DISASTER ALERT DISPLAY (DAD) EMERGENCY AND NATURAL DISASTER WARNING SYSTEM THAT AUTOMATICALLY DETECTS IF PEOPLE ARE CAUGHT IN AN EMERGENCY OR DISASTER, DETERMINES IF THEY ARE OK, AND NOTIFIES THEIR EMERGENCY CONTACTS
First Claim
1. A method of determining whether or not the device the method is running on is within the area of effect of an alert, comprising:
- (a) providing a device running the method that is capable of;
(1) determining its current location,(2) communicating with an emergency alert system,(b) receiving alert messages that include;
(1) the nature of the actual alert,(2) the area of effect of the alert,(3) the expiration time or duration of the alert,(c) providing a memory controller which will;
(1) store information from new alert messages,(2) remove information pertaining to expired alert messages once they have expired,(d) determining if the current location is within the boundaries of the area of effect of an alert,(e) providing a notification means to notify a human operator when the current location is within the area of effect of an alert,whereby the method causes said device running the method to notify said operator when said device is within the area of effect of an alert.
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Accused Products
Abstract
One embodiment of an emergency alert system consisting of a data collector (102) that collects data from one or more data sources, a website (103) that collects information from customers, a central database (114) that stores all the information in the system, an alert engine (115) that figures out what alerts need to be sent and transmits those alerts to the correct devices, and mechanisms that allow users to receive alerts (116, 117 119, and 120). The website component (103) of the emergency alert system allows customers to create accounts, register devices such as mobile phones and computers, register email addresses, and register a list of emergency contacts. The data collector component (102) of the alert system receives and saves alerts from one or more data sources and the alert engine (115) transmits those alerts to customers. In advanced alert devices capable of knowing their current position (116 and 117), alerts are transmitted on those devices if the devices are near or in the area of effect of the alert. If the device detects that it is within the area of effect of the alert, it asks the customer if he/she is OK and transmits that response to the emergency alert system along with the current position of the device. Alerts are also sent to the customer'"'"'s emergency contacts notifying them that the customer has been affected by an emergency and relaying that customer'"'"'s current status and position. Other embodiments are described and shown.
134 Citations
72 Claims
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1. A method of determining whether or not the device the method is running on is within the area of effect of an alert, comprising:
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(a) providing a device running the method that is capable of; (1) determining its current location, (2) communicating with an emergency alert system, (b) receiving alert messages that include; (1) the nature of the actual alert, (2) the area of effect of the alert, (3) the expiration time or duration of the alert, (c) providing a memory controller which will; (1) store information from new alert messages, (2) remove information pertaining to expired alert messages once they have expired, (d) determining if the current location is within the boundaries of the area of effect of an alert, (e) providing a notification means to notify a human operator when the current location is within the area of effect of an alert, whereby the method causes said device running the method to notify said operator when said device is within the area of effect of an alert. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 18, 63, 64, 65, 70, 71, 72)
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17. A machine for determining whether or not it is within the area of effect of an alert, comprising:
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(a) a device capable of; (1) determining its current location, (2) communicating with an emergency alert system, (b) a memory controller which will; (1) store information from new alert messages, (2) remove information pertaining to expired alert messages once they have expired, (c) a notification means to notify a human operator when the current location is within the area of effect of an alert that has not expired, (d) an emergency alert system that transmits alerts to said device, whereby said device notifies said operator when said device is within the area of effect of an unexpired alert. - View Dependent Claims (19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32)
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33. A method of tracking devices that are within the area of effect of an alert comprising:
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(a) providing a storage means which stores; (1) contact details for each registered device, (2) the current location of each registered device, (3) the area of effect of currently active alerts, (b) providing an alert system that; (1) collects alert information, (2) stores the area of effect of currently active alerts in said storage means, (c) providing registered devices that; (1) determines the current location of said registered device, (2) stores current location of said registered device in said storage means, (d) providing a device registration means which a human operator can use to register said registered devices, whereby said tracking method compares the area of effect of each active alert in said storage means with the current location of each registered device in said storage means to calculate which registered devices are within the area of effect of each active alert, resulting in an active list of devices currently within the area of effect of an alert. - View Dependent Claims (34)
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35. A method of tracking devices that are within the area of effect of an alert, comprising:
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(a) providing a central server running the method, (b) providing registered devices that; (1) receive alerts from an emergency alert system, (2) determine whether or not the device is within the area of effect of an alert, (3) transmit to said central server whether or not said device is within the area of effect of an alert, (c) providing a device registration means which a human operator can use to register said registered devices, (d) providing a storage means which stores; (1) contact details for each said registered device, (2) whether or not each said registered device is in the area of effect on an active alert, whereby the device tracking method receives status messages from said registered devices indicating whether or not each device is in the area of effect of an alert, and the device tracking method saves the status of each registered device in said storage means, resulting in an active list of devices currently within the area of effect of an alert. - View Dependent Claims (36, 37, 41)
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38. A machine for tracking devices that are within the area of effect of an alert, comprising:
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(a) a storage means which stores; (1) contact details for each registered device, (2) the current location of each registered device, (3) the area of effect of currently active alerts, (b) an alert system that; (1) collects alert information, (2) stores the area of effect of currently active alerts in said storage means, (c) registered devices that; (1) determines the current location of said registered device, (2) stores current location of said registered device in said storage means, (d) a device registration means which a human operator can use to register said registered devices, whereby the area of effect of each active alert in said storage means is compared with the current location of each registered device in said storage means to calculate which registered devices are within the area of effect of each active alert, resulting in an active list of devices currently within the area of effect of an alert. - View Dependent Claims (39)
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40. A machine for tracking devices that are within the area of effect of an alert, comprising:
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(a) a central server, (b) registered devices that; (1) receive alerts from an emergency alert system, (2) determine whether or not the device is within the area of effect of an alert, (3) transmit to said central server whether or not said device is within the area of effect of an alert, (c) a device registration means which a human operator can use to register said registered devices, (d) a storage means which stores; (1) contact details for each said registered device, (2) whether or not each said registered device is in the area of effect on an active alert, whereby the device tracking machine receives status messages from said registered devices indicating whether or not each device is in the area of effect of an alert, and the device tracking machine saves the status of each registered device in said storage means, resulting in an active list of devices currently within the area of effect of an alert. - View Dependent Claims (42)
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43. A method of tracking the positions of registered devices while they are in the area of effect of an active alert, comprising:
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(a) providing a central server running the method, (b) providing registered devices that; (1) receive alerts from an emergency alert system, (2) determine whether or not the device is within the area of effect of an alert, (3) transmit to said central server their current positions while in the area of effect of an alert, (c) providing a device registration means which a human operator can use to register said registered devices, (d) providing a storage means which stores; (1) contact details for each said registered device, (2) the position of registered devices within the area of effect of active alerts, whereby the device position tracking method receives current position messages from said registered devices while said registered devices are within the area of effect of an active alert, but without having knowledge of positions when said devices are not in the area of effect of an active alert, resulting in a list of positions of devices within the area of effect of active alerts without intruding on the privacy of human operators of said devices when said devices are not within the area of effect of an active alert. - View Dependent Claims (44, 45, 46)
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47. A machine for tracking the positions of registered devices while they are within the area of effect of an active alert comprising:
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(a) a central server, (b) registered devices that; (1) receive alerts from an emergency alert system, (2) determine whether or not the device is within the area of effect of an alert, (3) transmit to said central server their current positions while in the area of effect of an alert, (c) a device registration means which a human operator can use to register said registered devices, (d) a storage means which stores; (1) contact details for each said registered device, (2) whether or not each said registered device is in the area of effect on an active alert, whereby the device tracking machine receives status messages from said registered devices indicating whether or not each device is in the area of effect of an active alert, and the device tracking machine saves the status of each registered device in said storage means, resulting in a list of devices currently within the area of effect of an active alert. - View Dependent Claims (48, 49, 50)
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51. A method of tracking the status of human operators of registered devices while they are in the area of effect of an active alert, comprising:
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(a) providing a central server running the method, (b) providing registered devices that; (1) receive alerts from an emergency alert system, (2) determine whether or not the device is within the area of effect of an alert, (3) provide a display to ask the human operator of said device what the current status is of said human operator, (4) provide an input means which a human operator can use to indicate the current status of said human operator, (4) transmit to said central server the status response of said human operator while said device is in the area of effect of an alert, (c) providing a device registration means which a human operator can use to register said registered devices, (d) providing a storage means which stores; (1) contact details for each said registered device, (2) whether or not the human operators of registered devices within the area of effect of an alert are harmed, unharmed, or there is no response, whereby the method of tracking the status of human operators of registered devices receives human operator status messages from said registered devices while said registered devices are within the area of effect of active alerts, resulting in a list of human operator statuses of devices within the area of effect of active alerts, making it possible to determine which human operators need emergency assistance. - View Dependent Claims (52, 53, 54, 56, 58)
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55. A machine for tracking the status of human operators of registered devices while they are in the area of effect of an active alert, comprising:
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(a) a central server running the method, (b) registered devices that; (1) a means of receiving alerts from an emergency alert system, (2) a means of determining whether or not the device is within the area of effect of an alert, (3) display to ask the human operator of said device what the current status of said human operator is, (4) an input means which a human operator can use to indicate the current status of said human operator, (4) a means to transmit to said central server the status response of said human operator while said device is in the area of effect of an alert, (c) a device registration means which a human operator can use to register said registered devices, (d) a storage means which stores; (1) contact details for each said registered device, (2) whether or not the human operators of registered devices within the area of effect of an alert are harmed, unharmed, or there is no response, whereby the machine for tracking the status of human operators of registered devices receives human operator status messages from said registered devices while said registered devices are within the area of effect of active alerts, resulting in a list of human operator statuses of devices within the area of effect of active alerts, making it possible to determine which human operators need emergency assistance. - View Dependent Claims (57, 62)
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59. A method of notifying the emergency contact lists of registered users when said users are affected by an alert, comprising:
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(a) providing an alert system, (b) providing a list of registered users, (c) providing a means for determining whether or not each registered user is within the area of effect of an alert, (d) providing a list of emergency contacts for each registered user, (e) providing a means to contact each emergency contact, whereby the method of notifying emergency contacts notifies each emergency contact for each registered user within the area of effect of an alert using the provided means to contact each emergency contact, resulting in emergency contacts being notified when a registered user is within the area of effect of an alert. - View Dependent Claims (60, 61)
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66. A machine for notifying the emergency contact lists of registered users when said users are affected by an alert, comprising:
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(a) an alert system, (b) a list of registered users, (c) a means for determining whether or not each registered user is within the area of effect of an alert, (d) a list of emergency contacts for each registered user, (e) a means to contact each emergency contact, whereby the machine for notifying emergency contacts notifies each emergency contact for each registered user within the area of effect of an alert using the provided means to contact each emergency contact, resulting in emergency contacts being notified when a registered user is within the area of effect of an alert. - View Dependent Claims (67, 68, 69)
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Specification