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:
Mar. 29, 2005
Filed:
Jan. 10, 2003
John J. Andres, Colorado Springs, CO (US);
Micahel W. Apperson, Chapel Hill, NC (US);
Stephen M. Ernst, Colorado Springs, CO (US);
Chris R. Gilbert, Colorado Springs, CO (US);
Richard Kwor, Colorado Springs, CO (US);
Joseph G. Deluca, Colorado Springs, CO (US);
John J. Andres, Colorado Springs, CO (US);
Micahel W. Apperson, Chapel Hill, NC (US);
Stephen M. Ernst, Colorado Springs, CO (US);
Chris R. Gilbert, Colorado Springs, CO (US);
Richard Kwor, Colorado Springs, CO (US);
Joseph G. DeLuca, Colorado Springs, CO (US);
Walter Kidde Portable Equipment, Inc., Mebane, NC (US);
Abstract
An apparatus for the detection and enunciation of hazardous conditions within an environment comprises at least two detection circuits positioned to sense ambient conditions within a home or business environment. One of the detection circuits senses the presence of smoke, and the other detection circuit senses the presence of carbon monoxide. The apparatus also comprises an alarm circuit which is responsive to each of the detection circuits for generating at least one alarm pattern, and preferably a separate alarm pattern for each different sensed condition. A voice synthesizer circuit is also included, and is responsive to each of the detection circuits for generating at least one voice message. As with the alarm patterns, the voice synthesizer preferably generates separate voice messages for each separate detected condition. The apparatus advantageously also contains an interleaving control circuit. This interleaving control circuit interleaves the alarm patterns and voice messages in a predetermined sequence to reduce confusion in an emergency situation. A method for the detection and enunciation of multiple hazardous condition within an environment is also presented, and comprises the steps of: (a) sensing ambient conditions within the environment to detect at least two hazardous condition; (b) generating an alarm pattern and a voice message in response to sensing the hazardous conditions; (c) interleaving the alarm pattern and the voice message; and (e) enunciating these interleaved alarm patterns and voice.