Marie Van Brittan Brown: Home Security System Inventor
Marie Van Brittan Brown and her husband, Albert, created an early
closed-circuit television system to be used for home monitoring. That
security system was the forerunner of all advanced home security
technology in use today.
How Marie Van Brittan Brown Became an Inventor
Marie Van Brittan (1922-1999) was born and raised in Jamaica, Queens.
She became a nurse, who like most nurses, did not work regular 9-5
hours. Her husband, Albert Brown, was an electronics technician. When
she was home alone at odd hours of the day or night, she sometimes felt
concerned. The crime rate in their neighborhood had increased, and
everyone in the neighborhood knew that police response time in their
area was notoriously slow. Marie wanted a way to feel less vulnerable.
Working with her husband, Albert, the two began devising a home
security system. One issue that bothered Marie was having to answer the
door to identify a visitor. Soon they had a plan for a motorized camera
that was attached to a cabinet added to the door. The camera could move
up and down to take views through four separate peep holes. The top
spot would reveal the identity of a tall person; the lowest one would
show if a child was at the door. The other peep holes could capture any
person between these two heights.
A television monitor was placed in the Browns’ bedroom, and Albert
used
a radio-controlled wireless system to feed the images seen at the door
back to the monitor. A two-way microphone also permitted conversation
with the person at the door.
If the homeowner was concerned about the person at the door, a button
could be pushed that would sound an alarm to signal a security firm, a
neighborhood watchman, or it could alert a nearby neighbor. If,
however, the person was a friend, a button could be pushed that would
unlock the door remotely so that the visitor could come in.
As anyone who has visited an apartment in recent times knows, units
exactly like the one the Browns invented are used in multi-dwelling
buildings throughout the country. Today the technology for such a
system has shrunk drastically, but the invention is just the same.
Patent Application Filed in 1966
The patent application was filed on August 1,1966 under the names of
Marie Van Brittan Brown and Albert L. Brown, both of 151-58 135
th
Avenue, Jamaica, New York. The application states that the invention
being described is “a video and audio security system for a house under
control of the occupant thereof. Occupant can see who is at the door…”
An audio system permits the occupant to converse with the person at the
door.
In the mid-1960s no one was creating home surveillance systems.
Therefore, Marie and Albert were applying for a patent on what would
truly be a “first.” In citing the patents that their application relied
upon in order to create the system, the Browns noted only three
previous patents: the invention of the television system by Edward D.
Phinney (approved February 7, 1939), an identification system created by
Thomas J. Reardon (approved November 24, 1959), and a remotely-operated
control of the scanning system (approved June 28, 1966).
Today the Browns’ patent is referenced by 13 subsequent inventors who
trace their own creation back to having made use of some aspect of the
Browns’ closed-circuit system. The most recent patent that referenced
the Browns’ invention was in 2013.
Marie Van Brittan Brown Featured in The New York Times
In a column in
The New York Times (December 6, 1969) that
was devoted to writing about approved patents, the reporter led with the
Browns’ December 2, 1969 approval for Patent #3,482,037: “The patent
drawings show a receiver resembling a small bedside television set, with
a screen displaying a video picture of the visitor….A microphone and
speaker permit voice communication with the person at the door, and then
one button can sound an alarm; another can open the door if the
resident determines that’s a safe course of action.”
In
an interview with the Times, Mrs. Brown pointed out that with the
patented system, “a woman alone could set off an alarm immediately by
pressing a button, or if the system were installed in a doctor’s office,
it might prevent holdups by drug addicts.”
The article noted that the Browns did not yet have a manufacturer for
the system but they intended to install one in their own home, and then
would try to interest home builders.
Unfortunately, the media stories on the Browns end after the patent
approval was announced in 1969. Marie Van Brittan Brown did receive an
award from the National Scientists Committee for her work but no year
for the award can be identified.
Next/Market Insights
reports that the do-it-yourself home security sector will be a 1.5
billion business by 2020. Whether or not the Browns made a profit from
their invention was not reported in the press, but what we do know is
they laid the groundwork for a very important form of home security.
Marie Van Brittan Brown died in Queens on February 2, 1999 at the age
of 76. She had two children, one of whom went on to be both a nurse
and an inventor; the daughter holds almost a dozen patents, many having
to do with aids to help people with health issues.
SOURCE: America Comes Alive