Apparatus and method of washed hand and object detection

• US 8,481,470 B2
• Filed: 12/31/2010
• Issued: 07/09/2013
• Est. Priority Date: 12/29/2004
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Arthur T. Jones Jr
• Original Assignee: Arthur T. Jones Jr
• Inventors: Jones, Arthur T. Jr.
• Primary Examiner(s): Williams, Hezron E
• Assistant Examiner(s): KOLB, NATHANIEL J
• Application Number:
  US12/982,949
• Publication Number:
  US 20110094289A1
• Time in Patent Office: 921 Days
• Field of Search: 510/100, 73/232, 73/310.3
• US Class Current: 510/100
• CPC Class Codes: G01N 1/2226 Sampling from a closed space, e.g. food package, head space
• CPC Class Codes: G01N 15/06 Investigating concentration of particle suspensions by weighing G01N5/00; investigating sedimentation of particle suspensions G01N15/04; investigating individual particles G01N15/10
• CPC Class Codes: G01N 2001/2223 aerosol sampling devices
• CPC Class Codes: G01N 33/00 Investigating or analysing materials by specific methods not covered by groups G01N1/00 - G01N31/00
• CPC Class Codes: G01N 33/0011 Sample conditioning preparing specimens for investigation G01N1/28

Abstract

A system and method for monitoring an individual'"'"'s hand hygiene comprising: a hand washing substance comprising a chemical odor marker, said odor marker comprising a detectable odor marker vapor; a detector for detecting said odor marker vapor emanating from an individual'"'"'s hand containing said hand washing substance wherein said hand is placed proximate said detector without said hand physically touching said detector, said detector comprising a sensor and one or more indicators in operable communication with said sensor, said detector generating a signal based on the results of said detection; and a card reader or ID sensor to identify the individual.

Claims

1. A system for monitoring an individual'"'"'s hand hygiene comprising:

(a) a hand washing substance comprising a chemical odor marker, said odor marker comprising a detectable odor marker vapor;

(b) a detector for detecting said odor marker vapor emanating from an individual'"'"'s hand containing said hand washing substance wherein said hand is placed proximate to said detector without said hand physically touching said detector, said detector comprising a sensor and one or more indicators operably in communication with said sensor, said detector generating a signal based on the results of said detection; and

(c) a card reader or ID sensor to identify the individual and an internal electronic database tracking the results of said detection correlated to the card reader or ID sensor wherein the card reader, ID sensor and database are located in a same housing with the detector.

2. The system of claim 1 wherein the detector is a handheld or portable device.

3. The system of claim 1 wherein said detector and said card reader or ID sensor are capable of wirelessly communicating with each other.

4. The system of claim 1 wherein said one or more indicators are selected from the group consisting of visual and aural signals.

5. The system of claim 4 wherein said one or more indicators comprise a visual or aural alarm responsive to a signal from said detector indicating that said odor marker vapor was not detected.

6. The system of claim 1 further comprising one or more remote devices for monitoring or indicating the results of said detection.

7. The system of claim 6 further comprising wireless communication capabilities between said detector and said one or more remote devices.

8. The system of claim 7 wherein one or more remote devices comprise one or more of said indicators.

9. The system of claim 1 further comprising a controller unit, a telemetry unit and a security alert device.

10. The system of claim 1 wherein the hand washing substance is selected from the group consisting of soaps, hand cleansers, germicides, and antibacterial solutions.

11. The system of claim 1 wherein the hand washing substance comprises a solution containing said detectable odor marker, the detection of the odor marker vapor serving as an alert indicating that the individual has engaged in hand washing.

12. The system of claim 1 wherein the hand washing substance comprises a plurality of odor markers.

13. The system of claim 1 wherein the odor marker vapor comprises a detectable chemical vapor.

14. The system of claim 13 wherein said sensor detects said vapor based on a detectable signature or pattern characteristic of the vapor.

15. The system of claim 1 wherein the sensor comprises an array of multiple sensors.

16. The system of claim 1 further comprising a detector in communication with a security lock mechanism on a door.

17. The system of claim 1 further comprising a hand dryer device wherein air is blown over the hands to a detector.

18. A system for monitoring an object washing status comprising:

(a) a substance comprising a chemical odor marker, said odor marker comprising a detectable odor marker vapor;

(b) a detector within a housing for detecting said odor marker vapor emanating from an object containing said substance wherein said object is placed proximate to said detector without said object physically touching said detector, said detector comprising a sensor and one or more indicators located within the housing operably in communication with said sensor, said detector generating a signal of washed status based on the results of said detection and said detector comprising the sole signal generator of the system; and

(c) an internal electronic database within said housing.

19. The system of claim 18 wherein the system further comprises a controller unit, a telemetry unit and a security alert device.

20. A method of monitoring an individual'"'"'s hand hygiene comprising:

(a) providing a hand washing substance comprising a chemical odor marker, said odor marker comprising a detectable odor marker vapor;

(b) providing a detector within a housing for detecting said odor marker vapor emanating from the individual'"'"'s hand containing said hand washing substance, said detector comprising a sensor and one or more indicators operably in communication with said sensor, said detector generating a signal within the housing based on the results of said detection;

(c) placing the individual'"'"'s hand proximate said detector without said hand physically touching said detector;

(d) detecting for the presence of said odor marker vapor;

(e) generating a signal within the housing based on the results of said detecting step;

(f) a card reader or ID sensor to identify the individual, and the method further comprises the step of identifying the individual; and

(g) maintaining an internal electronic database within the housing tracking the testing and results of individuals.

21. The method of claim 20 wherein the detector is a handheld or portable device.

22. The method of claim 20 wherein said detector and said card reader or ID sensor are capable of wirelessly communicating with each other, and the method further includes the step of wirelessly communicating data between said detector and said card reader or ID sensor.

23. The method of claim 20 wherein said one or more indicators are selected from the group consisting of visual and aural signals.

24. The method of claim 23 wherein said one or more indicators comprise a visual and/or aural alarm responsive to a signal from said detector indicating that said odor marker vapor was not detected, the method comprising the additional step of generating a visual and/or aural alarm responsive to a signal from said detector indicating that said odor marker vapor was not detected.

25. The method of claim 24 wherein said one or more indicators are located on said one or more remote devices.

26. The method of claim 23 wherein the system further comprises wireless communication capabilities between said detector and said one or more remote devices, and the method further comprises the step of communicating the results of said detection wirelessly to said one or more remote devices.

27. The method of claim 20 further comprising one or more remote devices for monitoring or indicating the results of said detection, the method further comprising the step of communicating the results of said detection to said one or more remote devices.

28. The method of claim 20 wherein the hand washing substance is selected from the group consisting of soaps, hand cleansers, germicides, and antibacterial solutions.

29. The method of claim 20 wherein the hand washing substance comprises a solution containing said detectable odor marker, the detection of the odor marker vapor serving as an alert indicating that the individual has engaged in a hand-washing process.

30. The method of claim 20 including the additional steps of collecting and storing data regarding the results of the individual'"'"'s hand hygiene detection.

31. The method of claim 20 wherein the system further comprises a detector in communication with a security lock mechanism on a door and the method further includes the step of the detector signaling the door lock control system.

32. The method of claim 20 wherein the system further comprises a hand dryer device blowing air over the hands to a detector.

33. A method for monitoring a cavity of a container washing status comprising the steps of placing a substance containing an odor marker on a container, washing the container, a detector detecting the odor marker vapor emanating from the container, and recording the detection result on an internal electronic database.

34. A handheld or portable system for monitoring an individual'"'"'s hand hygiene comprising:

(a) detector for detecting an odor marker vapor emanating from an individual'"'"'s hand, said detector generating a signal based on the results of said detection;

(b) a machine readable ID; and

(c) an internal electronic database tracking the detection of individual'"'"'s hand hygiene wherein the detector, and internal electronic database are contained in a single housing.

35. The handheld or portable system for monitoring an individual'"'"'s hand hygiene of claim 34 wherein the detector comprises a Lab-on-a-Chip or electronic nose.