Technical field of the invention

This invention relates to headgear or any related clothing or other attachment body monitoring system configured to monitor certain physical, medical, or movement-parameters of a person and/ or environmental parameters. The invention also relates to a system for monitoring the well being and movement of persons who are wearing the said attachments.

Background to the invention

The applicant is aware that personnel who operate in hazardous environments such as mining, construction, policing, fire fighting and the military wear head gear for protection and safety purposes.

The applicant is also aware that it is critical for such personnel to be in a state of general good health while they are performing duties in these hazardous environments, for their own safety and for the safety of their coworkers.

The applicant is also aware the monitoring of the movement and location of a person in hazardous environments can be beneficial for safety and/ or productivity purposes.

The applicant is further aware that radio communications in an underground mining environment can be difficult to achieve. It is an object of this invention to provide attachments and a system for monitoring the movement and well being of persons who work in hazardous environments to improve safety and productivity. A further object of the invention is to provide a radio communications network that can also be used underground. General description of the invention

According to a first aspect of the invention there is provided apparel such as headgear or alternatively clothing or other bodily attachments, which includes:

at least one personal medical parameter sensor; and

a warning means for signalling a warning if the medical parameters are outside of a pre-selected range.

The headgear or other attachments may also include a transmitter for transmitting the signal or signals to a control room.

Headgear is preferred.

The transmitter may be a radio signal transceiver. The transceivers may be configured to repeat signals from other similar transceivers. Such repeating transceivers help to form a communications network, which will be suitable for use in underground mining environments. The transceivers may be configured to send and receive communication signals, and signals carrying other information such as medical parameters, location information, warning signals and other monitored parameters.

The headgear or other attachments may also include a power source, preferably a rechargeable power source.

The personal medical parameter sensor may preferably be selected from one or more of a body temperature measuring sensor, a heartbeat sensor and a blood pressure sensor.

The headgear or other attachments may also include an accelerometer and/ or an ambient temperature sensor. For specific applications, the attachments may include selected environmental condition sensors such as radio activity sensors, hazardous gas sensors or the like to warn the person or control station of environmental dangers. It will be appreciated that while medical and environmental sensors provide information regarding a person's physical condition and his environment, the accelerometer can provide information of dangerous movements by persons such as falling, hitting of the head, lack of movement (such as sleeping, unconsciousness or death) or any other movements that can indicate and accident or hazardous situation. A signal can be transmitted or a control room may monitor a continuous signal from the accelerometer and when a danger situation is determined an emergency response team can be dispatched.

The sensors may be selected from sensors known in the art and may be arranged as required about the headgear or other attachments to obtain optimum results. Each sensor may be monitored and/ or recorded by a processing unit connected to the sensor to monitor and/ or record the parameters and configured to produce a "warning" signal if the parameters go outside a range of predetermined upper and/ or lower thresholds. A "normal" signal may be generated if the equipments functions but no warning signal is received. A "faulty" signal may be generated if the equipment is not functioning correctly. A "power source low" signal may be generated if the power source of the headgear is near depletion or below a certain voltage threshold.

The warning, normal, faulty or power source low signal may activate an indication means such as a light, included by the apparel. The colour of the light may respectively be red, green and yellow or similar colour. The light may preferably be a low power consuming Light Emitting Diode, LED, preferably a high intensity LED. The headgear or other attachments may also include an identification means for identifying individual headgear, such as: a number, in its simplest form, a RFID tag, or a unique code stored in memory of the processing unit and/ or a unique signal transmitted by the transmitter from the attachments. The processor may be programmed to establish a baseline of normal parameters for a particular person to whom the headgear is allocated. It will be appreciated that each person's "normal" parameters will be unique to that person.

The headgear or other attachments may also include a receiver, preferably part of the transceiver, for receiving a signal containing information such as a set of "normal" parameters for a specific person. It will be appreciated that each person's physique and "normal" parameters will be unique to that person and it is preferable that a person is issued with an attachment that is personalised for that person. However, if a person is issued with another attachment, it can be reprogrammed remotely with a personalised set of parameters for that person. The RFID tag may be used to determine a person who wears the headgear's position in confined areas where certain inclusion or exclusion zones can be created with RFID readers fixed at specific locations. In large open areas, such as for military use, the headgear or other attachments may include a satellite positioning system such as a GPS receiver to determine a person's location or position, which can also be transmitted to a control room.

The headgear or other attachments may include a docking station where the apparel's power source can be recharged during non use. The docking station may be configured to log when a helmet is attached and detached acting as a clocking system. The docking station may further be configured to lock the headgear or other attachments to the docking station. The docking station may then be configured to biometrically identify a person and unlock the headgear or attachment if the person is authorised to use the headgear.

The electronics of the headgear may be of modular design or the components may preferably be connectable using a modular bus system. The modular bus system allows microprocessors, radio communication modules, sensors, readers and the like to be added as required. According to a further aspect of the invention, there is provided a system for monitoring personnel in a hazardous environment, which system includes apparel such as headgear or other attachments as described above.

The system may further include a receiver or a transceiver for receiving and/ or sending a signal to and from and to the apparel. The transceivers may be configured to repeat signals from other similar transceivers. The transceivers may be configured to send and receive communication signals, and signals carrying other information such as medical parameters, location information, warning signals and other monitored parameters.

The system may include a processing unit and digital storage means for processing and recording the received signal. The processing unit and digital storage means may be located in a remote control and monitoring room.

The system may include strategically placed transponders or RFID readers which are in communication with the processing unit.

The system may include relay station for relaying signals.

The system may include graphic display means and the processor may be configured to display graphically the health status, environmental status and/ or position of each monitored person. The graphic display may be located in the remote control and monitoring room.

The processor may be programmed to analyse the data to determine, for example, "normal" medical parameters and/ or productivity of a person.

The system may include a docking station as described above.

It will be appreciated that it the headgear or other attachments and system may find wide application in industry or public service from a safety of personnel viewpoint as well as productivity and monitoring the whereabouts, wellbeing and productivity of personnel.

Detailed description of the invention

The invention is now described by way of example with reference to the accompanying drawings.

In the drawings:

Figure 1 shows a perspective view of headgear, in accordance with the invention;

Figure 2 shows a schematic illustration of a system for monitoring personnel in accordance with the invention;

Figure 3 shows diagrammatically an example of a processor, a MOAT unit, which is fully programmable and modular; and

Figure 4 shows diagrammatically a heart rate sensor, a blood oxygen sensor and a 3-axis accelerometer.

Referring now to the drawings, the headgear, in accordance with the invention, is generally indicated by reference numeral 10.

The headgear 10 is in the form of an industrial hard hat which includes a peak 12. Docking station electrical contact points 14 are located at an end region opposing the peak 12 which is configured to contact a power source 16 to recharge the power source 16 of the headgear 10. The power source 16 is mounted on the exterior of the headgear 10 directly above the contacts 14. A transceiver 18 is integrally mounted adjacent the power source 16 and is configured to receive and send data and voice communication at predetermined radio frequencies. A processor 20 is connected in communication with the transceiver 18 and is configured to process data from a plurality of sensors 22, 23, and 24 built integrally into the headgear 10. Information processed by the processor is conveyed via the transceiver 18 to a relay station 28.

Two parallel, spaced apart straps 30 and 32 extend from an interior middle region of the headgear 10. Each strap 30 and 32 has a body temperature sensor 22 and a blood pressure sensor 24. The headgear also includes a heartbeat sensor 23 mounted in the front inside of the hardhat so that the headgear can measure the user's body temperature, heart rate and blood pressure. A warning means in the form of a red high intensity LED light 34 is mounted on an apex region of the headgear 10. The light 34 is configured to emit light at a high intensity so as to send a warning signal to a person within the vicinity of the user. Medical parameters relayed from the sensors 22, 23, and 24 are processed by the processor 20. A signal activates the LED light 34 if the medical parameters measured by the sensors 22, 23, and 24 are found to be out of predetermined limits.

Identification means in the form of an active RFID tag 36 and an identification code embedded in radio signals serves to identify the particular hardhat and indirectly the user of the hardhat. The identification code is user specific and is configured to map and monitor the user's specific geographical position. The headgear 10 also includes sensors (not shown) to monitor environmental conditions. In the case where the hardhat of user 48 emits a warning signal, the signal is relayed via the transceiver of the hardhat 10 of another user 50 to the relay station 28 and on to the control room 52. The relay station 28 communicates with a receiver 40 located at a control room. The receiver 40 in turn communicates with a processor 42 which is configured to process information from the identification code of the particular hard hat. The processor 42 computes the relevant geographical position of the user, using triangulation logic from the relayed radio signals and is displayed by a visual means in the form of a screen 44. A server 41 is connected in communication with the processor 42 and is configured to store information in a database generated from the processor 42. In use, a deviation of environmental conditions, allowed geographical position or medical parameters from predetermined limits is communicated to a control room 52. A warning signal 46 would then be displayed on the screen 44 and enable an operator to initiate a rescue operation. The processor located in the control room also programmed to calculate and monitor productivity of a person.

The signal simultaneously activates the red LED light 34. Activation of the LED light 34 provides for a visual signal which may alert the person within the working environment proximity of the user's deviant medical condition.

After completion of a shift, the worker will dock his headgear 20 on a docking station (not shown), where the power source 16 in the form of rechargeable cells are recharged for use the next day. When the power source 16 is sufficiently charged for operation of 12 hours, the yellow LED light 31 is lit up. The docking station is also in communication with the control room 52 or the hard hat 10 is configured to signal that the hard hat is docked or not. The docking station is configured to automatically lock a hard hat to the docking station and to release it to a specific identified user upon the biometric scan of the user's fingerprint.

When all the medical parameters are detected and within predetermined ranges, a green LED light 33 is lit. When a user is outside a predetermined allowed area, a blue LED light 35 is lit.

A server 41 located at the control room 52 is provided with data storage means and is configured to log all data and signals sent and received via the mesh type radio network. The mesh type radio network can also be used to track the location and movements of equipment equipped with a transceiver unit, which can communicate with the control room 52. The electronics such as microprocessor, radio communication module, sensors and power supply, and power input and output controllers of the hard hat is modular and connectable using a modular bus system. The electronic components are available on the market and needs little or no modification to be used. The processor can be programmed as required.

It shall be understood that the example is provided for illustrating the invention further and to assist a person skilled in the art with understanding the invention and is not meant to be construed as unduly limiting the reasonable scope of the invention.