“Systems and Methods for Automatically Mitigating Risk of Water Damage” in Patent Application Approval Process (USPTO 20220261921): Patent Application

2022 SEP 05 (NewsRx) -- By a News Reporter-Staff News Editor at Network Business Daily -- A patent application by the inventors 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), filed on May 5, 2022, was made available online on August 18, 2022, according to news reporting originating from Washington, D.C., by NewsRx correspondents.

This patent application has not been assigned to a company or institution.

The following quote was obtained by the news editors from the background information supplied by the inventors: “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.”

In addition to the background information obtained for this patent application, NewsRx journalists also obtained the inventors’ summary information for this patent application: “In one aspect, a computer-implemented method of limiting water damage to a property may be provided. The property may be populated with a controller in communication with a device associated with water flow in the property. The method may include (1) receiving, from the device via a first wired or wireless communication network, operating data related to potential or actual water leakage from the device, and/or (2) analyzing, 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), the operating data to determine an action to prevent or mitigate the potential or actual water leakage. The method may include (3) generating, by the one or more processors, an instruction that, when executed, performs the action to prevent or mitigate damage associated with the potential or actual water leakage, and/or (4) transmitting, via the first wired or wireless communication network (and/or under the direction of the one or more processors), the instruction to the device. The method may also include (5) communicating, to a mobile device (or other computing device) of an individual associated with the property via a second wireless communication network (such as under the direction of the one or more processors), an indication of the potential or actual water leakage. The method may include additional, fewer, or alternate actions, including those discussed elsewhere herein.

“In another aspect, a system for limiting water damage to a property may be provided. The property may be populated with a controller in communication with a device associated with water flow in 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, from the device via the communication module, operating data related to potential or actual water leakage from the device, and/or (2) analyze, by one or more processors, the operating data to determine an action to prevent or mitigate the potential or actual water leakage. The one or more processors may be configured to (3) generate, by one or more processors, an instruction that, when executed, performs the action to prevent or mitigate damage associated with the potential or actual water leakage, and/or (4) transmit, via the communication module, the instruction to the device. The one or more processors may also be configured to (5) communicate, to a mobile device (and other computing device) of an individual associated with the property via a communication module, an indication of the potential or actual water leakage. 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. The instructions, when executed, may cause one or more processors to receive, from the device via a first wired or wireless communication network, operating data related to potential or actual water leakage from the device, and/or (2) analyze, by the one or more processors, the operating data to determine an action to prevent or mitigate the potential or actual water leakage. The instructions may cause the one or more processors to (3) generate, by one or more processors, an instruction that, when executed, performs the action to prevent or mitigate damage associated with the potential or actual water leakage, and/or (4) transmit, via the first wired or wireless network, the instruction to the device. The instructions may also cause the one or more processors to (5) communicate, to a mobile device (or other computing or communications device) of an individual associated with the property via a second wireless communication network, an indication of the potential or actual water leakage. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium may include additional, fewer, or alternate computer-executable instructions, including those discussed elsewhere herein.”

The claims supplied by the inventors are:

“1. A system for limiting water damage to a property populated with a device associated with water flow on the property, the system comprising: a communication module configured to communicate data; one or more processors; and a non-transitory storage medium configured to store computer-executable instructions that, when executed by the one or more processors, cause the system to: receive, from the device via the communication module, operating data related to potential or actual water leakage from the device; analyze the operating data to determine an action to prevent or mitigate the potential or actual water leakage, the action including an activation of de-watering equipment; automatically and in response to the analysis, transmit, via the communication module, an instruction that, when executed, activates the de-watering equipment to perform the action to prevent or mitigate damage associated with the potential or actual water leakage; and communicate, to a mobile device or other computing device of an individual associated with the property via the communication module, an indication of the potential or actual water leakage.

“2. The system of claim 1, wherein the instructions, when executed by the one or more processors, cause the system to: determine, subsequent to activation of the de-watering equipment, whether the potential or actual water leakage continues and whether the continuing potential or actual water leakage is a risk of electrocution due to an electronic device; and automatically and in response to determining the potential or actual water leakage continues and is a risk of electrocution, transmit a second instruction that, when executed, powers off the electronic device.

“3. The system of claim 1, wherein the communication module is configured to receive, from the de-watering equipment, a confirmation that the action has been performed.

“4. The system of claim 1, wherein the instructions, when executed by the one or more processors, cause the system to: retrieve data from an archival database; examine the data from the archival database to generate a baseline model; compare the operating data to the baseline model to identify the potential or actual leak; and store the operating data in the archival database.

“5. The system of claim 4, wherein the instructions, when executed by the one or more processors, cause the system to: calculate a variance between the operating data and the baseline model; and determine whether that the variance is representative of at least one of: a water leakage is occurring or a water leakage is about to occur.

“6. The system of claim 5, wherein the instructions, when executed by the one or more processors, cause the system to analyze the variance to determine if the de-watering equipment is capable of handling an increased water flow due to the potential or actual water leakage.

“7. The system of claim 1, wherein the instructions, when executed by the one or more processors, cause the system to: receive, from the insurance provider via the communication module, an indication that a water-related event is about to impact the property; and analyze data in an archival database to determine if de-watering equipment on the property is capable of handling an increased water flow due to the water-related event.

“8. The system of claim 1, wherein the communication module is further configured to transmit, to an insurance provider associated with the property, an indication of the potential or actual water leakage and an indication of the action.

“9. The system of claim 8, wherein the communication module is further configured to receive, from the insurance provider, 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.

“10. The system of claim 1, wherein the instructions, when executed by the one or more processors, cause the system to shut off a valve to a water supply by transmitting, via the first wireless communication network, a second instruction.

“11. The system of claim 1, wherein the operating data comprises at least one of audio data, visual data, water flow data, water volume data, water pressure data, or water temperature data.

“12. A method for limiting water damage to a property, the method comprising: receiving, via a communication module, an indication that a water-related event may impact the property; determining, by one or more processors, whether de-watering equipment disposed on the property is capable of handling a predicted increased water flow due to the water-related event; determining, by the one or more processors, an action to prevent or mitigate the water-related event, the action including an activation of de-watering equipment disposed on the property; automatically and in response to the water-related event, transmitting, via the communication module, an instruction that, when executed, activates the de-watering equipment to perform the action; and communicating, to a mobile device or other computing device of an individual associated with the property via the communication module, an indication of the water-related event.

“13. The computer-implemented method of claim 12, further comprising receiving, from the de-watering equipment via the communication module, a confirmation that the action has been performed.

“14. The computer-implemented method of claim 12, wherein determining whether the de-watering equipment is capable of handling the predicted increased water flow includes: retrieving, by the one or more processors, data from an archival database; and analyzing, by the one or more processors, the data from the archival database.

“15. The computer-implemented method of claim 12, further comprising transmitting, to an insurance provider associated with the property via the communication module, an indication of the water-related event.

“16. A non-transitory storage medium storing computer-readable instructions that, when executed by one or more processors, cause a system to: receive, via a communication module, an indication that a water-related event may impact the property; determine whether de-watering equipment disposed on the property is capable of handling a predicted increased water flow due to the water-related event; determine an action to prevent or mitigate the water-related event, the action including an activation of de-watering equipment disposed on the property; automatically and in response to the water-related event, transmit, via the communication module, an instruction that, when executed, activates the de-watering equipment to perform the action; and communicate, to a mobile device or other computing device of an individual associated with the property via the communication module, an indication of the water-related event.

“17. The non-transitory storage medium of claim 16, wherein the instructions, when executed by one or more processors, cause the system to receive, from the de-watering equipment via the communication module, a confirmation that the action has been performed.

“18. The non-transitory storage medium of claim 16, wherein the instructions, when executed by one or more processors, cause the system to determine whether the de-watering equipment is capable of handling the predicted increased water flow by: retrieving data from an archival database; and analyzing the data from the archival database.

“19. The non-transitory storage medium of claim 16, wherein the instructions, when executed by one or more processors, cause the system to transmit, to an insurance provider associated with the property via the communication module, an indication of the water-related event.”

URL and more information on this patent application, see: Binion, Todd; Bryant, Ronny S.; Call, Shawn M.; Criswell, Jennifer; Donovan, John; Hakimi-Boushehri, Daryoush; Jordan, II, Jackie O.; McDermeit, Elisabeth; Weekes, John H. Systems and Methods for Automatically Mitigating Risk of Water Damage. Filed May 5, 2022 and posted August 18, 2022. Patent URL: https://appft.uspto.gov/netacgi/nph-Parser?Sect1=PTO1&Sect2=HITOFF&d=PG01&p=1&u=%2Fnetahtml%2FPTO%2Fsrchnum.html&r=1&f=G&l=50&s1=%2220220261921%22.PGNR.&OS=DN/20220261921&RS=DN/20220261921

(Our reports deliver fact-based news of research and discoveries from around the world.)