Patent Publication Number: US-9898905-B1

Title: Apparatus and method for a balcony access status alert system

Description:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
     The present invention relates in general to safety barriers and, more particularly, to a safety barrier used to impede ingress/egress to balconies or other elevated platforms under construction and to automatically text remotely-located authorized personnel when the barrier is removed and when it is restored. 
     During the construction of a structure that may comprise a height from which a person could be injured from a fall, ingress/egress to an unfinished balcony or other elevated platform on an upper story or other elevated level poses a hazard to personnel working on or around that structure. A worker could inadvertently fall through an incomplete portion of the balcony, or fall over its edge if no bannister has been erected along the perimeter of the balcony, etc. Typical precautions that are taken are to place “limit of disturbance” (LOD) mesh at the ingress/egress to the balcony or other elevated platform to warn those in the vicinity that passage through the ingress/egress should be avoided. However, the LOD does not provide any actual “barrier” to prevent passage and someone could easily push aside the LOD and proceed. Furthermore, even if a barrier were erected at the ingress/egress, if someone were successful in removing it, there would be no way to either remind that person to restore the barrier, or if removed illicitly, to alert authorized personnel to its removal and to take immediate action to restore the barrier. 
     Thus, there remains a need for automated alert system and method that can immediately detect the removal of a barrier to an ingress/egress of an elevated balcony or other platform and to provide remotely-located authorized personnel with an alert that the barrier has been removed and to continue that alert until the barrier is restored while also providing a “local” alert to personnel in the ingress/egress vicinity of the danger posed by the removed barrier. The system and method also needs to provide an automatic indication when the barrier is restored. 
     All references cited herein are incorporated herein by reference in their entireties. 
     BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
     A barrier status alert system for use at an opening to a balcony to alert authorized personnel, remote from the balcony, that a barrier has been removed at the opening is disclosed. The system comprises: a barrier that is adapted to be installed or removed from a position at the opening of the balcony and wherein the barrier prevents passage of a person through the opening; a detector that determines that the barrier has been removed from the position in front of the balcony, wherein the detector transmits a first wireless signal upon the removal of the barrier; a transceiver which receives the first wireless signal, and wherein the transceiver transmits a second wireless signal to an on-site controller; and wherein the on-site controller transmits a third wireless signal (e.g., text alerts, etc.) to at least one wireless device (e.g., a cellphone, a smartphone, computer tablet, etc.) of at least one authorized personnel (e.g., an on-site safety manager, superintendent, etc.) indicating that the barrier has been removed. 
     A method for providing a status alert of a barrier installed for use at an opening to a balcony in order to alert authorized personnel, remote from the balcony, that the barrier has been removed from the opening is disclosed. The method comprises detecting the removal of the barrier at the opening using a detector, wherein the barrier prevents passage of a person through the opening when present at the opening; transmitting a first wireless signal whenever the detector has detected that the barrier has been removed from the position in front of the balcony; receiving the first wireless signal by a transceiver wherein the transceiver transmits a second wireless signal to an on-site controller; and receiving the second wireless signal by the on-site controller wherein the on-site controller transmits a third wireless signal (e.g., text alerts, etc.) to at least one wireless device (e.g., a cellphone, a smartphone, computer tablet, etc.) of at least one authorized personnel (e.g., an on-site safety manager, superintendent, etc.) that the barrier has been removed. 
    
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF SEVERAL VIEWS OF THE DRAWINGS 
       Many aspects of the present disclosure can be better understood with reference to the following drawings. The components in the drawings are not necessarily to scale, emphasis instead being placed upon clearly illustrating the principles of the present disclosure. Moreover, in the drawings, like reference numerals designate corresponding parts throughout the several views. 
         FIG. 1  is a diagram of the system of the balcony access status alert system (BASAS) showing the barrier installed in front of the balcony, the onsite controller and the wireless devices of the authorized personnel; 
         FIG. 2  is a plan view of the barrier portion of the BASAS positioned in its receptacles; 
         FIG. 2A  is a partial functional diagram showing how the presence of the barrier post in the corresponding boot maintains the transmitter inactive; 
         FIG. 3  shows the barrier portion of the system being removed from the respective boots; 
         FIG. 3A  is a partial functional diagram showing how the removal of the barrier post from the corresponding boot activates the transmitter; 
         FIG. 4A  is a block diagram of the wireless portion of the system of the present invention depicting its operation when the barrier posts are removed from their respective boots; 
         FIG. 4B  is a block diagram of the wireless portion of the system of the present invention depicting its operation when the barrier posts are restored to their respective boots; 
         FIG. 5  is a block diagram of the on-site controller of the present invention; 
         FIG. 6  is a flow diagram of the operation of the transmitter of the present invention; 
         FIG. 7  is a flow diagram of the operation of the transceiver of the present invention; 
         FIG. 8  is a flow diagram of the operation of the on-site controller of the present invention; and 
         FIG. 9  is a partial view of a display screen view of a wireless device showing the alert signal message and the restored signal message. 
     
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS 
     Referring now to the figures, wherein like reference numerals represent like parts throughout the several views, exemplary embodiments of the present disclosure will be described in detail. Throughout this description, various components may be identified having specific values, these values are provided as exemplary embodiments and should not be limiting of various concepts of the present invention as many comparable sizes and/or values may be implemented. 
     As shown in  FIG. 1 , the system and method  20  of the present invention (also referred to as the “balcony access status alert system, BASAS”) comprises a barrier  20 A installed in front of the ingress/egress  10  (hereinafter, “opening  10 ”) to a balcony (or other elevated platform), an on-site controller  20 B (e.g., a DMP-XTLC-Wireless Control Panel, etc.) and at least one wireless communication device  20 C (e.g., a cellphone, a smartphone, computer tablet, etc.). As will be discussed in detail later, if the barrier  20 A is ever removed from its location in front of the balcony opening  10 , a wireless signal is transmitted from the barrier  20 A to the on-site controller  20 B which in turn transmits warnings (e.g., text alerts, etc.) to at least one wireless device  20 C of at least one authorized person (e.g., an on-site safety manager, superintendent, etc.) to take the appropriate action to restore the barrier  20 A or otherwise coordinate actions to secure the balcony opening  10 . 
     It should be understood that the term “on-site controller”  20 B is a device that is located on a site where construction is on-going but that the controller  20 B itself may be located remotely from the actual barrier(s)  20 A/opening(s)  10 , as indicated by the “dots” in  FIGS. 1 and 4A-4B . Similarly, “on-site personnel” may be located at the site where construction may be occurring but they also may be remote from the actual barrier(s)  20 A/opening(s)  10 . Thus, by way of example only, construction work may be occurring at particular units in a residential housing facility (“site”) that is already occupied; as a result, certain authorized personnel can be present anywhere at the site but remote from any of the barrier(s)  20 /opening  10  and thus are unaware of the particular status of the barriers  20 A. The BASAS  20  provides the requisite status automatically to these authorized personnel, as is discussed below. 
     Furthermore, it should be understood that the following discussion is directed at a single barrier  20 A/opening  10  but that is by way of example only. A plurality of barriers  20 A/openings  10  can be monitored by the BASAS  20  of the present invention and each barrier  20 A has a particular identity that is provided in the signals  70  and  72  as also discussed below. 
     A balcony opening  10  is typically formed by a frame, e.g., studs  12 A- 12 C and the floor  14 . As shown most clearly in  FIG. 2 , the barrier  20 A comprises a “fence-style” configuration formed of two vertical posts  22  and  24  (e.g., wood posts, metal posts, etc.) to which are secured cross beams  26  and  28  (e.g., wood beams, metal beams, etc.). The cross beams  26 / 28  are long enough (e.g., 8 ft) so that they are positioned over, or close to, the studs  12 B and  12 C, to prevent someone from trying to “squeeze” behind the barrier  20 A and go through the balcony opening  10 . Where wooden posts/beams are used for the barrier  20 A, tamper-proof fasteners  21  (e.g., Lobe pan head screws (“star-shaped” socket)), etc.) are preferred to deter others from easily disengaging the cross beams  26 / 28  from the vertical posts  22 / 24  to enter the balcony opening  10 . The bottom of each vertical post  22 / 24  is received in a respective receptacle  30  and  32  (e.g., an Occupational Safety and Health Act (OSHA) safety boot SB001) and each of which are fixedly secured to the floor  14  using lag bolts (two of which  34  are shown in  FIG. 1 ), directly in front of the balcony opening  10 . 
     Although not shown, the cross beams  26 / 28  may include extensions, on each end, that may project away therefrom, towards the opening frame studs  12 B and  12 C, respectively. This would facilitate in further deterring someone from attempting to “squeeze” behind the barrier  20 A and go through the balcony opening  10 . 
     By way of example only, a housing  36  is provided in the receptacle  32 , it being understood that this housing  36  can just as easily be provided in the receptacle  30 . As shown most clearly in  FIG. 2A , the housing  36  comprises a transmitter  38  (e.g., DMP-1101 or DMP 1106 wireless input transmitter, etc.), a battery  40  (e.g., 3 VDC lithium battery) and a switch  42  electrically connected between the transmitter  38  and the battery  40 . The housing  36  comprises an aperture  44  which aligns with an aperture  46  in the receptacle  32  through which projects a conductive switch element  48  that is biased (via a spring  49 ) to close contacts  52  when the bottom of the post  24  is removed from the receptacle (see  FIG. 3A ) and to activate the transmitter  38  to transmit a wireless signal  66  ( FIGS. 3A-4 ). As shown in  FIG. 2A , with the bottom of the post  24  inserted within the receptacle  32 , the conductive switch element  48  is displaced away from contacts  52  and the transmitter  38  is thus de-energized. As such, the transmitter  38 /switch  42  form a detector which determines when the barrier  20 A has been removed or restored. With that said, it should be understood that it is within the broadest scope of the present invention  20  to include various types of detection schemes (e.g., proximity switches, magnetic coupling, electrical field disturbance, photoelectric detection, etc.) for detecting the removal/restoration of the barrier  20 A and that the transmitter  38 /switch  42  configuration disclosed herein is by way of example only. 
     By way of example only, another housing  54  (e.g., a casing having a lid that can be locked, e.g., SE300 protective casing by Seahorse Protective Equipment of LaVerne, Calif.) is provided on the post  22 , it being understood that the housing  54  could just as easily be positioned on some other portion of the barrier  20 A. The housing  54  comprises a visual indicator/alarm  56  (e.g., a warning light such as a SECO-LARM SL-1301-BAQ LED strobe light, etc.; or alternatively, or in addition to, an audible indicator/alarm  56 A ( FIG. 4 , e.g., Piezo buzzer-fast pulse tone, etc.)), a transceiver  58  (e.g., DMP-1116 wireless relay output control, etc.) and a battery  60  ( FIGS. 4A-4B , e.g., Yuasa NP7-12/12V, 7.0 AH, lead acid battery, etc.). A padlock  62  is provided to lock the door  64  to the housing  54  to prevent tampering with the transceiver  58 /battery  60 /visual indicator  56 ; only authorized personnel have the key to unlock the padlock  62 . The transceiver  58  is coupled to the battery  60  and is always listening to see if it receives a transmission from the transmitter  38 . If someone were to remove the barrier  20 A from the receptacles  30 / 32 , as shown in  FIG. 3 , the transmitter  38  will transmit a wireless signal  66 , as shown in  FIG. 3A , and the transceiver  58  (in the housing  56 ) will receive the wireless signal  66 . At that time, the transceiver  58  will activate (see  FIG. 3 ) the visual indicator  56  (and/or the audible alarm  56 A) to provide a “local” alert to those in the near vicinity that the barrier  20 A has been removed. Simultaneously, the transceiver  58  will transmit its own wireless signal  68  ( FIG. 4A ) to the on-site controller  20 B (which is also always listening), which, in turn, will transmit alert warnings  70  (e.g., text messages, etc.; see  FIG. 9 ) that a particular barrier  20 A (e.g., barrier “McB4” has been removed to wireless devices  20 C of authorized personnel that are on the site and even off the site (if the power range permits). These warning signals  70  may be transmitted continuously, periodically or in any manner that the system operators wish to establish.  FIG. 6  depicts a flow diagram of the transmitter  38  operation while  FIG. 7  depicts the transceiver  58  operation.  FIG. 8  depicts the on-site controller processor  16  ( FIG. 5 ) operation. 
     Upon receiving these warning signals  70 , these authorized personnel can then take appropriate action to secure the balcony opening  10 . Certainly, contractors authorized to work on the balcony may be permitted to remove the barrier  20 A to conduct appropriate work at the balcony location, in which case the authorized personnel are aware that the barrier  20 A has been removed for valid reasons. However, the alert warnings  70  will continue to the authorized personnel until the barrier  20 A is actually restored (as shown in  FIGS. 2-2A ). As shown in  FIG. 4B , once the post  24  is restored in the boot  32 , in that instance, the transmitter  38  stops sending its signal  66 , which causes the transceiver  58  to deactivate the visual alarm  56  (and/or audible alarm  56 A), while terminating its own transmitted signal  68 . Once the on-site controller  20 B no longer receives the signal  68 , the on-site controller  20 B issues a “restored barrier” signal  72 , as shown in  FIGS. 4B and 9  (viz., “system ready” indication). Again, this “restored barrier” signal  72  can be sent continuously, periodically or in any manner desired by the system operator while the post  24  remains in the boot  32 . 
       FIG. 9  depicts an exemplary wireless device  20 C screen display of a typical BASAS  20  operation. As shown, a particular barrier  20 A (identified as “McB4”) has been removed from its boots  30 / 32 , thereby alerting the wireless device  20 C of this authorized person that the barrier  20 A was removed at 1:02 pm. Two minutes later (by way of example only) another alert message  70  indicates that the barrier  20 A is system ready message  72  is sent, indicating that the barrier  20 A (viz., “McB4”) has been restored. As mentioned previously, it is up to the system operator to determine how often the alert signal  70  and/or the system ready signal  72  are sent to the authorized personnel. In this example, at 1:34 pm the barrier  20 A (“McB4”) is again removed and the authorized personnel wireless devices  20 C are alerted. A “system ready” signal  72  is sent at 6:19 pm to the wireless devices  20 C. Again, because the system operator can set the frequency of warning signals  70  and system ready signals  72 , this can allow the system operators to avoid nuisance warnings if, for example, the removed barrier  20 A is clearly in everyone&#39;s sight and the need to “warn” the authorized personnel of the removed barrier  20 A is not as critical. 
     By way of example only, the upper cross beam  26  may be located on the vertical posts  22 / 24  at a height of 42 inches from the floor while the lower cross beam  28  may be located on the vertical posts  22 / 24  at a height of 19 inches from the floor  14 . 
     To make the removal of the barrier  20 A from the receptacles  30 / 32  slightly more difficult, a releasable securing mechanism (e.g., a cotter pin, a tamper-proof threaded fastener, etc.) may be installed through the receptacle  30 /post  22  (and/or through receptacle  32 /post  24 ). Thus, to remove the barrier  20 A, the releasable securing mechanism would need to be disengaged first before removing the barrier  20 A. 
     As mentioned previously, the on-site controller  20 B may comprise a DMP-XTLC-Wireless Control Panel, by way of example only. As shown in  FIG. 5 , the DMP-XTLC-Wireless Control Panel comprises a local wireless receiver  14 , a controller processor  16  and a cellular network transmitter  18  (e.g., CDMA cellular compatible configuration and frequency band(s)) the latter of which permits messaging features (e.g., the messages  70  and  72 ) with the wireless communication devices  20 C (e.g., cell phone), as well as the capability (e.g., a keypad/display, not shown) for authorized system operators to control the frequency of messages  70  and  72 , as described previously. The on-site controller  20 B is housed in a rugged casing (not shown). 
     The transmitter  38  and the transceiver  58  may operate in the 905-924 MHz or 2.4 GHz frequency bands (and preferably using spread spectrum techniques) for providing reliable transmissions  66  and  68 . 
     While the invention has been described in detail and with reference to specific examples thereof, it will be apparent to one skilled in the art that various changes and modifications can be made therein without departing from the spirit and scope thereof.