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US Patent 6184792 - Early fire detection method and apparatus
US Patent Issued on February 6, 2001
Estimated Patent Expiration Date:
April 19, 2020Estimated Expiration Date is calculated based on simple USPTO term provisions. It does not account for terminal disclaimers, term adjustments, failure to pay maintenance fees, or other factors which might affect the term of a patent.
Estimated Patent Expiration Date:
April 19, 2020Estimated Expiration Date is calculated based on simple USPTO term provisions. It does not account for terminal disclaimers, term adjustments, failure to pay maintenance fees, or other factors which might affect the term of a patent.AbstractThe present invention provides a method and apparatus for detecting fire in a monitored area. In a preferred embodiment, this method is seen to comprise the steps of: (1) capturing video images of the monitored area in the form of two-dimensional bitmaps whose spatial resolution is determined by the number of pixels comprising the bitmaps, (2) cyclically accumulating a sequential set of these captured bitmaps for analysis of the temporal variations being experienced in the pixel brightness values, (3) examining these sets of bitmaps to identify clusters of contiguous pixels having either a specified static component or a specified dynamic component of their temporally varying brightness values, (4) comparing the patterns of the shapes of these identified, static and dynamic clusters to identify those exhibiting patterns which are similar to those exhibited by the comparable bright static core and the dynamic crown regions of flickering open flames, and (5) signaling the detection of a fire in the monitored area when the degree of match between these identified, static and dynamic clusters and the comparable regions of flickering open flames exceeds a prescribed matching threshold value. | InventorsApplicationNo. 552688 filed on 04/19/2000US Classes:340/578, By radiant energy250/336.1, INVISIBLE RADIANT ENERGY RESPONSIVE ELECTRIC SIGNALLING250/339.15, Sensing flame or explosion340/577, Flame348/82, Hazardous or inaccessible382/100, APPLICATIONS382/195, Local or regional features382/203, Shape and form analysis382/225, Cluster analysis700/274Control of combustion or heating apparatus (e.g., kiln, furnace, autoclave, burner, combusion system)Field of Search340/578, By radiant energy340/577, Flame431/14, Correlated with action of condition responsive burner control431/76, Combustion product composition sensor431/75, By combustion or combustion zone sensor250/554, Flame light source250/336.1, INVISIBLE RADIANT ENERGY RESPONSIVE ELECTRIC SIGNALLING250/339.15, Sensing flame or explosion700/274, Control of combustion or heating apparatus (e.g., kiln, furnace, autoclave, burner, combusion system)348/82, Hazardous or inaccessible348/61, SPECIAL APPLICATIONS382/100, APPLICATIONS382/191, Multispectral features (e.g., frequency, phase)382/203, Shape and form analysis382/181, PATTERN RECOGNITION382/195, Local or regional features382/225Cluster analysisExaminersPrimary: Lee, Benjamin C.Attorney, Agent or FirmUS Patent References5153722, Fire detection systemIssued on: 10/06/1992 Inventor: Goedeke, et al.5191220, Flame monitoring apparatus and method having a second signal processing means for detecting a frequency higher in range than the previously detected frequencies Issued on: 03/02/1993 Inventor: Innes5202759, Surveillance system Issued on: 04/13/1993 Inventor: Laycock5249954, Integrated imaging sensor/neural network controller for combustion systems Issued on: 10/05/1993 Inventor: Allen, et al.5289275, Surveillance monitor system using image processing for monitoring fires and thefts Issued on: 02/22/1994 Inventor: Ishii, et al.5510772, Flame detection method and apparatus Issued on: 04/23/1996 Inventor: Lasenby5594421, Method and detector for detecting a flame Issued on: 01/14/1997 Inventor: Thuillard5625342, Plural-wavelength flame detector that discriminates between direct and reflected radiation Issued on: 04/29/1997 Inventor: Hall, et al.5726632, Flame imaging system Issued on: 03/10/1998 Inventor: Barnes, et al.5751209, System for the early detection of fires Issued on: 05/12/1998 Inventor: Werner, et al.5777548, Fire monitoring apparatus and computer readable medium recorded with fire monitoring program Issued on: 07/07/1998 Inventor: Murakami, et al.5796342, Diagnosing flame characteristics in the time domain Issued on: 08/18/1998 Inventor: Panov5798946, Signal processing system for combustion diagnostics Issued on: 08/25/1998 Inventor: Khesin5832187, Fire detection systems and methods Issued on: 11/03/1998 Inventor: Pedersen, et al.5838242, Fire detection system using modulation ratiometrics Issued on: 11/17/1998 Inventor: Marsden5850182, Dual wavelength fire detection method and apparatus Issued on: 12/15/1998 Inventor: Schuler5926280, Fire detection system utilizing relationship of correspondence with regard to image overlap Issued on: 07/20/1999 Inventor: Yamagishi, et al.5937077, Imaging flame detection system Issued on: 08/10/1999 Inventor: Chan, et al.5971747, Automatically optimized combustion control Issued on: 10/26/1999 Inventor: Lemelson, et al.5995008, Fire detection method and apparatus using overlapping spectral bands Issued on: 11/30/1999 Inventor: King, et al.6011464, Method for analyzing the signals of a danger alarm system and danger alarm system for implementing said method Issued on: 01/04/2000 Inventor: Thuillard6111511Flame and smoke detector Issued on: 08/29/2000 Inventor: Sivathanu, et al. International ClassG08B 017/12 |
