U.S. patent number 3,713,125 [Application Number 05/160,117] was granted by the patent office on 1973-01-23 for alarm system utilizing a digital radio link.
Invention is credited to Cecil John Miller.
United States Patent |
3,713,125 |
Miller |
January 23, 1973 |
ALARM SYSTEM UTILIZING A DIGITAL RADIO LINK
Abstract
An automatic digital-encoding burglary-robbery apprehension
system is described which utilizes existing telephone lines and
direct radio transmission links from an area control center to a
patrol car or helicopter. The transmitted alarm signal is digitally
coded to provide location identification.
Inventors: |
Miller; Cecil John (Northridge,
CA) |
Family
ID: |
22575581 |
Appl.
No.: |
05/160,117 |
Filed: |
July 6, 1971 |
Related U.S. Patent Documents
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Application
Number |
Filing Date |
Patent Number |
Issue Date |
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794873 |
Jan 29, 1969 |
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Current U.S.
Class: |
340/539.14;
455/18; 348/E7.049 |
Current CPC
Class: |
G08B
27/001 (20130101); G08B 25/085 (20130101); H04N
7/10 (20130101) |
Current International
Class: |
G08B
25/08 (20060101); G08B 27/00 (20060101); H04N
7/10 (20060101); G08b 019/00 () |
Field of
Search: |
;340/224P ;343/225R |
References Cited
[Referenced By]
U.S. Patent Documents
Primary Examiner: Pitts; Harold I.
Parent Case Text
CROSS REFERENCE TO RETAILED APPLICATIONS
This application is streamlined continuation of Ser. No. 794,873,
filed Jan. 29, 1969, now abandoned.
Claims
What is claimed as new in support of Letters Patent is:
1. An alarm system comprising:
means for generating a discrete alarm signal at a protected site in
response to the occurrence of an emergency event;
encoding means connected to said alarm signal generating means at
said site and responsive to the initiation of said alarm signal for
generating a digital code uniquely identifying the location of said
site;
radio transmitting means at a fixed location remote from said
protected site for broadcasting the output of said encoding
means;
a telephone transmission line interposed between said protected
site and said radio transmitting means;
automatic telephone dialing means for interconnecting said encoding
means and said radio transmitting means via said telephone
transmission line whenever said encoding means responds to the
initiation of said alarm signal, whereby said digital code is
supplied to said radio transmitting means;
a mobile radio receiver remote from said fixed location for picking
up said digital code broadcast from said transmitting means;
first digital decoding means connecting to said receiver, and
responsive to the output therefrom, for converting said digital
code to a geographic address code corresponding to the location of
said protected site; and
means connected to the output of said first digital decoding means
and responsive thereto, for displaying said geographical address
code.
2. An alarm system as defined in claim 1 including:
means for selectively modifying said digital code generated by said
encoding means so as to permit an arbitrary identification of said
site.
3. An alarm system as defined in claim 1 wherein said means for
displaying said digital code includes:
means for converting said broadcast code to a digital code
differing from the digital code generated by said encoding
means.
4. An alarm system as defined in claim 1, including:
second digital decoding means connected to said telephone
transmission line at said fixed location for converting the digital
code supplied via said telephone transmission line to a geographic
address code corresponding to the location of said protected site;
and
means connected to the output of said second decoding means, and
responsive thereto, for displaying said geographic address
code.
5. An alarm system as defined in claim 1, including:
automatic printer means connected to the output of said first
digital decoding means, and responsive thereto, for recording said
geographic address code.
6. An alarm system as defined in claim 4, including:
automatic printer means connected to the output of said second
digital decoding means at said fixed location, and responsive
thereto, for recording said geographic address code.
7. An alarm system as defined in claim 1 wherein said telephone
transmission line comprises a community antenna television coaxial
line.
Description
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
Many remote-indicating alarm devices have been employed heretofore
in law-enforcement communications systems. In general, these
devices provide an alarm signal at a central office in response to
the activation of an alarm switch or intrusion detector at the
premises under surveillance. In response to the alarm signal an
operator contacts the police station by telephone, at which time
radio communication with law-enforcement offices in a patrol
vehicle in the vicinity of the surveyed premises is established in
order to affect apprehension of the robber or intruder. The
apprehension process cannot start until the police communications
control center has processed the alarm call and has located and
dispatched an available vehicle to the scene of the crime. It has
been found that this process consumes an average of 7 to 12
minutes, during which time 80 percent of the criminals make their
escape.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to an automatic system which
significantly reduces the response time between the detection of a
crime or an incipient crime and the deployment of the police to the
scene of the crime. In accordance with a first embodiment of the
invention, a coded signal which identifies the location under
surveillance may be automatically transmitted by radio, or by a
combination of a wire-radio link, directly to patrol vehicles or
helicopters in the general area of the surveyed location. The radio
signal received at the patrol vehicle or helicopter is decoded to
present numerical and printed data identifying the location of the
tripped alarm, thereby permitting the patrol vehicle to proceed
directly to the scene of the crime. Thus, the delays now
experienced in existing law-enforcement communications systems are
obviated.
As will be described in a subsequent part of this specification,
the invention may be constructed in a number of embodiments,
certain of which include burglary, robbery, fire and other types of
emergency sensors which operate in conjunction with address
encoding and data transmission equipment to automatically relay an
alarm to specified locations where the data are decoded, displayed
and printed out, and if desired, presented as a recorded voice
message. Other modifications of the invention will also be
described hereinafter.
It is therefore an object of the invention to provide a novel and
improved alarm system utilizing a coded source identification which
is transmitted via a radio link.
Another object of the invention is to provide a novel and improved
radio communications system including a mobile radio receiver
having demodulating and decoding means therein for displaying and
printing the address of an activated remote alarm.
These and other objects of the invention will be more readily
understood by making reference to the description which follows and
to the related drawings.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
FIG. 1 is a block diagram of a first embodiment of the
invention.
FIG. 2 is a detailed schematic diagram of the location encoder
portion of the system of FIG. 1, utilizing a digital coding
technique.
FIG. 3 is a schematic diagram of the decoder and display portion of
the system of FIG. 1.
FIG. 4 is a block diagram of a second embodiment of the invention
wherein an intermediate telephone link is employed.
DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS
Referring to FIG. 1 there is shown a block diagram of a first
embodiment of the invention, and which comprises a plurality of
input signal devices. These may include a hidden switch 1 of the
type which may be secretly closed by the intended victim of a
robbery. Such a switch may be any of the suitable and well-known
types employed in tellers or cashiers cages, under the counter in
stores, or similar installations well-known to those versed in the
art. For the protection of unattended premises, a burglary
intrusion sensor 2 may be used to generate the input alarm signal
to the system. These detection devices may comprise proximity
switches, trip wires, photoelectric surveillance devices, foil
continuity-sensing circuits and the like commonly employed in
burglar alarm systems. Additionally, an individual who is to be
protected against robbery, such as a cashier, may carry a remote
control device 3 on their person which is capable of initiating an
electrical or ultrasonic signal upon command. Alternatively, a fire
sensor 4 and/or other type of emergency detection device such as
manual emergency switch 5 may serve as the input to the system.
Such devices are well-known in the art. The particular construction
of the alarm sensor or alarm initiating switch is merely incidental
to the invention, as will appear.
The initiation of an alarm signal from switch 1, detection device
2, remote control device 3, fire sensor 4, or switch 5 will supply
a signal on line 6 to the location encoding device 7. The address
or location of the protected person or place is encoded, typically
as a six digit number (as will be described in detail later) and
transmitted on line 8 to radio transmitter 9. That is, the location
or address of the premises is stored in the encoding device 7 and
is transmitted by transmitter 9 whenever the system is activated by
a signal on line 6. Details of the encoding device 7 will be given
in a subsequent portion of this specification.
Radio transmitter 9 automatically broadcasts the location code
appearing on line 8 for an interval sufficient to permit reception
and recording at a mobile receiving unit. In a preferred
construction, transmitter 9 employs frequency shift modulation for
the transmission of the address code. The transmitted code is
picked up by radio receiver 11 which is preferably located in a
mobile vehicle, such as a patrol car or helicopter patrolling the
general area in which the protected premises are located. The radio
link between transmitter 9 and receiver 11 is indicated at 12. The
receiver output on line 13 is demodulated and decoded by a suitable
demodulatory decoding device 14, the construction of which will be
described hereinafter. The decoded output on line 15 is displayed
in arabic numerals on display device 16 and/or printed out on
printer 17.
Any suitable line code may be employed in the data channel (15)
between decoding device 14 and output device 16 or 17. Also, an
audible signalling device, such as buzzer 18, may be energized via
line 19 whenever a signal is being picked up by receiver 11. This
will alert the personnel in the patrol vehicle to an incoming
address signal which should be investigated.
If desired, the system may be extended to include an additional
radio receiver 21, located at the police station 22. This receiver
21 is responsive to the digital code transmitted by radio link 23
from transmitter 9 in addition to radio transmitting equipment (11)
in the patrol vehicle. The received digital location code is
demodulated, decoded and displayed by means of display device 24
and/or printed by printer 25. This will permit simultaneous
reception at the patrol vehicle and the station 22 for over-ride
monitoring control.
A tape recorded verbal message may be contained in device 26 and
transmitted in lieu of the digital location code from device 7.
That is, in response to one or more of the sensor devices 1-5, the
location of the actuated sensor may be verbally played back from a
recorded tape in the tape playback device 26. This message is
transmitted via radio transmitter 9 to receiver 11 where it is
reproduced via speaker 27.
Receiver 21 is also provided with a speaker 28 to reproduce the
received recorded location message from device 26 and transmitter
9.
When activated by an intruder, intrusion noises may be picked up at
the site of the protected premises by microphone pick up 29 and
broadcast in the same manner as the above-described recorded
message, for ultimate reproduction through speaker 27 and/or
28.
Fires are immediately detected by fire sensor 4 and an alarm signal
is via the location encoding device 7 and transmitted directly to
the nearest fire station 31 by radio link 32. Digital receiver 33
decodes and reads out the site location of the fire by means of
display device 34 and/or printer 35.
The site or location code may be generated by an automatic
telephone dialer 36, a telephone card dialer 37, or a touch-tone
telephone 38, in addition to (or in lieu of) the previously
described location encoding device 7. As in the first-described
case, the code is generated in response to one of the emergency
sensors 1-5. The received telephone-type code is decoded to
indicate the origin of the activated emergency sensor 1-5.
The emergency sensors, in addition to those specifically enumerated
above, may comprise suitable and well-known manually operated
switches for use in medical or other types of emergencies. In this
regard, an ultrasonic or radio remote control transmitter may be
used to initiate the emergency signal.
Referring to FIG. 2 there is shown a schematic diagram of a device
suitable for encoding the address location. The multiplexer shown
in FIG. 2 corresponds to the block identified as "location encoding
device 7" in FIG. 1. The apparatus shown will generate a six-digit
number in response to closure of the sensor switch 1. This will
close a path to ground 41 and trip flip-flop 45. This action will
send a pulse on line 43 to the binary to octal converter 44.
Counting or timing pulses from oscillator 49 will be registered in
the serially connected flip-flops 48, 47, 46 and 45. As each
flip-flop is tripped, it will send a pulse to the converter 44,
which in turn supplies an output to appropriate ones of gates
51-56. These gates in turn provide outputs to multiplexing gates, a
typical set of which are identified as 57-60. The sequential
outputs from these gates is supplied to multiple-frequency
oscillator 62, the tone-coded output of which appears on line 63
for transmission to the radio transmitter or transmission
channel.
Typically, the first digit of the six-digit number identifies the
geographic sector; the second digit describes the type of service
required, and the remaining four digits describe the specific
location of the activated sensor.
In addition to the digital encoding technique described in
connection with FIG. 2, other well-known tone-encoding techniques
may be utilized.
The tone modulated signal from radio transmitter 9 is received by
radio receiver 11 located in the patrol vehicle. The received
signal is detected, demodulated and supplied as a decoder which
converts it to a parallel line code. The output of the decoder 14,
appearing on line 13 directly drives a display device such as a
numerical readout tube where it may be seen by the operator. As
will be apparent to those versed in the art, a plurality of readout
tubes will be employed in cascade, depending upon the required
number of decimal places needed to display the transmitter site or
address identification which directs the patrol officer to the site
of the activated intrusion detection device.
If desired, the radio receiver 11 may be equipped to provide a
printed output of the transmitted site address in addition to the
visual numerical display. Other modifications within the scope of
the claimed invention will appear to those skilled in the art.
Referring to FIG. 4, there is shown a second embodiment of the
invention, whereby burglary, robbery, emergency and fire sensors,
microphone pick up of intrusion noises, pre-recorded emergency tape
messages, telephone automatic dialing, touch-tone and card dialer
devices are automatically coupled to a conventional telephone line
64. A user's control device 65 relays the signal to an automatic
area control device 66, which in turn automatically transmits by
radio to a patrol car, helicopter (67) or fire station 68, where
the encoded information is displayed and printed and the voice
information is monitored. This arrangement permits a major cost
reduction to the user in that hundreds of user's units 65 share a
single transmitter in the area control unit.
The user's control unit 65 comprises a message center 69 which
accepts input signals from the various sensors (e.g., 2-5) and
directs them to a digital encoder 71 for transmission over
telephone line 64.
The message center 69 determines which sensor is activating the
control unit 65 and determines the digital code to be sent.
The dial tone detector 72 detects the occurrence of a telephone
dial tone.
The automatic dialer 73 automatically dials a preselected
number.
The busy signal detector 74 automatically resets the circuit back
to the detector 72 when the line is busy.
The recorder tone detector 75 determines if the recorder 76 in the
area control device 66 is recording and sets back until the
recorder 76 is ready.
The digital encoder 71 transmits and resets the circuit back to the
message center 69 after the digital code is sent, so that the
control unit is again ready for the sender message.
The system test unit 77 periodically tests the operation of the
system.
The timer unit 78 in the area control device provides an indication
of the time of day when the messages are received.
The teletype printer 79 provides time, station number and message
information.
The display unit 81 provides a visual display of the location
address.
The speaker 82 is utilized to monitor intrusion noises.
A single receiver 83 and a single transmitter 84 may service a
large number of user's control units (e.g., 65) since they are
connected to the area control device 66 via standard telephone
lines 64. The radio link 85-87 to the police station 22, vehicle
67, and/or fire station 68 is the same as described in the first
embodiment.
Still another modification of the system employs the use of a
community antenna television office 88 which is directly linked to
the output of the user's control unit 65 via CATV, coaxial line 89.
The CATV office 88 receives the coded date on line 89 at receiver
91, monitors it by means of display printer 92 and then broadcasts
it by means of radio transmitter 93. The broadcast signal is
received at the mobile unit (67) in the same manner as the
previously described radio link (viz., 85-87).
Thus, the burglary, robbery, emergency and fire sensors, microphone
pick up of intrusion noises, prerecorded emergency tape messages,
telephone automatic dialing, touch-tone and card dialer devices are
automatically coupled to a conventional telephone line by a novel
user's control device 65 and relayed directly to police stations
22, fire stations 68, community antenna television headquarters 88
and private patrols where the encoded information is displayed and
printed, and the voice information is monitored on speakers. Voice
communication may be established with mobile units in the manner
previously described.
* * * * *