Wireless communication for hygiene dispenser systems

• US 8,264,343 B2
• Filed: 09/15/2009
• Issued: 09/11/2012
• Est. Priority Date: 09/15/2009
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Ecolab USA Incorporated (Ecolab, Inc.)
• Original Assignee: UltraClenz LLC (Ecolab, Inc.)
• Inventors: Snodgrass, David L.
• Primary Examiner(s): Nguyen, Phung
• Application Number:
  US12/560,250
• Publication Number:
  US 20110063106A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,092 Days
• Field of Search: 340/539.16, 340/573.1, 340/539.12, 340/286.02, 340/13.24, 700/231
• US Class Current: 340/539.16
• CPC Class Codes: G08B 21/245 Reminder of hygiene compliance policies, e.g. of washing hands
• CPC Class Codes: G16H 40/20 for the management or administration of healthcare resources or facilities, e.g. managing hospital staff or surgery rooms

Abstract

A communication system for handwash compliance monitoring, comprises a plurality of handwash monitoring sensors for collecting handwash compliance data at a respective plurality of handwash stations, at least one hub which wirelessly receives handwash compliance data transmitted from said plurality of handwash monitoring stations, a gateway which wirelessly receives handwash compliance data transmitted from the hub, and a wireless cellular telephone link for transmitting the handwash compliance data from the gateway to a central monitoring station.

Claims

1. A communication system for hygiene compliance monitoring comprising:

a plurality of hygiene monitoring sensors for collecting hygiene compliance data at a respective plurality of hygiene stations; and

a wireless link for transmitting the hygiene compliance data over a cellular telephone network to a central monitoring station, wherein the hygiene compliance data includes dispenser configuration information including dose setting and range setting of detectors.

2. The communication system according to claim 1, wherein the plurality of hygiene monitoring sensors transmit for hygiene compliance data to a central hub before transmission over the cellular telephone network.

3. The communication system according to claim 2, comprising a plurality of hubs which wirelessly communicate to a gateway before transmission over the cellular network.

4. The communication system according to claim 1, wherein the wireless link comprises a gateway which wirelessly receives the hygiene compliance data from a plurality of hygiene monitoring sensors before transmission over the cellular telephone network.

5. The communication system of claim 1, further including a remote server and database store at the central monitoring station.

6. The communication system of claim 5, further including an internet connection at the central station to enable internet access to the remote server and database store.

7. The communication system of claim 1, including a plurality of hubs, wherein at least one hub of the plurality can receive hygiene compliance data transmitted from another hub, and retransmit the data.

8. A communication system for hygiene compliance monitoring, comprising:

a plurality of hygiene monitoring sensors for collecting hygiene compliance data at a respective plurality of hygiene stations;

at least one hub which wirelessly receives hygiene compliance data transmitted from said plurality of hygiene monitoring stations;

a gateway which wirelessly receives hygiene compliance data transmitted from the hub; and

a wireless cellular telephone link for transmitting the hygiene compliance data from the gateway to a central monitoring station, wherein the hub includes automatic detection for detecting what hygiene sensors are within range to provide for automatic initialization and update of the system detectors in the system.

9. The communication system according to claim 8, comprising at least two hubs, each of which wirelessly receives hygiene compliance data from a different plurality of hygiene monitoring sensors.

10. The communication system of claim 8, further including a remote server and database store at the central monitoring station.

11. The communication system of claim 10, further including an internet connection ant the central station to enable internet access to the remote server and database store.

12. The communication system of claim 8, including a plurality of hubs, wherein at least one hub of the plurality can receive hygiene compliance data transmitted from another hub, and retransmit the data.

13. A method for communicating hygiene compliance data, comprising:

collecting hygiene compliance data from a plurality of hygiene stations having monitoring sensors; and

transmitting the collected hygiene compliance data wirelessly over a cellular telephone network to a central monitoring station, wherein the hygiene compliance data includes dispenser configuration information including dose setting and range setting of detectors.

14. The method of claim 13, including the step of wirelessly transmitting the hygiene compliance data from the hygiene stations to a central hub, before transmitting the data wirelessly over the cellular network.

15. The method of claim 13, including using a gateway which wirelessly receives the hygiene compliance data from a plurality of hygiene monitoring sensors before transmission over the cellular telephone network.

16. The method of claim 13, including transmitting the data wirelessly over a plurality of hubs to a gateway before transmission over the cellular network.

17. The method of claim 13, including providing a remote server and database store at the central monitoring station.

18. The method of claim 13, including providing an Internet connection at the central station to enable internet access to the remote server and database store.

19. The method of claim 13, including providing a plurality of hubs, wherein at least one hub of the plurality receives the hygiene compliance data transmitted from another hub, and retransmits the data.

20. A communication system for hygiene compliance monitoring comprising:

a plurality of hygiene monitoring sensors for collecting hygiene compliance data at a respective plurality of hygiene stations; and

a wireless link for transmitting the hygiene compliance data over a cellular telephone network to a central monitoring station, wherein the hygiene compliance data includes dispenser status information including battery level and cover open/closed status.

21. A communication system for hygiene compliance monitoring comprising:

a plurality of hygiene monitoring sensors for collecting hygiene compliance data at a respective plurality of hygiene stations; and

a wireless link for transmitting the hygiene compliance data over a cellular telephone network to a central monitoring station, wherein the hygiene compliance data is stored in a circular queue in a local buffer, which is accessible by the central monitoring station to replace or correct lost or corrupt data.

22. A method for communicating hygiene compliance data, comprising:

collecting hygiene compliance data, from a plurality of hygiene stations having monitoring sensors; and

transmitting the collected hygiene compliance data wirelessly over a cellular telephone network to a central monitoring station, wherein the hygiene compliance data includes dispenser status information including battery level and cover open/closed status.