Alarm system with individual alarm indicator testing

Abstract

A building alarm system includes addressable notification appliances connected to a system controller, with each notification appliance having a status indicator and an alarm indicator. The status indicator, such as an LED, provides for system test modes that avoid disruption of building occupants. To test the alarm system, the system controller selects which notification appliances to operate in response to a test alarm input and communicates to each selected appliance an instruction to operate its associated status indicator without operating its associated audible or flashing visible alarm indicators. In a troubleshooting mode, the system controller polls each of the notification appliances and receives an answer in response to the poll from any of the appliances. The controller operates the LED indicators of those appliances which answer the poll. This allows a technician to locate for troubleshooting only those appliances having an nonoperating LED indicator, perhaps due to a failure to respond to its poll. According to another aspect, each addressable notification appliances includes a microprocessor and a manually-activated switch. The microprocessor is programmed to transmit a first message in response to an activation of the switch. The system controller receives the first message from the activated appliance and in response transmits a second message instructing the appliance to operate its associated alarm indicator for a test time interval.

1. A method of testing a building alarm system, the method comprising the steps of:
 (a) providing plural notification appliances connected to a system controller, each notification appliance having a test status indicator for indicating notification appliance test status and an alarm indicator for indicating an alarm condition to building occupants;  
 (b) selecting at the system controller one or more notification appliances to operate; and  
 (c) communicating from the system controller to each selected notification appliance an instruction to operate its associated test status indicator for verification without operating its associated alarm indicator so as to avoid disrupting the building occupants.  
 
     
     
       2. The method of  claim 1  further comprising the step of providing a test alarm input to the system controller which is specific to one or more alarm condition detectors, and wherein step (b) comprises selecting which notification appliances to operate in response to the specific test alarm input. 
     
     
       3. The method of  claim 1  further comprising, prior to steps (b) and (c), the steps of polling each of the notification appliances from the system controller and receiving an answer at the system controller in response to the polling step from any of the notification appliances, and wherein step (b) comprises selecting those notification appliances which answer the poll. 
     
     
       4. The method of  claim 1  wherein step (c) comprises communicating the instruction to a group of addressable notification appliances using a group address. 
     
     
       5. An alarm system comprising:
 plural notification appliances, each notification appliance having a test status indicator for indicating notification appliance test status and an alarm indicator for indicating an alarm condition to building occupants; and  
 a system controller connected to the plural notification appliances, the system controller in a test mode selecting one or more notification appliances to operate and communicating to each selected notification appliance an instruction to operate its associated test status indicator for verification without operating its associated alarm indicator.  
 
     
     
       6. The system of  claim 5  wherein the notification appliances are addressable and the system controller communicates the instruction to a group of addressable notification appliances using a group address. 
     
     
       7. The system of  claim 5  wherein the system controller selects which notification appliances to operate in response to a test alarm input which is specific to one or more alarm condition detectors. 
     
     
       8. The system of  claim 7  wherein the alarm indicator comprises an audible indicator and a flashing visible indicator and wherein the test status indicator of a selected notification appliance is operated in response to the test alarm input at different rates to indicate whether the audible indicator only, the flashing visible indicator only, or both audible and flashing visible indicators are intended to be operated. 
     
     
       9. The system of  claim 5  wherein the system controller is operable to poll each of the notification appliances, each notification appliance is operable to send an answer to the system controller in response to the poll, and the system controller selects those notification appliances which answer the poll. 
     
     
       10. The system of  claim 5  wherein the test status indicator comprises an LED indicator. 
     
     
       11. The system of  claim 10  wherein the alarm indicator comprises an audible indicator. 
     
     
       12. The system of  claim 10  wherein the alarm indicator comprises a flashing visible indicator. 
     
     
       13. The system of  claim 10  wherein the alarm indicator comprises an audible indicator and a flashing visible indicator. 
     
     
       14. A method comprising the steps of:
 providing plural notification appliances connected to a system controller, each notification appliance having an alarm indicator and a locally-activated test switch;  
 activating the locally-activated test switch of one of the plural notification appliances;  
 transmitting a first message from the one activated appliance in response to the test switch activation; and  
 receiving the first message at the system controller and transmitting to the activated appliance a second message instructing the activated appliance to operate its associated alarm indicator for a test time interval.  
 
     
     
       15. The method of  claim 14  wherein each notification appliance further includes a test status indicator and further including the step of operating the test status indicator of the activated appliance in response to the switch activation for a second test time interval. 
     
     
       16. The method of  claim 14  wherein each notification appliance further includes a test status indicator and further including the steps of operating the test status indicators at a periodic rate and extinguishing the test status indicator of the activated appliance in response to the switch activation. 
     
     
       17. An alarm system, comprising:
 plural notification appliances, each notification appliance having an alarm indicator and a locally-activated test switch, the appliance being programmed to transmit a first message in response to an activation of the test switch; and  
 a system controller connected to the plural notification appliances, the system controller receiving the first message from the activated appliance and in response to the first message transmitting to the activated appliance a second message instructing the activated appliance to operate its associated alarm indicator for a test time interval.  
 
     
     
       18. The system of  claim 17  wherein the locally-activated test switch is a magnetic-field sensitive switch. 
     
     
       19. The system of  claim 17  wherein the locally-activated test switch includes an infrared sensitive switch. 
     
     
       20. The system of  claim 17  wherein each notification appliance further includes a test status indicator and wherein the activated appliance is programmed to operate the test status indicator in response to the test switch activation for a second test time interval. 
     
     
       21. The system of  claim 20  wherein the second message includes an instruction to operate the test status indicator of the activated appliance for a third test time interval. 
     
     
       22. The system of  claim 20  wherein the test status indicator comprises an LED indicator. 
     
     
       23. The system of  claim 17  wherein each notification appliance further includes a test status indicator and wherein the appliances are programmed to operate the test status indicator at a periodic rate and the activated appliance is further programmed to extinguish the test status indicator in response to the test switch activation. 
     
     
       24. The system of  claim 17  wherein the alarm indicator comprises an audible indicator. 
     
     
       25. The system of  claim 17  wherein the alarm indicator comprises a flashing visible indicator. 
     
     
       26. The system of  claim 17  wherein the alarm indicator comprises an audible indicator and a flashing visible indicator. 
     
     
       27. The alarm system of  claim 5 , at least one notification appliance comprising:
   a selector which selects between a generated tone signal and an audio signal, the audio signal being provided to the notification appliance from a system controller; and        an audio transducer for broadcasting the selected signal.     
     
     
       28. The alarm system of  claim 27 , the audio signal being provided from the system controller by being superimposed on power/communication lines. 
     
     
       29. The alarm system of  claim 27 , wherein the notification appliance plays prerecorded announcements. 
     
     
       30. The method of  claim 14 , further comprising:
   providing an audio signal from the system controller; and        in at least one notification appliance,      selecting between a generated tone signal and the audio signal, and        broadcasting the selected signal.       
     
     
       31. The method of  claim 30 , the audio signal being superimposed on power/communication lines. 
     
     
       32. The method of  claim 30 , further comprising playing, in said notification appliance, prerecorded announcements.