METHOD AND SYSTEM TO DETECT HUMANS OR ANIMALS WITHIN CONFINED SPACES WITH A LOW RATE OF FALSE ALARMS
First Claim
1. A method for detecting a presence of a human or animal within a confined space, the method comprising:
- determining that a respiratory gas concentration within the confined space exceeds a predetermined concentration threshold, which indicates that the presence of the human or animal within the confined space has been detected; and
detecting motion within the confined space during a time in which an acceleration of the confined space is determined to be less than a predetermined acceleration threshold, wherein the detected motion confirms that the presence of a human or animal within the confined space has been detected.
3 Assignments
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
The present disclosure describes a detection system and methods for detecting a presence of a person or animal within a confined space with a low false alarm rate. The detection system may include a chemical detector to determine whether respiratory gas concentrations within the confined space exceed a predetermined concentration threshold. The detection system may further include an accelerometer-controlled, range-controlled radar unit to detect movement within the confined space during times in which acceleration of the confined space is less than a predetermined acceleration threshold. In this manner, a measured respiratory gas concentration that initially indicates a presence of a person or animal within the confined space may be confirmed by motion detection.
-
Citations
24 Claims
-
1. A method for detecting a presence of a human or animal within a confined space, the method comprising:
-
determining that a respiratory gas concentration within the confined space exceeds a predetermined concentration threshold, which indicates that the presence of the human or animal within the confined space has been detected; and detecting motion within the confined space during a time in which an acceleration of the confined space is determined to be less than a predetermined acceleration threshold, wherein the detected motion confirms that the presence of a human or animal within the confined space has been detected. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4)
-
-
5. A detection system to detect a presence of a human or animal within a confined space, the detection system comprising:
-
a motion detector; a system controller coupled with the motion detector; and a chemical detector configured to output to the system controller data representative of a measured respiratory gas concentration within the confined space that exceeds a predetermined concentration threshold, which indicates the presence of a human or animal within the confined space, wherein the chemical detector is further configured to output an activation signal to the motion detector when the measured respiratory gas concentration within the confined space exceeds the predetermined concentration threshold. - View Dependent Claims (6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22)
-
-
23. A detection system, comprising:
-
a chemical detector configured to measure a respiratory gas concentration within a confined space and to output a signal indicating an initial detection of one of human and animal presence within the confined space when the measured respiratory gas concentration exceeds a predetermined threshold; an accelerometer configured to activate in response to the signal outputted by the chemical detector, wherein the accelerometer is further configured to measure an acceleration of the confined space when activated by the chemical detector, and to output a signal when the measured acceleration of the confined space is less than a predetermined acceleration threshold; and a range-controlled radar unit configured to activate in response to the signal outputted by the accelerometer, wherein the range-controlled radar unit is further configured to measure motion within the confined space when activated by the accelerometer, and to output a signal that confirms the initial detection of the one of human and animal presence within the confined space. - View Dependent Claims (24)
-
Specification