BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING
FIG. 1 is a diagram of the security system components of the present invention.
FIG. 2 is a block diagram of the security system of the present invention.
FIG. 3 is a flowchart of the present invention.
BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION
The preferred embodiments of the present invention will now be described with respect to the Figures. FIG. 1 shows a premise 1 monitored by a security system 5 (block diagram shown in FIG. 2). Also shown in FIG. 1 is an off site location 2, possibly a work site. The present invention allows an end user (homeowner) to conditionally schedule the security system 5 to perform events that will help the end user to better monitor the premise 1. For example, on Thursdays when the end user leaves for work to off site location 2, he arms-away the security system 5 using user input/output device 30 (shown as a wall mounted keypad but may also be a key fob). Once the security system 5 has been armed, the intrusion detection devices 50 (shown in FIG. 2), which include front gate 6 sensor, door 7 sensors, motion detectors 12, pool gate 8 sensor, and garage 11 sensor, give fault information to security panel 9 as well known in the art.
In the present invention, the end user has the ability to schedule, using user programming means 40 (shown in FIG. 2) located on user input/output device 30, the front gate 6 and pool gate 8 to be disarmed between 12 pm and 3 pm to allow the landscapers access to the premise 1. The security system 5 compares the current time and day with the scheduled time and day to determine when it is 12 pm Thursday. It also checks that the status of the security system 5 is armed-away. If the security system 5 was disarmed or armed-stay the children might be home and they would have access to the pool area 4. The security system 5 also determines (or reads from memory) the duration of the scheduled event and arms the front gate 6 and the pool gate 8 after 3 hours have expired. An additional feature of the present invention is that the end user can program the security system 5 to perform other actions based on the status of the security system 5 during the scheduled event. For instance, when there is a fault from the front gate 6 after it has been disabled, the security system activates the camera 90 and sends an email message over the internet 110 to the end user at work site 2 that includes the camera 90 footage. The end user can be sure that the person entering the premise 1 is the landscaper. Another example would be when the landscaper doesn't show up during the three hour duration, the security system sends and email to the end user. Yet another action might occur when the security system 5 tries to rearm the pool gate 8 and the landscapers have left it open. An email can be sent to the end user notifying him of the problem. He can then call the landscaper and have them correct the problem. This is only one example of a conditional scheduled event. The security system 5 may be programmed for many conditional scheduled events which may include the house cleaners cleaning the house 3, the children arriving home, etc. In each of these scheduled events the end user programs the security system 5 with the scheduled time, the duration of the event, the condition of the security system 5 if the event is to take place, and the actions that the security system should perform.
The components of security system 5 for the present invention are shown in FIG. 2. The intrusion detection devices 50, describe above, are connected to the fault detection circuit 60, which determines when a fault has occurred in one of the zones and notifies the processor 10. A zone may be a single sensor such as front gate 6 or may include multiple sensors such as all motion detectors 12. The end user programs the security system 5 through the user programming means 40. The user programming means 40 may be dedicated keys on the key pad or may be a computer that is interfaced to the user input/output means 30 or directly to the processor 10. The user may program the security system to be armed-away, armed-stay, or disarmed. If the security system is armed and a fault has occurred the actions the processor 10 may take are to sound an alarm 70, cause a chime 80, activate a camera 90, dial a security service via a telephone connection 100, or email a user 110. The operation of the security system 5 and its components are well known to one skilled in the art and will not be described in detail.
In accordance with the present invention, the security system 5 allows the end user to program selected events to be performed at a user selected times, conditions, and durations. The events include zone setting actions, zone fault actions, zone problem actions, and zone no-fault actions. The zone setting actions may be either arming (stay or away) a zone, disarming a zone, and changing a zone type (day, night, 24 hour). The zone fault actions, which occur when there is a fault in an armed zone, may be sounding an alarm 70, causing a chime 80, activating a camera 90, dialing a security service via a telephone connection 100, emailing a user 110, and/or transmitting a voice message to the user input/output device 30. The zone problem actions, which occur when a fault exists while arming a zone, may be to cause a chime 80, activate a camera 90, email a user 110, and/or transmit a voice message to the user input/output device 30. Lastly, the zone no-fault action, which occurs when there is no fault for the duration of a zone being disarmed, is emailing a user 110. The events along with the event time information and the event condition information are programmed into memory device 20 through the user programming means 40. The processor 10 executes the event when the current time, supplied by real time clock 120, is equal to or greater than the stored event time and when the status, supplied by status register 130, satisfies the stored event condition. The processor 10 also initiates duration counter 140 with the duration of the event stored as part of the event time information. The stored time information in memory 20, the current time from real time clock 120, and the duration counter 140 all contain date information, day of the week information, and time of the day information. The event condition stored in memory 20 and the status from status register 130 both include zone information for each zone, fault information, zone type information, and information about a holiday, a pet on the premise, or a child on the premise. The memory 20 stores multiple events each containing time information, condition information, and action information.
FIG. 3 shows a flowchart of the operations performed by the processor 10 for performing conditional scheduled events. The processor 10 programs the memory 20 with the event information programmed by an end user into the user programming means 40. The processor 10 determines a schedule of events using the time information of each event. The processor 10 determines the time of the next event and compares it to the current time from the real time clock 120. The processor 10 reads the status from the status register 130 and compares it to the event condition information of the next event. If the status is equal to the event condition, the processor 10 performs the event action zone setting, i.e. zone arming or disarming and starts the duration counter with the duration information of the event. If the status is not equal to the event condition, the processor 10 determines if it is because of a fault problem. If it is because of a fault problem, the processor 10 performs the problem action specified by the event action information. After each action, the processor 10 starts the process again by determining the next scheduled event. The processor 10 also waits for a fault to be detected by the fault detection circuit 60 and for the duration counter 140 to finish. If a fault is detected the processor 10 performs the programmed fault action. If the duration counter 140 is finished the processor 10 determines if there was a fault during the duration and if not determines if the zones were disarmed and if they were the processor performs the programmed no-fault action. The processor 10 then resets the security system to its state before the event took place.
It will be apparent to those skilled in the art that modifications to the specific embodiment described herein may be made while still being within the spirit and scope of the present invention. For example, the memory 20 may be programmed differently with additional information or less information. The status register 130 may also contain different information or may be a memory location rather than a register. The fault detection circuit 60, the real time clock 120, and the duration counter 140 may be design in many different ways to accomplish the basic functions of the circuits. The processor 10 may also execute different operations and may perform them in a different sequence. Lastly there may be multiple status registers, fault detection circuits, and duration counters to perform concurrent scheduled events.
Patent Application
20080094202
