The present invention relates to a light device for placing in some, preferably all, of the rooms in a building for locating people, animals and items of value in the event of fire or other emergency in the building.

Most people who die in fires in buildings do not die as a result of the fire itself and the heat that develops, but as a consequence of smoke formation. For that reason, it is most important when fighting fires to determine quickly where people are in the building so as to then get them out as quickly as possible. It is of course also important to locate animals and other items of value that can be saved.

There are several aids for people who find themselves in a burning building, such as fire prevention documentation, escape plans, smoke detectors, fire alarms, sprinkler systems and powder apparatus, but there is no sufficiently efficient aid which enables rescue teams to establish quickly where in the building it is most probable that there are people, animals and other items of value during a fire, and in particular a light-based aid. The last-mentioned is based on the fact that people perceive things most quickly visually, that light can be seen through smoke and that in fires and other catastrophes there will often be a cacophony of sounds which render sound-based localisation difficult at the scene of the emergency.

As examples of the prior art, mention may be made of US 4,640,278 and US 5,325,279. The first of these documents describes a light device that is fixed in a window and which can be turned on manually to alert the rescue team to the fact that there are people in the room in question. The second document describes a similar, non-fixed light device. Because both these light devices must be turned manually by a person in the room, this person must be conscious and be able to act rationally for the light device to function as intended.

To overcome the disadvantages of the aforementioned prior art, and possibly to supplement it, there is according to the invention provided a light device characterised in that the light device is turned on when an alarm is triggered and that the light emitted

from the light device is coded according to how probable it is that said objects of the locating operation are in the room in question.

The probability can advantageously be determined on the basis of a presence measurement of said objects of the locating operation. Alternatively, the coding may be based on expected probability without measurements being made.

The light device and the alarm may advantageously be arranged at distance from each other, and the light device activated by the alarm through the use of wire-based signals, or through the use of wireless signals, preferably sound-based. The light device and the alarm may alternatively be an integrated unit, for example, in that the light device forms a part of a smoke detector unit.

In a place in the building known to the rescue personnel, preferably in the entrance of the building, there may advantageously be provided a floor plan of the building from which the coding for each of the plurality of rooms is apparent. Alternatively, an overview of this kind could be found with the rescue personnel who take it with them when they are called out.

Rooms having high probability are advantageously coded with yellow or white stroboscopic light, rooms having medium probability are coded with green light and rooms having low probability are coded with red light, since yellow or white stroboscopic light is believed to be the light of best visibility under many conditions. However, any three easily distinguishable lights or colours are possible, and as one of many alternatives, rooms having high probability can be coded with red light, rooms having medium probability can be coded with yellow light and rooms having low probability can be coded with green light. However, what is of overall importance is that the light from the light devices can be easily seen by the rescue personnel and is easily distinguishable as mentioned above, and that the rescue personnel are familiar with the colour coding in question.

The light device may advantageously comprise a timer control where the coding of the light is changed according to time and day of the week. This is because in particular the presence of people will be different at different times and on different days of the week. As examples, it will generally be more probable that people are in bedrooms at night than during the day, and in commercial buildings it will in general be more probable that people are in the building on weekdays than on public holidays.

The light device according to the invention may be configured and connected to an alarm in a countless number of ways, and these will not be described in detail here as such detailed configurations are considered to be obvious to one of skill in the art in the light of the present description. However, as an example, the light device may comprise an ordinary light bulb with a colour selected in accordance with the colour code for the room in question. Similarly, there will be many ways of activating the light device, and examples include activation through smoke detectors installed in the building, through the control panel of a sprinkler system, through fire alarms installed in the building or through fire alarms activated from the fire station. Although the device according to the invention is primarily intended to be used in connection with fires, it can also be used in other emergencies, as for example earthquakes. As a further use, the light device can be connected to a burglar alarm, and in such manner that the light device is turned on when the alarm is triggered to deter the thief or thieves.

Since the light device according to the invention is intended to be used in emergencies in a building, and primarily in the event of fire, where power cuts may easily occur, the light device is advantageously provided with an emergency power supply, preferably a battery.