Classifications

• • H—ELECTRICITY
  • H05—ELECTRIC TECHNIQUES NOT OTHERWISE PROVIDED FOR
  • H05B—ELECTRIC HEATING; ELECTRIC LIGHT SOURCES NOT OTHERWISE PROVIDED FOR; CIRCUIT ARRANGEMENTS FOR ELECTRIC LIGHT SOURCES, IN GENERAL
  • H05B47/00—Circuit arrangements for operating light sources in general, i.e. where the type of light source is not relevant
  • H05B47/10—Controlling the light source
  • H05B47/17—Operational modes, e.g. switching from manual to automatic mode or prohibiting specific operations
  • H05B47/172—Emergency operational modes
• • H—ELECTRICITY
  • H05—ELECTRIC TECHNIQUES NOT OTHERWISE PROVIDED FOR
  • H05B—ELECTRIC HEATING; ELECTRIC LIGHT SOURCES NOT OTHERWISE PROVIDED FOR; CIRCUIT ARRANGEMENTS FOR ELECTRIC LIGHT SOURCES, IN GENERAL
  • H05B47/00—Circuit arrangements for operating light sources in general, i.e. where the type of light source is not relevant
  • H05B47/10—Controlling the light source
  • H05B47/175—Controlling the light source by remote control
  • H05B47/19—Controlling the light source by remote control via wireless transmission
• • H—ELECTRICITY
  • H05—ELECTRIC TECHNIQUES NOT OTHERWISE PROVIDED FOR
  • H05B—ELECTRIC HEATING; ELECTRIC LIGHT SOURCES NOT OTHERWISE PROVIDED FOR; CIRCUIT ARRANGEMENTS FOR ELECTRIC LIGHT SOURCES, IN GENERAL
  • H05B47/00—Circuit arrangements for operating light sources in general, i.e. where the type of light source is not relevant
  • H05B47/10—Controlling the light source
  • H05B47/17—Operational modes, e.g. switching from manual to automatic mode or prohibiting specific operations

Definitions

• This invention relates to an emergency lighting testing device and system, and in particular for retrofit to existing emergency lighting systems.
• the present invention is directed towards overcoming these problems.
• an emergency lighting testing device comprising:
• the communication module is an NB-loT module.
• the long-range communication module connects to the remote monitoring station via a cloud platform.
• the remote monitoring station includes servers and a dashboard.
• the controller is mounted within a housing having a rectangular base with outwardly extending side walls at each side of the base and a cover closing an outer end of the side walls, mounting tabs projecting laterally outwardly at opposite sides of the base, each mounting tab having a keyhole slot for reception of a screw fastener to secure the housing on a support surface such as a wall or ceiling adjacent the emergency lamp.
• the first connector and the second connector comprise cables and Wago connectors.
• system comprises:
• FIG. 2 shows an emergency lighting testing device 2 according to the invention incorporated into the emergency lighting testing system 1 of the invention.
• the device 2 can be retrofitted to an emergency lamp 3 of an emergency lighting system. Only one emergency lamp 3 is shown for illustration purposes, however in practice there will usually be a number of emergency lamps 3 in the emergency lighting system, a device 2 of the invention being connected to each emergency lamp 3 in the emergency lighting system.
• the device 2 has a housing 4 with a rectangular base 5, with side walls 6 extending outwardly from each side of the base 5, and an outer cover 7 closing an outer end of the side walls 6.
• the housing 4 contains a controller 10 which connects via cables and Wago connectors 8 with the emergency lamp 3.
• An associated cable support 9 is provided on one of the side walls 6.
• One or more mounting tabs 11 project laterally outwardly from the base 5, each tab 11 having at least one through hole for fixing the housing 4 by means of a screw fastener to a support surface, such as a wall or ceiling, adjacent the emergency lamp 3.
• tabs 11 project laterally outwardly at opposite sides of the base 5.
• Each tab 11 has a pair of spaced-apart outer circular through holes 14 and a central keyhole slot 15 between the outer holes 14 for ease of fixing the housing 4 to a support surface such as a ceiling or wall adjacent the emergency lamp 3..
• a first connector 8 is connected between the controller 10 in the housing 4 and the emergency lamp 3 mains power supply to control the mains power supply to the emergency lamp 3.
• Mains power supply is routed through a switch in the controller 10 to control the mains power supply to the emergency lamp 3 by switching the mains power supply to the emergency lamp 3 on or off as directed by the controller 10.
• a second connector 8 connects between the controller 10 and a back-up battery 16 power supply for the emergency lamp 3.
• a current sensor 12 of the controller 10 senses the operating condition of the emergency lamp 3 back-up battery 16 power supply.
• the controller 10 may optionally include a number of additional sensors, such as a temperature and humidity sensor 26, barometric pressure sensor and CO 2 sensor.
• the connectors 8 allow quick attachment (typically within 8-10 minutes) of the device 2 to the emergency lamp 3, which is particularly advantageous for retrofitting relatively large emergency lighting systems which may include hundreds of emergency lamps 3.
• Fig. 10 to Fig. 16 show a breaker box 30 with quick connectors for connection to battery and power of fixture.
• the controller 10 has an NB-loT communication module 18 mounted within the housing 4 which communicates using NB-loT technology with a remote monitoring station 20 via a cloud platform 22, communicating with servers 23 and a dashboard 24 at the remote monitoring station 20.
• Each device 2 sits outside and adjacent the emergency light 3 that it is associated with and communicates with the servers 23 at the remote monitoring station 20 through NB-loT technology.
• the device 2 can send and receive data at any time to /from the remote monitoring station 20.
• devices 2 can be readily easily and quickly connected to each emergency lamp 3 in an emergency lighting system. Conveniently, installation can be carried out by any qualified electrician without any specialist IT training. Before the electrician attaches each device 2 to the associated emergency lamp 3 it has been prepopulated on the dashboard 24 and clearly outlines which emergency lamp 3 the device 2 has to be installed on. Once installed, subsequent testing can be carried out remotely, controlled from the remote monitoring station 20, at any convenient time and outside normal working hours so as not to disrupt or inconvenience the workforce in the building.
• a site survey is carried out to determine number and locations of emergency lights.
• NB-loT readiness of the site is tested while on site.
• a new site is created on the web portal, and the devices 2 are added to site.
• An install sheet is printed from the web portal and supplied to the electrician.
• a new site is created for each install.
• Devices 2 are then added using their location as the key, i.e. "outside room 101", "front entrance”, etc.
• This will create a site list of devices 2 which will then be presented to the installation electrician.
• the site list has a Device ID, Site ID, and location for each device 2 for that site.
• the electrician goes through the process of installing the devices 2, i.e. connecting them to the emergency lights 3, he will use this site list when he comes to commissioning the devices 2.
• the electrician When fully connected and with power restored to the emergency light 3, the electrician will connect using a commissioning port and an Android phone 28 (using a supplied cable) to the device 2.
• the devices 2 in a site can have multiple schedules to allow for any end customer requirements. During the devices 2 regular 'heartbeats', these tests are relayed to them in advance of the test being required to execute. Due to the devices 2 being designed to always be in sync with the backend servers time, the devices 2 then control the start time based on their own internal real-time clock.
• the device 2 will abort the test and send that information. This can happen, for example, if there was already a power interruption within the site so when the device 2 attempted to interrupt the power, no change in the current flow would be detected on the battery circuit as it would already be in emergency mode or may indeed be drained if the power interruption/failure was too long.
• the device 2 of the invention is easily installed and allows monitoring and testing of an emergency lighting system. It can be fitted to any existing emergency lighting system at relatively low cost and can send and receive test data to and from each emergency lamp 3 using a cheap communication gateway which can incorporate up to 3,000 devices 2 at any time. It can be installed on an emergency lamp 3 which uses 220V or 110V. The required four annual inspections can be provided by a single mandatory on-site inspection and three remote inspections via the system 1 of the invention. Also, an inspection and testing can be carried out at any convenient time. The invention provides for remote testing and management of emergency lighting testing requirements remotely. Full details of historic tests are available on a web portal. This provides the test reports required by the relevant regulatory bodies.
• the device 2 is operated by a high capacity primary cell and has been designed to operate without maintenance for about 10 years.

Landscapes

• Engineering & Computer Science (AREA)
• Computer Networks & Wireless Communication (AREA)
• Circuit Arrangement For Electric Light Sources In General (AREA)

Priority Applications (1)

Applications Claiming Priority (1)

Publications (1)

Family

ID=89901004

Family Applications (1)

Country Status (1)

Citations (5)

• 2024
  • 2024-02-12 EP EP24157138.9A patent/EP4601418A1/de active Pending

Patent Citations (5)

Similar Documents

Legal Events