System and method for monitoring usage and predicting failure of visual notification appliances

摘要

A system and method for monitoring usage and predicting failure of visual notification appliances are disclosed. The visual notification appliances may be strobe lights, which can be provided with an internal counter circuit that obtains a cumulative tally of the number of times the strobe has flashed. Since strobe service life is directly proportional to the number of flashes, monitoring the number of flashes enables proactive repair or replacement of the strobe prior to failure. Flash counts can be stored in the appliance and periodically transmitted to a remote location such as a fire panel or remote monitoring center. Flash counts can also be locally displayed, or can be readable by a user with a handheld device. Alarms or other indications may automatically be generated to alert building or service personnel when an end of life condition is approaching for one or more strobes. Other embodiments are disclosed and claimed.

主权项

1. A visual notification appliance, comprising:
a strobe light; a counter that stores a value indicative of a number of times said strobe light has flashed; a display for providing occurred visual indication based on the stored value and a predetermined threshold; and a network connection for transmitting said number of times said light source has flashed to a remote device over a network, wherein said visual notification appliance contains a unique address on the network.