GB2362738A - Information notification system - Google Patents

Abstract

An information notification system comprises a transmitter having a sensor sensitive to (various) information and capable of transmitting detected information in the form of an ID signal; and a receiver for finally receiving and analyzing the signal transmitted from the transmitter and notifying a user of the system of the information.

Description

4 2362738 1 INFORMATION NOTIFICATION SYSTEM This invention relates to an

information notification system and more particularly to a system of the type in which those persons having a hearing difficulty can be aware of sounds of door chime, telephone call, alarms of gas leakage, fire, etc. especially when they are not wearing a hearing aid at home. This system is also suited to be used under noisy circumstances such as at a construction site, hospitals, offices and the like.

Generally, it is very dull and troublesome for those who have a hearing difficulty to wear a hearing aid and so they often remove the hearing aid when they are relax at home. It is indeed comfortable for them not to wear a hearing aid but they immediately encounter with a difficulty when a visitor pushes the door chime, or when a telephone rings, or when an alarm clock rings while they are asleep. In the worst case, a very serious situation is resulted such as a gas leakage and fire. It is not only those who have a hearing difficulty but also normal persons to be left unaware of such information as mentioned above when they are under noisy circumstances.

Heretofore. no proposals have been made in an effort to overcome such difficulties as mentioned above. Therefore, those persons who have a hearing difficulty are always obliged to wear a hearing aid reluctantly. The best method so far contemplated t o be used under noisy circumstances is to use a megaphone.

The present invention has been accomplished in -view of the above situation.

2 It is, tbeyefore, an object of the present invention to provide an information notification system which is, when put on, capable of notifying the users (i.e., those who have a hearing difficulty) of such information as a change of circumstance immediately so that they can correctly cope with the changed circumstance, which is small in size.

It is another object of the present invention to provide an information notification system which is small in size and not bothersome to put on.

It is a further object of the present invention to provide an information notification system which is hardly hazardous to daily communication devices such televisions and radios.

In order to achieve the above objects, there is essentially provided an information notification system comprising a transmitter having a sensor sensitive to various information and capable of transmitting detected information in the form of an ID signal; and a receiver for finally receiving and analyzing the signal transmitted from the transmitter and notifying a user of the system of the information..

It is preferred that at least one relay is interposed between the transmitter and the receiver.

The signal to be transmitted is preferably a weak radio wave having 500 or less micro volts.

By virtue of the above-mentioned construction, the information required or individually preset can be recognized by the wearer almost at a real time without depending on the sense of hearing. Moreover, since not. only the system itself but also the receiver and transmitter can be made 1 3 smaller in size and lighter in weight, the user of the receiver can wear it comfortably. In addition, the appearance of the receiver Is greatly improved.

The present invention will become more fully understood from the detailed description given hereinbelow and the accompanying drawings which are given by way of illustration only, and thus are not limitative of the present invention.

Fig. 1 is a schematic view showing the overall concept of an information notification system according to one embodiment of the present invention; Fig. 2 is a conceptual view of a network construction for the above system; Fig. 3 is a block diagram showing one form of a construction for the above system; Fig. 4 is a block diagraffi of a transmitter; Fig. 5 is a block diagram! of a receiver; Fig. 6 is a block diagram of a relay; Fig. 7 is a chart showing one form of signal; and Fig. 8 is a front view showing a specific form of the receiver.

One embodiment of the present invention will now be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings.

4 In the drawings, reference numeral 1 denotes a transmitter. A single or a plurality of transmitters 1 may be employed in accordance with necessity. The transmitter 1 contains therein a sensor unit 2 capable of detecting information on changes of the circumstantial situation such as, for example, door chime, sound of a telephone call, voice current, gas leakage, excessive heating, smoke, or other security alarms. The transmitter 1 transmits the detected information in the form of an individually set ID signal from an antenna 3. The kind of such information can appropriately be selected.

As shown in Fig. 4, in addition to the sensor unit 2 for detecting information, an amplifier unit 4 for amplifying the signal caught by the sensor unit 2 is disposed next to the sensor unit 2 in the transmitter 1. The amplified signal is properly shaped in waveform by a waveform shaping unit 5.

The properly shaped signal is sent to a CPU unit 6. The CPU unit 6 is attached with a ROM/ RAM 6a for control and storage. The signal received by the CPU unit 6 is, when admitted to pass therethrough, sent to an oscillator/modulator unit 7 where the signal is oscillated and modulated. The oscillated and modulated signal is amplified at an amplifier unit 8 and then sent to an antenna unit 9 so as to be transmitted from the antenna 3.

In order to transmit the signal from the antenna 3, a weak radio wave of 500 or less micro volts is used so that no adverse effect will be given to the environment. Therefore, in the case where the distance from the transmitter 1 to a receiver 10 is short, the signal sent from the transmitter 1 can be received directly by the receiver 10. In the case where the distance is long, however, a relay 11 is placed between the transmitter 1 and the receiver 2.

A pattern antenna is used as an antenna 10a of the receiver 10 here. The weak radio wave signal is input therein in the form of a time-divided signal so that the actions are simultaneously made by appearance. The signal received by the antenna 10a is allowed to pass through the antenna unit 13 and amplified at an amplifier unit 14. Then, the amplified signal is oscillated and demodulated at an oscillator/demodulator unit 15.

The oscillated and demodulated signal is properly shaped at a waveform shaping unit 16 and then sent to a CPU unit 17. The CPU unit 17 is attached with a RPM/RAM 17a for control and storage. The signal, when admitted to pass, is the n sent to an LCD driver unit 18 and a motor driver unit 19. The signal indicative of information coming from the LCD driver unit 18 is displayed on an LCD display 20 in a desired form (by lettering, for example).- In order to notify the wearer of the receiver 10 of the content of the information displayed on the LCD display 20, the signal coming from a motor driver unit 19 drives a motor to actuate a motor vibration 21 either intermittently or continuously.

The relays 11, 12 are used by inserting plugs l l a, 12a into AC 100 V plug sockets. That is, the wave coming from the transmitter 1 is received by a receiving antenna 11b of all receiving antennas 11b, 11c. The wave is then sent to the relay 12 through an electric wire and thereafter sent to the receiver 10 from a transmitting antenna 12c of all transmitting antenna 12b, 12c.

6 The relays 11, 12 form a pair having the same construction and include therein a power unit 23 for 5 V and IOV in addition to the AC 100 V power supply taken out from the plug l l a. Connected to the relays 11, 12 is a pulse transformer unit 24 to which an amplifier/filter unit 25 is connected.

An SS/FM modulator unit 26 is connected to the amp] ifi er/fi 1 ter unit 25. An SS/FM control CPU unit 27 is connected to the SS modulator/filter unit 26. A RF control CPU unit 28 is connected to the CPU unit 27.

From the receiving antenna l lb, an antenna unit 29, an amplifier unit 3Q, a demodulator unit 31 and a. waveform shaping unit 32 are connected to the CPU unit 28 in order. And with respect to the transmitting antenna 11 c, a modulator unit 33, an oscillator unit 34, an amplifier unit and an antenna unit 36 are connected thereto in order.

Fig. 2 shows a network construction using the relays 11, 12 and the electric wire 22. This network adopts a master/slave system in which the number of communication corresponds to the number of slaves. For communication, a master M responds to a command from a data terminal equipment (DTE) and a slave S responds to a command from the master M.

The network ID of the respective terminals connected to a modem of the electric wire 22 are set by a dip switch. As mentioned previously, a weak radio wave is used for an interface between the transmitter 1 and the relay 11 (or 1 2) and for a serial interface between the relay 11 (or 12) and the receiver 10. A command is transmitted between the relays 11, 12 through the electric wire 22.

The information notification system according to this embodiment of the present invention employs a single frequency of, for example, 315 7 megahertz. In this system, a plurality of ID signals (for example, A, B and C) can be processed as shown in Fig. 7, an occurrence of Interference can be prevented and the transmitter I and receiver 10,can be made small in size and light in weight extensively. In addition, a bare chip can be placed on a wafer in the receiver 10 in order to further facilitate a smaller design.

Fig. 8 shows one example of the receiver 10. In this example, the receiver 10 is of a wrist watch type. The receiver 10 is provided at its generally central area with an LCD display 20. It normally functions as a normal digital watch with numbers indicative of time indicated on the LCD display 20. Upon receipt of notification of information, the receiver 10 is switched so that the content of the information is displayed in a proper manner (for example, by alphabetical lettering).

The data notification system according tothe present invention is constructed in the manner as described hereiribefore. Accordingly, the state of a change in circumstance, especially of a change through a sound, can be recognized by the wearer at a real time. This is very helpful for those who have a hearing difficulty, to use at home. This system is also suited to be used under noisy circumstances such as at a construction site, hospitals, offices and the like. Moreover, since the information to be handled is not limited to those which can be detected by a sensor in the form of sound or noise but also to those which can be detected in the form of smoke, heat, etc., the system of the present invention can be applied to a wide range of fields.

Having fully set forth a preferred embodiment of the concept underlying the present invention, various other applications and embodiments as well as certain modifications of the embodiment herein 8 shown and described will obviously occur to those skilled in the art upon becoming familiar with the underlying concept. It is to be understood, however, that within the scope of the appended claims, the invention may be practiced otherwise than as specifically set forth herein.

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Claims (4)

1. WHAT IS CLAIMED IS: 1. An information notification system comprising: a

   transmitter having a sensor sensitive to various information and capable of transmitting detected information in the form of an ID signal; and a receiver for finally receiving and aDalyzing the signal transmitted from said transmitter and notifying a user of the system of the information.
2. 2. An information notification system according to claim 1, further comprising at least one relay interposed between said transmitter and said receiver.
3. 3. An information notification system according to claim 1 or 2, wherein said signal to be transmitted is a weak radio wave having 500 or less micro volts.
4. 4. An information notification system substantially as hereinbefore described with reference to one or more of the accompanying figures.