Patent Issued for Systems and methods for automatically mitigating risk of property damage (USPTO 11379924): State Farm Mutual Automobile Insurance Company

2022 JUL 26 (NewsRx) -- By a News Reporter-Staff News Editor at Insurance Daily News -- State Farm Mutual Automobile Insurance Company (Bloomington, Illinois, United States) has been issued patent number 11379924, according to news reporting originating out of Alexandria, Virginia, by NewsRx editors.

The patent’s inventors are Binion, Todd (Bloomington, IL, US), Bryant, Ronny S. (Bloomington, IL, US), Call, Shawn M. (Bloomington, IL, US), Criswell, Jennifer (Bloomington, IL, US), Donovan, John (Bloomington, IL, US), Hakimi-Boushehri, Daryoush (Bloomington, IL, US), Jordan, II, Jackie O. (Bloomington, IL, US), McDermeit, Elisabeth (Bloomington, IL, US), Weekes, John H. (Bloomington, IL, US).

This patent was filed on October 22, 2020 and was published online on July 5, 2022.

From the background information supplied by the inventors, news correspondents obtained the following quote: “Homeowner and personal property insurance exists to provide financial protection against damage to the home and personal property owner by the policyholder, respectively. There are many potential sources of damage to homes and personal property, some of which can be detected far enough in advance to take an action that may mitigate or prevent damage from occurring. Currently, many appliances and other goods are capable of communicating information about their operation via mesh networks as part of the “internet of things.” However, there is no way to aggregate and analyze all of this communicated data to manage and reduce the risks associated with insurance-related events.

“Thus, the present embodiments may, inter alia, detect and alleviate the foregoing risks, such as the risk of home damage, personal property damage, insurance claims, and/or other risks.”

Supplementing the background information on this patent, NewsRx reporters also obtained the inventors’ summary information for this patent: “In one aspect, a computer-implemented method of limiting damage to a property (such as an interconnected or smart home) may be provided. The property may be populated with a controller in communication with a plurality of devices in the property. Each of the plurality of devices may be configured to monitor various conditions associated with the property. The method may include (1) receiving, via a first wired or wireless communication network, sensor data from a first at least one of the plurality of devices. The sensor data may be indicative of at least one potential change in at least one of the various conditions associated with the property. The method may include (2) detecting, by one or more processors (such as one or more local or remote processors associated with a smart home controller and/or insurance provider, respectively), a potential insurance-related event associated with the property through analyzing the sensor data, and/or (3) determining, by the one or more processors, an appropriate or corrective action to be performed or otherwise taken by a second at least one of the plurality of devices to mitigate or prevent damage associated with the potential insurance-related event. The method may further include (4) directing, controlling, or causing, at the one or more processors (such as via wireless communication or data transmission with the devices), the corrective action to be performed by the second at least one of the plurality of devices or other device at the property. The method may include additional, fewer, or alternate actions, including those discussed elsewhere herein.

“In another aspect, a system for limiting damage to a property populated with a controller in communication with a plurality of devices in the property may be provided. Each of the plurality of devices may be configured to monitor various conditions associated with the property. The system may include a communication module adapted to communicate data; a memory adapted to store non-transitory computer executable instructions; and/or one or more processors adapted to interface with the communication module. The one or more processors may be configured to execute the non-transitory computer executable instructions to cause the one or more processors to (1) receive, via the communication module, sensor data from a first at least one of the plurality of devices, wherein the sensor data is indicative of at least one potential change in at least one of the various conditions associated with the property. The one or more processors may be configured to (2) detect, by the one or more processors, a potential insurance-related event associated with the property through analyzing the sensor data, and/or (3) determine, by the one or more processors, a corrective action to be performed or otherwise taken by a second at least one of the plurality of devices, to mitigate or prevent damage associated with the potential insurance-related event. The one or more processors may be further configured to perform the action, or direct or cause the action to be performed, such as directing the smart device to perform a certain function or corrective action. The system may include additional, less, or alternate components and functionality, including that discussed elsewhere herein.

“In still another aspect, a non-transitory computer-readable storage medium storing processor-executable instructions may be provided. When executed, the instructions may cause one or more processors to (1) receive, via a communication network or data transmission, sensor data from at least one of a plurality of devices. The sensor data may be indicative of at least one potential change in at least one of the various conditions associated with a property. The instructions may cause the one or more processors to (2) detect, by the one or more processors, a potential insurance-related event associated with the property through analyzing the sensor data, and/or (3) determine, by the one or more processors, a corrective action to take to mitigate or prevent damage associated with the potential insurance-related event. The instructions may further cause the one or more processors to (4) perform the action, or direct or cause the action to be performed, such as directing a second at least one of the plurality of devices to perform certain functions. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium may include additional, fewer, or alternate instructions, including those discussed elsewhere herein.”

The claims supplied by the inventors are:

“1. A computer-implemented method of limiting damage to a property populated with a plurality of devices on the property, each of the plurality of devices configured to monitor various conditions associated with the property, the method comprising: receiving, at a smart home controller via a first wired or wireless communication network, sensor data from a plurality of devices, the sensor data indicative of at least one potential change in at least one of the various conditions associated with the property; detecting, by one or more processors of the smart home controller, a potential insurance-related event associated with the property through analyzing the sensor data; identifying, by one or more processors of the smart home controller, a first cause of damage and a second cause of damage associated with the potential insurance-related event; determining, by the one or more processors, a first corrective action to be performed by a first device of the plurality of devices to mitigate or prevent the first cause of damage and a second corrective action to be performed by a second device of the plurality of devices to mitigate or prevent the second cause damage; transmitting, from the smart home controller via the first wired or wireless communication network, a first command and a second command, wherein the first command is configured to be executed by the first device to cause the first device to perform the first corrective action such that the first cause of damage is mitigated or prevented, and wherein the second command is configured to be executed by the second device to cause the second device to perform the second corrective action such that the second cause of damage is mitigated or prevented.

“2. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, the method further comprising: receiving, via the first wired or wireless communication network, a confirmation that the first command has been executed.

“3. The computer-implemented method of claim 2, wherein the first corrective action to be performed by the first device of the plurality of devices comprises: shutting off a water or gas supply.

“4. The computer-implemented method of claim 2, wherein the corrective action to be performed by the first device of the plurality of devices comprises: closing a door, window or shutter.

“5. The computer-implemented method of claim 2, wherein the corrective action to be performed by the first device of the plurality of devices comprises: turning off an appliance that has failed or is about to fail.

“6. The computer-implemented method of claim 2, wherein the corrective action to be performed by the first device of the plurality of devices comprises: turning on a sump pump, de-watering equipment, or fire sprinklers.

“7. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, the method further comprising: transmitting, to at least one of an individual associated with the property and an insurance provider associated with the property via a second wired or wireless communication network, an alert indicating that the first corrective action to mitigate or prevent the potential insurance-related event has been performed.

“8. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, the method further comprising: receiving, from the insurance provider via the second wired or wireless communication network, a notification that at least one insurance-related activity has occurred, wherein the insurance-related activity is at least one of: an update of an insurance policy or premium, an adjustment of an insurance discount, rebate or award, a processing of an insurance claim, or a recommendation to purchase at least one additional device or insurance product.

“9. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, the method further comprising: retrieving, by the one or more processors, data from an archival database; examining, by the one or more processors, the data from the archival database to generate a baseline model; comparing, by the one or more processors, the sensor data to the baseline model to identify variations from normal operation; and storing, by the one or more processors, the operating data in the archival database.

“10. The computer-implemented method of claim 9, wherein comparing the sensor data to the baseline model comprises: calculating, by the one or more processors, a variance between the sensor data and the baseline model; and determining, by the one or more processors, whether the variance is indicative of at least one of: a device of the plurality of devices is failing or the device is about to fail.

“11. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, the method further comprising: receiving, via a second communication network, insurance-related data from at least one of an insurance provider associated with the property and a third party agency that gathers and reports data relevant to insurance risk.

“12. The computer-implemented method of claim 8, wherein the third party agency is at least one of: a weather agency, a crime reporting agency, a traffic reporting agency, a pollution monitoring agency or an insect control agency.

“13. A system for limiting damage to a property populated with a plurality of devices on the property, each of the plurality of devices configured to monitor various conditions associated with the property, the system comprising: one or more transceivers adapted to communicate data; a memory adapted to store non-transitory computer executable instructions; and one or more processors associated with a smart home controller and adapted to interface with the one or more transceivers, wherein the one or more processors are configured to execute the non-transitory computer executable instructions to cause the one or more processors to: receive, via the one or more transceivers, sensor data from a plurality of devices, the sensor data indicative of at least one potential change in at least one of the various conditions associated with the property; detect, by the one or more processors, a potential insurance-related event associated with the property through analyzing the sensor data; identify, by the one or more processors, a first cause of damage and a second cause of damage associated with the potential insurance-related event; determine, by the one or more processors, a first corrective action to be performed by a first device of the plurality of devices to mitigate or prevent the first cause of damage and a second corrective action to be performed by a second device of the plurality of devices to mitigate or prevent the second cause damage; transmit, via the one or more transceivers, a first command and a second command, wherein the first command is configured to be executed by the first device to cause the first device to perform the first corrective action such that the first cause of damage is mitigated or prevented, and wherein the second command is configured to be executed by the second device to cause the second device to perform the second corrective action such that the second cause of damage is mitigated or prevented.

“14. The system of claim 13, wherein the one or more transceivers are configured to: receive a confirmation that the first instruction has been executed.

“15. The system of claim 13, wherein the corrective action to be performed by the first device of the plurality of devices comprises: shutting off a water or gas supply.

“16. The system of claim 13, wherein the corrective action to be performed by the first device of the plurality of devices comprises: closing a door, window or shutter.

“17. The system of claim 13, wherein the corrective action to be performed by the first device of the plurality of devices comprises: turning off an appliance that has failed or is about to fail.

“18. The system of claim 13, wherein the corrective action to be performed by the first device of the plurality of devices comprises: turning on a sump pump, de-watering equipment or fire sprinklers.

“19. The system of claim 13, wherein the one or more transceivers are further configured to: transmit, to at least one of an individual associated with the property and an insurance provider associated with the property, an alert indicating that the corrective action to mitigate or prevent the potential insurance-related event has been performed.

“20. A non-transitory computer-readable storage medium storing processor-executable instructions, that when executed cause one or more processors to: receive, at a smart home controller via a communication network, sensor data from a plurality of devices, the sensor data indicative of at least one potential change in at least one of the various conditions associated with the property; detect, by the one or more processors of the smart home controller, a potential insurance-related event associated with the property through analyzing the sensor data; identify, by the one or more processors of the smart home controller, a first cause of damage and a second cause of damage associated with the potential insurance-related event; determine, by the one or more processors, a first corrective action to be performed by a first device of the plurality of devices to mitigate or prevent the first cause of damage and a second corrective action to be performed by a second device of the plurality of devices to mitigate or prevent the second cause damage; and transmit, from the smart home controller via the communication network, a first command and a second command, wherein the first command is configured to be executed by the first device to cause the first device to perform the first corrective action such that the first cause of damage is mitigated or prevented, and wherein the second command is configured to be executed by the second device to cause the second device to perform the second corrective action such that the second cause of damage is mitigated or prevented.”

For the URL and additional information on this patent, see: Binion, Todd. Systems and methods for automatically mitigating risk of property damage. U.S. Patent Number 11379924, filed October 22, 2020, and published online on July 5, 2022. Patent URL: http://patft.uspto.gov/netacgi/nph-Parser?Sect1=PTO1&Sect2=HITOFF&d=PALL&p=1&u=%2Fnetahtml%2FPTO%2Fsrchnum.htm&r=1&f=G&l=50&s1=11379924.PN.&OS=PN/11379924RS=PN/11379924

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