Swimmer location monitor

• US 5,907,281 A
• Filed: 05/05/1998
• Issued: 05/25/1999
• Est. Priority Date: 05/05/1998
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: Johnston Engineering Limited (Bucher Industries AG)
• Original Assignee: Johnston Engineering Limited (Bucher Industries AG)
• Inventors: Halwachs, James E., Farstad, Arnold J., Miller, Benjamin K. Jr.
• Primary Examiner(s): TONG, NINA C
• Application Number:
  US09/072,680
• Time in Patent Office: 385 Days
• Field of Search: 340/573.1, 340/573.6, 340/525, 340/539, 340/604, 367/142, 367/160, 367/910, 367/99, 367/107, 367/110, 367/131, 367/141
• US Class Current: 340/573.6
• CPC Class Codes: G08B 21/088 by monitoring a device worn by the person, e.g. a bracelet attached to the swimmer

Abstract

A system is disclosed for locating swimmers who could be in danger of drowning, as determined by preset parameters such as the time duration that they remain at a depth where breathing is impossible. In this system, each individual swimmer wears a Swimmer Location Monitor (SLM). This is a miniature electronic device that not only determines the extent of the swimmer'"'"'s danger but also emits an electromagnetic alarm signal whenever such a danger exists. At each occurrence, an alarm, which may be audible and/or visual, is sounded on the surface while the swimmer'"'"'s location is tracked in real time from the signals received on an antenna network deployed along the bottom of the swimming area. These signals are combined in a central processor and the computed real-time location is displayed graphically on a monitor to guide the guard personnel in rescue operations. The invention is intended for use in pools, beaches, water parks and other swimming areas.

Claims

1. A low frequency electromagnetic surveillance system for tracking the location of swimmers who may be in danger comprising:

a means for detecting potential or actual swimmer distress for each swimmer equipped with an individual Swimmer Location Monitor (SLM) wherein said means triggers a pulsed low frequency alarm transmission when specified thresholds monitored by said SLM are exceeded;

a means for generating an electromagnetic field through the water from a transmitter contained in the SLM wherein said electromagnetic field is subsequently transmitted;

a means for receiving said magnetic field transmission;

a means for amplifying, filtering and processing the received signals resulting in a display of the distressed swimmer'"'"'s location; and

a means for triggering an audible alarm whenever said specified thresholds are exceeded.

2. The system of claim 1, wherein said low frequency is in the range of 500-25,000 Hz.

3. The system of claim 1, wherein said low frequency is approximately 2500 Hz.

4. The system of claim 1 wherein said SLM measures potential or actual swimmer distress by detecting one or more of the following factors, or any combination thereof:

water pressure, detecting water depth, the amount of time spent in the water, or submersion in water.

5. The system of claim 1 wherein said transmitted electromagnetic field is generated in a series tuned ferrite coil antenna driven by a solid state switching transmitter.

6. The system of claim 1 wherein said means for receiving said magnetic field transmission comprises a network of multi-turn loop antennas deployed in the swimming area.

7. The system of claim 6 wherein said antennas are deployed along the bottom of a swimming pool, in the swimming area of a beach, in the water area of a water park, or on the bottom of any swimming area.

8. The system of claim 1, the system further comprising a means for automatically powering the SLM whenever it is immersed in water and automatically powering down whenever it leaves the water.

9. The system of claim 1, the system further comprising means for telemetering the data from said receivers to a central processor via wireless telemetry.

10. The system of claim 1, the system further comprising a means for recording all swimmer distress events in computer memory for playback and analysis at a later date.

11. The system of claim 1 wherein said display is a graphical display, a numerical display, or a combination thereof.