MULTIPLE AND INTERCHANGEABLE METER READING PROBES
First Claim
1. An apparatus to monitor one or more utility meters comprising:
- a communication unit comprising a processor, a communication interface coupled to the processor, and a probe interface coupled to the processor; and
a meter monitoring probe comprising a probe head coupled by a cable to a probe connector capable to mate with the probe interface;
wherein the probe head comprises;
an image sensor;
an indicator; and
a button;
wherein the probe head is capable to detect a characteristic of a utility meter that is dependent on a usage of a utility metered, and send information related to the characteristic to the processor;
the processor is capable to receive the information from the probe head and send a message related to the usage of the utility over the communication interface; and
the image sensor is capable to capture an image in response to a press of the button.
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Accused Products
Abstract
An apparatus to monitor one or more utility meters includes a communication unit with a processor, a communication interface coupled to the processor, and a probe interface coupled to the processor. A meter monitoring probe that includes a probe head is coupled by a cable to a probe connector capable to mate with the probe interface. The probe head includes an image sensor, an indicator, and a button. The probe head is capable to detect a characteristic of a utility meter that is dependent on a usage of a utility metered, and send information related to the characteristic to the processor. The processor is capable to receive the information from the probe head and send a message related to the usage of the utility over the communication interface, and the image sensor is capable to capture an image in response to a press of the button.
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Citations
24 Claims
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1. An apparatus to monitor one or more utility meters comprising:
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a communication unit comprising a processor, a communication interface coupled to the processor, and a probe interface coupled to the processor; and a meter monitoring probe comprising a probe head coupled by a cable to a probe connector capable to mate with the probe interface; wherein the probe head comprises; an image sensor; an indicator; and a button; wherein the probe head is capable to detect a characteristic of a utility meter that is dependent on a usage of a utility metered, and send information related to the characteristic to the processor; the processor is capable to receive the information from the probe head and send a message related to the usage of the utility over the communication interface; and the image sensor is capable to capture an image in response to a press of the button. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4)
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5. A system to monitor usage of one or more utilities comprising:
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a communication unit comprising a processor, a communication interface coupled to the processor, and a probe interface coupled to the processor; and a meter monitoring probe comprising a probe head coupled by a cable to a probe connector capable to mate with the probe interface; and a device capable to receive the message from the processor; wherein the probe head comprises; an image sensor; an indicator; and a button; wherein the probe head is capable to detect a characteristic of a utility meter that is dependent on a usage of a utility metered, and send information related to the characteristic to the processor; the processor is capable to receive the information from the probe head and send a message related to the usage of the utility over the communication interface; the image sensor is capable to capture an image in response to a press of the button; and the device is capable to check the image received in the message from the processor, and send a message to the processor to control the indicator to indicate whether the image sensor is positioned to capture a view of the utility meter useful to determine the usage of the utility. - View Dependent Claims (6, 7, 8)
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9. A method to determine a reading of a utility meter comprising:
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acquiring an image of at least a portion of a display of the utility meter; performing optical character recognition (OCR) on at least a portion of the image; determining a probability of successful OCR; using a numerical output of the OCR to determine the reading of the utility meter if the probability of successful OCR is at least a predetermined value; and determining an angle of a dial indicator in at least the portion of the image if the probability of successful OCR is less than the predetermined value, and using the angle of the dial indicator to determine the reading of the utility meter. - View Dependent Claims (10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16)
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17. At least one non-transitory machine readable medium having one or more instructions stored thereon, that in response to being executed on a computing device cause the computing device to carry out a method comprising:
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acquiring an image of at least a portion of a display of the utility meter; performing optical character recognition (OCR) on at least a portion of the image; determining a probability of successful OCR; using a numerical output of the OCR to determine the reading of the utility meter if the probability of successful OCR is at least a predetermined value; and determining an angle of a dial indicator in at least the portion of the image if the probability of successful OCR is less than the predetermined value, and using the angle of the dial indicator to determine the reading of the utility meter. - View Dependent Claims (18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24)
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Specification