JP7790988B2 - Wide-area fire alarm system - Google Patents

Description

The present invention relates to a wide-area fire alarm system that monitors and issues warnings in the event of fires at restaurants or homes in densely built-up urban areas.

According to the Fire and Disaster Management Agency's White Paper, a fire with a building damage area of 33,000 m2 (10,000 tsubo) or more is considered a "major fire," but there has not been a major fire spreading through urban areas during normal times since the Sakata Fire in 1976.

However, in urban areas densely populated with wooden buildings, roads are narrow and many buildings are dilapidated, making it difficult for fire engines and firefighters to enter in the event of a fire. Furthermore, when weather conditions such as wind direction at the time of the fire are combined, there is a risk of the fire spreading over a wide area.

On the other hand, in recent years, residential fire alarms that detect and warn of fires in homes have become popular. Hereinafter, "fire alarms" will be referred to simply as "alarms."

Such alarms have a sensor unit and alarm unit integrated into the alarm, and sound a fire alarm when they detect a fire due to smoke or heat. Because the alarm can monitor and sound a fire alarm on its own, they are easy to install and inexpensive, and have become widely used as their installation in ordinary homes has become mandatory.

In addition, wireless interlocking fire alarm systems have been put into practical use and are becoming widespread. These systems allow multiple alarm devices to communicate with each other, so that when a fire alarm is sounded by any one alarm device, the other alarm devices will also sound a fire alarm in unison.

However, in such conventional wireless-linked fire alarm systems, when one alarm device receives a wireless signal from another alarm device, multiple wireless signals using the same communication frequency may arrive simultaneously, causing signal collisions. The frequency of signal collisions increases as the number of alarm devices installed in an alert area increases, which limits the number of alarm devices that can be installed in one alert area.

To solve this problem, a known fire alarm system forms groups consisting of multiple alarm devices, uses different communication frequencies for each group, and sets a maximum number of alarm devices to prevent signal collisions from becoming too frequent when forming groups. Repeaters are then placed between the multiple groups thus formed to link them together (Patent Document 2).

In a fire alarm system like this, where each group has a different communication frequency and the alarms are linked together, linking multiple groups within a security area makes it possible to increase the overall number of linked alarms. Because the communication frequencies of alarms in different groups are different, even if a signal from an alarm in one group and a signal from an alarm in another group arrive at the same time, no signal collisions occur, and signals can be sent and received reliably.

By installing a group-linked alarm system in facilities with a floor area of less than 3,000 square meters that are not required to install fire alarm equipment, such as group homes that provide household support for the elderly or intellectually disabled, it is possible to avoid the problem of signal conflicts while increasing the number of linked alarms throughout the group home to the necessary and sufficient number, providing fire monitoring functionality that is essentially equivalent to that of installing fire alarm equipment, but at a lower cost.

For this reason, it is conceivable that conventional group-linked fire alarm systems could also be applied to wide-area fire alarm systems that monitor fires in urban areas with a high concentration of wooden buildings. In this way, the dwellings in the urban areas to be monitored would be grouped into units of 15 dwellings, each corresponding to the maximum number of alarms that can be configured in a group, with a limit placed on the frequency of signal collisions to prevent a high rate of signal collisions, forming alarm groups with different communication frequencies, and then repeaters that convert the frequency of the fire linkage signals would be installed between the groups to enable linkage between the groups.

If this type of conventional group-linked alarm system is applied to a wide-area fire alarm system for urban areas, when an alarm in one dwelling unit detects a fire and sounds an alarm, a fire alarm can be output from alarms in other dwelling units in the same group, as well as alarms installed in dwelling units in all other groups.

However, if a wide-area fire alarm system simultaneously issues a fire alarm from the alarms of all units in a group (i.e., all units in a monitored area) in response to a fire in one unit, this could result in fire alarms being issued in units in groups where the fire is less urgent and located a considerable distance from the unit where the fire occurred, which could cause unnecessary confusion and could increase the inconvenience in the event of a false or inauthentic alarm.

In addition, the division of residential units into groups in monitored areas is premised on the residents' agreement to mutually monitor for fires, and must be carried out with due consideration given to neighborhood relationships among local residents, such as neighborhood associations. Since it is not possible to unambiguously divide residential units into groups based on map information, etc., there is also the problem that dividing residential units into groups takes a lot of time and effort.

To solve this problem, the applicant has proposed a wide-area fire alarm system in which wirelessly linked alarms are installed in each of multiple dwelling units in a monitored area, and in the event of a fire, the alarm in the affected dwelling unit is activated, and a fire linkage signal is relayed so that over time, fire alarms in other dwelling units are activated in a ripple-like pattern throughout the monitored area (Patent Document 1).

For this reason, the alarm device is set to a transmission power that transmits the fire interlocking signal so that multiple alarm devices installed in other dwelling units adjacent to the dwelling unit where the alarm device is located are within the communication area. Furthermore, the relay delay times between receiving the fire interlocking signal and relaying it are set to be different for the multiple alarm devices installed in other dwelling units adjacent to the dwelling unit that detected the fire, to prevent communication errors caused by signal collisions when relaying and transmitting the fire interlocking signal in a ripple pattern.

Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2021-99675 JP 2010-33236 A JP 2011-034373 A

However, with such wide-area fire alarm systems, it is necessary to individually set the transmission power and relay delay time for each of the many dwellings in monitored areas, such as urban areas, where homes and shops are densely packed, which creates the problem of making setting up the alarms time-consuming and laborious.

In addition, when a fire breaks out in a monitored area, the alarm in the dwelling where the fire occurred will be activated, and over time, fire alarms in other dwellings will activate, spreading like a ripple throughout the monitored area. However, it is not possible to grasp the nature of these alarm activations even from within the fire monitoring area, and operation and management of the numerous alarms must all be handled on-site, creating a need for systematic operation and management that provides an overall understanding of the monitored area.

The objective of the present invention is to provide a wide-area fire alarm system that allows for simple and easy configuration of the various information required for signal transmission and reception by alarm devices installed in dwellings in the monitored area, and enables wide-area monitoring and operational management of alarm devices.

(wide-area fire alarm system)
The present invention provides a wide-area fire alarm system,
an alarm device installed in each of a plurality of dwelling units present in a monitoring area;
a host device that is connected to the alarm device via a communication network and that sets the transmission power and relay delay time in the alarm device to relay and transmit a fire interlocking signal so that when the alarm device detects a fire, the alarm device will activate the alarm in the dwelling unit that detected the fire and then the alarm devices in the other dwelling units will activate the alarm in a ripple-like manner over time;
The present invention is characterized in that:

(Transmission power and relay delay time setting details)
The higher-level device is
The transmission power of the alarm is set so that the communication area of the fire interlocking signal transmitted when the alarm installed in the dwelling unit detects a fire includes other alarms installed in multiple other dwelling units adjacent to the dwelling unit;
A relay delay time is set in the alarm device so that the alarm devices installed in a plurality of other dwelling units adjacent to the dwelling unit in which the alarm device is installed take different times from when they receive the fire interlocking signal until they relay and transmit it.

(Setting relay delay time for a dwelling unit group)
The upper device divides the dwelling units in the monitored area into dwelling unit groups of a predetermined number of dwelling units, and sets different relay delay times for the alarms of each dwelling unit in each dwelling unit group in a predetermined order.

(Relay delay time thinning setting)
If the dwelling unit group has fewer than a predetermined number of dwelling units, the host device sets mutually different relay delay times in the alarm devices of each dwelling unit in a predetermined order with some of the delay times thinned out.

(Fire alarm dwelling unit display by host device)
When an alarm detects a fire and outputs a fire alarm, or when it receives a fire linkage signal from another alarm and outputs a fire alarm indicating a fire in another dwelling unit, it sends a fire alarm notification signal to a higher-level device,
When the higher-level device receives a fire alarm notification signal from the alarm device, it displays the fire alarm operation of the dwelling unit that has output a fire alarm.

(Removal of Fire Alarm Display on Dwelling Units Due to Alarm Shutdown or Fire Restoration)
When the alarm is stopped or the fire is restored after detecting a fire, the alarm sends an alarm stop notification signal or a fire restoration notification signal to the host device,
When the higher-level device receives an alarm stop notification signal or a fire restoration notification signal from the alarm device, it erases the display of the fire alarm operation for the dwelling unit for which the alarm has been stopped or the fire restoration has been carried out.

(Basic effects)
The present invention is a wide-area fire alarm system comprising an alarm device installed in each of a number of dwelling units in a monitored area, and a host device connected to the alarm devices via a communications network, which sets a transmission power and relay delay time in the alarm device to relay a fire linkage signal so that when the alarm device detects a fire, alarm actions by the alarm devices of the other dwelling units will spread in a ripple-like manner over time, with the alarm action of the dwelling unit that detected the fire as the center.As a result, the transmission power and relay delay time for the alarm device that causes alarm actions by the alarm devices of the other dwelling units to spread in a ripple-like manner over time, with the alarm action of the dwelling unit that detected the fire as the center, can be set remotely from a host device such as a server, and the transmission power and relay delay time can be set efficiently even if there are a large number of dwelling units, ranging from hundreds to thousands, in the monitored area.

(Effect of detailed settings of transmission power and relay delay time)
In addition, the upper device sets the transmission power of the alarm so that the communication area for the fire interlocking signal transmitted by the alarm installed in a dwelling unit when it detects a fire includes other alarms installed in a number of other dwelling units adjacent to the dwelling unit in question, and sets a relay delay time in the alarm so that the time between when the alarms installed in a number of other dwelling units adjacent to the dwelling unit in which the alarm is installed differs from one another when they receive the fire interlocking signal and when they relay and transmit it.As a result, the fire interlocking signal transmitted by the alarm in the dwelling unit where a fire has occurred is received by at least the alarms in adjacent dwelling units and an alarm operation is carried out, but the relay transmission of the fire interlocking signal is carried out after a different relay delay time when the next fire interlocking signal is received, and because this means that even if a communication method without carrier sense is used for communication between alarms, communication errors due to signal collisions in the relayed fire interlocking signals are sufficiently suppressed, and as a result, the alarm operation by the alarms in the dwelling units is carried out over a wide area, with ripples spreading from the dwelling unit where the fire has occurred.

(Effect of setting relay delay time for a dwelling unit group)
In addition, the upper device divides the dwelling units in the monitored area into dwelling unit groups of a predetermined number of dwelling units, and sets different relay delay times for the alarms of each dwelling unit in a dwelling unit group in a predetermined order.As a result, the grouping of dwelling units for setting relay delay times can be done uniquely based on map information of the monitored area, and setting relay delay times by grouping dwelling units can be done simply and easily.

(Effect of thinning out relay delay time)
Furthermore, when a dwelling unit group has fewer than a predetermined number of dwelling units, the upper device sets different relay delay times for the alarms of each dwelling unit in a predetermined order with some of the times thinned out, so that even if an attempt is made to form a dwelling unit group based on the predetermined number of dwelling units, it may be the case that some of the dwelling units do not exist in some locations based on actual map information. In this case, relay delay times corresponding to the existing dwelling units are set, and relay delay times corresponding to the non-existent dwelling units are thinned out and not used.

(Effects of displaying fire alarm units by the host device)
Furthermore, when an alarm detects a fire and outputs a fire alarm, or when it receives a fire linkage signal from another alarm and outputs a fire alarm indicating a fire in another dwelling unit, it sends a fire alarm notification signal to a higher-level device, and when the higher-level device receives a fire alarm notification signal from the alarm, it displays the fire alarm operation of the dwelling unit that output the fire alarm.For example, by displaying a monitoring map showing the dwellings in the monitored area on the higher-level device and displaying the dwellings that have received a fire alarm notification signal in red, it is possible to visually grasp the alarm operations of the alarms in the dwelling units that are increasing in number, like ripples spreading from the dwelling unit where the fire occurred.

In addition, after the host device sets the transmission power and relay delay time in the alarm, it sends an alarm test signal to the alarm to trigger a test alarm. This allows the alarm test operation in the monitored area to be confirmed, with new units triggering test alarms spreading out in a ripple pattern, centered on the first unit that triggered the test alarm.If there are any units that have failed to trigger a test alarm, the host device can increase the transmission power of the units adjacent to the failed unit on the central side, and another alarm test can be performed to confirm that the test alarm is triggered normally.This makes it possible to simply and easily adjust the alarm transmission power.

(Effect of erasing the fire alarm display on a dwelling unit due to alarm shutdown or fire restoration)
Furthermore, when the alarm is stopped or fire restoration is performed after detecting a fire, the alarm sends an alarm stop notification signal or fire restoration notification signal to the higher-level device, and when the higher-level device receives an alarm stop notification signal or fire restoration notification signal from the alarm, it erases the display of the fire alarm operation for the dwelling unit for which the alarm has been stopped or fire restoration has been performed.Therefore, for example, if the higher-level device displays the alarm operation for the dwelling unit that received the fire alarm notification signal on a monitoring map showing the dwellings in the monitored area, it can be easily and simply seen how the alarm operation of the alarm device is stopped as the alarm is stopped or fire restoration is performed.

FIG. 1 is an explanatory diagram showing an outline of a wide-area fire alarm system provided with wirelessly linked alarm devices and a server as a higher-level device. This is an explanatory diagram showing a dwelling unit map showing the dwelling units to be monitored by the wide-area fire alarm system and the locations of alarm devices. This is an explanatory diagram showing the layout of alarms and a group of dwelling units consisting of nine dwelling units arranged in a 3x3 grid, which is the basic unit of a wide-area fire alarm system. 4 is a time chart showing relay delay times set in the alarm devices of the dwelling unit group of FIG. 3. FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing an embodiment of a wireless linked alarm device used in a wide-area fire alarm system. FIG. 10 is an explanatory diagram showing a relay delay map used to set a relay delay time in a monitoring area. FIG. 7 is an explanatory diagram showing the setting of relay transmission times for dwelling units in a monitored area based on the relay delay map of FIG. 6 . FIG. 10 is an explanatory diagram showing how a fire alarm operation spreads in a ripple-like manner from the dwelling unit where the fire occurred. 2 is a flowchart showing a control operation of the server shown in FIG. 1 . 6 is a flowchart showing the control operation of the alarm device shown in FIG. 5 . 11 is a flowchart showing details of the fire alarm control in step S26 of FIG. 10. 11 is a flowchart showing details of the linked reception control in step S28 of FIG. 10.

Below, an embodiment of the wide-area fire 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, the basic concept of the embodiment will be explained. The embodiment generally relates to a wide-area fire alarm system that is composed of alarm devices installed in each of a plurality of dwelling units in a monitored area, and a host device that is connected to the alarm devices via a communication network.

Here, an "alarm device" is a device installed in each of multiple dwelling units in a monitored area, which detects fires, sounds an alarm, and sends a fire interlocking signal to alarm devices in other dwelling units to sound an alarm, and also sends a fire interlocking signal sent from other alarm devices to sound an alarm.

Furthermore, a "monitored area" is an area where there are many dwellings that are monitored for fires by installing alarms. The size of the area is arbitrary, but the concept includes a wide area, such as a large area divided into specified administrative districts such as cities, towns, and villages.

In addition, a "host device" is a host device that is connected to alarm devices via a communications network and centrally manages and controls multiple alarm devices; it is made up of a computer device with communications capabilities, such as a server, and is a concept that also includes central devices, center devices, central monitoring devices, etc.

Furthermore, a "communications network" refers to a communications network that connects a host device and multiple alarm devices via communications lines, and includes wireless communications lines, wired communications lines, or a combination of both, such as the Internet, public wireless LAN communications networks, and mobile phone networks. For alarm devices, this also includes wireless communications networks that do not require carrier sensing in accordance with STD-30, the standard for specified low-power radio stations in the 426 MHz band. "Carrier sensing" refers to a mechanism that checks for the reception of signal radio waves in the same frequency band before transmitting a signal radio wave (carrier wave) in order to eliminate signal radio wave collisions (interference), and does not transmit the signal radio wave if a signal radio wave in the same frequency band is received, and transmits the signal radio wave if a signal radio wave in the same frequency band is not received.

In this embodiment, the host device sets the transmission power and relay delay time in the alarm device to relay the fire interlocking signal so that when an alarm detects a fire, the alarm will sound in the dwelling unit that detected the fire, and alarm sounds in other dwelling units will spread in a ripple pattern over time.

Here, "setting the transmission power of the alarm device by the higher-level device" means setting the transmission power so that the communication area for the fire-linked signal transmitted by the alarm device installed in dwelling unit 12 when it detects a fire includes other alarm devices installed in multiple other dwelling units adjacent to dwelling unit 12.

Furthermore, "setting the relay delay time of the alarm device by the host device" means setting a delay time so that the time between when other alarm devices installed in multiple adjacent dwelling units around the dwelling unit where the alarm device is installed differs from one another and when they start relay transmission after receiving the fire interlocking signal.

The host device also divides the dwelling units in the monitored area into dwelling unit groups of a predetermined number of units, and sets different relay delay times for the alarms in each dwelling unit in a dwelling unit group in a predetermined order. In this case, if the dwelling unit group contains fewer than the predetermined number of units, different relay delay times are set for the alarms in each dwelling unit in a predetermined order with some of the units thinned out.

In addition, when the host device receives a fire alarm notification signal associated with a fire alarm from an alarm device, it displays the fire alarm for the dwelling unit that issued the fire alarm, allowing the user to visually confirm the fire alarm from the alarm device as it spreads like a ripple around the dwelling unit where the fire occurred. In this case, when the host device receives an alarm stop notification signal or fire restoration notification signal associated with the alarm device stopping the alarm or fire restoration, it erases the display of the fire alarm for the corresponding dwelling unit, allowing the user to simply and easily understand how the fire alarm from the alarm device is ceasing.

Specific embodiments are described below. In the specific embodiments described below, the "host device" is a "server," the alarm device is a "wireless linked alarm device," the "communications network" is a communications network that combines "STD-30, the standard for specific low-power radio stations in the 426 MHz band," "public wireless LAN communications network," and "the Internet," and the "dwelling unit group" is a "dwelling unit group of nine units in a 3x3 matrix."

[Specific Contents of the Embodiment]
The wide-area fire alarm system will be explained in more detail below.

a. Wide-area fire alarm system a1. System overview a2. Server functional configuration b. Relay delay time set in alarm devices by the server b1. Basic unit of dwelling unit group b2. Avoidance of signal collisions by relay transmission b3. Relay delay time c. Alarm device c1. Alarm device configuration c2. Fire control function c3. Relay control function d. Setting of relay delay times for alarm devices in monitored areas by the server d1. Relay delay map d2. Setting of actual relay delay times for alarm devices in monitored areas e. Wide-area fire alarm operation f. Control operation of the wide-area fire alarm system f1. Monitoring control by the server f2. Alarm device control operation f3. Fire alarm control f4. Control of interlocking signal reception g. Modified example of the present invention

[a. Wide-area fire alarm system]
The wide-area fire alarm system will be explained in more detail below. In this explanation, reference will be made to Figure 1, which shows an outline of the wide-area fire alarm system equipped with wirelessly linked alarm devices and a server as a host device, and Figure 2, which shows a map of the dwelling units to be monitored by the wide-area fire alarm system and the locations of the alarm devices.

(a1. System Overview)
As shown in FIG. 1, in the wide-area fire alarm system of this embodiment, wirelessly linked alarm devices 10 are installed in a plurality of dwelling units 12 in the area to be monitored.

Figure 2 is an example of a dwelling unit map 14 showing a monitored area, with an alarm device 10 installed in each of multiple dwelling units 12 located in the monitored area, such as an urban area densely populated with homes and stores. Note that in Figure 2, the alarm devices 10 are indicated by circles within the dwelling units, and the alarm device 10 and dwelling unit 12 are only indicated for one dwelling unit, with the other units omitted.

When an alarm device 10 detects a fire, it outputs a fire alarm indicating that a fire has occurred within the dwelling unit, and also sends a fire interlocking signal to alarm devices 10 in other dwelling units 12 to output fire alarms indicating that a fire has occurred in those other dwelling units. Note that the fire alarm that an alarm device 10 outputs when it detects a fire is sometimes referred to as the "interlocking source alarm," and the fire alarm that it outputs when it receives a fire interlocking signal from another alarm device is sometimes referred to as the "interlocking destination alarm."

Furthermore, if an alarm stop operation is performed during a fire alarm or if fire recovery is detected, the alarm device 10 that detects a fire will stop the fire alarm and send an alarm stop linkage signal or fire recovery linkage signal to alarm devices in other dwelling units to stop the fire alarm.

The alarm device 10 transmits and receives signals using a communications protocol that does not require carrier sensing and conforms to STD-30 (standard radio equipment for low-power security system radio stations), known as the standard for specified low-power radio stations in the 426 MHz band.

The alarm device 10 is connected to a server 20, which functions as a higher-level device, via a communication network made up of a communication adapter 16 installed in the dwelling unit 12, a public wireless LAN communication network 28 such as Wi-Fi, and the Internet 26, and transmits and receives packet signals to and from the server 20.

The communications adapter 16 converts signals transmitted from the alarm device 10 via specified low-power radio in the 426 MHz band into packet signals for wireless transmission over the public wireless LAN communications network 28 using a protocol conversion method, and also converts packet signals received via the public wireless LAN communications network 28 into specified low-power radio signals in the 426 MHz band for wireless transmission.

In addition, the communication adapter 16 may be provided with a mobile phone communication function conforming to a mobile phone communication protocol instead of a public wireless LAN communication function, or it may be provided with both a public wireless LAN communication function and a mobile phone communication function, and switch to the public wireless LAN communication function if it is within the service area of a public wireless LAN communication network, or switch to the mobile phone communication function if it is within the service area of a mobile phone network, or switch to one of the two if it is within both service areas, taking into account, for example, usage fees and communication speed.

(a2. Functional configuration of the server)
The functional configuration of the server will be described in more detail below. The server 20 shown in Figure 1 is composed of a computer circuit equipped with a CPU, memory, and various input/output ports, and the functions of the fire monitoring control unit 22 and database 24 are realized by the execution of a program by the CPU.

When an alarm device 10 installed in a dwelling unit 12 in the monitored area detects a fire, the server 20's fire monitoring control unit 22 remotely controls the alarm device 10 in each dwelling unit 12 to set the transmission power P and relay delay time Td for relaying and transmitting the fire linkage signal so that the alarm device in the dwelling unit that detected the fire will activate in a ripple pattern over time, with the alarm device in the other dwelling units activating the signal.

Here, the fire monitoring control unit 22 of the server 20 controls the setting of the transmission power P so that the communication area of the fire-linked signal transmitted by the alarm device 10 installed in the dwelling unit 12 when it detects a fire includes alarm devices installed in multiple other dwelling units adjacent to the dwelling unit 12.

The transmission power setting of the alarm device 10 in response to instructions from the server 20 is, for example, by dividing the transmission power P of the alarm device 10 into three levels of transmission power Pmax, Pmid, Pmin - high, medium, and low - and switching the setting so that the required communication area is obtained. Note that the transmission power setting for the alarm device 10 may be set in multiple levels of three or more, or may be changed continuously.

In addition, the fire monitoring control unit 22 of the server 20 controls the setting of the relay delay time Td for the alarm device 10 in each dwelling unit 12 so that the time it takes for alarm devices installed in multiple other dwelling units adjacent to the dwelling unit 12 in which the alarm device 10 is installed to relay and transmit a fire linkage signal differs from one another.

The database 24 of the server 20 stores various setting information necessary for fire monitoring, including map information such as the dwelling unit map 24 shown in Figure 2, which shows the dwelling units in the monitored area, the dwelling unit address assigned to each dwelling unit, the transmission power and relay delay time set for each dwelling unit, and network addresses such as IP addresses assigned to each dwelling unit.

[b. Relay delay time set in the alarm device by the server]
The relay delay time set in the alarm devices by the server will be explained in more detail below, with reference to Figure 3, which shows the layout of alarm devices and a dwelling unit group consisting of nine dwelling units in a 3x3 matrix, which is the basic unit of the wide-area fire alarm system.

(b1. Basic unit of dwelling unit group)
The basic unit of a dwelling unit group will be explained in more detail below. As shown in Figure 3, the fire monitoring control unit 22 of the server 20 shown in Figure 1 divides the multiple dwelling units in the monitored area into dwelling unit groups of 9 dwelling units, arranged 3x3 in length and width, and sets a dwelling unit address unique to the dwelling unit and mutually different relay delay times Td1 to Td9 in a predetermined order for each of the alarm devices 10 (10-1) to 10 (10-9) installed in the dwelling units 12 (12-1) to 12 (12-9) in the dwelling unit group.

Furthermore, to prevent the timing of relay transmission from receiving a fire linkage signal from another alarm device to overlap for the alarm devices 10 (10-1) to 10 (10-9) installed in the dwelling units 12 (12-1) to 12 (12-9), the fire monitoring control unit 22 of the server 20 sets different relay delay times Td1 to Td9.

Here, one alarm device 10 (10-1) to 10 (10-8) is installed in each of the dwelling units 12 (12-1) to 12 (12-8), but in the central dwelling unit 12 (12-9), for example, three alarm devices 10 (10-9) are installed, one for each room, so that linked alarms are issued within the dwelling unit.

In this way, when multiple alarm devices 10 (10-9) are installed in the same dwelling unit 12 (12-9), the alarm device 10 (10-9) that detects a fire will transmit a fire-linked signal that includes the dwelling unit address unique to that unit, and since the dwelling unit address of the fire-linked signal matches the other alarm devices 10 (10-9) in the dwelling unit, in this case they will output a fire-linked alarm indicating a fire within the dwelling unit, but will not relay the transmission to alarm devices 10 (10-1) to 10 (10-8) in other dwelling units.

Furthermore, when the three alarm devices 10 (10-9) installed in dwelling unit 12 (12-9) receive a fire interlocking signal that requires relaying from another dwelling unit, they each relay and transmit the fire interlocking signal, but by setting different relay delay times, the timing of relay transmissions does not overlap. The following explanation will be given using the example of a case where one alarm device 10 is installed in each dwelling unit.

(b2. Avoiding signal collisions by relay transmission)
Avoiding signal collisions through relay transmission will now be explained in more detail.In this embodiment, when an alarm device in a certain dwelling unit detects a fire, alarm control is performed in which a fire-linked signal is relayed so that the alarm device in the dwelling unit that detected the fire is the center and alarm signals from alarm devices in other dwelling units spread in a ripple-like pattern over time, but in order to achieve this, it is important to avoid signal collisions when multiple alarm devices receive and relay fire-linked signals from other dwelling units.

To avoid signal collisions due to relay transmission of such fire interlocking signals, the fire monitoring control unit 22 of the server 20 shown in Figure 1 sets relay delay times Td1 to Td9 so that the alarm devices 10 (10-1) to 10 (10-9) installed in the dwelling units 12 (12-1) to 12 (12-9) of the dwelling unit group shown in Figure 3 have different times between receiving an interlocking signal from another alarm device and starting relay transmission.

Furthermore, when alarm devices 10 (10-1) to 10 (10-9) in a dwelling unit group detect a fire in their own unit, they transmit a fire linkage signal multiple times at a specified time interval, including the dwelling unit's unique address, a sequence number SN indicating the number of transmissions, and a relay count RN that increases by one from an initial value of 0 depending on the number of transmissions.

Furthermore, when alarm devices 10 (10-1) to 10 (10-9) in a dwelling group receive a fire interlocking signal from a dwelling address different from their own, they determine that the fire interlocking signal is from an alarm device in another dwelling and perform relay transmission control. This relay transmission control relays a fire interlocking signal containing a relay number "RN-1", which is the received relay number RN minus one, when the relay number RN is 1 or greater, and does not relay a fire interlocking signal when the relay number RN is RN=0.

In the following explanation, a fire interlock signal received from another dwelling unit means that a fire interlock signal has been received from a dwelling unit address other than your own.

Furthermore, when alarm devices 10 (10-1) to 10 (10-9) in a dwelling unit group receive a fire interlocking signal from another dwelling unit, if the received sequence number (SN) is the same as a sequence number that has already been received, they will not relay the fire interlocking signal.

In this way, alarm devices 10 (10-1) to 10 (10-9) control relay based on the relay delay time setting, the number of relays (RN), and the sequence number (SN), to minimize signal collisions in relayed fire interlocking signals, even when using a communication protocol that complies with STD-30, which does not require carrier sensing.

(b3. Relay delay time)
The relay delay time will be explained in more detail below with reference to Figure 4, which shows the relay delay times set in the alarm devices of the dwelling unit group in Figure 3.

Here, Figure 4 is a time chart showing relay transmissions by the surrounding eight alarm devices 10 (10-1) to 10 (10-8) when the alarm device 10 (10-9) located in the center of Figure 3 detects a fire and transmits a fire linkage signal twice, with the alarm device 10 (10-9) showing transmission T and the alarm devices 10 (10-1) to 10 (10-8) showing reception R and transmission T.

As shown in Figure 4, the alarm device 10 (10-9) located in the center of Figure 3 transmits the first fire interlocking signal 18 (18-1) at time t1. The sequence number SN of the first fire interlocking signal 18 (18-1) is SN=1, and the number of relays RN is RN=0.

The first fire interlocking signal 18 (18-1) sent by the alarm device 10 (10-9) is received by the surrounding eight alarm devices 10 (10-1) to 10 (10-8), but because the relay count RN = 0, no relay transmission takes place.

Next, at time t2, alarm device 10 (10-9) transmits a second fire interlocking signal 18 (18-2) with sequence number SN = 2 and relay count RN = 1, which is received by the surrounding eight alarm devices 10 (10-1) to 10 (10-8). Because the relay count RN of the second fire interlocking signal 18 (18-2) is 1, alarm devices 10 (10-1) to 10 (10-8) begin relay control, and relay-transmit a fire interlocking signal with relay count RN = 1 - 1 = 0 at different times when different relay delay times Td1 to Td8 have passed since the second reception end time t3.

Furthermore, at time t4, the alarm device 10 (10-9) will transmit a third fire interlocking signal 18 (18-3) with sequence number SN = 3 and relay count RN = 2. By shifting the timing of relay transmission in this way according to the relay delay times Td1 to Td8, signal collisions can be avoided. Note that the relay delay time Td9 of the alarm device 10 (10-9) is set to a time other than Td1 to Td8.

[c. Alarm]
The alarm will now be described in more detail with reference to Figure 5, which shows an embodiment of a wireless interlocking type alarm used in a wide-area fire alarm system.

(c1. Alarm Configuration)
The configuration of the alarm device will be explained in more detail below. As shown in Figure 5, the alarm device 10 comprises a processor 40 known as a one-chip CPU, and for the processor 40 there are provided a smoke detection section 32 which functions as a fire sensor section, an alarm stop switch 34 which functions as an operation section, an LED 36 which includes a drive circuit which functions as a display section, a speaker 38 which includes a drive circuit which functions as an audio alarm section, and a communications section 42 which is connected to an antenna 44.

The processor 40 is provided with a CPU 46, and a bus 62 extending from the CPU 46 is connected to a control logic 48, ROM 50, RAM 52, AD conversion port 54, input port 56, output port 58, audio output port 60, and communication port 64. The control logic 48 realizes various hardware functions, such as bus control, associated with the control processing of the CPU 46.

The smoke detector 32 is connected to the AD conversion port 54, the alarm stop switch 34 is connected to the input port 56, the LED 36 is connected to the output port 58, the speaker 38 is connected to the audio output port 60, and the communication unit 42 is connected to the communication port 64.

The smoke detector 32 has a known scattered light smoke detector structure, intermittently driving an infrared LED light emitter at a predetermined cycle, amplifying the scattered light received by a light receiver such as a photodiode, and outputting a smoke concentration detection signal. Note that a temperature detector may be provided instead of the smoke detector 32. The temperature detector uses a thermistor, for example, as the temperature detection element, and outputs a temperature detection signal that is a voltage signal corresponding to changes in resistance due to temperature.

The communication unit 42 sends and receives fire and other interlocking signals to and from other alarm devices in accordance with a specified communication protocol. In Japan, this communication protocol complies with STD-30 (standard radio equipment for low-power security system radio stations), which is known as the standard for specific low-power radio stations in the 426 MHz band, and allows communication without the need for carrier sensing.

The communication unit 42 is also equipped with a transmitting unit and a receiving unit, and the transmitting unit can be instructed by the fire monitoring control unit 22 of the server 20 shown in Figure 1 to switch between three levels of transmission power Pmax, Pmid, and Pmin - for example, high, medium, and low - with an upper limit of, for example, a maximum transmission power of 10 mW for STD-30.The transmission power can be adjusted so that other dwelling units adjacent to the dwelling unit are within the communication range.

The CPU 46 is provided with a fire control unit 66 and a relay control unit 68 as functions realized by executing programs.

(c2. Fire control function)
The fire control function of the alarm device will now be described in more detail. Fire alarm control by the fire control unit 66 of the alarm device 10 is as follows: The fire control unit 66 reads the smoke density detection signal output from the smoke detector unit 32 from the AD conversion port 54, and if the smoke density is equal to or greater than a predetermined threshold value that corresponds to the fire detection sensitivity that is set at that time, it detects a fire and performs control to output a fire alarm indicating a fire in the dwelling.

In this case, the fire control unit 66 will issue a fire alarm by repeatedly outputting an alarm sound from the speaker 38, such as "Woohoo! The fire alarm has been activated. Please check," indicating a fire in the residence, and will also light up the LED 36 to display an alarm indicating a fire in the residence.

When a fire alarm is output, the fire control unit 66 generates a fire linkage signal in a format that conforms to a predetermined communication protocol, with the unit's own address, sequence number SN=1, relay count RN=0, and command set to "fire," and instructs the communication unit 42 to control the transmission of the fire linkage signal to alarm devices in other units, causing the alarm devices in other units that receive the fire linkage signal to output a fire alarm.

Furthermore, if fire detection continues based on the smoke density detection signal from the smoke detector unit 32, the fire control unit 66 controls the repeated transmission of the fire interlocking signal while incrementing the sequence number SN and the number of relays RN by one each time a predetermined time T has elapsed since the first transmission of the fire interlocking signal, until the number of times reaches a predetermined number.

As such, the time interval for transmitting the second and subsequent fire interlocking signals is arbitrary, but since it determines the speed at which the alarm action spreads in a ripple-like pattern centered on the dwelling where the fire occurred, it may be set to a fixed time interval, for example, or the time interval may be lengthened as the number of transmissions increases. Furthermore, the number of times the fire interlocking signal is transmitted while fire detection continues determines the degree to which the alarm action spreads in a ripple-like pattern, and is arbitrary, but may be set to a predetermined number of transmissions corresponding to the distance from the dwelling where the fire occurred where the risk of fire is high, for example, several times.

Furthermore, when the fire control unit 66 receives a fire linkage signal from the same dwelling unit address sent by another alarm device in the same dwelling unit, if no alarm is in progress, it will repeatedly output an audio alarm from the speaker 38, such as "Woohoo! Another fire alarm has been activated. Please check," and will also control the LED 36 to flash, for example, to output an alarm indicating that another alarm device in the dwelling unit has detected a fire.

In addition, when the fire control unit 66 receives a fire linkage signal sent by an alarm in another dwelling unit with a different dwelling unit address, if an alarm is not in progress, it will repeatedly output an audio alarm from the speaker 38 indicating a fire in the other dwelling unit, such as "Woo-woo! A fire alarm in another dwelling unit has been activated. Please check," and will also control the LED 36 to flash, for example, to display an alarm indicating a fire in the other dwelling unit.

In this case, by pre-registering the names of other dwellings in correspondence with their addresses, it is possible to repeatedly output an audio warning indicating a fire in another dwelling, such as "Woo-woo, the fire alarm at Mr. A's house has been activated. Please check."

In addition, the fire control unit 66 also transmits an alarm stop linkage signal and a fire recovery linkage signal for alarm stop control and fire recovery control, just as it does for fire linkage control.

(c3. Relay control function)
The relay control function of the alarm device will now be described in more detail. Relay control of the fire interlocking signal by the relay control unit 68 of the alarm device 10 is as follows: If the relay count RN contained in the fire interlocking signal received from another dwelling unit is RN=0, the relay control unit 68 performs control so that the received fire interlocking signal is not relayed.

Furthermore, if the relay count RN included in the fire interlocking signal received from another dwelling unit is RN=1 or greater, the relay control unit 68 generates a fire interlocking signal with the received relay count RN decremented by one to a new relay count (RN-1), and controls the relay transmission after a predetermined relay delay time Td has elapsed, as instructed by the fire monitoring control unit 22 of the server 20 shown in Figure 1.

The relay control unit 68 also stores the sequence number SN contained in the previously received fire interlocking signal, and if the sequence number SN of a newly received fire interlocking signal is the same as the previous one, it means that the signal has already been relayed, and so controls the relay control unit 68 not to relay the received fire interlocking signal.

In addition, if the relay control unit 68 receives a fire linkage signal from another alarm device in the same dwelling unit address, it will control the unit not to relay the received fire linkage signal.

In addition, the relay control unit 68 performs relay transmission control for fire alarm stop and fire recovery linkage signals in the same way as for fire linkage signals.

[d. Setting the relay delay time for alarm devices in the monitored area by the server]
The setting of relay delay times by the server for alarm devices in monitored areas will now be described in more detail with reference to Figure 6, which shows the relay delay map used to set relay delay times for monitored areas.

(d1. Relay delay map)
The relay delay map will be explained in more detail below. The relay delay map is stored in the database 24 of the server 20 shown in Figure 1. As shown in Figure 6, the relay delay map 70 is a virtual two-dimensional matrix representation of the dwellings in the monitored area, with delay numbers 1 to 9 shown within each rectangular dwelling unit indicating the relay delay time Td set in the alarm device installed in the dwelling. Here, delay numbers 1 to 9 represent, for example, each of the relay transmission delay times Td1 to Td9 shown in Figure 4.

The horizontal and vertical sizes of the relay delay map 70 are arbitrary, and it is desirable that the size of the rectangles that make up the matrix be roughly the same as the size of the dwelling units on the map of the monitored area.

As shown in the upper left corner with circles marking the delay numbers, the relay delay map 70 uses a 3x3 group of nine dwelling units as the basic unit, as shown in Figure 3, and for the eight dwelling units surrounding the central dwelling unit, delay numbers 1 to 8 are assigned clockwise starting from the upper left corner, with delay number 9 assigned in the center.

Next, a relay delay map 70 is created by arranging 3x3 dwelling unit groups, each with delay numbers 1 to 9, in the horizontal and vertical directions as basic units.

A feature of this relay delay map 70 is that no matter which central dwelling unit is selected, the delay numbers of the eight dwelling units surrounding the central dwelling unit will always be in a different sequence of numbers, and there will never be multiple identical numbers.

For example, if delay number 5 is taken as the center, the delay numbers of the surrounding eight dwelling units will be arranged as (9-4-8-7-1-3-2-6). Also, if any delay number 7 is taken as the center, the delay numbers of the surrounding eight dwelling units will be arranged as (4-8-9-6-2-1-3-5).

Using this property of the relay delay map 70, as shown in the central 7x7 area in Figure 6 where the delay numbers are circled, when a fire is detected in the central dwelling unit with delay number 9 and the alarm device transmits the first fire interlocking signal (relay count RN = 0), the alarm devices in the surrounding eight dwelling units receive the fire interlocking signal and output a fire alarm. The alarms issued by the alarm devices in the surrounding eight dwelling units in response to this first fire interlocking signal transmission are called the first loop alarm or alarm operation.

Next, when the alarm in the dwelling unit with the same delay number 9 transmits a second fire interlocking signal (relay count RN = 1), the alarms in the surrounding eight dwelling units receive the fire interlocking signal and relay the fire interlocking signal (relay count RN = 1 - 1 = 0) in the order of their delay numbers (1-2-3-4-5-6-7-8), causing the alarms in the surrounding 16 dwelling units to issue a fire alarm. This fire alarm issued by the alarms in the surrounding 16 dwelling units is called the second loop alarm or alarm operation.

Similarly, when the third fire interlocking signal is sent, a third loop alarm will be sounded by alarm devices in the 24 dwelling units surrounding the second loop alarm.

In other words, as the alarm device in the dwelling unit that detected the fire repeatedly transmits a fire interlocking signal, the fire alarm will sound in a ripple-like pattern, spreading outward from the dwelling unit where the fire occurred, with the first loop alarm, then the second loop alarm, and then the third loop alarm. The ripple-like spread of the alarm can be set as desired by determining the number of transmissions from the alarm device that detected the fire.

Furthermore, if a fire spreads from the first unit to another unit, multiple alarms will be activated, ripple-like and spreading outward from the alarm in the newly burned unit.

(d2. Setting the actual relay delay time for alarms in the monitored area)
The actual relay delay time settings for alarms in a monitored area will now be described in more detail with reference to Figure 7, which shows the relay delay time settings for dwellings in a monitored area based on the relay delay map of Figure 6.

The fire monitoring control unit 22 of the server 20 shown in Figure 1 sets the relay delay time for the alarm devices in the monitored area using the following procedure.

(1) Select any dwelling unit that is surrounded by multiple other dwelling units and set the delay number to 9.
(2) Set delay numbers (1-2-3-4-5-6-7-8) clockwise starting from the upper left corner to the eight dwelling units surrounding delay number 9. If no matching dwelling unit exists, skip the number and leave it as an empty number.
(3) Hereafter, delay numbers 1 to 9 are set in the same manner as in (1) and (2) above, and this is repeated until delay numbers have been set for all dwelling units.

Setting delay numbers based on the relay delay map 50 for alarm devices in the monitored area can be done manually while the dwelling unit map 14 shown in Figure 2, which shows the dwelling units in the monitored area, is displayed on the server 20 display, or it can be done by program control, which groups nine dwelling units in a 3x3 matrix on the dwelling unit map 14 and automatically assigns different delay numbers 1 to 9 to them.

[e. Wide-area fire alarm operation]
The wide-area fire alarm operation will be described in more detail with reference to Figure 8, which shows how the fire alarm operation spreads in a ripple pattern around the dwelling unit where the fire has occurred.

As shown in Figure 8, if a fire breaks out in dwelling unit 80 (hereinafter referred to as the "fire-affected dwelling unit") located in the monitored area, the alarm indicated by delay number 9 installed in fire-affected dwelling unit 80 will detect the fire and transmit a first fire interlocking signal including sequence number SN=1 and relay number RN=0.

The fire linkage signal transmitted from the dwelling unit 80 where the fire occurred is received by the eight dwelling units 62 (shown in hatched boxes) located adjacent to the dwelling unit 80 where the fire occurred, and a first loop fire alarm is simultaneously output.

Next, after a predetermined time has elapsed, the alarm in the dwelling unit 80 where the fire occurred transmits a second fire linkage signal containing sequence number SN=2 and relay number RN=1, which is received by the eight dwelling units 82 (shown in hatched boxes) located adjacent to the dwelling unit 80 where the fire occurred.

The alarm device in dwelling unit 82 receives a relay count RN of 1, so it relays a fire linkage signal with the relay count RN decremented by one, RN = 1 - 1 = 0. In this case, the alarm devices in the eight dwelling units 82 relay fire linkage signals at different times after the relay delay times Td1 to td8 corresponding to delay numbers 1 to 8 have elapsed. The second fire linkage signal relayed by the eight dwelling units 82 is received by the 12 dwelling units 84 adjacent to them, indicated by the sandy areas, and a second loop fire alarm is simultaneously output.

Furthermore, when the alarm in the fire-affected dwelling unit 80 transmits a third fire interlocking signal containing sequence number SN=3 and relay number RN=2, the fire interlocking signal is relayed to the alarms in the outer dwelling units surrounding dwelling unit 84, and a third loop fire alarm is issued.

[f. Control operation of wide-area fire alarm system]
The control operation of the wide-area fire alarm system will now be described in more detail.

(f1. Monitoring control by server)
First, the monitoring control by the server will be explained in more detail. In this explanation, the flowchart of Fig. 9 showing the control operation by the server shown in Fig. 1 will be referred to. The monitoring control by the server is the control operation by the fire monitoring control unit 22 of the server 20 in Fig. 1.

As shown in Figure 9, the fire monitoring control unit 22 of the server 20 sets and adjusts parameters such as transmission power and relay delay time for alarm devices installed in dwelling units in the monitored area in steps S1 to S12. Note that the minimum transmission power Pmin of the alarm devices, which are divided into three levels (high, medium, and low), is set as the default.

In step S1, the fire monitoring control unit 22 reads the dwelling unit map 14 of the area to be monitored, such as that shown in Figure 2, stored in the database 24, and displays it on the display. Then, in step S2, it sets dwelling unit groups based on nine dwelling units in a 3x3 matrix, as shown connected by dotted lines in Figure 7. In step S3, it sets delay numbers 1 to 9, and in step S4, it generates a list of delay numbers corresponding to the dwelling unit addresses. The processing of steps S2 to S4 is repeated until it is determined in step S5 that processing has been completed for all dwelling units.

The fire monitoring control unit 22 then proceeds to step S6, where it generates a delay time setting signal including the dwelling unit address and delay number and transmits it to the dwelling unit, thereby controlling the setting of a delay number in the alarm device for each dwelling unit, and the alarm device then sets a relay delay time Td corresponding to the delay number instructed by the server 20. Note that in step S6, a delay time setting signal including the corresponding relay delay time instead of the delay number may be transmitted to set the relay delay time in the alarm device.

Next, when the fire monitoring control unit 22 determines in step S7 that delay number setting for all dwelling units has been completed, it proceeds to step S8 and sends a test alarm signal specifying the dwelling unit address to the dwelling unit alarm device, instructing it to activate a test alarm. The dwelling unit alarm device that receives this test alarm instruction performs a test alarm operation without outputting a fire alarm, transmits a fire linkage signal due to the test alarm, and a fire alarm notification signal is sent to the server 20.

The fire monitoring control unit 22 then proceeds to step S9, where it displays a dwelling unit map showing the test alert dwelling units for which an interlocking alarm was activated based on the fire alarm notification signal received via the test alert. If it determines in step S10 that there are any unaltered dwelling units for which an interlocking alarm was not activated, it proceeds to step S11, where it specifies the address of the dwelling unit adjacent to the center side of the unaltered dwelling unit that is transmitting a fire interlocking signal, and transmits a transmission power change signal, thereby changing the settings to increase the transmission power from the default minimum power Pmin to medium power Pmid.

The fire monitoring control unit 22 then returns to step S8 and issues a test alarm command specifying the same dwelling unit address, and displays a dwelling unit map showing the linked alarm operation in step S9. If the change in transmission power setting does not determine in step S10 that there are any dwelling units that have not been notified, it determines that the transmission power has been appropriately adjusted and proceeds to step S12, repeating the process from step S8 until it determines that the alarm test has been completed for all dwelling units.

Next, when the fire monitoring control unit 22 determines in step S12 that the alarm test for all dwelling units has been completed, it proceeds to step S13 and moves on to operational monitoring. During operational monitoring, if it determines in step S14 that a fire alarm notification signal has been received from the alarm device, it proceeds to step S15 and changes the display color of the dwelling unit for which a fire alarm was activated to red, for example, to display the dwelling unit where the fire occurred on the dwelling unit map, and displays the progression of the alarm activation following the fire, i.e., the spread of the fire as the number of dwelling units where the fire occurred, on the dwelling unit map of the monitored area.

In addition, if an alarm stop notification signal or a fire restoration notification signal is received after a fire alarm operation is displayed on the dwelling unit map in step S15, the display of the fire-affected dwelling unit on the map, which has been changed to red to indicate a fire alarm operation, is controlled to return to its original display color and erase the display of the alarm operation; however, this point is not shown in the illustration.

(f2. Alarm control operation)
Next, the control operation of the alarm device will be explained in more detail. In this explanation, reference will be made to the flowchart in Figure 10, which shows the control operation of the alarm device shown in Figure 5. The alarm device control operation is controlled by the fire control unit 66 and relay control unit 68 provided in the CPU 46 of the alarm device 10.

As shown in Figure 10, when the fire control unit 66 of the alarm device 10 determines in step S21 that it has received a delay number setting signal sent from the server 20, it proceeds to step S22 and reads and sets the relay delay time Td that has been pre-stored corresponding to the delay number.

Next, the process proceeds to step S23. If the fire control unit 66 determines that it has received a transmission power setting signal transmitted from the server 20, the process proceeds to step S24, where it changes the default transmission power setting to the transmission power instructed by the server 22.

Note that the change in transmission power setting upon receiving a transmission power setting signal in steps S23 and S24 is a process that is performed when a transmission power setting signal is received for an alarm device in an adjacent dwelling unit when there is an alarm device that has failed to sound an alarm during the alarm device test alarm issued by the server 20, but this is not shown in the illustration.

Once the relay delay time and transmission power have been set in steps S21 to S24, the fire control unit 66 proceeds to step S25 to monitor for the presence or absence of a fire alert. If a fire alert is detected from the smoke density detection signal of the smoke detector unit 32 in step S25, the fire control unit 66 proceeds to step S26 to perform fire alert control. Furthermore, if the fire control unit 66 determines in step S27 that a fire interlocking signal has been received from an alarm device in another dwelling unit, the fire control unit 66 proceeds to step S28 to perform interlocking signal reception control.

Furthermore, if the fire control unit 66 detects an alarm stop operation using the alarm stop switch 34 during a fire alarm in step S29, it proceeds to step S30 and stops the alarm, and then in step S31 it sends an alarm stop linkage signal to the alarm devices in other dwelling units and sends an alarm stop notification signal to the server 20, which returns the dwelling units displayed in red on the dwelling unit map to indicate alarm operation to their original display color and erases the alarm operation display.

Furthermore, if the fire control unit 66 determines in step S32 during a fire alarm that the smoke density detection signal from the smoke detector unit 32 has dropped below a predetermined threshold, indicating that the fire has been restored, it proceeds to step S33 to stop the alarm, and then proceeds to step S34 to send a fire restoration linkage signal to alarm devices in other dwelling units and a fire restoration notification signal to the server 20, which is reflected in the display of the dwelling unit map in the same manner as in step S31.

(f3. Fire alarm control)
Next, the fire alarm control in step S26 of Fig. 10 will be described in more detail with reference to the flowchart of Fig. 11 which shows the details of the fire alarm control in step S26 of Fig. 10.

If a fire alert is detected in step S25 of Figure 10, the fire control unit 66 of the alarm device 10 proceeds to the fire alert control of Figure 11, outputs a fire alarm indicating a fire has occurred in the dwelling unit in step S41, and then proceeds to step S42, sends a fire alarm notification signal to the server 20, and displays the dwelling unit where the fire has occurred on the dwelling unit map in red, for example.

The fire control unit 66 then proceeds to step S43, sets the sequence number SN to SN=1, indicating the first transmission, and sets the relay count RN to the initial value of RN=0. In step S44, it transmits the first fire interlock signal with SN=1, RN=0, its own dwelling unit address, and the command set to "fire."

Next, if the fire control unit 66 determines in step S45 that a predetermined time has elapsed, it proceeds to step S46. If the sequence number SN is less than the predetermined final value (maximum number of transmissions), it proceeds to step S47, increments the sequence number SN and the number of relays RN by one each, and in step S44 transmits a second fire interlock signal with SN=2, RN=1, the unit's own address, and the command set to "fire." If it determines in step S46 that the sequence number SN has reached the final value (maximum number of transmissions), it returns to the control of Figure 10.

(f4. Reception control of interlocking signals)
Next, the interlocking signal reception control in step S28 of Fig. 10 will be described in more detail with reference to the flowchart of Fig. 12, which shows the details of the interlocking signal reception control in step S28 of Fig. 10.

When the fire control unit 66 determines in step S27 of FIG. 10 that an interlocking signal has been received from another alarm device, it proceeds to the interlocking signal reception control of FIG. 12, and obtains the dwelling unit address Ai and command in addition to the sequence number SN and relay count RN from the fire interlocking signal received in step S51.

The fire control unit 66 then proceeds to step S52, and if it determines that the command is a fire linkage command, it proceeds to step S53. If it determines that a linkage alarm is not in progress, it compares the received dwelling unit address with its own dwelling unit address in step S54. If it determines that they match, it proceeds to step S55, where it outputs a fire linkage alarm indicating a fire in the own dwelling unit. If it determines that they do not match, it proceeds to step S56, where it outputs a fire linkage alarm indicating a fire in another dwelling unit. It then proceeds to step S57, where it sends a fire alarm notification signal to the server 20, and displays the dwelling unit for which the linkage alarm was issued on the dwelling unit map in red, for example.

If the fire control unit 66 determines in step S52 that the command is not for fire linkage, it proceeds to step S58. If the command determines that the command is for stopping the fire alarm linkage or for fire recovery, it proceeds to step S59 and stops the fire-linked alarm. When stopping the fire-linked alarm, the audio alarm output may be stopped, and the alarm display may remain on for a predetermined period of time so that the operation of the alarm device can be confirmed later.

The relay control unit 68 then operates and proceeds to step S60. If it determines that the received dwelling address is that of another dwelling, it proceeds to step S61 to determine whether the sequence number SN has already been received. If it determines that it has not been received, it proceeds to step S62 to determine whether the number of relays RN = 0. If it determines that RN = 0, it decrements the number of relays RN by one (RN-1) in step S63, and relays and transmits the fire interlock signal after the preset relay delay time Td in step S64.

In contrast, if step S60 determines that the receiving dwelling address matches the home address, if step S61 determines that the sequence number SN has already been received, or if step S62 determines that the number of relays RN = 0, steps S63 and S64 are skipped and the fire interlock signal is not relayed.

[g. Modifications of the present invention]
Modifications of the wide-area fire monitoring system according to the present invention will now be described. In addition to the above-described embodiment, the wide-area fire monitoring system according to the present invention includes the following modifications.

(Display of the dwelling unit where the fire occurred)
In the above embodiment, when the server 20 receives a fire alarm notification signal from an alarm device 10 that has performed a fire alarm operation, it displays the fire alarm dwelling unit that issued the fire alarm on the dwelling unit map, but it may also be configured to identify and display the dwelling unit where the fire occurred among the fire alarm dwelling units.

While the server 20 is free to display the fire alarm units and the units where the fire occurred, for example, when an alarm detects a fire and performs an interlocking source fire alarm, it sends an interlocking source alarm notification signal to the server 20, and when it receives a fire interlocking signal from an alarm device in another unit and performs an interlocking destination fire alarm, it sends an interlocking destination alarm notification signal to the server 20. In response, the server 20 will display the unit where the fire occurred in red on the dwelling unit map when it receives an interlocking source alarm notification signal from the alarm device, and will display the interlocking destination alarm unit in orange on the dwelling unit map when it receives an interlocking destination alarm notification signal from the alarm device. This makes it possible to visually grasp the ripple-like spread of interlocking alarm units from the unit where the fire occurred, and also makes it possible to visually grasp the spread of the fire from the display of the increasing number of units where the fire occurred.

In addition, if the fire is restored after detecting it, the alarm will send a fire restoration signal to the server and erase the display of the dwelling where the fire occurred, allowing residents to visually understand how the fire is being extinguished or contained by firefighting efforts.

(Communication network)
In addition to the communication network shown in the above embodiment, the communication network that connects the alarm device in each dwelling unit to the server may also be a communication network that is used in a gas meter reading system in which a server automatically reads the gas meter installed in the dwelling unit, or in an electricity meter reading system in which a server automatically reads the electricity smart meter installed in the dwelling unit, to connect the alarm device in the dwelling unit to the server.

In addition, the network connecting the alarm devices in each dwelling unit with the server can be a wired communications network instead of a wireless network. This wired communications network can be achieved by placing a gateway device in each dwelling unit and connecting it to the Internet via a signal line, and providing the gateway device with a wireless communications unit that communicates with the alarm devices.

(parent-child method)
In the above embodiment, when multiple alarm devices are installed in a dwelling unit, there is no distinction between parent and child devices and the alarm devices communicate with each other, but it is also possible to provide a parent unit and multiple child devices, give the parent unit repeater functions, and enable communication for linked alarms between parent units in different dwelling units.

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

Furthermore, the above embodiment takes as an example an alarm device in which the sensor unit and alarm output processing unit are integrated, but in other embodiments, the alarm device may have the sensor unit and alarm output processing unit separate from each other.

(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 thereof, and is not limited by the numerical values shown in the above-described embodiment.

10, 10 (10-1) to 10 (10-9): Alarm devices 12 (12-1) to 12 (12-9), 82, 84: Dwelling unit 14: Dwelling unit map 16: Communication adapter 20: Server 22: Fire monitoring control unit 24: Database 26: Internet 28: Public wireless LAN communication network 30: Access point 32: Smoke detection unit 34: Alarm stop switch 36: LED
38: Speaker 40: Processor 42: Communication unit 46: CPU
48: Control logic 50: ROM
52: RAM
54: AD conversion port 56: Input port 58: Output port 60: Audio output port 64: Communication port 66: Fire control unit 68: Relay control unit 70: Relay delay map 80: Fire occurrence dwelling unit

Claims (6)

an alarm device installed in each of a plurality of dwelling units present in a monitoring area;
a host device that is connected to the alarm device via a communication network and that sets a transmission power and a relay delay time in the alarm device to relay a fire interlocking signal so that when the alarm device detects a fire, the alarm device will activate the alarm in the dwelling unit that detected the fire and then the alarm devices in the other dwelling units will activate the alarm in a ripple-like manner over time;
A wide-area fire alarm system comprising:
The wide-area fire alarm system according to claim 1,
The higher-level device is
setting the transmission power of the alarm device so that other alarm devices installed in a plurality of other dwelling units adjacent to the dwelling unit are included in the communication area of the fire interlocking signal that is transmitted when the alarm device installed in the dwelling unit detects a fire;
A wide-area fire alarm system characterized in that the relay delay time is set in the alarms installed in multiple other dwelling units adjacent to the dwelling unit in which the alarm is installed so that the time from receiving the fire linkage signal to relaying and transmitting it differs from one another.
3. The wide-area fire alarm system according to claim 2,
A wide-area fire alarm system characterized in that the upper device divides the dwellings in the monitored area into dwelling unit groups of a predetermined number of dwelling units, and sets the relay delay times, which are different from each other, to the alarm devices of each dwelling unit in each dwelling unit group in accordance with a predetermined order.
4. The wide-area fire alarm system according to claim 3,
A wide-area fire alarm system characterized in that, when the dwelling unit group is less than the specified number of dwelling units, the upper device sets the relay delay times, which are different from each other, to the alarm devices of each dwelling unit in accordance with a specified order that has been partially thinned out.
3. The wide-area fire alarm system according to claim 2,
When the alarm device detects a fire and outputs a fire alarm, or when the alarm device receives the fire linkage signal from another alarm device and outputs a fire alarm indicating a fire in another dwelling unit, the alarm device transmits a fire alarm notification signal to the higher-level device,
A wide-area fire alarm system characterized in that, when the upper device receives the fire alarm notification signal from the alarm device, it displays the fire alarm operation of the dwelling unit that issued the fire alarm.
6. The wide-area fire alarm system according to claim 5,
When the alarm is stopped or the fire is restored after detecting a fire, the alarm device transmits an alarm stop notification signal or a fire restoration notification signal to the higher-level device,
A wide-area fire alarm system characterized in that, when the upper device receives the alarm stop notification signal or the fire restoration notification signal from the alarm device, it erases the display of the fire alarm operation for the dwelling unit where the alarm has been stopped or the fire restoration has been performed.