Vehicle with on-board dieters' self-acquiring overweight preventive system and method

• US 20050194192A1
• Filed: 08/20/2004
• Published: 09/08/2005
• Est. Priority Date: 02/12/2004
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Yefim Kriger
• Original Assignee: Yefim Kriger
• Inventors: Kriger, Yefim
• Granted Patent: US 7,465,272 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 177/25.19
• CPC Class Codes: G01G 19/4142 for controlling activation of safety devices, e.g. airbag systems electrical circuits for triggering safety arrangements in case of vehicle accidents B60R21/015
• CPC Class Codes: G01G 19/4146 for controlling caloric intake, e.g. diet control
• CPC Class Codes: G01G 19/44 for weighing persons
• CPC Class Codes: G16H 20/30 relating to physical therapies or activities, e.g. physiotherapy, acupressure or exercising
• CPC Class Codes: G16H 20/60 relating to nutrition control, e.g. diets
• CPC Class Codes: Y10S 128/921 Diet management

Abstract

A vehicle has an onboard dieters self acquiring overweight prevention system which they can utilize a weighing device connected to the seat of the driver or passenger and a further weighing device upon which the feet may be placed. The vehicle computer can be programmed with a weight-trend analyzer routine predicting overweight or obesity condition and capable of automatically warning the person and a healthcare worker of the condition.

Claims

1. A motor vehicle comprising:

an on-board vehicle microcomputer having a memory, and a display connected to said microcomputer; and

an on-board weighing apparatus located in said vehicle adapted to provide a transposition method of a person occupying said vehicle weighing and to provide an input to said on-board vehicle microcomputer of a weight of said person from time to time whereby a weight trend can be analyzed for said person, said on-board vehicle microcomputer being programmed with a weight-trend analyzer routine predicting a developing overweight or obesity condition of the person and automatically warning the person and a health-care professional of a developing overweight or obesity condition.

2. The method defined in claim 1 wherein said on-board weighing apparatus has two weighing platforms including a weighing platform for a body of said person and an additional weighing platform for the feet of the person, said method comprising determining a true weight from said platforms by processing acquired data over an interval between said person engaging said platforms and a point at which said person engages a seat belt whereby said true weights reflects a measurement during which hands of the person are not resting upon a surface.

3. The motor vehicle defined in claim 1 wherein said microcomputer is further programmed with:

a weight trial analyzer routine evaluating the conditions of a dieter'"'"'s weight loss trial plan when overweight of said dieter is forecast or exists;

a trial period assignment routine evaluating a time period of said dieter'"'"'s weight loss trial plan;

an overweight warning routine responsive to a negative result of said dieter'"'"'s weight loss trial plan and sending overweight or obese warnings at a driver'"'"'s or a passenger'"'"'s discretion;

a driver weighing routine responsive to weight and position of said driver in said vehicle;

a passenger weighing routine responsive to weight and position of said passenger in said vehicle;

a transposition method of an individual weighing routine to provide a convenient and correct weighing of said individual in said vehicle;

a system initialization routine responsive to accessing of said vehicle by a vehicle operator and powering of said weighing apparatus;

a system activation routine for determining whether the vehicle is in a safe state for employing said display by said driver;

an introduction routine establishing interconnections between said dieter and self-acquiring overweight preventive system in said vehicle;

a weight identifier routine for identifying a reason for any changes in weight of said dieter since a prior identification; and

a passenger activities routine to provide service by microcomputer for said passenger.

4. The motor vehicle defined in claim 1 wherein said weight-trend analyzer routine checks an overweight or obese probability of said dieter or a dieter'"'"'s child or teenager in said vehicle and, if any, does not send immediately any warning to said dieter, dieter'"'"'s primary doctor, or dieter'"'"'s child'"'"'s or teenager'"'"'s primary doctor but suggests to said dieter or dieter'"'"'s child or teenager starting of a weight loss trial plan.

5. The motor vehicle defined in claim 3 wherein said weight trial analyzer routine after receiving a signal about overweight or a probability thereof of the dieter or a dieter'"'"'s child or teenager, prompts said dieter or dieter'"'"'s child or teenager to choose an exercise plan and diet plan and to accept an evaluated trial period of said weight loss trial plan, and sends a signal when said trial period ends.

6. The motor vehicle defined in claim 3 wherein said trial period assignment routine provides an evaluation of said trial period of said weight loss trial plan by use values of a forecast time interval before an overweight condition of said dieter or dieter'"'"'s child or teenager will occur, weight progress, age, and current weight of said dieter or dieter'"'"'s child or teenager.

7. The motor vehicle defined in claim 3 wherein said overweight warning routine, after receiving a warning about overweight or obesity of said dieter or dieter'"'"'s child or teenager at the end of said weight loss trial plan, sends at dieter'"'"'s discretion an overweight or obese warning to said overweight or obese dieter, to a primary doctor of said dieter, to a primary doctor of overweight or obese child or teenager.

8. The motor vehicle defined in claim 3 wherein said driver weighing routine:

checks a gear selector of the vehicle to permit measurement of the driver'"'"'s weight only when said gear selector is in a park position; and

measures the weight of the driver'"'"'s body on a driver'"'"'s seat weighing platform and upon an additional foot platform during an interval up to engagement of the driver'"'"'s seat belt.

9. The motor vehicle defined in claim 3 wherein said passenger weighing routine:

measures the weight of the passenger'"'"'s body on a passenger'"'"'s seat weighing platform and upon an additional foot platform during an interval up to engagement of the passenger'"'"'s seat belt.

10. The motor vehicle defined in claim 1 wherein a transposition method of an individual weighing routine provides a convenient and correct method of weighing of said individual in an individual car seat of said vehicle by checking of a state of individual seat belt and existence of individual'"'"'s feet on an additional weighing platform of an individual weighing apparatus when said individual is sitting down in an individual car seat.

11. The motor vehicle defined in claim 3 wherein said system initialization routine is responsive to operation of a keyless terminal of the vehicle and starting of an engine of said vehicle, initializes said weighing apparatus automatically weighs both said driver when he/she is sitting down in a driver car seat and said passenger when he/she is sitting down in a passenger car seat to supply a weight of said driver and of said passenger to said microcomputer.

12. The motor vehicle defined in claim 3 wherein said system activation routine powers a driver'"'"'s touch screen display only when a gear selector is in a Park”

position or heavy traffic is recognized.

13. The motor vehicle defined in claim 3 wherein said introduction routine inputs dieter'"'"'s portfolio into said self-acquiring overweight preventive system (SVOPS), shows recommended weight for the dieter by the doctors and calories to be consumed per day by use “

Fitness status”

screen, invites a dieter to input time and day of week that the dieter would like to receive an overweight warning if any, suggests to the dieter to choose a diet plan from a plurality of diets in a Diets Database according his or her weight, and daily calories, recommended by doctors or based upon dieter'"'"'s taste, habits, physical type, etc.

14. The motor vehicle defined in claim 3 wherein said weight identifier routine determines a dieter'"'"'s weight change from a previous measurement exceeding a certain magnitude, ascertains whether there has been a change in clothing or footwear since the previous measurement processing a correlation of the separate measurements of the body and foot parts of the persons weight and by a dialogue with the dieter and checking the temperature sensor and memorizing it'"'"'s output for creating data that correlates clothing or footwear to outside car temperature.

15. The motor vehicle defined in claim 3 wherein said passenger activities routine provides service for said passenger by said microcomputer if said system does not serve for said driver currently, serves a dialogue with said passenger through the touch screen of said passenger activities controller if switch “

Separate”

of said passenger activities controller is turned on, and serves a dialogue with said passenger through the touch screen of said microcomputer if switch “

Separate”

of said passenger activities controller is turned off.

16. The motor vehicle defined in claim 2 wherein said weighing apparatus includes a weighing platform located in a car seat of said individual in said vehicle, and an additional weighing platform of said weighing apparatus for the foot part of said individual body weighing that is fixed or retractable from a part of the vehicle or located in a floor mat, and each said weighing platforms weighs a part of a whole individual'"'"'s weight and can be any optional kind of weighing device.

17. The motor vehicle defined in claim 3 wherein said motor vehicle is equipped with a self-acquiring on-board vehicle overweight preventive system (SVOPS) manufactured as a separate, stand alone system, independent from the type of said vehicle or as a part of said vehicle depending on the type of said vehicle.

18. The motor vehicle defined in claim 17 wherein said self-acquiring on-board vehicle overweight preventive system has three modes of work operation as follows:

1. Said self-acquiring on-board vehicle overweight preventive system is turned on after an operator of a vehicle activates a keyless open door device and continues to be in this condition any time during a trip until said driver will turn it off;

2. Said Driver Weighing Apparatus is activated only if a gear selector in a parking position, and the passenger weighing apparatus is activated at any time when said self-acquiring on-board vehicle overweight preventive system is turned on; and

3. A screen of said self-acquiring on-board vehicle overweight preventive system is activated if a gear selector is in a parking position or a vehicle is in a heavy traffic with a speed not greater than a certain level, and the screen of a Passenger Activities Controller is activated any time if said microcomputer doesn'"'"'t serve a driver.

19. The motor vehicle defined in claim 3 wherein said vehicle has means for positioning a back of a car seat in a greater declination position and after weighing an individual by said weighing apparatus the position of said back is adjusted to a more comfortable position, and after said individual leaves said vehicle, said car seat memorizes the last position of said car seat back and adjusts said car seat back to the greatest declination position and keeps this position of said car seat back till an occupant of said car seat returns and is weighed, and after said weighing apparatus weighs said car seat occupant, said car seat back returns to the last memorized position.

20. The motor vehicle defined in claim 10 wherein to provide said transposition method of weighing of said individual in said vehicle the following weighing instructions are issued:

1. When you sit down in the car seat, put your feet on an additional weighing platform,

2. Keep your hands on your knees, don'"'"'t touch anything in the car by hand and don'"'"'t push the seat back against your back for a few seconds, and

3. Buckle the seat belt.

21. The motor vehicle defined in claim 2 wherein said weighing apparatus includes an electrical circuit for summing up electrical signals from said weighing platform in a car seat of said individual and from said additional weighing platform, where the sum is directly proportionate to the weight of said individual, said electrical circuit applying an output electrical signal to said microcomputer.

22. The motor vehicle defined in claim 16 wherein said weighing apparatus employs said additional weighing platform that contains information that may be helpful in an on-board vehicle overweight preventive system to sense that said individual changed shoes when a foot portion of weight of said individual is analyzed relatively to the weight of a car seat portion of said individual'"'"'s body.

23. The motor vehicle defined in claim 16 wherein a further additional weighing platform of said weighing apparatus is provided to eliminate a possible error by the touching of anything in said vehicle by a driver'"'"'s or passenger'"'"'s hand, and is provided in or above a steering wheel for a driver being weighed.

24. The motor vehicle defined in claim 3, further comprising an automatic seat-back control operable in construction with said weighing apparatus to move a seat back away from and toward the individual weighed.

25. The motor vehicle defined in claim 3 wherein to increase flexibility the system further comprises a home part having at least some of the functions with which said microcomputer is programmed and is capable of receiving and storing medical information concerning life style recommendations, diets and other information contributing to overweight or obesity prevention.

26. The motor vehicle defined in claim 3 further comprising an electrical scale and height meter mounted in a children'"'"'s car seat for said vehicle and connected to microcomputer for use with children greater in age than two years old.

27. The motor vehicle defined in claim 3 which comprises an air bag safety system at a front of the vehicle wherein an additional weighing platform on a floor of the vehicle under the feet of a front passenger signals whether the passenger is facing front, thereby preventing triggering of the air bag against a rear facing front passenger.

28. A motor vehicle comprising:

an on-board vehicle microcomputer having a central processing unit, a memory, a touch-screen display and programmed to provide a method of forecasting and preventing of overweight or obese of dieter selected from a driver-dieter and at least one passenger-dieter in said vehicle by said dieter execution of an evaluated weight loss trial plan;

an on-board driver weighing apparatus and passenger weighing apparatus for convenient and correct monitoring weight progress of said dieters in said vehicle;

a driver overweight preventive system initialization device receiving a initialization signal from the vehicle keyless terminal;

a weight identifying device providing an independence of said dieter'"'"'s weight progress measurement from seasonal changes of clothing and/or footwear by dialogue of said microcomputer with said dieter and use of an outside car temperature sensor; and

a passenger activities controller providing resources of said microcomputer to said passenger-dieter.

29. A method of operating an automotive vehicle having an on-board vehicle microcomputer with a central processing unit, a memory and a display, and a means responsive to weight of at least one individual in said vehicle, said method comprising the steps of:

(a) weighing an individual in said vehicle and registering the weighed individual'"'"'s weight with said microcomputer;

(b) forecasting an overweight or obesity condition of said individual;

(c) evaluating trial weight loss plan conditions for said individual if an overweight or obesity condition of said individual is detected;

(d) programming said microcomputer with information as to a multiplicity of diets and exercise regimen suitable for a variety of different dieters;

(e) displaying diet and exercise information for the weighed individual based upon stored information in the microcomputer;

(f) displaying weight progress resulting from dieting for said individual in said vehicle upon the issuance of an instruction by said individual to said microcomputer;

(g) sending at the individual'"'"'s discretion a warning about overweight or obesity of said individual or individuals child or teenager, to said overweight or obese individual, to a primary doctor of said individual, to a primary doctor of an overweight or obese child or teenager if the result of a weight loss trial plan is negative, and

(h) disabling said touch screen of said microcomputer from responding to the activities of said driver under certain driving conditions of said vehicle.

30. The motor vehicle defined in claim 29, further comprising the step of providing a friendly and confidential overweight warning to said individual and, at individual'"'"'s discretion, not showing a warning of overweight on a fitness screen if during installation of said on-board vehicle overweight preventive system said individual is overweight but suggesting to said individual to start a weight loss trial plan, and giving an encouraging message for successful overweight prevention.

31. The method defined in claim 29, further comprising determining weekday and weekend after intake patterns with information from a dialog with said individual or from a global position system as to names of the most popular and most used restaurants and buffets at which said individual eats at a certain time, with the names of the basic dishes and amount of calories, fat and cholesterol and automatically suggesting to said dieter what kind food and how much to eat.

32. The method defined in claim 29, further comprising

issuing a warning when said individual is not overweight and continuously loses weight, and his/her weight goes down of a certain level, and said on-board vehicle overweight preventive system continues to monitor weight of said individual during a certain trial period, and if said individual continues to lose weight, an on-board vehicle overweight preventive system sends a warning at individuals discretion to said individual'"'"'s primary doctor.

33. The method defined in claim 29, further comprising measuring a height of a child in said vehicle by use of special markers on a rear seat of said vehicle, or by use of a supplemental cushion for car rear seat with the marks on it to measure height of the children by laying a child on the rear car seat and measure one'"'"'s length or by use of a pull-out tape, and inserting this data in an on-board vehicle overweight preventive system.

34. A motor vehicle comprising:

a microcomputer;

a voiced dialoging system connected with said microcomputer and interacting with an occupant of said vehicle, said microcomputer being programmed to be user friendly in case of acquisition of input from said occupant to provide helpful occupant friendly voiced output improving the spiritual condition of the occupant for at least one of the modes of;

a. assisting said occupant of said vehicle with overweight or obesity prevention;

b. assisting said occupant of said vehicle with emotional and other medical issues;

c. assisting the driver of said vehicle with pertinent information in response to acquired information and improving the spiritual condition of the occupant.