Communications: electrical – Condition responsive indicating system – Specific condition
Reexamination Certificate
2001-09-14
2004-11-30
Wu, Daniel J. (Department: 2632)
Communications: electrical
Condition responsive indicating system
Specific condition
C340S573100, C340S573400, C340S540000, C340S003100, C434S238000, C367S197000, C367S198000, C367S199000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06825769
ABSTRACT:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an automatic detection system, particularly to a method and system for identifying a person falling asleep and adjusting electrical power supplied to the home appliances according to the person's default setting.
2. Description of the Related Art
It is most often the case that when a person goes to bed to sleep that person must leave the bed to turn off the light or other appliances in use. There have been some electronic devices that automatically shut off the lamp, for example, by clapping hands. However, a person may often doze without turning off the appliances and cause energy waste. Alternatively, a person may want to fall asleep as he or she watches a television program or listens to the radio or a musical audio program, or want to enjoy a certain electronic device, i.e., air condition, humidifier, etc., without the inconvenience of having to leave the bed to turn them off.
Accordingly, the present invention proposes an efficient and accurate system of automatically identifying a particular person as he or she falls asleep, then shutting off any device in use according to the person's default settings.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
The present invention is directed to a method and system for providing variations in electrical power supplied to a plurality of devices in response to the detection of a sleeping person.
According to an aspect of the present invention, the method includes the steps of tracking the behavior of a person; comparing the tracked behavior with at least one of a plurality of predetermined sleeping behaviors to establish a behavior match; and, if a match is established, adjusting the electrical power supplied to the plurality of said devices according to predetermined criteria. At least one of the predetermined sleeping patterns includes recognizing when a particular person's eyelids are closed, or that a particular person is snoring or motionless.
According to another aspect of the present invention, the method includes the steps of observing the behavior of a person in a predetermined area by comparing the observed behavior with at least one of a plurality of predetermined sleeping behaviors to establish a behavior match, and if a match is found, observing at least a partial image of the face of the person containing an image of at least one eyelid. If at least one eyelid is closed, the method further selectively adjusts the electrical power supplied to the plurality of devices according to predetermined criteria.
According to another aspect of the present invention, the system capable of adjusting electrical power supplied to a plurality of devices in response to the detection of a sleeping person includes: a means for observing the behavior of the person in a predetermined area under surveillance; a means for analyzing output data from the observing means to determine whether the observed behavior is associated with predefined sleeping behaviors; a means for storing the predefined sleeping behaviors; and, a means for adjusting the electrical power supplied to the plurality of devices according to predetermined criteria.
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Colmenarez Antonio
Gutta Srinivas
Trajkovic Miroslav
Koninklijke Philips Electronics , N.V.
Nguyen Tai T.
Thorne Gregory L.
Wu Daniel J.
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