Sobriety monitoring system

• US 9,228,997 B2
• Filed: 10/17/2011
• Issued: 01/05/2016
• Est. Priority Date: 10/02/2009
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: BI Mobile Breath, Inc. (Geo Group Incorporated)
• Original Assignee: Soberlink Incorporated (Geo Group Incorporated)
• Inventors: Keays, Brad
• Primary Examiner(s): Caputo, Lisa
• Assistant Examiner(s): ROY, PUNAM P
• Application Number:
  US13/274,553
• Publication Number:
  US 20120075094A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,541 Days
• Field of Search: 73/233
• US Class Current: 1/1
• CPC Class Codes: B60K 28/063 preventing starting of vehicles
• CPC Class Codes: B60W 2556/45 External transmission of data to or from the vehicle
• CPC Class Codes: G01N 33/4972 Determining alcohol content for vehicle safety devices B60K28/06

Abstract

A system and method of monitoring sobriety using a hand-held breath testing device that, on receipt of a user'"'"'s breath, generates a breath test signal comprising substance content data and user identification data, and wirelessly transmits the breath test signal to a breath test signal receiving station. The breath test signal includes substance content data and user identification data. The substance content data includes a blood alcohol level and the user identification data includes compressed image data. The signal receiving station is monitored by a supervisor who is able to intervene should the blood alcohol level be greater than a predetermined threshold, or should the user identification data no match with a reference user identification data.

Claims

1. A remote sobriety monitoring system comprising:

a portable, cordless, handheld breath testing device operable to receive a first user'"'"'s breath during a self-administered breath test and determine whether alcohol is present within the first user, said handheld breath testing device including;

a portable, cordless hand-held case having an inside, an outside, and one or more walls,

a breath alcohol content sensor housed within the case for sensing a breath alcohol content of the first user,

a user identification device housed within the case,

a visual display housed within the case,

a wireless transceiver housed within the case, and

a controller housed within the case and electronically coupled to the user identification device, the sensor, and the wireless transceiver; and

a web-based server communicatively coupled to the handheld breath testing device, the server including a user-interface and a database;

wherein the controller includes a first processor and a first non-transitory computer-readable medium containing a first sequence of instructions that, when executed by the first processor, causes the breath testing device to execute the following operations;

display an electronic prompt received from the server using the visual display, the prompt prompting the first user to initiate the breath test with the breath testing device;

capture user identification data with the user identification device during the breath test, the user identification data identifying the first user,

capture the breath alcohol content of the first user with the breath alcohol content sensor during the breath test, and

transmit the user identification data and the breath alcohol content to the server using the wireless transceiver; and

wherein the server further includes a second processor and a second non-transitory computer-readable medium containing a second sequence of instructions that, when executed by the second processor, causes the server to execute the following operations;

receive a schedule based on data inputted by a second user via the user-interface;

in response to the schedule, send the electronic prompt to the breath testing device;

receive the user identification data and the breath alcohol content from the handheld breath testing device;

store within the database the user identification data the breath alcohol content, and data indicating whether the user identification data and the breath alcohol content were captured in accordance with the schedule;

generate an electronic message based on the user identification data, the breath alcohol content, and data indicating whether the user identification data and the breath alcohol content were captured in accordance with the schedule; and

transmit the electronic message to the second user.

2. The system of claim 1, further comprising:

a first user personal mobile device communicatively coupled to the server and the breath testing device; and

wherein the first user personal mobile device receives the schedule and the electronic prompt, and displays the prompt to the first user.

3. The system of claim 2, wherein at least one of the first user personal mobile device and the second user personal mobile device comprises a cellular telephone.

4. The system of claim 1, wherein the user interface is a graphical user interface configured to graphically display the electronic message thereon.

5. The system of claim 1, further comprising a second user personal mobile device configured to visually display the electronic message received from the server to the second user.

6. The system of claim 1, wherein the schedule is generated periodically or at one or more set times.

7. The system of claim 1, wherein the server further comprises:

a graphical user interface configured to display one or more breath test reports based on;

the user identification data, the breath alcohol content data, and the schedule.

8. The system of claim 1, wherein the server is further configured to store a history of the breath test reports.

9. The system of claim 1, wherein the breath testing device further comprises a memory, electronically coupled to the controller;

wherein the memory is configured to store the user identification data and the breath alcohol content.

10. The system of claim 1, wherein the schedule includes an on-demand breath test request.

11. The system of claim 1, wherein the portable, cordless hand-held case defines a volume that is not more than 27 cubic inches.

12. The system of claim 1, wherein the portable, cordless hand-held case has a major axis of approximately 9 inches.

13. The system of claim 1, wherein the portable, cordless hand-held case has a minor axis of approximately 3 inches.

14. The system of claim 1, wherein the portable, cordless hand-held case has a minor axis of approximately 1 inch.

15. The system of claim 1, wherein the visual display comprises a graphical user interface configured to graphically display the electronic prompt.

16. A remote sobriety monitoring system comprising:

a portable, cordless, handheld breath testing device operable to receive a first user'"'"'s breath during a self-administered breath test and determine whether alcohol is present within the first user, said handheld breath testing device including;

a portable, cordless hand-held case having an inside, an outside, and one or more walls,

a breath alcohol content sensor housed within the case operable to sense a breath alcohol content of the first user,

a user identification device housed within the case,

a wireless transceiver housed within the case, and

a controller housed within the case and electronically coupled to the user identification device, the sensor, and the wireless transceiver, wherein the controller is operable to cause the breath testing device to;

capture user identification data with the user identification device during the breath test, the user identification data identifying the first user,

capture the breath alcohol content of the first user with the breath alcohol content sensor during the breath test, and

transmit the user identification data and the breath alcohol content to the server using the wireless transceiver

a web-based server communicatively coupled to the handheld breath testing device, the server including a user-interface and a database, the server operable to;

receive a schedule based on data inputted by a second user via the user-interface;

in response to the schedule, transmit an prompt signal for prompting the first user to initiate the breath test with the breath testing device;

receive the user identification data and the breath alcohol content from the handheld breath testing device;

store within the database the user identification data the breath alcohol content, and data indicating whether the user identification data and the breath alcohol content were captured in accordance with the schedule;

generate an electronic message based on the user identification data the breath alcohol content, and data indicating whether the user identification data and the breath alcohol content were captured in accordance with the schedule; and

transmit the electronic message to the second user; and

a mobile device communicatively coupled to the web-based server, the mobile device including a visual display and operable to;

receive the prompt signal from the server; and

display a visual prompt in response to the prompt signal, the visual prompt prompting the first user to initiate the breath test with the breath testing device.

17. The system of claim 16, wherein the user interface is a graphical user interface configured to graphically display the electronic message thereon.

18. The system of claim 16, further comprising a second mobile device configured to visually display the electronic message received from the server to the second user.

19. The system of claim 16, wherein the schedule is generated periodically or at one or more set times.

20. The system of claim 16, wherein the schedule includes an on-demand breath test request.

21. The system of claim 16, wherein the visual display comprises a graphical user interface configured to display the electronic prompt.