Carbon monoxide detector, system and method for signaling a carbon monoxide sensor end-of-life condition
AssigneeUTC Fire & Security Americas Corporation, Inc.
InventorsMichael T. Harkins, Bradley B. Barnes
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Abstract
A CO detector includes a sensor configured to detect a presence of CO and generate a signal indicative of the presence of CO, and a controller in signal communication with the sensor. The controller is configured to measure a level of detected CO in response to receiving the signal generated by the sensor. The controller is further configured to detect a first trouble condition representative of an end-of-life condition of the sensor, and a second trouble condition different from the first trouble condition.
Claims19
A carbon monoxide detector comprising:
- a sensor configured to detect a presence of carbon monoxide, and generate a signal indicative of the presence of carbon monoxide;
- a controller in signal communication with the sensor, the controller configured to measure a level of detected carbon monoxide in response to receiving the signal generated by the sensor, the controller further configured to detect a first trouble condition representative of an end-of-life condition of the sensor, and a second trouble condition different from the first trouble condition;
- a transmitter operatively coupled to the controller, the transmitter configured to transmit, to a remote agent, a first trouble signal indicative of the first trouble condition, and a second trouble signal indicative of the second trouble condition, the first trouble signal being different from the second trouble signal so that an end-of-life condition of the sensor detected by the controller and indicated by the first trouble signal can be distinguished at the remote agent from a second trouble condition detected by the controller and indicated by the second trouble signal.
A system comprising:
- a remote agent;
- and
- a carbon monoxide detector comprising:
- a power supply;
- a sensor configured to detect a presence of carbon monoxide, and generate a signal indicative of the presence of carbon monoxide;
- a controller in signal communication with the sensor, the controller configured to measure a level of detected carbon monoxide in response to receiving the signal generated by the sensor, the controller further configured to detect a first trouble condition representative of an end-of-life condition of the sensor, and a second trouble condition different from the first trouble condition;
- and
- a first transmitter operatively coupled to the controller, the first transmitter configured to transmit, to the remote agent, a first trouble signal indicative of the first trouble condition, and a second trouble signal indicative of the second trouble condition, wherein one of the first and second trouble signals is a pulsated signal and the other is a constant signal.
A method of operating a carbon monoxide detector to allow monitoring of the carbon monoxide detector by a remote agent, the method comprising:
- sensing a presence of carbon monoxide with a sensor of the carbon monoxide detector;
- generating a signal indicative of the presence of carbon monoxide;
- detecting an end-of-life condition of the sensor;
- generating a signal indicative of a presence of the end-of-life condition of the sensor;
- transmitting a first trouble signal indicative of a first trouble condition representative of the detected end-of-life condition of the sensor to a remote agent;
- and
- transmitting a second trouble signal representative of a detected trouble condition other than an end-of-life condition to the remote agent, wherein the second trouble signal is different from the first trouble signal so that presence of the end-of-life condition of the sensor is distinguishable at the remote agent from presence of a detected trouble condition other than the end-of-life condition.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.