KR20190072439A - Compact optical smoke detector system and apparatus - Google Patents

Abstract

Provided is a device for optically detecting smoke and implementing the smoke. Disclosed are an apparatus for detecting the presence of smoke in a small and long lasting smoke detector, and methods thereof. In particular, the present disclosure satisfies all of the other ambient requirements of a rapid response to smoke and maintains reflections from a housing structure at very low values while preventing ambient light so as to show the way of constructing a very compact housing around the smoke detector. Very small measurements of light scattering of smoke particles are allowed to be reliable in a device resistant to negative effects of dust. In particular, geometrical optical elements, such as caps and optically deflecting elements, are disclosed.

Description

Technical Field [0001] The present invention relates to a compact optical smoke detector system,

Cross-references to related applications

This application claims the benefit of U.S. Provisional Application No. 62 / 599,474 entitled " Small Optical Smoke Detector System and Apparatus ", filed December 15, 2017, filed on November 6, 2018, Quot ;, and U.S. Patent Application Serial No. 16 / 181,878 entitled " Optical Smoke Detector System and Apparatus ", both of which are incorporated herein by reference in their entirety.

Field of disclosure

The present disclosure relates to smoke detection. More particularly, this disclosure describes devices and techniques relating to optical identification of smoke in compact and robust detectors.

A smoke detector is typically an indicator of a fire, a device that detects smoke. While commercial security devices issue signals to the fire alarm control panel as part of the fire alarm system, domestic smoke detectors, also known as smoke alarms, generally issue local audible or visual alarms from the detector itself.

Smoke detectors are typically housed in plastic enclosures shaped like disks with a diameter of about 150 millimeters (6 in) and a thickness of 25 millimeters (1 in.), But vary in shape and size. The smoke can be detected optically (photoelectrically) or by a physical process (ionization), and the detectors can use either or both methods. Sensitive alerts can be used to detect this in areas where smoking is prohibited, and to stop it accordingly. Smoke detectors in large commercial, industrial, and residential buildings are usually operated by a central fire alarm system, which is operated by building power with battery backup.

Home smoke detectors range from individual battery-powered units to multiple connected main-power units with battery backup; With these connected units, if any unit detects smoke, it will trigger both, even if the residential power is turned off. Optical smoke detectors tend to be larger in size. As a result, 90% of home smoke detectors use ionization technology.

Ionized smoke alarms are generally more responsive to flame fires, but photovoltaic smoke alarms are generally more responsive to fires that start with long-term fumes (called "fume fires"). For each type of smoke alert, the benefits it provides can be crucial to life safety in some fire situations. Fatal fires in the home include day or night, multiple disaster fires, and multiple fire fires. It can not predict the type of fire a home can have or when it occurs. Any acceptable smoke alarming technique should be acceptable for both types of fires to provide an early warning of the fire regardless of whether it is always or sleeping or awake day or night.

The ionizing smoke detector uses a radioactive isotope, usually Americium-241, to ionize the air; Differences due to smoke are detected and alarms are generated. The smoke detector has two ionization chambers, one open to the air, and a reference chamber that does not allow entry of the particles. The radioactive source emits alpha particles into both chambers, which ionize some air molecules.

There is a potential difference (voltage) between the pairs of electrodes in the chambers; Electric charge on the ions allows the current to flow. The currents in both chambers must be the same since they are equally affected by air pressure, temperature, and source aging. When any of the smoke particles enter the open chamber, some of the ions will adhere to the particles and will not be available to carry current in the chamber. The electronic circuit detects that a current difference has occurred between the open and the sealing members, and sounds an alarm.

A photoelectric or optical smoke detector includes a source of infrared, visible, or ultraviolet light (typically an incandescent or light emitting diode), a lens, and a photoelectric receiver (typically a photodiode). In spot-type detectors, all of these components are arranged in a chamber through which air flows, which may include smoke from nearby fires. In large open areas, such as courtyards and auditoriums, optical beams or projected-beam smoke detectors are used in place of chambers in a unit: the wall-mounted unit is received and processed by a separate device, And emits a beam of infrared or ultraviolet light that is reflected back to the substrate.

In some types, especially in light beam types, the light emitted by the light source passes through the air to be tested and reaches the light sensor. The received light intensity will be reduced by absorption due to smoke, floating dust, or other materials; The circuit detects the light intensity and, due to smoke, generates an alarm if it is below a certain threshold. In other types, typically chamber types, light is not directed to the sensor, which is not illuminated in the absence of particles. If the air in the chamber contains particles (smoke or dust), the light is scattered and some of it reaches the sensor, triggering an alarm.

As described, the ionization detectors are more sensitive to the flames phase of the fires than the optical detectors, while the optical detectors are more susceptible to fires in the early firing phase. Fire safety experts and the United States Fire Protection Agency recommend installing a combination alarm, which detects both heat and smoke, or alerts that use both ionization and photoelectric processes. Combination alerts are available, including both techniques, in a single device, some including even carbon monoxide detection capability.

Unfortunately, the size and / or footprint of optical smoke detectors makes it unacceptable for the majority of household use, as well as for a large percentage of business use. The inventors of the present disclosure have recognized these shortcomings and have appreciated the need for a smaller, powerful optical smoke detector system. That is, an optical smoke detector that is sufficiently powerful for long life and small enough for ubiquitous use remains sensitive.

This summary is intended to provide an overview of the subject matter of this patent application. It is not intended to provide an exclusive or exhaustive description of the invention. Further limitations and disadvantages of conventional and conventional approaches will become apparent to those skilled in the art through comparison of these systems with some aspects of the present invention as presented in the remainder of the present application with reference to the drawings.

A device for optically detecting smoke and implementing it. Apparatus and methods for detecting the presence of smoke in a small, long lasting smoke detector are disclosed. Specifically, the present disclosure describes how to build a very compact housing around the smoke detector while satisfying all other peripheral requirements of a quick response to smoke and avoiding ambient light while maintaining reflections from the housing structure at very low values Respectively. This allows very small measurements of light scattering of smoke particles to be reliable in devices that are resistant to the negative effects of dust. In particular, geometrical optical elements, such as caps and optical deflection elements, are disclosed.

According to one aspect, this disclosure is an apparatus for identifying smoke using optical analysis techniques described herein. Specifically, the device is disposed in an optical smoke detector and identification is performed therein.

According to another aspect of the device, light is transmitted through the air that is scattered by the smoke particles.

According to another aspect, the scattered light is incident on one or more detectors, each of which is disposed at various distances from the transmitted light to the light source.

According to another aspect, the ratio (s) of detected light is used to determine the presence of smoke.

According to yet another aspect, the apparatus uses logic to perform steps of receiving light information and making a postponement decision when executed.

According to another aspect of the present disclosure, the apparatus further comprises a cap disposed substantially orthogonal to the first light source.

According to another aspect of the present disclosure, the cap is molded at least partially, substantially as a conical section.

According to a further aspect of the present disclosure, the cap of the conical section is at least partially parabolic.

According to another aspect of the present disclosure, the cap of the conical section is at least partially elliptical.

According to a further aspect of the present disclosure, the apparatus further comprises the first light emitting diode having a spectral intensity centered around the first wavelength? ₁ .

According to yet another aspect of the present disclosure, the apparatus further comprises an array of optical deflection elements disposed in a circle substantially around an outer radius of the cap.

According to yet another aspect of the present disclosure, the apparatus further comprises a anti-reflection coating disposed on at least one of the cap and the array of optical deflection elements.

According to another aspect of the present disclosure, the coating is centered around the first wavelength? ₁ .

According to yet another aspect of the present disclosure, the apparatus further comprises a substrate to which the cap is mechanically coupled.

According to yet another aspect of the present disclosure, the array of optical deflection elements is substantially wing-shaped.

According to yet another aspect, the disclosure includes an analog front end that is in electrical communication with one or more optical detectors.

According to another aspect of the invention, one or more light sources are used, each having wavelengths centered at different frequencies.

According to another aspect of the invention, each wavelength contributes to the determination of the presence of smoke.

According to another aspect of the present invention, a plurality of loss members surround the center of the detector chamber.

According to another aspect of the present invention, the plurality of loss members are configured to be substantially columns.

According to another aspect of the present invention, the plurality of lossy members are configured to be blade-like features that resemble substantially cooling fins.

According to another aspect of the present invention, the plurality of loss members are configured to have a refractive index substantially close to that of the home dust.

According to another aspect of the present invention, the plurality of loss members also have an imaginary part of the complex impedance to be lost. This acts not only to mitigate reflections (impedance matching), but also to absorb power (ambient loss) from ambient light that can provide positives to false smoke detectors.

According to another aspect of the present invention, a small smoke detector may be configured by a single analog front end (AFE).

According to another aspect of the present invention, the small smoke detector and the single analog front end (AFE) may be fabricated from a plurality of dies on a substrate.

According to another aspect of the present invention, the small smoke detector may use one or more optical filters.

According to another aspect of the present invention, the small smoke detector may use one or more optical filters. Specifically, the optical filter may comprise an absorption filter and / or interference or dichroic filters.

The figures show representative smoke detector circuits and configurations. It is not beyond the scope of the invention to make changes to these circuits, for example, to change the positions of the circuits, to add certain elements, or to remove them. The illustrated smoke detectors, configurations, and complementary devices are intended to be complementary to the support found in the detailed description.

For a fuller understanding of the features and advantages of the present invention, reference is made to the following detailed description of the preferred embodiments and to the accompanying drawings in which:
Figure 1 shows a side view of a representative optical smoke detector boundary surface, in accordance with some embodiments of the present disclosure provided herein;
Figure 2 depicts a top-down view of a representative optical smoke detector showing operation, in accordance with one or more embodiments of the present disclosure provided herein;
Figure 3 depicts a top-down view of elements forming a representative optical smoke detection device, in accordance with some embodiments of the present disclosure provided herein;
4A illustrates the drawbacks associated with the state of the art in operational optical smoke detection devices, in accordance with some embodiments of the present disclosure provided herein;
Figure 4b illustrates overcoming the aforementioned drawbacks associated with the state of the art in elements and active optical smoke detection devices being configured by exemplary optical smoke detectors, in accordance with some embodiments of the present disclosure provided herein;
5 depicts a top-down view of an optical detection die constructed by a representative optical smoke detection device, in accordance with some embodiments of the present disclosure provided herein;
6 depicts a side view of an optical detection die constructed by a representative optical smoke detection device, in accordance with some embodiments of the present disclosure provided herein;
Figure 7 graphically illustrates an isometric view of an exemplary optical smoke detection device in operation, in accordance with some embodiments of the present disclosure provided herein;
Figure 8 depicts a top-down view of the elements forming a representative optical smoke detection device, in accordance with some embodiments of the present disclosure provided herein.
9A illustrates a side view of an exemplary miniature smoke detector cap, in accordance with some embodiments of the present disclosure provided herein;
Figure 9b depicts a top-down view of an exemplary miniature smoke detector cap, in accordance with some embodiments of the present disclosure provided herein;
9C illustrates an isometric view of an exemplary miniature smoke detector cap, in accordance with some embodiments of the present disclosure provided herein;
10A illustrates a side view of an exemplary miniature smoke detector cap, in accordance with some embodiments of the present disclosure provided herein;
Figure 10B depicts a top-down view of an exemplary miniature smoke detector cap, in accordance with some embodiments of the present disclosure provided herein;
Figure 10C illustrates an isometric view of an exemplary small smoke detector cap, in accordance with some embodiments of the present disclosure provided herein; And
Figure 11 shows a side view of a representative optical smoke detector boundary surface, in accordance with some embodiments of the present disclosure provided herein.

The present disclosure relates to smoke detection. More specifically, beam initiation describes devices and techniques relating to optical identification of smoke within a compact and robust detector.

The following description and drawings set forth in detail certain illustrative implementations of the present disclosure, which represent various exemplary schemes in which the various principles of the present disclosure may be practiced. However, the illustrative examples are not exhaustive for many possible embodiments of the present disclosure. Other objects, advantages and novel features of the present disclosure are set forth, when considered in view of the drawings where applicable.

Fires can occur in a variety of ways. The two most common forms of fires are low-speed fumes and high-speed fires. It is a slow, low temperature, flame-free combustion. These fires develop slowly and generate a lot of smoke that is easily detected by optical smoke detectors. Hunting fires are typically described on cigarettes or furniture that is overturned by weak heat sources such as electrical shorts.

High-speed flame fires develop quickly, typically producing black smoke and toxic gases and giving less time for escape. The characteristic temperature and heat (typically 600 ° C) released during the fume is low compared to those in the high-flame fires (typically 1500 ° C). High-speed flame fires typically propagate about 10 times faster than fume fires. However, smoke fires emit high levels of toxic gases such as carbon monoxide. These gases are highly flammable and can later be ignited on the gas, triggering the transition to flame combustion.

Smoke detectors for detecting smoke through detection of scattered light by smoke particles have been conventionally proposed and put into practice. Such a smoke detector detects a fire as follows. The smoke detector has a dark chamber for storing photon emitters and photodetectors. The light emitted from the photon emitter is scattered by smoke particles that have flowed into the dark chamber to generate scattered light accordingly. The photodetector receives scattered light.

Optical smoke alarms have several systematic and operational drawbacks when compared to ionizing smoke alarms. Recently, smoke detectors have been proposed that include optical traps to suppress noise light (light emitted by a photon emitter, light generated by reflection by the inner wall of a dark chamber) to reach the photodetector.

There are generally two types of noise light - one caused by unwanted reflections from nearby surfaces of light emitted from the photon emitter and the other ambient light leaking into the smoke chamber. Both of these lights require that the photodetector be avoided because there is no way to determine whether light is caused by reflection or from scattering or from the surroundings. When such smoke detectors are employed, they must design optical and electrical systems to avoid false triggering by noise light. The inventors of the present disclosure have recognized how to improve both fronts while reducing size, cost and adding aesthetics.

However, in this smoke detector, the light trap is placed in front of the photon emitter and photodetector. Therefore, the light emitted from the photon emitter is reflected in a direction parallel to the virtual plane including the optical axis of the photon emitter and the photodetector. Therefore, since the noise light is easily incident on the light detection area, the occurrence of a false alarm remains very much possible.

Some smoke detectors use a labyrinth structure to suppress light from entering the dark chamber. Since the light emitted from the photon emitter is reflected by the edge sections of the wall members constituting the labyrinth structure, a positive irregular noise light which can not be sufficiently attenuated by the light trap is generated. Therefore, the noise light can enter the light detection area to cause a false alarm accordingly.

Also, within these types of smoke detectors, a plurality of optical traps must be placed and the light trap should be placed in the labyrinth within the dark chamber. Thus, in either case, a large space is required for disposing the optical trap, whereby the miniaturization of the smoke detector has been hit by a fallopian tube. In addition, some smoke detectors include another member such as a lens in addition to the light trap, whereby the cost for manufacturing a smoke detector can be increased. Moreover, the light trap and / or the lens can prevent the smoke from flowing into the dark chamber.

In addition to the larger footprint, for ionization alarms, the optical detection devices undergo confirmation during the course of their service. Both infrared emitter LEDs and both optical smoke alarms using ionizing smoke alarms are used in the detection of both types of fires and are dependent on the flux of ambient air passing through them. In some devices (such as in one or more of the aforementioned embodiments), the fans are used to enable the passage of air through them. However, dust and particulate matter can aggregate and contaminate some of their device elements. These surfaces become more reflective in all directions so that any light falling on these surfaces can now be scattered by the photodetector in a manner similar to smoke.

Subsequently, optical detection systems are preferred over ionizing systems in certain situations. For example, optical systems better detect smoke fires. In addition, ionization alarms have the disadvantage that they contain radioisotopes in their sensors, so that they are subject to regulations on manufacture and disposal. These regulations depend on the country, but can put a considerable burden on the manufacturer.

Optical smoke detectors tend to be large, expensive devices that degrade with age from contamination, which emits false positives. The inventors of the present disclosure have recognized the need for more powerful optical smoke detectors, which are in order of size and size of ubiquitous household ionization units and are relatively less sensitive to the threat of dust and other particulate contamination. Moreover, the optical surface within the chamber itself plays an important role in this.

Figure 1 illustrates a side view of exemplary optical smoke detector boundary surfaces, in accordance with some embodiments of the present disclosure provided herein. The smoke detector cap 100 includes a lower boundary 110, a circular side wall 130, an upper boundary 120, a shaft center 160, and geometric surfaces 140 and 150.

For the sake of clarity, FIG. 1 depicts a side view of a round smoke detector cap 100, looking downward. Thus, strictly speaking, the geometric surfaces 140 and 150 are the same surface. They, however, are labeled differently for illustrative purposes with respect to the photons 165 and 175. This will be discussed in more detail later in this disclosure.

In one or more embodiments, the smoke detector cap 100 has a function to reflect and / or absorb light so that light in the smoke detector chamber is scattered generally out of particles, such as smoke, and the like, do. This is also discussed in more detail later in this disclosure. The lower boundary 110 may represent a printed circuit board (PCB) or a wafer die. For purposes of discussion, light from one or more light emitting devices is emitted from this surface direction.

The circular sidewall 130 includes a substantially cylindrical boundary that prevents ambient light from entering or is not present in the chamber such that light is not redirected back to the lower boundary 110. Again, this premise will be explained later. The upper boundary 120 represents the top of the smoke detector cap 100. Considering that the smoke detector cap does not substantially change radially, the axis center 160 is used to indicate its center.

[0033] [0031] Operationally, in some embodiments, the rays (photons 165 and 175) are emitted from the light emitting device propagating up through the smoke detector chamber. The rays are incident on smoke particles (not shown) and are consequently scattered. The scattered rays propagate back to the one or more photodetectors beneath the lower boundary surface. The photodetectors receive nominal light from the background in addition to scattered light.

The geometric surfaces 150 and 140 serve to reflect light emanating from the lower boundary 110 away from it, in one or more embodiments. That is, light that is not scattered by particulate matter should be mitigated to maximize the signal-to-noise (SnR) ratio. For example, in the present embodiment, the geometric surfaces 150, 140 have the form of a parabola (strictly speaking, a paraboloid at 3-d). As such, the light emitted from the lower boundary 110 will primarily be reflected in a substantially orthogonal direction, depending on the parabolic foci.

For example, light / photon 165 is incident on geometry 150. Due to its direction and angle of incidence on the geometry 150, the ray photons 165 are reflected away from the lower boundary 110, which is represented by a ray / photon 170. Similarly, ray / photon 175 is incident on geometry 140. Due to its direction and angle of incidence on the geometry 150, the ray photons 175 are reflected away from the lower boundary 110, which is represented by a ray / photon 180.

The predetermined thresholds, background subtraction and other operating parameters will be discussed in greater detail later in this disclosure, which will be understood by those skilled in the art

FIG. 2 depicts a top-down view of a representative optical smoke detector 200 showing operation, in accordance with one or more embodiments of the disclosure provided herein. The optical smoke detector 200 includes a light emitting diode (LED) 230, an optical chamber 210, a detector cover 220, a case molding 280, a photodiode / transducer 250 and optical deflection fins (290).

In one or more embodiments, LED 260 is a ready-made green (495 nm to 570 nm) light emitting diode. However, any suitable, compact, light generating device, whether coherent, whiteness, or even thermal blackbody radiation, etc., does not exceed the scope of the present disclosure.

The case molding 290 is a substrate that provides a structure for attaching the detector cover 220 and the optical chamber 210 thereto in some embodiments. Typically, the purpose of optical smoke detectors is to permit the introduction of smoke from ambient air / environment while rejecting ambient light from the same. Generally speaking, the detector cover 220 and the optical chamber 210 attempt to provide these purposes.

That is, the detector cover 220 has two ports (e.g., inlet and outlet) for the gas / smoke passages, but the optical chamber 210 is configured so as to surround the detector < RTI ID = 0.0 > All. The detector cover 220 and the optical chamber 210 are made of an opaque polymer and / or a lossy material having a thickness much greater than the average skin depth, according to some embodiments of the present invention. High conductivity (mirrored) or any suitable material, such as metal, semi-metallic, composite, is also beyond the scope of this disclosure.

The photodetector 250 is a sensor of light or other electromagnetic energy. The photodetector 250 has p-n junctions that convert photons to current. Absorbed photons create electron-hole pairs in the depletion region, which is used to detect the received light intensity. In some embodiments, the photodetector 250 is photodiodes or phototransistors. However, any light detection means, such as an avalanche, a photomultiplier, etc., are not beyond the scope of the present disclosure.

In operation, light 240 is emitted from LED 260. As can be appreciated by those skilled in the art, a portion of the light 240 is scattered in the smoke particles 270. The scattered light 260 may be at the property level or may be directed to the photodetector 250 and therefore be detected thereby. Light 240 that is not scattered by the smoke particles 270 is blocked by the blocking member or is incident on the optical deflector fins 290 and is thereby redirected to prevent direct illumination of the photodetector 250. The optical deflector fins 290 typically have black, matt finishes whose purpose is to redirect light to the other optical deflector fins 290.

FIG. 3 depicts a top-down view of the elements forming the exemplary optical smoke detection device 300, in accordance with some embodiments of the present disclosure provided herein. In one or more embodiments, the substrate 310 includes an analog front end (AFE), a photodetector, and a light source that will be discussed in more detail later in this disclosure.

In some embodiments, the photo-isolated structural chamber columns 320 are made from a material that absorbs a large amount of light. Moreover, the elements are smooth and have mirror-like finishes instead of matte finishes. The bulk absorbing material allows absorption wavelengths> dozens of wavelengths of light. Thus, the real part of the refractive index remains approximately the same as the non-absorbing material.

In some embodiments, the photo-isolated structural chamber columns 320 comprise a polymer or glass. Most plastics and glasses have an index close to 1.4 to 1.6. This can yield ~ 3% resistance (R) from the Fresnel equations and smooth surfaces reflect light in a specular way, as calculated from:

From here,

And

.

.

Thus, most of the incident light is absorbed in the material of the photo-isolated structural chamber columns and the very small, reflected portion is also back-scattered.

Figure 4A illustrates the drawbacks associated with the state of the art in operating optical smoke detection devices 400, in accordance with some embodiments of the present disclosure provided herein. Considering smoke detectors are expected to last more than 10 years, the purpose of this disclosure is to provide a powerful, long lasting optical smoke detector.

In view of the constant air flux throughout the smoke detector, one of ordinary skill in the art will now understand the attributes that attenuate the dust accumulation discussed in detail with respect to Figures 4A and 4B. The dust particles 420 are adsorbed to the light-separating structural chamber columns 410. The incident light 430 may come from ambient, background illumination or from an internal light source of a smoke detector. For purposes of illustration, this description represents a simplification for clarity. That is, we assume that the ray 430 is totally transmitted through the dust particles 420.

The incident light 430 is transmitted through the dust particles 420 that are the light rays 440. When light ray 440 is incident on photo-isolated structural chamber columns 410, its energy (or vector magnitude) is decomposed according to Fresnel equations for transmission and reflection. This is due to the impedance mismatch between the dust and photo-isolating structural chamber columns 410. As a result, light ray (s) 450 is reflected and light ray 460 is transmitted to light-isolated structural chamber columns 410. Additionally, the inventors of the present disclosure note that light is also scattered if a rough surface such as a matte is used in the light-splitting structural chamber columns 410, which is also depicted in FIG. 4A.

FIG. 4B illustrates overcoming the aforementioned drawbacks associated with the state of the art in elements configured by a representative optical smoke detector 400 and on-going optical smoke detection devices, in accordance with some embodiments of the present disclosure provided herein. The dust particles 420 are adsorbed to the light-isolated structural chamber columns 410. The incident light 430 may come from ambient, background illumination or from an internal light source of a smoke detector. Again, for purposes of illustration, the present disclosure represents a simplification for clarity. That is, we assume that the ray 430 is totally transmitted through the dust particles 420.

The incident light 430 is transmitted through the dust particles 420 that are the light rays 440. When light ray 440 is incident on photo-isolated structural chamber columns 410, its energy (or vector magnitude) is usually decomposed according to the Fresnel equations for transmission and reflection. However, in at least one embodiment of the present disclosure, the real part of the complex impedance (or index of refraction) of the photo-isolated structural chamber columns 410 is matched to the common dust 420. Thus, the ray 440 is transmitted almost entirely to the photo-isolated structural chamber columns 410. Most dust particles have a refractive index between 1.35 and 1.55, but most plastics and glass have refractive indices between 1.45 and 1.55.

In one or more embodiments, the imaginary part of the complex impedance of the photo-isolated structural chamber columns 410 is selected so that the material is very lossy, and thus the penetration depth is approximately several tens of wavelengths. If the penetration depth is shorter, the impedance mismatch increases and the substrate again begins to reflect the ray 440. If the absorption depth is too large, thicker members are required to absorb light and thus increase the overall size of the chamber. This is illustrated in the decaying optical wave 470 in FIG. 4B. Additionally, the inventors of the present disclosure provide a smooth, specular reflective finish on the surface of the photo-isolated structural chamber columns 410 in the preferred embodiment.

FIG. 5 depicts a top-down view of an optical detection die constructed by a representative optical smoke detection device 500, in accordance with some embodiments of the present disclosure provided herein. The optical smoke detection device 500 includes a substrate 590, light emitting diodes (LEDs) 560 and 565, an LED cover 520, an analog front end (AFE) 540, a photodetector PD1 550, Detector PD2 530, a photodetector cover 570, a PD pin-out 575, and an AFE pin-out 585.

Substrate 590 is a die fabricated from silicon on chip (SoC) fabrication processes known in the art, but any suitable support structure is not beyond the scope of this disclosure. For example, the substrate 590 may be made from any metal, semi-metallic, semiconductor, mixture / compound or polymer provided that measures are taken to ensure that the AFE 540 is not short-circuited.

The light blocking members move along the periphery of the upper substrate 590. Their function is to block ambient light from being received by the photodetectors 530, 550. As such, the ambient light shielding members are made from opaque polymer and / or lossy material having a thickness much greater than the average skin depth, according to some embodiments of the present invention. High conductivity (mirrored) is also beyond the scope of this disclosure.

Similarly, the light-separator traverses the entire span between the LEDs 560, 565 side of the device and the side of the photodetectors 530, 550, which will be described in more detail later in this disclosure. The function of the light-separator is to block the LEDs 560, 565 light from being directly received by the photodetectors 530, 550. As such, the light-separator is made from opaque polymer and / or lossy material having a thickness much greater than the average skin depth, according to some embodiments of the present invention. High conductivity (mirrored) is also beyond the scope of this disclosure, but this is not a preferred embodiment as will become clear later in this disclosure.

The photodetector cover 570 and the LED cover 520 are transparent polymer protective containers of the photodetectors 530 and 550 and the LEDs 560 and 565, respectively. In other embodiments, the photodetector cover 570 and the LED covers are crystalline (glass, pyrex, etc.), but any suitable one can be used.

In one or more embodiments, the LEDs 560, 565 are off-the-shelf red and near-infrared (450 nm to 1400 nm) light emitting diodes. However, any suitable, compact light generating device of any color does not exceed the scope of the present disclosure. In some embodiments in which the LEDs 560, 565 emit different wavelengths, the photodetector (PDl) 550 and the photodetector (PD2) 530 may be modified to accommodate its detection. For example, half of the photodetector (PD1) 550 and the photodetector (PD2) 530 may be covered with different optical filters.

In particular, the photodetector PD1 550 and the photodetector PD2 530 may be covered, at least in part, by dichroic filters. A dichroic filter, a thin film filter, or an interference filter is a very accurate color filter used to selectively pass light of a small range of colors while reflecting other colors. By comparison, dichroic mirrors and dichroic reflectors tend to be characterized by the color (s) of the light they reflect, rather than the color (s) through which they pass.

Although dichroic filters are used in this embodiment, other optical filters, such as interference, absorption, diffraction, grating, Fabry-Perot, etc., are not beyond the scope of the present invention. The interference filter consists of a plurality of thin layers of dielectric material with different refractive indices. There may also be metallic layers. In its broadest sense, interference filters also include etalons that can be implemented as tunable interference filters. Interference filters are wavelength-selective by interference effects that occur between incident and reflected waves at thin-film boundaries.

In other embodiments, at least two of the plurality of detectors, e.g., one for the wavelength, are implemented such that each of the plurality of pairs is wavelength specific. For example, there is at least two detectors PD1 and PD2 for all light emitting diodes for a particular lambda.

The analog front end 540 (AFE) is coupled to the analog front end 540 using analog-to-digital converters and / or micro-controllers as required for interfacing with the sensors, using sensitive analog amplifiers, operational amplifiers, filters, A set of analog signal conditioning circuits.

The AFE 540 is in electrical communication with the photodetectors 530, 550 via PD pin-outs 575. The PD pin-outs 575 are in electrical communication with the photodetectors 530, 550 via traces. In this embodiment, the photodetectors 530, 550 and the AFE 540 are packed as dies with soldered pin-outs. However, in other embodiments, they are integrated at the wafer level communicating via traces and vertical interconnect access (VIA) or via silicon VIA (TSV).

In some embodiments, the AFE pin-out 585 is in electrical communication with the pulse oximeter 100. In other embodiments, the AFE pin-out 585 may be in electrical communication with other computer platforms such as a microcontroller unit (MCU), a field programmable gate array (FPGA), a bus, or Arduino or Raspberry Pi, All of which do not exceed the scope of the present disclosure.

FIG. 6 depicts a side view of an optical detection die 600 configured by a representative optical smoke detection device, in accordance with some embodiments of the disclosure provided herein. The optical detection dies 600 may include ambient light blocking members 610, a light-separator 680, a substrate 690, a light emitting diode (LED) 660, an LED cover 620, an analog front end (AFE) A photodetector PD2 630, a photodetector PD1 650, a photodetector PD2 630, and a photodetector cover 670.

In one or more embodiments, the substrate 690 is a die fabricated from silicon on chip (SoC) fabrication processes known in the art, but any suitable support structure does not exceed the scope of the present disclosure. For example, the substrate 690 may be made from any metal, semi-metallic, semiconductor, mixture / compound or polymer provided that measures have been taken to prevent the AFE 640 from shorting.

The ambient light blocking members 610 move along the periphery of the upper substrate 690. Their function is to block ambient light from being received by the photodetectors 630, 650. As such, ambient light shielding members 610 are made from opaque polymer and / or lossy material having a thickness much greater than the average skin depth, according to some embodiments of the present invention. High conductivity (mirrored) is also beyond the scope of this disclosure.

Similarly, the light-separator 680 traverses the entire span between the LED 660 side of the device and the side of the photodetectors 630, 650, which will be described in more detail later in this disclosure. The function of the light-separator 680 is to block the LED 660 light from being directly received by the photodetectors 630, 650. As such, light-separator 680 is made from opaque polymer and / or lossy material having a thickness much greater than the average skin depth, according to some embodiments of the present invention. High conductivity (mirrored) is also beyond the scope of this disclosure, but this is not a preferred embodiment as will become clear later in this disclosure.

In one or more embodiments, the LED 660 is a ready-made green (495 nm to 570 nm) light emitting diode. However, any suitable, compact, light generating device does not exceed the scope of this disclosure - regardless of coherence, whiteness, or even thermal blackbody radiation. The LED cover 630 is a transparent polymer protective container of the LED 260. In other embodiments, the LED cover 630 is crystalline (glass, pyrex, etc.), but any suitable one can be used. While translucent and / or lossy materials may be used within the scope of this disclosure, these are not preferred embodiments, which will become more apparent later in this disclosure.

The photodetectors 650 and 630 (PD1 and PD2, respectively) are sensors of light or other electromagnetic energy. Photodetectors 630 and 650 have p-n junctions that convert photons to current. Absorbed photons create electron-hole pairs in the depletion region, which is used to detect the received light intensity. In some embodiments, photodetectors 650 and 630 are photodiodes or phototransistors. However, any light detection means, such as an electric field, a photomultiplier, etc., are not beyond the scope of the present disclosure.

The analog front end 640 (AFE or analog front end controller AFEC) may be coupled to an antenna, an analog-to-digital converter, or, in some cases, a configurable and flexible electronic device function It is a set of analog signal conditioning circuits that use sensitive analog amplifiers, often operational amplifiers, filters, and sometimes application-specific integrated circuits, for sensors, radio receivers, and other circuits to provide blocks. The AFE 640 is in electrical communication with the photodetectors 650, 630 and the optical smoke detector.

The photodetector cover 670 is a transparent polymer protective container of PD1 and PD2. In other embodiments, the photodetector cover 670 is crystalline (glass, pyrex, etc.), but any suitable one can be used. However, translucent and / or lossy materials can be used within the scope of this disclosure.

Figure 7 graphically illustrates an isometric view of an exemplary optical smoke detection device 700 in operation, in accordance with some embodiments of the disclosure provided herein. The inventors of the present disclosure have established one of the minimum smoke detectors 700 that require only a very small chamber around the detector to protect against insects, ambient light, and large particulate matter.

In the art so far, large housings have been used to prevent light scattering from increasing dust over time. The scattered light from the housing elements can prevent the detection of small changes in light scattering from causing smoke particles to fail to perform these sensor systems. Thus, the housing or chamber design plays a critical role. It also allows easy exchange of smoke from the surroundings and thus has very large openings.

The present disclosure shows a method of constructing a very compact housing around a smoke detector while keeping all reflections from the housing structure at very low values while satisfying all other peripheral requirements of the quick response to smoke and preventing ambient light . This allows very small measurements of light scattering of smoke particles to be reliable.

The optical smoke detection device 700 includes a base 750, a die substrate 710, a side enclosure 730, light-isolated structural chamber columns 720, and an upper reflective surface 740. In one or more embodiments, the base 750, the photo-isolated structural chamber columns 720 and the die substrate 710, which may be in a manner that carries both PCBs or electronic devices and provides means for attachment, Lt; RTI ID = 0.0 > 2, 3, 5, and 6, < / RTI > The side enclosure 730 provides two purposes. That is, the side enclosure 730 directs air through the passageway of the optical smoke detection device 700 and blocks the surrounding entrances.

The upper reflective surface 740 is configured similar to the side structures and uses the same design idea. Light incident from a photon emitter impinging directly on such a surface must be minimally reflected / scattered from the surface of such a structure. This is accomplished by using highly-corrugated or curved surfaces so that no direct reflection from these surfaces is directed to the photodetector elements. Light is reflected from the chamber toward other surfaces. As previously described with respect to FIG. 4B, the light incident on the surface is primarily absorbed in most of the material. A small amount of about 3% reflected is directed to another surface on any of the top reflector or side surfaces, where the process is repeated. Thus, a very small amount of light returns to the photodetector.

It should be noted that although the upper reflective surface can be anti-reflection coated in bulk for better absorption, it may not be necessary in practice. This is because light can be incident on the surface from many angles, especially if the top reflective surface is crowded or curved in a complicated manner. Also, after collection of dust on the surface, the surface may not behave as anti-reflection.

In operation, the light rays from the light cone 760 are directed upward. The rays returning to the detector were deflected many times from various members and lost most of their energy. Ray traces show how rays have a very low probability of returning to the detector.

The light-isolated structural chamber columns 720, 740 include plastics absorbing rods. For example, photo-isolated structural chamber columns 720 include acrylic, PMMA, polycarbonate, and the like. However, any suitable material may be used, having refractive indices and complex impedances that are suitably matched, for example.

The design shown in Figure 7 allows the optical particles to measure the light scattered back toward the photodetector while the optical structures are designed to reduce the noise light to a very low level. Moreover, these optical structures can be located very close to each other and to the light generating and detecting device made for a very compact structure. This structure reduces (1) the noise light from the light emitter, (2) the ambient noise from the surroundings, and (3) has a single module, such as that shown in FIGS. 5 and 6, for small measurements.

FIG. 8 depicts a top-down view of another design of elements forming a representative optical smoke detection device 800, in accordance with some embodiments of the disclosure provided herein. In one or more embodiments, the substrate 810 includes an analog front end (AFE), a photodetector, and a light source according to previous embodiments. Moreover, similar top reflectance structures such as 740 can be used.

The optical smoke detection device 800 includes an inlet port 850, an outlet port 860, and an ionization smoke detector 840, according to some embodiments. Ports 850 and 860 allow the air path to travel through the optical smoke detection device 800. In alternate embodiments, inlet port 850 and outlet port 860 include small, low-power fans to enable the passage of such gases.

The ionizing smoke detector 840 uses a radioactive isotope, typically Americium-241, to ionize the air; Differences due to smoke are detected and alarms are generated. Ionization detectors are more sensitive to the flame stage of fires than optical detectors, while optical detectors are more susceptible to fires in the early stage of fumigation.

The smoke detector has two ionization chambers 840 and 880, that is, open to air 840, and a reference chamber 880 that does not allow particles to enter. The radioactive source emits alpha particles into both chambers, which ionize some air molecules. There is a potential difference (voltage) between the pairs of electrodes in the chambers; Electric charge on the ions allows the electric current to flow.

The currents in both chambers must be the same since they are equally affected by air pressure, temperature, and source aging. When any of the smoke particles enter the open chamber, some of the ions will adhere to the particles and will not be available to carry current in the chamber. The electronic circuit detects that a current difference has occurred between the open and sealed chambers and alerts.

In some embodiments, the light-splitting structural chamber deflectors 820 are made from a material that absorbs a large amount of light. Moreover, the elements are smooth and have mirror-like finishes instead of matte finishes. The bulk absorbing material allows absorption wavelengths> dozens of wavelengths of light. Thus, the real part of the refractive index remains approximately the same as the non-absorbing material.

In some embodiments, the light-splitting structural chamber deflectors 820 comprise substantially three-dimensional orthotopes, rectangular prisms, rectangular parallelepipeds, or rectangular parallelepipeds. In one or more embodiments, the light-splitting structural chamber deflectors 820 may have a rounded or knife edge on substantially one surface. Note that this also applies to the top reflective surface 740. The purpose of the light-splitting structural chamber deflectors 820 is to direct the reflected light to another photo-isolating structural chamber deflectors 820, which can be understood by one of ordinary skill in the art . Thus, most of the incident light is absorbed in the material and even very small, the reflected part is back-scattered.

Most of the dust particles have a free index and are between 1.4 and 1.7. The light-splitting structural chamber deflectors 820 are matched indexes and produce lower scattering compared to the same particles attached to surfaces of very different refractive indices. All forward scattering from these particles is also absorbed by their substrate. Again, this leads to very low back-scattering from dust increase over time.

The members of the chamber, i.e., the light-splitting structural chamber deflectors 820, are tuned to reflect the light away from the source and towards other members of the chamber. Thus, the light is lost very quickly. After n reflections, the reflected light is reduced to R ⁿ and quickly removed. This helps in a very compact design: <1 cm in radius and <1 cm in height from the center of the smoke sensor.

Figure 9A illustrates a side view of an exemplary small smoke detector cap, in accordance with some embodiments of the present disclosure provided herein. The smoke detector cap 900 includes an upper boundary 910 and optical deflector fins 920.

Figure 9b depicts a top-down view of an exemplary small smoke detector cap, in accordance with some embodiments of the present disclosure provided herein. The smoke detector cap 900 includes a geometric space 940 and optical deflector fins 920. In one or more embodiments, the geometric shape 940 may be any parabolic or elliptical shape. In other embodiments, it may be highly variable or even linear.

9C illustrates an isometric view of an exemplary small smoke detector cap, in accordance with some embodiments of the present disclosure provided herein. The smoke detector cap 900 includes a geometric shape 940 and optical deflector fins 920.

In some embodiments, the light-splitting structural optical deflector fins 920 are made from a material that absorbs a large amount of light. Moreover, the elements are smooth and have mirror-like finishes instead of matte finishes. The bulk absorbing material allows absorption wavelengths> dozens of wavelengths of light. Thus, the real part of the refractive index remains approximately the same as the non-absorbing material.

In some embodiments, the light-splitting structural optical deflector fins 920 comprise polymer or glass. Most plastics and glasses have an index close to 1.45 to 1.6. This can yield ~ 3% resistance (R) from the Fresnel equations and smooth surfaces reflect light in a specular way, as calculated from:

From here,

And

Thus, most of the incident light is absorbed within the material of the light-splitting structural chamber columns and even the reflected portion, and is very back-scattered.

10A illustrates a side view of an exemplary small smoke detector cap, in accordance with some embodiments of the present disclosure provided herein. The smoke detector cap 1000 includes an upper boundary 1010, an axis center 1060, central packaging pins 1040, and outer packaging pins 1070. Axial centered packaging pins 1040 and outer packaging pins 1070 allow for convenience.

Figure 10B depicts a top-down view of an exemplary small smoke detector cap, in accordance with some embodiments of the present disclosure provided herein. The smoke detector cap 1000 includes a geometric space 1040 and optical deflector fins 1020. In one or more embodiments, the geometric shape 1040 may be any parabolic or elliptic shape. In other embodiments, it may be highly variable or even linear. The outer boundary 1030 represents the physical circular cap of the configuration.

Figure 10C illustrates an isometric view of an exemplary small smoke detector cap, in accordance with some embodiments of the present disclosure provided herein. Smoke detector cap 1000 includes a physical circular cap 1010 and optical deflector fins 1020 of configuration 180.

Figure 11 shows a side view of a representative optical smoke detector boundary surface, in accordance with some embodiments of the present disclosure provided herein. The smoke detector cap 1100 includes a lower boundary 1110, a circular side wall 1130, an upper boundary 120, an axis center 1160, and geometric surfaces 1140 and 1150.

For the sake of clarity, FIG. 11 depicts a side view of a round smoke detector cap 1100, looking downward. Thus, strictly speaking, the geometric surfaces 1140 and 1150 are the same surface. They, however, are labeled differently for illustrative purposes with respect to the photons 1165, 1175.

In one or more embodiments, the smoke detector cap 1100 has a function to reflect and / or absorb light such that light in the smoke detector chamber is scattered generally out of particles, such as smoke, and back into the smoke detector system do. The lower boundary 1110 may represent a printed circuit board (PCB) or wafer die. For purposes of discussion, light from one or more light emitting devices is emitted from this surface direction.

Circular sidewall 1130 includes a generally cylindrical boundary that prevents ambient light from entering or is present in the chamber such that light is not redirected back to lower boundary 1110. [ Again, this premise will be explained later. The upper boundary 1120 represents the top of the smoke detector cap 1100. Considering that the smoke detector cap does not substantially change radially, the axis center 1160 is used to indicate its center.

Actually, in some embodiments, the rays (photons 1165, 1175) are emitted from a light emitting device that propagates up through a smoke detector chamber. The rays are incident on smoke particles (not shown) and are consequently scattered. The scattered rays propagate back to the one or more photodetectors beneath the lower boundary surface. The photodetectors receive nominal light from the background in addition to scattered light.

The geometric surfaces 1150, 1140 serve to reflect light emanating from the lower boundary 1110 away from it, in one or more embodiments. That is, light that is not scattered by particulate matter should be mitigated to maximize the signal-to-noise (SnR) ratio. For example, in the present embodiment, the geometric surfaces 1150 and 1140 have the form of a parabola (strictly speaking, a paraboloid at 3-d). As such, the light emitted from the lower boundary 110 will primarily be reflected in a substantially orthogonal direction, depending on the parabolic foci.

For example, light / photon 1165 is incident on geometry 1150. Due to its direction and angle of incidence on geometry 1150, ray photon 165 is reflected away from lower boundary 1110, represented by ray / photon 1170. Similarly, ray / photon 1175 is incident on geometry 1140. Due to its direction and angles of incidence on geometric form 1140, ray photons 1165 are reflected off the lower boundary 1110, represented by ray / photon 117.

In one or more embodiments, an additional anti-reflective coating 1180 is included. An anti-reflective or anti-reflection (AR) coating is a type of optical coating applied to the surfaces of lenses and other optical elements to reduce reflection. In conventional imaging systems, this improves efficiency because less light is lost due to reflection. This coating is not exclusive to the top cap and can be applied to the anti-reflection fins as previously described.

Many coatings consist of transparent thin film structures with alternating layers of contrasting index of refraction. The layer thicknesses are selected to produce destructive interference at the beams reflected from the interfaces and constructive interference at the corresponding transmitted beams. This causes the performance of the structure to vary with wavelength and angle of incidence, and therefore color effects often appear square.

In at least one embodiment, it is a parabola of geometric form. The parabola is a mirror-symmetric, approximately U-shaped plane curve. It fits any of a number of different surface mathematical descriptions, and it can be proved that they all define exactly the same curves. More specifically, as in this embodiment depicted in FIG. 11, a half parabola is implemented. That is, sqrt (r), which is found to be centered on the axis.

One explanation for a parabola involves point (focus) and line (quasi-line). Focus is not placed on the zenith. A parabola is a place of points in the plane that is equidistant from both the quasi-line and the focal point. Another explanation for the parabola is a conical section, which is created from the intersection of a planar surface parallel to another plane tangent to a conical surface and a conical surface.

In other embodiments, the geometric shape is at least partially elliptical. The ellipse is a curve in the plane surrounding the two focus points such that the sum of the distances to the two focus points is constant for all points on the curve. Thus, it is a generalization of a circle, which is a special type of ellipse with both focal points at the same position. The shape of the ellipse (how "elongated") is represented by its eccentricity, which may be any number less than, but less than, 1 from 0 (limited circumflex) to ellipse.

Ellipses are cone sections of a closed type: plane curves due to the intersection of the cones by plane (see drawing to the right). Ellipses have many similarities with the conical sections of the other two forms: parabolas and hyperbolas, both open and unlimited. The cross section of the cylinder is an ellipse unless the section is parallel to the axis of the cylinder.

However, any conical section does not exceed the scope of the present invention.

This disclosure produces a total attenuation from the LED of about 10 ^-6 to the detector. This has been achieved by design and by configuration in simulations.

The inventors of the present disclosure also use the concept that these scattering properties can be wavelength dependent. Thus, the analysis and / or comparison of the ratios of different wavelengths, lambda, and / or PD1 / PD2 is wavelength dependent and may be useful for the detection of multiple particulate matter.

Other means, systems, and devices are not beyond the scope of the present invention. For example, a plurality of three or more photodetectors may be used to further interpolate and extrapolate characteristic signals of materials. Additionally, alternative LED / photodetector arrangements and geometries may be used.

With reference to the scattering theory of light, our observations and models are in strict accordance with and well consistent with this well-known theory known to the inventors in the art. As such, subsequent observations are due to the underlying physics and are therefore more general than any particular device listed in several of the embodiments.

Thus, while various aspects and embodiments of the present application have been described, it will be appreciated that various changes, modifications, and improvements will readily occur to those skilled in the art. These changes, modifications, and improvements are intended to be within the spirit and scope of the technology described in this application. For example, one of ordinary skill in the art would readily envision a variety of other means and / or structures to perform a function and / or obtain one or more of the results and / or advantages described herein, Each of these variations and / or modifications are considered to be within the scope of the embodiments described herein.

Those skilled in the art will recognize, or will be able to ascertain using no more than routine experimentation, many equivalents to the specific embodiments described herein. It is therefore to be understood that the foregoing embodiments are provided by way of example only, and that within the scope of the appended claims and their equivalents, the embodiments of the invention may be practiced other than as specifically described. It is also to be understood that any combination of the two or more features, systems, articles, materials, kits, and / or methods described herein may be implemented without departing from the scope of the invention, / RTI &gt; are included within the scope of this disclosure unless the methods and / or methods are mutually inconsistent.

The embodiments described above may be implemented in any of a number of ways. One or more aspects and embodiments of the present application involving the execution of processes or methods may be implemented in a device (e.g., a computer, processor, or other device) to perform processes or methods, Lt; RTI ID = 0.0 &gt; executable &lt; / RTI &gt;

In this regard, the various concepts of the present invention may be embodied in a computer-readable storage medium, when executed on one or more computers or other processors, encoded with one or more programs that perform methods of implementing one or more of the various embodiments described above (E.g., computer memory, one or more floppy disks, compact disks, optical disks, magnetic tapes, flash memories, field programmable gate arrays or other semiconductor devices , Or other types of computer storage media).

The computer readable medium or media may be transportable and thus the programs or programs stored thereon may be loaded into one or more different computers or other processors to implement various of the aspects described above. In some embodiments, the computer readable media may be non-transient media.

The terms ("program" or "software") represent a set of computer-executable instructions or any type of computer code that can be used to program a computer or other processor to implement various aspects as described above It is used here in a general sense to mean. Additionally, in accordance with an aspect, one or more computer programs that, when executed, perform the methods of the present application need not reside on a single computer or processor, and may be implemented on a number of different computers or computers It should be understood that they can be distributed in a modular fashion between processes.

Computer-executable instructions may be in many forms, such as program modules, executed by one or more computers or other devices. Generally, program modules include routines, programs, objects, components, data structures, etc. that perform particular tasks or implement particular abstract data types. Typically, the functionality of the program modules may be combined or distributed as desired in various embodiments.

In addition, the data structures may be stored in computer-readable media in any suitable form. For simplicity of illustration, data structures may be shown having fields associated therewith through a position in the data structure. Such relationships can also be achieved by assigning storage for fields with locations in a computer-readable medium that carries a relationship between the fields as well. However, any appropriate mechanism may be used to establish a relationship between information in the fields of the data structure, including through the use of pointers, tags, or other mechanisms for establishing a relationship between data elements have.

When implemented in software, the software code may be executed on any suitable processor or collection of processors, whether provided on a single computer or distributed among multiple computers.

Moreover, it should be understood that the computer may be embodied in any of a number of forms, such as, but not limited to, a rack-mounted computer, a desktop computer, a laptop computer, or a tablet computer. Additionally, the computer is not generally considered to be a computer, but may be embedded in a device having appropriate processing capabilities, including a personal digital assistant (PDA), smart phone, mobile phone, iPad, or any other suitable portable or stationary electronic device .

The computer may also have one or more input and output devices. These devices, among other things, can be used to provide a user interface. Examples of output devices that may be used to provide a user interface include printers or display screens for visual presentation of output and speakers or other sound generating devices for audible presentation of output. Examples of input devices that may be used for the user interface include keyboards, and pointing devices such as a mouse, touch pads, and digitizing tablets. As another example, a computer may receive input information via speech recognition or in other audible formats.

Such computers may be interconnected by one or more networks in any suitable form, including a corporate network and a local or wide area network, such as an intelligent network (IN) or the Internet. Such networks may be based on any suitable technology and may operate in accordance with any suitable protocol and may include wireless networks or wired networks.

Also, as noted, some aspects may be embodied as one or more methods. Operations performed as part of the method may be ordered in any suitable manner. Thus, embodiments in which the operations are performed in a different order than the illustrated one can be configured, which may be performed concurrently, although illustrated as sequential operations in the exemplary embodiments.

As defined and used herein, all definitions should be understood to control dictionary definitions, definitions in integrated documents by reference, and / or the ordinary meanings of defined terms.

As used herein in the specification and in the claims, "a" and "an" should be understood to mean "at least one", unless the context clearly indicates otherwise.

As used in the specification and in the claims, the phrase "and / or") means either "either or both" of the elements so conjoined, Should be understood to mean the elements present. A number of elements listed with "and / or" should be interpreted in the same manner, i.e., "one or more"

Elements other than those specifically identified by the "and / or" clauses may optionally be present regardless of whether they are specifically related to these elements or not, thus, as a non-limiting example, Reference to "A and / or B" when used with a language that does not have constraints such as "containing ", in one embodiment only A (optionally including non-B elements); In yet another embodiment, B only (optionally including non-A elements); In yet another embodiment, both A and B (optionally including other embodiments) may be represented.

A phrase ("at least one") referring to a list of one or more elements, as used in the specification and in the claims, means at least one element selected from any one or more of the elements in the list of elements, It should be understood that it does not exclude any combinations of elements in the list of elements, including at least one of every element specifically listed in the list of elements.

Thus, as a non-limiting example, "at least one of A and B" (or equivalently "at least one of A or B," or equivalently "at least one of A and / or B" , Optionally including at least one A but no B (and optionally including non-B elements); In another embodiment, at least one, optionally including one or more B, but not including A (and optionally including non-A elements); In yet another embodiment, it may optionally include at least one A, optionally including at least one B (and optionally including other elements), or the like.

As used herein, the term ("between") is inclusive unless otherwise indicated. For example, "between A and B" includes A and B unless otherwise indicated.

Also, the phraseology and terminology used herein is for the purpose of description and should not be regarded as limiting. The use of " including, "" including," "comprising," " comprising, "" comprising ", and variations thereof herein will be construed to include additional items as well as subsequently listed items and their equivalents .

It is to be understood that in the claims, as well as in the foregoing description, the terms "comprising", "including", "carrying", "having", "containing", "accompanying", "retaining", " It will be appreciated that all such connectors are meant to be non-limiting, including but not limited to. Only the connectors (consisting "consisting of" and "consisting essentially of") will each be closed or semi-closed connectors.

The present invention should therefore not be considered as limited to the specific embodiments described above. Numerous modifications, equivalent processes, as well as numerous structures within which the invention may be applicable will be readily apparent to those skilled in the art to which the invention pertains upon review of this disclosure.

The present invention should therefore not be considered as limited to the specific embodiments described above. Numerous modifications, equivalent processes, as well as numerous structures in which the invention may be applicable, will be readily apparent to those skilled in the art to which this invention pertains upon review of this disclosure.

1. An apparatus for detecting smoke in a small footprint detector that substantially propagates light away from a smoke detector chamber,

A first light source;

A first photodetector disposed substantially proximal to the first light source;

As non-volatile logic:

Receiving a first signal from the first photodetector; And

The non-volatile logic for performing at least detecting the presence of smoke based on the first received signal; And

And a cap disposed substantially orthogonal to the first light source.

2. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the cap is at least partially shaped like a substantially conical section.

3. The apparatus of claim 2 wherein the cap of the conical section is at least partially parabolic.

4. The apparatus of claim 2, wherein the cap of the conical section is at least partially elliptical.

5. The apparatus of claim 1, further comprising a first light emitting diode having a spectral intensity centered around the first wavelength? ₁ .

6. The apparatus of claim 5, further comprising an array of optical deflection elements disposed in a circle substantially around an outer radius of the cap.

7. The apparatus of claim 6 wherein the array of optical deflection elements is substantially wing-like.

8. The apparatus of claim 6, further comprising a anti-reflection coating disposed on at least one of the cap and the array of optical deflection elements.

9. The apparatus according to claim 6, wherein the coating is centered around a first wavelength (lambda ₁ ).

10. The apparatus of claim 1, further comprising a substrate to which the cap is mechanically coupled.

11. A method for detecting smoke in a small footprint detector that substantially propagates light away from a smoke detector chamber,

Providing light from a first light source;

Detecting the light on a first photodetector disposed proximal to the first light source;

Receiving a first signal from the first photodetector;

Determining, at least in part, the presence of smoke based, at least in part, on the first received signal based on the scattered input image material; And

And reflecting the light using a cap that geometrically reflects light away from the first photodetector.

12. The method of claim 11, wherein the cap is shaped, at least in part, substantially as a conical section.

13. The method of claim 12, wherein the cap of the conical section is at least partially parabolic.

14. The method of claim 12, wherein the cap of the conical section is at least partially elliptical.

15. The method of claim 11, wherein the first light source is a first light emitting diode having a spectral intensity centered around a first wavelength? ₁ .

16. The method of claim 15, further comprising disposing an array of optical deflection elements in a substantially circular form about an outer radius of the cap.

17. The method of claim 16, wherein the array of optical deflection elements is substantially wing-like.

18. The method of claim 16, further comprising depositing a anti-reflective coating on at least one of the cap and the array of optical deflection elements.

19. The method of claim 16, wherein the coating is centered around a first wavelength (lambda ₁ ).

20. The method of claim 11, further comprising mechanically coupling the cap to the substrate.

21. An apparatus for detecting smoke in a small footprint detector that substantially propagates light off a smoke detector chamber,

Means for providing light from a first light source;

Means for detecting the light on a first photodetector disposed proximal to the first light source;

Means for receiving a first signal from the first photodetector;

At least in part, means for determining the presence of smoke based at least in part on the first received signal based on the scattered particulate matter; And

And means for reflecting light using a cap that geometrically reflects light away from the first photodetector.

Claims (22)

An apparatus for detecting smoke in a small footprint detector that alleviates harmful effects of dust, thereby increasing lifetime and efficiency,
A first light source;
A first photodetector disposed substantially proximal to the first light source;
As non-volatile logic:
Receiving a first signal from the first photodetector; And
The non-volatile logic for performing at least detecting the presence of smoke based on the first received signal; And
And a plurality of loss optical elements having a refractive index between 1.4 and 1.7. The method according to claim 1,
Wherein the first light source comprises a first light emitting diode (LED) having a spectral intensity centered around a first wavelength (? ₁ ). The method of claim 2,
Further comprising a second light emitting diode having a spectral intensity centered around the second wavelength (? ₂ ). The method of claim 3,
Further comprising a second photodetector having a spectral intensity centered around a second wavelength (? ₂ ). The method according to claim 1,
Further comprising a substantially opaque barrier between the light source and the first photodetector. The method according to claim 1,
7. The apparatus of claim 6, further comprising a substrate. The method of claim 6,
Further comprising an analog front end disposed on the substrate. The method of claim 7,
Wherein the first photodetector and the second photodetector are disposed on the analog front end. The method of claim 6,
Wherein the first light source is disposed on the substrate. The method according to claim 1,
Wherein the received first signal is based on scattering and is associated with an amount of particulate matter present in the apparatus. A method for detecting smoke in a small footprint detector that alleviates the harmful effects of dust, thereby increasing lifetime and efficiency,
Providing light from a first light source;
Detecting the light on a first photodetector disposed proximal to the first light source;
Receiving a first signal from the first photodetector;
At least in part, determining the presence of smoke based at least in part on the first received signal based on the scattered particulate matter; And
And absorbing ambient light using a plurality of loss optics having a refractive index between 1.4 and 1.7. The method of claim 11,
Wherein the first light source comprises a first light emitting diode (LED) having a spectral intensity centered around a first wavelength (? ₁ ). The method of claim 12,
Further comprising providing light on a second light source. 14. The method of claim 13,
Wherein the second light source comprises a second light emitting diode (LED) having a spectral intensity centered around the first wavelength (? ₂ ). 15. The method of claim 14,
The method further comprising receiving a second signal from the second photodetector, the second photodetector having a spectral intensity centered around the second wavelength (lambda ₂ ). The method of claim 11,
Further comprising blocking light directly from the first light source through an opaque barrier between the light source and the first photodetector. The method of claim 11,
The method further comprising: providing a substrate. 18. The method of claim 17,
Further comprising disposing an analog front end (AFE) on the substrate. 19. The method of claim 18,
Further comprising disposing the first photodetector and the second photodetector on the analog front end. 18. The method of claim 17,
Wherein the first light source is disposed on the substrate. The method of claim 11,
Wherein the received first signal is based on scattering and is associated with an amount of particulate matter present in the apparatus. An apparatus for detecting smoke in a small footprint detector that alleviates harmful effects of dust, thereby increasing lifetime and efficiency,
Means for providing light from a first light source;
Means for detecting the light on a first photodetector disposed proximal to the first light source;
Means for receiving a first signal from the first photodetector;
At least in part, means for determining the presence of smoke based at least in part on the first received signal based on the scattered particulate matter;
Means for absorbing ambient light using a plurality of loss optics having a refractive index between 1.4 and 1.7; And
And means for reflecting light using a cap that geometrically reflects light away from the first photodetector.

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