Patent Application
20120326816
The present invention relates to magnetic security switches for entrances and exits.
Security systems and/or security alarm systems often use magnetic switches attached to doors, windows, and other structures to detect the unauthorized opening and/or manipulation of the door, window, or other structures. However, previous magnetic switch designs have been prone to tampering, have exhibited unacceptable reliability, and/or are inflexible regarding the manner in which the magnetic switch couples to the door, window, or other structure.
Magnetic switches use the detection of a magnetic field and/or the absence of a magnetic field to indicate that a door, window, or other enclosure access has been opened. In its simplest form, a magnetic switch uses permanent magnet mounted to an enclosure access, e.g. a door to a room, and a magnetic sensor, such as a reed switch, to detect the presence or absence of the permanent magnet. If the magnet is detected, then the door is in the expected position. If no magnet is detected, then the door is not in the expected position. This go/no-go signal can be used as an input to an alarm system, automatic monitoring systems, and/or safety interlocks.
The effectiveness of the magnetic switch as an element of a security system may be affected by the alignment of the permanent magnet with the magnetic sensor and the sensitivity of the magnetic sensor. For example, if the permanent magnet is not within the magnetic sensor's reliable detection range when a door is in an expected position, then the magnetic sensor may incorrectly indicate that the door is not in position. Further, a misaligned permanent magnet may inadvertently be within the detection range of the magnetic sensor when the door is not in the expected position and therefore incorrectly indicate that the door is in position (e.g. a partially closed door indicated as fully closed).
The magnetic switch assembly of an embodiment of the present invention presents numerous advantages, including: (1) mounting position and orientation flexibility; (2) mounting symmetry to conveniently position interface; (3) tolerance of coarse motion precision; (4) simplicity of construction; and (5) simplicity of mounting.
Additional advantages of the invention will be set forth in part in the description which follows, and in part will be obvious from the description, or may be learned by practice of the invention. The advantages of the invention may be realized and attained by means of the instrumentalities and combinations particularly pointed out in the appended claims. Further benefits and advantages of the embodiments of the invention will become apparent from consideration of the following detailed description given with reference to the accompanying drawings, which specify and show preferred embodiments of the present invention.
The accompanying drawings, which are incorporated into and constitute a part of this specification, illustrate one or more embodiments of the present invention and, together with the detailed description, serve to explain the principles and implementations of the invention.
Turning now descriptively to the drawings, in which similar reference characters denote similar elements throughout the several views, the figures illustrate the magnetic switch assembly of the present invention. With regard to the reference numerals used, the following numbering is used throughout the various drawing figures:
Before beginning a detailed description of the subject invention, mention of the following is in order. When appropriate, like reference materials and characters are used to designate identical, corresponding, or similar components in differing figure drawings. The figure drawings associated with this disclosure typically are not drawn with dimensional accuracy to scale, i.e., such drawings have been drafted with a focus on clarity of viewing and understanding rather than dimensional accuracy.
In the interest of clarity, not all of the routine features of the implementations described herein are shown and described. It will, of course, be appreciated that in the development of any such actual implementation, numerous implementation-specific decisions must be made in order to achieve the developer's specific goals, such as compliance with application- and business-related constraints, and that these specific goals will vary from one implementation to another and from one developer to another. Moreover, it will be appreciated that such a development effort might be complex and time-consuming, but would nevertheless be a routine undertaking of engineering for those of ordinary skill in the art having the benefit of this disclosure.
As shown in
The reed switches 44 of an embodiment may also substantially abut and/or lie adjacent to one another within the switch bore 21. For example, each reed switch 44 may contain a pair (or more) of magnetizable and electrically conductive metal reeds that have end portions separated by a small gap when the switch is open. The reeds are hermetically sealed in opposite ends of a tubular glass envelope from which contacts, conductors, and/or leads may protrude to electrically couple the reed switches 44 with the interface 42, an external circuit, or the like. Accordingly, in an embodiment the tubular glass envelopes of each reed switch 44 may substantially abut and/or lie substantially as close as possible to one another while still permitting access to the contacts, conductors, and/or leads extending from each reed switch 44 at their junction.
Each reed switch 44 of an embodiment may be normally (i.e., in the absence of a magnetic field) open. For such a configuration, the presence of a magnetic field (e.g., as generated by the proximity of magnets 32 included in magnet base 30) may close the reeds within each reed switch 44 to complete a circuit. In an embodiment, multiple reed switches 44 are electrically coupled to the interface 22 in parallel. The magnetic activation of one or more reed switches 44 will, for example, close the circuit coupled to interface 42 and may accordingly be detected by, for example, a security system (not illustrated). The assembly and/or electrical coupling of the reed switches 44 in a parallel circuit may increase the flexibility with which the magnetic switch assembly 10 may be deployed because the magnetic activation of any individual reed switch 44 and/or combinations of multiple reed switches 44 may be detected.
For example, as illustrated both the switch housing 20 and the magnet housing 30 have an approximately square cross section in the portion including and/or defining the switch bore 21 and the magnet bore 31 respectively. Further, the switch bore 21 and the magnet bore 31 are substantially centered in the approximately square cross sections. Accordingly, the strength and profile of the magnetic field generated by one or more magnets 32 along each facet of the magnet housing 30 may be substantially similar. The sensitivity of the reed switches 44 along each facet of switch housing 20 may also be substantially similar. As a result, each facet of the switch housing 20 may be substantially similarly responsive to each facet of the magnet housing 30.
Additionally, the strength and profile of the magnetic field generated by one or more magnets 32 along each facet of the magnet housing 30 may be substantially symmetrical. The sensitivity of the reed switches 44 along each facet of switch housing 20 may also be substantially symmetrical. As a result, in addition to the various configurations for which a facet of the switch housing 20 is adjacent a facet of the magnet housing 30, either housing may be flipped without substantially altering the operation of the magnetic switch assembly 10 of an embodiment. More specifically, if a specific magnetic switch assembly 10 application requires that the flex conduit 40 including interface 42 extend from the switch housing 20 in a particular direction, the switch housing 20 may be flipped substantially without interfering with the magnetic switch assembly 10 operation.
Further still, as the actuation of only one of the reed switches 44 may be detected, the magnet housing 30 position and/or orientation may be further modified For example,
Those skilled in the art will recognize that numerous modifications and changes may be made to the preferred embodiment without departing from the scope of the claimed invention. It will, of course, be understood that modifications of the invention, in its various aspects, will be apparent to those skilled in the art, some being apparent only after study, others being matters of routine mechanical, chemical and electronic design. No single feature, function or property of the preferred embodiment is essential. Other embodiments are possible, their specific designs depending upon the particular application. As such, the scope of the invention should not be limited by the particular embodiments herein described but should be defined only by the appended claims and equivalents thereof.
This application is a continuation of and claims priority to co-pending U.S. Non-provisional application Ser. No. 12/764,816 filed 21 Apr. 2010, which in turn claims priority to U.S. Provisional Patent Application Ser. No. 61/171,812 filed Apr. 22, 2009, all of which are herein incorporated by reference.
| Number | Date | Country | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 61171812 | Apr 2009 | US |
| Number | Date | Country | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Parent | 12764816 | Apr 2010 | US |
| Child | 13605906 | US |
