Abstract:
The present invention provides a method and system of walk through testing a fire alarm system without disrupting the building occupants. A communications channel is setup between a control panel and a single human tester. The tester then triggers an alarm or trouble condition in a device. The control panel detects the address of the device and automatically returns to the tester, over the communications channel, a label indicating the location of the device.

Description:
RELATED APPLICATIONS 
   This application is a Continuation of U.S. application Ser. No. 10/144,161 filed on May 10, 2002 now U.S. Pat. No. 6,737,967, which is incorporated herein by reference in its entirety. 

   BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
   Typical building fire alarm systems include a number of fire detection devices located throughout a building. The devices include smoke detectors, heat sensors, pull stations and like devices. Normally, these devices are connected in loops and are monitored for alarm and trouble conditions at a central control panel. The loops are distributed throughout zones of an industrial plant, office or residential building. 
   Alarm and/or trouble indicators are located at the control panel to indicate in which zone the alarm and/or trouble condition is located. The alarm or trouble indicators may be LEDs and/or an alphanumeric display. A yellow LED usually indicates a trouble condition and a red LED usually indicates an alarm condition. A trouble condition may be caused by the removal of a device, faulty system wiring and the like. A tone alarm may be generated at the control panel to announce that a trouble condition has been detected. The tone alarm can be silenced by an operator authorized access to the control panel. During an alarm condition, audible devices are sounded throughout the zones of the building. These devices may include horns, bells and like devices. Light strobes may also be located throughout the building to provide a visual alarm. 
   A walk through test of each device verifies that each device is connected to the system in its assigned location. Before performing a walk through test, a human tester places the control panel in a test mode. When performing a walk through test, the tester places a device in an alarm or trouble condition. The control panel receives a signal from a sensing device identifying the location of the device and whether there is an alarm or trouble condition. The tester then must communicate with the control panel operator as to whether the alarm or trouble condition was properly detected by the control panel and whether the device is located in the proper zone. A communications channel is setup between the tester and a control panel operator. The communication channel may be setup through a pair of two-way radios, cellular phones or like devices. The control panel operator then resets the alarm or trouble condition at the control panel and the tester moves onto the next device to be tested. 
   A single tester walk through test such as presented in U.S. Pat. No. 4,725,818, allows the tester to place a device in an alarm or trouble condition. In test mode, the control panel senses the location of the device and whether there is an alarm or trouble condition. The control panel then audibly sounds a code, associated with the devices address, throughout the audible devices located in the system or zone. The tester listens to the code and verifies the location of the device by matching the code to a list of device addresses for all devices in the system. The control panel automatically resets the tripped device so the tester can move to the next device to test. 
   SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
   The single human tester method of verifying system installation and troubleshooting alarm devices can be very disruptive, not only to the tester but to the building occupants. This is especially important in buildings which do not typically have an unoccupied period during which testing can be preformed, such as hospitals. Also, only the device address is communicated to the tester and not the device location. Therefore, even though the system has the capability of conducting the verification with one tester, many tests are conducted with two people, a tester and control panel operator. 
   In accordance with the present invention there is provided a method and system of walk through testing a fire alarm system without disrupting the building occupants. 
   This result is achieved by setting up a private communications channel between the control panel and the tester. The tester then triggers a test condition in a device. The control panel detects the address of the device and automatically returns to the tester, over the communications channel, an indication of a location of the device. The indication may be a code associated with the device address which can be matched to location on a list. However, it is preferred that the indication be a direct identification of location such as presented in a label associated with the device address at the control panel. 
   The location of the devices may be a label which may be converted to a voice stream or textual message, which is transmitted to the tester over the communication channel. In response to the label, the tester can transmit over the communications channel, a response indicating the location of the device. The response may be stored in a storage device, and the response may be associated with the device tested. The response can be either a voice stream or textual message and the storage device may be a computer. The test condition may be an alarm or trouble condition. 
   An address of the device can also be returned to the tester. The tester transmits over the communications channel the response to the address of the device. The response is then stored in a storage device, and the response may be associated to the device tested. The response can be either a voice stream or textual message and the storage device may be a computer. 
   To setup a communications channel between the control panel and the tester, a computer may be connected to the control panel. A first communications device may be connected to the computer and a second communications device may be connected to the first communications device through a wireless connection. The communications device can be a two-way radio, cellular phone or pager interface. 
   The above and other features of the invention including various novel details of construction and combinations of parts, and other advantages, will now be more particularly described with reference to the accompanying drawings and pointed out in the claims. It will be understood that the particular method and device embodying the invention are shown by way of illustration and not as a limitation of the invention. The principles and features of this invention may be employed in various and numerous embodiments without departing from the scope of the invention. 

   
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
     In the accompanying drawings, reference characters refer to the same parts throughout the different views. The drawings are not necessarily to scale; emphasis has instead been placed upon illustrating the principles of the invention. Of the drawings: 
       FIGS. 1 and 1A  illustrate a fire alarm system showing a building&#39;s floor plan highlighting the zones of the fire alarm system. 
       FIGS. 2 and 2A  illustrate the fire alarm system of  FIG. 1  being walk tested by a single tester without disturbing the buildings occupants. 
       FIGS. 3 and 3A  illustrate an alternative embodiment of the fire alarm system of FIG.  2 . 
   

   DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS 
     FIG. 1  shows a general layout of a building fire alarm system. Typically, fire alarm system  50  warns the buildings occupants and the local fire department of a potential fire emergency located within the building  110 . The building  110  can be an industrial plant, office or residential building. The building  110  is divided into zones  125  to allow for accurate location of the fire emergency. As shown in  FIG. 1 , there are three zones  125   a ,  125   b  and  125   c , respectively. However, it should be noted that there can be as many as N zones on M floors of the building  110  or multiple buildings. A central control panel  130  (also shown in  FIG. 1A ) monitors each zone for potential fire emergencies and trouble conditions. 
   Sensing devices  140 , audio/visual devices  150  and pull stations  160  are strategically located within each zone  125  of the building  110  to provide for proper coverage. Sensing devices  140  are designated  140   a ,  140   b  and  140   c  for zones  125   a ,  125   b  and  125   c , respectively. Audio/visual devices  150  are designated  150   a ,  150   b  and  150   c  for zones  125   a ,  125   b  and  125   c , respectively. Pull stations  160  are designated  160   a ,  160   b  and  160   c  for zones  125   a ,  125   b  and  125   c , respectively. The sensing devices  140  can be smoke, thermal detectors or like devices. The audio/visual devices  150  can be horns, bells, strobe lights or a combination thereof. 
     FIG. 2  shows a walk test being conducted by a single tester  170 . Before starting the walk test of the alarm system  50 , the tester  170  places the control panel  130  (also shown in  FIG. 2A ) in test mode  175  which disables all audio/visual devices  150  within the system  50 . The tester  170  sets up a communications channel  230  between the tester  170  and the control panel  130 . The tester  170  connects a computer  190  to the control panel  130  with a cable  180 . The cable  180  can be an RS232, ethernet, serial, parallel or any other cable known in the art for connecting a computer  190  to the control panel  130 . The computer  190  is connected to a two-way radio  200  through the audio-in, audio-out ports of the computer  190  and radio  200 . In another embodiment, the tester  170  can connect a cellular phone or paging transmitter to the computer  190 . The computer  190  can connect to a paging company in any way known in the art to send a textual message to the pager or cellular phone. The tester  170  establishes a communications link  230  via a pair of two-way radios,  200  and  240  by selecting the same radio frequency on respective radios  200 ,  240 . The system is now ready to be tested. 
   The tester  170  places a device (sensing device  140   c , located in room  109  of zone  125   c ) in an alarm or trouble condition, i.e., trips the device. The tester  170  can place the device in an alarm or trouble condition either by using smoke, magnets, activating (pulling) the pull station, physically removing the device or any other way known in the art. The control panel  130  detects the condition of the tripped device and sends a message to the computer  190  containing the location (room  109 ) and/or address of the tripped device ( 140   c ). 
   The computer  170  converts the message received from the control panel  130  to a voice stream and sends the voice stream to the tester  170  over the communications link  230  established between the radios  200  and  240 . The tester  170  hears the location (room  109 ) and/or address of the tripped device ( 140   c ) and verifies if the device is wired correctly, i.e., located in the correct location and zone. In another embodiment, the computer  170  can send a textual message to the pager or an e-mail message to the cellular phone. 
   The tester  170  can relay a voice or textual message back to the computer  170  as to whether the device ( 140   c ) is wired correctly, i.e., located in the correct location and zone (room  109 , zone  125   c ). The computer  170  stores the voice or textual message received from the tester  170  and associates it to the device tested (sensing device  140   c , located in room  109  of zone  125   c ). The control panel  130  resets the system so the next device can be tested. The tester  170  moves to the next device until all devices in the alarm system  50  have been verified. 
   In another embodiment as shown in  FIG. 3 , the control panel  130  (also shown in  FIG. 3A ) can be made to incorporate the functions of the computer  190  and/or the radio  200 , cellular phone or paging transmitter. If the computer  190  is incorporated into the control panel  130 , the radio, cellular phone or paging transmitter can be connected to the control panel  130 . 
   While this invention has been particularly shown and described with references to preferred embodiments thereof, it will be understood by those skilled in the art that various changes in form and details may be made therein without departing from the scope of the invention encompassed by the appended claims.