Extended battery life smoke detector

• US 10,210,733 B1
• Filed: 04/10/2018
• Issued: 02/19/2019
• Est. Priority Date: 04/10/2018
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Kidde Technologies, Inc. (Raytheon Technologies Corporation d/b/a RTX)
• Original Assignee: Kidde Technologies, Inc. (Raytheon Technologies Corporation d/b/a RTX)
• Inventors: Norris, Robert J., Simpson, Terry
• Primary Examiner(s): McNally, Kerri L
• Assistant Examiner(s): Tran, Thang D
• Application Number:
  US15/949,658
• Time in Patent Office: 315 Days
• Field of Search: 340628
• CPC Class Codes: G08B 17/10 Actuation by presence of smoke or gases , e.g. automatic alarm devices for analysing flowing fluid materials by the use of optical means
• CPC Class Codes: G08B 29/181 due to failing power supply
• CPC Class Codes: H02J 2207/20 Charging or discharging characterised by the power electronics converter
• CPC Class Codes: H02J 7/0063 with circuits adapted for supplying loads from the battery
• CPC Class Codes: H02J 7/007188 the charge cycle being controlled or terminated in response to non-electric parameters
• CPC Class Codes: H05B 45/30 Driver circuits

Abstract

A smoke detector of an aircraft cargo container includes a status light emitting diode (LED), at least one accelerometer, and one or more processors. The at least one accelerometer is configured to sense movement of the aircraft cargo container and provide a sensor signal representative of the sensed movement. The one or more processors is configured to receive the sensor signal and adjust a blinking rate of the status LED based upon the sensor signal.

Claims

1. A smoke detector of a movable vessel comprising:

a status light emitting diode (LED);

at least one accelerometer configured to;

sense movement of the movable vessel; and

provide a sensor signal representative of the sensed movement; and

one or more processors configured to;

receive the sensor signal;

determine whether the sense movement exceeds a threshold based upon the sensor signal; and

adjust a blinking rate of the status LED based upon the sensor signal such that the blinking rate of the status LED is set to a first blinking rate if the sensed movement is equal to or less than the threshold and the blinking rate of the status LED is set to a second blinking rate if the sensed movement exceeds the threshold.

2. The smoke detector of claim 1, wherein the first blinking rate is at least twice as fast as the second blinking rate.

3. The smoke detector of claim 1, wherein the first blinking rate is at least four times faster than the second blinking rate.

4. The smoke detector of claim 1, further comprising:

a battery;

at least one LED driver;

a voltage regulator configured to;

receive power from the battery;

provide a first power output at a first voltage to the one or more processors; and

provide a second power output at a second voltage to the at least one LED driver; and

wherein the at least one LED driver is configured to provide power to the status LED based upon the first or second blinking rate.

5. The smoke detector of claim 1, further comprising a baseplate mechanically coupled to the movable vessel.

6. The smoke detector of claim 5, wherein the threshold is based upon movement experienced by the movable vessel during ground transportation.

7. The smoke detector of claim 6, wherein the threshold is further based upon movement experienced by the movable vessel during flight.

8. The smoke detector of claim 1, further comprising a press-to-test button configured, in response to being pressed, to set the blinking rate of the status LED to the first blinking rate even when the sensed movement exceeds the threshold.

9. The smoke detector of claim 8, wherein the press-to-test button is configured to set the blinking rate of the status LED to the first blinking rate for at least 10 seconds in response to being pressed.

10. A method comprising:

sensing movement of a movable vessel using at least one accelerometer of a smoke detector;

providing a sensor signal representative of the sensed movement using the at least one accelerometer of the smoke detector;

receiving the sensor signal using one or more processors of the smoke detector;

determining, using the one or more processor, whether the sensed movement exceeds a threshold based upon the sensor signal; and

adjusting a blinking rate of a status LED of the smoke detector based upon the sensor signal using the one or more processors by setting the blinking rate of the status LED to a first blinking rate if the sensed movement is equal to or less than the threshold and to a second blinking rate if the sensed movement exceeds the threshold.

11. The method of claim 10, wherein the first blinking rate is at least twice as fast as the second blinking rate.

12. The method of claim 10, wherein the first blinking rate is at least four times faster than the second blinking rate.

13. The method of claim 10, further comprising:

receiving power from a battery using a voltage regulator;

providing, using the voltage regulator;

a first power output at a first voltage to the one or more processors;

providing, using the voltage regulator, a second power output at a second voltage to the at least one LED driver; and

providing, using the at least one LED driver, power to the status LED based upon the first or second blinking rate.

14. The method of claim 10, further comprising sensing, using the at least one accelerometer, vibration of the movable vessel via a baseplate of the smoke detector mechanically coupled to the movable vessel.

15. The method of claim 14, wherein the threshold is based upon movement experienced by the aircraft cargo carrier during ground transportation.

16. The method of claim 15, wherein the threshold is further based upon movement experienced by the aircraft cargo carrier during flight.

17. The method of claim 10, further comprising setting, using the at least one processor, the blinking rate of the status LED to the first blinking rate in response to a press-to-test button of the smoke detector being pressed.

18. The method of claim 17, further comprising setting, using the at least one processor, the blinking rate of the status LED to the first blinking rate for at least 10 seconds in response to a press-to-test button of the smoke detector being pressed.