Intelligent door lock system with accelerometer

Abstract

An intelligent door lock and remote access system includes a mobile device with a controller that transmits a first signal. A lock device has a controller and an accelerometer. In response to a receipt of the first signal the mobile device begins a process for locking and unlocking a door where the lock is located. The lock device includes a controller and an accelerator, with the accelerator acting upon processing of the first signal and in response causing a rotation of an element coupled to the accelerator to unlock the door.

What is claimed is: 
     
         1 . An apparatus comprising:
 a door lock, the door lock comprising a bolt to be moved along a path between a fully locked position and a fully unlocked position;   an accelerometer; and   at least one control circuit to determine a position of the bolt based at least in part on a value generated by the accelerometer.   
     
     
         2 . The apparatus of  claim 1 , wherein the at least one control circuit is configured to determine the position of the bolt using a single measurement generated by the accelerometer. 
     
     
         3 . The apparatus of  claim 2 , wherein:
 the at least one control circuit is configured to determine the position of the bolt without using information on a prior movement or a prior position of the bolt.   
     
     
         4 . The apparatus of  claim 2 , wherein the at least one control circuit is configured to, upon power on of the at least one control circuit, determine the position of the bolt using only the single value generated by the accelerometer. 
     
     
         5 . The apparatus of  claim 1 , wherein the at least one control circuit is configured to determine the position of the bolt using no more than one measurement generated by the accelerometer. 
     
     
         6 . The apparatus of  claim 5 , wherein:
 the accelerometer is a three-axis accelerometer, each measurement generated by the accelerometer comprising a value for each of three axes.   
     
     
         7 . The apparatus of  claim 1 , wherein:
 the accelerometer is a three-axis accelerometer configured to generate acceleration values for three axes, each measurement generated by the accelerometer comprising a value for each of three axes; and   the at least one control circuit is configured to determine the position of the bolt based on values generated by the accelerometer for a first axis and a second axis of three axes.   
     
     
         8 . The apparatus of  claim 7 , wherein:
 the at least one control circuit is configured to identify an interaction with a door, on which the door lock is mounted, based at least in part on a value generated by the accelerometer for a third axis of the three axes.   
     
     
         9 . The apparatus of  claim 8 , wherein the at least one control circuit is configured to identify knocking on the door based at least in part on a value generated by the accelerometer for the third axis. 
     
     
         10 . The apparatus of  claim 9 , wherein the at least one control circuit is configured to identify whether knocking on the door matches a pattern. 
     
     
         11 . The apparatus of  claim 8 , wherein the at least one control circuit is configured to identify an attempt to pick the door lock based at least in part on a value generated by the accelerometer for the third axis. 
     
     
         12 . The apparatus of  claim 8 , wherein the at least one control circuit is configured to identify an opening and/or closing of the door based at least in part on a value generated by the accelerometer for the third axis. 
     
     
         13 . The apparatus of  claim 8 , wherein the at least one control circuit is configured to identify whether the door lock has been manually locked or unlocked based at least in part on values generated by the accelerometer for the first, second, and/or third axes. 
     
     
         14 . The apparatus of  claim 1 , wherein the at least one control circuit is configured to determine a position of the bolt that is between the fully locked position and the fully unlocked position. 
     
     
         15 . The apparatus of  claim 14 , wherein the at least one control circuit is configured to track, during a movement of the bolt between the fully locked position and the fully unlocked position, positions of the bolt during the movement based at least in part on values generated by the accelerometer during the movement. 
     
     
         16 . The apparatus of  claim 1 , wherein:
 the door lock comprises a drive shaft to drive the bolt; and   the accelerometer is coupled to the drive shaft.   
     
     
         17 . The apparatus of  claim 1 , further comprising:
 a motor to drive the bolt of the door lock to lock and unlock the door.   
     
     
         18 . The apparatus of  claim 17 , wherein the motor is arranged to be retrofit to the door lock to drive the bolt of the door lock. 
     
     
         19 . A method of monitoring a position of a bolt of a door lock, the bolt arranged to be moved along a path between a fully locked position and a fully unlocked position, the method comprising:
 obtaining a value generated by an accelerometer at a time; and   determining a position of the bolt along the path at the time based at least in part on the value generated by the accelerometer.   
     
     
         20 . At least one non-transitory computer-readable storage medium having encoded thereon executable instructions that, when executed by at least one processor, cause the at least one processor to carry out a method of monitoring a position of a bolt of a door lock, the bolt arranged to be moved along a path between a fully locked position and a fully unlocked position, the method comprising:
 obtaining a value generated by an accelerometer at a time; and   determining a position of the bolt along the path at the time based at least in part on the value generated by the accelerometer.