Anti-theft device with alarm screening
First Claim
1. An anti-theft system comprising:
- (a) a control unit having;
a control transceiver capable of transmitting and receiving data signals; and
an activation element coupled to the control transceiver and capable of directing the control transceiver to transmit an alarm signal representative of a command to activate an alarm; and
(b) a theft detector having;
a motion detector for generating a movement signal in response to a detected movement;
a proximity transmitter coupled to the motion detector for transmitting, in response to the detected movement, a proximity signal having a known approximate near field proximity, to the control transceiver;
an alarm; and
a detector transceiver coupled to the motion detector and the alarm for providing bi-directional transfer of data signals, the detector transceiver, in the absence of a confirmation signal from the control transceiver to indicate that the control unit is within the near field proximity, being capable of;
(A) in a first mode, automatically activating the alarm to indicate that an article to which the theft detector is coupled has moved, or(B) in a second mode, (i) transmitting to the control transceiver an alert signal in response to the movement signal, and (ii) activating the alarm in response to the alarm signal received from the control transceiver, which alarm signal may be generated by a user triggering the activation element of the control unit in response to the alert signal, to indicate that security of the article has been compromised.
1 Assignment
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
A motion sensitive theft detector system for portable articles featuring two way communication between the theft detector unit installed in or affixed to the portable article and the control unit carried by the owner. The theft detector communicates alerts to the control unit allowing the user to screen for false alarms and to trigger an alarm at the portable article when warranted. A second alarm function selected by the mode switch sounds an alarm automatically in response to motion according to an adaptive alarm sequence. The adaptive alarm varies the alarm in response to frequency and duration of motion so that isolated movement triggers a warning but persistent motion triggers a full scale alarm.
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Citations
30 Claims
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1. An anti-theft system comprising:
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(a) a control unit having; a control transceiver capable of transmitting and receiving data signals; and an activation element coupled to the control transceiver and capable of directing the control transceiver to transmit an alarm signal representative of a command to activate an alarm; and (b) a theft detector having; a motion detector for generating a movement signal in response to a detected movement; a proximity transmitter coupled to the motion detector for transmitting, in response to the detected movement, a proximity signal having a known approximate near field proximity, to the control transceiver; an alarm; and a detector transceiver coupled to the motion detector and the alarm for providing bi-directional transfer of data signals, the detector transceiver, in the absence of a confirmation signal from the control transceiver to indicate that the control unit is within the near field proximity, being capable of; (A) in a first mode, automatically activating the alarm to indicate that an article to which the theft detector is coupled has moved, or (B) in a second mode, (i) transmitting to the control transceiver an alert signal in response to the movement signal, and (ii) activating the alarm in response to the alarm signal received from the control transceiver, which alarm signal may be generated by a user triggering the activation element of the control unit in response to the alert signal, to indicate that security of the article has been compromised. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10)
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11. A method for remotely providing security to an article, the method comprising:
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providing the article with (a) a remote device and (b) a device attached to the article, the device having a motion detector, a proximity transmitter, and an alarm, and detecting whether there is a movement of the article using the motion detector; in response to the movement, determining whether the article is within a near field proximity of the remote device using the proximity transmitter; and in the absence of a confirmation signal from the remote device to indicate that the article is within the near field proximity of the remote device, causing the alarm to generate a signal to indicate that security of the article has been compromised. - View Dependent Claims (12, 13, 14, 15)
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16. An anti-theft system comprising:
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(a) a control unit having; a control transceiver capable of transmitting and receiving data signals; and an activation element coupled to the control transceiver and capable of directing the control transceiver to transmit an alarm signal representative of a command to activate an alarm; and (b) a theft detector having; a proximity transmitter for transmitting a proximity signal having a near field proximity to the control transceiver; an alarm; and a detector transceiver coupled to the proximity transmitter and the alarm for providing bi-directional transfer of data signals, the detector transceiver, in the absence of a confirmation signal from the control transceiver to indicate that the control unit is within the near field proximity, being capable of (i) transmitting to the control transceiver an alert signal to indicate to a user that an article is no longer within the near field proximity, and (ii) activating the alarm in response to the alarm signal received from the control transceiver, which alarm signal may be generated by a user triggering the activation element of the control unit in response to the alert signal. - View Dependent Claims (17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26)
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27. A method for remotely providing security to an article, the method comprising:
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providing the article with (a) a remote device and (b) an attached device having a proximity transmitter and an alarm, and determining whether the article is within a near field proximity relative to the remote device using the proximity transmitter; and in the absence of a confirmation signal from the remote device indicating that the article is within the near field proximity to the remote device, causing an alert signal to be directed to the remote device; and transmitting a signal from the remote device to the alarm so as to generate a signal to indicate the article is no longer within the near field proximity to the remote device. - View Dependent Claims (28, 29, 30)
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Specification