Communications: electrical – Condition responsive indicating system – Specific condition
Reexamination Certificate
2000-05-30
2001-10-30
Wu, Daniel J. (Department: 2632)
Communications: electrical
Condition responsive indicating system
Specific condition
C340S545100, C340S547000, C340S686100
Reexamination Certificate
active
06310548
ABSTRACT:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. The Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to a garage door status indicating system, and more particularly, to a door alert system that transmits a status signal to a remotely located receiver that indicates when the system or door is in an open or insecure state.
2. The Prior State of the Art
Most homes today include some type of garage area, which is often used for a variety of purposes including as a workspace and as a storage area for the home. In addition to the car, other valuable and sentimental items are often kept in the garage area, such as tools, supplies, parts, seasonal decorations, memorable keepsakes, bicycles, various storage boxes, reusable or recyclable odds and ends, and other bits and pieces. Access to the garage for the car is generally obtained through at least one large garage door, but the garage area may also be accessible to the homeowner through an external door. In addition to these doors, many homes have a door between the garage and the interior of the home. This interior door is not normally as secure or robust as the standard exterior doors to the home and may often be left unlocked. As such, an individual that obtains access to the garage also obtains access to the interior of the home.
Unfortunately, the position of a garage door is often not easily visible from the interior of the home. Often a user will return from an errand and forget to close the door. Or even worse, a user will intentionally leave the garage door while they work outside and forget to close the door when they are finished, retire in the evening leaving the garage door open all night long. Leaving a garage door open creates a crime of opportunity. For example, a passerby walks by and notices the free access to the garage and takes the opportunity to steal the available items. In other words, this is usually not a preplanned situation and is preventable. In many ways, an opportunistic thief using an open garage door also poses a more significant physical threat when the user is home because the thief has access to the residence. Presently, many monitoring systems only provide alerts for abnormal entry into the monitored house. But the majority of garage doors that are left open originate from a normal garage door opening and are left open merely as an oversight of the homeowner. As such, these monitoring systems are ineffective against the mere carelessness of a homeowner and do not prevent opportunistic criminals. What is needed is a door alert system to by notify the homeowner when a door in the garage area is left in an insecure or open state.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
The present invention has been developed in response to the current state of the art, and in particular, in response to these and other problems and needs that have not been fully or completely solved by currently available garage door status indicating systems. The present invention relates to a door monitoring system that activates at least one remotely located indicator based in part on at least one detected sensor position of a monitored door. Thus, a preferred embodiment of the present invention provides a door alert sensor, a transmitter in communication with a remotely located receiver, and an indicator that is particularly useful for alerting the inhabitants of a home when a monitored door is left in an insecure or open position. The monitoring system of the present invention also indicates when communication between the transmitter and receiver is inappropriately interrupted.
One advantage of the present invention is to provide a door alert system for residential door status monitoring.
Another advantage of the present invention is the use of the home power network for efficient synchronized transmission of encoded positional information from the monitored door to an indicator.
Yet another advantage of the present invention is the low power consumption and high visibility of the monitoring and indicating system, despite the continuous monitoring of the system.
Another advantage of the present invention is the self-checking network of the receiver/indicator monitor modules.
Yet another advantage of the present invention is the added reliability of the system due to the high frequency synchronized digital transmissions between the sensor and indicator via the home power system.
Another advantage of the present invention is the added reliability of the sensor readings based in part on the placement of the sensor on the leading edge of the monitored door and in part on sensors flexible enough to compensate for normal garage door shifting.
Yet another advantage of the present invention is the ability to monitor multiple door or home openings and transmit a digitally encoded signal across the home power network to multiple receiver/indicator modules.
In summary, the foregoing and other objects, advantages and features are achieved with the improved door monitoring and status indicating system for use in a home garage setting. Embodiments of the present invention are particularly suitable for use with homes having one or more garage door openings or external doors requiring monitoring. For example, a home with two garage car doors and one-garage man door would require three monitoring units. The door alert system of the present invention enables a user to coordinate the monitored door status and transmit these signals to multiple receiver/indicator units placed at strategic locations throughout the home. Typically such indicating devices are particularly useful in kitchen and bedroom outlets as these provide a user an opportunity to view the indicator during food preparation and prior to going to bed.
Additional objects and advantages of the invention will be set forth in the description which follows, and in part will be obvious from the description, or may be learned by the practice of the invention. The objects and advantages of the invention may be realized and obtained by means of the instruments and combinations particularly pointed out in the appended claims. These and other objects and features of the present invention will become more fully apparent from the following description and appended claims, or may be learned by the practice of the invention as set forth hereinafter.
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Russon Darrel Levan
Russon Verlin Gene
Stephens, Jr. David Clark
Madson & Metcalf
Nguyen Phung T
RS Group, Inc.
Wu Daniel J.
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