Patent Application
20240087485
Not Applicable
Not Applicable
Not Applicable
Not Applicable
Not Applicable
The disclosure relates to address devices and more particularly pertains to a new address device for facilitating a delivery driver to clearly read the address of a building. The device includes a housing that is mounted to an exterior wall of a building, a light emitter integrated into the housing and placard with the address of the building which is illuminated by the light emitter when the light emitter is turned on. The device includes a first transceiver that is in communication with a global positioning system and second transceiver that is in communication with a personal electronic device and a delivery driver. The light emitter is turned on when the delivery driver approaches within a trigger distance of the building and the light emitter is turned off when the delivery driver completes the delivery.
The prior art relates to address devices including a variety of illuminated address signs that can be attached to an exterior wall of a building. The prior art discloses an illuminated address sign that includes a motion sensor to turn on the illuminated address sign with a person approaches the illuminated address sign. In no instance does the prior art disclose an illuminated address sign that is in wireless communication with an extrinsic communication network and a global positioning system.
An embodiment of the disclosure meets the needs presented above by generally comprising a housing that is attachable to an exterior wall of a building such that the housing is visible to an individual approaching the building. A light emitter is integrated into the housing to emit light outwardly from the housing. A communication unit is integrated into the housing and the communication unit receives a delivery command from a personal electronic device. The light emitter is turned on when the delivery driver passes within a trigger distance of the building to facilitate the delivery driver to visually identify the building as the destination for the delivery. A placard is insertable into the opening in the housing with indicia that is illuminated by the light emitter to facilitate the delivery driver approaching the building to read the address of the building.
There has thus been outlined, rather broadly, the more important features of the disclosure in order that the detailed description thereof that follows may be better understood, and in order that the present contribution to the art may be better appreciated. There are additional features of the disclosure that will be described hereinafter and which will form the subject matter of the claims appended hereto.
The objects of the disclosure, along with the various features of novelty which characterize the disclosure, are pointed out with particularity in the claims annexed to and forming a part of this disclosure.
The disclosure will be better understood and objects other than those set forth above will become apparent when consideration is given to the following detailed description thereof. Such description makes reference to the annexed drawings wherein:
With reference now to the drawings, and in particular to
As best illustrated in
The housing 14 has a back wall 22, a front wall 24 and a top wall 26, and the top wall 26 slopes downwardly between the back wall 22 and the front wall 24. The opening extends through the front wall 24 into an interior of the housing 14 and the opening 20 has a bounding edge 27. The bounding edge 27 has a lower side 28, a top side 30, a first lateral side 32 and a second lateral side 34, and the opening 20 is elongated between the first lateral side 32 and the second lateral side 34. The bounding edge 27 has a groove 36 which is recessed into the top side 30, the first lateral side 32 and the second lateral side 34. The groove 36 has a bounding surface 38 and the bounding surface 38 is concavely arcuate with respect to the bounding edge 27.
The lower side 28 of the bounding edge 27 of the opening 20 has a first portion 40 that is raised with respect to a second portion 42. The second portion 42 is aligned with the front wall 24 of the housing 14 and the second portion 42 has a recess 44 extending downwardly from the second portion 42. The recess 44 has a bounding surface 46 and the bounding surface 46 of the recess 44 is concavely arcuate with respect to the second portion 42 thereby facilitating the recess 44 to accommodate a user's finger. The back wall 22 has a plurality of mounting holes 48 each extending into an interior of the housing 14 and each of the mounting holes 48 has a first portion 50 which has a diameter that is greater than a second portion 52 such that each of the mounting holes 48 has a pear shape. The first portion 50 of the mounting holes 48 insertably receives a head of a fastener, such as a screw or the like, having the second portion 52 of the mounting holes 48 receiving a shaft of the fastener for retaining the housing 14 on the exterior wall 16 of the building 18. The housing 14 has a battery compartment 54 disposed within the interior of the housing 14, the back wall 22 of the housing 14 has a battery opening 56 extending into the battery compartment 54 and a battery cover 55 removably covers the battery compartment 54.
A light emitter 58 is integrated into the housing 14 and the light emitter 58 emits light outwardly from the housing 14 thereby enhancing visibility of the housing 14 to the person approaching the building 18. The light emitter 58 is attached to an inside surface 60 of the back wall 22 of the housing 14 and the light emitter 58 is directed toward the opening 20 in the front wall 24 of the housing 14 to emit light outwardly through the opening 20. The light emitter 58 may comprise a light emitting diode or other type of electronic light emitter or the like.
A communication unit 62 is integrated into the housing 14 and the communication unit 62 is in communication with the light emitter 58. The communication unit 62 is in communication with the personal electronic device 12 such that the communication unit 62 receives a delivery command from the personal electronic device 12. The communication unit 62 is in communication with an extrinsic communication network 64 thereby facilitating the communication unit 62 to be in remote communication with the delivery driver 66. The light emitter 58 is turned on when the delivery driver 66 approaches within a trigger distance of the building 18 and the light emitter 58 is turned off when the delivery driver 66 completes the delivery.
The communication unit 62 comprises a control circuit 68 that is integrated into the housing 14, the control circuit 68 receives an actuate input and a de-actuate input, and the control circuit 68 is electrically coupled to the light emitter 58. The light emitter 58 is turned on when the control circuit 68 receives the actuate input and the light emitter 58 is turned off when the control circuit 68 receives the de-actuate input. The communication unit 62 includes a first transceiver 70 that is integrated into the housing 14 and the first transceiver 70 is electrically coupled to the control circuit 68. The first transceiver 70 is in wireless communication with a global positioning system 72 thereby facilitating the first transceiver 70 to identify the physical location of the building 18 to which the housing 14 is attached. The first transceiver 70 may comprise a radio frequency transceiver or the like and the first transceiver 70 may be in communication with the global positioning system 72 via the internet or a cellular phone network.
The communication unit 62 includes a second transceiver 74 that is integrated into the housing 14 and the second transceiver 74 is electrically coupled to the control circuit 68. The second transceiver 74 is in wireless communication with the extrinsic communication network 64 thereby facilitating the second transceiver 74 to be in wireless communication with the personal electronic device 12. In this way the second transceiver 74 can receive the delivery command from the personal electronic device 12. The second transceiver 74 may comprise a radio frequency transceiver or the like and the extrinsic communication network 64 may comprise the internet or a cellular phone network.
The control circuit 68 analyzes the location of the delivery driver 66 against the physical location of the building 18. The control circuit 68 receives the actuate input when the second transceiver 74 receives the delivery command and the second transceiver 74 receives the location of the delivery driver 66 from the personal electronic device 12. The control circuit 68 receives the actuate input when the control circuit 68 determines that the delivery driver 66 has traveled within the trigger distance of the building 18. The trigger distance may be a distance of no greater than approximately 300.0 meters. Thus, the light emitter 58 is only turned on when the delivery driver 66 approaches the building 18 rather than being turned on the entire time the delivery driver 66 is travelling to the building 18.
The communication unit 62 includes a power supply 76 that is integrated into the housing 14 and the power supply 76 is electrically coupled to the control circuit 68. The power supply 76 comprises a rechargeable battery 78 that is positioned within the battery compartment 54 in the housing 14. The rechargeable battery 78 is electrically coupled to the control circuit 68. The power supply 76 includes a solar panel 80 that is disposed on the top wall 26 of the housing 14 thereby facilitating the solar panel 80 to be exposed to sunlight. The solar panel 80 is electrically coupled to the rechargeable battery 78 for charging the rechargeable battery 78. The control circuit 68 may be wired directly into an electrical system of the building 18 in lieu of the rechargeable battery 78 and the solar panel 80 for electrical power.
A placard 82 is provided that is insertable into the opening 20 in the housing 14 and the placard 82 has indicia 84 that is integrated into the placard 82. The indicia 84 comprise numbers representing an address of the building 18. The indicia 84 are comprised of a translucent material thereby facilitating the light emitter 58 to illuminate the indicia 84. Additionally, the placard 82 is comprised of an opaque material thereby inhibiting light from passing through the placard 82 with the exception of the indicia 84. In this way the placard 82 facilitates the individual approaching the building 18 to read the address of the building 18. The placard 82 has a front surface 86, a back surface 88 and a perimeter edge 90 extending between the front surface 86 and the back surface 88, and the perimeter edge 90 has a lower side 92, an upper side 94, a first lateral side 96 and a second lateral side 98. In an alternative embodiment 97 as is shown in
The placard 82 has a lobe 100 extending away from the perimeter edge 90 and the lobe 100 extends along each of the upper side 94 and the first lateral side 96 and the second lateral side 98 of the perimeter edge 90. The perimeter edge 90 has a groove 102 extending into the lower side 92 of the perimeter edge 90 and the groove 36 in the perimeter edge 90 extends between the first lateral side 96 and the second lateral side 98 of the perimeter edge 90. The groove 36 in the perimeter edge 90 is aligned with the back surface 88 and the lobe 100 extends into the groove 36 in the bounding edge 27 of the opening 20 in the housing 14.
The lobe 100 is convexly arcuate with respect to the perimeter edge 90 such that the lobe 100 conforms to the bounding surface 38 of the groove 36 in the bounding edge 27 of the opening 20. The first portion 40 of the lower side 28 of the bounding edge 27 of the opening 20 extends into the groove 36 in the lower side 92 of the perimeter edge 90 of the placard 82. Additionally, the recess 44 in the second portion 42 of the lower side 28 of the bounding edge 27 of the opening 20 in the housing 14 facilitates the lower side 92 of the perimeter edge 90 of the placard 82 to be gripped for removing the placard 82 from the opening 20.
In use, the light emitter 58 is turned on when the delivery driver 66 approaches within the trigger distance of the building 18. In this way the indicia 84 on the placard 82 is illuminated so the delivery driver 66 can clearly read the address of the building 18 when the delivery driver 66 approaches the building 18. Additionally, the light emitter 58 has a sufficiently low intensity to inhibit neighbors from being disturbed by light from the light emitter 58 such as commonly happens with porch lights or security lights. The light emitter 58 is turned off once reception of the food delivery has been confirmed with the food delivery application in the personal electronic device 12. Additionally, the light emitter 58 is turned on anytime the personal electronic device 12 is employed to call 911 for emergency assistance thereby ensuring that first responders can clearly see the address of the building 18. The housing 14 can be transferred to a different building when the owner of the housing 14 relocates, for example.
With respect to the above description then, it is to be realized that the optimum dimensional relationships for the parts of an embodiment enabled by the disclosure, to include variations in size, materials, shape, form, function and manner of operation, assembly and use, are deemed readily apparent and obvious to one skilled in the art, and all equivalent relationships to those illustrated in the drawings and described in the specification are intended to be encompassed by an embodiment of the disclosure.
Therefore, the foregoing is considered as illustrative only of the principles of the disclosure. Further, since numerous modifications and changes will readily occur to those skilled in the art, it is not desired to limit the disclosure to the exact construction and operation shown and described, and accordingly, all suitable modifications and equivalents may be resorted to, falling within the scope of the disclosure. In this patent document, the word “comprising” is used in its non-limiting sense to mean that items following the word are included, but items not specifically mentioned are not excluded. A reference to an element by the indefinite article “a” does not exclude the possibility that more than one of the element is present, unless the context clearly requires that there be only one of the elements.
