IP Library › Granted Patent US 10,346,811
Granted Patent B1
US 10,346,811 · App. 14/873,771 · Granted Jul 9, 2019

Systems and methods for responding to a broken circuit

Inventors: Jackie O. Jordan, II (Bloomington, IL); John Donovan (Bloomington, IL); David Turrentine (Bloomington, IL); Torri Wollenschlager (Bloomington, IL); Bryan R. Nussbaum (Bloomington, IL); Deanna Stockweather (Normal, IL); Jeffrey W. Stoiber (Bloomington, IL); Kerstin Markwardt (Phoenix, AZ); Gail L. Carlson (Bloomington, IL); Kyle C. Schiebel (Bloomington, IL); Troy Winslow (Bloomington, IL); Joseph P. Harr (Bloomington, IL); Ellakate Wagner (Bloomington, IL); Michael Harris, Jr. (Normal, IL); Jennylind Sun (Bloomington, IL)
Assignee: STATE FARM MUTUAL AUTOMOBILE INSURANCE COMPANY
G06Q10/20G06Q40/08
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Quick Facts
Patent No.
US 10,346,811
App. No.
14/873,771
Filed
Oct 2, 2015
Granted
Jul 9, 2019
Kind
B1
Art Unit
3691
USPC
705/4
Abstract

Risk of damage that is caused by the breaking of a circuit may be mitigated. A smart home controller and/or insurance provider remote processor may analyze data, with an insured's permission, received from a smart device disposed on, within, or proximate to a property associated with monitoring the flow of electricity. If it is determined that risk of damage due to the flow of electricity being cut off repeatedly exists, the smart home controller or remote processor may automatically generate a repair request to schedule a repair event that mitigates the risks. The smart home controller may transmit information about the risks to a homeowner and/or an insurance provider. The insurance provider remote processor may interpret the transmitted data and perform insurance activities, such as providing a discount or premium, and/or adjusting an insurance policy associated with the property based upon the insured property being equipped with risk mitigation functionality.

Claims (65)

1. A computer-implemented method of repairing damage to a property populated with a plurality of devices, including a circuit monitoring device, associated with the property, the method comprising:

determining, by one or more processors of a home controller disposed on the property, that the circuit monitoring device cut off a flow of electricity through a monitored circuit;

responsive to the determination, transmitting, from the home controller via a first wired or wireless communication network to the circuit monitoring device, an instruction to re-close the monitored circuit, wherein the instruction is formatted such that the circuit monitoring device re-closes the monitored circuit upon receipt of the instruction;

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 within a threshold amount of time since the first determination;

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

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.

2. The computer-implemented method of claim 1 , wherein the circuit monitoring device is 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 , wherein generating the repair request further 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.

4. The computer-implemented method of claim 3 , wherein transmitting the recommended repair request further 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.

5. The computer-implemented method of claim 1 , wherein causing the repair event to be scheduled further comprises:

updating, by the one or more processors, a service log associated with at least one of the circuit monitoring device or a device of the plurality of devices connected to the monitored circuit.

6. The computer-implemented method of claim 1 , wherein determining that the circuit monitoring device cut off the flow of electricity through the monitored circuit further comprises:

receiving, from the circuit monitoring device via the first wired or wireless network, an indication that the circuit monitoring device has been tripped.

7. The computer-implemented method of claim 1 , wherein generating the repair request further comprises:

generating, by the one or more processors, the repair request only if the second determination occurs within a threshold amount of time from the first determination.

8. The computer-implemented method of claim 1 , further comprising:

communicating, to an insurance provider associated with the property via the second wired or wireless communication network, an indication of at least one of (i) that the flow of electricity through the monitored circuit was cut off or (ii) that the repair event has been scheduled.

9. The computer-implemented method of claim 8 , wherein communicating the indication further 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. The computer-implemented method of claim 1 , wherein:

the circuit monitoring device monitors two or more circuits, and

the instruction identifies a particular circuit of the two or more circuit for the circuit monitoring device to re-close.

11. A system for repairing damage to a property populated with a plurality of devices, the system disposed on the property and including a circuit monitoring device associated with 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 the circuit monitoring device cut off a flow of electricity through a monitored circuit;

responsive to the determination, transmit, via the plurality of transceivers to the circuit monitoring device, an instruction to re-close the monitored circuit, wherein the instruction is formatted such that the circuit monitoring device re-closes the monitored circuit upon receipt of the instruction;

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 within a threshold amount of time since the first determination;

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

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 circuit monitoring device or a device of the plurality of devices connected to the monitored circuit.

15. The system of claim 11 , wherein to determine that the circuit monitoring device cut off the flow of electricity through the monitored circuit, the one or more processors are further configured to execute the non-transitory computer executable instructions to cause the system to:

receive, from the circuit monitoring device via the plurality of transceivers, an indication that the circuit monitoring device has been tripped.

16. 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:

generate, by the one or more processors, the repair request only if the second determination occurs within a threshold amount of time from the first determination.

17. The system of claim 11 , 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 flow of electricity through the monitored circuit was cut off or (ii) that the repair event has been scheduled.

18. 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 the property, that the circuit monitoring device cut off a flow of electricity through a monitored circuit;

responsive to the determination, transmit, from the home controller via a first wired or wireless communication network to the circuit monitoring device, an instruction to re-close the monitored circuit, wherein the instruction is formatted such that the circuit monitoring device re-closes the monitored circuit upon receipt of the instruction;

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 within a threshold amount of time of the first determination;

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

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.

19. The non-transitory computer-readable storage of claim 18 , wherein to generate the repair request, the processor-executable instruction, when executed, further cause the one or more processors 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.

20. The non-transitory computer-readable storage of claim 18 , wherein to cause the repair event to be scheduled, the processor-executable instruction, when executed, further cause the one or more processors to:

update, by the one or more processors, a service log associated with at least one of the circuit monitoring device or a device of the plurality of devices connected to the monitored circuit.

Assignments (1)
ASSIGNMENT OF ASSIGNOR'S INTEREST Recorded Oct 5, 2016
From: JORDAN, JACKIE O., II; DONOVAN, JOHN; TURRENTINE, DAVID; WOLLENSCHLAGER, TORRI; NUSSBAUM, BRYAN R.; STOCKWEATHER, DEANNA; STOIBER, JEFFREY W.; MARKWARDT, KERSTIN; CARLSON, GAIL L.; SCHIEBEL, KYLE C.; WINSLOW, TROY; HARR, JOSEPH P.; WAGNER, ELLAKATE; HARRIS, MICHAEL, JR.; SUN, JENNYLIND
To: STATE FARM MUTUAL AUTOMOBILE INSURANCE COMPANY
Reel/Frame 039946/0583 →
Continuity (14)
Provisional Application 62220383 · Sep 18, 2015
Provisional Application 62201671 · Aug 6, 2015
Provisional Application 62200375 · Aug 3, 2015
Provisional Application 62198813 · Jul 30, 2015
Provisional Application 62197343 · Jul 27, 2015
Provisional Application 62193317 · Jul 16, 2015
Provisional Application 62189329 · Jul 7, 2015
Provisional Application 62187651 · Jul 1, 2015
Provisional Application 62187624 · Jul 1, 2015
Provisional Application 62187642 · Jul 1, 2015
Provisional Application 62187666 · Jul 1, 2015
Provisional Application 62187645 · Jul 1, 2015
Provisional Application 62105407 · Jan 20, 2015
Provisional Application 62060962 · Oct 7, 2014
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