Individual location system - Patent Review 5652570

Claims

I claim:

1. Interactive individual location and monitoring system comprising:

a. a central monitoring system for maintaining health, location, and other data with respect to a plurality of clients, including said individual;

b. an information receiver and transmitting unit carried by said individual in a manner for conveniently receiving medical and other information selected by and inputted directly from said individual and broadcasting locally by radio said information in a region proximate to said individual;

c. pod means worn by said individual including transponder means for receiving said information from said information receiver and transmitting unit and transmitting said information to said central monitoring system, said pod means including means for tracking the location of said individual and transmitting said location to said central monitoring system;

d. said pod means including a triaxial accelerometer gathering acceleration data for transmission of said data to said central monitoring station for analysis at a later time;

e. said central monitoring system including means for broadcasting alerts and queries directed to said individual, said transponder pod means receiving and rebroadcasting said alerts and queries locally, said information receiver and transmitting unit including means to receive said alerts and queries, said information receiver and transmitting unit including vibratory annunciator means for alerting said individual to receipt of a signal from said pod means.

2. The interactive individual location and monitoring system of claim 1 in which said information receiver and transmitting unit has the appearance of a wrist watch worn by said individual in a manner to permit convenient access to input and receive information, and including only sufficient battery power to communicate by wireless means to said pod means.

3. The interactive individual location and monitoring system of claim 1 in which said pod means is secreted within the clothing of, or within a pack carried by, said individual and carrying sufficient battery power to provide long distance radio communications with said central monitoring station and obtain location information from satellites.

4. The interactive individual location and monitoring system of claim 3 in which all communications of said information and data between said central monitoring system and said pod means are encrypted.

5. The interactive individual location and monitoring system of claim 1 in which said central monitoring system includes means for tracking and displaying the movements of said individual.

6. The interactive individual location and monitoring system of claim 5 in which said information receiver and transmitting unit includes a plurality of color coded buttons for initiating transmittal of signals representing different types of emergencies including "accident", "medical", "hold-up", and "kidnapping".

7. The interactive individual location and monitoring system of claim 1 in which said pod means includes alarm button means for initiating an alarm signal to said central monitoring station.

8. The interactive individual location and monitoring system of claim 1 in which said information receiver and transmitting unit includes means for monitoring the pulse rate of said individual and initiating automatically the transmittal of a signal in the event a predetermined anomaly in the pulse rate occurs.

9. The interactive individual location and monitoring system as in claim 1 wherein said central monitoring system further includes a write only file storage means storing periodic data packets from each client of said plurality of clients, including said individual, said periodic data packets stored in said storage means, said periodic data packets intermittently read upon the occurrence of a predetermined selective event upon authorization from designated officials of said central monitoring system.

10. The interactive individual location and monitoring system as in claim 9 wherein said write only file storage means provides a time line of coherent data covering a long term period of time.

11. The interactive individual location and monitoring system as in claim 10 wherein said subsequent periodic packets of data overlay the oldest periodic packets of data of said periodic packets of data in said write only file storage means.

12. The interactive individual location and monitoring system as in claim 1 wherein said triaxial accelerometer provides said data to a neural network and a fuzzy logic processor in said central monitoring system to infer modes of transportation activity.

13. The interactive individual location and monitoring system as in claim 1 wherein said central monitoring system has a display means displaying said data, said data display means having a format thereof consisting of alphanumeric characters and/or graphical map data.

14. The interactive individual location and monitoring system as in claim 13 wherein said data display means is audio-enhanced.

15. The interactive individual location and monitoring system as in claim 13 wherein said graphical map data of said data display means is a multi-color graphical map display showing a global view of movement of the individual over an extended period of time.

16. A method of remotely and interactively communicating with and monitoring the location and condition of an individual comprising the steps of:

a. establishing a central monitoring system for maintaining health, location, and other data with respect to said individual,

b. transmitting location and condition information from said individual to said central monitoring system by the steps of inputting information to an information receiver and transmitting unit worn by said individual, broadcasting locally by radio said information by said information receiver and transmitting unit to a pod means also worn by said individual, and rebroadcasting said information by said pod means to said central monitoring system; and

c. broadcasting alerts and queries by said central monitoring system for receipt and rebroadcast by said pod means to said information receiver and transmitting unit, said information receiver and transmitting unit alerting said individual to the receipt of said alerts and queries;

d. providing at least one microprocessor in said information receiver and transmitting unit which supports a continuous polling sequence monitoring alarm conditions including code word decoding and pulse rate anomalies, and,

e. providing at least one further microprocessor in said pod means which supports a further continuous polling sequence monitoring updates of:

i) global positioning system (GPS) location information;

ii) said alarm conditions received from said information receiver and transmitting unit;

iii) compressed ambient noise data; and,

iv) accelerometer data;

said further continuous polling sequence also monitoring:

v) said queries from said central monitoring system; and,

f. accumulating said data for transmission and sending said data as a single multi-data packet to said central monitoring system.

17. Interactive individual location and monitoring system comprising:

a. a central monitoring system for maintaining health, location, and other data with respect to said individual;

b. an information receiver and transmitter unit carried by said individual in a manner for conveniently receiving medical and other information selected by and inputted directly from said individual and broadcasting locally by radio said information in a region proximate to said individual; said information receiver and

transmitter unit further communicating with

c. a pod means including transponder means for transmitting said information to said central monitoring system, said pod means including means for tracking the location of said individual and transmitting said location to said central monitoring system;

d. said pod means including a triaxial accelerometer gathering acceleration data for transmission of said data to said central monitoring station for analysis at a later time;

e. said central monitoring system including means for broadcasting alerts and queries directed to said individual, said transponder pod means receiving and rebroadcasting said alerts and queries locally, said information receiver and transmitting unit including means to receive said alerts and queries, said information receiver and transmitting unit including vibratory annunciator means for alerting said individual to receipt of a signal from said pod means,

said information receiver and transmitting unit having the appearance of a wrist watch worn by said individual in a manner to permit convenient access to input and receive information, and including only sufficient battery power to communicate by wireless means to said pod means,

said pod means being secreted within the clothing of or packs carried by said individual and carrying sufficient battery power to provide long distance radio communications with said central monitoring station and obtain location information from satellites,

wherein all communications between said central monitoring system and said pod means are encrypted,

said central monitoring system including means for tracking and displaying the movements of said individual,

said information receiver and transmitting unit including a plurality of color coded buttons for initiating transmittal of signals representing different types of emergencies including "accident", "medical", "hold-up", and "kidnapping",

said pod means including an alarm button means for initiating an alarm signal to said central monitoring station,

said information receiver and transmitter unit includes a means for monitoring the pulse rate of said individual and initiating automatically the transmittal of a signal in the event a predetermined anomaly in the pulse rate occurs,

said central monitoring system further including a write only file storage means storing periodic data packets from each client, said periodic data packets stored in said storage means, said periodic data packets intermittently read upon the occurrence of a predetermined selective event upon authorization from designated officials of said central monitoring system,

said write only file storage means providing a time line of coherent data covering a long term period,

said subsequent periodic packets of data overlay the oldest periodic packets of data in said write only file storage means,

said triaxial accelerometer provides said data to a neural network and fuzzy logic processor to infer modes of transportation activity,

said central monitoring system having a display means displaying said data, said data display format consisting of alphanumeric characters and/or graphical map format, and,

said graphical map data being a multi-color graphical map display showing a global view of movement of the individual over an extended period of time.

18. A system for determining the location of an individual comprising:

a) an object carried by said individual from which an alarm signal is generated, said object comprising:

i) a housing means,

ii) alarm generating means, disposed within said housing means, for generating an alarm signal, in response to a triggering signal,

iii) means disposed on or within said housing means, coupled to said alarm generating means, for generating a triggering signal when actuated by pressure exerted against said means by said individual,

iv) transmitter means, disposed within said housing means, coupling to said alarm generating means, for transmitting said alarm signal; and,

v) said transmitter means including a triaxial accelerometer gathering acceleration data for transmission of said data to a central monitoring system;

b) remote receiver means, for detecting said alarm signal and producing an output signal in response thereto; and

c) remote position locating means, coupled to said remote receiver means, for determining the location of said object in response to said output signal.

19. The system as recited in claim 18 wherein said system further comprises:

d) remote activation means, for transmitting an activation signal, and wherein said object further comprises,

v) triggering receiver means, disposed within said housing means, coupled to said alarm generating means, for detecting said activation signal and producing a triggering signal in response thereto.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The individual location of the present invention preferably includes a portable two-module alarm communicator to be attached to or carried by an individual, along with a central monitoring system. Each part of the system has well-defined functions and communications protocols.

This invention also relates to a practical system for locating a selected individual carrying an object from which an alarm signal is generated. More particularly, this invention concerns a system for locating an individual carrying such an object, such as a child who is kidnaped and tracking the child's position if the child is moved. It may also locate a hiker or disabled person in a remote location, while monitoring the person's vital signs, such as pulse, heart beat or body temperature.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

There are various systems which attempt to locate a missing person by remote activation of a signal from the user at a remote location. Other devices remotely monitor the wearer of a monitoring device, to ascertain vital medical signs. However, these monitoring devices, such as portable telemetry units or wristbands, are generally confined within an institutional structure, such as in a hospital. Therefore, these medical monitoring devices are not designed for remote use outdoors, such as in a remote environmental park. Furthermore, the devices are not designed to be worn by a child or an infirm person, to track the person at a remote location of vast parameters. Moreover, existing prior art devices do not function after the transmitting portion of the device is disabled or removed from the individual using the device to provide time-line data which enable a rescuer to ascertain the whereabouts the victim by simulating where the person might be located, even without the actual functioning of the device.

The statistics on child kidnaping in the United States are significant and their effect on the child's parents and relatives is emotionally devastating.

U.S. Pat. No. 4,598,272 to Cox discloses a child monitoring device comprising two portable units, each having a radio transceiver and an antenna. One of the units, is secured to the child's person and the other is carried by the parent. The child's unit transmits a reference signal and can receive a different locator signal and has an audible alarm speaker which can be actuated by the locator signal. The parent's unit receives the reference signal from the child's transmitter and, by threshold direction, sounds a beep when the child's location exceeds a pre-determined distance. A light signal in the parent's unit remains lit as an indication that the child's unit is transmitting and that the threshold conditions have not been met. When the beep in the parent's unit indicate wandering of the child, the parent, by pressing a button, can actuate transmission of the location signal, which is stronger than the reference signal, to sound a raucous alarm in the child's unit to indicate the whereabouts of the child. Clearly this device is applicable only to very special situations and is intended to operate in a limited geographical area.

Among other prior art patents include U.S. Pat. No. 5,218,344 of Ricketts for wrist mounted transponders for surveillance of persons, such as inmates. U.S. Pat. No. 4,086,916 of Freeman, U.S. Pat. No. 4,406,290 of Walbeoff-Wilson and U.S. Pat. No. 5,335,644 of Nagashima also describe wrist watch elements in hospital settings. U.S. Pat. No. 4,918,425 of Greenberg describes a location system with speech recognition enhancers for remotely activated individual locator systems. U.S. Pat. No. 4,908,629 of Apsell and U.S. Pat. No. 4,764,757 of DeMarco also describe individual locator systems with remote activators.

Moreover, accelerometers are used in package shipping, so that if a package with sensitive equipment is dropped or damaged, the accelerometer will send a one time fixed threshold radio signal when the package is damaged. However, accelerometers are not used continuously to take a specific sample of continuous data and are not used to then include the sample of data in a data packet for a short period of time, such as five or ten seconds, and then transmit the coherent data for analysis for a predetermined period of time, such as every fifteen minutes.

Therefore, the prior art patents do not describe a novel method for transmitting data to be collected and analyzed at a later time, wherein further, the data collected is periodically updated and overridden, so that only the most recent data is processed.

Furthermore, the prior art does not disclose a system which provides a "write-only file" which provides a time-line of coherent data, as opposed to summary data, which coherent data covers, a long term period, which can be analyzed to locate a person even if the wrist watch or belt pod is detached, inactivated or damaged.

In addition, the prior art does not infer modes of transportation activities of a user, such as on foot or in a vehicle, so that the whereabouts of a missing person, such as a hiker can be rapidly analyzed and determined.

OBJECTS OF THE INVENTION

It is therefore an object of the present invention to provide an individual location system which can be used to locate a person even if the personal transmitter worn by the person is de-activated or removed from the user.

Another object of this invention is to provide an apparatus to be worn by an individual that communicates on a periodic basis with a base receiving station.

A further object is to permit the user to signal a variety of emergency situations.

It is yet another object to permit a base receiving station to solicit input from the user or his apparatus.

A further object is to monitor the user's pulse rate to initiate an emergency signal when the pulse rate is out of bounds.

Another object is to monitor and record missing pulses for transmission to a base receiving station.

It is yet a further object to permit the recording and transmission of ambient sound segments in coherent data packets which can be analyzed to simulate the approximate location of an individual, even if the user-worn apparatus is damaged or removed.

It is yet another object to record and transmit signals from a triaxial accelerometer to transmit data to a central monitoring station for analysis at a later time.

It is yet another object to simulate location coordinates of a missing person, even if the data transmitter apparatus is damaged or removed from the user.

It is a further object to monitor and analyze sounds for detection of a key word for creation of a emergency signal.

Another object is to record a time sequence of received signals at a base receiving station.

It is yet another object to analyze accelerometer data of a remote user in a time sequence to determine the type of motion activity of the user.

It is a further object to display time sequence information in a coherent fashion on a computer display at a base monitoring station for monitoring the location of individuals.

It is another object to display time sequence information overlaid on a map at a base monitoring station.

It is also an object of this invention to provide a person location system which can utilize the presently existing national cellular radio network, LORAN.RTM. transmitters, a Global Positioning System, and the Lo-Jack.RTM. system.

Another object of the present invention is to provide a child location system, which after activation, automatically locates or tracks the position of the child, which system can utilize the presently existing location systems.

A further object of the present invention is to provide a system for determining the location of an individual carrying an object, which system is believed to be practical and is able to be manufactured at a relative modest cost and which is essentially based on presently existing, or soon to be developed miniature electronic hardware.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The foregoing and related objects are obtained in accordance with the invention which, in a preferred, broad, aspect, provides a system for determining the location of an individual, comprising a remote position locating means, an object carried by the individual from which an alarm signal is generated, a remote receiver means and a remote actuation means. The remote position locating means transmits location signals in response to an interrogation signal. The object is carried by the individual and from which an alarm signal, including said location signals, are generated. The object may comprise a housing means, an alarm generating means, a pressure sensitive means, a position generating means, a transmitter and a triggering receiver means.

Preferably, the data is gathered in packets of data, so that the data can be collected and analyzed at a later time, to simulate the location of an individual, even if the position generating means and transmitter are inactivated, removed or damaged.

The alarm generation means may be disposed within the housing means and may generate an alarm signal in response to a triggering signal. A pressure sensitive means may be disposed on or within the housing means to generate a triggering signal when actuated by pressure exerted against the pressure sensitive means by the individual. The position generating means is disposed within the housing means and is coupled to the alarm generating means, for transmitting the interrogation signal to the remote position locating means and for detecting the transmitted location signal from the remote position locating means.

The transmitter means may be coupled to the alarm generating means and may be disposed within the housing means, and may transmit the alarm signal. The remote receiver means detects the alarm signal, including the location signal. The remote activation means transmits an activation signal. The triggering receiver means is disposed within the housing means and is coupled to the alarm generating means for detecting the activation signal and produces a triggering signal in response thereto.

Preferably, the present invention includes an embodiment which also monitors vital signs of a user.

In the preferred embodiment, the interactive individual location and monitoring system includes a central monitoring system for maintaining health, location, and other data with respect to the individual user, such as a hiker, infirmed person or a child.

A wrist watch means is carried by the individual user in a manner for conveniently receiving medical and other information selected by, and inputted directly, from the individual user. The information is broadcast locally by radio in a region proximate to the individual user. Preferably, a separate pod means is worn by the individual user. The pod means includes a transponder means for receiving the information from the watch means and for trans