US-20260126785-A1 - Non-Event Notification System

US20260126785A1US 20260126785 A1US20260126785 A1US 20260126785A1US-20260126785-A1

Abstract

A computer-implemented notification system automatically generates a notification if the system determines that a non-event has occurred related to operation of a device being monitored by the notification system. The notification may be transmitted to one or more third parties upon the expiration of a time frame in which the device event was expected to occur.

Inventors

Kathleen Boland Witherspoon
Andrew Thomas Witherspoon
Michael Carlini

Assignees

KAW INDUSTRIES LLC

Dates

Publication Date: 20260507
Application Date: 20260105

Claims (20)

1 . A system for monitoring a device for failure of a device event to occur within a specified time frame, the time frame having a start time and an end time, the system comprising: a controller and an I/O communication path connected to the controller, the I/O communication path being operatively connected to the device to recognize device events and to transmit signals or data representing such device events to the controller; the controller being configured to determine from the data or signal received from the I/O communication path whether a device event has occurred and the time that the device event has occurred; the controller being configured to store data representing the device event and the time at which the device event occurred the controller being configured to store at least one time-frame object having a start time and an end time spaced apart in time from the start time, the controller being configured to determine that a time-frame object has expired; the controller being configured to determine upon expiration of the time-frame object whether a device event had occurred between the start time of the time-frame object and the end time of the time-frame object and, if the software application determines that a device event had not occurred between the start time of the time-frame object, to output a notification of the failure of the device event to occur.
2 . The system of claim 1 wherein the I/O communication path comprises a sensor operatively connected to the device, the sensor being configured to transmit a signal or data representing the device event to the controller when a device event occurs.
3 . The system of claim 2 wherein the sensor is one of: a motion sensor, a proximity sensor, a pressure sensor, a flow sensor, a door sensor, a window sensor, a thermometer, or a thermocouple.
4 . The system of claim 1 wherein the device comprises a plug being configured to be plugged into an electrical socket to power the device, and the I/O module comprises a smart plug; the smart plug being configured to be plugged into the electrical socket and to receive the plug of the device to transmit electrical power from the electrical socket to the device; the smart plug further being configured to recognize a device event related to changes in electrical power being transmitted through the smart plug to the device.
5 . The system of claim 4 wherein the smart plug transmits data through the I/O communication path representing a time stamp associated with the power event.
6 . The system of claim 1 wherein the I/O communication path transmits a plurality of different types device events to the controller and the controller associates a different time-frame object with each type of device event.
7 . The system of claim 6 wherein the I/O communication path comprises a plurality of sensors operatively connected to the device, each sensor associated with a different type of device event of the plurality different types of device events and being configured to transmit a signal or data representing the device event to the controller when the device event associated with the sensor occurs.
8 . The system of claim 1 wherein the time-frame object maintains a Boolean flag that represents whether or not the device event associated with the time-frame object has occurred within the time frame associated with the time-frame object.
9 . The system of claim 8 wherein the time-frame object does not react to device events of the type associated with the time-frame object when such device events occur outside of the time frame associated with the time-frame object.
10 . The system of claim 1 wherein the time-frame object is a sliding time-frame object.
11 . The system of claim 10 wherein the sliding time-frame object is a current sliding time-frame object and the controller is configured to create a new sliding time-frame object when a device event associated with the current sliding time-frame object occurs in the time frame of the current sliding time-frame object.
12 . The system of claim 1 wherein the at least one time-frame object is a periodic time-frame object.
13 . The system of claim 1 wherein the device is one of a plurality of devices monitored by the system for failure of a respective device event associated with each device of the plurality of devices within a specified time frame wherein: the I/O communication path operatively connects each device of the plurality of devices to the controller and transmits signals or data representing device events of each device of the plurality of devices to the controller; the controller being configured to determine from the data or signal received from through the I/O communication path whether a device event has occurred, the time that the device event has occurred, and the device to which the device event occurred; the controller being configured to store data representing the device event, the time at which the device event occurred, and the device to which the device event occurred; the controller being configured to store at least one] time-frame object associated with each device of the plurality of devices, the time-frame object having a start time and an end time spaced apart in time from the start time, the controller being configured to determine that a time-frame object has expired; the controller being configured to determine upon expiration of a time-frame object of the time-frame objects associated with the plurality of devices whether a device event had occurred between the start time of the time-frame object and the end time of the time-frame object and, if the software application determines that a device event had not occurred between the start time of the time-frame object, to output a notification of the failure of the device event to occur.
14 . The system of claim 13 wherein at least one time-frame object is associated with at least two of the plurality of devices whereby the at least one time-frame object is shared among a plurality of devices.
15 . The system of claim 1 wherein each at least one time-frame object is configured to notify the controller whether a device event associated with the time-frame object occurred between the start time and end time of the time-frame object.
16 . The system of claim 1 comprising a user interface that enables a user to create, edit, delete time-frame objects and to determine the destination or destinations of a notification issued by the system.
17 . The system of claim 1 wherein the controller comprises a microprocessor and program instructions of a software application stored in computer-readable memory, the software application being configured to perform the system operations in monitoring the device for failure of a device event to occur within a specified time frame and to output a notification of a failure of the device event to occur within the time frame.
18 . The system of claim 17 wherein the microprocessor executes the program instructions of the software application.
19 . The system of claim 17 wherein the program instructions of the software application are executed by a second microprocessor and the determination of the failure of the device event to occur within the specified time frame is communicated to the controller microprocessor.
20 . The system of claim 1 wherein the controller outputs the notification of the failure of the device event wirelessly through the I/O communication path utilizing at least one of: Wi-Fi and Bluetooth.

Description

RELATED APPLICATIONS This application is a continuation of U.S. Ser. No. 18/289,391 “Non-Event Notificiation System” filed at Attorney Docket No. 1-2844-US and having a 371(c) date of Nov. 3, 2023 that issues Jan. 6, 2026 as U.S. Pat. No. 12,517,503, which in turn is a US nationalization of PCT/US2022/034238 “Non-Event Notification System” filed at Attorney Docket No. 1-2844-PCT and having a filing date of Jun. 21, 2022 which claims the benefit of the filing date of U.S. 63/213,874 “Non-Event Notification System” filed Jun. 23, 2021 at Attorney Docket No. 1-2844-P, each of the prior referenced applications being incorporated by reference as if fully set forth herein. FIELD OF THE DISCLOSURE This disclosure relates generally to systems that provide notifications transmitted through a network, and more specifically, to a system that monitors a device for a device event occurring within a predefined time period and automatically issues a notification through the network if the device event does not occur within the time period. BACKGROUND OF THE DISCLOSURE Devices may be required to be operated within a specific time period referred to as a time frame herein. For a relatively simple example, a coffee maker may be operated in a fifteen minute time frame beginning at 7 AM and ending at 7:15 AM in the morning so that hot coffee is available for breakfast. Operation of the device might be desired to occur at a variable time within the time frame, the time frame having a start time and an end time. It may be desirable to notify a third party or third parties at the end of the time frame of the failure of the device to operate within that time frame. For example, residential elevators and stairlifts provide mobility for elderly and other mobility-impaired users. Many mobility-impaired users follow a regular daily routine, for example, getting up each day at about the same time in the morning and retiring to bed each day at about the same time in the evening. As a result, the elevator or stairlift is often used on a regular basis within the same time frame each day or for each specific day of the week (for example, the usage pattern may change on weekends). Some mobility-impaired users live alone. It would be desirable that family members or others who don't live with the user be automatically notified if the elevator or stairlift was not used within the expected time frame. Such non-use may signify a possible medical or physical problem with the user. Thus there is a need for a notification system that automatically generates a notification if the system determines that a device related event that was expected to occur within a specific time frame did not occur within that time frame. A device-related event that was expected to occur within a time-frame but did not occur in that time frame is referred to as a “non-event” herein. SUMMARY OF THE DISCLOSURE Disclosed is a computer-implemented notification system that automatically generates a notification if the system determines that a non-event has occurred. The notification may be transmitted to one or more third parties immediately upon the expiration of the time frame in which the device event was expected to occur. The notification may be transmitted to the one or more remote third parties to inform each third party of the possibility of, for non-limiting examples, that the notification was generated because of a medical condition, negligence or carelessness, or an environmental condition (for example, a mechanical breakdown, flooding event, or other cause). The notification may be transmitted to third parties by pushing the notification to remote mobile device apps, to desktop apps, to email servers, and the like, by text message, or other known methods of communication. Some embodiments of the disclosed notification system include sensors or other output devices incorporated into the device specifically configured to inform a software application of a controller of the notification system that a device event has occurred. The device event information may include a timestamp representing the date/time of the device event, or the application software may generate a timestamp associated with the device event upon being informed of the device event. The notification system may be informed of the device event by wired or wireless signal transmission. Embodiments of a device event may be the device powering on or powering off, initiation or stoppage of motion of the device, or some other change or modification of device operating state or condition. Embodiments of the notification system associated with devices that include sensors designed to transmit signals or data representative of device events to the notification system are referred to as “dedicated notification systems” herein. Alternative embodiments of the disclosed non-event notification system do not modify the device being monitored by the notification system and do not rely on the device having sensors t