Monitoring system

• US 9,679,460 B2
• Filed: 03/19/2015
• Issued: 06/13/2017
• Est. Priority Date: 03/20/2014
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Panasonic Intellectual Property Management Co., Ltd. (Panasonic Holdings Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Panasonic Intellectual Property Management Co., Ltd. (Panasonic Holdings Corporation)
• Inventors: Kawamura, Mitsuru, Yamanishi, Koji
• Primary Examiner(s): Nguyen, An T
• Application Number:
  US14/663,304
• Publication Number:
  US 20150269823A1
• Time in Patent Office: 817 Days
• CPC Class Codes: G08B 21/02 Alarms for ensuring the safety of persons
• CPC Class Codes: G08B 21/22 responsive to presence or absence of persons

Abstract

An alert mode designation unit that sets an alert state when a mobile phone terminal is not located inside a communication zone with a master device, and sets an alert release state when the mobile phone terminal is located inside the communication zone with the master device, and an alarm output unit that outputs an alarm if detection information from a sensor indicates an abnormal state when the alert state is set by the alert mode designation unit are included in the master device, and the alarm output unit does not output the alarm when the alert release state is set by the alert mode designation unit.

Claims

1. A monitoring system comprising:

a sensor coupled to a communicator; and

a master device which, in operation, performs wireless communication with the sensor according to a wireless communications protocol, and is connected to a fixed telephone network to communicate with other fixed telephones, wherein the master device includes;

a first communicator which, in operation, performs wireless communication via a wireless router with a smartphone that is connected to a mobile phone network to communicate with other mobile telephones,

a second communicator which, in operation, receives detection signal from the sensor according to the wireless communications protocol,

a controller which sets the master device in a first alert mode in response to detecting that the smartphone is outside a wireless communication range of the first communicator, and sets the master device in a second alert mode in response to detecting that the smartphone is inside the wireless communication range of the first communicator, and

an alarm output which issues an alarm when the detection signal received from the sensor indicates an abnormal state;

wherein an alarm output period, which starts when the master device begins to receive the detection signal indicative of the abnormal state and ends when the master device outputs the alarm, is set longer in the second alert mode than in the first alert mode.

2. The monitoring system of claim 1, wherein the sensor and the master device communicate with each other according to a DECT (Digital Enhanced Cordless Telecommunications) protocol.

3. The monitoring system of claim 1, wherein the sensor is an infrared sensor.

4. The monitoring system of claim 1, wherein the sensor is selected from a group consisting of a human sensor, a smoke sensor, an opening/closing sensor, and a smart plug.

5. The monitoring system of claim 1, wherein the sensor is a human sensor, and the abnormal state indicates detection of a person.

6. The monitoring system of claim 1, wherein the sensor is a smoke sensor, and the abnormal state indicates detection of smoke.

7. The monitoring system of claim 1, wherein the sensor is an opening/closing sensor, and the abnormal state indicates an open state detected by the opening/closing sensor.

8. The monitoring system of claim 1, wherein the sensor is a smart plug, and the abnormal state indicates that an amount of power used in a house as detected by the smart plug has exceeded a threshold amount.

9. The monitoring system of claim 1, wherein the alarm includes one or more of a visual alarm, an audio alarm, and a vibration alarm.

10. A monitoring method based on a monitoring system, the monitoring system comprising:

(a) a sensor coupled to a communicator; and

(b) a master device which, in operation, performs wireless communication with the sensor according to a wireless communications protocol, and is connected to a fixed telephone network to communicate with other fixed telephones, wherein the master device includes;

(b-i) a first communicator which, in operation, performs wireless communication via a wireless router with a smartphone that is connected to a mobile phone network to communicate with other mobile telephones, and (b-ii) a second communicator which, in operation, receives detection signal from the sensor according to the wireless communications protocol, the monitoring method comprising;

setting the master device in a first alert mode when the smartphone is outside a wireless communication range of the first communicator,

setting the master device in a second alert mode when the smartphone is inside the wireless communication range of the first communicator,

issuing an alarm from the master device in the first alert mode after a first alarm output period, which starts when the master device begins to receive the detection signal indicative of an abnormal state from the sensor and ends when the master device outputs the alarm, and

issuing the alarm from the master device in the second alert mode after a second alarm output period, which starts when the master device begins to receive the detection signal indicative of an abnormal state from the sensor and ends when the master device outputs the alarm,

wherein the second alarm output period is longer than the first alarm output period.