Movable barrier operator with integrated camera module
AssigneeThe Chamberlain Group, Inc.
InventorsMatthew James Baer, Jimmy Bedolla, Matthew Peter Crane, Corey Lyn Herrboldt, Sapta Gireesh Pudipeddi
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
In one aspect, a movable barrier operator includes a housing and a motor. The movable barrier operator further includes a camera mount that is connected to the housing and that supports a camera. The camera mount is configured to facilitate movement of the camera between a storage position wherein at least a portion of the camera is inside the housing and an operative position wherein the at least a portion of the camera is outside of the housing.
Claims24
A movable barrier operator comprising:
- a housing;
- a motor in the housing;
- a controller in the housing operably coupled to the motor;
- a camera operably coupled to the controller;
- and
- a camera mount configured to facilitate movement of the camera between a storage position wherein at least a portion of the camera is inside the housing and an operative position wherein the at least a portion of the camera is outside of the housing;
- the camera mount comprising:
- a fixed support connected to the housing,
- a rotatable support,
- a rotary connection between the fixed support and the rotatable support that constrains relative movement of the fixed support and the rotatable support to rotary movement of the rotatable support about a rotary axis relative to the fixed support;
- a pivotal support carrying the camera;
- a pivot connection between the rotatable support and the pivotal support that constrains relative movement of the rotatable support and the pivotal support to pivotal movement of the pivotal support about a pivot axis relative to the rotatable support, and
- the rotary connection facilitating rotation of the rotatable support, the pivotal support, the pivot connection, and the camera about the rotary axis with the camera in the operative position.
A movable barrier operator comprising:
- a housing;
- a motor in the housing;
- a controller in the housing operably coupled to the motor;
- a camera operably coupled to the controller;
- a fixed support connected to the housing, at least a portion of the fixed support in the housing;
- a rotatable support rotatably mounted to the fixed support;
- a pivotal support pivotally mounted to the rotatable support and configured to support the camera;
- the rotatable support rotatable relative to the fixed support to adjust the rotatable support to a rotary position relative to the fixed support and set a pan angle of the camera;
- the pivotal support pivotal relative to the rotatable support to adjust the pivotal support to a pivotal position relative to the rotatable support and set a tilt angle of the camera;
- and
- at least one detent and a plurality of recesses of the rotatable support and the fixed support to maintain the set pan angle of the camera, the at least one detent configured to engage at least one of the plurality of recesses and inhibit turning of the rotatable support relative to the fixed support.
A non-transitory computer readable medium comprising instructions which, when executed by a processor of a user device, cause the processor to perform operations comprising:
- presenting, via a user interface of the user device, a prompt to manually move a camera of a movable barrier operator from a storage position wherein at least a portion of the camera is inside of a housing of the movable barrier operator and the camera is deenergized to an operating position wherein the at least a portion of the camera has a field of view outside of the housing and the camera is energized, movement of the camera from the storage position to the operating position automatically causing the movable barrier operator to energize the camera;
- and
- providing, via the user interface of the user device, at least one of an image, audio, and a video captured by the camera.
A movable barrier operator comprising:
- a housing;
- a motor in the housing;
- a controller in the housing;
- a camera operably coupled to the controller;
- and
- a camera mount configured to facilitate movement of the camera between a storage position wherein at least a portion of the camera is inside the housing and an operative position wherein the at least a portion of the camera is outside of the housing;
- a switch operably coupled to the camera and the camera mount, the switch configured to inhibit operation of the camera with the camera in the storage position;
- and
- the switch configured to facilitate operation of the camera with the camera in the operative position.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.