Barrier operator feature enhancement

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-9122254-B2
Application number	US-201213671602-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Nov 8, 2012
Priority date	Nov 8, 2012
Publication date	Sep 1, 2015
Grant date	Sep 1, 2015

Abstract

A barrier operator feature enhancement device is designed to provide one or more features found in modern barrier operator devices and to incorporate those features into a previously installed barrier operator system. To facilitate ease of use, the barrier operator feature enhancement device can communicate with a large variety of barrier operators. Such communication may be wireless or wired, depending on the communication protocol implemented by a particular previously installed barrier operator. To facilitate the ease of installation, the device is designed to configure itself to operate with the communication protocol of the previously installed barrier operator. Once configured to be able to communicate with the previously installed barrier operator, the feature enhancement device works with the barrier operator to provide one or more additional features to enhance the capabilities of the previously installed barrier operator.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. An apparatus comprising:
a housing containing at least:
a barrier operator communication module configured to be able to communicate with a plurality of barrier operator types that use different communication protocols for receiving communications by sending communication signals by wireless or wired communication protocols;
control circuitry configured to use the barrier operator communication module to communicate with any of the plurality of barrier operator types, the control circuitry configured to use the barrier operator communication module to communicate to at least one separate pre-installed barrier operator to control operation of at least one feature of the at least one pre-installed barrier operator;
an input/output module operatively in communication with the control circuitry, the input/output module configured to receive communications from at least one peripheral device configured to provide information regarding an operation status of the separate pre-installed barrier operator, and to receive communications from at least one second peripheral device, including at least one open/close command, configured to effect operation of the pre-installed barrier operator;
wherein the control circuitry is configured to:
effect sending communication signals from the barrier operator communication module via a plurality of communication protocols to the pre-installed barrier operator;
receive a communication indicating a response from the pre-installed barrier operator that at least one of the plurality of communication protocols is a communication protocol used by the pre-installed barrier operator; and

configure the barrier operator communication module to operate according to a communication protocol that effected the response from the pre-installed barrier operator; and

the control circuitry configured to, in response to receiving the open/close command from the at least one second peripheral device, effect sending an open/close signal to the pre-installed barrier operator to effect a movement of a barrier operated by the separate pre-installed barrier operator between an open and closed position.

2. The apparatus of claim 1 wherein the input/output module is configured to receive communications from at least one peripheral device comprising a computing device.

3. The apparatus of claim 2 wherein the input/output module is configured to receive communications from at least one peripheral device comprising a gateway device configured to enable communications with devices over a network.

4. The apparatus of claim 1 wherein the input/output module is configured to receive communications from at least one peripheral device comprising one or more from the group consisting of: an obstacle detector, a network adaptor, a separate barrier operator, a handheld transmitter, a wall controller, a door position sensor, and combinations thereof.

5. The apparatus of claim 1 further comprising a sound generator and a light.

6. The apparatus of claim 5 wherein the control circuitry is configured to effect generation of a sound by the sound generator and flashing of the light in coordination with effecting sending a signal to effect closing of the barrier by the pre-installed barrier operator.

7. The apparatus of claim 5 wherein the control circuitry is configured to disable generation of a sound by the sound generator and flashing of the light in response to determining that the pre-installed barrier operator includes a sound generator and light effect to provide an alert regarding closing of a barrier by the pre-installed barrier operator.

8. The apparatus of claim 1 wherein the input/output module is configured to receive communications from at least one peripheral device comprising an obstacle detector.

9. The apparatus of claim 8 wherein the control circuitry is configured to not send a signal to effect closing a barrier by the pre-installed barrier operator in response to receiving a command to do so when detecting that the obstacle detector is unable to detect an obstacle, in response to receiving indication from the input/output module that the obstacle detector detected an obstacle, or in response to receiving indication that the pre-installed barrier operator is opening a barrier.

10. The apparatus of claim 8 wherein the control circuitry is configured to send a signal to effect opening a barrier by the pre-installed barrier operator in response to detecting that the obstacle detector is unable to detect an obstacle or in response to receiving indication from the input/output module that the obstacle detector detected an obstacle.

11. The apparatus of claim 8 wherein in response to receiving an indication from the at least one peripheral device that the pre-installed barrier operator is closing a barrier, the control circuitry is configured to send a signal to effect opening the barrier by the pre-installed barrier operator when detecting that the obstacle detector is unable to detect an obstacle or in response to receiving indication from the input/output module that the obstacle detector detected an obstacle.

12. The apparatus of claim 1 wherein the input/output module is configured to receive communications from at least one peripheral device comprising a network adaptor to effect a connection to Internet.

13. The apparatus of claim 1 wherein the input/output module is configured to receive communications from at least one peripheral device comprising a sensor disposed to detect a location of a barrier operated by the pre-installed barrier operator.

14. The apparatus of claim 1 wherein the input/output module is configured to receive communications from at least one peripheral device comprising a handheld transmitter configured to send barrier commands via a radio frequency transmission to the input/output module.

15. An apparatus comprising:
a housing containing at least:
a wireless communication interface configured to:
exchange communications including wireless local area network communications with peripheral devices including exchange of information regarding a status of a separate pre-installed barrier operator, and
send radio frequency communications in a plurality of formats to the separate pre-installed barrier operator, wherein the separate pre-installed barrier is of one of a plurality of barrier operator types that use different communication protocols for receiving communications;

control circuitry configured to effect sending an open/close signal to the separate pre-installed barrier operator from the wireless communication interface to effect movement of a barrier by the separate pre-installed barrier operator between an open and closed position in response to receipt of an open/close command from a peripheral device configured to effect movement of the barrier;
wherein the control circuitry is configured to effect sending communication signals from one or both of the wireless communication interface and a wired communication interface via a plurality of communication protocols to the separate pre-installed barrier operator;
receive a communication indicating a response from the particular pre-installed barrier operator that at least one of the plurality of communication protocols is a communication protocol used by the pre-installed barrier operator; and
configure one or both of the wireless communication interface and the wired communication interface to operate according to a communication protocol that effected the response from the separate pre-installed barrier operator.

16. The apparatus of claim 15 wherein the wireless commun

Assignees

• Chamberlain Group Inc

Inventors

• Cate Casparus
• Fitzgibbon James J
• Keller Jr Robert R
• Sorice Cory
• Murray James Scott
• Stanek Gregory John
• Willmott Colin Barns

Classifications

• E05F15/60

  using electrical actuators · CPC title

• G05B2219/25168

  Domotique, access through internet protocols · CPC title

• G07C9/00309

  operated with bidirectional data transmission between data carrier and locks · CPC title

• G08G1/042

  using inductive or magnetic detectors · CPC title

• H04L67/12

  specially adapted for proprietary or special-purpose networking environments, e.g. medical networks, sensor networks, networks in vehicles or remote metering networks · CPC title