Apparatus and method for monitoring and recording the audible environment of a child, patient, older person or pet left in the care of a third person or persons
First Claim
1. An apparatus for monitoring background sounds when a child, patient or pet is left in the temporary care of a third person or persons, comprising a remote recording unit worn by or otherwise attached to the child, patient or pet and being substantially "childproof", such that the remote recording unit cannot normally be removed by the child, patient or pet, the remote recording unit monitoring the environment for sounds, determining if sounds are present, and recording any background sound bytes at respective times and for given intervals during the time the child, patient or pet is left in the temporary care of the third person or persons, tamper detection means in the remote recording unit and generating an internal "flag" indicating that the remote recording unit was improperly removed by an unauthorized person or persons, means enabling the parent, guardian or pet owner to remove the remote recording unit from the child, patient or pet, and means for playing back the recorded sound bytes, thereby determining whether the child, patient or pet was abused, mistreated or subjected to an undesirable environment while in the care of the third person or persons.
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0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
A remote recording unit, which is worn by a child, monitors the ambient sounds in a day care center (for example) and records selected sound bytes that are played back on a docking unit. The time duration between sound bytes is periodic and re-programmable. The remote recording unit is "childproof" and tamper-evident to generate an internal "flag" which will be displayed on the docking unit, indicating that the remote recording unit was removed by an unauthorized person. The device is equally applicable to a patient, older person or pet left in the care of a third person or persons or placed in a facility or institution.
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Citations
35 Claims
- 1. An apparatus for monitoring background sounds when a child, patient or pet is left in the temporary care of a third person or persons, comprising a remote recording unit worn by or otherwise attached to the child, patient or pet and being substantially "childproof", such that the remote recording unit cannot normally be removed by the child, patient or pet, the remote recording unit monitoring the environment for sounds, determining if sounds are present, and recording any background sound bytes at respective times and for given intervals during the time the child, patient or pet is left in the temporary care of the third person or persons, tamper detection means in the remote recording unit and generating an internal "flag" indicating that the remote recording unit was improperly removed by an unauthorized person or persons, means enabling the parent, guardian or pet owner to remove the remote recording unit from the child, patient or pet, and means for playing back the recorded sound bytes, thereby determining whether the child, patient or pet was abused, mistreated or subjected to an undesirable environment while in the care of the third person or persons.
- 10. An apparatus for monitoring background sounds when a child, patient or pet is left in the temporary care of a third person or persons, comprising a remote recording unit worn by or otherwise attached to the child, patient or pet and being substantially "childproof", such that the remote recording unit cannot normally be removed by the child, patient or pet, the remote recording unit including a microphone for monitoring and recording background sound bytes at respective times and for given intervals during the time the child, patient or pet is left in the temporary care of the third person or persons, tamper detection means in the remote recording unit and generating an internal "flag" indicating that the remote recording unit was improperly removed by an unauthorized person or persons, means enabling the parent, guardian or pet owner to remove the remote recording unit from the child, patient or pet, and a docking unit for receiving the remote recording unit, the docking unit including a speaker for playing back the recorded sound bytes, thereby determining whether the child, patient or pet was, mistreated or subjected to an undesirable environment while in the care of the third person or persons, the docking unit displaying the time of the day when each sound byte was recorded, and the docking unit being provided with "fast forward", "reverse", "skip" and "pause" features, respectively, wherein the docking unit has a plurality of connector pins, and wherein the remote recording unit has a corresponding plurality of connector sleeves receiving the connector pins, respectively, on the docking unit.
- 20. An apparatus for monitoring background sounds when a child, patient or pet is left in the temporary care of a third person or persons, comprising a remote recording unit including a wrist strap attached to the child and being substantially "childproof", such that the remote recording unit cannot normally be removed by the child, the recording unit monitoring and recording background sounds during the time the child is left in the temporary care of the third person or persons, tamper detection means in the remote recording unit and cooperating with the wrist strap to generate an internal "flag" indicating that the remote recording unit was improperly removed by an unauthorized person or persons, wherein the remote recording unit may be removed from the child, and wherein the sounds recorded by the remote recording unit may be played back, thereby determining whether the child was abused, mistreated or subjected to an undesirable environment while in the care of the third person or persons.
- 25. An apparatus for monitoring background sounds when a child, patient or pet is left in the temporary care of a third person or persons, comprising a remote recording unit powered by a rechargeable battery and intended to be worn by or otherwise attached to the child, patient or pet, the remote recording unit including a microphone for monitoring and recording background sound bytes at respective times and for given intervals during the time the child, patient or pet is left in the temporary care of the third person or persons, and a docking unit including a speaker, such that the parent, guardian or pet owner may remove the remote recording unit from the child, patient or pet, and thereafter plug the remote recording unit into the docking unit, thereby playing back the recorded sound bytes, and thereby determining whether the child, patient or pet was abused, mistreated or subjected to an undesirable environment while in the care of the third person or persons, and wherein the rechargeable battery is recharged while the remote recording unit is plugged into the docking unit.
- 29. The method of monitoring the background sounds when a child, patient or pet is left in the temporary care of a third person or persons, comprising the steps of providing a remote recording unit including a microphone, attaching the remote recording unit to the child, patient or pet, the remote recording unit being substantially "childproof", such that the remote recording unit cannot normally be removed by the child, patient or pet, the remote recording unit monitoring the background sound bytes at respective times and for given intervals during the time the child, patient or pet is left in the temporary care of the third person or persons and recording those background sound bytes on the remote recording unit, providing a tamper detection means in the remote recording unit and generating an internal "flag" indicating that the remote recording unit was improperly removed by an unauthorized person or persons, removing the remote recording unit from the child, patient or pet, and playing back the recorded sound bytes, thereby determining whether the child, patient or pet was abused, mistreated or subjected to an undesirable environment while in the care of the third person or persons.
- 31. The method of monitoring the background environment whenever a loved one, such as a child, patient, older person or pet is left in the care of a third person or persons or is placed in an institution or facility, comprising the steps of providing a device which is programmed to sample and record the background environment at various intervals and on a time-compression basis constituting a plurality of bytes, attaching the device to the loved one, so that the device is carried by or worn by the loved one, and playing back the recorded bytes when the loved one is retrieved, thereby determining whether the loved one was abused, mistreated or subjected to an undesirable environment while in the care of the third person or persons or while in the facility or institution, further including the step of providing the device with a tamper-evident means which will indicate, on play back, unauthorized removal of the device or tampering therewith.
- 34. The method of monitoring the background environment whenever a loved one, such as a patient, older person or pet, is left in the care of a third person or persons or is placed in an institution or facility, comprising the steps of providing a device which is programmed to sample and record the background environment, attaching the device to the loved one, so that the device is conspicuously carried by or worn by the loved one, playing back the recorded bytes when the loved one is retrieved, thereby determining whether the loved one was abused, mistreated or subjected to an undesirable environment while in the care of the third person or persons or while in the facility or institution, and providing the device with a tamper-evident means which will indicate, on play back, unauthorized removal of the device or tampering therewith.
Specification