Security detector with optical data transmitter

A security detector including a sensor of a security condition, an alarm mechanism responsive to the sensor for warning of the condition, an optical emitter for transmitting optical energy in the visible spectrum and an encoder for modulating the energy from the emitter to transmit information pertaining to the detector;

• characterized in that:
• said encoder has a first mode transmitting said information at a human perceptible rate and a second mode transmitting said information as a multi-byte data stream at a rate not readable by humans.

A security detector comprising:

• an optical emitter disposed for viewing from outside said detector;
• a controller operating said detector in cycles including a) a detecting mode for detecting security related events and determining information for estimating an instantaneous sensitivity of said detector to said events, and b) a communicating mode for operating said emitter optically to transmit a digital bit stream including said information as binary data in a byte-wide format.

A method of operating a security detector including the steps of:

• operating said detector in a monitoring mode to detect a predetermined security related event;
• operating said detector in a test mode to establish information for determining instantaneous sensitivity of said detector to said predetermined security related event;
• operating an optical emitter disposed for viewing from outside said detector to transmit codes pertaining to said sensitivity information, one code as a blinking pattern perceptible to humans and another code as a serial bit stream at rates readable by machines and not readable by humans.

A security system comprising:

• a smoke detector having an emitter of radiation in the visible spectrum and an encoder for modulating said radiation to transmit information pertaining to said detector, said encoder having a first state for modulating said radiation to transmit said information at a first rate readable by humans and a second state for modulating said radiation to transmit said information as alpha-numeric data at a second rate readable by machine and not readable by humans;
• and,
• a reader optically reading said transmitted data at said second rate, said reader including a display presenting said decoded data in human readable alpha-numeric characters.