Hazard detector with optical status indicator
AssigneeCarrier Corporation
InventorsMatthew J. Buchholz, Kenneth J. Mott
Life of this patent
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Abstract
A life safety device includes a housing and a light transmission device disposed within the housing. A first end of the light transmission device is visible at the exterior of the housing. The life safety device additionally includes a transmitter for generating a light. The transmitter is positioned within the housing adjacent the light transmission device. A receiver measures ambient light around the life safety device. The receiver is positioned within the housing adjacent the light transmission device.
Claims16
A life safety device comprising:
- a housing;
- a transmitter for generating a light, the transmitter being positioned within the housing;
- a receiver for measuring ambient light around the life safety device, the receiver being positioned within the housing adjacent the light transmission device;
- and
- a light transmission device disposed within the housing adjacent to the transmitter, a first end of the light transmission device being visible at an exterior of the housing, the light transmission device including:
- at least one port located adjacent to the transmitter and being operable to communicate light from the transmitter to a first end;
- and
- a post separate from the port for communicating the ambient light to the receiver;
- wherein in a first mode of operation of the life safety device, a first light source is operable as the transmitter and a second light source is operable as the receiver and in a second mode of operation of the life safety device, the second light source is operable as both the transmitter and the receiver.
A method of operating a life safety device comprising:
- detecting ambient light adjacent to the life safety device via a first end of a light transmission device;
- and
- sensing a condition via at least one detector of the life safety device;
- and
- illuminating an indicator visible at an exterior of the life safety device in response to the sensed condition via a transmitter, the indicator being arranged at the first end of the light transmission device;
- wherein in a first mode, detecting ambient light is performed by a first light source and illuminating the indicator is performed by a second light source and in a second mode, detecting ambient light and illuminating the indicator are performed by the first light source.
A life safety device comprising:
- a housing;
- an actuatable mechanism coupled to the housing;
- a detector coupled to the housing, wherein the detector senses one or more conditions adjacent to the life safety device;
- and
- a visual warning system disposed within the housing, the visual warning system including:
- an indicator at least partially visible at the exterior of the housing, the indicator being arranged adjacent to the actuatable mechanism at the exterior of the housing;
- and
- a plurality of light sources operable to illuminate the indicator, wherein a color used to illuminate the indicator is selected in response to the condition sensed by the detector;
- wherein operation of the at least one light source for illuminating the indicator varies based on a time of day, wherein a first light source of the plurality of light sources is only used to illuminate the indicator during a first time of day and a second light source of the plurality of light sources is only used to illuminate the indicator during a second time of day.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.