Intelligent Door Lock System and Vibration/Tapping Sensing Device to Lock or Unlock a Door

• US 20160047145A1
• Filed: 08/21/2014
• Published: 02/18/2016
• Est. Priority Date: 03/15/2013
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: August Home, Inc. (Fortune Brands Innovations, Inc.)
• Original Assignee: August Home, Inc. (Fortune Brands Innovations, Inc.)
• Inventors: Johnson, Jason, Cheng, Shih Yu Thomas
• Granted Patent: US 9,695,616 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 1/1
• CPC Class Codes: E05B 17/0083 Sound emitting devices, e.g. loudspeakers
• CPC Class Codes: E05B 17/0087 Sound receiving devices, e.g. microphones
• CPC Class Codes: E05B 2047/0095 Mechanical aspects of locks controlled by telephone signals, e.g. by mobile phones electronic locks G07C9/00
• CPC Class Codes: E05B 47/0012 with rotary electromotors actuators with rotary electromotors per se H02K7/06, H02K23/68
• CPC Class Codes: G07C 2009/00634 Power supply for the lock
• CPC Class Codes: G07C 2009/00746 by knocking on a surface for inputting the code, e.g. detecting a series of taps on a surface
• CPC Class Codes: G07C 9/00309 operated with bidirectional data transmission between data carrier and locks
• CPC Class Codes: G07C 9/00571 operated by interacting with a central unit

Abstract

An intelligent door lock system includes a drive shaft of a lock device and a circuit coupled to an engine with a memory. A vibration/tapping sensing device is configured to be coupled to the lock device to lock or unlock the door. A device converts energy into mechanical energy coupled to the drive shaft.

Claims

1. An intelligent door lock system, comprising:

a drive shaft of a lock device;

a circuit coupled to an engine with a memory;

a vibration/tapping sensing device configured to be coupled to the lock device to lock or unlock the door; and

a device that converts energy into mechanical energy coupled to the drive shaft.

2. The system of claim 1, wherein the device that converts energy is configured to be coupled to a positioning sensing device.

3. The system of claim 1, wherein the vibration/tapping sensing device is an integral part of the intelligent door lock system.

4. The system of claim 1, wherein the vibration/tapping sensing device is not an integral part of the intelligent door lock system.

5. The system of claim 1, wherein the vibration/tapping sensing device detects vibration or knocking applied to the following programming of the intelligent door lock system of a user'"'"'s vibration code or pattern.

6. The system of claim 1, wherein a user can give a third person a knock code/pattern to lock or unlock the door.

7. The system of claim 1, wherein the knocking/tapping is one that is recognized as having been defined by a user of the door lock system as a means to lock or unlock the door.

8. The system of claim 1, wherein the knocking/tapping can have a variety of different patterns, tempos, duration and intensity.

9. The system of claim 1, wherein the vibration/tapping sensing device in operation detects oscillatory motion resulting from the application of oscillatory or varying forces to the door.

10. The system of claim 1, wherein the vibration/tapping sensing device is selected from at least one of accelerometers, optical devices, electromagnetic and capacitive sensors, contact devices, transducers, displacement transducers, piezoelectric sensors, piezoresistive devices, variable capacitance, servo devices and audio devices where transfer of the vibration can be gas, liquid or solid,

11. The system of claim 1, wherein the vibration/tapping sensing device is an accelerometer selected from at least one of, Piezoelectric (PE);

high-impedance output;

Integral electronics piezoelectric (IEPE);

low-impedance output Piezoresistive (PR);

silicon strain gauge sensor Variable capacitance (VC);

low-level and low-frequency Servo force balance.

12. The system of claim 1, wherein the vibration/tapping sensing device is in communication with a back-end of the intelligent door lock system.

13. The system of claim 1, wherein the vibration/tapping sensing device is coupled to a circuit board.

14. The system of claim 13, wherein the vibration/tapping sensing device includes a computation module.

15. The system of claim 1, wherein the vibration/tapping sensing device outputs a temporal acceleration signal and the computation module takes the first derivative of the acceleration signal.

16. The system of claim 15, wherein the computation module compares first derivative values to a predetermined threshold value that is stored in a memory of the computation module.

17. The system of claim 1, wherein the vibration/tapping sensing device includes a memory.

18. The system of claim 1, wherein a vibration tapping of the vibration/tapping sensing device is compared to a threshold value.

19. The system of claim 1, wherein the threshold value fixed or user-adjustable.

20. The system of claim 1, wherein the vibration/tapping sensing device includes a computation unit.

21. The system of claim 1, wherein the vibration/tapping sensing device includes a multiplexor.

22. The system of claim 1, wherein the vibration/tapping sensing device includes filter.

23. The system of claim 1, wherein the vibration/tapping sensing device includes a register.

24. The system of claim 1, wherein the vibration/tapping sensing device includes a subtraction circuit

25. The system of claim 1, wherein the vibration/tapping sensing device includes a clock circuit.

26. The system of claim 1, wherein the vibration/tapping sensing device is coupled to an intelligent door lock system circuit and to an engine with a memory.

27. The system of claim 1, wherein a processing delay is provided to determine if the vibration or tapping is intended to lock or unlock the door.

28. The system of claim 1, wherein the vibration or tapping only expresses an intention to lock or unlock the lock.

29. A method of unlocking or locking a door lock system, comprising:

providing a drive shaft of a lock device;

providing a circuit coupled to an engine with a memory;

using a vibration/tapping sensing device configured to be coupled to the lock device to lock or unlock the door; and

using a device that converts energy into mechanical energy coupled to the drive shaft.