This invention relates generally to communication electronics that may be incorporated in batteries used for smoke detectors, CO detectors, or the like. The invention relies on the communication electronics to detect audio signals generated by smoke detectors and relay audio signals to a remote receiver such as a control panel, or to transmit the signals to other smoke detectors in order to trigger alarm signals of their own.
Electronic devices of the type that generate an audible signal when an alarm condition is sensed, such as a smoke detector or a CO detector, are often installed in residential and commercial buildings. There are often a number of these devices distributed throughout the building. Presently, such sensor devices suffer from the fact that the audio signals may occur at a time when there are no personnel in the building or those persons in the building are not sufficiently close to the devices to hear the audible signals.
A good solution for this might be to use more intelligent sensor devices which are equipped to effectively relay the alarm signals to a control panel or trigger the alarms of other sensor devices to generate alarms throughout the building.
More intelligent sensor devices capable of communications have been developed over the years. For example, Google's smart smoke alarm Nest Protect® sends users a message on the phone when the battery is running low. Nest Protect offers a human voice that gives an early warning when it detects smoke. In situations wherein the smoke results from a nondangerous source, such as from burning toast, persons nearby have opportunity to correct the problem before the alarm starts screeching. When something is wrong, Nest Protect alerts your smartphone in case you are not home. If desirable, the alarm may be deactivated by only a tap on the smartphone.
However, Nest Protect devices do not communicate with other Nest Protect devices.
It may be expensive to replace existing smoke detectors with new smarter devices. Consumers may grow accustomed to their old devices despite some of their annoying traits.
However, if the old devices could be upgraded by simply replacing the old batteries with a more intelligent battery at an affordable price, consumers may be more willing to make the change.
Significant efforts have been made to develop intelligent batteries having electronic circuitry embedded inside the battery. However, there are also problems associated with having electronic circuitry embedded in a battery. For example, the corrosive environment of the battery cell may cause damage to the electronic circuitry. Or the battery may fail when the electronic circuitry is damaged. U.S. Pat. No. 6,979,502B1 to Gartstein, granted Dec. 27, 2005, is directed to a battery having an independent housing containing electronic circuitry. The housing may be snapped onto the battery cell to form an assembly which may fit in a battery socket. The electronic circuitry of Gartstein is limited to communicating to the battery cell, as opposed to communicating to the electronic device powered by the battery or other remote electronic devices.
The present invention provides a communication electronics module which has its own casing of the same dimensions as a battery, such as 1.5 or 9 volt battery, and may be incorporated in a single-cell battery or a multiple-cell battery pack. The communication electronics module of the present invention may also be a stand-alone device which may fit in a single slot of a multiple-slot battery socket and be powered by the batteries in the neighboring slots of the same battery socket. The communication electronics module may communicate with the battery cells in the battery or battery packs of the present invention, or with the batteries in neighboring slots of the same battery socket. In addition, the communication electronics module may communicate with the electronic device powered by the battery or battery pack of the present invention. Finally, the communication electronics module may also communicate with remote electronic devices.
It is an object of this invention to provide a communication electronics module incorporated in a housing the same size as the conventional battery pack, with one or more cells of the battery removed to make room for the communication electronics module or modules.
According to an embodiment of the present invention, the communication electronics module includes its own casing with a positive circuit terminal and a negative circuit terminal. The communication electronics module may be powered by the battery cells in the battery pack.
The module further includes one or more sensors and a transmitter enclosed in the casing and electrically connected to the terminals of the casing. Therefore, power may be supplied to the circuit inside the casing through the circuit terminals.
The sensor is for sensing a signal generated by an independent device. For example, the independent device may be a smoke detector, a CO detector, or the like. The type of signal generated by the electronic device may be an audio signal when an alarm condition is sensed.
The sensor may be a microphone, a vibration sensor or any other type of audio sensor. The sensor may also be a current draw sensor or any type of sensing elements for current measurements, such as shunt resistor, a direct current resistance circuit, or a Hall Effect sensor.
The transmitter incorporated in the battery casing operates to transmit a signal to a remote receiver upon sensing the signal from the electronic device. The signal transmitted by the transmitter may be an audio signal.
In another embodiment, the module may include a transceiver. The transceiver is operable to transmit a signal to a remote receiver upon sensing the signal from the electronic device, and may incorporate circuits to receive an acknowledgement signal from the remote receiver after the remote receiver receives the signal transmitted by the transceiver.
The communication electronics module may also be operable to turn off the alarm signal or perform other actions such as changing the sound of the audible sensor or switching to auxiliary external power supplies for the alarm upon receiving the acknowledgement signal from the remote receiver.
The electronic device may be an electronic device powered by the battery pack including the communication electronics module. For example, when an alarm is sensed, a smoke detector generates an alarm signal. The communication electronics module senses the alarm signal and then relays that signal to a remote control panel.
It is another object of this invention to provide a communication electronics module incorporated in a housing the same size as a conventional single-cell battery. The housing includes a positive terminal and a negative terminal configured to fit in a conventional single battery socket of an electronic device. When the communication electronics module is plugged in a single slot of a multi-slot battery socket and conventional batteries are plugged in other slots of the multi-slot battery socket, the communication electronics module is powered by the batteries plugged in other slots of the multi-slot battery socket.
In another embodiment, a physically smaller but higher energy density battery cell is included in the housing to supply power to the communication electronics module. When the communication electronics module is plugged in a slot of the battery socket of an electronic device, the electronic device is powered by the battery cell in the communication electronics module and the communication electronics module communicates with the electronic device. In addition, the communication electronics module is operable to communicate with a remote electronic device that is not powered by the battery cell in the communication electronics module.
The communication electronics module may further include a micro-switch for sensing the connection between the contacts of the module and the mating contacts of the powered electronic device when the communication electronics module is plugged in a slot of the battery socket of the electronic device.
The communication electronics module may further include a switch for connecting or disconnecting the battery cell from the powered electronic device, under certain conditions such as receiving an appropriate signal via the transceiver.
The communication electronics module is also operable to communicate with a remote receiver such as a remote safety and fire control panel. This communication may be done by a wired connection extending from the battery housing electronics or, preferably, by some wireless transmission such as RF, infrared, or the like to the remote receiver. This communication may also take the form of a cell phone transmission to a designated URL on the Internet.
Therefore, the communication electronics module may further include a random access memory for storing the URLs and other related data.
The communication electronics module may further include a monitoring circuit for monitoring battery life of the battery cell.
The communication electronics module may further include a compensating circuit for a lithium battery.
The present invention provides a communication electronics module that is disposed in a casing like that of a consumer battery. The present invention further provides a communication electronics module that is affixed to a consumer battery or battery pack. The term “battery,” as used in this application, refers to a casing having a battery cell and terminals. The term “battery,” as used in this application, may be a cylindrical battery such as AAAA, AAA, AA, C or D. The term “battery,” as used in this application, may also be a prismatic battery such as a 9 V battery. The term “battery pack,” as used in this application, refers to a housing having terminals and more than one battery cell.
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For example, the sound the microphone picks up may be generated by an electronic device powered by the battery including the module 100. Or the sound may be generated by an electronic device in a different location in the building. Correspondingly, when the sound picked up by the microphone comes from another electronic device, the transmitter 140 may generate it own alarm signal at the electronic device 100. If the sound picked up by the microphone comes from the electronic device 100 which the microphone is situated in, the transmitter 140 may trigger an alarm signal at a different electronic device if the electronic device also includes a communication electronics module 100.
The transmitter 140 may be replaced by a transceiver by incorporating a receiver 142 in the communication electronics module 100. The receiver 142, after the module sending an alarm signal, may receive a responsive acknowledgement signal from the remote receiver and make a decision to either turn off or change the sound of the alarm or perform other actions such as switching to an auxiliary external power supplies (not shown) for the alarm.
In another embodiment, a microcontroller (not shown) may be included to determine when or whether to transmit signals to the remote receivers and turn off the transmitted signals.
The transmission of signals from the transmitter 140 or the transceiver (140 and 142) may be done by a wired connection extending from the module 100 or, preferably, by some wireless transmission such as RF, infrared, or the like. Therefore, an antenna 150 is provided in the module 100.
In another embodiment, the transmitter may send a message to a smartphone via a WIFI connection to alert a person who may not be in the same location as the alarm. The circuitry inside the casing 110 may be powered by external power supplies through the terminals 170 and 190.
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This application claims priority from U.S. Provisional Patent Application Ser. No. 62/036,355, filed Aug. 12, 2014, the entire content of which is incorporated herein by reference.
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Number | Date | Country | |
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20160049697 A1 | Feb 2016 | US |
Number | Date | Country | |
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62036355 | Aug 2014 | US |