Patent ID: 7528700

Claim:
A fire exit alert system for operating a fire door, alerting members of the general public during a fire and assisting members of the general public in visually and audibly locating the fire exit door during a fire emergency, the fire exit alert system comprising: fire exit door hardware for operating, locking, latching, unlocking, unlatching, opening, or closing the fire exit door, the fire exit door hardware being mounted in contact with the fire exit door to operate the fire exit door, the fire exit door hardware including a case; a control circuit mounted in the fire exit door hardware case, the control circuit including: a voice storage element for storing a pre-recorded voice signal co-located with the fire exit door hardware, the voice signal to be audibly broadcast from a location corresponding to the fire exit door hardware, the voice signal including words indicating to members of the general public who have not previously used the fire exit door that an exit is located at the location from which the voice signal is being broadcast; a trigger input adapted for receiving a fire detection signal from a fire detection system; a speaker output; and a light source output; a speaker connected to the speaker output of the control circuit for broadcasting an audibly locatable signal, the audibly locatable signal comprising at least the pre-recorded voice signal, to indicate that the pre-recorded voice signal is being audibly broadcast from the location of an exit, the pre-recorded voice signal assisting members of the general public who have not previously used the fire exit door to determine that a safe exit is located at the source of the audibly locatable signal; and a light source connected to the light source output for providing a visually locatable indication of the location of the fire exit door to members of the general public; the control circuit turning on the light source, retrieving the voice signal from the voice storage element and repeatedly sending the voice signal to the speaker output upon receipt of the fire detection signal indicating a fire emergency; the fire exit door hardware acting to operate, lock, latch, unlock, unlatch, open, or close the fire exit door in the absence of a fire emergency.