Smart entry point spatial security system

• US 10,692,343 B2
• Filed: 12/26/2018
• Issued: 06/23/2020
• Est. Priority Date: 12/27/2017
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Hampton Products International Corporation
• Original Assignee: Hampton Products International Corporation
• Inventors: Sadek, Kerloss
• Primary Examiner(s): Previl, Daniel
• Application Number:
  US16/232,919
• Publication Number:
  US 20190197852A1
• Time in Patent Office: 545 Days
• Field of Search: 340541, 34053911, 3405391, 34053914, 34053917, 34053922, 3405456-5459, 3405688, 340570, 3405729, 3406916
• CPC Class Codes: G07C 9/00 Individual registration on entry or exit
• CPC Class Codes: G08B 13/08 by opening, e.g. of door, of window, of drawer, of shutter, of curtain, of blind
• CPC Class Codes: G08B 13/22 Electrical actuation

Abstract

A smart entry point spatial security system is intended for securing facility and other entrances in general. The system includes a device associated to an entry point. The device can be coupled externally to the entry point or natively as built-in to the entry point structure or any entry point subcomponents, such as knobs and locks. A host device with a software application monitors or observes the entry point sensor data via wired or wireless link such as Bluetooth. The sensor includes a software algorithm that is adapted to trigger safety alarms upon unauthorized usage of the entry point or as means of regulating entrance of users to a dedicated general space. The sensor data is stored locally on a host computer and a logging system is available on cloud computing device. The stored data will be used in further optimizing spatial data.

Claims

1. An entry point security system comprising:

a multi-axis position sensor apparatus comprising;

a sensor body adapted to be affixed to an entry point blocking structure;

a sensor power supply contained within the sensor body;

a multi-axis motion detector contained within the sensor body and operatively connected to the sensor power supply;

a sensor communications wireless interface operatively connected to the sensor power supply and contained within the sensor body; and

a sensor processor operatively connected to the multi-axis motion detector, the sensor communications interface, and the sensor power supply and contained within the sensor body, the processor being configured to detect motions of the sensor body from input received from the multi-axis motion detector and to transmit information regarding the motions of the sensor body using the sensor communications wireless interface; and

a monitoring device at least intermittently communicatively coupled to the multi-axis position sensor apparatus, comprising;

a monitor power supply;

a monitor communications wireless interface operatively connected to the monitor power supply and at least intermittently communicatively coupled with the sensor communications interface;

a monitor processor operatively connected to the monitor power supply and the monitor communications interface and adapted to receive and process the information regarding the motions of the sensor body to generate notifications of entry status changes.

2. The entry point security system as recited in claim 1, wherein the entry point blocking structure comprises a structure selected from the group consisting of a hinged door, a sliding door, a window, a drawer, and a lid.

3. The entry point security system as recited in claim 1, wherein the monitoring device comprises a device selected from the group consisting of a dedicated entry point security hub, a desktop computing device, a laptop computing device, a tablet computing device, and a smart phone.

4. The entry point security system as recited in claim 1, wherein the system comprises a plurality of the multi-axis position sensor apparatuses as recited in claim 1, each sensor apparatus at least intermittently communicatively coupled to the monitoring device and each adapted to be affixed to a different entry point blocking structure.

5. The entry point security system as recited in claim 4, wherein at least one of the plurality of multi-axis position sensor apparatuses receives transmissions of information regarding motions of the body of another of the plurality of multi-axis position sensors and retransmits the information to the monitoring device.

6. The entry point security system as recited in claim 1, wherein the multi-axis motion detector comprises a detector selected from the group consisting of:

a three-axis sensor comprising a three-axis accelerometer;

a three-axis sensor comprising a three-axis compass;

a three-axis sensor comprising a three-axis gyroscope;

a six-axis sensor comprising a three axis gyroscope and a three axis compass;

a six-axis sensor comprising a three-axis accelerometer and a three-axis gyroscope;

a six-axis sensor comprising a three-axis accelerometer and a three-axis compass; and

a nine-axis sensor comprising a three-axis accelerometer, a three-axis gyroscope, and a three-axis compass.

7. The entry point security system as recited in claim 1, wherein the sensor communications wireless interface and the monitor communications wireless interface each comprises an interface selected from the group consisting of a Bluetooth wireless interface, an IEEE 802.11 (Wi-Fi) wireless interface, a wireless mesh network interface, and a cellular network interface.

8. The entry point security system as recited in claim 1, wherein the monitoring device is configured to convey the notifications of entry status changes to a user of the entry point security system through an action selected from the group consisting of:

displaying visual notifications on a screen of the monitoring device;

playing audio notifications on a sound transducer of the monitoring device;

generating vibratory notifications of a vibrator of the monitoring device;

generating and transmitting notifications through a computer network to a remote computing device;

modifying a state of an external device capable of generating an audio or visual cue; and

any combination thereof.

9. The entry point security system as recited in claim 1, wherein the information regarding the motions of the sensor body comprises information selected from the group consisting of:

transient accelerometer readings;

transient gyroscope readings;

transient compass readings;

changed but non-transient compass readings; and

any combination thereof.

10. The entry point security system as recited in claim 1, wherein the sensor body is affixed to the entry point blocking structure by a fixation selected from the group consisting of:

an adhesive material disposed between the sensor body and the entry point blocking structure;

a suction cup;

a fastener extending between the sensor body and the entry point blocking structure;

a body mating structure incorporated into the sensor body and adapted to mate to an entry point mating structure incorporated into the entry point blocking structure;

incorporation of the sensor body into a locking structure of the entry point blocking structure;

incorporation of the sensor body into an operating structure of the entry point blocking structure; and

an incorporation of at least a portion of the sensor body into the entry point blocking structure.

11. The entry point security system as recited in claim 1, wherein the system further comprises a non-volatile memory store, and wherein the system is configured to include a programming function wherein programming information from the multi-axis motion detector is obtained while the entry point blocking structure is in a plurality of positions, including at least a closed position and an open position and stored on the non-volatile memory store with information identifying corresponding positions of the entry point blocking structure, and wherein the system is configured to compare the information regarding the motions of the sensor body with the programming information to determine a state of the entry point blocking structure.

12. The entry point security system as recited in claim 11, wherein the non-volatile memory store is a memory store of a device selected from the group consisting of:

the monitoring device;

a local computing device at least intermittently communicatively coupled to the monitoring device, the local computing device being selected from the group consisting of a dedicated security hub, a local server, a desktop computing device, a laptop computing device, a tablet computing device, and a smart phone;

a remote computing device at least intermittently communicatively coupled to the monitoring device over a computer network, the remote computing device being selected from the group consisting of a remote dedicated security device, a remote server, a remote desktop computing device, a remote laptop computing device, a remote tablet computing device and a remote smart phone.

13. A method for providing entry point security comprising:

associating a multi-axis position sensor apparatus to an entry point blocking structure, the position sensor apparatus comprising a multi-axis motion detector;

communicatively coupling a monitoring device to the multi-axis position sensor apparatus;

detecting, at the multi-axis position sensor using the multi-axis motion detector, a movement of the entry point blocking structure;

receiving, at the monitoring device, a transmission of information from the multi-axis position sensor indicative of the movement of the entry point blocking structure;

processing the information from the multi-axis position sensor to determine a status of the entry point blocking structure; and

generating a notification of the status of the entry point blocking structure.

14. The method as recited in claim 13, further comprising performing a setup procedure after the multi-axis position sensor apparatus is associated with the entry point blocking structure, the setup procedure comprising steps of:

positioning the entry point blocking structure at a plurality of positions including at least a fully closed position at which the entry point blocking structure prevents access to a location and an open position at which the entry point blocking structure permits access to the location;

at each of the plurality of positions, obtaining information regarding readings of the multi-axis motion detector from the multi-axis position sensor apparatus; and

storing the information regarding readings of the multi-axis motion detector to a non-volatile memory store for use in determining entry point blocking structure position by comparison between the stored information and later-obtained information.

15. The method as recited in claim 13, wherein the multi-axis motion detector comprises a detector selected from the group consisting of:

a three-axis sensor comprising a three-axis accelerometer;

a three-axis sensor comprising a three-axis compass;

a three-axis sensor comprising a three-axis gyroscope;

a six-axis sensor comprising a three axis gyroscope and a three axis compass;

a six-axis sensor comprising a three-axis accelerometer and a three-axis gyroscope;

a six-axis sensor comprising a three-axis accelerometer and a three-axis compass; and

a nine-axis sensor comprising a three-axis accelerometer, a three-axis gyroscope, and a three-axis compass.

16. The method as recited in claim 13, wherein the transmission of information from the multi-axis position sensor is received via an interface selected from the group consisting of a wired interface, a Bluetooth wireless interface, an IEEE 802.11 (Wi-Fi) wireless interface, a wireless mesh network interface, and a cellular network interface.

17. The method as recited in claim 13, wherein the notification of the status of the entry point blocking structure is selected from the group consisting of:

visual notification on a screen of the monitoring device;

an audio notification on a sound transducer of the monitoring device;

a vibratory notification of a vibrator of the monitoring device;

a notification transmitted through a computer network to a remote computing device;

a modification of a state of a separate linked device capable of generating an audio or visual cue; and

any combination thereof.

18. The method as recited in claim 13, wherein the movement of the entry point blocking structure is detected by a measurement comprising a changed measurement of a compass of the multi-axis position sensor apparatus.

19. An entry point security system comprising:

a multi-axis position sensor apparatus comprising;

a sensor body adapted to be affixed to an entry point blocking structure;

a sensor power supply contained within the sensor body;

a multi-axis motion detector contained within the sensor body and operatively connected to the sensor power supply;

a sensor communications interface operatively connected to the sensor power supply and contained within the sensor body;

a non-volatile memory store contained within the sensor body; and

a sensor processor operatively connected to the motion detector, the sensor communications interface, the non-volatile memory store, and the sensor power supply and contained within the sensor body, the sensor processor being configured to detect motions of the sensor body from input received from the motion detector, to include a programming function wherein programming information from the multi-axis motion detector is obtained while the entry point blocking structure is in a plurality of positions, including at least a closed position and an open position, and stored on the non-volatile memory store with information identifying corresponding positions of the entry point blocking structure, and wherein the sensor processor is configured to compare the information regarding the motions of the sensor body with the programming information to determine a state of the entry point blocking structure, and to transmit information regarding the state of the entry point blocking structure using the sensor communications interface; and

a monitoring device at least intermittently communicatively coupled to the multi-axis position sensor apparatus, comprising;

a monitor power supply;

a monitor communications interface operatively connected to the monitor power supply and at least intermittently communicatively coupled with the sensor communications interface;

a monitor processor operatively connected to the monitor power supply and the monitor communications interface and adapted to receive and process the information regarding the state of the entry point blocking structure to generate notifications of entry status changes.