DETERMINING CONDITIONS OF PERSONAL PROTECTION ARTICLES AGAINST AT LEAST ONE CRITERION

• US 20110234374A1
• Filed: 08/25/2008
• Published: 09/29/2011
• Est. Priority Date: 08/31/2007
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: 3M Innovative Properties Company (3M Company)
• Original Assignee: 3M Innovative Properties Company (3M Company)
• Inventors: Insley, Thomas I, Rakow, Neal A., Ptasienski, Lawrence J., Thomas, Cristina U.
• Granted Patent: US 9,901,125 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 340/10.1
• CPC Class Codes: A41D 13/00 Professional, industrial or sporting protective garments, e.g. surgeons' gowns or garments protecting against blows or punches helmets A42B3/00; clothing affording protection against chemical agents or for use at high altitudes A62B17/00; life-saving garments for use at sea, diving suits B63C; bulletproof or armoured clothing F41H; clothing affording protection against radiation G21F3/02
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 42/30 Devices for detecting perforations, leaks or tears
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/0833 Tracking
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/20 Administration of product repair or maintenance
• CPC Class Codes: G08B 21/02 Alarms for ensuring the safety of persons

Abstract

The present disclosure is particularly adapted for determining whether the condition of personal protection equipment PPE articles satisfies at least one criterion. A method and system provide at least one predetermined criterion that governs use of the PPE article in a working environment; a PPE article is configured with a smart tag, and a sensing device is provided that is configured to sense data in a working environment related to the predetermined criterion. Acquired data from the sensing device and the smart tag are processed in a data processing system to determine whether the condition of the PPE article satisfies the at least one predetermined criterion.

Claims

1. A method for determining a condition of at least one personal protection (PP) article, the method comprising:

providing at least one PP article configured with a smart tag, providing at least one predetermined criterion that governs use of the at least one PP article in a working environment, providing at least one sensing device configured to sense data that is related to the at least one predetermined criterion;

acquiring sensed data from the at least one sensing device;

retrieving smart tag data from the smart tag; and

processing the sensed data from the sensing device and the smart tag data to determine whether the condition of the at least one PP article satisfies the predetermined criterion.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein providing the at least one predetermined criterion that governs use of at least one PP article includes acquiring the sensed data from a working environment.

3. The method of claim 1, further comprising attaching the sensing device on at least one PP article.

4. The method of claim 1, further comprising storing the sensed data and the smart tag data in a database.

5. The method of claim 1, further comprising storing results of processing the sensed data and the smart tag data in a database.

6. The method of claim 1, further including generating at least one report relating to condition of the at least one PP article.

7. The method of claim 5, further including generating at least one report relating to the sensed data of the sensor and the data of the smart tag.

8. The method of claim 1, wherein the sensing device and the smart tag transmit data wirelessly.

9. The method of claim 1, wherein the determining a condition of at least one PP article is performed by a condition determining mechanism in a data processing system.

10. The method of claim 1, wherein the providing a smart tag includes providing a smart tag that provides location information.

11. The method of claim 1, wherein the determination of whether the condition of the at least one PP article satisfies the predetermined criterion is communicated.

12. A system of determining if an article of personal protection (PP) satisfies at least one predetermined criterion, the system comprising:

at least one PP article configured with a smart tag;

a data processing system including at least one predetermined criterion that governs use of the at least one PP article;

at least one sensing device configured to sense data that is related to the at least one predetermined criterion;

an informational retrieval system for acquiring data from the at least one sensing device in the working environment and from the smart tag;

the data processing system including a condition determining mechanism for processing the retrieved smart tag data and data of the sensing device for determining whether the condition of the at least one PP article satisfies the predetermined criterion.

13. The system of claim 12, wherein the one sensing device is coupled to at least one PP article.

14. The system of claim 12, wherein a database stores the sensed data of the one sensing device and the smart tag data.

15. The system of claim 12, further comprising storing the results of processing the sensed data of the at least one sensing device and the smart tag data in a database.

16. The system of claim 12, further comprising a report mechanism for generating at least one report relating to the determination of whether the condition of the at least one PP article satisfies the predetermined criterion.

17. The system of claim 16, wherein the report mechanism generates at least one report relating to at least one of the sensed data of the at least one sensing device and the smart tag data.

18. The system of claim 12, wherein the sensing device and the smart tag transmit data wirelessly.

19. The system of claim 12, wherein at least one of the smart tag and the one sensing device transmit location information.

20. The system of claim 12, further wherein the data processing system includes a mechanism that provides for communication of the determination of the condition of at least one PP article.