Communications: electrical – Condition responsive indicating system – Specific condition
Reexamination Certificate
1998-12-28
2001-06-19
Swarthout, Brent A. (Department: 2632)
Communications: electrical
Condition responsive indicating system
Specific condition
C340S330000, C340S528000, C340S541000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06249225
ABSTRACT:
FIELD OF THE PRESENT INVENTION
The present invention relates to alarm system, and more particularly to an auxiliary alert process and system thereof for alarm system that enables the alarm system to have an additional function of monitoring the entrance/exit when the alarm system is disarmed.
BACKGROUND OF THE PRESENT INVENTION
In order to prevent intruders, most commercial buildings, office buildings, industry structures, and residential houses have installed security or burglary alarm systems. Normally, during the business hours or when the owner is still staying inside the structure, the alarm system is disarmed. After the business hours or when there is nobody inside the structure, the owner will set the alarm system in armed condition before he or she leaves.
Pursuant to the current National Life Safety/Fire codes, all the emergence entrances or exits of a commercial structure or public area such as warehouses or stairways must remain unlocked 24 hours a day for safety purposes. Therefore, some buildings such as warehouses or factories must keep their entrances and exits unlock even when their alarm systems are disarmed during the business hours. It is unreasonable to have security guards monitoring all the unlocked entrances or exits during the business hours. Think about that if your home door must remain unlock when you are at home, it is absolutely not a secure matter. To those huge size warehouses, valuable goods are stored therein. Also, to those business buildings, valuable properties or expensive equipements are everywhere. However, all kinds of intruder are free to enter and exit such unlocked entrances or exits anytime. Therefore, how to laborlessly monitor such unlocked entrances or exits becomes the first topic to those buildings and structures.
It seems to be the only solution to reduce the necessary number of security guards being hired by installing at every unlocked entrances and exits with expensive video camera, additional security devices and individual systems such as door exit alarms or door push bar alarm devices. However, to monitor numbers of monitoring screens simultaneously in the security room without any mistake is impossible. An intruder may easily enter the structure even when the security guard moves his or her eyes away from the corresponding monitoring screen or the passive VCR recording system for seconds. Moreover, if the conventional battery operated individual push bar alarm device is installed at the entrance/exit door, the user must test the push bar alarm device periodically to ensure whether it is functioning normally. In conclusion, the conventional security method is expensive but inefficient.
Also, pursuant to the National Building Codes, if there is a swimming pool within a housing area, for children safety, all passages and exits that can reach the swimming pool must provide alert system to generate alert signals when that exit door is opened every time. The main objective of this regulation is to prevent the minors or seniors in a family from being accidentally fallen into the swimming pool and drown. However, although every exit door has installed a door sensor if an alarm system is installed to protect the housing area, the alarm system is normally disarmed when the residents are at home. In other words, all the door sensors will not function when there is any resident at home. Besides, an armed alarm system will only provide continuous alert siren even when the owner himself or herself open the door.
Accordingly, the swimming pool owner must install expensive additional door alarm systems and/or individual warning or guarding systems to all the exit doors. Independent buzzer is also required to be install at home to provide alarm for such as 30 seconds when any one of the additional door sensors is triggered so as to warn the house owner that the exit door is opened and a minor may have the chance to reach the swimming pool. Although it sounds like a stupid thing to install two door alarm systems at one door, it is the only solution currently.
SUMMARY OF THE PRESENT INVENTION
It is a main object of the present invention to provide an auxiliary alert process and system thereof for alarm system which is adapted for monitoring all the entrances and exits without the needs of installing any additional sensor or alert device, so that a great amount of installation fee and equipment cost can thus be saved.
It is another object of the present invention to modify the existing alarm system to additionally become the entrance/exit monitoring security system when the alarm system is disarmed and not in use.
It is another object of the present invention to provide an auxiliary alert process and system thereof for alarm system that can monitor the condition of the exit doors and provide audio or visual alert signals for handicaps once the exit door is opened so as to meet the requirements of the National Building Codes.
It is another object of the present invention to provide an auxiliary alert process which can be applied to the traditional alarm system for monitoring all the entrances and exits without the needs of installing any additional sensor or alert device.
It is another object of the present invention to provide an auxiliary alert system which can be equipped with an existing alarm system for monitoring all the entrances and exits without the needs of installing any additional sensor or alert device.
It is also another object of the present invention to provide an auxiliary alert process and system thereof for alarm system, wherein the door sensors of the currently installed security alarm system themselves are also used as the monitoring sensor of those exit doors when the alarm system is disarmed. However, when the alarm system is armed, the door sensors will normally function and work as the alarm sensors.
It is yet another object of the present invention to provide an auxiliary alert process and system thereof for alarm system, that can provide a more active and functionable exit door security function in low cost for the commercial buildings (such as warehouses) or the house having swimming pool by using the same control panel and enabling the currently installed security alarm system to additional function as an exit security device.
It is still another object of the present invention to provide an auxiliary alert process and system thereof for alarm system, which is easy to install and cheap in cost.
Accordingly, in order to accomplish the above objects, the present invention provides an auxiliary alert process for alarm system, which comprises the steps as follows:
(1) Maintain the sensor in functioning condition when the alarm system is disarmed.
(2) Monitoring the entrance/exit by the sensor to determine whether there is an intruding motion occurred at the entrance/exit.
(3) Trigger at least a local warning device of the alarm system to generate an alert signal when the sensor detects the intruding motion occurred at the entrance/exit.
(4) Stop the alert signal when the intruding motion ceases or elimninates.
(5) Switch the sensor to the control panel of the alarm system when the alarm system is armed, so as to render the sensor performing its alarm detecting function normally.
To process the above auxiliary alert process, an auxiliary alert system is employed, wherein the auxiliary alert system comprises a security control device connected between at least a designated sensor and a control panel of an existing alarm system. Alternatively, the security control device can also be built in the control panel of the alarm system.
The security control device comprises a central processor unit, an input circuit for electrically connecting at least the designated sensor of the alarm system to the central processor unit, a power supply electrically connected to the central processor unit for providing electrical power to the central processor unit, a time count generator electrically connected to the central processor unit for generating counter signals, a PG selector which is a switch circuit for setting the central proce
Chan Raymond Y.
David and Raymond Patent Group
Swarthout Brent A.
LandOfFree
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