We claim:
1. A lock inhibitor mechanism for a sliding door lock assembly comprising a member moveable between first and second positions and engageable with a lock operator such that the member engages the lock operator in the first position to prevent the lock operator from movement out of an unlocked position, and the member is disengaged from the lock operator in the second position so that the lock operator is moveable out of the unlocked position.
2. The mechanism of claim 1 wherein the member pivots between the first and second positions at a pivot point.
3. The mechanism of claim 1 wherein the member further comprises a resistant member biasing the member towards the first position.
4. The mechanism of claim 3 wherein the resistant member comprises a spring.
5. The mechanism of claim 1 wherein the member comprises a cam member.
6. The mechanism of claim 1 wherein the member further comprises a tail portion.
7. The mechanism of claim 6 wherein the tail portion engages the lock operator in the first position and the tail portion is disengaged from the lock operator in the second position.
8. The mechanism of claim 1 further comprising a housing at least partially enclosing the member and having an end surface.
9. The mechanism of claim 8 wherein the member further comprises a head portion.
10. The mechanism of claim 9 wherein the head portion protrudes outwardly from the end surface of the housing in the first position.
11. The mechanism of claim 10 wherein the head portion is adapted to contact an abutting surface.
12. The mechanism of claim 9 wherein the head portion is disposed substantially behind the end surface of the housing in the second position.
13. The mechanism of claim 9 wherein the housing further comprises an aperture from which the head portion protrudes in the first position.
14. The mechanism of claim 8 wherein the housing is mountable in a sliding door so that the end surface is exposed from a surface of the door.
15. The mechanism of claim 1 further comprising a switch that provides first and second modes of operation wherein the member is moveable between the first and second positions in the first mode of operation and the member is retained in the second position in the second mode of operation.
16. The mechanism of claim 15 wherein the switch selectively alternates the mechanism between the first and second modes of operation.
17. The mechanism of claim 15 wherein the switch comprises a slide member.
18. The mechanism of claim 17 wherein the slide member is slidably secured to an end surface of a housing.
19. The mechanism of claim 17 wherein the slide member is adapted to open and close an aperture in the housing from which the member protrudes in the first position.
20. A sliding door lock assembly comprising
a lock operator moveable between unlocked and locked positions; and
a lockout inhibitor mechanism comprising a member moveable between first and second positions and engageable with the lock operator such that the member engages the lock operator in the first position to prevent movement of the lock operator out of the unlocked position, and the member is disengaged from the lock operator in the second position so that the lock operator is moveable out of the unlocked position.
21. The assembly of claim 20 wherein the lock operator further comprises a gear portion.
22. The assembly of claim 21 wherein the member engages the gear portion in the first position and is disengaged from the gear portion in the second position.
23. The assembly of claim 21 wherein the lock operator further comprises a shaft and a handle.
24. The assembly of claim 23 wherein a first end of the shaft is adapted to mate with the gear portion.
25. The assembly of claim 24 wherein the handle is secured to a second end of the shaft such that rotation of the handle results in movement of the lock operator between the unlocked and locked positions.
26. The assembly of claim 20 wherein the assembly is mountable in a sliding door.
27. A lockable sliding door assembly comprising:
a sliding door adapted to open and close; and
a lock system mounted in the sliding door, the lock system including a lock operator, a lock inhibitor mechanism and at least one catch assembly,
wherein the lock inhibitor mechanism comprises a member engageable with the lock operator such that the member selectively engages the lock operator when the door is open to prevent movement of the lock operator out of the unlocked position, and the member is disengaged from the lock operator when the door is closed so that the lock operator is moveable out of the unlocked position.
28. The sliding door of claim 27 wherein the lock inhibitor mechanism is in a first position when the door is open and a second position when the door is closed.
29. The sliding door of claim 28 wherein the member is biased towards the first position when the door is open.
30. The sliding door of claim 28 wherein the member is retained in the second position when the door is closed.
31. The sliding door of claim 30 wherein the member is retained in the second position by an abutting surface.
32. The sliding door of claim 31 wherein the abutting surface comprises a doorjamb.
33. The sliding door of claim 31 wherein a head portion of the member contacts the abutting surface to retain the member in the second position.
34. The sliding door of claim 27 wherein the at least one catch assembly is adapted to engage a structure affixed to an abutting surface when the sliding door is closed.
35. The sliding door of claim 34 wherein the at least one catch assembly is adapted to retain the structure when the lock operator is moved to the locked position.
36. The sliding door of claim 27 wherein the at least one catch assembly comprises at least two catch assemblies.
37. The sliding door of claim 27 wherein the lock inhibitor mechanism further comprises a switch for selectively alternating the member between first and second modes of operation when the door is open, such that the member prevents movement of the lock operator out of the unlocked position in the first mode of operation, and the member allows movement of the lock operator out of the unlocked position in the second mode of operation.
The claims below are in addition to those above.
All refrences to claim(s) which appear below refer to the numbering after this setence.
1. A video camera perspective calculator comprising:
a calibration object detector arranged to detect a calibration object in video data representing a scene observed by a video camera, and arranged to gather object data for the detected calibration object at a multiplicity of positions; and
an automatic plane calculator, in communication with the calibration object detector, arranged to calculate the perspective of the camera based on gathered object data from the calibration object detector for at least one calibration object at a multiplicity of positions.
2. The video camera perspective calculator of claim 1 wherein the calibration object detector comprises an automatic moving object detector arranged to detect a plurality of
moving objects, each of the moving objects traversing a field of view of the video camera, and wherein the automatic plane calculator calculates the perspective of the camera based on gathered object data for the plurality of moving objects at a multiplicity of positions.
3. The video camera perspective calculator of claim 1 wherein the calibration object detector comprises a static object detector arranged to detect a static calibration object placed at a plurality of positions in the field of view of the video camera.
4. The video camera perspective calculator of claim 3 wherein the static object detector stores known properties of the static calibration object, and the static object detector automatically detects the static calibration object based on a comparison of the stored properties of the static calibration object with video data in the field of view of the video camera.
5. The video camera perspective calculator of claim 3 wherein the static object detector detects the static calibration object in response to receiving an indication that the static calibration object is within the field of view of the video camera.
6. The video camera perspective calculator of claim 1 wherein the automatic plane calculator comprises a manual parameter receiver arranged to accept manually input perspective data provided by an operator.
7. The video camera perspective calculator of claim 1 further comprising a data enhancer, in communication with the automatic plane calculator, to iteratively eliminate outliers from data samples to be processed by the automatic plane calculator.
8. A video camera calibration kit comprising:
a calibration object including two areas having contrasting visual appearance and easily distinguishable from a surrounding scene;
a calibration object detector arranged to detect the calibration object in video data representing a scene observed by a video camera and to gather position data for the detected calibration object at a multiplicity of positions, the calibration object detector including a memory storing a known size and shape of the calibration object; and
an automatic plane calculator, in communication with the calibration object detector, arranged to calculate the perspective of the camera based on gathered object data from the calibration object detector for at least one calibration object at a multiplicity of positions.
9. The video camera calibration kit of claim 8 further comprising instructions for using the components of the kit to calibrate a video camera by calculating the perspective of the camera based on detection of the calibration object.
10. The video camera calibration kit of claim 8 wherein the calibration object comprises a first area of a first colour, and a second area of a second contrasting colour.
11. A method of providing one or more calibration tools for calculating a perspective of a video camera, comprising:
providing an automatic calibration tool arranged to automatically calibrate the camera by calculating a perspective based on observed objects moving within the camera’s field of view;
providing a semi-automatic calibration tool to be used in conjunction with a calibration object to calibrate the camera by calculating the perspective based on automatic detection of the calibration object at a multiplicity of positions in the camera’s field of view; and
providing a manual calibration tool to receive camera calibration parameters manually entered by a user and to calculate the perspective based on the manually entered parameters.
12. The method of claim 11 wherein providing the semi-automatic calibration tool is performed if the automatic calibration tool is unable to successfully calibrate the camera, and providing the manual calibration tool is performed if the semi-automatic calibration tool is unable to successfully calibrate the camera.
13. A computer readable medium storing statements and instructions for execution by a processor to provide a graphical user interface arranged to perform the method of claim 11.