the television device 14 to the alarm adapter 16.

When one-touch play is performed while the power supply of the television device 14 is in standby, the alarm adapter 16 performs an operation to change the power supply of the television device 14 from standby to on. When one-touch play is performed, the television device 14 enters a state in which it can display the video data received from the alarm adapter 16 on the display unit 86. When one-touch play is performed, the television device 14 enters a state in which it can output the audio data received from the alarm adapter 16 from the speaker 87.

The outline of one-touch play using CEC commands is as follows: When the alarm adapter 16 receives a fire interlocking signal, the alarm adapter 16 sends an <Active Source> CEC command to all devices connected via the HDMI transmission path. The physical address of the alarm adapter 16 that is the sender, "1.0.0.0", is added to the <Active Source> CEC command.

The television device 14 switches inputs by referencing the physical address "1.0.0.0" of the alarm adapter 16 that is added to the <Active Source> CEC command.

In this case, the physical address added to the <Active Source> CEC command is "1.0.0.0", so the television device 14 switches to input from the HDMI terminal 90 (90-1) in accordance with the first numeric value from the left, "1". This allows the content read and transferred from the alarm adapter 16 to be automatically received and played back using the television device 14.

[e. Remote control device]
FIG. 7 is an explanatory diagram showing a remote control device, and FIG. 8 is an explanatory diagram showing a list of operation functions performed by operation buttons on the remote control device, with FIG. 8(A) showing the remote control operation buttons for fire alarm control, and FIG. 8(B) showing the remote control operation buttons for fault alarm control.

As shown in FIG. 7, the remote control device 15 is provided with various operation buttons such as channel buttons and volume buttons. For example, on the lower side of the remote control device 15, as shown in an enlarged view, there are provided a blue button 100, a red button 102, a green button 104, and a yellow button 106, which are color buttons used for Internet operations, display switching, etc.

In addition, below the color buttons, for example, a play button 110, a record button 112, a pause button 114, and a stop button 116 are provided to operate a player device such as a recording and playback device connected to the HDMI terminal.

In this embodiment, as shown in FIG. 8(A), when color buttons are used as the operation function of the fire alarm control in the alarm adapter 16 by the remote control device 15, the red button 102 is assigned the fire confirmation operation, the blue button 100 is assigned the non-fire confirmation operation, the green button 104 is assigned the alarm stop operation, and the yellow button 106 is assigned the recovery operation.

In addition, when using the recording and playback buttons on the remote control device 15, the fire confirmation operation is assigned to the recording button 112, the non-fire confirmation operation is assigned to the playback button 110, the alarm stop operation is assigned to the pause button 114, and the recovery operation is assigned to the stop button 116.

As shown in FIG. 8(B), when the color buttons are used as the operation functions for fault alarm control in the alarm adapter 16 by the remote control device 15, the video playback operation is assigned to the blue button 100 and the alarm stop operation is assigned to the red button 102, and when the recording and playback buttons of the remote control device 15 are used, the video playback operation is assigned to the play button 110 and the alarm stop operation is assigned to the stop button 116.

The allocation of operation functions of the alarm adapter 16 to the operation buttons of the remote control device 15 is not limited to that shown in FIG. 8, and any appropriate button may be used as necessary.

The following explanation will be given using an example in which the operation functions of the alarm adapter 16 are assigned to the color buttons of the remote control device 15.

[f. Playback of fire content on a television device]
Figure 9 is an explanatory diagram showing a fire alarm screen displayed on a television device, Figure 10 is an explanatory diagram showing a fire confirmation screen displayed on a television device, Figure 11 is an explanatory diagram showing a non-fire screen displayed on a television device, and Figure 12 is an explanatory diagram showing a recovery screen displayed on a television device.

(f1. Fire alarm screen)
As shown in FIG. 9, when the television device 14 receives the fire alarm content from the alarm adapter 16 , it displays a fire alarm screen 118 on the display unit 86 .

The fire alarm screen 118 displays the words "Fire" at the top, and in the box below it, displays the time and location of the fire as "Fire 04:10 Kitchen", and below that, shows the first action to be taken in response to a fire as "Fire. Please remain calm and check the source of the fire", followed by remote control operation guidance 118a.

The remote control operation guidance 118a displays "Is it a fire?" followed by "If there is a fire, press the red button on the remote control. If there is no fire, press the blue button."

If the user follows this remote control operation guidance 118a to check the source of the fire and finds that it is a fire, they press the red button 102 on the remote control device 15 shown in Figure 7, which causes a fire confirmation signal to be sent from the television device 14 to the alarm adapter 16. The alarm adapter 16 then receives this signal and reads out the fire confirmation content and transfers it to the television device 14, which causes the fire confirmation screen 120 shown in Figure 10 to be displayed.

In addition, the television device 14 repeatedly outputs a voice message in sync with the display on the fire alarm screen 118, such as "There is a fire. Please remain calm and check the source of the fire. If there is a fire, press the red button on the remote control. If there is no fire, press the blue button."

The fire confirmation screen 120 shown in FIG. 10 displays "Fire" at the top, and in the box below it displays "Fire Started 04:10 Kitchen," followed by response guidance 120a in response to the confirmed fire, which reads, "Call 119. Attempt initial fire extinguishing, and if unable to extinguish, evacuate immediately."

This allows the user to quickly take appropriate action, such as calling 119, putting out the fire in its initial stages, and evacuating, by following the response guidance 120a on the fire confirmation screen 120.

In addition, the television device 14 repeatedly outputs a voice message in conjunction with the display of the fire confirmation screen 120, such as "There is a fire. Please call 119. Attempt to extinguish the fire initially, and if the fire cannot be extinguished, evacuate immediately."

On the other hand, if the user checks the source of the fire according to the fire alarm screen 118 shown in FIG. 9 and finds that there is no fire, by pressing the blue button 100 on the remote control device 15 shown in FIG. 9 according to the remote control operation guidance 118a, a non-fire confirmation signal is sent from the television device 14 to the alarm adapter 16, and the alarm adapter 16 that receives this reads out the non-fire content and transfers it to the television device 14, thereby displaying the non-fire screen 122 shown in FIG. 11.

The non-fire screen 122 shown in FIG. 11 displays "Not a fire" at the top, and in the box below it, "Fire broke out 04:10 Kitchen," followed by remote control operation guidance 122a for non-fire situations that reads, "Press the green button on the remote control to stop the alarm."

The television device 14 also repeatedly outputs a voice message, such as "There is no fire. Please press the green button on the remote control to stop the alarm," in conjunction with the display of the non-fire screen 122.

When the user presses the green button 104 on the remote control device 15 shown in FIG. 7 in accordance with the remote control operation guidance 122a, the television device 14 stops the audio alarm for non-fire content, and an alarm stop signal is sent from the television device 14 to the alarm adapter 16. The alarm adapter 16 then receives this and sends an alarm stop linkage signal to the alarm device 10, stopping the fire alarm being output from the alarm device 10.

Furthermore, when the alarm adapter 16 receives an alarm stop signal from the television device 14, it reads out the recovery content and transfers it to the television device 14, causing the recovery screen 124 shown in FIG. 12 to be displayed.

The recovery screen 124 shown in FIG. 12 displays "Not a fire" at the top, and "Fire broke out 04:10 Kitchen" in the box below it, followed by non-fire cause elimination guidance 124a and remote control operation guidance for recovery 124b.

The non-fire cause elimination guidance 124a may, for example, be displayed as "The alarm has been activated for a cause other than fire. If smoke or steam other than fire is being generated, please ventilate by opening a window or turning on the exhaust fan." The user can then follow the non-fire cause elimination guidance 124a to ventilate the room that caused the non-fire that activated the alarm 10, thereby removing the smoke and water vapor that has entered the smoke detector of the alarm 10 and eliminating the non-fire cause.

Furthermore, the remote control operation guidance 124b on the recovery screen 124 displays, for example, "When ventilation is complete, press the yellow button on the remote control." When the user presses the yellow button 106 on the remote control device 15 shown in FIG. 7 in accordance with the remote control operation guidance 124b, a recovery signal is sent from the television device 14 to the alarm adapter 16, and the alarm adapter 16 receiving this sends a recovery linkage signal to the alarm device 10, which restores the alarm device 10 and returns it to its normal fire monitoring state. Furthermore, upon receiving the recovery signal, the alarm adapter 16 stops reading and transferring the recovery content, and the recovery screen 124 on the television device 14 is also cleared.

In addition, the television device 14 repeatedly outputs a voice message in conjunction with the display of the recovery screen 124, such as "There is no fire. The alarm has been activated for a cause other than fire. If smoke or steam other than a fire is being generated, please ventilate the room by opening a window or turning on the exhaust fan."

Here, if a fire is detected during use with the television device 14 turned on, a recovery operation of the remote control device 15 switches the screen back to the broadcast screen before the fire alarm screen or the playback screen from the player device, and if the television device 14 is turned on to display the fire alarm screen, a recovery operation of the remote control device 15 turns off the power to the television device 14.

(f2. Alarm stop screen)
13 is an explanatory diagram showing a fire alarm stop screen displayed on a television device. As shown in FIG. 13, the television device 14 is turned on when the fire alarm screen 118 shown in FIG. 9 is being played back. When the fire alarm stop content is received from the display unit 86, the display unit 86 displays an alarm stop screen 126.

The alarm stop screen 126 displays the words "Alarm stop switch pressed" at the top, and in the box below it displays "Alarm stopped 04:15 Kitchen" showing the time when the fire alarm was stopped and the location where the stop operation was performed. Because the fire alarm may be stopped even in the event of a fire, the display below it, including remote control operation guidance 126118a, remains the same as 118a on the fire alarm screen 118 in Figure 9.

In addition, in conjunction with the display of the alarm stop screen 126, a voice message such as "The fire alarm has been stopped. There is a fire. Please remain calm and check the source of the fire..." is repeatedly output.

This type of alarm stop screen 126 is displayed on the television device 14 in conjunction with the operation to stop the fire alarm by the alarm device 10, and an audio message is also output. For example, if an alarm device in a remote location is operated by another user, the user can see that the alarm has stopped from the alarm stop screen 126 on the television device 14 and accurately grasp the situation.

(f3. Fire recovery screen)
Fig. 14 is an explanatory diagram showing a fire restoration report screen displayed on a television device. As shown in Fig. 14, when the television device 14 receives fire restoration content from the alarm adapter 16 while the fire alarm screen 118 of Fig. 9 is being played back, it displays a fire restoration screen 128 on the display unit 86.

Because it is highly likely that the alarm malfunctioned due to a non-fire factor, the fire restoration screen 128 displays the words "The alarm has automatically restored" at the top, and in the box below that, "Fire restored 04:15 Kitchen" is displayed showing the time and location of the fire restoration, and below that, non-fire cause elimination guidance 128a is displayed, for example, "The alarm was activated for a reason other than a fire, but has now been restored. If smoke or steam other than a fire is being generated, please ventilate the room by opening a window or turning on the exhaust fan.", and further displays remote control operation guidance 128b, for example, "Once you have finished ventilating the room, press the yellow button on the remote control.".

In addition, the television device 14 repeatedly outputs a voice message in conjunction with the display of the fire restoration screen 128, such as "The alarm has been activated for a cause other than fire. If smoke or steam other than fire is being generated, please ventilate the room by opening a window or turning on the exhaust fan."

This type of fire restoration screen 128 is displayed on the television device 14 in conjunction with the fire restoration of the alarm device 10, and an audio message is also output, so that the user can rest assured that there was no fire and can remain calm and take appropriate response actions, such as ventilating the room where the alarm was activated.

(f4. Battery warning screen)
Fig. 15 is an explanatory diagram showing a battery low warning screen displayed on a television device. As shown in Fig. 15, when the television device 14 is in normal monitoring mode and receives an HDMI stream of battery low warning content from the alarm adapter 16, it displays a battery low warning screen 130 on the display unit 86.

The battery low warning screen 130 displays the words "Battery low" at the top, and in the box below that, "Battery low 06:55 Kitchen" shows the time the battery was detected and the location where it occurred, as well as the alarm operation status of the alarm, which is "Operation indicator light flashes every 10 seconds. A low battery alarm sound is output once an hour." Below that, remote control operation guidance 130a for playing videos is displayed, for example, "The battery is nearing the end of its life. Press the blue button on the remote control to play a video on how to replace it. Please replace the battery in the alarm unit by following the instructions in the video.", and the same voice message is output.

Therefore, when the user presses the blue button 100 on the remote control device 15 in accordance with the remote control operation guidance 130a, video content containing explanatory text showing the procedure for replacing the battery in the alarm body is played from the alarm adapter 16.

In addition, the battery low warning screen 130 displays remote control operation guidance 130b for temporarily stopping the output of the battery low warning from the alarm device 10, for example, "Pressing the red button on the remote control will temporarily stop the alarm sound, but the alarm sound will return after 24 hours." and outputs the same voice message.

For this reason, the user can check the battery depletion status of the alarm device 10 on the battery depletion warning screen 130, and if it will take some time to obtain a replacement battery and replace it, press the red button 102 on the remote control device 15 to temporarily stop the alarm device 10 from outputting the battery depletion warning, thereby eliminating the state in which the battery depletion warning continues to be output after confirmation.

In addition, when the red button 102 on the remote control device 15 is operated to temporarily suspend the battery low warning, the reading and transfer of the battery low warning content by the alarm adapter 16 stops, the battery low warning screen 130 on the television device 14 is erased, and the battery low warning of the alarm device 10 also stops; however, after 24 hours have passed, the reading and transfer of the battery low warning content resumes, the battery low warning screen 130 is displayed, and output of the battery low warning by the alarm device 10 also resumes.

By displaying the dead battery warning screen 130 on the television device 14 and outputting an audio message, the user can learn that the battery in the alarm is about to run out, and by using the remote control to watch a video showing how to change the battery, can safely open the cover on the alarm body, remove the dead battery, and replace it with a new battery.

(f5. Communication test abnormality screen)
Fig. 16 is an explanatory diagram showing a communication test abnormality screen displayed on a television device. As shown in Fig. 16, when the television device 14 is in normal monitoring mode and receives an HDMI stream of communication test abnormality content from the alarm adapter 16, a communication test abnormality screen 132 is displayed on the display unit 86.

The communication test abnormality screen 132 displays the words "Communication test abnormality" at the top, and in the box below it, indicates the time when the communication test abnormality was detected as "Communication test abnormality 19:44", and indicates the alarm operation status of the alarm device as "The operation indicator light flashes every 10 seconds and an alarm sound for communication test abnormality is output once an hour."

Next, response guidance 132a showing how to respond to the communication test abnormality is displayed, for example, "There is an alarm that is not receiving radio waves. Find an alarm whose operation indicator light is off and relocate it." and the same voice message is output.

Furthermore, in order to temporarily stop the communication test abnormality warning output from the alarm device 10, the communication test abnormality screen 132 displays remote control operation guidance 132b that is the same as the remote control operation guidance 130b shown in FIG. 15, and outputs the same voice message.

This type of communication test abnormality screen 132 is displayed on the television device 14 in conjunction with the detection of a communication test abnormality in the alarm device 10, and an audio message is also output, allowing the user to know that there is an alarm device to which the radio waves are not reaching, find the alarm device whose operation indicator light is off, and, if there is an object placed nearby, remove the object or change the location of the alarm device, thereby enabling the communication test abnormality to be resolved.

(f6. Equipment failure alarm screen)
17 is an explanatory diagram showing an appliance failure alarm screen displayed on a television device. As shown in FIG. 17, when the television device 14 is in normal monitoring mode and receives appliance failure alarm content from the alarm adapter 16, An equipment failure alarm screen 134 is displayed on the display unit 86 .

The appliance failure alarm screen 134 displays the words "Alarm failure" at the top, and in the box below it shows the time when the appliance failure was detected as "Alarm failure 06:55 Kitchen", and the alarm operation status of the alarm shows "Operation indicator light flashes every 10 seconds, alarm sound is output once an hour".

Next, response guidance 134a showing how to deal with the faulty alarm is displayed, for example, "There is a faulty alarm. Find the faulty alarm and replace it with a new one," and the same voice message is output.

Furthermore, in order to temporarily stop the equipment failure alarm output from the alarm device 10, the equipment failure alarm screen 134 displays remote control operation guidance 134b that is the same as the remote control operation guidance 130b shown in FIG. 15, and outputs the same voice message.

This type of equipment failure warning screen 134 is displayed on the television device 14 in conjunction with the detection of an equipment failure in the alarm device 10, and an audio message is also output, making it possible to know that there is a faulty alarm device, locate the alarm device with the flashing operation indicator light, and prepare a new one to replace it.

[g. Alarm adapter control operation]
FIG. 18 is a flow chart showing the control operation of the alarm adapter, which is controlled by the adapter control section 70 provided in the CPU 62 shown in FIG.

(g1. Alarm adapter control)
As shown in Figure 18, when the adapter control unit 70 determines in step S1 that a fire interlocking signal has been received from the alarm device 10, it proceeds to step S2, transmits a one-touch play CEC command to the television device 14, and upon receiving a transfer path confirmation notification (ACK) from the television device 14, in step S3 the transfer path via the HDMI transmission line from the alarm device adapter 16 to the television device 14 is confirmed.

Then, in step S4, the adapter control unit 70 reads out the fire alarm content from the content 72 in the RAM 68 and transfers it to the television device 14 as an HDMI stream, and in step S5, as operation command control for the fire alarm, controls the screen display and remote control operation of the television device 14 shown in Figures 9 to 12 by reading and transferring the content. Details of step S5 will be explained later.

Next, when the adapter control unit 70 determines in step S6 that it has received an alarm stop linkage signal from the alarm device 10, it proceeds to step S7, reads out the fire alarm stop content from the content 72 in the RAM 68, transfers it to the television device 14 as an HDMI stream, and plays the alarm stop screen 126 and its audio message, as shown in Figure 13.

In addition, when the adapter control unit 70 determines in step S8 that it has received a fire restoration linkage signal from the alarm device 10, it proceeds to step S9, reads out the fire restoration content from the content 72 in the RAM 68, transfers it to the television device 14 as an HDMI stream, and plays the fire restoration screen 128 and its audio message, as shown in FIG. 14.

Next, in step S10, if the adapter control unit 70 determines that playback of the content has ended, for example, by a stop operation using the remote control device of the television device 14, it returns to step S1.

On the other hand, in the normal monitoring state, the adapter control unit 70 loops between steps S1 and S11, and if it determines in step S11 that it has received a fault linkage signal from the alarm device 10 indicating a dead battery, a communication test anomaly, or an equipment malfunction, it proceeds to step S12, where, as in step S2, it sends a one-touch play CEC command to the television device 14, and upon receiving a transfer path determination notification from the television device 14, in step S13 the transfer path via the HDMI transmission line from the alarm device adapter 16 to the television device 14 is determined.

Then, the adapter control unit 70 proceeds to step S14, reads out the fault warning content from the contents 72 in the RAM 68 and transfers it to the television device 14 as an HDMI stream, and as fault warning operation command reception control in step S15, performs the screen display and remote control operation control of the television device 14 shown in Figures 15 to 17 by reading and transferring the content. Details of step S15 will be made clear later.

(g2. Fire alarm operation command reception control)
FIG. 19 is a flow chart showing the details of the fire alarm operation command reception control in step S5 of FIG.

As shown in FIG. 19, when the adapter control unit 70 reads and transfers the fire alarm content to cause the television device 14 to display the fire alarm screen 118 of FIG. 9, if it determines in step S21 that a fire confirmation command has been received by operating the red button 102 of the remote control device 15, it proceeds to step S22, where it reads and transfers the fire confirmation content to cause the television device 14 to display the fire confirmation screen 120 of FIG. 10 and output a voice message.

On the other hand, if the adapter control unit 70 does not determine in step S21 that a fire confirmation command has been received, it proceeds to step S23, and if it determines in step S23 that a non-fire confirmation command has been received by operating the blue button 100 of the remote control device 15, it proceeds to step S24, where it reads and transfers the non-fire content, causing the television device 14 to display the non-fire screen 122 of FIG. 11 and output an audio message.

Next, if the adapter control unit 70 determines in step S25 that an alarm stop command has been received by operating the green button 104 on the remote control device 15, it proceeds to step S26, where it sends an alarm stop linkage signal to the alarm device 10 to stop the fire alarm, and then in step S27 reads and transfers the recovery content, causing the television device 14 to display the recovery screen 124 of FIG. 12 and output an audio message.

Next, if the adapter control unit 70 determines in step S28 that a recovery command has been received by operating the yellow button 106 on the remote control device 15, it proceeds to step S29 and transmits a recovery linkage signal to the alarm device 10 to restore it.

(g3. Fault alarm operation command reception control)
FIG. 20 is a flow chart showing details of the operation command reception control for the fault alarm in step S15 of FIG.

As shown in FIG. 20, when there is no fault, the adapter control unit 70 returns to the main routine of FIG. 18 via steps S31, S37, and S39, but if it determines in step S31 that the battery has run out due to receipt of a battery-running linkage signal from the alarm device 10, it proceeds to step S32, reads out and transfers the battery run-out warning content, and causes the television device 14 to display the battery run-out warning screen 130 of FIG. 15 and output an audio message.

Next, if the adapter control unit 70 determines in step S33 that a video playback command has been received by operating the blue button 100 on the remote control device 15, the process proceeds to step S34, where it reads and transfers the battery replacement video to be played on the television device 14.

Then, the adapter control unit 70 proceeds to step S35, and if it determines that an alarm stop command has been received by operating the red button 102 of the remote control device 15, it proceeds to step S36 and performs temporary suspension control of the fault alarm. If the battery has not been resolved, this temporary suspension control resumes the battery alarm after, for example, 24 hours.

In addition, if the adapter control unit 70 determines in step S37 that a communication test abnormality has occurred due to the reception of a communication test abnormality linkage signal from the alarm device 10, the adapter control unit 70 proceeds to step S38, where it reads and transfers the communication test abnormality content, causes the television device 14 to display the communication test abnormality screen 132 in FIG. 16 and output an audio message, and then proceeds to step S38.

In addition, if the adapter control unit 70 determines in step S39 that an equipment failure has occurred due to receipt of an equipment failure interlocking signal from the alarm device 10, the adapter control unit 70 proceeds to step S40, where it reads and transfers the equipment failure alarm content, causes the television device 14 to display the equipment failure alarm screen 134 in FIG. 17 and output an audio message, and then proceeds to step S40.

[h. Control operation of television device]
FIG. 21 is a flow chart showing the control operation of the television device, which is the control operation by the CPU 74 provided in the television device 14 shown in FIG.

As shown in FIG. 21, in step S41, the CPU 74 of the television device 14 performs normal HDMI-CEC control for playback or recording/playback of the player devices 18 (18-1) and 18 (18-2).

Then, the CPU 74 proceeds to step S42, and if it determines that a one-touch play CEC command has been received from the alarm adapter 16, it proceeds to step S43. If it determines that the television device 14 is powered off, it proceeds to step S44 and powers on the television device 14. If it determines in step S45 that the player device 18 (18-1) is playing, it proceeds to step S46 and stops playback on the player device 18 (18-1) and switches to the alarm adapter 16. In step S47, it sends a transfer path confirmation notification to the alarm adapter 16, and starts transferring the content.

Then, in step S48, the CPU 74 receives and plays the HDMI stream of the content transferred from the alarm adapter 16, and if it determines in step S49 during playback that an operation signal has been received through operation of the remote control device 15, it proceeds to step S50 and sends a CEC command corresponding to the operation signal to the alarm adapter 16 to perform the specified control. Then, in step S51, the CPU 74 determines that playback of the alarm adapter 16 has ended, and returns to the processing of step S41.

[i. Alarm system using HDMI switch]
Figure 22 is an explanatory diagram showing an outline of an alarm system using an HDMI switch, Figure 23 is a block diagram showing the functional configuration of the HDMI switch together with a television device, and Figure 24 is an explanatory diagram showing the settings of the physical addresses of the television device, HDMI switch, home alarm adapter, and player device.

As shown in FIG. 22, in the alarm system of this embodiment, four source devices, player devices 18 (18-1) to 18 (18-3) and an alarm adapter 16, are planned to be connected to a television device 14 installed in the living room. However, since the television device 14 has only three HDMI terminals for connecting source devices, the two player devices 18 (18-1) and 18 (18-2) are connected to each of the two HDMI terminals of the television device 14, while the alarm adapter 16 and player device 18-3 are connected to the remaining HDMI terminal of the television device 14 via the HDMI switch 136.

As shown in FIG. 23, the HDMI switch 136 connects the alarm adapter 16 and the player device 18 (18-3) via an HDMI cable to HDMI terminals 140 (140-1), 140 (140-2) which connect a pair of CEC interfaces 142 (142-1), 142 (142-2) and HDMI receivers 144 (144-1), 144 (144-2) which provide two inputs to the CPU 138. Also, an HDMI terminal 146 which connects a pair of a CEC interface 148 and an HDMI transmitter 150 which provide one output to the CPU 138 is connected to the HDMI terminal 90 (90-1) of the television device 14 via an HDMI cable.

The CPU 138 of the HDMI switch 136 is provided with the functionality of a switching control unit 152 that is realized by executing a program.

When the alarm adapter 16 and player device 18-3 are connected to the television device 14 with an HDMI cable via the HDMI switch 136, the hot plug detection function of the CPU 74 of the television device 14 starts a communication sequence at startup between the television device 14 (as the sink device) and the player devices 18 (18-1) and 18 (18-2) (as the source devices) and the alarm adapter 16 and player device 18 (18-3) connected via the HDMI switch 136, and the television device 14 recognizes the connections of the player devices 18 (18-1) and 18 (18-2), the HDMI switch 136, the alarm adapter 16, and the player device 18 (18-3), and the physical addresses required for the transfer of the HDMI stream are set, as shown in FIG. 24.

The physical addresses shown in Figure 24 for the player devices 18 (18-1) and 18 (18-2) are the same as those in Figure 6, but the physical address (1.1.0.0) is set in the HDMI transmitter 60 of the alarm adapter 16, the physical address (1.2.0.0) is set in the HDMI transmitter 160 of the player device 18 (18-3), the physical address (1.1.0.0) is set in the HDMI receiver 144 (144-1) of the HDMI switch 136, the physical address (1.2.0.0) is set in the HDMI receiver 144 (144-2), and further the physical address (1.0.0.0) is set in the HDMI transmitter 150.

For this reason, when the alarm adapter 16 receives a fire linkage signal from the alarm and transmits a one-touch play CEC command, the switching control unit 152 of the HDMI switch 136 switches the input path to the HDMI transmission unit 150 to the HDMI reception unit 144 (144-1), and automatically establishes a transfer path for the HDMI stream that has passed through the CPU 138 of the HDMI switch 136 between the HDMI transmission unit 60 of the alarm adapter 16 and the HDMI reception unit 144 (144-1) of the HDMI switch 136, which have the same physical address (1.1.0.0), and between the HDMI transmission unit 146 of the HDMI switch 136 and the HDMI reception unit 94 (94-1) of the television device 14, which have the same physical address (1.0.0.0), and allows the fire alarm content, etc. to be read and transferred from the alarm adapter 16 to the television device 14 for playback.

The HDMI switch 136 can be a commercially available device with a two-input automatic switching function. Also, the HDMI switch 136 can be one with more inputs than one with two inputs and one output.

The television device 14 may also have a built-in HDMI switch 136. In this case, the television device 14 has an expansion function with essentially four HDMI terminals for connecting source devices, and in addition to a maximum of three player devices 18 (18-1) to 18 (18-3), the alarm adapter 16 can be directly connected to the HDMI terminals of the television device 14 as a fourth device.

[j. Modifications of the present invention]
(HDMI-CEC command)
In the above embodiment, a one-touch play CEC command is sent as a common command from the alarm adapter to the television device, a transmission path is automatically established, and the HDMI stream of the content is transferred and played, but the present invention is not limited to this, and one-touch play may be performed on the television device using a specified CEC command other than the common command.

In addition, a one-touch play CEC command is sent as a common command from the alarm adapter to the television device, a transmission path is automatically established, and the HDMI stream of the content is transferred and played, but the present invention is not limited to this, and one-touch play may be performed on the television device using a specified CEC command other than the common command.

In addition, in the above embodiment, the alarm adapter is controlled from the remote control device via the television device, but the present invention is not limited to this, and the control means may be capable of directly controlling the relay device. The control means may be separate from the relay device, or may be integrated with it.

(Standalone fire alarm)
The above embodiment takes a wireless interlocking alarm as an example, but for stand-alone alarms that do not have a wireless interlocking function, the alarm transmission unit of the alarm can be connected to the alarm adapter via a signal line, and in addition to a fire alarm signal, an alarm stop alarm signal, a fire restoration alarm signal, and a fault alarm signal for dead battery, communication test abnormality or equipment failure can be output to the alarm adapter, and an alarm stop signal and a restoration alarm signal can be output from the alarm adapter to the alarm, so that content corresponding to the type of alarm signal can be read out and transferred as an HDMI stream to the television device for playback, and the alarm can be stopped or restored by operating the remote control device.

(Parent-child system)
In the above embodiment, when multiple alarm devices are installed in a dwelling to form an interlocking group, there is no distinction between parent and child devices and the alarm devices communicate with each other; however, it is also possible to form an interlocking group by providing a parent device and multiple child devices, and giving the parent device of each group the functionality of a repeater so that communication for interlocking alarms takes place between parent devices of different groups, and when a interlocking signal from the parent device is received by the alarm device adapter, content corresponding to the type of interlocking signal is read out and transferred as an HDMI stream to the television device for playback.

(Alarm)
The above embodiment has taken as an example a wireless alarm device that detects fire and issues an alarm, but the invention can also be applied to alarm systems that employ wireless fire alarms, gas leak alarms, CO alarms, and various types of burglar alarms other than alarm devices, as well as systems that include a combination of these alarms.

In addition, the above embodiment takes as an example a wireless alarm device in which the sensor unit and the alarm output processing unit are integrated, but in other embodiments, the sensor unit and the alarm output processing unit may be separate wireless alarm devices.

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

10 (10-1)-1 to 10 (10-5): Alarm device 12: House 14: Television device 15: Remote control device 16: Alarm device adapter 18 (18-1) to 18 (18-3): Player device 19: Main body 20: Cover 22: Test switch 24: Operation indicator light 28: Smoke detector 30, 50: Processor 32, 52: Communication unit 36: Speaker 38, 62, 74, 138: CPU
46: Fire control unit 56, 90 (90-1) to 90 (90-3), 140 (140-1), 140 (140-2), 146,: HDMI terminal 58, 92 (92-1) to 92 (92-3), 142 (142-1), 142 (142-2), 148: CEC interface 60, 96, 98, 150, 160: HDMI transmission unit 70: Adapter control unit 72: Content 85: Remote control reception unit 86: Display unit 87: Speaker 94 (94-1) to 94 (94-3), 144 (1 44-1), 144 (144-2): HDMI receiving unit 100: Blue button 102: Red button 104: Green button 106: Yellow button 110: Play button 112: Record button 114: Pause button 116: Stop button 118: Fire alarm screen 120: Fire confirmation screen 122: No-fire screen 124: Recovery screen 126: Alarm stop screen 128: Fire recovery screen 130: Low battery alarm screen 132: Communication test abnormality screen 134: Equipment failure alarm screen 136: HDMI switch 152: Switching control unit

Claims (1)

A fire detector that detects a detection target in a monitoring area and transmits a status signal according to its own status to the outside;
a relay device that outputs predetermined information stored in advance based on the status signal received from the fire detector;
a television device that performs display based on the predetermined information received from the relay device;
a remote control device for controlling the television device;
Equipped with
the remote control device is capable of remotely controlling the relay device,
The relay device is
displaying information related to the predetermined information being output on a television device under control of the remote control device;
When a fire detection signal is received as the status signal from the fire detector, fire alarm information including a guidance for confirming whether there is a fire or not is output to the television device and displayed ;
When a fire confirmation signal is received from the remote control device, a predetermined fire confirmation information is output to the television device for display;
When a non-fire confirmation signal is received from said remote control device, predetermined non-fire information is output to said television device for display .

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