Hazardous condition monitoring system

• US 4,665,385 A
• Filed: 02/05/1985
• Issued: 05/12/1987
• Est. Priority Date: 02/05/1985
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: Claude L. Henderson
• Original Assignee: Claude L. Henderson
• Inventors: Henderson, Claude L.
• Primary Examiner(s): Crosland, Donnie L.
• Application Number:
  US06/698,398
• Time in Patent Office: 826 Days
• Field of Search: 340/539, 340/517, 340/521, 340/531, 340/555, 340/556, 340/573, 340/576, 340/632-634, 340/532, 455/53, 455/54, 455/67, 455/88, 455/89, 455/90, 455/95, 455/100, 455/228, 11/11, 180/271, 180/272, 128/719, 128/730, 307/10 R, 307/326, 73/23, 73/23.1, 422/84, 422/83, 422/98, 250/493.1, 250/497.1, 250/496.1
• US Class Current: 340/539.26
• CPC Class Codes: G08B 21/0453 worn on the body to detect health condition by physiological monitoring, e.g. electrocardiogram, temperature, breathing detecting, measuring or recording for diagnostic purposes A61B5/00
• CPC Class Codes: G08B 25/016 Personal emergency signalling and security systems emergency non-personal manually actuated alarm activators G08B25/12
• CPC Class Codes: G08B 25/10 using wireless transmission systems G08B25/009 takes precedence

Abstract

Hazardous condition warning indications are transmitted from a site to a remote location on a conventional audio communication link. A variety of hazardous conditions including unconsciousness or inebriation of a workman at the site or his exposure to dangerous materials may be sensed and identifying information indicative of the source or location of the irregularity sensed may be transmitted to the remote location. A convention hand-held transceiver equipped with hazardous material sensors and sensors responsive to indications of potential impaired functioning of the individual are illustrated as an exemplary embodiment.

Claims

1. An arrangement for monitoring for potentially dangerous conditions associated with a person at one end of a two-way radio voice communication system and for reporting the existence of a particular potentially dangerous condition to another end of the system comprising:

at least one condition sensor at said one system end for providing an indication of at least one of, a hazardous environment at said one system end and an impaired functioning of the person at said one system end;

means at said one system end for selectively providing a digital signal identifying said one system end;

means including a portable transceiver at said one system end for sending at least the identifying signal by way of the voice communication system to said another end upon detection of a potentially dangerous condition by said sensor;

local alarm means for warning the person at said one communication system end when the one sensor detects a potentially dangerous condition and;

a microphone coupled to the transceiver, the one condition sensor comprising an alcohol sensitive transducer mounted closely adjacent the microphone and responsive to excess alcohol content in the air adjacent the microphone as the one person speaks into the microphone to provide a potentially dangerous inebriation condition indication.

2. In a voice communication system including a microphone at a transmit location, an alcohol sensitive transducer mounted closely adjacent the microphone to monitor the breath of a microphone user as he speaks into the microphone and to provide an output indication enabling a transmission over the voice communication system when the transducer senses an alcohol concentration above a predetermined threshold, and means at the transmit location responsive to the transducer output indication for providing a digital indication unique to the particular transmit location for transmission over the voice communication system.

3. An arrangement for monitoring the conscious state of an individual and for providing an alarm in the event an unconscious condition of the individual is detected comprising:

a radiation source;

a radiation detector located closely adjacent the source and shielded therefrom so as to be unresponsive to any direct radiation from the source;

an indirect radiation path from the source to the detector including a portion of the individual'"'"'s anatomy comprising an eye of the individual where movement of the anatomy portion varies the radiation received by the detector, the radiation source and detector being supported near the individual'"'"'s eye to monitor eye and eye lid movement;

means coupled to the radiation detector and responsive to a steady indication from the detector for a predetermined time interval indicative of uniform radiation due to lack of movement of the anatomy portion during the predetermined time interval for providing an alarm indication; and

a portable radio transceiver carried by the individual and coupled to the means for providing an alarm indication to transmit the alarm indication to a remote location.

4. The arrangement of claim 3 wherein the predetermined time interval is about twenty seconds.

5. The arrangement of claim 3 wherein the means for providing an alarm indication provides an audible alarm in the vicinity of the individual being monitored.

6. The arrangement of claim 3 wherein the means for providing an alarm indication further includes means for generating a digital identification signal in the form of an eight bit binary code unique to the particular individual being monitored, and means comprising a frequency shift keying encoder for frequency encoding the digital identification signal for transmission by the portable radio transceiver to the remote location, and further including at the remote location, a radio receiver, a frequency shift keying decoder, digital means coupled to the decoder for receiving therefrom the digital identification signal, and display means coupled to the digital means for providing a visible identification of the source of the sensed irregularity.

7. The arrangement of claim 6 further including, at the remote location, audible warning means enabled upon receipt of an alarm indication to audibly indicate an unconscious condition has been sensed.

8. An arrangement for monitoring for potentially dangerous conditions associated with a person at one end of a two-way radio voice communication system and for reporting the existence of a particular potentially dangerous condition to another end of the system comprising:

at least one condition sensor at said one system end for providing an indication of at least one of, a hazardous environment at said one system end and an impaired functioning of the person at said one system end, the one condition sensor comprising an infrared source, an infrared sensor, and an infrared radiation path from the source to the sensor including a portion of the anatomy of the person at said one system end with movement of the anatomy portion varying the radiation received by the sensor;

means at said one system end for selectively providing a digital signal identifying said one system end;

means including a portable transceiver at said one system end for sending at least the identifying signal by way of the voice communication system to said another end upon detection of a potentially dangerous condition by said sensor;

local alarm means for warning the person at said one communication system end when the one sensor detects a potentially dangerous condition;

means for determining the lapse of a predetermined time interval and upon expiration thereof to actuate the means for sending, and means responsive to radiation variations received by the sensor to reset the means for determining to an initial state thereby precluding sending of the identifying signal so long as movement of the anatomy portion occurs before expiration of the predetermined time interval.

9. The arrangement of claim 8 wherein the predetermined time interval is about twenty seconds and the anatomy portion is the person'"'"'s eye.