Systems and methods for monitoring advertisements
AssigneeOutdoorlink, Inc.
InventorsDwight Jennings, James F. Morris, Richard Holloway
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A system for monitoring advertisements has a security camera and sensor that are positioned to monitor an area surrounding the advertising structure with the advertisement. The camera and sensor can be controlled by a control module. The control module can activate the camera in response to receiving a signal from the sensor indicating activity in the area surrounding the advertising structure. The camera can capture images of the area surrounding the advertising structure and provide the images to the control module. The control module can then provide the images to a server for access by a user.
Claims23
An advertising structure monitoring system, comprising:
- a billboard having an advertisement;
- a light source coupled to the billboard and positioned to illuminate the advertisement;
- a frame coupled to the billboard and positioned to provide access to the advertisement;
- a camera coupled to the billboard and positioned to view at least a portion of the frame;
- a first sensor configured to detect an intruder on the frame;
- a control module having a processing element and programmed with instructions that, when executed by the processing element, cause the control module to:
- control the camera in response to the detection of the intruder on the frame by the first sensor such that the camera captures an image of at least a portion of the frame;
- provide the captured image to a user via a network thereby permitting the user to monitor an area used to access the advertisement;
- and
- control the light source to illuminate the advertisement at predetermined times.
A monitoring system for an advertising structure, the monitoring system comprising:
- at least one sensor positioned at the advertising structure to detect activity in a predetermined area of the advertising structure;
- at least one camera positioned to capture an image of the predetermined area of the advertising structure;
- and
- a control module coupled to the at least one sensor and the at least one camera to communicate with the at least one sensor and the at least one camera, the control module comprising:
- a network transceiver for communicating with a network;
- and
- a processing element to execute control logic configured to activate the at least one camera in response to the detection of activity by the at least one sensor to capture at least one image of the predetermined area of the advertising structure thereby defining image data and to transmit the image data via the network transceiver and the network to a user, the control logic further configured to determine an intruder event based on the detected activity by the at least one sensor, wherein the intruder event corresponds to an unauthorized person in the predetermined area of the advertising structure, the control logic configured to implement a protective measure for an advertisement on the advertising structure in response to the determination of the intruder event.
A method for monitoring an advertising structure comprising:
- detecting activity at an area of the advertising structure with at least one sensor;
- activating at least one camera with a control module in response to the detected activity by the at least one sensor, the at least one camera being positioned to capture image data of the area of the advertising structure associated with the detected activity by the at least one sensor;
- determining an intruder event with the control module based on the detected activity by the at least one sensor and the image data captured by the at least one camera, wherein the intruder event corresponds to an unauthorized person at the advertising structure;
- and
- implementing, with the control module, a protective measure for an advertisement on the advertising structure in response to the determination of the intruder event.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.