Patent Description:
A smoke detector is a device that detects smoke and issues an alarm. A photoelectric smoke detector is a type of smoke detector that works based on light scattering principles. An ionization smoke detector is a type of smoke detector that works by monitoring the flow of ionic current through the smoke detector. Both the ionization-type and the photoelectric-type smoke detectors can be sensitive to dust and dirt accumulation in their detection chambers. In ionization-type smoke detectors, the presence of dust particles decreases conductivity and thereby distorts the ionic current flow. In photoelectric-type smoke detectors, the dust particles that accumulate on the detection chamber walls scatter light onto the light sensor and thereby cause false alarms and increase background noise.

Because the presence of dust in smoke detectors cannot be readily avoided, most commercial fire codes mandate that regular testing and cleaning procedures be instituted to avoid excessive dust accumulation. Unfortunately, cleaning a detector can be expensive, inconvenient, and time-consuming. Previously, some smoke detectors have been designed to minimize the amount of dust that settles on the walls of the detection chamber. However, the cost and complexity of such smoke detectors is relatively high. Therefore, many smoke detectors today include drift compensation to account for the change in the clean air signal (detector baseline drift), which, as mentioned above, may increase (for photoelectric-type detectors) or decrease (for ionization-type detectors) as a result of dust accumulation.

Drift compensation methodologies can provide for changing the alarm threshold that must be crossed for an alarm to be triggered (e.g., so as to be able to consistently, accurately detect the presence of smoke as dust accumulates). The rate that the smoke detector gets dirty (and therefore the rate at which drift compensation needs to be employed) may be dependent on the environment in which the smoke detector is configured. For example, drift compensation may need to be employed more rapidly in dirtier environments than cleaner environments. This drift compensation may be completed either locally within the detector, or remotely at a control panel (which may be connected to multiple detectors). It is generally understood that the compensation may only be able to be adjusted to a certain point (which may be referred to as a drift compensation limit). As such, it is recommended that the detector be cleaned or replaced before the drift compensation limit is reached.

With increasing interest and awareness of indoor air quality (IAQ) it is vitally important that we utilize any readily available data regarding IAQ. As such, it is imperative that we recognize that existing smoke detection systems do not utilize the detector baseline drift data outside of adjusting the smoke detectors (i.e. to ensure that the smoke detectors are able to consistently, accurately detect the presence of smoke as dust accumulates).

Accordingly, there remains a need for a system and a method that are capable of utilizing the detector baseline drift data in a meaningful way so as to provide better, more robust monitoring of indoor air quality.

<CIT> discloses a system for facilitating smoke detector performance analysis including a server configured to receive operational data from an alarm panel and to perform analytics using the operational data. The invention is defined by the subject matter as claimed in claims and <NUM> and <NUM>.

According to a first aspect, the invention provides a detection system including a smoke detector and at least one of a control panel and a server. The smoke detector includes a processor configured to determine whether a current condition indicates a need to trigger an alarm. The smoke detector is configured to measure a baseline. The at least one of a control panel and a server is/are configured to receive and compile a detector baseline signal, to determine an indoor air quality (IAQ) based on a rate of a baseline drift of the smoke detector and to establish at least one indoor air quality (IAQ) trend. The at least one of the control panel and the server are operably connected to an HVAC system, at least one of the control panel and the server configured to execute one or more HVAC system controls in response to at least one indoor air quality (IAQ) trend.

Optionally, each detector is configured to compensate for detector baseline drift.

Optionally, the control panel is configured to receive detector baseline signals from multiple smoke detectors.

Optionally, each respective smoke detector is configured to detect ambient materials within a room of a building, the building including at least one control panel. Optionally the detection system may comprise the building control panel as the control panel. Embodiments of the invention may comprise a building including the detection system, wherein each respective smoke detector may be configured to detect ambient materials within a room of the building and may be located within the respective room. The building may comprise multiple rooms each with a respective smoke detector of the detection system. There may be multiple buildings, each building including at least one control panel.

Optionally, the server is communicatively connected to at least one control panel. This may be the control panel of a building, as discussed above. The control panel connected to the server may be the control panel of the first aspect.

Optionally, at least one of the control panel and the server are configured to trigger a notification when an IAQ trend meets a certain criteria.

Optionally, the detection system further includes a mobile device communicatively connected to at least one of the control panel and the server.

Optionally, the mobile device includes an application, at least one indoor air quality (IAQ) trend viewable in the application.

Optionally, the mobile device includes at least one of a mobile phone, a mobile tablet, and a computer.

According to another aspect of the invention, a method for monitoring indoor air quality with at least one smoke detector is provided. This may be a method for monitoring indoor air quality of rooms of a building, e.g. a building as mentioned above. Each respective smoke detector includes a processor configured to determine whether a current condition indicates a need to trigger an alarm. Each respective smoke detector is configured to measure a baseline. The method may use a detection system having any or all features as described above. The method includes a step for transmitting at least one detector baseline signal from at least one smoke detector to at least one of a control panel and a server. The method includes a step for compiling, in at least one of the control panel and the server, the detector baseline signals to determine an indoor air quality (IAQ) based on a rate of a baseline drift of the smoke detector and to establish at least one indoor air quality (IAQ) trend. The method further includes a step for executing, with at least one of the control panel and the server, one or more HVAC system controls of an HVAC system in response to an IAQ trend, wherein the at least one of the control panel and the server are operably connected to an HVAC system.

Optionally, the method further includes a step for triggering, with at least one of the control panel and the server, a notification when an IAQ trend meets a certain criteria.

Optionally, a mobile device is communicatively connected to at least one of the control panel and the server.

The following descriptions of the drawings, which show a certain example embodiment, should not be considered limiting in any way.

A detection system including a smoke detector configured to transmit a detector baseline signal (which may also be called a clean air signal) to at least one of a control panel and a server (in order to establish at least one indoor air quality (IAQ) trend), and a method for monitoring general indoor air quality trends with at least one smoke detector are provided. Rather than only using the detector baseline drift data to employ drift compensation to the smoke detector (i.e. to ensure that the smoke detector is able to consistently and accurately detect the presence of smoke as dust accumulates), the detection system described herein further utilizes the detector baseline data to provide insightful IAQ trends. It should be appreciated that these IAQ trends are capable of being provided without necessitating additional hardware (i.e. no independent IAQ specific detectors are required to produce the IAQ trends illustrated herein). By utilizing existing smoke detectors and existing detector baseline drift data, the cost and complexity of installing the detection system may be minimal (e.g., when compared to existing air quality monitoring systems that require dedicated, independent pieces of hardware). It is envisioned that these IAQ trends may be useful to estimate building health in comparison with historic trends or other buildings, which may empower building management systems to take action to improve building health. These IAQ trends may be provided in a wholistic manner (i.e. provided in the form of one IAQ trend for an entire building) and/or granular manner (i.e. provided in the form of one IAQ trend for a particular room, or even one IAQ trend for a particular smoke detector) in certain instances. For example, the IAQ trend(s) may provide room-to-room insights, or even building-to-building insights, which may be useful in situations such as university campuses, where multiple buildings are maintained by one entity. Although described herein to be particularly useful in commercial buildings and universities, it should be appreciated that the detection system described herein may be useful in any setting (e.g. residential, etc.).

With reference now to the Figures, a schematic illustration of an exemplary detection system <NUM> including multiple smoke detectors <NUM> configured to transmit detector baseline signals to at least one of a control panel <NUM> and a server <NUM> is shown in <FIG>. The smoke detector(s) <NUM> may, in certain instances, be referred to as a "detector(s)". It should be appreciated that although described herein as being used to detect smoke, the detector(s) <NUM>, may, in certain instances, also be used to detect other constituents capable of entering the detector <NUM> (e.g. carbon monoxide, or other hazardous or nuisance materials). The smoke detector <NUM> may be capable of detecting when ambient materials, such as smoke and non-smoke particles carried in the air, enter the smoke detector <NUM>. It should be appreciated that the smoke detector(s) may use any suitable smoke detection technology, which may be either ionization or photoelectric based in certain instances.

An exemplary smoke detector <NUM> is shown in <FIG>. This smoke detector <NUM> is capable of detecting smoke using a photoelectric detection method. As shown, the smoke detector <NUM> may include a chamber <NUM> for receiving ambient airborne materials, and a supporting structure <NUM> (e.g., a PCB) disposed adjacent to the chamber <NUM>. It should be appreciated that the smoke detector <NUM> may also include at least one optical component (not shown). For example, the smoke detector <NUM> may include one or more emitter(s) and/or receiver(s), which may be considered optical components. The emitter(s) may be any suitable light emitting diode (LED) capable of emitting light (e.g. infrared or any light in the visible spectrum, such as blue light) into the chamber <NUM>. The receiver(s) may be configured to receive light reflected from the ambient materials in the chamber <NUM> and generate output signals (i.e. indicative of the current condition of the chamber <NUM>). The output signals may be sent from the receiver to a processor (which may be disposed on the supporting structure <NUM> as a component of the supporting structure <NUM>) to determine whether a current condition of the chamber <NUM> indicates a need to employ compensation drift or trigger a fault or an alarm. Although described herein that the smoke detector <NUM> may include a chamber <NUM> in certain instances, it should be appreciated that the smoke detector <NUM> may be chamberless (i.e., emit light into a monitored space instead of a chamber <NUM>) in other instances.

When there is no smoke in the air, light emitted from the detector LEDs scatter off of the interior surface of the chamber and are received by the photodiode(s). This received signal in clean air (no smoke) is referred to here as the detector baseline. Over time, dust/dirt in the air can accumulate on the interior surface of the chamber <NUM>. This causes the interior surfaces to scatter more light from the LEDs and increase the detector baseline (referred to as detector baseline drift). To compensate for detector baseline drift, the smoke detector <NUM> is configured to measure the detector baseline (and adjust the baseline if necessary). It should be appreciated that the detection system <NUM> described herein may incorporate multiple smoke detectors <NUM>, each of which may be capable of measuring (and, if necessary, adjusting) their baseline to compensate for detector baseline drift. In certain instances the smoke detector <NUM> is configured to generate a fault when the smoke detector <NUM> reaches a certain level of dirtiness (the detector baseline exceeds a threshold). The rate at which this detector baseline drift occurs correlates to the indoor air quality (IAQ) of the environment in which the smoke detector <NUM> is placed. That is, the drift rate may be faster in environments with more dust/dirt in the air.

As shown in <FIG>, each smoke detector <NUM> may be configured to transmit a detector baseline signal to at least one of a control panel <NUM> and a server <NUM> (e.g., which may be housed in a cloud-based network <NUM>). It should be appreciated that the transmission may not be direct in certain instances. For example, the detector baseline signal may be transmitted to the control panel <NUM> from the smoke detector <NUM> before the detector baseline signal is transmitted to the server <NUM> or to a mobile device <NUM>. It is envisioned that the control panel <NUM> may be configured to receive detector baseline signals from multiple smoke detectors <NUM>. For example, as shown in <FIG>, each respective smoke detector <NUM> may be configured to detect ambient materials within a particular room <NUM> of a building <NUM>, which may include at least one control panel <NUM>. It should be appreciated that each control panel <NUM> may be connected to numerous hazard detectors (e.g. smoke detectors <NUM>, etc.), notification devices (e.g. horns, strobes, annunciators, etc.), alarm triggers (e.g. pull stations, call points, door alarms, etc.), and other communicatively connected infrastructure. To receive the detector baseline signals from the respective smoke detector(s) <NUM>, the control panel <NUM> may be connected through one or more physical link(s) (e.g., hard-wired), and/or wireless connection(s) (e.g. using Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, Bluetooth Low Energy (BTLE), Zigbee, infrared, cellular, or any other suitable wireless connection) to one or more smoke detectors <NUM>.

As shown in <FIG>, the control panel <NUM> may be communicatively connected to the server <NUM> using at least one gateway <NUM>, such as a router (which may be located within same building <NUM> in which the control panel <NUM> is located). The connection between the control panel <NUM> and the gateway <NUM> may be completed through any suitable wireless connection(s) (e.g., Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, Bluetooth Low Energy (BTLE), Zigbee, infrared, cellular, or any other suitable wireless connection), and/or a wired connection(s) (e.g. UART, Serial, Fiber-optic, SPI, Ethernet cable, or any other suitable wired connection). It is envisioned that the compiling of the detector baseline signals to establish at least one indoor air quality (IAQ) trend <NUM> (shown in <FIG>) may be completed in at least one of the control panel <NUM> and the server <NUM> (e.g., using any suitable processor, programming, etc.). In certain instances a mobile device <NUM> is communicatively connected (e.g., through one or more wired or wireless connections) with at least one of the control panel <NUM> and the server <NUM>.

For example, it is envisioned that the server <NUM> may be an application server in certain instances, and one or more mobile device(s) <NUM> may be seamlessly connected with the server <NUM> though an application, which may be either web-based or downloaded to the memory of the mobile device <NUM>) so as to enable interaction (e.g., to view the IAQ trends, etc.) with the detection system <NUM>. The mobile device(s) <NUM> described herein may include, among others, mobile phones, mobile tablet, or computers such as those running the Android™ operating system of Google Inc. , of Mountain View, Calif. , or the iOS™ operating system of Apple Inc. , of Cupertino, Calif. , or the BlackBerry™ operating system of BlackBerry Limited, of Waterloo, Ontario. The mobile device <NUM> may be programmed with an application (i.e. an app) that allows the mobile device <NUM> to interact (e.g., to view at least one IAQ trend, etc.). Exemplary mobile devices <NUM> displaying exemplary indoor air quality (IAQ) trends <NUM> are shown in <FIG>.

<FIG> illustrates an exemplary view of an indoor air quality (IAQ) trend <NUM> for a floor <NUM> of a building <NUM>, which, as shown, may be viewable in an application on a mobile device <NUM>. It should be appreciated that multiple IAQ trends <NUM> may be provided by the detection system <NUM> described herein, each of which may have different levels of granularity. As shown, the IAQ trend <NUM> may be represented in terms of a percentage (%) which relates the adjusted baseline to the dirtiness level threshold. This percentage may indicate the level of dirtiness of the smoke detector(s) <NUM> on the particular floor <NUM>. As shown, the detection system <NUM> may provide a notification <NUM> when the level of dirtiness for a particular smoke detector <NUM> on the particular floor <NUM> is above a certain level of dirtiness (such as <NUM>%, etc.). It should be appreciated that the level of dirtiness at which a notification may triggered may vary, and, in certain instances, may be adjustable based on user preference, etc. It is envisioned that these notifications may help inform building management when a particular detector <NUM> is in need of cleaning or replacement. In addition to aiding with maintenance, the detection system <NUM> described herein may provide useful insights into long term (or short term in certain instances) indoor air quality trends for different areas (e.g., particular floors <NUM>, etc.) of the building <NUM>, which may encourage potential mitigation (e.g., using the HVAC system <NUM> (shown in <FIG>)) of the different areas (e.g., particular floors <NUM>, etc.).

<FIG> illustrates an exemplary view of an indoor air quality (IAQ) trend <NUM> for a particular room <NUM> of a certain floor <NUM> of a building <NUM>, which, as shown, may be viewable in an application on a mobile device <NUM>. As shown, the detection system <NUM> may provide an IAQ trend <NUM> in terms of a particular room <NUM> (which may be represented in terms of a percentage (%). This percentage may indicate the level of dirtiness of the smoke detector(s) <NUM> in the particular room <NUM>. As shown, the detection system <NUM> may provide a notification <NUM> when the level of dirtiness of a particular smoke detector <NUM> in the particular room <NUM> is above a certain level of dirtiness (such as <NUM>%, etc.). It should be appreciated, as stated above, that the level of dirtiness at which a notification may be triggered may vary, and, in certain instances, may be adjustable based on user preference, etc. As described above, these notifications may help inform building management when a particular detector <NUM> is in need of cleaning or replacement, and may be used to illustrate mitigation needs for a particular area (e.g., floor <NUM>, room <NUM>, etc.).

<FIG> illustrates an exemplary view of an indoor air quality (IAQ) trend <NUM> for a particular detector <NUM> of a building <NUM>, which, as shown, may be viewable in an application on a mobile device <NUM>. As shown, the detection system <NUM> may provide an IAQ trend <NUM> in terms of a particular detector <NUM> (e.g., which may be represented in terms of a percentage (%). This percentage may indicate the level of dirtiness of the particular detector <NUM>. As shown, the detection system <NUM> may provide a notification <NUM> when the level of dirtiness for a particular smoke detector <NUM> is above a certain limit (such as <NUM>%, etc.). It should be appreciated, as stated above, that the level of dirtiness at which a notification may be triggered may vary, and, in certain instances, may be adjustable based on user preference, etc. As described above, these notifications may help inform building management when the detector <NUM> is in need of cleaning or replacement, and may be used to illustrate mitigation needs for a particular area (e.g., floor <NUM>, room <NUM>, etc.) in which the detector <NUM> is placed.

At least one of the control panel <NUM> and the server <NUM> may be configured to trigger a notification <NUM> when an IAQ trend <NUM> (e.g., for a particular floor <NUM>, room <NUM>, detector <NUM>, etc.) meets a certain criteria (e.g., such as an abnormality <NUM>, etc.). An abnormality <NUM> may be viewed as a certain slope of the IAQ trend <NUM> (which may indicate a rapid change in the indoor air quality). It will be appreciated that a notification <NUM> may be triggered in the absence of an abnormality <NUM> in certain instances. For example, a notification <NUM> may be triggered periodically to routinely inform building management as to the IAQ trend(s) <NUM> even when there is no abnormality <NUM>. These IAQ trends <NUM> may be useful to provide long-term (e.g., by the day, month, year, etc.) insights. As mentioned above, these trends may be useful to compare indoor air quality in a building-to-building or a room-to-room manner, which may assist with informing maintenance decisions and/or encouraging mitigation efforts (e.g., which may improve the health of those occupying the particular space).

These mitigation efforts are in the form of executing one or more controls of an HVAC system <NUM> (shown in <FIG>), which may include operating one or more different components (e.g., such as fans, vents, filtration technologies, etc.) of the HVAC system <NUM>. The HVAC system <NUM> is connected to the control panel <NUM> and/or the server <NUM> (e.g., it may be indirectly through connection with the gateway <NUM>), which enables the HVAC system <NUM> to be controlled in response to at least one indoor air quality trend <NUM>. For example, the detection system <NUM> described herein may provide for the automatic more frequent opening of an outdoor vent and the activating of a fan to drive the air, containing the high levels of particles such as dust, etc., out of a building <NUM> that has been identified by the detection system <NUM> to have poor IAQ. These mitigation efforts, in whatever form, may help improve the health of those occupying the particular space, for example, by reducing their exposure to air with high levels of particles such as dust, dirt, etc..

As mentioned above, it is envisioned that the design and configuration of the detection system <NUM> described herein may make it possible to provide insightful indoor air quality trends with minimal cost and complexity (e.g., when compared to existing air quality monitoring systems that utilize dedicated, independent pieces of hardware). Instead of requiring new hardware, as is typical with air quality monitoring systems, the detection system <NUM> described herein utilizes readily available detector baseline data to provide insightful IAQ trends. These trends may be useful to estimate building health in comparison with historic trends, which may empower building management to take action to improve building health. It should be appreciated that the detection system <NUM> described herein may be useful in any environment (e.g., hospitals, restaurants, hotels, universities, etc.) that incorporates smoke detectors <NUM> which are capable of measuring (and, if necessary, adjusting) their baseline.

Regardless of the setting in which the detection system <NUM> is utilized, the method for monitoring indoor air quality may be the same. An exemplary method <NUM> for monitoring indoor air quality with at least one smoke detector <NUM> is shown in <FIG>. The method <NUM> may be performed, for example, using the exemplary detection system <NUM> shown in <FIG>, and described above, which may include at least one exemplary smoke detector shown in <FIG>. The method <NUM> includes step <NUM> for transmitting a detector baseline signal from at least one smoke detector <NUM> to at least one of a control panel <NUM> and a server <NUM>, each of which may have different limitations as set forth above. The method <NUM> includes step <NUM> for compiling, in at least one of the control panel <NUM> and the server <NUM>, the detector baseline signals over time to establish at least one indoor air quality (IAQ) trend <NUM>. In some embodiments, the smoke detector(s) <NUM> is configured to compensate for detector baseline drift. These IAQ trends may incorporate detector baseline signals from multiple detectors <NUM>, each of which may be connected to the same or different control panel <NUM>. As mentioned above, the method <NUM> may provide for the triggering of a notification <NUM> and/or the operation of one or more components of an HVAC system <NUM> in response to an IAQ trend. As shown in <FIG>, these IAQ trends may be provided in different levels of granularity, which may be viewable through a mobile device <NUM> (i.e. in an application).

The use of the terms "a" and "and" and "the" and similar referents, in the context of describing the invention, are to be construed to cover both the singular and the plural, unless otherwise indicated herein or cleared contradicted by context. The use of any and all examples, or exemplary language (e.g., "such as", "e.g.", "for example", etc.) provided herein is intended merely to better illuminate the invention and does not pose a limitation on the scope of the invention unless otherwise claimed. No language in the specification should be construed as indicating any non-claimed elements as essential to the practice of the invention.

Claim 1:
A detection system (<NUM>) comprising:
a smoke detector (<NUM>); and
at least one of a control panel (<NUM>) and a server (<NUM>),
wherein the smoke detector (<NUM>) comprises a processor configured to determine whether a current condition indicates a need to trigger an alarm, wherein the smoke detector (<NUM>) is configured to measure a baseline, and
wherein the at least one of the control panel (<NUM>) and the server (<NUM>) are/is configured to:
receive and compile a detector baseline signal;
determine an indoor air quality (IAQ) based on a rate of a baseline drift of the smoke detector; and
establish at least one indoor air quality (IAQ) trend (<NUM>),
characterized in that:
the at least one of the control panel (<NUM>) and/or the server (<NUM>) are/is operably connected to an HVAC system (<NUM>), the at least one of the control panel (<NUM>) and the server (<NUM>) being configured to execute one or more HVAC system controls in response to at least one indoor air quality (IAQ) trend (<NUM>).