GB2211939A - Combined movement and sound detector unit and system - Google Patents

Description

T 221193 1 DET E C-TOR UNIT,"-D Th 4L S invention relates genera'Ll-.;, to

detector uni--s adapted to sense movement and noise, and also to a svstem comprising a plurality of such detector units linked to remote display means.

The present invention is particularly concerned with detector units and detect'-or systems which are suitable for "child minding". There is a need in hotels, time-share complexes, holiday camps, caravan sites, etc. for a monitoring system whereby parents of children can leave a child in a room but. be alerted to the fact that the child is awake or needs attention. Various "child minding" sys-l-e-Ttis ar 'Known, based upon 13 the use of a microphone mounted within the room and linked to a central control, such as a hotel reception d e s k. However, such a system has a number of drawbacks. It requires the hotel managemer-itt- then to find and alert the marents when the -need arises, which can -be diffi-cult or take a considerable length of time. There is also the ever-present uncertainty on the part of the parents as to whether everything is as it should be or whether they might perhaps be needed, often reS U 1 ting in the parents returning at intervals to the room to check that all is well.

Also, a unit based upon the use of a microphone only will not respond to movement. Movement which should desirably trigger an alert response includes intrusion into a room through door or window for example, and movement of the child itself. In certain instances, illness or distress of a child may not manifest itself in emitted sounds but rather in excessive movements, and existing "child mindLrrig" systems do nothing to generate an alert in response to such occurrences.

1 2 It is an object Of 'the invention to provide a -or unit appropr-4a',--e for a chil,-'.' minding situat letect t-ion which is responsive bot','-1 to sound and to movement.

It is a further, preferred object of the invention to provide a detector System which is "intelligen'L" in that it is able to assess whether a detected sound or movement- is such that an alert signal should be generated, i.e. a genuine alarm situation, or is such 1 t the sound or movement should be ignored.

that t It is an object of the present invention to provide a detector unit and detector system which provide a much greater degree of reassurance to the parents and wInich enable the parents themselves to maintain a watch over the alarm system of: thei-l- own room.

In accordance with the present invention there is provided a detector dev---e comprising a portable sensor Unit arranged to be' positioned in a zone to be monitored', the sensor unit comprising means to sense movement and noise within t-he zone being monitored, and control means on said sensor unit enabling the sensor unit to be activated and an alarm signal to be generated manually.

Preferably, the portable detector device is arranged to be fitted to a wall-mounted receiving socket, the fitting of the detector device to the socket providing the appropriate power supply to the detector device.

Preferably, the sensor unit includes, in addition to a sound sensing means, a pair of ultrasonic transducers arranged to detect movement within the zone being monitored.

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Fig. 1 is a front view of a detector device in accordance with the invention; Fig. 2 is a sect_ional view taken along the line IT- 11 in Fig. 1; view of a recept Eig. 3 is a ffront 1-acle for the detector device of Fig. 1; Fig. 4 is a side vie-,%T, partly in section, of the receptacle of Fig. 3; and, Fig. 5 is a sche--,iatic illustration off a detector system in accordance with the present invention.

Referr-Lng first to Figs. 1 and 2, there is shown a detector device comprising a two-pa--L housing,10, for example of injection moulded plastics material. The housing 10 comprises a front portion 12 and a base 14. The housing front portion 12 is provided with three internally projecting bosses 16 which serve to mount two printed circuit boards, a firs4C, sensor board 18 which carries sensors and which is an analogue signal circuit board, and a second, logic board 20 which just carries logic circuitry. Within the front portion of the housing there is mounted a microphone 22 to pick up any sound within the zone in front of the detector device which is to be monitored. A plurality of holes 23 are provided in the housing immediately in front of the microphone. Above and below the microphone are mounted two ultrasonic sensors 24a and 24b. These sensors 24a and 24b consist Of a transmitter and a receiver respectively and are arranged to sense movement within the zone being monitored. Preferably, fl, A 1 1 -L frequency of 40 kHz.

they 'cunct-on at a they can have an effective range of about 7 A hole of 7 mn diameter is provided 1 -L through th.e front portion of the housing immediately in front of each of 'he L f' the sensing sensors 24a and 24b for the passage o beam. The microphone 22 and the ultrasonic sensors 24a, 24b are each connecle" to the sensor board 18.

a Also connected to the sensor board 18 is a switch unit indicatad generally at 26 which comprises three switches, namely a -ior.'t.:Dr swit-3h 27, an a-'a--t---,,i switch switch 29. Chese three switches are 28 and a st 'T illuminated, as arranged to be in.-J'7-Jduall 1,7 J appr,,D,--)ria4--e, by the incorporation of light-emitting d iod e s. Each 27, 28 and 29 has a push-button -Rhich projects forwardly of the housi-Ing through a hole in the front housing P0r,'Lon.

The deltector unitt: 10 is arranged to be fitted into a receptacle which is shown in Figs. 3 and 4 and which is indicated generally at 40. The receptacle 40 is arranged to be wall-mounted. The receptacle housing is provided with three rearwardly projeCting bosses 42 to receive screws and bolts for mounting the receptacle on a wall. The receptacle also houses appropriate connections to the sensor board 18 and logic board 20 within the sensor unit. The sensor unit 10 is provided with ribs 46 by means of which the sensor unit is held in place in the receptacle 40.

As shown in Fig. 5, the individual sensor units 10 -s" 48, wil are connected to remote "slave unit 1-h for example up to 20 room detectors 10 being linked to each slave unit 48. The slave units 48 are all connected to a central console 50, which -nav be -positioned at a hotel reception desk for example, and also includes microprocessor cont=01 means. The console 50 is connected to a plurality of remote display screens 52.

is F.:) r e --,, amp 1 p-, 6 T11na slave units 43 may be located in service ducts, cupboards, etc., and include microprocessors respoasiv to the detected signals. A low voltage d.c. power supply is tak-en from the slave units to the individual detector units 10, thus re-moving any high voltage power supply, transformers, etc. from the room units.

The system operates as -follows. on arrival at the hotel or other establish..r.,ient, a person wishing to use the svstem will obtain, for example hire, a sensor unitt 10 10 and will fit it int-D the receai'_acle 40 in his roota. By pressing the standby switch 29 the user can confirm t --unctioning correctly. When the that the system is J user wishes to leave tha room and monitor the room or a child in the room then It is necessar-,.r to press the monitor swit-ch 27 in order to activate that unit.

There then follows a 20 second delay period before the unit becomes "active", in order to give time to leave the room. If thereafter there should be any movement or noise within the room sufficient in volume and/or duration to trigger the ultrasonic sensors 24a and 24b or the microphone 22, then the particular room number which matches that particular sensor unit will appear on all the remote display screens 52, indicating that there is an alert situation in that room which requires attention. On returning to the room the user simply has to press the standby switch 29 in order temporarily to deactivate the system. on subsequently leaving the room again the system can be reactivated by again pressing the monitor switch 27. If a child or other person within the room wishes to call for attention then pressing of the alarm switch 28 will also cause the room number to appear on the remote display screens 52.

The detector svstem of the nresent invention is 35 "intelligent" in that it is programmed to ignore noise :5 A R iS -1 7 and movement which is not representative of a true alert Situation. Although there are various ways in which this can be done, according lto the preferred system, the desired result is achieved by the units 10 operating in an on-off sensing mode, based upon unit. time periods of 5 seconds for examiple. The unit is "on'$ for 5 seconds, then "off" for 5 seconds, etc. A complete sensing period covers 5 "on" periods and 4 "ofli" periods, i.e. a total of 45 seconds. Other lengths of time period and combinations of periods may of course be used. If sound or movement is detected in four out of the five "on" periods, then this is taken as a positive indicat_ion and the alarm is signalled. At the end of the 45 second period the sensor resets. This assessment of the detected signals is effected by the microprocessors in the slave units. They are programmed to accept and ignore certain signals or combinations of, signals and only to trigger an alert if what is detected does not conform to the software programme.

The actual form of the display on the remote screens 50 can be chosen as desired. For example, when an alarm signal is initially received from a room, the room number may appear full-screen size initially for a predetermined period in order to attract maximum attention. The time of the alarm call is also displayed. After that predetermined period of.time the full-screen size number and time can then revert to a smaller size and be displayed along one edge of the screen together with the numbers of any other rooms which have been "called" but not yet answered. It is thus possible for any person to look at any of the remote screens 52 at any time and to determine whether the unit in their own particular room has been activated. There is also provsion for central recording o-E the time that any sensor unit is res,1El af,---r an alarm signal has been given.

The remote display screens 52 can also be used for the display of messages from the central control 50, in 5 the manner of a paging system.

Although- in the system described connection of the de-t--ector units 10, the 48, the control console 50 anJ the -c above the 1 slava units display screens 52 is by way of electrical wiring, it is poss-Lble, and is wit-hin the scope of this invention, to use radio links between some or all of J..

transmission of signals.

the hardware units for the Z 4 9

Claims (12)

CLAIMS3:

1. A detector device co-i-iiprising a portable sensor unit arranaed to be positioned in a zone to be monitored, the sensor unit comprising means to sense movement and noise within the zone being Monitored', and control means on said sensor Tinit enabling the sensor un-it to be activated and an alarm si,-jnal to b=-generated manually.

k

2. A device according to claim 1, in whIch t'Z-ie means to sense movement gomprises an ultrasonic transmitter and receiver.

3. A device according to claim 1 or 2, in whicIi _ d L sa L control means includes first manually operable 15 means to test the operational integrity of the device, -c second manually operable means to enalDle the device 1.

be put on standby, and third manually operable means actuation of which triggers an alar-n signal.

4. A device according to claim 2 or 3, which includes a receptacle unit adapted to be mounted per-..nanen'-l',;, within the said zone and adapted to receive the portable sensor unit.

5. A device according to any preceding claim, in which the means to sense movement andnoise comprises a pair of spaced ultrasonic transducers JEor detecting movement, and a microphone for detecting sound positioned between said transducers.

6. A detector system comprising a plurality of detector devices as claimed in any preceding claim, microprocessor control means remote from said detector devices and with which the detector devices are in communication, and a plurality of display means remote frof,,i the microprocessor control means and to all of which any alarm signal generated by It-he microprocessor control means is relayed for display.

7. A detector system according to claim 6, in which the detector devices operate in an "on-off" sensing mode, and in which the microprocessor control means is programmed to decide whether a signal from a detector device requires an alarm signal to be generated in dependence on the pattern of signals from the detector device over a plurality of sequential periods for which the detector device is "on".

8. A detector ystem according to claim 7, in which an alarm signal is generated by the microprocessor control means if a signal representative of noise and/or movement is detected in four out of 'Live successive periods for which a detector device is "on".

9. A detector system according to claim 6,7 or 8, in which the display means comprises display screens, and in which, upon generation of an alarm signal, a visual signal characteristic of the particular zone from which the alert has come is initially displayed full- screen, and after a predetermined period, if the detector device has not been deactivated, the visual signal is then displayed at the screen margin.

10. A detector system according to any of claims 6 to 9, which includes a number of slave units each linked to a plurality of detector devices and incorporating first microprocessor control means, and a central control unit linked to the slave units and incorporating second microprocessor control means.

11. A detector device substantially as herein described with reference to the accompanying drawings. 30

12. A detector system substantially as herein described with reference to the accompanying drawings.

Published 1989 at The Patent Office, State House, 66 71 High Holborn, London WClR 4TP. Further copies maybe obtained from The Patent office. Sales Branch, St Mary Cray, Orpington, Kent BM 3RD. Printed by Multiplex techniques ltd, St Mary Cray, Kent, Con. 1/87 cl 4i p