A motor vehicle alarm system incorporates five integrated circuits mounted on a printed circuit board enclosed within a case. The integrated circuits include a high speed oscillator as a clock source, a twelve stage binary counter, a set of flip-flops used as memories, a three input AND gate, and a flip-flop used as the start or stop memory for the clock source. The alarm system becomes armed approximately four minutes and fifteen seconds after the ignition key is turned off. If a door is then opened, the alarm will be actuated unless the ignition switch is turned on within fifteen seconds.

A monitoring system to confirm the presence or absence of a monitored individual through that individual's prescribed activity at a particular site at one or more pre-set times during a day. The system comprises an on-site station in communication through an automatic communicator with a remote central station. The on-site station has a signal generating device pre-settable to at least one particular time of day at which time the signal generating device emits an on-site signal for a period of time beginning at the pre-set time. The signal generating device can be manually deactivated during this period of time, but if it is not, the signal generating device activates the automatic communicator which causes notification thereof to the central station which identifies the notification and retrieves and displays pre-collected data on the monitored individual including instructions to be followed. Monitoring personnel can then follow these instructions which can include calling the site, notifying a parent or the police or the like.

The invention comprises a signalling device for reminding a person to follow certain eating habits. The device acts to sound an alarm at certain timed intervals in conjunction with the placement of a utensil upon the device to indicate to the person when he is eating too fast or without suitable interruption. The device has a photo cell at a convenient location on top of the device to receive the utensil so that the utensil will block out the light and cause the photo cell to react, in turn causing the circuitry of the device to react. If the operator removes the utensil from the photo cell for each bite and replaces it at that location, the device acts to regulate the amount of time the operator has the utensil away from the photocell presumably to take a bite and regulate the amount of time the utensil must be left on the photo cell between each bite. The operator must replace the utensil over the photo cell within a specified period of time, timed by the device, after removing it presumably to take a bite, or the alarm will sound when that specified time has elapsed, which period of time is considered adequate for taking a bite of food. The operator, once he has replaced the utensil over the photo cell, must leave it at this location for a specified period of time, as timed and programmed by the device, before he can remove it again to presumably take another bite, or the device will also cause the alarm to sound if he removes it before that time has elapsed, indicating to the operator he has removed the utensil from the photo cell too soon for another bite, in the time estimation as programmed or timed by the device.

A communications system for use by workers in a confined hazardous working location includes a transmitter that is carried by the worker in the hazardous area. The transmitter is capable of sending either an alarm signal or a check-in signal to a centrally located monitoring and control station. The monitoring and control station includes a receiver for receiving the signal from the transmitter and further includes an alarm that is activated upon receipt of an alarm signal from the transmitter. The receiving unit further includes a timer that automatically activates an alarm signal upon the expiration of a predetermined amount of time. The timer in the receiver is initialized by receipt of a check-in signal from the transmitter. The transmitter includes a warning subsystem that alerts the worker of the impending expiration of time on the receiver timer to permit the worker to check in and reinitialize the receiver timer, thereby eliminating false alarms.

A method for an alarm system is intended in particular for the monitoring of service apartments for elderly and/or handicapped persons. The energy consumption of each apartment is recorded over a period, for example in a computer. The results are presented in the form of a reference curve or standard curve for each apartment. Thereafter the actual energy consumption is compared with the value for the normal curve, and alarms of various kinds and of various degrees of urgency are triggered if the values differ by a predetermined amount.