Smart sensors for roof ice formation and property condition monitoring

• US 10,354,329 B2
• Filed: 08/06/2014
• Issued: 07/16/2019
• Est. Priority Date: 08/06/2014
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Hartford Fire Insurance Company (The Hartford Financial Services Group, Inc.)
• Original Assignee: Hartford Fire Insurance Company (The Hartford Financial Services Group, Inc.)
• Inventors: Gillespie, Richard P.
• Primary Examiner(s): Maguire, Lindsay M
• Assistant Examiner(s): Warden, Michael J
• Application Number:
  US14/453,508
• Publication Number:
  US 20160042463A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,805 Days
• Field of Search: None
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 40/08 Insurance
• CPC Class Codes: G08B 19/02 Alarm responsive to formation or anticipated formation of ice

Abstract

Embodiments include a system providing sensor feedback for property condition monitoring, including: a plurality of sensors disposed in a roof structure of a property; the plurality of sensors providing output indicative of ice formation associated with the roof structure; a hub device that receives output from the plurality of sensors, the hub device detecting at least one sensor output indicative of ice formation and providing a notification regarding the ice formation; a computing device of an insurance carrier that receives the notification, the computing device updating a status of the property in an insurance carrier database in response to the notification; and a communication link between the plurality of sensors, the hub device and the computing device of an insurance carrier. Other aspects are described and claimed.

Claims

1. A system providing sensor feedback for property condition monitoring, comprising:

a plurality of sensors disposed in a roof structure of a property and providing output indicative of ice formation associated with the roof structure, wherein each of the plurality of sensors have an associated location within the roof structure, wherein the plurality of sensors comprise smart nails, wherein the smart nails sense physical separation in layers of the roof structure via a circuit of the smart nail that breaks upon deformation of the smart nail structure caused by an upward force on the smart nail responsive to the physical separation in the layers of the roof structure;

a hub device that receives output from the plurality of sensors, the hub device detecting at least one sensor output indicative of ice formation and providing a notification regarding the ice formation and an associated location within the roof structure of the ice formation based upon the location within the roof structure associated with the sensor providing the output indicative of ice formation, wherein the at least one sensor output indicative of ice formation comprises an output of the plurality of sensors indicating a separation of layers of the roof structure;

the hub device sending the notification to a computing device of an insurance carrier, the notification of the hub device being formatted to allow the computing device of the insurance carrier to update a status of the property in an insurance carrier database using the notification, wherein to update the status of the property comprises updating the status to a high risk damage status and wherein the notification is used by the computer device to provide an alert regarding the high risk damage status; and

a communication link between the plurality of sensors, the hub device and the computing device of an insurance carrier.

2. The system of claim 1, wherein the hub device includes a communication interface for third party data input.

3. The system of claim 2, wherein the communication interface receives data from third party sensors monitoring other property characteristics.

4. The system of claim 3, wherein the hub device reports the other property characteristics to the computing device of an insurance carrier.

5. The system of claim 1, wherein the hub device uses the communication link to monitor the plurality of sensors.

6. The system of claim 5, wherein the hub device:

determines an operability characteristic via monitoring of the plurality of sensors; and

provides an operability notification in response to determining the operability characteristic indicates that at least one sensor is not operating.

7. The system of claim 6, wherein the operability notification is communicated by the hub device to the computing device of an insurance carrier.

8. The system of claim 1, wherein at least one of the plurality of sensors measures contact between an upper and lower section of the roof structure.

9. The system of claim 1, wherein the at least one of the plurality of sensors measures an amount of separation between an upper and lower section of the roof structure.

10. The system of claim 1, wherein locations of the plurality of sensors within the roof structure are mapped.

11. The system of claim 10, wherein the locations of the plurality of sensors within the roof structure are communicated to the computing device of the insurance carrier.

12. The system of claim 1, wherein the computing device of the insurance carrier identifies other properties within a same geographic area as the property.

13. The system of claim 12, wherein the computing device of the insurance carrier identifies at least one property from the other properties as lacking a plurality of sensors.

14. The system of claim 13, wherein the computing device of the insurance carrier identifies the at least one property lacking a plurality of sensors as at high risk for damage based upon the status of the property having a plurality of sensors.

15. The system of claim 14, wherein the computing device of the insurance carrier provides a notification to a user associated with the at least one property lacking a plurality of sensors of the updated status of the at least one property lacking a plurality of sensors.

16. The system of claim 1, wherein the alert is provided to a device of a user associated with the property regarding the high risk damage status of the property.

17. The system of claim 1, wherein the associated location of each sensor is determined using a positioning technique that correlates the geographic location of the sensor with a location on the roof structure.