Abstract:
A remote monitoring device comprising an illuminating device, an image capturing device, a sensing device, and a loudspeaker is provided. When the sensing device senses a change in the surrounding environment, the illuminating device lights up, the image capturing device generates image signals, and the loudspeaker activates.

Description:
[0001]    This application claims the benefits of the priority based on Taiwan Patent Application No. 095222416 filed on Dec. 20, 2006; the disclosures of which are incorporated by reference herein in their entirety. 
       CROSS-REFERENCES TO RELATED APPLICATIONS 
       [0002]    Not applicable. 
       BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
       [0003]    1. Field of the Invention 
         [0004]    The present invention relates to a remote monitoring device. In particular, the invention relates to a remote monitoring device that is adapted to sense variations in the surroundings, emit sounds, and record images. 
         [0005]    2. Descriptions of the Related Art 
         [0006]    With the advancement of imaging technology, users nowadays can utilize remote monitoring devices to monitor the state of a remote location. For example, remote monitoring devices may be used by security guards to monitor various floors of a building, by express railway clerks to monitor the interior of railway cars, by parents at work to monitor children or housekeepers at home, by home owners to monitor the outside of the house, and so on. By means of remote monitoring devices and technologies, the user can be informed of the state of a remote place without the need for personal presence at the monitored site. If necessary, the user may even simultaneously monitor a plurality of locations to improve monitoring efficiency. 
         [0007]    A door access control system will be used as an example, since various monitoring systems are now employed in these types of access systems. For example, a conventional door access control system is passively activated by a visitor, and only when the visitor presses a call button can the door system start its operation, acting as a means of remote communication between the home owner and the visitor. Additionally, the system may record images of the visitor to act as a visual aid for the home owner. However, this system suffers from a disadvantage in that some people can deliberately evade the passive monitoring system. 
         [0008]    Another conventional monitoring system utilizes cameras installed in buildings, which work continuously for a prolonged time to record and store images for investigation and review. The problem with this system is that a sufficient amount of storage space has to be allocated for such a large number of images, and numerous irrelevant images contained therein not only unnecessarily consume power, but also necessitate image filtering in order to obtain critical information. Moreover, because an excessive number of images are recorded, image quality tends to be compromised in favor of a longer recording time, and image data is subject to compression loss due to insufficient storage space, leading to both low efficiency and poor convenience. 
         [0009]    There is still another type of alarm system available in the market that, upon an object&#39;s approach to the door access system, operates to turn on an illuminating device to alarm or frighten the subject. However, this type of system only provides an alarm function, which is inadequate for a door access system. 
         [0010]    In view of this, it is highly desired in the art to provide a remote monitoring device possessing a multitude of functions in order to provide a complete protection system under a given situation. 
       SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
       [0011]    The primary objective of this invention is to provide a remote monitoring device with illuminating, sensing, and sound emitting functions integrated therein in order to detect any variation of the surrounding environment at the earliest possible time. In response to this detection, the system will immediately give an alarming or welcoming sound, so as to prevent any further intrusion or possible invasion. 
         [0012]    Another objective of this invention is to provide a remote monitoring device that is configured to remotely monitor or pre-record variations of the surrounding environment for investigation and evidence collection afterwards. 
         [0013]    Yet a further objective of this invention is to provide a remote monitoring device possessing an active monitoring function, which can activate an illuminating device and record images simultaneously once a variation is detected within the surrounding environment. In this way, the amount of image data to be recorded is reduced substantially, thereby improving the overall efficacy of the image data. 
         [0014]    Still a further objective of this invention is to provide a remote monitoring device, which may comprise a storage medium disposed therein to store image data, or transmit data through a network device and an internet protocol (IP) for image data storage in a remote host device, so that the data storage capacity is increased significantly. 
         [0015]    To achieve the abovementioned objectives, the remote monitoring device of this invention comprises a body, an illuminating device, an image capturing device, a sensing device, and a loudspeaker. The illuminating device is configured to provide an indicating light source, the image capturing device is configured to capture an image and generate an image signal, the sensing device is electrically connected with the illuminating device and the image capturing device, and the loudspeaker is electrically connected with the sensing device. Together, the illuminating device and the image capturing device are activated to generate the image signal, and the loudspeaker is activated to sound once the sensing device senses a change in the environment surrounding the monitoring device. 
         [0016]    The detailed technology and preferred embodiments implemented for the subject invention are described in the following paragraphs accompanying the appended drawings for people skilled in this field to well appreciate the features of the claimed invention. 
     
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
         [0017]      FIG. 1  is a perspective schematic view illustrating the remote monitoring device of the present invention; and 
           [0018]      FIG. 2  is a block diagram illustrating the systematic architecture of the remote monitoring device of the present invention. 
       
    
    
     DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT 
       [0019]    Referring to  FIG. 1  and  FIG. 2 ,  FIG. 1  depicts a perspective view of a monitoring device  10  of the present invention, and  FIG. 2  depicts a basic block diagram of connections in the system. 
         [0020]    The monitoring device  10  of the present invention comprises a body  11 , and an illuminating device  13 , an image capturing device  15 , a sensing device  17 , and a loudspeaker  19  disposed on the body  11 . The sensing device  17  is electrically connected with the illuminating device  13  and the image capturing device  15 , and the loudspeaker  19  is electrically connected with the sensing device  17 . The illuminating device  13  has at least one lamp disposed therein to provide an indicating light source during the operation of the monitoring device  10 . 
         [0021]    Preferably, the sensing device  17  is a motion sensor, such as a private infrared ray (PIR) sensor, which can be triggered by a variation of an image of the surrounding environment. When the sensing device  17  senses that the environment surrounding the monitoring device  10  is different, for example, when a visitor or a stranger approaches, the monitoring device  10  is activated. Then, the image capturing device  15  proceeds to capture an image of the surroundings around the monitoring device  10  and generates an image signal. Preferably, the illuminating device  13  is simultaneously turned on to increase brightness of the surroundings, which will not only help to obtain a better image capturing effect, but also serve an alarming function. Meanwhile, the image capturing device  15  may be adjusted to a particular capturing frequency, for example, at least 5 image signals per second, so that these image signals can be combined into dynamic image sequences. By combining the illuminating device  13  and the image capturing device  15 , a higher luminance can be taken in the resulting image signals. All these can help improve the quality of the image signals generated by the image capturing device  15 . Additionally, the loudspeaker  19  may also be activated simultaneously to give a sound, such as an appropriate alarming sound, a piece of music, a greeting sound, or a pre-recorded sound inquiring the visitor&#39;s status. 
         [0022]    The sensing device  17  may be provided with various adjusting functions to facilitate its use under different environment conditions, for example, under various lighting conditions; or, it may have a settable sensitivity, so that the sensing range can be adjusted. 
         [0023]    These image signals may need to be stored for an appropriate time period for subsequent review by the user. Therefore, a storage device  21  may further be disposed on the body  11  of the monitoring device  10 . The storage device  21  is a storage medium adapted to store these image signals. For example, the storage medium may be, but is not limited to, a readable and rewritable device such as an SD (secure digital memory) card, a Mini SD card, a Micro SD card, a CF (compact flash) card, or a hard disk, so that the image signals stored therein can be recalled and read at any time. 
         [0024]    A network device  23  may be further provided on the body  11  of the monitoring device  10  to transmit the image signals through a wired or wireless network, such as the Internet or a local area network. Through use of the networking device  23 , a remote user may utilize a terminal device (e.g., a personal computer, a PDA, a mobile communication device, and etc.) to access a server system through the Internet and connect with the monitoring device  10  to receive image signals and/or sound signals therefrom. Thus, the user can be informed of the real-time state of the surroundings around the illuminating device  13  for the purpose of remote monitoring. Further, the monitoring device  10  may store the image signals into a host device through the network device  23 , for example by use of a USB or a wireless transmitting device, in order to avoid the problem of insufficient storage capacity of the storage device  21 . In this case, as a host device is typically equipped with greater storage ability, the storage device  21  that is equipped in the monitoring device  10  does not need to have an unnecessarily large capacity, thus facilitating in a further reduction in size of the monitoring device  10 . 
         [0025]    The network device  23  can further enable the remote user to transmit/receive an audio signal in response to the state of the surroundings around the monitoring device  10 , for example, to talk with a visitor. In this case, an audio receiving/transmitting device  25  (e.g., a microphone/loudspeaker) is needed to connect with the networking device  23 , in order to transmit an audio signal to and receive an audio signal from a designated network. The audio receiving/transmitting device  25  may have an audio transmitting component implemented by the loudspeaker  19  or implemented separately. In this way, with a combination of the image signals and the audio signals, the user can have a clear picture of the real-time state of the surroundings around the illuminating device  13 , and can also remotely transmit/receive an audio signal. 
         [0026]    The monitoring device  10  may further comprise an adjustment mechanism  14  connected between the body  11  and the image capturing device  15  to adjust the image capturing angle of the image capturing device  15 . The user can obtain a preferred monitoring angle by adjusting the adjustment mechanism  14 . In addition to the image capturing device  15 , an adjustment mechanism  12  may also be connected between the illuminating device  13  and the body  11  to yield a preferred illuminating angle, and will not be further described herein. 
         [0027]    The remote monitoring device  10  disclosed in the present invention may further comprise an automatic timer switch  27 , which is disposed on the body  11  and electrically connected with the illuminating device  13 , and the image capturing device  15  for controlling the two to work within a desired period of time, so that the illuminating device  13  and the image capturing device  15  can be turned on and off in response to lighting conditions to fulfill the monitoring requirements given the situation, and to reduce power consumption. 
         [0028]    To clearly disclose this invention, a visitor camera for a door access system is taken as an example in the above description to describe the image capturing device  15 , but this invention is not limited thereto. 
         [0029]    It shall be appreciated that, in the remote monitoring device  10  of the present invention, a power supply (not shown) is required to operate all the devices. Referring to  FIG. 2 , in order to stably operate the abovementioned devices, a central processing unit (CPU)  31  may be further equipped to control the operation of the sensing device  17  and process the images captured by the image capturing device  15 , so that the images can be combined into dynamic images and be stored or transmitted; alternatively, the CPU  31  may also be configured to control the operational time of the illuminating device  13 , to temporarily turn off the storing function of the storage device  21 , and so on. 
         [0030]    The remote monitoring device  10  may further comprise a voltage regulating device  33  that is disposed between the illuminating device  13  and the image capturing device  15  to provide them with the desired voltages, respectively. More specifically, the illuminating device  13  is driven by a first voltage and the image capturing device  15  is driven by a second voltage. In case that the first voltage (e.g., the common 110 volts AC) is not the same as the second voltage (e.g., the common 12 volts DC), and a single power supply is intended to be employed (e.g., the 110 V AC voltage available in a common house), the supply voltage shall be stepped down and rectified before being supplied to drive the image capturing device  15 . The voltage regulating device  33  plays such a role to regulate the first voltage and the second voltage, so that the illuminating device  13  and the image capturing device  15  are adapted to be driven by a single power supply. 
         [0031]    According to the abovementioned disclosures, by integrating the illuminating, sensing, image recording, sounding, and networking functions therein, the remote monitoring device of this invention can monitor the state of the surroundings in an active manner, thus significantly reducing the amount of image data amount and improving the reference value thereof. 
         [0032]    The above disclosure is related to the detailed technical contents and inventive features thereof. People skilled in this field may proceed with a variety of modifications and replacements based on the disclosures and suggestions of the invention as described without departing from the characteristics thereof, for example, the illuminating device, the image capturing device, the loudspeaker, and the storage device may either be disposed separately from the body or integrated with the body. Nevertheless, although such modifications and replacements are not fully disclosed in the above descriptions, they have substantially been covered in the following claims as appended.