Assistance alert method and device

• US 20090040052A1
• Filed: 08/02/2008
• Published: 02/12/2009
• Est. Priority Date: 08/06/2007
• Status: Abandoned Application

• Current Assignee: Jeffry Michael Cameron, Michael Gallucci Cameron, Susan Catherine Cameron
• Original Assignee: Jeffry Michael Cameron, Michael Gallucci Cameron, Susan Catherine Cameron
• Inventors: Cameron, Susan Catherine, Cameron, Jeffry Michael, Cameron, Michael Gallucci
• Application Number:
  US12/221,387
• Publication Number:
  US 20090040052A1
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 340/573.100
• CPC Class Codes: G08B 21/0415 detecting absence of activity per se
• CPC Class Codes: G08B 21/043 detecting an emergency event, e.g. a fall
• CPC Class Codes: G08B 21/0446 worn on the body to detect changes of posture, e.g. a fall, inclination, acceleration, gait
• CPC Class Codes: G08B 25/001 Alarm cancelling procedures or alarm forwarding decisions, e.g. based on absence of alarm confirmation
• CPC Class Codes: G08B 25/009 Signalling of the alarm condition to a substation whose identity is signalled to a central station, e.g. relaying alarm signals in order to extend communication range
• CPC Class Codes: G08B 25/016 Personal emergency signalling and security systems emergency non-personal manually actuated alarm activators G08B25/12

Abstract

Methods and devices used to alert others of the health and welfare of a person. The present invention uses at least one sensor, such as a motion sensor or accelerometer, a clock, a timer, an audible alarm, at least one button with multiple functionality or several buttons each having a specific functionality, and a transmitter adapted to send health and welfare data across at least one communication channel to a receiver. The present invention can further include a location based sensor adapted to allow a person to find the user. The device of the present invention uses one set of functions which allows the user to confirm to another that the user is well, and another set of functions that determine that a user may be unconscious or incapacitated and hence notify another of such fact.

Claims

1. A method for alerting others of the health and welfare of a person, comprising:

setting a timer in a device worn by a person;

resetting the timer if motion is detected;

if the timer elapses, sounding an audible alarm;

if the timer is not reset, sending a predetermined message over a communication channel to a receiver.

2. The method of claim 1, further comprising using a location based system in the device to send the location of the person in the message over the communication channel to the receiver.

3. The method of claim 1, further comprising the steps of detecting an acceleration over a predetermined threshhold and sending a predetermined message over a communication channel to a receiver.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein the device is in the form factor of a pendant.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein the device is in the form factor of a watch.

6. The method of claim 1, wherein the device is in the form factor of a module having a belt clip attachment.

7. A device adapted to be worn by a person for alerting others of the health and welfare of the person, comprising:

a processor having a memory;

a timer coupled to the processor;

a motion sensor coupled to the processor and adapted to cause the processor to reset the timer if motion is detected; and

an audible alarm coupled to the processor adapted to sound if the timer elapses.

8. The device of claim 7, further comprising a switch adapted to manually reset the timer.

9. The device of claim 8, further comprising a transceiver coupled to the processor, the processor adapted to fetch a message from the memory and cause the message to be sent by the transceiver if the button is not depressed to reset the timer within a predetermined time limit.

10. The device of claim 7, further comprising a transceiver coupled to the processor, the processor adapted to fetch a message from the memory and cause the message to be sent by the transceiver if the button is not depressed to reset the timer within a predetermined time limit.

11. The device of claim 10, further comprising a location based system in the device coupled to the transceiver and adapted to send the location of the person in the message over the communication channel to a receiver.

12. The device of claim 11, in combination with a receiver adapted to receive the message.

13. The device of claim 7, wherein the device is in the form factor of a watch.

14. The device of claim 7, wherein the device is in the form factor of a pendant

15. The device of claim 7, wherein the device is in the form factor of a module having a belt clip attachment.

16-20. -20. (canceled)