US 5,440,644 · Granted 1995-08-08

The 1995 Patent That Let Your House Talk to Itself

Imagine controlling music and announcements in different rooms of your house from one central control panel, and being able to mute some speakers while keeping others on. This patent covers a smart audio system that lets you program which zones get which sounds, answer a doorbell through your phone, and customize volume and bass in each room independently.

Curated and verified by the IsItPatented Editorial team

The plain-English version

What it protects

The claim covers an audio distribution system that uses a processor-based master control unit to route different audio signals (music, pages, doorbells) to speakers in separate zones or groups of zones. What's protected here is the ability to selectively mute certain zones while broadcasting to others, interface a telephone with a door speaker for two-way communication, respond to multiple doorbell switches through a single circuit, group zones together for concurrent source selection while maintaining independent volume and tone controls in each subzone, and assign customizable seven-digit alphanumeric labels to zone identifiers.

Why it matters

This patent laid groundwork for distributed audio systems in homes and buildings during the early 1990s, when the idea of a processor controlling multiple independent audio zones with flexible programming was relatively novel. It established protection around the core concept of selective zone broadcasting and integrated telephone communication — features that became standard in residential and commercial audio systems. The patent's emphasis on flexible zone labeling and grouping made installation and customization easier, which mattered commercially because it lowered the barrier for contractors and end users to deploy these systems.

Real-world use

When you use an intercom system in an office or large home to broadcast an announcement to selected rooms while keeping music playing elsewhere, or when you answer a doorbell call through a phone speaker in a different part of the building, you're using principles this patent protected.

Original USPTO abstract

A signal distribution and communication arrangement includes an electronic processor-based master control unit which controls the broadcast of different types of signals through speakers located in various zones. The system includes a telephone interfaced with a door speaker controller to allow communication between the telephone and a door speaker. A page may now be broadcast over selected speakers and zones selectively muted to allow private communication when the page is answered. Also included is a doorbell interface circuit that responds to a doorbell source. The doorbell source may be activated by any one of a plurality of doorbell switches. An additional aspect of the present invention includes grouping zones together so that all source selection works concurrently, and each subzone in the group retains independent volume control, bass and treble. Further, a new sub-set of zone programming allows the installer to label a zone as any alpha-numeric seven-digit name.

Patent details

Publication number: US 5,440,644
Filing date: 1993-04-15
Grant date: 1995-08-08
Assignee: Square D Company
Inventor(s): FARINELLI; ROBERT, CARRIN; THOMAS P.
CPC class: H04R27/00

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