Claims:We Claim:

1. A device 103, comprising: a switch 103a and a metal piece 103b, wherein the switch 103a is placed on a contacting surface of a body, and wherein the metal piece 103b is placed on a door, wherein the switch 103a and the metal piece 103b is in contact when the door is closed, and wherein the contact is lost once the door is open, and wherein the switch 103a is further electrically coupled with an electronic device 108, and wherein the electronic device 108 is adapted to transmit a communication signal, indicative of the door being opened, to a communication device 104 communicatively coupled with the switch 103a.

2. The device of claim 1, wherein the switch 103a is a resistive switch having exposed pads 107 in order to make the contact with the metal piece 103b.

3. The device of claim 1, wherein the electronic device 108 further comprises a BLE processing unit 109 and a battery 110.

4. The device of claim 3, wherein the electronic device 108 is adapted to consume power supplied through a battery 110 only when the contact between the switch 103a and the metal piece 103b is lost thereby facilitating power optimization.

5. The device of claim 3, wherein the BLE processing unit 109 is configured to transmit the communication signal through a Bluetooth low energy communication protocol (BLE) to a communication device 104 communicatively coupled with the electronic device 108, and wherein the communication device 104 is a gateway.

6. A system 101 for detecting an opening of a door and thereby notifying an owner, the system comprising:
a device 103 having a switch 103a and a metal piece 103b, wherein the switch 103a is placed on a contacting surface of a body, and wherein the metal piece 103b is placed on a door, wherein the switch 103a is electrically coupled with an electronic device 108, and wherein the electronic device 108 is adapted to detect the opening of the door when a contact between the switch 103a and the metal piece 103b is lost;
a communication device 104, communicatively coupled with the electronic device 108, for
receiving a communication signal indicating the door being opened; and
capturing an image comprising a person opening the door; and
a server 105, communicatively coupled with the communication device 104, for sending a notification message and the image to an owner of the device.

7. The system of claim 6, wherein the electronic device 108 further comprises a BLE processing unit 109 and a battery 110, wherein the BLE processing unit 109 is configured to transmit the communication signal using a Bluetooth low energy protocol (BLE) to the communication device 104, and wherein the communication device 104 is a gateway.

8. The system of claim 6, wherein the server 105 generates a notification message based upon the receipt of a triggering signal from the gateway 104, and wherein the server 105 further sends the notification message and the image to a display device 106 associated with the owner, and wherein the server is a cloud server.

9. A method for detecting an opening of a door and thereby notifying an owner, the method comprising:
detecting an opening of a door, via a switch 103a, wherein the opening of the door is detected when the contact between the switch 103a and a metal piece 103b is lost, wherein the switch 103a is placed on a contacting surface of a body coupled to the door, and wherein the metal piece 103b is placed on the door;
transmitting, via an electronic device 108 electrically coupled with switch 103a, a communication signal indicative of the door being opened to a communication device 104;
capturing, via the communication device 104, an image based upon the receipt of the communication signal;
sending, via the communication device 104, the image data to a server; and
sending, via the server 105, a notification message and the image to an owner.

10. The method of claim 9, further comprising transmitting the communication signal to the communication device 104 using Bluetooth low energy (BLE) communication protocol.

11. The method of claim 9, further comprising
generating, by the server 105, the notification message based upon receipt of triggering signal from the communication device 104, and
sending, by the server 105, the notification message and the image to the display device 106 associated with the owner.
, Description:FORM 2
THE PATENTS ACT, 1970
(39 of 1970)
&
THE PATENT RULES, 2003

COMPLETE SPECIFICATION

(See Section 10 and Rule 13)

Title of invention:
DEVICE, SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR DETECTING OPENING OF A DOOR AND THEREBY NOTIFYING AN OWNER

Applicant:
Axelta systems Pvt Limited,
An Indian entity having an address,
H.No:6-3-571/a/12, 2nd floor, Suhana Rockdale, Somajiguda, Khairatabad,Hyderabad-500082, Telangana, India

The following specification particularly describes the invention and the manner in which it is to be performed.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS AND PRIORITY

The present application does not claim priority from any patent application.

TECHNICAL FIELD

The present subject matter relates to a device, system and method for detecting opening of door and thereby sending image notification on an owner’s communication device.
BACKGROUND

Usually, people keep their most valuable items like jewellery, money, documents etc. in the lockers. It is very important for an owner to have a highly secured locker system to ensure safety of his/her precious items. Many people prefer to keep their valuable things in bank lockers because of safety reasons. But robbers try to steal in the banks, houses, offices which may endanger the safety of money, jewellery in the banks, houses and offices. Typically, theft from locker is committed by the persons who are known to owner. The persons may include a relative, a friend, and a manager etc. It is easy for this people to steal without damaging the locker. Most of the anti-theft locker systems have security features like burglar alarm or a GSM based message notification to an owner when unauthorized or forceful opening of the locker takes place.
Now-a-days, electronic anti-theft lockers are available in the market which have in built anti-theft devices in the locker. Therefore, the owner needs to buy such new electronic anti-theft lockers to ensure security. The old lockers, then turns into waste of money. In order to be operative, the electronic anti-theft lockers continuously consume power thereby resulting in rapid draining of a battery supplying the power. The draining of the battery may in turn make the anti-theft locker non-operative thereby affecting the safety of the locker.
SUMMARY
Before the present system(s), method(s) and device(s) are described, it is to be understood that this disclosure is not limited to the particular system and its arrangement as described, as there can be multiple possible embodiments which are not expressly illustrated in the present disclosure but may still be practicable within the scope of the invention as determined by claims. It is also to be understood that the terminology used in the description is for the purpose of describing the particular versions or embodiments only, and is not intended to limit the scope of the present application. This summary is not intended to identify essential features of the claimed subject matter nor is it intended for use in detecting or limiting the scope of the claimed subject matter.
In one implementation, a device for detecting an opening of a door is described. The device may comprise a switch and a metal piece. The switch is placed on a contacting surface of a body coupled to a door and the metal piece is placed on the door. The switch and the metal piece is in contact when the door is closed, and the contact is lost once the door is open. The switch in the device may further be electrically coupled with an electronic device (hereinafter also referred to as a node interchangeably). The node is further adapted to transmit a communication signal, indicative of the door being opened, to a communication device communicatively coupled with the switch. In an embodiment, the node comprises a Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE) processing unit and a battery for operating the BLE processing unit.
In another implementation, a system for detecting an opening of a door and thereby notifying an owner is described. The system comprises a device having a switch and a metal piece. The switch is placed on a contacting surface of a body coupled to a door, and the metal piece is placed on the door. The switch is adapted to detect the opening of the door when a contact between the switch and the metal piece is lost. The system may further comprise a node, electrically coupled with the switch, for transmitting a communication signal using BLE communication protocol. The system may further comprise communication device (hereinafter also referred to as a gateway interchangeably), communicatively coupled with the node, for receiving the communication signal indicative of the opening of the door. The gateway may capture an image comprising a person opening the door based upon receipt of the communication signal. The system may further comprise a server, communicatively coupled with the communication device, for sending a notification message and the image to an owner of the device.

In yet another implementation, a method for detecting an opening of a door and thereby notifying an owner is described. The method may comprise detecting an opening of a door when the switch and metal piece contact is lost. The switch is placed on a contacting surface of a body, and the metal piece is placed on the door. The method may further comprise transmitting a communication signal, indicative of the door being open, to a communication device. The method may further comprise capturing of an image through the gateway and sending the image data to the server through the gateway. The server is a cloud server. The method may further comprise processing and analysis of data at the cloud server and generating notification message at the cloud server. The method may further comprise sending of the notification along with the image from the cloud server to the owner.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS

The detailed description is described with reference to the accompanying Figures. In the Figures, the left-most digit(s) of a reference number identifies the Figure in which the reference number first appears. The same numbers are used throughout the drawings to refer like features and components.

Figure 1 illustrates a network implementation of a system 101, a, a device 103, a node 108, a communication device 104, a server 105 and a display device 106 in accordance with an embodiment of the present subject matter.

Figure 2 illustrates a device 103 comprising the switch 103a and a metal piece 103b, in accordance with an embodiment of the present subject matter.

Figure 3 illustrates the switch 103a which is electrically coupled with the node 108 in accordance with an embodiment of the present subject matter.

Figure 4 illustrates a sequence diagram illustrating step-wise process facilitating opening of the door opening and thereby sending notification message and an image on owner’s mobile, in accordance with an embodiment of the present subject matter.

Figure 5 illustrates a method 500 for detecting an opening door and thereby notifying an owner, in accordance with an embodiment of the present subject matter.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION

The present subject matter relates to a device, system and method that prevents thefts in a locker/strong room and in case such an incident happens, the system helps to identify the thief. The device, system and method of the present subject matter notifies the owner of any locker fitted with device whenever the locker door is opened with an image of a person opening the door on an owner device of the owner.

Referring to figure 1, the network implementation of the system facilitating detecting an opening of a door and thereby sending message notification along with the image of the event is illustrated, in accordance with an embodiment of the present subject matter. As shown, the system comprises a device 103 which is a two-part device. A first part is a switch 103a which is placed on a contacting surface of a body, coupled to a door, and a second part is a metal piece103b which is placed on the door. The switch 103a is adapted to detect door opening when the contact between the switch 103a and the metal piece 103b is lost. The switch 103a is further electrically coupled with an electronic device which transmits a communication signal to the communication device 104. The electronic device is also referred to as a node 108 and the communication device is a gateway. The gateway 104 is strategically placed to get clear image of the door opening. The gateway 104 captures the image comprising a person opening the door and sends a notification message indicating the door being opened and thereafter an image, depicting person who opened the door, to the display device 106 associated with the owner through a cloud server 105 shown in figure 1. In an exemplary embodiment, the display device 106 may be one of a mobile phone, a smartphone, a laptop computer, a tablet computer, a personal computer, and the like.

Although the present subject matter is explained considering that the system is implemented on a locker, it may be understood that the system may also be implemented in a variety of systems, such as storage rooms, doors, cash delivery vans, trucks and refrigeration vans, office premises, ATM machines and the like.

Referring to figure 2 is the device 103 comprising the switch 103a and the metal piece 103b. As shown in the figure 2, the switch 103a is in contact with the metal piece 103b. Particularly, it is shown that the head part of the switch 103a is in contact with the metal piece 103b. In some embodiments, the metal piece 103b may be coated with a coating material in order to withstand the metal piece 103b in different atmospheric conditions. Figure 3 further illustrates the switch 3a in detail.

Referring to figure 3, the switch 3a electrically coupled with an electronic device 108 (hereinafter referred to as a node 108) is shown in accordance with an embodiment of the present disclosure. The switch 103a is a first part of the device 103 placed on contacting surface of the body coupled with a door. The switch 103a is adapted to detect door opening when the contact between the switch 103a and the metal piece 103b is lost. The metal piece 103b is a second part of the device 103, which is placed on the locker door.

In an embodiment, the switch 103a is a resistive switch having exposed pads 107 in order to make contact with the metal piece 103b. In an embodiment, the exposed pads 107 may be as large, in size, as possible in order to increase the surface area for contact with the metal piece 103b. It must be noted that though the number of exposed pads 107 shown in figure 3 is two, however, the present disclosure contemplates addition of multiple number of exposed pads on the switch 103a and is therefore not limited to a specific number of exposed pads and various combinations are easily realizable and possible as per the scope of the present disclosure. In an embodiment, the switch 103a is small in size such that the switch 103a may be placed on an any locker body.

In an embodiment, the diameter of the switch 103a is 8.39mm×8.00mm and line gaps between the exposed pads 107 are 1.579 mm to 1.714 mm. The size of the metal piece 103b is 20 mm ×10 mm. It is to be noted that the gap between the exposed pads 107 as discussed above is required to be maintained in order to avoid false notification because of the moisture, hand contact with the exposed pads 107 or spreading of the edges of the exposed pads 107 due to impact of closing of the door. In one embodiment, the exposed pads 107 of the switch 103a comes into contact with exposed metal of the metal piece 103b and completes circuit when the door is closed. In one embodiment, the tail part of the switch 103a provides conductive path for the exposed pads 107 through the wires on the tail part.

In an embodiment, the switch 103a is further electrically coupled with the node 108 as shown in figure 3. The node 108 comprises a BLE processing unit 109 which is coupled with a pair of AAA battery 110. The pair of AAA battery is provided to operate the BLE processing unit 109. It is to be noted that the tail part of the switch 103a comprises a male connector (not shown in figure) that is adapted to electrically couple with the node 108 via a female connector (not shown in figure) of the node 108.

In an embodiment, the door opening detection is based on the “reverse circuit mechanism” in which circuit of the node 108 is configured to activate only when the contact between the switch 103a and metal piece 103b is lost and thereby the stopping of the flow of the current from the conducting paths in the tail part of the switch 103a. The activation of the circuit of the node 108 results into transmission of triggering signal or a communication signal by the BLE processing unit 109 using BLE communication protocol. It is to be understood that the circuit of the node 108 is activated only when the contact between the switch 103a and metal piece 103b is lost, thereby facilitating power optimization Specifically, it is to be noted that the BLE processing unit 109 consumes the power from the battery 110 only when door is open and sends the triggering signal to the gateway 104.

In present embodiment, the node 108 is further adapted to transmit a communication signal, indicative of the door being opened, to a communication device 104 communicatively coupled with the node 108. In one embodiment the communication device 104 is a gateway. In one embodiment, when the owner/user opens the locker door, the contact between the switch 103a and the metal piece 103b is lost. Further, as-soon-as the contact is lost, the circuit of the node 108 is activated and the node 108 transmits the communication signal to the gateway 104 via Bluetooth low energy (BLE) communication protocol. Here, the node 108 wakes up only when the contact between the switch 103a and the metal piece 103b is lost, therefore the node 108 is also called as a “Lazy node”.

No again referring to figure 1, the node 108, transmits the communication signal to the gateway 104 through Bluetooth low energy (BLE) communication protocol only when the contact between switch 103a and metal piece 103b is lost for more than predefined time period. The gateway 104 sends a triggering signal to initiate sending a notification message to the owner at the cloud server 105.The cloud server 105 in response to the triggering signal generates the notification message. The cloud sends the notification message on the display device106 associated with the owner. In one example, the display device 106 is a smartphone associated to the owner. In one embodiment, an application is present on the display device 106, wherein the application displays the notification message received through the cloud server 105.

Thereafter, the gateway 104 sends another triggering signal to a gateway camera (not shown in figures) to capture an image pertaining to premises of the locker. The gateway camera is configured for capturing the image of the person who opens the door and thereafter sending the image to the gateway 104. The gateway 104 sends the image to the cloud server 105. The cloud server 105 analyses the received image and send the image to the application present on the display device 106. The application may then display the image to the owner on the interface of the display device 106. In one exemplary embodiment, the image comprises the person opening the door as well as the detection of door opening. The owner may retrieve the image and the notification message via the application present on the display device 106.

Referring to figure 4 is a sequence diagram illustrating step-wise process facilitating opening of the door and thereby sending notification and the image on owner’s mobile. As shown, the figure 4 explains interaction between system components and network which are involved in the system. First, the switch 103a detects the door opening when the contact between the switch 103a and the metal piece 103b is lost. When the owner or another person (indicated as user in figure 4) opens the door which wakes up the node, electrically coupled with the switch 103a, and thereby configures the node to detect the door opening activity. The node transmits the communication signal to the gateway through Bluetooth low energy (BLE) communication protocol.

Referring to figure 4, the gateway sets up a communication with a cloud server and sends a triggering signal to initiate sending a notification message to the owner. The cloud server in response to the triggering signal generates the notification message. The cloud server sends the notification message on the application (indicated as smart phone app in figure 4) of the owner's mobile. Thereafter, the gateway sends another triggering signal to a gateway camera to capture an image pertaining to premises of the locker. The gateway camera is configured for capturing the image of the person who opens the door and thereafter sending the image to the gateway. The gateway sends the image to the cloud server. The cloud server analyses the received image and send the image on the smart phone application of the owner's mobile. In one exemplary embodiment, the image comprises the person opening the door as well as the detection of door opening. The owner may retrieve the image and the notification message using the smart phone application.

In some embodiments, the owner may configure rules via the cloud server 105 with respect to receipt of the notification message as-well-as the image on the owner’s mobile. For example, the owner may set a rule via the cloud server 105 in order to activate/deactivate the receipt of the notification message and the image at a particular time or place. For instance, the owner may be present within the premises of the locker for time period between 10 am to 10 pm and would not like to receive the notification message and the image during the said time period and hence set a rule for the deactivation. During the said time period, though the cloud server 105 is triggered to send notification message/image to the owner, in this case, the cloud server 105 will avoid sending the notification message/image to the owner. Alternatively, in some embodiments, dedicated person(s) may be employed to monitor the detection of the door opening events using the combination of the switch 103, the gateway 104 and the node 108 and instead of sending the notification message/image by the cloud server, the person(s) employed may notify the owner in case the door is opened by the suspicious person who is not otherwise authorized to open the door.

Figure 5 illustrates a method 500 for detecting an opening door and thereby notifying an owner, in accordance with an embodiment of the present subject matter.

At step 501, the device detects door opening using the switch 103a and the node 108. In one embodiment, the device 103 is a two-part device. The first part is the switch 103a, which is placed on contacting surface of a body and a second part is the metal piece 103b which is placed on a door. In one embodiment, the switch 103a is electrically coupled with the node 108 which is further adapted to detect the door opening when the contact between the switch 103a and the metal piece 103b is lost.

At step 502, the node 108 transmits a communication signal to the communication device 104. In one exemplary embodiment, the node 108 transmits the communication signal through Bluetooth low energy communication protocol (BLE). The communication signal is indicative of the door being opened as detected by the node 108.

At step 503, the gateway 104 sends triggering signal to initiate message sending by the server to the owner, wherein the server is a cloud server 105. In one embodiment, the gateway 104 sends signal to the server via communication network.

At step 504, the cloud server 105 generates notification message and sends the notification message to the owner. In one embodiment, cloud server 105 sends the notification message to the owner via communication network.

At step 505, the gateway 104 captures the image comprising a person opening the door. In one embodiment, the gateway 104 comprises a camera configured to capture the image.

At step 506, the gateway 104 sends the image data. In one embodiment, the gateway 104 sends image data to the cloud server 105 via communication network.

At step 507, the cloud server 105 performs data processing and analysis.

At step 508, the cloud server 105 sends the image to the owner’s display device 106. In one exemplary embodiment, the image is sent on the mobile based application.

Although implementations for devices, systems and methods for detecting an opening of a door and thereby notifying an owner have been described in language specific to structural features and/or methods, it is to be understood that the appended claims are not necessarily limited to the specific features or methods described. Rather, the specific features and methods are disclosed as examples of implementations for detecting an opening of a door and thereby notifying an owner.