Granted Patent B2

US 12,734,387 · App. 17/719,865 · Granted Sep 15, 2026

Inventors: Brian P. Bradley (Niskayuna, NY); Chris Munn (Rensselaer, NY)

Assignee: LION GROUP, INC.

A62C99/0081G06F3/1446G06T11/00G09B19/00

Abstract

Claims (41)

1 . A system comprising:

a plurality of display panels, each display panel being configured to display a portion of a simulated fire such that together the plurality of display panels display a composite fire image, each display panel having:

a display portion configured to display the portion of the simulated fire;

at least one sensor configured to detect an extinguishant directed at the display portion; and

a display panel controller operatively coupled to the display portion, the at least one sensor, and the display panel controller of at least one other display panel, wherein the display panel controller is configured to:

at least partially determine qualities of a modeled fire;

determine changes of the modeled fire based upon inputs received from the at least one sensor; and

cause the display portion to display the portion of the simulated fire based upon data or properties of the modeled fire, wherein the display panel controller is configured to provide data corresponding to the modeled fire only at positions that correspond to an outer edge of the display portion, to at least one adjacent display panel, and wherein the display panel controller is configured to receive data corresponding to a modeled fire from at least one adjacent display panel.

2 . The system of claim 1 wherein the modeled fire includes a set of data corresponding to an array of elements, each element corresponding to a position on the display portion, wherein the set of data for each element relate to at least one of fire temperature, ambient temperature, type of fuel, fuel density, fuel moisture content, detected extinguishant, extinguishant temperature, extinguishant flow rate, extinguishant volatility or extinguishant heading.

3 . The system of claim 2 wherein the data corresponding to the modeled fire at positions that correspond to the outer edge of the display portion includes data for each element corresponding to a position at an outer perimeter of the display portion.

4 . The system of claim 2 wherein the display portion includes a plurality of pixels, and wherein each element corresponds to a group of the plurality of pixels.

5 . The system of claim 1 wherein the system is configured such that an effect of an extinguishant applied to a first display panel is provided to the controller of a second display panel to which the extinguishant is not applied.

6 . The system of claim 1 wherein the display panel includes an array of sensors positioned across the display portion.

7 . The system of claim 1 wherein the extinguishant is at least one of a real, virtual or simulated extinguishant.

8 . The system of claim 1 wherein the data corresponding to the modeled fire at positions that correspond to the outer edge of the display portion, corresponds to positions at an outer-most edge of the associated display portion.

9 . The system of claim 1 wherein the data corresponding to the modeled fire at positions that correspond to the outer edge of the display portion constitutes data corresponding to positions at an outer 90% of a surface area of the display portion.

10 . The system of claim 1 wherein the display panel controller is not configured to provide data corresponding to the modeled fire, at positions other than at the outer edge of the display portion, to the at least one adjacent display panel.

11 . The system of claim 1 wherein the display panel controller is configured such that at least 99% of the data provided by the panel to the at least one adjacent panel corresponds to data corresponding to the outer edges of the display portion over a period of ten seconds.

12 . The system of claim 1 further comprising a user interface operatively coupled to each display panel controller, wherein the user interface is configured to receive as an input, from a user, information relating to a size and arrangement of an array of display panels, and wherein each display panel controller is configured to accommodate the inputted size and arrangement information when at least one of at least partially determining the qualities of the modeled fire or sharing data with adjacent display panels.

13 . A method comprising:

providing access to a plurality of display panels, wherein each display panel is displaying, on a display portion thereof, a portion of a simulated fire such that together the plurality of display panels display a composite fire image, each display panel having at least one sensor and a display panel controller operatively coupled to the display portion and the at least one sensor, wherein the display controller at least partially determines qualities of a modeled fire which at least partially determines a display of the simulated fire;

at least one sensor of one of the display panels detecting an extinguishant directed at the associated display portion;

the controller of the associated display panel determining changes in the modeled fire, based upon input received from the at least one sensor;

the controller of the associated display panel causing the associated display portion to change the display of the portion of the simulated fire based on the determined changes; and

the controller of the associated display panel providing only part of the data corresponding to the modeled fire, to at least one adjacent display panel.

14 . A system comprising:

an array of display panels, each display panel comprising:

a display portion configured to display a simulated fire and including a plurality of regions;

a sensor system configured to detect an extinguishant on a front surface of the display panel; and

a display panel controller operatively coupled to the sensor system and to the display portion, wherein the display panel controller is configured to:

at least partially determine qualities, at the plurality of regions, of a modeled fire;

determine changes of the modeled fire based upon inputs received from the sensor system;

cause the display portion to display the simulated fire based upon the modeled fire; and

provide data corresponding to the modeled fire at positions at an outer edge of the display portion to at least one adjacent display panel, wherein the display panel controller is configured such that at least 80% of the data provided by the panel controller to the at least one adjacent display panel corresponds to the data of the regions of the display portion located in an outer 75% of a surface area of the display portion.

15 . The system of claim 14 wherein the extinguishant comprises at least one of a real, simulated or virtual extinguishant, and wherein each display panel controller is configured to receive data corresponding to the modeled fire from the at least one adjacent display panel, and to utilize the received data in determining the changes of the modeled fire.

16 . The system of claim 1 wherein the data corresponding to the modeled fire at positions that correspond to the outer edge of the display portion constitutes data corresponding to regions positioned within 5% of a length of a side of the display panel of an outer perimeter thereof, and wherein the display panel controller is configured such that at least 99% of the provided data corresponds to the modeled fire at the outer edge of the display portion over a period of ten seconds.

17 . The system of claim 14 wherein the display panels of the array are positioned adjacent to each other and configured to cooperate to together display the simulated fire as a single continuous image distributed across the display panels, and wherein each display panel controller is configured to determine a display status of each of the plurality of regions of the associated display portion based upon data corresponding to the modeled fire.

18 . The system of claim 14 wherein each display panel controller is configured to determine qualities of the modeled fire at the plurality of regions based upon parameters relating to at least a type of fire and a nature, size and location of fuel.

19 . The system of claim 14 wherein each display portion includes a protective screen which defines the front surface, and wherein the sensor system includes a plurality of sensors, each of which is coupled to or embedded in the protective screen.

20 . The system of claim 14 further comprising a simulation array control system operatively coupled to the array of display panels, the simulation array control system comprising:

a computing device that includes a user interface and a processor, the processor configured to coordinate an exchange of edge data of the modeled fire between the array of display panels, wherein the processor is configured to monitor an output of the sensor system such that proper use of the extinguishant, as determined by the processor, causes the processor to reduce a size of the simulated fire.

Assignments (3)

Continuity (2)

References Cited (28)