Note: Descriptions are shown in the official language in which they were submitted.
CA 02213199 1997-08-14
FIELD OF THE lNV~..l lON
The present invention relates to systems for producing
and storing emergency floor plan data and related supplemental
emergency data, selectively transmitting at least portions of the
emergency floor plan data to a remote site on demand, and
presenting the transmitted emergency floor plan data at said
remote site in an output form readable by emergency personnel.
R~CK~,~OUND OF THE lNVL..llON
Fires in buildings are responsible for many injuries and
deaths, especially in residential buildings. Fires occur
unexpectedly, often when people are in a building, in which case
all people in the building need to be evacuated from the building.
While in many cases, people within a burning building can readily
escape without assistance, often people become caught in a
dangerous situation in the building if they are not aware of the
fire soon enough to make an immediate and easy escape. The fire
and accompanying dense smoke may make it extremely difficult, if
not virtually impossible, to find one's way to safety, or at least
make the trek to safety quite slow. An individual may also be
somewhat overcome by smoke, or also may be somewhat injured.
Accordingly, such an individual may require assistance to escape
from the burning building as quickly as possible.
Moreover, the fire and smoke can easily overcome or
trap, or cause injury to an individual. Also, some individuals,
such as children or the elderly, might be unable to escape the
burning building without assistance, or if the fire occurs at
night, people who are asleep may not be aware of the fire. In
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such cases, an individual may be unable to escape from a burning
building without assistance, thus needing to be rescued by fire
fighters or other emergency personnel.
In any event, it is the responsibility of fire fighters
and other emergency personnel to ensure that all people within a
burning building are safely evacuated as quickly as possible.
In addition to the obvious dangers encountered during
the fighting of a fire, there is one specific problem that is
responsible for many lives being lost, both the lives of people
unable to escape from a burning building and also the lives of
fire fighters. The problem is that fire fighters typically do not
have emergency floor plan information and related supplemental
emergency information, such as possible locations of occupants of
the building, age and medical data relating to such occupants,
available to them in an organized manner, either at the building
or before arriving at the building. Resultingly, upon entering
the building, each fire fighter may be required to search through
rooms in an almost random manner in order to find people requiring
assistance to escape. Such a random search is undesirable as it
is temporally inefficient, and also may result in many rooms in
the building remaining unsearched. Accordingly, any persons in
unsearched rooms would not be reached and may die. It is
therefore desirable to have emergency floor plan information and
related supplemental emergency information, including possible
locations of occupants of the building while asleep, number and
age of such occupants, medical information about the occupants,
and so on, in the hands of fire fighters and other emergency
CA 02213199 1997-08-14
personnel before their arrival at a remote site, such as a burning
building, or at least as early as possible. Early receipt of such
data would permit fire fighters and other emergency personnel to
plan out how to best fight a fire, ensure that all rooms are
searched as efficiently as possible, and locate and rescue people
might be located in the building. Such emergency floor plan
information and related supplemental emergency information could
be available to fire fighters and other emergency personnel at a
fire station, police station, and so on, upon departure therefrom,
or could be transmitted to one or more fire trucks or other
vehicles enroute to a fire or other emergency location.
It is an object of the present invention to provide a
system by which fire fighters or other emergency personnel can
readily assist people to escape, or even rescue people, from a
burning building.
It is another object of the present invention to provide
a system by which fire fighters or other emergency personnel can
safely evacuate people within a burning building as quickly as
possible.
It is yet another object of the present invention to
provide a system that makes emergency floor plan information and
related supplemental emergency data readily available to fire
fighters or other emergency personnel on an as needed basis.
It is yet a further object of the present invention to
provide a system that makes available related supplemental
CA 02213199 1997-08-14
emergency information, such as possible locations of occupants in
the building while asleep, number and age of such occupants, and
even medical information about these occupants, to fire fighters
and other emergency personnel.
It is another object of the present invention to provide
a system that makes available emergency floor plan information, on
demand, to fire fighters and other emergency personnel before
their arrival at a remote site.
It is yet another object of the present invention to
provide a system that makes available emergency floor plan data,
on demand, to fire fighters and other emergency personnel, at a
fire station, police station, or other emergency station.
It is a further object of the present invention to
provide a system that transmits emergency floor plan data to fire
fighters and other emergency personnel in vehicles enroute to a
fire.
It is yet a further object of the present invention to
provide a system that makes available emergency floor plan data to
fire fighters and other emergency personnel, on demand, in the
form of a printout.
SUD ~ RY OF THE lNVL..l lON
In accordance with one aspect of the present invention
there is disclosed a system for producing and storing emergency
floor plan data, selectively transmitting at least portions of the
CA 02213199 1997-08-14
emergency floor plan data to a remote site on demand, and
presenting the transmitted emergency floor plan data at the remote
site in an output form readable by emergency personnel. The
system comprises a base computer means for entering selected floor
plan information associated with a plurality of buildings, for
generating a database of emergency floor plan data relating to the
plurality of buildings from the selected floor plan information,
and for storing the database of emergency floor plan data for
subsequent transmission. A first transmission means is
operatively connected in data communicating relation to the base
computer means for transmitting to a remote site, in response to
receipt of selected parameters, a subset of the database of
emergency floor plan data relating to one or more of the plurality
of buildings. A microprocessor means is operatively connected in
data communicating relation to the first transmission means for
receiving the subset of the database of emergency floor plan data
relating to one or more of the plurality of buildings, and for
converting the subset into an output data file representing the
floor plan of selected ones, or portions thereof, of the plurality
of buildings, for subsequent output. An output means is
operatively connected to the microprocessor means for producing an
output from the output data file, the output representing the
floor plan of the selected ones, or portions thereof, of the
plurality of buildings, and the output being in a form readable by
the emergency personnel.
In accordance with another aspect of the present
invention there is disclosed a method of producing and storing
emergency floor plan data, selectively transmitting at least
CA 02213199 1997-08-14
portions of the emergency floor plan data to a remote site on
demand, and presenting the transmitted emergency floor plan data
at the remote site in an output form readable by emergency
personnel, the method comprising the steps of:
(i) entering into a base computer means selected floor
plan information associated with a plurality of buildings,
generating a database of emergency floor plan data relating to one
or more of the plurality of buildings from the selected floor plan
information, and storing the database of emergency floor plan data
for subsequent transmission;
(ii) generating selection parameters defining a subset
of the database of emergency floor plan data relating to one or
more of the plurality of buildings and selecting the subset of the
database of the emergency floor plan data according to the
selection parameters;
(iii) transmitting to a remote site via a first
transmission means operatively connected in data communicating
relation to the base computer means, the subset of the database of
emergency floor plan data relating to one or more of the plurality
of buildingsi
(iv) receiving into a microprocessor means operatively
connected in data communicating relation to the first transmission
means, the subset of the database of emergency floor plan data
relating to one or more of the plurality of buildings, and
converting the transmitted subset into an output data file
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representing the floor plan of selected ones, or portions thereof,
of the plurality of buildings, for subsequent output; and,
(v) producing from an output means operatively connected
to the microprocessor means, an output from the output data file,
the output representing the floor plan of the selected ones, or
portions thereof, of the plurality of buildings, and the output
being in a form readable by the emergency personnel.
Other advantages, features and characteristics of the
present invention, as well as methods of operation and functions
of the related elements of the structure, and the combination of
parts and economies of manufacture, will become more apparent upon
consideration of the following detailed description and the
appended claims with reference to the accompanying drawings, the
latter of which is briefly described hereinbelow.
Other advantages, features and characteristics of the
present invention, as well as methods of operation and functions
of the related elements of the structure, and the combination of
parts and economies of manufacture, will become more apparent upon
consideration of the following detailed description and the
appended claims with reference to the accompanying drawings, the
latter of which is briefly described hereinbelow.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
Embodiments of the system of the present invention will
now be described by way of example in association with the
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accompanying drawings appended hereto, which drawings illustrate
the preferred embodiments, and in which:
Figure 1 is a diagrammatic view of a preferred
embodiment according to the present invention, illustrating how
the various components are functionally interconnected;
Figure 2 is a diagrammatic view of a second embodiment
according to the present invention, illustrating how the various
components are functionally interconnectedi
Figure 3 is a diagrammatic view of a third embodiment
according to the present invention, illustrating how the various
components are functionally interconnectedi
Figure 4 is a diagrammatic view of a fourth embodiment
according to the present invention, illustrating how the various
components are functionally interconnected;
Figure 5 is a diagrammatic view of a fifth embodiment
according to the present invention, illustrating how the various
components are functionally interconnected;
Figure 6 is a diagrammatic view of a sixth embodiment
according to the present invention, illustrating how the various
components are functionally interconnectedi
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Figure 7 is a diagrammatic view of a seventh embodiment
according to the present invention, illustrating how the various
components are functionally interconnected;
Eigure 8 is a diagrammatic view of an eighth embodiment
according to the present invention, illustrating how the various
components are functionally interconnected; and,
Figure 9 is a diagrammatic view of a typical paper
output as generated by the system of the present invention, and
printed out by a printer.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF A rn~-~nn~ EMBODIMENT
Referring now to Figure 1 of the drawings, a preferred
- embodiment of the present invention is indicated by the general
reference numeral 20. The system 20 is for producing and storing
emergency floor plan data and related supplemental emergency data,
such as a building floor plans, possible locations of occupants of
the building while asleep, number and age of such occupants,
medical information about the occupants, and so on. Floor plan
information and related supplemental emergency information would
typically be provided by the owners or occupants of a house or
office building, or by the management of a hospital or retirement
home, and so on. The information is submitted to a company
administrating the system of the present invention for entry into
a computer to form a database.
It should be understood that while it is highly
desirable, and even necessary, that building floor plan
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information entered into the system should be highly accurate, it
is not necessary that such building floor plan information contain
all of the details typically found in an architect's drawings. It
would be sufficient to use a simplified building floor plan, as
drawn by a homeowner, for example.
A typical database for a community could comprise data
on several hundred thousand homes and several thousand commercial
and institutional buildings.
At least a portion of the emergency floor plan data and
related supplementary emergency data is then selectively
transmitted, on demand, in response to receipt of selection
parameters, to a remote site, such as a fire truck or other
emergency vehicle on the way to a fire, or subsequently at the
actual scene of a fire, or such as a fire station or other
emergency dispatch location before the fire fighters or other
emergency personnel have departed. The transmission of data is in
response to the receipt of selection parameters defining the
subset of the database, as will be described in greater detail
subsequently. The transmitted emergency floor plan data is then
presented at the remote site in an output form readable by
emergency personnel, such as fire fighters, police, paramedics,
and so on. It is useful for fire fighters or other emergency
personnel to have the emergency floor plan data and related
supplemental emergency data in hand as soon as possible so that
rescue strategies can be planned out as fully as possible before
arriving at the scene of the fire. It is also very useful to be
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able to receive emergency floor plan data and related supplemental
emergency data at the site of the emergency, upon request.
The system of Figure 1 comprises a base computer means
22 preferably in the form of a powerful microcomputer, such as one
having a rL...l~M microprocessor chip ("CPU") with a clock speed of
at least 100 MHz and at least a two Gigabyte hard disk drive. If
necessary, a more powerful computer, such as a minicomputer or a
mainframe computer can be used. The base computer means 22 is for
entering selected floor plan information associated with a
plurality of buildings and related supplemental emergency
information associated with the plurality of buildings. It should
be understood that for the purposes of this document, the term
building also encompasses units within a multiple unit building.
Graphical information, such as a building floor plan and possible
locations of occupants of the building while asleep, would
typically be entered through the use of a suitable drawing
program, or through the use of a scanner. Textual information,
such as age of such occupants, medical information about the
occupants, and medical data relating to such occupants, and so on,
would typically be entered through the use of a conventional
computer keyboard or other conventional means and the graphical
and textual data can be merged in a conventional manner into bit-
mapped files or may be linked as separate graphical and textual
files to one another by conventional programming technology.
The base computer means 22 is programmed in a
conventional manner to generate a database of emergency floor plan
data relating to the plurality of buildings from the selected
CA 02213199 1997-08-14
floor plan information and the related supplemental emergency
information, and for storing the generated database of emergency
floor plan data for subsequent transmission. A database software
program such as ACCESS, available from Microsoft Corporation of
Redmond, Washington, U.S.A., that stores and retrieves graphical
or bit-mapped data files can be advantageously used for this
purpose.
A first transmission means, as indicated by the general
reference numeral 24, comprising an electronic based transmission
means such as a modem 25 and a carrier means such as conventional
telephone lines 26 and a cellular telephone transmission network
27, is operatively connected in data communicating relation to the
base computer means 22. The first transmission means 24 is for
transmitting to a remote site, on demand, in response to a receipt
of selection parameters, a subset of the database of emergency
floor plan data relating to one or more of the plurality of
buildings. Preferably, the data transmitted would comprise the
building floor plan of one or more of the buildings in the
database, such as the building or buildings believed to be on
fire, and related supplementary emergency information such as the
possible locations of occupants of the building while asleep, age
of such occupants, medical information about the occupants, and so
on.
The subset of data transmitted could be virtually any
useful portion of the database greater than zero percent and less
than or e~ual to one hundred percent of the database. Typically,
the amount of data transmitted would be only an extremely small
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percentage of the entire database, representing the floor plan
information and the related supplementary emergency information of
one or several buildings immediately involved in the emergency.
A microprocessor means, preferably a portable laptop
microcomputer 30, is removably installed in an emergency vehicle,
such as a fire truck, and is operatively connected in data
communicating relation to the first transmission means, in this
case the conventional telephone lines 26 and the cellular
telephone transmission network 27, by means of a cellular
telephone 28 operatively connected to the portable laptop
microcomputer 30. The cellular telephone 28 receives, from the
cellular telephone transmission network 27, cellular transmissions
containing the selected subset of data from the database of
emergency floor plan data and related supplementary emergency
data. The selected subset of the database is transferred from the
cellular telephone 28 to the portable laptop microcomputer 30
through a modem 32. The portable laptop microcomputer 30 is for
receiving the selected subset of the database of emergency floor
plan data and preferably also the supplementary emergency data
relating to one or more of the plurality of buildings. The subset
of said database of emergency floor plan data and supplementary
emergency data may be received by the portable laptop
microcomputer 30 while enroute to a remote site, such as the
location of a fire, or after having arrived at that remote site.
The portable laptop microcomputer 30 also converts the selected
subset of the database of emergency floor plan data into an output
data file representing the floor plan and supplementary emergency
data of selected ones, or portions thereof, of the plurality of
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buildings. The output data file is at least temporarily stored in
the portable laptop microcomputer 30, and is used to subsequently
produce an output via an output means. The output means
preferably comprises a printer 40, and is operatively connected to
the portable laptop microcomputer 30 for producing an output from
the output data file. The printer 40 produces a paper printout
41, either one or more replications, which paper printout 41 can
be used as needed in the emergency vehicle or the location of the
fire. Additionally, the output means can comprise an electronic
display screen 42, which is shown built into the portable laptop
microcomputer 30.
The paper printout 41 preferably comprises a graphical
output, and represents the floor plan and supplemental emergency
information of the selected ones, or portions thereof, of the
plurality of buildings. In any event, the output is in a form
readable by the emergency personnel.
In order to utilize the system 20 of the present
invention, as shown in Figure 1, it is necessary that fire
fighters or other emergency personnel can be provided with outputs
generated from emergency floor plan data, and optionally from the
related supplementary emergency data, for one or more specifically
selected buildings only. Data for other buildings is not to be
provided, unless requested. Such selection of the buildings for
which an output required, is typically made by fire fighters or
other emergency personnel at a remote site, such as the location
of a fire or a fire station, once fire fighters or other emergency
personnel have knowledge of the location of the fire.
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In the preferred embodiment shown in Figure 1, selection
parameters are generated by the fire fighters or other emergency
personnel who make the aforesaid selection, through the use of the
portable laptop microcomputer 30. Such selection parameters
define a subset of the database of emergency floor plan data and
possibly related supplementary emergency data associated with one
or more of the plurality of buildings of the database. Such
selection parameters may simply comprise the street address of the
building immediately involved in the emergency, such as a fire,
and also addresses of buildings surrounding the building
immediately involved in the emergency, if desired, such as in
multiple unit buildings. Alternatively, a unique alphanumeric
accession code representing the street address of the building
immediately involved in the emergency, or surrounding buildings,
can be used. The unique alphanumeric accession code may be
generated from a computer database that stores each street address
and one corresponding unique alphanumeric accession code per
address, which code is used essentially as a short form to
represent the full address, and which code is recognized as such
by the database running on the CPU. During use, the street
address or accession code may be entered either directly from the
computer keyboard of the laptop microcomputer 30, or through a
graphical user interface by selecting the appropriate geographic
location from a series of maps displayed on the electronic display
screen 42, which maps increase in scale from one to the next until
the exact building location can be visually discerned and selected
by means of a mouse or cursor on the display screen 42. An
appropriate graphical user interface can be developed using
readily available software, for example, the program VISUAL BASIC,
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available from Microsoft Corporation of Redmond, Washington,
U.S.A..
In use, an alarm condition is made known in a fire
station or other emergency station, which alarm condition includes
the location of the building or buildings immediately involved in
the emergency. Upon receipt of such an alarm condition,
preferably while in the fire truck enroute to the emergency
location, a fire fighter or other emergency personnel uses the
portable laptop microcomputer 30 to generate selection parameters
and to communicate with the base computer means 22. First, the
emergency location address is entered into the portable laptop
microcomputer 30 in one of the manners described above. The
portable laptop microcomputer 30 then generates a corresponding
unique alphanumeric accession code representing that location.
Communication contact is then established between the portable
laptop microcomputer 30 and the base computer means 22 by means of
the modem 32, the cellular telephone transmission network 27, the
conventional telephone lines 26, and the modem 25. A password is
then entered into the portable laptop microcomputer 30 and
transmitted to the base computer means 22 to ensure the security
of the database in the base computer means 22. Once the password
is recognized by the base computer means 22, the selection
parameters may then be transmitted to the base computer means 22.
The base computer means 22 then locates the selected subset of the
database. The selected subset of the database is then transmitted
by means of the modem 25, the conventional telephone lines 26, the
cellular telephone transmission network 27, and the modem 32, to
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the portable laptop microcomputer 30, whereat the paper printout
41 is generated by the printer 40.
Reference will now be made to Figures 2 through 8 to
describe other embodiments of the present invention. Components
common to more than one Figure will be indicated by like reference
numerals in each Figure, for ease of understanding.
Referring now to Figure 2 of the drawings, a second
embodiment of the present invention is indicated by the general
reference numeral 50. The system 50 is similar to the system 20
as shown in Figure 1, except that the first transmission means 24
comprises the modem 25 as the electronic based transmission means
and conventional telephone lines 56 only as the carrier means.
The first transmission means 24 is operatively connected in data
communicating relation to the base computer means 22. The
portable laptop microcomputer 30 is removably installed in the
fire truck 29. In use, the modem 32 in the portable laptop
microcomputer 30 is occasionally, perhaps once per week or so,
plugged into the conventional telephone lines 26 in order to
permit the portable laptop microcomputer 30 to receive the
database of emergency floor plan data and related supplementary
emergency data, as transmitted by the base computer means 22. The
portable laptop microcomputer 30 receives the database in its
entirety and stores the database on its hard disk drive (not
shown). The portable laptop microcomputer 30 may then be
transferred into a fire truck 29, as indicated by arrow "A". An
output in the form of paper printout 41 can then be obtained, on
demand, for a selected emergency location or locations, by fire
CA 02213199 1997-08-14
fighters or other emergency personnel, from the printer 40, which
printer may be permanently installed in the fire truck or other
emergency vehicle.
Referring now to Figure 3 of the drawings, a third
embodiment of the present invention is indicated by the general
reference numeral 60. The system 60 includes the base computer
means 22, the first transmission means 24 comprising the modem 25
and a conventional telephone line 26, and a microprocessor means,
preferably in the form of a microcomputer 62 permanently installed
at a remote site, in an emergency station, such as a fire station.
A modem 64 in the microcomputer 62 is permanently plugged into the
conventional telephone line 26 at the fire station in order to
receive the selected subset of the database of emergency floor
plan data and related supplementary emergency data, as transmitted
by the base computer means 22 in a manner analogous to that
already described in relation to the first two embodiments.
Alternatively, the telephone line 26 may be connected in a well
known manner to the Internet, to achieve the same effective
connectivity. An output means, namely the printer 40, is
operatively connected to the portable laptop microcomputer 30 for
producing an output from the output data file, which output
comprises the paper printout 41. In use, after the receipt of an
alarm alerting emergency personnel, such as fire fighters, to an
emergency situation, a subset of data is selected from the
microcomputer 62 and is transmitted from the base computer means
22 to the microcomputer 62 over the Internet or by direct
telephone line 26 connection, in a general manner analogous to
that discussed above for the first preferred embodiment. Once the
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selected subset of data has been received back over this
connection by the microcomputer 62, the paper printout 41 is
generated by the printer 40 and is placed in the hands of
emergency personnel before departing to the emergency location.
Referring now to Figure 4 of the drawings, a fourth
embodiment of the present invention is indicated by the general
reference numeral 70. The system 70 includes the base computer
means 22, and the first transmission means 24 comprising the modem
25 and conventional telephone lines 26 (optionally connected to
the Internet). A microprocessor means, preferably in the form of
a portable laptop microcomputer 30, is removably installed at a
remote site, in an emergency vehicle, such as the fire truck 29.
An intermediate computer means 72, preferably a
microcomputer, is installed in an emergency station, such as fire
station. The intermediate computer means 72 is operatively
connected between the base computer means 22 and the portable
laptop microcomputer 30, in data communicating relation to the
first transmission means 24. A modem 76 in the intermediate
computer means 72 is permanently plugged into the conventional
telephone lines 26 at the fire station in order to receive the
selected subset of the database of emergency floor plan data and
related supplementary emergency data, as transmitted by the base
computer means 22. The computer means 72 is for receiving and
subsequently re-transmitting the selected subset of the database
of emergency floor plan data and related supplementary emergency
data relating to one or more of the plurality of buildings. A
second transmission means 74 is operatively connected in data
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communicating relation to the intermediate computer means 72 for
transmitting from the intermediate computer means 72 to the remote
site, the selected subset of the database of emergency floor plan
data and related supplementary emergency data relating to one or
more of the plurality of buildings. The portable laptop
microcomputer 30 is operatively connected in data communicating
relation to the second transmission means 74. The second
transmission means 74 comprises the modem 76 as the electronic
based transmission means and the cellular telephone transmission
network 77 as the carrier means. The cellular telephone 28 is
operatively connected to the portable laptop microcomputer 30 and
receives, from the cellular telephone transmission network 77,
cellular transmissions containing the selected subset of the
database of emergency floor plan data and related supplementary
emergency data, which selected subset of the database is
transferred to the portable laptop microcomputer 30. The selected
subset of the database of emergency floor plan data and related
supplementary emergency data is transferred to the portable laptop
microcomputer 30, where it is used to subsequently produce the
paper printout 41 via the output means, namely the printer 40. In
use, the selection parameters to identify the selected subset of
the database are generated, in the same general manner as
described in relation to the preferred embodiment first described
above, at either the portable laptop microcomputer 30 or the
intermediate computer means 72, as desired, and transmitted to the
base computer means 22.
Referring now to Figure 5 of the drawings, a fifth
embodiment of the present invention is indicated by the general
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reference numeral 80, which fifth embodiment of the system 80 is
similar to the fourth embodiment of the system 70 in that the
fifth embodiment of the system 80 includes a base computer means
22, a first transmission means, an intermediate computer means 72,
the second transmission means 74 comprising the modem 76 as the
electronic based transmission means and the cellular telephone
transmission network 77 as the carrier means, the cellular
telephone 28, the portable laptop microcomputer 30, and the
printer 40. However, the first transmission means 24 comprises a
storage medium such as a rewritable compact laser disc 78 or a
magnetic data storage tape (not shown). The database of emergency
floor plan data can be stored on the rewritable compact laser disc
78 while in the base computer means 22. The rewritable compact
laser disc 78 is then transferred to the intermediate computer
means 72 where the selected subset of the database of emergency
floor plan data and related supplementary emergency data is
selected and read, and is subsequently transmitted from the
intermediate computer means 72 to the portable laptop
microcomputer 30, via the modem 76, the cellular telephone
transmission network 77, and the cellular telephone 28. The
selected subset of the database is then used to subsequently
produce the paper printout 41 via the printer 40. In use, the
selection parameters are generated at either the portable laptop
microcomputer 30 or the intermediate computer means 72, as
desired. Since the selection of the subset of the database is
made at the intermediate computer means 72, the selection
parameters to identify the selected subset of the database would
need to be transferred only if generated at the portable laptop
microcomputer 30.
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Referring now to Figure 6 of the drawings, a sixth
embodiment of the present invention is indicated by the general
reference numeral 90, which sixth embodiment of the system 90 is
also similar to the fourth embodiment of the system 70 in that the
sixth embodiment of the system 90 includes the base computer means
22, the first transmission means 24 comprising the modem 25 and
conventional telephone lines 26, the intermediate computer means
72, the second transmission means 74, the portable laptop
microcomputer 30, and the printer 40. However, the second
transmission means 74 comprises a storage medium such as a
rewritable compact laser disc 96 or a magnetic data storage tape
(not shown). The database of emergency floor plan data can be
stored on the rewritable compact laser disc 96 while in the
intermediate computer means 72. The rewritable compact laser disc
96 is then transferred to the portable laptop microcomputer 30,
where the selected subset of the database of emergency floor plan
data and related supplementary emergency data is selected and
read, and is used to subsequently produce the paper printout 41
via the printer 40. In use, the selection parameters are
generated at the portable laptop microcomputer 30 and used by the
portable laptop microcomputer 30 to define the selected subset of
the database.
Referring now to Figure 7 of the drawings, a seventh
embodiment of the present invention is indicated by the general
reference numeral 100, which seventh embodiment of the system 100
is similar to the fourth embodiment of the system 70 in that the
seventh embodiment of the system 100 includes the base computer
means 22, the first transmission means comprising the modem 25 and
CA 02213199 1997-08-14
conventional telephone lines 26, the intermediate computer means
72, the second transmission means 74, the cellular telephone 28,
a microprocessor means, and an output means. However, the second
transmission means 74 comprises a facsimile board ("FAX BOARD")
102 as the electronic based transmission means and the cellular
telephone transmission network 77 as the carrier means. Further,
the microprocessor means and the output means together comprise a
facsimile machine 104, operatively connected in data communicating
relation to the cellular telephone 28. The cellular telephone 28
receives cellular transmissions containing the selected subset of
the database of emergency floor plan data and related
supplementary emergency data, which selected subset of the
database is transferred to the cellular telephone 28, where it is
used to subsequently produce the paper printout 41 via the output
means, namely the facsimile machine 104. In use, the selection
parameters are generated at the intermediate computer means 72,
and are transmitted to the base computer means 22 in a manner
analogous to that described above in relation to the other
embodiments.
Referring now to Figure 8 of the drawings, an eighth
embodiment of the present invention is indicated by the general
reference numeral 110, which eighth embodiment of the system 110
is similar to the seventh embodiment of the system 100 in that the
eighth embodiment of the system 110 includes the base computer
means 22, a first transmission means, an intermediate computer
means 72, the second transmission means 74 comprising the
facsimile board 102 as the electronic based transmission means and
a cellular telephone transmission network 77 as the carrier means,
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CA 02213199 1997-08-14
a cellular telephone 28, and facsimile machine 104. However, the
first transmission means 24 comprises a storage medium such as a
rewritable compact laser disc 78 or a magnetic data storage tape
(not shown). The database of emergency floor plan data can be
stored on the rewritable compact laser disc 78 while in the base
computer means 22. The rewritable compact laser disc 78 is then
physically transferred to the intermediate computer means 72 so as
to permit the entire database of emergency floor plan data and
related supplementary emergency data to be accessed for updating
purposes, etc. As required, a subset of the database of emergency
floor plan data and related supplementary emergency data is
selected and read from the rewritable compact laser disc 78, and
is subsequently transmitted from the intermediate computer means
72 to the facsimile machine 104, via the facsimile board 102, the
cellular telephone transmission network 77, and the cellular
telephone 78, where the facsimile machine 104 produces the paper
printout 41. In use, the selection parameters are generated at
the intermediate computer means 72 and used by the intermediate
computer means 72 to select the subset of the database relative to
a particular emergency location.
Referring now to Figure 9 of the drawings, the paper
printout 41 is shown in greater detail. A representation of the
floor plan of a building is shown as a graphical output 120, which
representation has been generated from emergency floor plan data.
The typical locations of four persons, while asleep within the
building, are shown by four numeric indicia 1, 2, 3 and 4, which
locations have been generated from related supplemental emergency
data. Shown below the graphical output 120 is medical
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CA 02213199 1997-08-14
information, as indicated by the general reference numeral 122,
about the four persons referred to by the four numeric indicia 1,
2, 3 and 4.
Other modifications and alterations may be used in the
design and manufacture of the apparatus of the present invention
without departing from the spirit and scope of the accompanying
claims. For example, the term "conventional telephone line" as
used in this specification and the appended claims includes
regular voice telephone lines, high speed data telephone lines,
both digital and analogue, fibre optic cables, co-axial cables,
and any other form of electronic data transmission over a hard
line. Moreover, the term "carrier means" as used in this
specification and the appended claims expressly includes an
asynchronous data transmitting connection by means of a telephone
line (either conventional or cellular) to the Internet to achieve
the stated purposes.
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