Ambient condition detector with variable pitch alarm
First Claim
Patent Images
1. An ambient condition detector to detect at least one ambient condition comprising:
- control electronics with audio pitch control;
at least one ambient condition sensor to sense an ambient condition coupled to the control electronics with audio pitch control;
at least one audio output transducer coupled to the control electronics with audio pitch control;
the control electronics with audio pitch control outputs an alarm tonal pattern through the at least one audio output transducer when the at least one ambient condition sensor detects an ambient condition, the tonal pattern comprising at least two distinctly different tone pitches with at least one silent period within the tonal pattern occurring between the distinctly different tone pitches;
the at least two distinctly different tone pitches differ by at least a frequency of 500 Hz so a tonal pattern emitted by the at least one audio output transducer may be heard by a wide range of users including users with a hearing sensitivity deficit;
andthe at least one ambient condition sensor comprises at least one of a smoke sensor, a fire sensor, thermal sensor, a gas sensor, a motion sensor, or a radiation sensor.
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Abstract
An ambient condition detector outputs an alarm comprising a tonal pattern comprising at least two distinctly different pitch tones in one embodiment of the invention. Another embodiment comprises a detector whereby a user can select a pitch tone to be output within a tonal pattern alarm when the detector senses an ambient condition. Options include verbal output to indicate the type of ambient condition sensed and/or the location of the detector sensing the ambient condition.
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Citations
38 Claims
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1. An ambient condition detector to detect at least one ambient condition comprising:
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control electronics with audio pitch control; at least one ambient condition sensor to sense an ambient condition coupled to the control electronics with audio pitch control; at least one audio output transducer coupled to the control electronics with audio pitch control; the control electronics with audio pitch control outputs an alarm tonal pattern through the at least one audio output transducer when the at least one ambient condition sensor detects an ambient condition, the tonal pattern comprising at least two distinctly different tone pitches with at least one silent period within the tonal pattern occurring between the distinctly different tone pitches; the at least two distinctly different tone pitches differ by at least a frequency of 500 Hz so a tonal pattern emitted by the at least one audio output transducer may be heard by a wide range of users including users with a hearing sensitivity deficit; and the at least one ambient condition sensor comprises at least one of a smoke sensor, a fire sensor, thermal sensor, a gas sensor, a motion sensor, or a radiation sensor. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15)
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16. An ambient condition detector to detect at least one ambient condition and to provide an audible tonal alarm pattern which facilitates hearing of the alarm pattern by users having a hearing deficit comprising:
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control electronics; an ambient condition sensor, which senses the presence of an ambient condition, coupled to the control electronics such that when the ambient condition sensor senses the presence of an ambient condition, the control electronics sends an output signal to an audio output transducer coupled to the control electronics; the audio output transducer emits an audible alarm tonal pattern controlled by the control electronics; the audible alarm tonal pattern comprises a plurality of distinctly different tone pitches, whereby at least one tone pitch is separated temporally from a distinctly different tone pitch by at least one silent period where no audible tone pitch is emitted by the audio output transducer; the at least one tone pitch differs in frequency by at least 1000 Hz with respect to the distinctly different tone pitch so an audible alarm tonal pattern emitted by the audio output transducer may be heard by a wide range of users; the audible alarm tonal pattern further comprises tone groups with intra-group temporal spacing of a first amount and inter-group temporal spacing of a second amount wherein the inter-group temporal spacing of the second amount is at least twice the intra-group temporal spacing of the first amount; the ambient condition sensor comprises at least one of a smoke sensor, a fire sensor, a thermal sensor, a gas sensor, a motion sensor or a radiation sensor; a power supply for the control electronics comprising at least one of an alternating current power supply, a hardwired direct current power supply, and a battery power supply; and a housing encloses at least the control electronics, the ambient condition sensor and the audio output transducer. - View Dependent Claims (17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25)
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26. An ambient condition detector to detect the presence of at least one ambient condition comprising:
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an ambient condition sensor to sense the presence of an ambient condition; an electronic circuit to control a plurality of audible alarm tonal patterns emitted by an audio output transducer at least when the ambient condition sensor senses the presence of the ambient condition; at least one of the audible alarm tonal patterns comprises at least two distinctly different pitch tones; the distinctly different pitch tones are separated by at least one time interval where no audible pitch tones are emitted by the audio transducer; one of the distinctly different pitch tones within the at least one of the audible alarm tonal patterns is at least 1000 Hz lower in frequency than another pitch tone within the at least one of the audible alarm tonal patterns; and the at least one ambient condition sensor comprises at least one of a smoke sensor, a fire sensor, thermal sensor, a gas sensor, a motion sensor, or a radiation sensor. - View Dependent Claims (27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32)
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33. An ambient condition detector to detect the presence of at least one ambient condition comprising:
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an ambient condition sensor, to sense the presence of an ambient condition, the sensor electronically coupled to an electronic control circuit; an audio output transducer electronically coupled to the electronic control circuit; the electronic control circuit outputs a tonal pattern comprising a first audible tone group and a second audible tone group trough the audio output transducer while the ambient condition sensor senses the presence of the ambient condition, the first audible tone group comprises a first pitch tones and the second tone group comprises a second pitch tones; the first pitch tones and the second pitch tones are distinctly different pitch tones; the tonal pattern further comprises an inter-group temporal spacing between outputting of the first audible tone group and outputting the second audible tone group whereby during the inter-group temporal spacing, no audible tone is output by the audio output transducer, the second audible tone group is followed by another inter-group temporal spacing before outputting the first audible tone group again thereby producing a tonal pattern of alternating first and second audible tone groups, each tone group separated by inter-group temporal spacings; and the ambient condition sensor comprises sensor comprises at least one of a smoke sensor, a fire sensor, a thermal sensor, a gas sensor, a motion sensor, or a radiation sensor. - View Dependent Claims (34, 35, 36, 37)
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38. An ambient condition detector to detect the presence of at least one condition comprising:
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an ambient condition sensor to sense the presence of an ambient condition; an electronic circuit to output a signal to drive a first audible tone group and a second audible tone group when the ambient condition sensor senses the presence of the ambient condition, the first audible tone group including at least a first pitch tone emitted by a first audio output transducer and the second tone group including at least a second pitch tone emitted by a second audio transducer; the at least first pitch tone and the at least second pitch tone differ by at least a frequency of 1000 Hz; a time interval between emission of the first audible tone group and emission of the second audible tone group whereby during the time interval, no audible tone is emitted by either the first or second audio output transducer; the ambient condition sensor comprises at least one of a smoke sensor, a fire sensor, a thermal sensor, a gas sensor, a motion sensor, or a radiation sensor; and a housing encloses at least the electronic circuit, the ambient condition sensor, and the first and second audio output transducers.
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Specification