Method and apparatus for indicating activation of a smoke detector alarm

US7015807B2 · kind B2 · utility

Assignee

• COMBUSTION SCIENCE & ENGINEERING, INC. · US

Inventors

• Richard J. Roby · Columbia, US
• Michael S. Klassen · Columbia, US
• Christopher F. Schemel · Laurel, US
• Diwakar Vashishat · Columbia, US
• MacLain M. Holton · Columbia, US
• Kelly R. Flint · Greenbelt, US

Key dates

• Filing date: Oct 2, 2003
• Grant date: Mar 21, 2006
• Expiry date: Dec 29, 2023

Classification

• Technology area (CPC G): Physics
• CPC primary: G09B21/009
• WIPO field: Control
• WIPO sector: Instruments

Abstract

A method for detecting smoke detector alarms comprises analyzing at least two parameters of ambient sound over a period of time to detect a temporal pattern of the alarm. In one embodiment, a series of samples are taken over a period of time sufficiently long to include at least one full period of a repeating sound pattern, and the two parameters are frequency and amplitude of the loudest sound in each sample. The algorithmic analysis may be triggered by a detection algorithm that utilizes a lower amount of power than the algorithmic analysis. In other embodiments, the detection apparatus is incorporated into a conventional smoke detector that will detect both smoke and an alarm from another detector. In another embodiment, a smoke detector includes a transceiver to transmit an activation signal to neighboring smoke detectors when a fire is detected and to receive an activation signal from neighboring detectors.