Illumination – Light source and modifier – Condition responsive
Reexamination Certificate
2000-09-30
2002-10-29
Sember, Thomas M. (Department: 2875)
Illumination
Light source and modifier
Condition responsive
C362S397000, C362S253000, C379S037000, C379S045000, C340S332000, C340S693900
Reexamination Certificate
active
06471373
ABSTRACT:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to an emergency strobe light system and more particularly pertains to illuminating once a person telephones for assistance to alert emergency assistance workers as to a precise location.
The advances in emergency responses to various medical, police, and fire emergencies has been dramatic over the years. Usually, it only takes moments for an operator receiving a “911” call to be able to accurately locate the person who is placing the emergency call. This provides the emergency response team with an address to be able to rush to in order to provide assistance.
Once the response team nears the address at which the request for assistance originated, the responding personnel is usually forced to proceed at a very deliberate pace in order to locate the exact street address. Particularly at night, the task of finding a particular house along a dark street is often inordinately difficult. Emergency personnel responding to a call are often forced to proceed at a crawl along the street searching for a particular number, with the aid of a searchlight when at night. It is awkward for emergency vehicles such as ambulances or fire engines to back-up and therefore, rather than risk passing by the desired house number, the drivers proceed with excessive caution while attempting to find the desired address.
What is needed is a system that will indicate to emergency personnel the precise location of the person who has made the emergency call automatically without requiring the person in need of assistance to do anything in addition to making the emergency phone call.
The present invention attempts to solve the abovementioned problem by providing a system that is in communication with an existing telephone line so that when a person dials “911”, a strobe light that would be attached to an outwardly facing window will be activated that can easily be seen by emergency personnel once in the area.
The use of emergency alerting systems is known in the prior art. More specifically, emergency alerting systems heretofore devised and utilized for the purpose of allowing those in need of assistance to be easily reached are known to consist basically of familiar, expected and obvious structural configurations, notwithstanding the myriad of designs encompassed by the crowded prior art which have been developed for the fulfillment of countless objectives and requirements.
By way of example, U.S. Pat. No. 5,748,706 to Morgan discloses an emergency signaling strobe light that is attachable to an area to provide optimum viewing, and is activated by an RF transmitter when an emergency telephone number such as “911”, is dialed. U.S. Pat. No. 4,993,058 to McGinn and 5,012,507 to Leighton disclose additional emergency strobe systems activated by dialing “911” on a telephone.
While these devices fulfill their respective, particular objective and requirements, the aforementioned patents do not describe an emergency strobe light system for illuminating once a person telephones for assistance to alert emergency assistance workers as to a precise location.
In this respect, the emergency strobe light system according to the present invention substantially departs from the conventional concepts and designs of the prior art, and in doing so provides an apparatus primarily developed for the purpose of illuminating once a person telephones for assistance to alert emergency assistance workers as to a precise location.
Therefore, it can be appreciated that there exists a continuing need for a new and improved emergency strobe light system which can be used for illuminating once a person telephones for assistance to alert emergency assistance workers as to a precise location. In this regard, the present invention substantially fulfills this need.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
In the view of the foregoing disadvantages inherent in the known types of emergency alerting systems now present in the prior art, the present invention provides an improved emergency strobe light system. As such, the general purpose of the present invention, which will be described subsequently in greater detail, is to provide a new and improved emergency strobe light system and method which has all the advantages of the prior art and none of the disadvantages.
To attain this, the present invention essentially comprises a main housing having a power cord extending outwardly from the rear wall thereof for coupling with a standard electrical outlet. The rear wall has a power light disposed therein in communication with the power cord. A telephone interface has a telephone jack disposed therein, a DTMF decoder, and an RF transmitter. The main housing has an RF receiver, and a strobe light secured to the front wall of the main housing. A reset button extends from the housing, and is in communication with the strobe for selectively manually disabling the strobe. Once an RF signal from one of the telephone interfaces is detected, the strobe will flash to alert rescue personnel until disabled by the reset button or disabled by an internal timer following the lapse of a predetermined time period. A plurality of suction cups are secured to the front wall of the housing in a spaced relationship so as not to impede the strobe light.
There has thus been outlined, rather broadly, the more important features of the invention in order that the detailed description thereof that follows may be better understood, and in order that the present contribution to the art may be better appreciated. There are, of course, additional features of the invention that will be described hereinafter and which will form the subject matter of the claims appended hereto.
In this respect, before explaining at least one embodiment of the invention in detail, it is to be understood that the invention is not limited in its application to the details of construction and to the arrangements of the components set forth in the following description or illustrated in the drawings. The invention is capable of other embodiments and of being practiced and carried out in various ways. Also, it is to be understood that the phraseology and terminology employed herein are for the purpose of description and should not be regarded as limiting.
As such, those skilled in the art will appreciate that the conception, upon which this disclosure is based, may readily be utilized as a basis for the designing of other structures, methods and systems for carrying out the several purposes of the present invention. It is important, therefore, that the claims be regarded as including such equivalent constructions insofar as they do not depart from the spirit and scope of the present invention.
It is therefore an object of the present invention to provide a new and improved emergency strobe light system which has all the advantages of the prior art emergency alerting systems and none of the disadvantages.
It is another object of the present invention to provide a new and improved emergency strobe light system which may be easily and efficiently manufactured and marketed.
It is a further object of the present invention to provide a new and improved emergency strobe light system which is of durable and reliable construction.
An even further object of the present invention is to provide a new and improved emergency strobe light system which is susceptible of a low cost of manufacture with regard to both materials and labor, and which accordingly is then susceptible of low prices of sale to the consuming public, thereby making such an emergency strobe light system economically available to the buying public.
Even still another object of the present invention is to provide a new and improved emergency strobe light system for illuminating once a person telephones for assistance to alert emergency assistance workers as to a precise location.
Lastly, it is an object of the present invention to provide a new and improved emergency strobe light system including a main housing having a power cord extending outwardly from the rear wall thereof for coupling with a standard electr
Goldstein & Lavas P.C.
Sember Thomas M.
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