The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document.
The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge covers the following: Patent number, Date patent was issued, Date patent was filed, Title of the patent, Applicant, Inventor, Assignee, Attorney firm, Primary examiner, Assistant examiner, CPCs, and Abstract. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document (in Adobe Acrobat format, aka pdf). To download or print any patent click here.
Patent No.:
Date of Patent:
Oct. 19, 2004
Filed:
Sep. 04, 2002
Blaine C. Readler, San Diego, CA (US);
Other;
Abstract
A very reliable alarm system is comprised of transceiver node devices interconnected via infrared links forming a secure perimeter, whereby each transceiver node in the perimeter receives an infrared transmission from a previous transceiver node, and itself transmits an infrared signal to the next transceiver node in the perimeter. If a break of an infrared link occurs, such as would happen if an intruder enters the perimeter area, an indication of the break is communicated around to a base unit device either by each subsequent node device inhibiting its infrared transmission, or changing its transmission to that of a special alarm signal. Upon receiving an indication of a perimeter break the base unit device alerts alarm signaling devices such as audible or visual alarm indicators. Each transceiver node device is able to determine its position in the perimeter and, in one embodiment of the invention, the position information of the node device following an infrared link break is communicated around to the base unit device for presentation. During normal, non-breached operation, each transceiver node device can use its known perimeter location to generate a unique infrared transmission so that a receiving unit is able to distinguish the previous unit's transmission from others in the perimeter. As an aid to initial setup, the transceiver node devices can be placed into a calibration mode in which the user is provided visual indication as to the alignment of the transmitted infrared beam from one transceiver node with the infrared receiver of another node. In a different arrangement, by initiating the linked infra-red transmissions from source nodes separate from the base unit, and including multiple infra-red receivers on some link nodes, non-enclosed boundaries can be protected from breaches.