Patent Issued for Systems and methods for responding to a broken circuit (USPTO 11049078)

2021 JUL 21 (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 11049078, according to news reporting originating out of Alexandria, Virginia, by NewsRx editors.

The patent’s inventors are Carlson, Gail L. (Bloomington, IL, US), Donovan, John (Bloomington, IL, US), Harr, Joseph P. (Bloomington, IL, US), Harris, Jr., Michael (Normal, IL, US), Jordan, II, Jackie O. (Bloomington, IL, US), Markwardt, Kerstin (Phoenix, AZ, US), Nussbaum, Bryan R. (Bloomington, IL, US), Schiebel, Kyle C. (Bloomington, IL, US), Stockweather, Deanna (Normal, IL, US), Stoiber, Jeffrey W. (Bloomington, IL, US), Sun, Jennylind (Bloomington, IL, US), Turrentine, David (Bloomington, IL, US), Wagner, Ellakate (Bloomnington, IL, US), Winslow, Troy (Bloomington, IL, US), Wollenschlager, Torri (Bloomington, IL, US).

This patent was filed on April 24, 2019 and was published online on June 29, 2021.

From the background information supplied by the inventors, news correspondents obtained the following quote: “There are many emergency situations that may impact buildings and the people located within the buildings. In some such emergency situations, a circuit breaker may be tripped and/or other indicators of electrical faults may manifest on the property. While the circuit breaker may prevent some immediate consequences associated with short circuits and/or electrical faults, the power cut caused by a circuit breaker may itself create risks. 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 reduce the resources required to react to the tripping of a circuit breaker. Further, there is no way to analyze the data to determine the most appropriate response to mitigate the risks associated with the detection of the electrical fault.”

Supplementing the background information on this patent, NewsRx reporters also obtained the inventors’ summary information for this patent: “The present embodiments may, inter alia, detect that a flow of electricity has been cut off, such as when a circuit breaker is tripped. For instance, a system and method may facilitate communications with connected devices and items, and/or facilitate notifying an individual and/or insurance provider as to the of flow electricity being cut off. The present embodiments may monitor sensor data received from a plurality of devices populated on the premises of the property. Each of the plurality of devices may be configured to monitor various conditions of the property to determine that a flow of electricity has been cut off. A controller may determine that the flow of electricity being cut off poses risks of damage to the property and/or individuals located thereon. The controller may also generate instructions that may be performed by the plurality of devices to mitigate these risks.

“In one aspect, a computer-implemented method of repairing damage to a property may be provided. The property may be populated with a plurality of devices, including a circuit monitoring device, associated with the property. The method may comprise (1) determining, by one or more processors, that the circuit monitoring device cut off a flow of electricity through a monitored circuit; (2) responsive to the determination, transmitting, via a first wired or wireless communication network to the circuit monitoring device, an instruction to re-close the monitored circuit; (3) subsequent to transmitting the instruction, determining, by the one or more processors, that the circuit monitoring device cut off the flow of electricity through the monitored circuit; (4) responsive to the second determination, generating, by the one or more processors, a repair request, the repair request indicating a need to repair an electrical condition associated with the monitored circuit; and/or (5) communicating, to a repair service provider via a second wired or wireless communication network, the repair request, wherein communicating the repair request causes a repair event to be scheduled. The method may include additional, less, or alternate actions, including those discussed elsewhere herein.

“In another aspect, a system for repairing damage to a property populated with a plurality of devices, including a circuit monitoring device associated with the property may be provided. The system may comprise (i) a plurality of transceivers adapted to communicate data; (ii) a memory adapted to store non-transitory computer executable instructions; and/or (iii) one or more processors adapted to interface with the plurality of transceivers. The one or more processors may be configured to execute the non-transitory computer executable instructions to cause the system to (1) determine, by the one or more processors, that the circuit monitoring device cut off a flow of electricity through a monitored circuit; (2) responsive to the determination, transmit, via the plurality of transceivers to the circuit monitoring device, an instruction to re-close the monitored circuit; (3) subsequent to transmitting the instruction, determine, by the one or more processors, that the circuit monitoring device cut off the flow of electricity through the monitored circuit; (4) responsive to the second determination, generate, by the one or more processors, a repair request, the repair request indicating a need to repair an electrical condition associated with the monitored circuit; and/or (5) communicate, to a repair service provider via the plurality of transceivers, the repair request, wherein communicating the repair request causes a repair event to be scheduled. The system may include additional, less, or alternate actions, including those discussed elsewhere herein.

“In 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) determine, by the one or more processors, that the circuit monitoring device cut off a flow of electricity through a monitored circuit; (2) responsive to the determination, transmit, via a first wired or wireless communication network to the circuit monitoring device, an instruction to re-close the monitored circuit; (3) subsequent to transmitting the instruction, determine, by the one or more processors, that the circuit monitoring device cut off the flow of electricity through the monitored circuit; (4) responsive to the second determination, generate, by the one or more processors, a repair request, the repair request indicating a need to repair an electrical condition associated with the monitored circuit; and/or (5) communicate, to a repair service provider via the first wired or wireless communication network, the repair request, wherein communicating the repair request causes a repair event to be scheduled. The instructions may cause additional, less, or alternate actions, including those discussed elsewhere herein.”

The claims supplied by the inventors are:

“1. A computer-implemented method of repairing damage to a property populated with a plurality of smart devices associated with the property, the method comprising: determining, by one or more processors of a home controller disposed on the property, that electricity is cut off to a smart device based upon operating data received from the smart device, identifying, by one or more processors of the home controller, a broken circuit that cut off the electricity to the smart device; identifying, by the one or more processors of the home controller, in an inventory an electrical switch that may restore power to the smart device in lieu of the broken circuit; and responsive to the identification, transmitting, from the home controller via a first wired or wireless communication network to the electrical switch, an instruction to control a state of the electrical switch to restore electricity to the smart device, wherein the instruction is formatted such that the electrical switch sets its state upon receipt of the instruction.

“2. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, wherein the broken circuit is associated with one of a circuit breaker, a ground fault circuit interrupter (GFCI), an appliance leakage current interrupter (ALCI), a residual-current device (RCD), a safety switch, or an arc-fault circuit interrupter (AFCI).

“3. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, the method further comprising: generating, by the one or more processors, a repair request, the repair request indicating a need to repair an electrical condition associated with the broken circuit; and communicating, to a repair service provider via a second wired or wireless communication network, the repair request, wherein communicating the repair request causes a repair event to be scheduled.

“4. The computer-implemented method of claim 3, wherein generating the repair request comprises: transmitting, to an electronic device of an individual associated with the property, a recommended repair request, wherein the transmitting causes the electronic device to display the recommended repair request; receiving, from the electronic device, an indication of a preference of the individual, the preference relating to the repair event; and updating, by the one or more processors, the recommended repair request to include the received preference.

“5. The computer-implemented method of claim 4, wherein transmitting the recommended repair request comprises: generating, by the one or more processors, the recommended repair request, the recommended repair request indicating a recommended repair service provider, wherein the recommended repair service provider is selected based upon profile data associated with the individual.

“6. The computer-implemented method of claim 3, wherein causing the repair event to be scheduled comprises: updating, by the one or more processors, a service log associated with at least one of the smart device or another smart device connected to the broken circuit.

“7. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, wherein determining that the electricity is cut off to the smart device comprises: receiving, from the smart device via the first wired or wireless network, an indication that the smart device has been tripped.

“8. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, the method further comprising: communicating, to an insurance provider associated with the property via a second wired or wireless communication network, an indication of at least one of (i) that the electricity is cut off to the smart device, or (ii) that a repair event has been scheduled.

“9. The computer-implemented method of claim 8, wherein communicating the indication comprises: communicating the indication to the insurance provider, wherein the communication causes the performance of an insurance-related action, the insurance-related action including at least one of: an update of an insurance policy or premium, an adjustment of an insurance discount or award, a processing of an insurance claim, or a recommendation to purchase at least one additional device or insurance product.

“10. A system for repairing damage to a property populated with a plurality of devices, the system disposed on the property, the system comprising: a plurality of transceivers adapted to communicate data; a memory adapted to store non-transitory computer executable instructions; and one or more processors adapted to interface with the plurality of transceivers, wherein the one or more processors are configured to execute the non-transitory computer executable instructions to cause the system to: determine, by the one or more processors, that electricity is cut off to a smart device based upon operating data received from the smart device, identify, by the one or more processors, a broken circuit that cut off the electricity to the smart device; identify, by the one or more processors, in an inventory an electrical switch that may restore power to the smart device in lieu of the broken circuit; and responsive to the identification, transmit, via the plurality of transceivers to the electrical switch, an instruction to control a state of the electrical switch to restore electricity to the smart device, wherein the instruction is formatted such that the electrical switch sets its state upon receipt of the instruction.

“11. The system of claim 10, wherein the one or more processors are further configured to execute the non-transitory computer executable instructions to cause the system to: generate, by the one or more processors, a repair request, the repair request indicating a need to repair the broken circuit; and communicate, to a repair service provider via the plurality of transceivers, the repair request, wherein communicating the repair request causes a repair event to be scheduled.

“12. The system of claim 11, wherein to generate the repair request, the one or more processors are further configured to execute the non-transitory computer executable instructions to cause the system to: transmit, to an electronic device of an individual associated with the property, a recommended repair request, wherein the transmitting causes the electronic device to display the recommended repair request; receive, from the electronic device, an indication of a preference of the individual, the preference relating to the repair event; and update, by the one or more processors, the recommended repair request to include the received preference.

“13. The system of claim 12, wherein to transmit the recommended repair request, the one or more processors are further configured to execute the non-transitory computer executable instructions to cause the system to: generate, by the one or more processors, the recommended repair request, the recommended repair request indicating a recommended repair service provider, wherein the recommended repair service provider is selected based upon profile data associated with the individual.

“14. The system of claim 11, wherein to cause the repair event to be scheduled, the one or more processors are further configured to execute the non-transitory computer executable instructions to cause the system to: update, by the one or more processors, a service log associated with at least one of the smart device or another smart device connected to the broken circuit.

“15. The system of claim 10, wherein to determine that the electricity is cut off to the smart device based upon the operating data received from the smart device, the one or more processors are further configured to execute the non-transitory computer executable instructions to cause the system to: receive, from the smart device via the plurality of transceivers, an indication that the smart device has been tripped.

“16. The system of claim 10, wherein the one or more processors are further configured to execute the non-transitory computer executable instructions to cause the system to: communicate, to an insurance provider associated with the property via the plurality of transceivers, an indication of at least one of (i) that the electricity is cut off to the smart device, or (ii) that a repair event has been scheduled.

“17. A non-transitory computer-readable storage medium storing processor-executable instructions that, when executed, cause one or more processors to: determine, by the one or more processors of a home controller disposed on a property, that electricity is cut off to a smart device based upon operating data received from the smart device, identify, by the one or more processors of the home controller, a broken circuit that cut off the electricity to the smart device; identify, by the one or more processors of the home controller, in an inventory an electrical switch that may restore power to the smart device in lieu of the broken circuit; and responsive to the identification, transmit, from the home controller via a first wired or wireless communication network to the electrical switch, an instruction to control a state of the electrical switch to restore electricity to the smart device, wherein the instruction is formatted such that the electrical switch sets its state upon receipt of the instruction.

“18. The non-transitory computer-readable storage of claim 17, the processor-executable instructions, when executed, further cause the one or more processors to: generate, by the one or more processors, a repair request, the repair request indicating a need to repair an electrical condition associated with the broken circuit; and communicate, to a repair service provider via the first wired or wireless communication network, the repair request, wherein communicating the repair request causes a repair event to be scheduled.”

There are additional claims. Please visit full patent to read further.

For the URL and additional information on this patent, see: Carlson, Gail L. Systems and methods for responding to a broken circuit. U.S. Patent Number 11049078, filed April 24, 2019, and published online on June 29, 2021. 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=11049078.PN.&OS=PN/11049078RS=PN/11049078

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