Rotatable bay window switch box surveillance camera and illuminator for facial recognition

• US 7,346,196 B2
• Filed: 07/30/2003
• Issued: 03/18/2008
• Est. Priority Date: 07/30/2003
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: Bosch Security Systems Incorporated (Robert Bosch GmbH)
• Original Assignee: Extreme CCTV International Inc.
• Inventors: Gin, Jack
• Primary Examiner(s): Desire; Gregory M
• Application Number:
  US10/629,697
• Publication Number:
  US 20050025360A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,693 Days
• Field of Search: 348/143, 348/150, 348/151, 382/103, 382/118, 382/217, 396/26, 396/427
• US Class Current: 382/118
• CPC Class Codes: G06V 40/16 Human faces, e.g. facial parts, sketches or expressions
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 23/51 Housings
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 23/56 provided with illuminating means
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 7/183 for receiving images from a single remote source

Abstract

A surveillance camera and illuminator are covertly mounted in a partially rotatable bay window inner frame mounted within an electrical switch box. The bay window inner frame can thus be pivoted back and forth to orient the camera toward an entrance to a room in which the switch box is mounted. When the bay window inner frame is rotated to the desired position, a bay window switch box decor cover plate is mounted over the bay window inner frame, engaging it and locking it in the selected position by attachment of the cover plate to the switch box.

Claims

1. A rotatable bay window switch box surveillance camera and illuminator system suited for facial recognition comprising:

a) a partially rotatable bay window frame mounted within a switch box;

b) a surveillance device mounted within the frame;

c) a bay window cover plate;

in which the bay window frame can be pivoted back and forth horizontally to orient the surveillance device toward an entrance to a room in which the switch box is mounted and then locked in the selected position by engagement of the bay window cover plate with a bay window frame front during attachment of the bay window cover plate to the switch box, the bay window'"'"'s vertical orientation being defined upon mounting of the switch box and remaining constant during and after pivoting of the bay window for horizontal orientation.

2. The rotatable bay window switch box surveillance camera and illuminator system of claim 1, in which the switch box is a standard electrical switch box adapted for mounting adjacent to an electrical light switch at an entrance to a room at a typical chest height location for users of the room, and the bay window cover plate resembles a decor motion detector switch cover and conceals the surveillance device.

3. The rotatable bay window switch box surveillance camera and illuminator of claim 2, in which:

a) the surveillance device is a camera and illuminator, the camera is mounted in a camera compartment of the bay window frame, the illuminator is mounted in a illuminator compartment of the partially rotatable bay window frame, and both camera and illuminator can be pivoted back and forth with the frame prior to locking in position, for illumination of a scene at which the camera is pointed;

b) the camera compartment is separated from the illuminator compartment by a floor that seals light from the illuminator compartment from entering directly to the camera compartment, the light being directed out a pane of the bay window cover plate for reflection from the scene and return to the camera for imaging of the scene;

c) the surveillance device is integrated with a video processing system having facial recognition software, which can analyze various features of a face of a person under surveillance;

d) the surveillance camera is integrated with a video processing system that causes sequential shuttering variations by the surveillance device in order to capture a variety of exposures of the light information from the face, together with software that discards the less informative exposures and proceeds with more informative exposures;

e) the video processing system has the surveillance device take a series of normal exposures, overexposures, and underexposures by varying the surveillance camera'"'"'s shutter speed or opening, to accommodate unpredictable effects of varying ambient light together with light from the illuminator on faces or other objects sought to be recognized;

f) the video processing system has facial recognition software, which gives feedback to increase the variation in exposure if facial recognition is poor and to decrease the variation in exposure if facial recognition is good.

4. The rotatable bay window switch box surveillance camera and illuminator system of claim 1, in which the surveillance device is a camera.

5. The rotatable bay window switch box surveillance camera and illuminator system of claim 1, in which the surveillance device is an illuminator.

6. The rotatable bay window switch box surveillance camera and illuminator system of claim 1, in which the surveillance device is a camera and illuminator, the camera is mounted in a camera compartment of the bay window frame, the illuminator is mounted in a illuminator compartment of the partially rotatable bay window frame, and both camera and illuminator can be pivoted back and forth with the frame prior to locking in position, for illumination of a scene at which the camera is pointed.

7. The rotatable bay window switch box surveillance camera and illuminator system of claim 6, in which the camera compartment is separated from the illuminator compartment by a floor that seals light from the illuminator compartment from entering directly to the camera compartment, the light being directed out a pane of the bay window cover plate for reflection from the scene and return to the camera for imaging of the scene.

8. The rotatable bay window switch box surveillance camera and illuminator system of claim 1, in which the surveillance device is integrated with a video processing system having facial recognition software, which can analyze various features of a face of a person under surveillance and match them with known features of identified people to the point of identification of a person entering the room.

9. The rotatable bay window switch box surveillance camera and illuminator system of claim 1, in which the surveillance device is integrated with a video processing system having facial recognition software, which can analyze various features of a face of a person under surveillance and categorize them in a database for later comparisons or elimination of suspects having similar or different facial characteristics to or than those recorded.

10. The rotatable bay window switch box surveillance camera and illuminator system of claim 1, in which the surveillance camera is integrated with a video processing system that causes sequential shuttering variations by the surveillance device in order to capture a variety of exposures of the light information from a face, together with software that discards the less informative exposures and proceeds with more informative exposures.

11. The rotatable bay window switch box surveillance camera and illuminator of claim 1, in which the surveillance device is integrated with a video processing system which has the surveillance device take a series of normal exposures, overexposures, and underexposures by varying a camera'"'"'s shutter speed or opening, to accommodate unpredictable effects of varying ambient light together with light from an illuminator on faces or other objects sought to be recognized.

12. The rotatable bay window switch box surveillance camera and illuminator of claim 11, in which the surveillance camera is integrated with a video processing system having facial recognition software, which gives feedback to increase the variation in exposure if facial recognition is poor and to decrease the variation in exposure if facial recognition is good.