System and method for monitoring of fire alarm systems

0001The invention relates to a system and a method for monitoring fire alarm systems. Central monitoring of fire alarm systems is in the<patcit id="pcit0001" dnum="WO2015107449A"><text>WO 2015/107449</text></patcit> described.

0002The invention is based on the object of offering a system for monitoring fire alarm systems, which enables simple and uncomplicated monitoring of a plurality of fire alarm systems. A further object of the invention is to offer a simple and uncomplicated method for monitoring fire alarm systems.

0003This object is achieved by a system for monitoring fire alarm systems with the features of claim 1 or by a method for monitoring a plurality of fire alarm systems with the features of claim 7. Advantageous embodiments are described in the subclaims.

0004According to the invention, the system for monitoring fire alarm systems has a plurality of fire alarm systems and a central unit. Each of the fire alarm systems has a fire alarm center, a plurality of fire alarm sensors connected to the fire alarm center, an alarm alarm unit for reporting an alarm to a control center, and at least one data memory with component data. The central unit has a recording unit for recording the component data of the fire alarm systems and a display unit for displaying the component data.

0005In this way, the component data of the individual fire alarm systems are displayed centrally (in one place) by the central unit. It is not necessary to call up the component data locally from each of the plurality of fire alarm systems. This reduces the monitoring effort. For example, an operator of several fire alarm systems (e.g. Operator of an infrastructure project, regional authority, ...) get a central overview of all connected fire alarm systems, even if the individual fire alarm systems are spatially separated from each other. This simplifies monitoring.

0006Here, the component data are in particular designed as information (data) about the respective fire alarm center and / or the respective fire alarm sensors. In particular, it can be status information (current status, status of individual components, error messages) and / or maintenance information (maintenance intervals, time of next maintenance, time of last maintenance). In this way, the operator receives a central overview of the respective status of the decentralized components of a plurality of different fire alarm systems.

0007In an advantageous embodiment, the central unit also has a checking unit for checking the correspondence of the component data with reference data. In this way, it can be determined centrally whether some of the component data differ from target values ​​or whether they correspond to specified reference data. In a particularly advantageous embodiment, the central unit also has a warning unit for outputting a warning as a function of the check carried out by the checking unit. This warning can in particular be an optical and / or acoustic warning signal or the output of an electronic warning signal. In this way, the responsible persons are made aware that certain component data deviate from reference data. Based on this warning, further actions can then be carried out (e.g. triggering maintenance if the maintenance interval is exceeded, on-site inspection if an error is reported).

0008In an advantageous embodiment, a plurality of data memories is formed in each of the fire alarm systems, in particular in the respective fire alarm center and in at least one of the respective fire alarm sensors. In this way, component data from a large number of components of a fire alarm system (namely central fire alarm and fire alarm sensors) can be monitored centrally.

0009In a particularly advantageous manner, the respective fire alarm center of the fire alarm systems is connected to the central unit via a data connection. This leads to a reliable data transmission of the component data.

0010Advantageously, parts of the central unit are designed in a local server or in the form of an IT infrastructure ("cloud") that is dynamically adapted to requirements and made available via a network.

0011In an advantageous embodiment, the component data are at least partially protected with selective access rights. In this way, data misuse or data manipulation by unauthorized persons can be prevented.

0012The method according to the invention for monitoring a plurality of fire alarm systems, each fire alarm system having a fire alarm center, a plurality of fire alarm sensors connected to the fire alarm center, an alarm reporting unit for reporting an alarm to a control center and at least one data memory with component data, has the following process steps: (1) Acquisition of the component data of the fire alarm systems in a central unit; and (2) displaying the component data by a display unit of the central processing unit.

0013In this way, the component data of the individual fire alarm systems are displayed centrally. This makes it easier to monitor multiple fire alarm systems.

0014The invention is defined by the appended claims and is explained further in the drawing using an exemplary embodiment.<dl id="dl0001" compact="compact"><dt>Fig. 1</dt><dd>shows a block diagram of a system for monitoring fire alarm systems.</dd></dl>

0015This in <figref idref="f0001">Fig. 1</figref> System 1 shown schematically for monitoring fire alarm systems has a plurality of fire alarm systems 2, 3, 4. In<figref idref="f0001">Fig. 1</figref> only three fire alarm systems 2, 3, 4 are shown here. The system 1 can, however, also comprise fewer (at least two) or more fire alarm systems. The fire alarm systems 2, 3, 4 are decentralized (ie at different locations). Each of the fire alarm systems 2, 3, 4 has at least one fire alarm center (BMZ). The fire alarm center of the fire alarm system 2 is here in<figref idref="f0001">Fig. 1</figref> with "BMZ 1" (reference number 5). The fire alarm center of the fire alarm system 3 is correspondingly designated with “BMZ 2” (reference number 6) and the fire alarm center of the fire alarm system 4 with “BMZ 3” (reference number 7).

0016Each of the fire alarm systems 2, 3, 4 has a plurality of fire alarm sensors 8 to 16 in addition to the respective fire alarm center 5, 6, 7. The fire alarm sensors 8, 9, 10 are assigned to the fire alarm system 2 and are connected to the "BMZ 1" via data connections. In a similar way, the fire alarm sensors 11, 12, 13 are part of the fire alarm system 3 and are connected to the "BMZ 2" via data connections. The fire alarm sensors 14, 15, 16 are part of the fire alarm system 4 and are connected to the "BMZ 3" via data links. For each of the fire alarm systems, three fire alarm sensors were shown. In reality, however, each of the fire alarm systems has a large number of fire alarm sensors.

0017Each fire alarm center 5, 6, 7 has an alarm signaling unit 17, 18, 19. The alarm reporting unit 17, 18, 19 detects an alarm from one of the respectively associated fire alarm sensors 8 to 16 and forwards this via communication lines, in particular directly to a control center 20 (in particular a fire brigade control center).

0018Furthermore, each fire alarm center has a data memory 21, 22, 23. Component data of the respective fire alarm system 2, 3, 4 are stored in the data memory 21, 22, 23. These are electronic data that represent information about the respective fire alarm center and / or the respective fire alarm sensors. In particular, this concerns status information (current status, status of individual components, error messages) and maintenance information (maintenance intervals, time of next maintenance, time of last maintenance) of the respective fire alarm control panel or the respective fire alarm sensors of the fire alarm system 2, 3, 4.

0019The system 1 also has a central unit 24. This central unit 24 is connected to the fire alarm systems 2, 3, 4 - more precisely to the respective fire alarm center 5, 6, 7 - by separate data connections (independent of the communication lines of the control center 20 and in particular without a connection to the alarm reporting units 17, 18 and 19). The central unit 24 has a detection unit 25, a display unit 26, a checking unit 27 and a warning unit 28.

0020The acquisition unit 25 is designed to acquire the component data stored in the data memories 21, 22, 23 (e.g. by reading out the data memories 21, 22, 23) and to hold them centrally in the central unit 24 (e.g. by storing in a, in <figref idref="f0001">Fig. 1</figref> data memory of the central unit 24, not shown).

0021The display unit 26 is designed to display the component data acquired and held by the acquisition unit 25 (for example on a screen).

0022The checking unit 27 is designed to check whether individual component data with reference data that are stored in the central unit 24, for example in the in <figref idref="f0001">Fig. 1</figref> not shown data memory are stored, match or differ from these reference data.

0023The warning unit 28 is designed to output a warning (in particular an optical and / or acoustic warning signal) if the checking unit has determined a deviation of certain component data from the reference data.

0024In the system 1, the component data of the individual fire alarm systems 2, 3, 4 are thus displayed centrally (at one location) by the display unit 26 of the central unit 24. It is not necessary to view the component data in a decentralized manner for each of the plurality of fire alarm systems 2, 3, 4. This reduces the monitoring effort. The checking unit 27 can be used to determine centrally whether individual component data differ from setpoint values ​​or match the given reference data. By means of the warning unit 28, the persons responsible are made aware that certain component data deviate from reference data.

0025In the in <figref idref="f0001">Fig. 1</figref> The illustrated embodiment, the data memory 21, 22, 23 of the fire alarm system 2, 3, 4 is arranged in the respective fire alarm center 5, 6, 7. This data memory 21, 22, 23 can also contain information about the fire alarm sensors 8 to 16 connected to the fire alarm center 5, 6, 7. However, it is also possible that in some or all of the fire alarm sensors 8 to 16 separate (additional) data memories are formed in which the component data of the respective fire alarm sensors 8 to 16 are stored.

REFERENCE LIST

0026<dl id="dl0002" compact="compact"><dt>1</dt><dd>System for monitoring fire alarm systems</dd><dt>2, 3, 4</dt><dd>Fire alarm system</dd><dt>5, 6, 7</dt><dd>Fire alarm center (BMZ)</dd><dt>8 - 16</dt><dd>Fire alarm sensor</dd><dt>17, 18, 19</dt><dd>Alarm reporting unit</dd><dt>20</dt><dd>Control center</dd><dt>21, 22, 23</dt><dd>Data storage</dd><dt>24</dt><dd>Central unit</dd><dt>25</dt><dd>Registration unit</dd><dt>26</dt><dd>Display unit</dd><dt>27</dt><dd>Verification unit</dd><dt>28</dt><dd>Warning unit</dd></dl>