Alerting device and system for abnormal situations
First Claim
1. A system for broadcasting an emergency warning throughout an area about a site, the system comprising:
- a source at the site of an audible or visual warning signal detectable by at least one of the human senses;
a transmitter at the site for broadcasting an electromagnetic warning signal within a tunable bandwidth of a standard radio receiver for receiving commercial broadcasts, with at least part of the electromagnetic warning signal encoded in an RDS compatible format;
a power amplifier within the transmitter whose power rating provides an effective range of the electromagnetic warning signal that complements an effective range of the audible or visual signal and is approximately coextensive therewith; and
, means for detecting the electromagnetic warning signal within is effective range and in response thereto tuning the receiver to a carrier frequency of the electromagnetic warning signal.
1 Assignment
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Accused Products
Abstract
A warning system for alerting a person to an emergency situation which includes a transmitter responsive to a visual or acoustic alerting system for transmitting an alarm signal on an RF carrier and a control signal on a sideband of the carrier. A tuneable receiver for receiving commercial broadcasts in a normal operating mode transfers to an emergency mode upon detection of the control signal and converts the alarm signal to an acoustic signal. In one embodiment, the visual or acoustic alerting system is a siren and light system of an emergency vehicle. In this embodiment, a transceiver is preferably included for dedicated communications among emergency vehicles. The range of both the transmitter and transceiver complement and are substantially the same as the effective range of the visual or acoustic alerting system.
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Citations
30 Claims
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1. A system for broadcasting an emergency warning throughout an area about a site, the system comprising:
- a source at the site of an audible or visual warning signal detectable by at least one of the human senses;
a transmitter at the site for broadcasting an electromagnetic warning signal within a tunable bandwidth of a standard radio receiver for receiving commercial broadcasts, with at least part of the electromagnetic warning signal encoded in an RDS compatible format;
a power amplifier within the transmitter whose power rating provides an effective range of the electromagnetic warning signal that complements an effective range of the audible or visual signal and is approximately coextensive therewith; and
, means for detecting the electromagnetic warning signal within is effective range and in response thereto tuning the receiver to a carrier frequency of the electromagnetic warning signal. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 21)
- a source at the site of an audible or visual warning signal detectable by at least one of the human senses;
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13. A signalling system on-board an emergency vehicle for providing an advanced warning of the vehicle'"'"'s approach, the system comprising:
- a transmitter for broadcasting a first emergency warning signal within a tunable bandwidth of a standard radio receiver for receiving commercial broadcasts;
a transceiver for broadcasting or receiving a second emergency warning signal intended to provide an emergency vehicle-to-emergency vehicle link outside the tunable bandwidth of the standard radio receiver;
source of the first and second emergency warning signals; and
a processor responsive to an input at a user interface for keying the transceiver and the transmitter to broadcast the first and second emergency warning signals. - View Dependent Claims (14, 15, 16, 17)
- a transmitter for broadcasting a first emergency warning signal within a tunable bandwidth of a standard radio receiver for receiving commercial broadcasts;
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18. An apparatus at a site interfaced to a system for broadcasting emergency warning signals from the site in the form of sound or light, the apparatus comprising:
- a controller for detecting a change in an operating status of the sound or light system;
a transmitter responsive to the controller for transmitting (1) an RF carrier frequency F0 modulated by an audio signal containing emergency information and (2) a sideband frequency of the carrier frequency F0 modulated by RDS-encoded information. - View Dependent Claims (19, 20)
- a controller for detecting a change in an operating status of the sound or light system;
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22. A system for broadcasting an emergency warning throughout an area about a site, the system comprising:
- a source at the site of an audible or visual warning signal detectable by at least one of the human senses;
a transmitter at the site for broadcasting an electromagnetic warning signal within a tunable bandwidth of a standard radio receiver for receiving commercial broadcasts, with at least part of the electromagnetic warning signal encoded in an RDS compatible format;
a power amplifier within the transmitter whose power rating provides an effective range of the electromagnetic warning signal that complements an effective range of the audible or visual signal and is approximately coextensive therewith; and
an interface linking the transmitter and the source of the audible or visual warning signal to provide a timed relationship between the broadcasting of the audible or visual warning signal and the broadcasting of the electromagnetic warning signal. - View Dependent Claims (23, 24)
- a source at the site of an audible or visual warning signal detectable by at least one of the human senses;
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25. A system for broadcasting an emergency warning throughout an area about a fixed and stationary site, the system comprising:
- a source of an audible or visual warning signal at the fixed and stationary site detectable by at least one of the human senses;
a transmitter at the fixed and stationary site for broadcasting an electromagnetic warning signal within a tunable bandwidth of a standard radio receiver for receiving commercial broadcasts, with at least part of the electromagnetic warning signal encoded in an RDS compatible format; and
, a power amplifier within the transmitter whose power rating provides an effective range of the electromagnetic warning signal that complements an effective range of the audible or visual signal and is approximately coextensive therewith. - View Dependent Claims (26, 27, 28)
- a source of an audible or visual warning signal at the fixed and stationary site detectable by at least one of the human senses;
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29. A system for broadcasting an emergency warning throughout an area about a site, the system comprising:
- a source at the site of an audible or visual warning signal detectable by at least one of the human senses;
a transmitter at the site for broadcasting an electromagnetic warning signal within a tunable bandwidth of a standard radio receiver for receiving commercial broadcasts, with at least part of the electromagnetic warning signal encoded in an RDS compatible format;
a power amplifier within the transmitter whose power rating provides an effective transmission area of the electromagnetic warning signal that complements an effective range of the audible or visual signal and is approximately coextensive therewith; and
the transmitter including at least two antenna configurations responsive to a user control for selecting a particular shape of the transmission area.
- a source at the site of an audible or visual warning signal detectable by at least one of the human senses;
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30. A signalling system on-board an emergency vehicle for providing an advanced warning of the vehicle'"'"'s approach, the system comprising:
- a transceiver for providing an emergency vehicle-to-emergency vehicle electromagnetic link;
a transmitter for broadcasting an emergency warning signal to non-emergency vehicles within a tunable bandwidth of a standard radio receiver for receiving commercial broadcasts;
a signal source for the transceiver and transmitter; and
, a processor responsive to an input at a user interface for keying the transceiver and the transmitter to broadcast the emergency signals; and
, a sensor on-board the vehicle for detecting a value of a parameter indicative of an operating status of the vehicle and providing a signal representing the value to the processor such that the emergency vehicle-to-emergency vehicle link includes information regarding the value of the parameter.
- a transceiver for providing an emergency vehicle-to-emergency vehicle electromagnetic link;
Specification