Apparatus for Detecting Presence of Person Inside Room Having Door

The present invention relates to an apparatus for detecting the presence of a person or persons inside a room, the apparatus finding applications, for example, in prevention of crimes and energy saving as well as in automation of houses adapted for the aged and handicapped.

One known apparatus for detecting every person inside a room processes images picked up by a camera such as a visible light camera or infrared camera. Another known apparatus used for the same purpose employs active sensors such as infrared sensors or ultrasonic sensors to detect a person within a narrow region. A further known apparatus makes use of a passive sensor equipped with a shutter mechanism.

In the prior art apparatus for detecting the presence of a person or persons with a camera, it is necessary to correct the processed image, depending on the condition of the camera. Also, it is not easy for the user to set up the apparatus. Furthermore, the apparatus is bulky. In addition, it consumes a large amount of electric power. Further, the optical system must be so set up that the dead angle is compensated for. Therefore, it is inevitable that the optical system is separate from the image processing portion. Moreover, the camera puts stress on the subject person. Hence, contrivance is needed in the field of house automation, especially in the way in which the optical system is received in the apparatus.

The person presence-detecting apparatus using an active sensor such as an infrared sensor or ultrasonic sensor constantly emits light, or keeps oscillating. Therefore, it consumes a large amount of electric power. Also, this apparatus is cable of covering only a limited narrow area, since restrictions are imposed on the positional relation between the emitting portion, or oscillating portion, and the light-receiving portion. In order to compensate for the dead angle, the sensor must be divided into plural separate portions which are separated from the signal-processing portion.

The apparatus comprising the passive sensor having the shutter mechanism has a portion that is invariably operating. Therefore, it is difficult to power this apparatus by a battery, and it is impossible to fabricate it as a unit.

Accordingly, it is an object of the present invention to provide an integrated apparatus which uses passive sensors each consuming only a small amount of electric power and which acts to detect the presence of a person or persons inside a room having a door.

It is another object of the invention to provide an apparatus which acts to detect the presence of a person or persons inside a room having a door and which has a novel circuit configuration including a sensor for detecting movement of the person as well as a sensor for detecting opening and closing of the door.

The above objects are achieved in accordance with the teachings of the invention by an apparatus in which a sensor detecting movement of a person is combined with a sensor detecting the opening and closing of a door, to detect the presence of the person inside a room.

In one feature of the invention, the sensor detecting the movement of the person is a pyroelectric infrared sensor. The sensor detecting the opening and closing of the door is a piezoelectric air pressure sensor. The pyroelectric infrared sensor utilizes a pyroelectric crystal whose spontaneous polarization varies with temperature. By making use of this phenomenon, infrared rays corresponding to the temperature of the human body and the ambient temperature, respectively, are made to hit the pyroelectric crystal. A change in the difference in energy between these two kinds of infrared rays brings about a change in the spontaneous polarization due to the pyroelectric effect. This, in turn, changes the surface charge on the electrode portion. A potential difference is obtained from this change. In this way, the movement of a person within the optical field of view is detected. The piezoelectric air pressure sensor comprises a piezoelectric material which is polarized when strain is applied to it. When atmospheric pressure changes, strain is produced in the piezoelectric material. As a result, the piezoelectric material is polarized, generating surface charge on the electrode portion. A potential difference is developed by the surface charge. Thus, the change in atmospheric pressure is detected.

One embodiment of the invention lies in an apparatus for detecting the presence of a person or persons inside a room having a door, said apparatus comprising: an infrared sensor which detects movement of a person inside the room and produces a signal indicating the movement of a person; an air pressure sensor detecting opening and closing of the door and producing a signal indicating the opening and closing of the door; an entry-detecting means which is connected with the two sensors and which, when the signal indicating the movement of a person is applied later than the signal indicating the opening and closing of the door, produces a signal indicating the entry of a person; an exit-detecting means which is connected with the two sensors and which, when the signal indicating the opening and closing of the door is applied later than the signal indicating the movement of a person, produces a signal indicating the exit of a person; a person presence-detecting means which is connected with the entry-detecting means and also with the exit-detecting means and which, when the signal indicating the entry of a person is applied, produces a signal indicating the presence of a person and which, when the signal indicating the exit of a person is applied, produces a signal indicating the absence of any person; and an inhibiting means which is connected between the infrared sensor and the person presence-detecting means and which, when the signal indicating the movement of a person is produced after the signal indicating the exit of a person is produced, inhibits the person presence-detecting means from producing the signal indicating the absence of any person.

The output signal from the piezoelectric air pressure sensor detecting the variation in the pressure caused by the opening and closing of the door is combined with the output signal from the pyroelectric infrared sensor detecting the movement of a person to detect movement of a person before and after the door is opened and closed. Consequently, it is possible to know whether a person enters or leaves the room. The obtained information is combined with the presence or absence of the output signal from the infrared sensor to know the presence of a person or persons inside the room. Preferably, the pyroelectric infrared sensor is a small sensor of the TO-5 type. Both pyroelectric sensor and piezoelectric air pressure sensor are passive sensors and so each sensor consumes only a small amount of electric power. Since the piezoelectric air pressure sensor itself has no directionality, it can be integrated with the pyroelectric infrared sensor. Furthermore, the pyroelectric infrared sensor has a wide field of view and exhibits a high sensitivity. Hence, few restrictions are imposed on the position at which the infrared sensor is mounted. This makes it easy to mount the infrared sensor. The output signals from these sensors are voltages signals and, therefore, it is easy to built the circuit. In addition, the apparatus can be powered by a battery, since it consumes only a small amount of electric power. In consequence, a small-sized integrated apparatus can be fabricated.

Other objects and features of the invention will appear in the course of the description thereof which follows.

FIG. 1 is a circuit block diagram of an apparatus for detecting the presence of a person or persons inside a room having a door, the apparatus being built in accordance with the present invention;

FIG. 2 is a timing chart of the waveforms of various signals produced in the apparatus shown in FIG. 1 when a person enters the room;

FIG. 3 is a timing chart of the waveforms of various signals produced in the apparatus shown in FIG. 1 when one person is present in the room and another person enters the room; and

FIG. 4 is a timing chart of the waveforms of various signals produced in the apparatus shown in FIG. 1 when two persons successively leave the room .

Referring to FIG. 1, there is shown an apparatus according to the invention. This apparatus includes a pyroelectric infrared sensor 1. The output 6a of this sensor 1 is connected with a monostable multivibrator 4a, another monostable multivibrator 4d, and an AND gate 5d via an amplification-and-comparator circuit 3a. The apparatus further includes a piezoelectric air pressure sensor 2 whose output 6c is connected with a monostable multivibrator 4b via an amplification-and-comparator circuit 3b. The output 6a' of the amplification-and-comparator circuit 3a is directly connected with one input terminal of the AND gate 5d. Also, the output 6a' of the amplification-and-comparator circuit 3a is connected with the other input terminal of the AND gate 5d via the output 6i of the monostable multivibrator 4d. The gate 5d produces an output signal 6j. The output 6b of the multivibrator 4a and the output 6d of the multivibrator 4b are connected with an AND gate 5a.

The output 6e of the AND gate 5a is connected with a monostable multivibrator 4c. The output 6f of this multivibrator 4c is connected with one input terminal of an AND gate 5b, while the output 6b of the multivibrator 4a is connected with the other input terminal of the AND gate 5b. The output 6f of the multivibrator 4c is also connected with one input terminal of an AND gate 5c, the output 6d of the multivibrator 4b being connected with the other input terminal of the gate 5c.

The output 6g of the AND gate 5b and the output 6j of the AND gate 5d are connected with an OR gate 8. The output 6j of the AND gate 5d is connected with the reset terminal of a flip-flop 9b. The output 6h of the AND gate 5c is tied to the set terminal of the flip-flop 9b. The output 6h of the AND gate 5c is connected with a monostable multivibrator 4e. The output 6k of the multivibrator 4e and the output 6l of the flip-flop 9b are connected with two input terminals, respectively, of an AND gate 5e. The output 6m of the gate 5e is connected with the reset terminal of a flip-flop 9a. The output 6n of the OR gate 8 is connected with the set terminal of the flip-flop 9a. This circuit is powered by a lithium battery (not shown). Preferably, the battery is incorporated in the circuit.

The operation of this apparatus for detecting the presence of a person or persons is next described by referring also to FIGS. 2-4. Since the pyroelectric infrared sensor differentiates its input signal, the sensor detects only movement of a person or persons. Generally, where a person is present inside a room, it is hardly likely that he or she constantly moves about. Also, the parson moves at irregular intervals of time. We have noticed that whenever a person enters or leaves a room, he or she inevitably moves. The novel apparatus for detecting the presence of a person or persons detects the movement of a person made before and after the door is opened and closed to determine whether the person enters or leaves the room. Then, the apparatus judges that a person is located inside the room.

FIG. 2 is a timing chart of the waveforms of various signals produced by the novel apparatus when a person enters a room. At this time, the door is opened and closed. Then, the person moves inside the room. First, the piezoelectric air pressure sensor 2 shown in FIG. 1 detects the opening and closing of the door and produces output signal 6c indicating the opening and closing. This output signal 6c is applied to the amplification-and-comparator circuit 3b, which produces output signal 6c' of TTL level. The leading edge of the output signal 6c' triggers the monostable multivibrator 4b, so that the multivibrator produces output signal 6d. Subsequently, the pyroelectric infrared sensor 1 detects the movement of the person and delivers output signal 6a indicative of the movement. This output signal 6a is applied to the amplification-and-comparator circuit 3a to cause it to produce output signal 6a' of TTL level. This output signal 6a' triggers the monostable multivibrators 4a and 4d to produce output signals 6b and 6i, respectively. The output 6i from the multivibrator 4d and the output 6a' from the amplification-and-comparator 3a are applied to the two input terminals, respectively, of the AND gate 5d. When the pyroelectric infrared sensor 1 produces noise as shown in FIG. 2, i.e., when a single impulse is generated due to a malfunction, the output signal 6j of the AND gate 5d remains low, whereby the noise can be removed. If the person moves during the given width of the output signal 6i from the multivibrator 4d, then the output signal 6j from the AND gate 5d goes high. Thus, the movement of the person can be confirmed without being affected by the malfunction.

The output signal 6b from the monostable multivibrator 4a indicating the movement of a person and the output signal 6d from the monostable multivibrator 4b indicating the opening and closing of the door are applied to the AND gate 5a. When the output signal 6b of a given width and the output signal 6d of a certain width are overlapped, the AND gate 5a produces high output signal 6e. Hence, the movement of the person made before and after the door is opened and closed can be detected. The trailing edge of the output signal 6e triggers the monostable multivibrator 4c. The output signal 6f from this multivibrator 4c is applied to the AND gate 5b, together with the output signal 6b from the monostable multivibrator 4a. The output signal 6g from the AND gate 5b goes high only when the air pressure sensor output signal indicating the opening and closing of the door is detected earlier than the infrared sensor output signal indicating the movement of the person. Consequently, this output signal 6g indicates the entry of a person.

This output signal 6g and the output signal 6j from the AND gate 5d are applied to the OR gate 8. The output signal 6n from the OR gate 8 triggers the flip-flop 9a, so that the output signal 7 from this flip-flop goes high. This output signal 7 indicates that a person is present inside the room. When a person enters the room, the output signal 6g from the AND gate 5b can be used to create information given to the person.

FIG. 3 is a timing chart showing the waveforms of signals produced when one person is present inside a room and another person enters it. The output signal 7 from the flip-flop 9a which indicates the presence of a person remains high from the first. Since the person is present inside the room, the pyroelectric infrared sensor 1 detects the movement of the person. The output signal 6a from this sensor 1 triggers the monostable multivibrator 4d via the amplification-and-comparator 3a. The output signal 6i from this multivibrator 4d and the output signal 6a' from the amplification-and-comparator circuit 3a are applied to the AND gate 5d. The output signal 6j from the AND gate 5d goes high in response to the movement of the person without being affected by a malfunction. The high output signal 6j from the AND gate 5d is applied to the set terminal of the flip-flop 9a via the OR gate 8. Since the flip-flop 9a has been already set, the output signal 7 from the flip-flop 9a is kept high. This means that a person is present inside the room.

As shown in FIG. 3, if another person subsequently enters the room, a signal which sets the flip-flop 9a is applied to the flip-flop 9a from the output 6g of the AND gate 5b via the OR gate 8, in the same way as the operation described already in connection with FIG. 2. However, the flip-flop 9a has been already set as described above. Therefore, the output signal 7 from the flip-flop 9a is kept high.

FIG. 4 is a timing chart showing the waveforms of signals produced in the following situation: Two persons are present in the room as described above; one of them leaves the room; and the other leaves the room after a while. When one of them leaves the room, the pyroelectric infrared sensor 1 detects the movement of the person who is approaching the door. The sensor 1 produces the output signal 6a, which triggers the monostable multivibrator 4a via the amplification-and-comparator circuit 3a. Then, the door is opened. The piezoelectric air pressure sensor 2 detects the variation in the pressure and delivers the output signal 6c, which triggers the monostable multivibrator 4b via the amplification-and-comparator circuit 3b. As described previously, the output signal 6b from the multivibrator 4a and the output signal 6d from the multivibrator 4b are applied to the AND gate 5a and so the output signal 6e from this gate 5a responds to the movement of the person before and after the door is opened and closed. The trailing edge of the output signal 6e triggers the monostable multivibrator 4c. The output signal 6f from this multivibrator 4c and the output signal 6d from the monostable multivibrator 4b are applied to the AND gate 5c. The output signal 6h from this gate 5c goes high only when the output signal from the pyroelectric infrared sensor 1 indicating the movement of a person is detected earlier than the output signal from the piezoelectric air pressure sensor 2 that indicates the opening and closing of the door. It is possible to know from this high output signal 6h that a person has left the room.

The leading edge of the output signal 6h triggers the flip-flop 9b. When only one of the two persons present inside the room leaves it, it is possible that the remaining one moves intermittently. If such movement is made, it is detected by the infrared sensor 1. The output signal 6a from this sensor 1 is applied to the amplification-and-comparator circuit 3a. The output signal 6a' from this amplification-and-comparator circuit 3a causes the AND gate 5d to produce the output signal 6j as described above. The trailing edge of this output signal 6j resets the flip-flop 9b. Therefore, the output signal 6m from the AND gate 5e, or the signal applied to the reset terminal of the flip-flop 9a, is kept low, the gate 5e receiving the output signal 6l from the flip-flop 9b and the output signal 6k from the monostable multivibrator 4e. In consequence, the flip-flop 9a is not reset. Hence, the output signal 7 from the flip-flop 9a remains high. The output signal 6h from the AND gate 5c indicates that a person has left the room. On the other hand, the high output signal 7 from the flip-flop 9a indicates that a person still stays inside the room. That is, if movement of a second person is detected after a first person leaves the room, or within a given time set by the monostable multivibrator 4e, then the flip-flop 9a is stopped from being reset. This indicates that a person still remains.

If the last person remaining inside the room subsequently leaves it, the infrared sensor 1 detects movement of the person approaching the door and produces the output signal 6a as shown in FIG. 4. This output signal 6a triggers the multivibrator 4a via the amplification-and-comparator circuit 3a. Then, the door is opened. The air pressure sensor 2 detects the variation in the pressure and delivers the output signal 6c. This output signal 6c triggers the multivibrator 4b via the amplification-and-comparator circuit 3b. The output signal 6d from the multivibrator 4b and the output signal 6b from the multivibrator 4a are applied to the AND gate 5a. The trailing edge of the output signal 6e from this gate 5a triggers the multivibrator 4c. The output signal 6f from the multivibrator 4c and the output signal 6d from the multivibrator 4b are applied to the AND gate 5c. The output signal 6h from this gate 5c indicates that a person has left the room, as described already. The leading edge of this output signal 6h triggers the multivibrator 4e. The trailing edge of this output signal 6h sets the flip-flop 9b.

When no person remains inside the room, the infrared sensor 1 detects no movement of persons. The flip-flop 9b is not reset but remains set. That is, the output signal from the flip-flop 9b is kept high. When a given time elapses since the last person left the room, the output signal 6k from the monostable multivibrator 4e goes high. As a result, the output signal 6m from the AND gate 5e goes high, the gate 5e receiving the output signal 6l from the flip-flop 9b and the output signal 6k from the multivibrator 4e. This resets the flip-flop 9a. The output signal 7 from the flip-flop 9a goes low for the first time, indicating that no person remains inside the room.

Where two persons are present in the room, if they leave the room simultaneously rather than one after another, the infrared sensor 1 no longer detects movement of persons. Therefore, the flip-flop 9b is not reset. The flip-flip 9a is reset after a lapse of a given time which is set by the monostable multivibrator 4e.

Where two persons are present inside the room, if one of them leaves the room, and if the remaining one does not move until the given time set by the multivibrator 4e passes, then the infrared sensor produces no output signal. The flip-flop 9a is once reset. This indicates that no person is present in the room. If the remaining person moves subsequently, the movement is detected by the infrared sensor. The output signal 6j from the AND gate 5d is applied to the set terminal of the flip-flop 9a via the OR gate 8. The output signal from the flip-flop 9a goes high, indicating the presence of a person or persons inside the room, irrespective of whether the signal 6g indicating the entry and the signal 6h indicating the exit are present or not.

As described in detail thus far, the novel apparatus uses the piezoelectric air pressure sensor detecting variations in the pressure caused by the opening and closing of the door, as well as the pyroelectric infrared sensor detecting movement of a person. Thus, the movement of the person which is made before and after the door is opened and closed is detected. This enables ascertainment of the entry and exit of a person. This ascertainment is combined with the information obtained from the pyroelectric infrared sensor, i.e., the presence or absence of a person, to know whether at least one person is present inside the room. Preferably, the pyroelectric infrared sensor is a small infrared sensor of the TO-5 type. Both pyroelectric infrared sensor and piezoelectric sensor are passive sensors and, therefore, each sensor consumes only a small amount of electric power. Additionally, the piezoelectric air pressure sensor and the pyroelectric infrared sensor can be combined into a unit, because the piezoelectric air pressure sensor itself has no directionality. Since the pyroelectric infrared sensor has a wide field of view and shows a high sensitivity, the position at which the sensor is mounted can be varied over a wide region. This facilitates mounting the sensor. Furthermore, an arithmetic and logic unit can be easily fabricated, since the outputs from these two sensors are voltage signals. Further, the apparatus consumes only a small amount of electric power. This permits the apparatus to be powered by a battery. In this way, a small integrated apparatus can be built.