Floor monitoring system

• US 20040222896A1
• Filed: 05/09/2003
• Published: 11/11/2004
• Est. Priority Date: 05/09/2003
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Stepscan Technologies, Inc.
• Original Assignee: Vitrak Systems, Inc.
• Inventors: MacDonald, Bruce, Power, Michael, Atkin, Graham
• Granted Patent: US 6,909,373 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 340/687
• CPC Class Codes: G07C 9/27 with central registration
• CPC Class Codes: G07C 9/28 the pass enabling tracking or indicating presence
• CPC Class Codes: G08B 13/10 by pressure on floors, floor coverings, stair treads, counters, or tills
• CPC Class Codes: G08B 13/2462 Asset location systems combined with EAS inventory, tracking, logistic G06Q10/00; entrance control systems G07C9/00
• CPC Class Codes: G08B 3/1083 Pager locating systems
• CPC Class Codes: Y10S 323/904 Touch systems

Abstract

The invention discloses a system including floor tiles for monitoring the movements of individuals across a floor surface. The system is comprised of a plurality of floor tiles electrically and mechanically interconnected. The floor tiles are monitored to determine where, when and how weight is applied to the floor tiles. The system may also comprise an identification system comprising individual transmitters and a receiver. The receiver is tied into the tile monitoring system to allow the identification of an individual on the floor surface.

Claims

1. A floor monitoring tile comprising:

a contact layer having an upper surface and a lower surface, the lower surface having a plurality of conductive contacts;

a sensor layer having a plurality of first conductors and a plurality of second conductors, each first conductor having a plurality of first contact points and each second conductor having a plurality of second contact points, for each contact a respective first contact point of said first plurality of contact points and a respective second contact point of said second plurality of contact points forming a set being aligned with the contact;

wherein for each contact, when no force is applied to the contact, the respective first contact point and the respective second contact point remain electrically isolated and when force is applied to the contact, the respective first contact point and the respective second contact point electrically connect through the contact.

2. A floor monitoring tile according to claim 1 further comprising a base upon which the contact layer and the sensor layer are mounted, the base having a power line for receiving power from and transmitting power to at least one neighbor tile, and a data bus for receiving data from and transmitting data to the neighbor tile.

3. A floor monitoring tile according to claim 1 further comprising a detector for detecting whether each first conductor and each second conductor are electrically isolated or electrically connected.

4. A floor monitoring tile according to claim 1 wherein the contact layer is comprised of a sheet of nonconductive resilient flexible material.

5. A floor monitoring tile according to claim 1 further comprising a surface layer of resilient flexible material for accepting the force on an outer surface and which flexes in a direction of the force to transmit the force to the upper surface of the contact layer.

6. A floor monitoring tile according to claim 1 wherein the corresponding contact electrically connects the first conductor and the second conductor through a respective known resistance.

7. A floor monitoring tile according to claim 1 wherein each contact comprises a dimple defined in the resilient flexible material, each dimple having a spacing nonconductive portion and an inner conductive portion both facing the sensor layer wherein, when the force is not applied to the contact, the spacing nonconductive portion of the dimple insulates the inner conductive portion from contact with the sensor layer and when force is applied to the contact, the spacing nonconductive portion collapses thereby bringing the inner conductive portion into contact with the sensor layer.

8. The floor monitoring tile according to claim 7 wherein the inner conductive portion of the dimple possesses a known resistance.

9. A floor monitoring tile according to claim 6 wherein each of the first conductors overlap each of the second conductors and each of the contact is proximal to a point of overlap.

10. A floor monitoring tile according to claim 3 wherein the sensor layer is defined on at least one first printed circuit board and the detector is defined on a second printed circuit board wherein the first and the second printed circuit boards are electrically connected.

11. A floor monitoring tile according to claim 6 wherein the detector detects whether each first conductor and each second conductor are electrically connected by measuring the voltage on each first conductor when a high voltage is applied to each second conductor in turn.

12. A floor monitoring tile according to claim 9 wherein the detector detects whether each first conductor and each second conductor are electrically connected by applying a voltage to each first conductor in turn, measuring an output voltage on each second conductor when the voltage is applied to each first conductor, and using the voltage measurements to determine a set of depressed dimples.

13. A floor monitoring system comprising a plurality of floor monitoring tiles according to claim 11 and a processing system which calculates where on a tile the force is applied based both on a measurement of a number and location of connections made between each first and each second conductor and the resistance of each connection.

21. The system of claim 14 wherein the floor tiles comprise floor monitoring tiles according to claim 1.

14. A system for monitoring the movements of at least one individual across a floor surface comprising:

a plurality of floor tiles;

the floor tiles each having an upper surface, a contact layer, a sensor layer and a detector;

the contact layer having a plurality of conductive contacts; and

the sensor layer comprising a plurality of pairs of contact points which are electrically connected by the conductive contacts of the contact layer when force is applied normal to the contact points;

wherein the detector calculates an area of the floor tile over which the force is applied as a function of time.

15. The system of claim 14 further comprising a monitor electrically connected to the floor tiles, wherein the monitor communicates with the floor tiles and retrieves the information from the detector.

16. The system of claim 14 further comprising:

a transmitter worn by an individual for emitting an identification signal;

at least one receiver placed adjacent the floor tiles;

the receiver being electrically connected to at least one floor tile;

the receiver being capable of receiving the identification signal and transmitting the identification signal to the at least one floor tile.

17. The system of claim 16 wherein the transmitter is housed within a bracelet, broach, necklace, other personal accessory, a swipe card or an implant.

18. The system of claim 15 further comprising a database and a processor wherein the database contains sets of information concerning a plurality of individuals and the processor is adapted to correlate the sets of stored information with the information received by the monitor when an identification signal is registered.

19. The system according to claim 16 wherein the monitor is adapted to monitor a plurality of individuals.

20. The system of claim 18 wherein the at least one individual is under medical care and the processor is adapted to compare the set of stored information with the information received by the monitoring means.