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US 6,390,419 B1Granted
Position detector for track mounted surveillance systems
AssigneeSentry Technology Corp.
InventorsThomas A. Nicolette, Peter Y. Zhou, Lawrence Chao
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A mechanism for detecting the position of a carriage moveable along a track. The mechanism includes a wheel fixed to the carriage which rotates as the carriage moves along the track. A mark is disposed on a portion of the wheel. A detector is fixed to the carriage for sensing the mark as the wheel rotates and outputs a signal in response. A carriage processor receives the signal and determines the position of the carriage along the track.
Claims2
A surveillance device comprising:
- a track;
- a carriage moveable along the track;
- a surveillance camera mounted to the carriage;
- a wheel coupled to the carriage, the wheel rotating as the carriage moves along the track;
- a mark disposed on a portion of the wheel;
- a detector in alignment with the mark for sensing the mark as the wheel rotates and outputting a detection signal indicative of the mark being sensed;
- a processor coupled to the detector for receiving the detection signal and, based on the detection signal, determining position of the carriage along the track;
- and
- at least one limit switch disposed at a predetermined position on the track, said at least one limit switch detecting the presence of said carriage and outputting a limit signal to said carriage processor indicating position of said carriage.
6 more elements
A method of tracking a position of a surveillance camera along a track, the method comprising:
- tracking an indication of the position of the camera along the track while the camera moves along the track;
- and
- resetting the indication of the position of the camera along the track when the camera reaches a predetermined position along the track;
- wherein the camera is mounted on a carriage having a wheel rotatable as the carriage moves along the track;
- wherein monitoring the indication of the position of the camera includes counting the number of revolutions of said wheel;
- and
- wherein the resetting of the indication of the position of the camera is in response to the camera activating a limit switch located adjacent the predetermined position.
4 more elements
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.