Connected knife block

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-11412873-B2
Application number	US-202117167777-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Feb 4, 2021
Priority date	Feb 7, 2020
Publication date	Aug 16, 2022
Grant date	Aug 16, 2022

Abstract

Methods, systems, and apparatus, including computer programs encoded on computer-storage media, for an electronic knife holder. In some implementations, the electronic knife holder includes a microprocessor, a base member that has a first exterior surface containing multiple slots, a lock, and sensors corresponding to the multiple slots. Each of the multiple slots defines an interior space of the base member and is configured to receive a knife blade. When the lock is placed in a locked position, the lock locks one or more knives placed in one of the multiple slots. The sensors are configured to detect if a knife is present in one of the multiple slots.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. An electronic knife holder, the electronic knife holder comprising:
a microprocessor;
a base member having a first exterior surface that contains multiple slots, each of the multiple slots defining an interior space of the base member and configured to receive a knife blade;
a lock that, when placed in a locked state, locks one or more knives placed in one or more of the multiple slots, the lock preventing the one or more knives from being removed from the base member; and
sensors proximate to the multiple slots, at least one sensor of the sensors is disposed in the first exterior surface of the base member, the sensors configured to detect if a knife is present in one or more of the multiple slots, wherein the sensors are electronically coupled to the microprocessor.

2. The electronic knife holder of claim 1 , wherein the lock is located in a housing that is coupled to a second surface of the base member.

3. The electronic knife holder of claim 1 , wherein the lock is housed in the base member.

4. The electronic knife holder of claim 1 , wherein the sensors comprise, for each of the slots the at least one sensor further disposed adjacent to a corresponding slot of the multiple slots.

5. The electronic knife holder of claim 1 , wherein the sensors comprise, for each of the slots, one or more sensors coupled to an interior surface of the base member in a corresponding slot of the multiple slots.

6. The electronic knife holder of claim 1 , wherein the sensors include a proximity sensor configured to detect if a knife is present in one or more of the multiple slots by detecting when a knife having a permanent magnet coupled to the knife or embedded in the knife is brought within a detection range of the proximity sensor.

7. The electronic knife holder of claim 6 , wherein the proximity sensor is a Hall Effect sensor configured to detect if a knife is present in one or more of the multiple slots by detecting when a knife having a permanent magnet coupled to the knife or embedded in the knife is brought within a detection range of the Hall Effect sensor.

8. The electronic knife holder of claim 1 , wherein the sensors include a contact sensor configured to detect if a knife is present in one or more of the multiple slots by coming into contact with one or more surfaces of a knife inserted into one of the multiple slots.

9. The electronic knife holder of claim 1 , comprising a transceiver electronically coupled to the microprocessor, wherein the microprocessor is configured to:
wirelessly send data using the transceiver to a remote computing system, the data including at least one of the following:
data indicating that a knife has been removed from one of the multiple slots;
data indicating that a knife has been placed in one of the slots;
data indicating that the lock is in a locked state;
data indicating that the lock is in an unlocked state; or
sensor data, or

wirelessly receive data using the transceiver from the remote computing system, the data including at least one of the following:
instructions to lock the lock;
instructions to unlock the lock;
a request for a state of the lock;
a request for data indicating a number of knives removed from the electronic knife holder;
a request for data indicating the slots of the multiple slots that have knives placed in them; or
a request for sensor data.

10. The electronic knife holder of claim 1 , wherein the microprocessor is configured to:
receive sensor data;
in response to the sensor data, turn on a camera of the electronic knife holder;
capture image data using the camera;
in response to the image data, determine that a person in view of the camera is either unknown or is unauthorized to remove a knife;
actuate a lock that locks the knife into the electronic knife holder; and
send a notification indicating at least on of that an unknown person attempted to remove the knife, that an unauthorized person attempted to remove the knife, or that the knife has been locked.

11. The electronic knife holder of claim 1 , further comprising:
a camera disposed in the first exterior surface of the base member,
wherein the camera is configured to capture image data of an area in which the electronic knife holder is located.

12. The electronic knife holder of claim 11 , wherein the microprocessor is configured to:
process the image data captured using the camera;
perform facial recognition using the processed image data; and
perform one or more of the following:
modify a state of the lock to unlock the lock if results of facial recognition indicate a user is recognized and if the recognized user is determined to be permitted to retrieve a knife;
modify a state of the lock to lock the lock if results of facial recognition indicate a user is not recognized; and
modify a state of the lock to lock the lock if results of facial recognition indicate a user is recognized and if the recognized user is determined to not be permitted to retrieve a knife.

13. The electronic knife holder of claim 11 , wherein the microprocessor is configured to:
transmit image data captured using the camera to a remote computing device;
receive, from the remote computing device, data indicating that (i) a user is recognized from the image data and (ii) the user is permitted to retrieve a knife from the electronic knife holder; and
modify a state of the lock to unlock the lock to allow the user to retrieve a knife from a slot of the multiple slots.

14. The electronic knife holder of claim 11 , wherein the microprocessor is configured to:
transmit image data captured using the camera to a remote computing device;
receive, from the remote computing device, data indicating that (i) a user is recognized from the image data and (ii) the user is not permitted to retrieve a knife from the electronic knife holder; and
modify a state of the lock to lock the lock to prevent the user from retrieving a knife from a slot of the multiple slots.

15. The electronic knife holder of claim 11 , wherein the microprocessor is configured to:
transmit image data captured using the camera to a remote computing device;
receive, from the remote computing device, data indicating that a user is not recognized from the image data; and
modify a state of the lock to lock the lock to prevent the user from retrieving a knife from a slot of the multiple slots.

16. The electronic knife holder of claim 11 , wherein the microprocessor or processor is configured to turn on the camera and instruct the camera to capture the image data in response to receiving sensor data from at least one of the sensors indicating that a knife has been removed or partially removed from a slot of the multiple slots.

17. The electronic knife holder of claim 11 , wherein the microprocessor or processor is configured to turn on the camera and instruct the camera to capture the image data in response to receiving sensor data from at least one of the sensors indicating that movement has been detected in a vicinity of the electronic knife holder.

18. The electronic knife holder of claim 11 , wherein the microprocessor is configured to receive instructions to lock the lock in response to one or more of the following:
time of day;
users in a property where the electronic knife holder is located;
users in a vicinity of the electronic knife holder;
a schedule;
a mode of a security system in the property where the electronic knife holder is located; or
a detected security event.

19. An electronic knife holder

Assignees

• Alarm Com Inc

Inventors

• Kelly Michael
• Correnti Matthew Daniel
• Picardi Robert Nathan

Classifications

• E05B2047/0067

  Monitoring · CPC title

• G07C9/38

  with central registration · CPC title

• A47G21/14 Primary

  Knife racks or stands; Holders for table utensils attachable to plates · CPC title

• G07C9/00896

  specially adapted for particular uses · CPC title

• G07C9/00563

  using personal physical data of the operator, e.g. finger prints, retinal images, voicepatterns · CPC title