JPH11120459A - System for searching wandering old person or the like - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To utilize a system even at a general home by installing plural detectors detecting the signal of a transmitter in the periphery of a building such as a gate and, utility poles and installing an alarming device inside the building and to enable the system to find and rescure a handicapped person at an early stage. SOLUTION: Extremely small transmitters 6a, 6b, etc., carried with a wandering old person, etc., always transmit a feeble radio signal including an ID code. Plural detectors 7a to 7f, etc., are installed in the front of ports for going in and out such as the entrance 3 and the gate 4 of a general home, an old person' s facility, etc. The detectors 7a to 7f, etc., receive the feeble radio signals from the transmitters 6a, 6b, etc., and built-in place code different depending on an installing place to transmit a detection signal obtained by synthesizing the ID code and the place code to an alarming device 8 at the time of receiving the feeble radio signal from the transmitters 6a, 6b, etc. At the time of receiving the detection signal, the device 8 generates an alarming sound and an alarming message from a speaker and displays the number of pertinent person and the detected place on a display.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates to people who have difficulty communicating with surrounding people, such as elderly people with senile dementia (old people with Alzheimer's disease) and newborn infants, or pet animals, stolen or robbed cash transport. The present invention relates to a system for searching for a current position of a moving body or the like in a situation where communication or communication with surrounding people or related persons such as a car cannot be achieved.

[0002]

2. Description of the Prior Art As a very similar embodiment to the purpose of the present invention, a local system used only inside a hospital or geriatric facility has already been commercialized (eg, INSTA, Canada).
NTEL's WATCH MATE system, etc.). In this system, a wireless detector is installed in a specific area inside the facility, that is, at the entrance, entrance, or the like, and the ID (identify-if) is set.
cation) When a wandering elderly person carrying a code transmitter approaches, the detector detects the signal of the ID code transmitter and issues an alarm to doctors, nurses, managers, caregivers, etc., and the elderly person etc. It has a function to prevent wandering outside. In addition, a person who is wandering over the outside of the building over a wide area can be identified by GPS (Global Position-o).
Ning System) or PHS (Persono)
A system for searching over a wide area using nalHandy Phone technology has been put to practical use or trial-tested.

[0003]

The local system described in the prior art has the following problems.
In other words, if the elderly person carrying the transmitter unfortunately wanders outside the building, this system is ineffective, and the manual search requires a great deal of labor. It was a situation of extreme. In addition, in the wide area system, the system becomes large-scale and needs to be built as a social system, and coordination with public institutions such as police and fire departments will be performed by facility personnel to perform rescue activities after the location of wandering elderly people etc. is specified Issues remain, such as whether to request In addition, it is burdensome in terms of economy, and it is difficult to introduce it not only in general homes but also in facilities for the elderly. The present invention solves the above-mentioned problems, and when a person with a disability in cognitive ability wanders from under a caregiver, or when a moving body is missing, etc. It is an object of the present invention to provide an inexpensive system that can be found and rescued early and can be used in ordinary households.

[0004]

In order to solve the above problems, a moving person such as a wandering elderly person has a transmitter for emitting an ID code, and a detector for detecting a signal of the transmitter is provided only inside the building. No, an outdoor gate through which wandering elderly people are likely to pass,
Multiple detectors are installed within several hundred meters around the building, such as fences, telephone poles, standing trees, etc., and each detector has built-in location information (location code) corresponding to the installation location. Inside the building, detection signals from the detectors And build a system with an alarm device that receives the alarm and issues an alarm. In order to further ensure early detection, the system will be equipped with an automatic dial function to obtain the cooperation of neighbors including neighbors by telephone.

[0005]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.

The patent of the present invention described in claim 1 will be described with reference to FIG. Wandering elderly people are wristwatch type and pendant type,
Or micro transmitters 6a and 6b sewn into clothes
Wearing etc. The micro transmitters 6a, 6b and the like always emit a weak radio signal including an ID code. A plurality of detectors 7a to 7f are installed in front of an entrance such as an entrance 3 or a gate 4 of a general home or a facility for the elderly, and along a road. The detectors 7a to 7f and the like are the micro transmitters 6a and 6b.
It has a function to receive weak radio signals from devices, etc., and has a built-in location code that varies depending on the installation location. When it receives a weak radio signal from the micro transmitters 6a, 6b, etc., it detects the combined ID code and location code. It has a function of sending a signal to the alarm device 8. An alarm device 8 is installed inside the building 1, and is connected to the detectors 7a to 7f by a wire. The alarm device 8 includes a display for displaying the ID code and the location code, and a speaker for issuing an alarm by voice, and the detectors 7a to 7f.
Upon receiving the detection signal from the device, the speaker emits an alarm sound and an alarm message from a speaker, and has a function of displaying the number of the person concerned and the detected location on a display. In this system, a wandering elderly person carrying the microminiature transmitter 6a tries to get out of the building 1 within a certain distance range (practically Is within a range of about 5 to 10 m), the detector 7a receives a weak radio signal from the micro transmitter 6a and issues the detection signal to the alarm device 8, and the alarm device 8 issues an alarm. Therefore, concerned persons such as a caregiver become aware that an emergency has occurred and can perform rescue activities. If it takes some time for the caregiver or the related person to hear the warning sound or the warning message and come to see the warning device 8, the wandering elderly person goes further to the vicinity of the gate 4 or through the gate 4 to make a site. You may be walking outside of 2. If the detectors 7b to 7f are installed at important points in the vicinity of the gate 4 and along the road, it is possible to know in which direction the user has walked according to which detector has detected, and it is far from the building 1. Early detection and early rescue are possible without going to.

The transmitters 6a to 6b used in the present system,
The internal configurations of the detectors 7a to 7f and the alarm device 8 will be described with reference to FIGS. 2, 3, and 4, respectively. The transmitter 6 shown in FIG.
In the group code setting unit 9, a different number is set for each facility or each home, and the ID code setting unit 10 sets a different identification number for each wandering elderly person or the like. An encoder 11 generates a serial signal obtained by combining the group code and the ID code. The signal is converted into a high-frequency signal by the modulation / transmission unit 12 and emitted from the transmitter antenna 13 as a weak radio wave. In the detector 7 shown in FIG. 3, when the weak radio wave is received by the receiving antenna 16, it is demodulated by the receiving unit 17, and the decoding unit 18 detects the comparison coincidence of the group code and the I
The decoding of the D code is performed. A detection signal synthesizing unit 20 generates a serial signal obtained by synthesizing the ID code and the location code set by the location information setting unit 21, and outputs an RS-42 signal.
It is sent to the alarm device 8 via the second driver 22. When the alarm device 8 shown in FIG. 4 receives a detection signal from one of the plurality of detectors 7a to 7k, the RS-422 receiver 2
The ID code and the location code are input to the detection signal decoding unit 25 via 4a to 24k and decoded. When the detection signal is decoded, the alarm message generator 26 generates an alarm sound signal and an alarm message signal, and an alarm is emitted from the alarm buzzer 29 and the speaker 30. Similarly, an ID code display signal is generated by the personal identification information display processing unit 27, an identification number of a wandering elderly person or the like is displayed on the 7-segment LED 31, and an LED lighting signal corresponding to the location code is displayed by the location information display processing unit 28. Is created, and the detection location is displayed on the LED 32. An example of the alarm information display of the alarm device 8 will be described with reference to FIGS. In FIG. 5, the ID code is 3
7-segment LED 31 of digit, place information is LED 32
This is an example in which the information is displayed. In this figure, each LED 32
By entering the location where the detector 7 is installed in the location display label 33 attached to the side of, it is possible to easily specify the detection location. FIG. 6 shows an example in which personal identification information and location information are displayed on kanji display devices 34 and 35 such as a liquid crystal display device. In addition, a plurality of alarm devices 8
Can be installed at different places such as the first floor and the second floor, or a plurality of external speakers and external LED displays can be installed. When a wandering elderly person goes out with a caregiver or the like, a method of turning off the power switch 14 of the transmitter 6 or a method of registering a detection unnecessary code in the detection signal decoding unit 25 of the alarm device 8 is used. Thus, it is possible to avoid issuing unnecessary alarms. Further, an electric lock is installed on the door of the entrance 3 of the building 1 or the door of the gate 4, and the control for locking the electric lock only when a detection signal from the detector 7 installed at this place is received. It is also possible to easily output a signal.

The patent of the present invention described in claim 2 will be described with reference to FIGS. In the embodiment shown in FIG. 2, since the encoding unit 11 and the modulation / transmission unit 12 are always energized, there is a disadvantage that the load power of the transmitter battery 15 is large and the life is short. In the embodiment shown in FIG.
In this case, the life of the transmitter battery 15 is extended by turning off the power supply of the encoding unit 11 and the modulation / transmission unit 12, which are the loads, and turning them on periodically for a short time. In FIG. 7, the cycle of the multivibrator 36 is set to about 5 to 15 seconds, the ON period is set to about several to several tens ms, and the switching transistor 37 controls the power on / off to reduce the consumption of the transmitter battery 15. It becomes possible to make it extremely small. Similarly, the battery 23 of the detector 7
As shown in FIG. 8, the receiving unit 17 is always supplied with power from the detector battery 23, and the decoding unit 18, the detection signal synthesizing unit 20, the RS-422 driver unit 22 and the like include a wake-up circuit 38 as shown in FIG. It is configured to be supplied with power via. The wake-up circuit 38 is connected to the receiving unit 17
When no signal is received from the transmitter 6, the power supply is stopped (referred to as a sleep mode), and only when a radio signal is received, a time constant switch circuit such as a one-shot multivibrator is triggered. Thus, power is supplied to the load for a certain period of time, and after a certain period of time, the system automatically returns to the sleep mode again. The function of the wake-up circuit 38 makes it possible to reduce the consumption of the detector battery 23.

The detection signal detected by the detector 7 is transmitted to an alarm device 8.
In this case, transmission by wire is the simplest and has good noise resistance. However, when the detector 7 is installed in the site 2, there is little problem in the construction even with the wired transmission, but when the detector 7 is installed outside the site 2, it is extremely difficult to lay the wire. Therefore, as shown in FIG.
-422 An infrared space transmission / transmission unit 39 or an RF transmission / transmission unit 41 is installed in the alarm device 8 in parallel with the driver 22.
-422 Infrared spatial transmission receiver 4 in parallel with receiver 24
By providing 0 or the RF transmission receiving unit 42 and the OR circuit 43, it is possible to transmit the detection signal by wire or wirelessly. When the distance between the infrared space transmission / transmission unit 39 and the infrared space transmission / reception unit 40 exceeds approximately 500 m, the effective communication distance of the infrared signal is short, and it is preferable to use an infrared laser beam instead.

[0010] When the detector 7 is installed outside the site 2, there is a further problem in power supply as a problem in construction. The detector battery 23 may be an alkaline dry battery or a Ni-Cd battery, but the replacement work, especially the replacement of the battery of the detector 7 installed outside the site 2 is not only very troublesome, but also when the battery is not noticed. Becomes undetectable. So Figure 1
In the embodiment shown in FIG. 0, a three-way power supply system of power supply from a solar cell power supply 44 and an alarm device 8 is adopted as a power supply for the detector in addition to the battery 23 built in the detector 7, and an optimal power supply system according to an installation environment. Can be selected. When the detector 7 is installed on a fence or the like of the site 2, wired transmission is also possible. Therefore, a power supply line is laid in parallel with the transmission line, and power is supplied from the alarm device 8. On the other hand, when installed outside the site 2, the infrared transmission or the RF transmission system is adopted, and the power supply is also supplied from the solar battery 44, so that the problem on the installation work can be avoided. The configuration of the charge / discharge circuit of the solar cell 44 includes a backflow prevention diode 45, an electric double layer capacitor 46, and a discharge control circuit 47 as shown in FIG. In particular, by using an electric double layer capacitor 46 instead of a normal lead battery as a battery, it is possible to provide a power supply device that is small and compact, has high use efficiency of stored energy, does not require battery replacement, and can withstand low temperatures. The capacity of the electric double-layer capacitor 46 needs to be selected from the statistics of the sunshine duration so that the power can be supplied sufficiently even when there is no sunshine about three to four days. This makes it possible to configure a highly reliable detector 7 that does not require a battery replacement operation.

[0011] FIG.
This will be described with reference to FIG. Depending on whether the place where the detector 7 is installed is inside or outside the building 1, the built-in place information setting unit 21 is set in the detector 7 to a distinguishable place code. If the location code of the detection signal received by the detection signal decoding unit 25 of the alarm device 8 is outdoors, an alarm sound and an alarm message are issued as described above, and the location and personal number are displayed. On the other hand, when the location code of the detection signal is indoors, the detection signal is determined by the detection signal decoding unit 25 and
Outputs D code and location code. In this case the alarm sound,
Alternatively, the current location of each person is displayed on the location display LED 51 by the matrix type location display device 50 shown in FIG. 12 without issuing an alarm message. In addition, the detector 7 installed indoors receives signals from a plurality of transmitters 6 simultaneously.
There is a possibility of so-called call collision. In order to solve this problem, a method is generally used in which the transmitter 6 and the detector 7 are configured as a two-way communication system to perform collision detection and avoidance processing. The method can be applied to the present system, but the system becomes complicated. The price is also expensive. Therefore, the method of setting the transmission cycle of the transmitter 6 to a different value, providing a buffer memory for the detection information in the alarm device 8, temporarily storing each detection information therein, and reading it out by polling processing is sufficiently practical.

[0013] FIG.
This will be described with reference to FIG. A portable detection signal transmitting unit 52 and a portable detection signal transmitting antenna 53 of a different frequency or a different modulation method from the transmitter 6 are added to the detection signal decoding unit 25 of the alarm device 8, and the alarm device 8 is provided with a detector. When a detection signal is received from the device 7, an alarm is issued and a portable detection signal including personal identification information and location information is wirelessly emitted. 54 includes a portable detection signal receiving antenna 55, a portable detection signal receiving unit 56, a portable detection signal demodulation unit 57, an alarm sound generation unit 58, a small liquid crystal display, and the like. Portable detection signal display section 59
And the same information as the alarm device 8 is displayed.

The patent of the present invention described in claim 5 will be described with reference to FIG. Detection signal decoding unit 24 of alarm device 8
By adding the automatic message transmitting unit 60 and the automatic dialer 61 to the system, it is possible to transmit a warning message by calling a predetermined partner with the automatic dialer 61 when receiving the detection signal. Auto Dialer 6
If a rescue network including a public institution such as a general household, a neighborhood association or a neighborhood association, a store, or a police or the like is set in advance as a setting destination, it is very effective for early detection and early rescue.

Although the above description has been made with reference to the case of an elderly person with senile dementia (Alzheimer's disease), the same system can be applied to the investigation of abduction cases of newborn infants and the like and the search for lost children. If a micro transmitter is attached to a vehicle, it can be applied to the pursuit of cash transport vehicles, stolen vehicles, and expensive stolen paintings and movables. Furthermore, if it is attached to pets, it can be applied to the search for missing animals.

[0015]

As described above in detail, according to the first aspect of the present invention, it is possible to track and search not only in a hospital or a facility for the elderly but also the location of an elderly person who unfortunately wanders outside the facility. Becomes In addition, if the minimum system configuration is used, it can be realized at a low cost and can be applied to the case of an elderly person who is cared for in a general home. When the detector is installed outside the site, it is necessary to obtain the help of a professional company such as installation work for a building, power supply work, wiring work, and there is a problem in terms of cost. By adopting the wireless transmission and the solar battery of the second aspect, the mounting work can be easily performed even by an individual. According to the third aspect, since the caregiver can constantly monitor the current location of the wandering elderly person or the like, the monitoring can be performed while performing other work. Further, the setting destination of the auto dial according to claim 5 is several hundred meters from a facility or a home.
Choosing a store, public facility, or general household along the path that an elderly person who is distant and wandering can pass will also provide the cooperation of neighboring residents.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is an embodiment of a configuration diagram of a wandering elderly person search system according to claim 1 of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a diagram illustrating a configuration of a micro transmitter according to claim 1 of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a diagram illustrating a configuration of a detector according to claim 1 of the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a diagram illustrating a configuration of an alarm device according to claim 1 of the present invention.

FIG. 5 is a diagram illustrating an embodiment of a method for displaying alarm information in the alarm device according to claim 1 of the present invention.

FIG. 6 is a view for explaining another embodiment of a method for displaying alarm information in the alarm device according to claim 1 of the present invention.

FIG. 7 is a diagram illustrating a configuration of a transmitter according to claim 2 of the present invention.

FIG. 8 is a diagram illustrating a configuration of a detector according to claim 2 of the present invention.

FIG. 9 is a diagram illustrating a signal transmission method between the detector and the alarm device according to claim 2 of the present invention.

FIG. 10 is a diagram illustrating a power supply method for a detector according to claim 2 of the present invention.

FIG. 11 is a diagram illustrating a configuration of an alarm device according to claim 3 of the present invention.

FIG. 12 is a diagram illustrating a method for displaying whereabouts information of an alarm device according to claim 6 of the present invention.

FIG. 13 is a diagram illustrating a configuration of an alarm device according to claim 4 of the present invention.

FIG. 14 is a diagram illustrating a configuration of a portable alarm device according to a fourth embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 15 is a diagram illustrating a configuration of an alarm device according to claim 5 of the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

 1 Building 2 Site 3 Entrance 4 Gate 5 Road 6a-6b · Ultra small transmitters 7a to 7f · · · Detector 8 · · · Alarm device 9 · · · · Group code setting unit 10 ··· ID code setting unit 11 ··· ... Encoding unit 12 ... Modulation / transmission unit 13 ... Transmission antenna 14 ... Power switch 15 ... Transmitter battery 16 ... · Receiving antenna 17 ··· Receiving section 18 ··· Decoding section 19 ··· Group code setting section 20 ··· Detection signal combining section 21 ··· Location information setting section 22 RS-422 driver section 23 Detector batteries 24a to 24k RS-422 ·················································· Location information Display processing unit 29 Alarm buzzer 30 Speaker 31 Segment LED 32 LED 33 Location display label 34 Kanji display device 35 Kanji display device 36 Multivibrator 37 Switching transistor 38 ············· Wakeup circuit 39 ············································································································································ − ..RF transmission receiver 43 ... OR circuit 4 Solar cell 45 Backflow prevention diode 46 Electric double layer capacitor 47 Discharge control circuit 48 ..Battery changeover switch 49 ... Location display circuit 50 ... Matrix type location display device 51 ... Location LED 52 ... Portable Detection signal transmission unit 53 ························································································· ··· Portable detection signal receiving unit 57 ····· Portable detection signal demodulation unit 58 ····· Alarm sound generation unit 59 ····· Portable detection signal display unit 60・ ・ ・ ・ ・ ・ Automatic message transmitter 61 ・ ・ ・ ・ ・ ・ Auto dialer

Claims (5)

[Claims] 1. A plurality of micro transmitters containing identifiable personal identification information, a plurality of detectors containing identifiable location information, a display for displaying the personal identification information and location information, and a voice. In a system configured with an alarm device equipped with an alarm device, a plurality of persons carry the transmitter with personal identification information different from each other, and carry it to a building entrance, a gate, or a telephone pole outside the site. Attach the detectors having different location information respectively, install the alarm device inside the building, transmit personal identification information by radio signal from the transmitter to the detector, and The alarm device is configured to be connected by wire, and when any one of the transmitters approaches within a certain distance range from any one of the detectors, the individual received by the detector is Identification The alarm device outputs a detection signal obtained by synthesizing the information and the built-in location information to the alarm device, and the alarm device displays the personal identification information and the location information and issues an audio alert to issue a current location of the specific individual. A search system for wandering elderly people, etc., characterized by specifying a place. 2. In the same system configuration as in claim 1, the microminiature transmitter adopts an intermittent transmission system in which a short-time radio signal is transmitted at regular time intervals, and the detector is controlled by the transmitter. When the wireless signal is not received, the device operates in the sleep mode, and is activated by the wake-up circuit only when the wireless signal is received, and automatically returns to the sleep mode again after outputting the detection signal to the alarm device for a certain period of time. And a configuration in which the detection signal from the plurality of detectors to the alarm device is selected and transmitted by any one of wired or radio wave or infrared space transmission, and a built-in battery as a power source of the detector, Solar cells,
A system for searching for a wandering elderly person or the like, wherein three types of power supplies, which are supplied from the alarm device, can be used. 3. In the same system configuration as in claim 1, different location information is allocated between the case where the detector is installed inside a building and the case where it is installed outdoors, and the alarm device is installed inside the building. When a detection signal is received from the detector, only the location of the owner is displayed without issuing an alarm.When a detection signal is received from an outdoor detector, an alarm is sounded and personal identification information is output. A search system for wandering elderly people, etc., characterized by displaying location information. 4. The same system as in claim 1, further comprising, in addition to the alarm device installed inside the building, a portable alarm device which can be carried by a person, wherein the alarm device issues an alarm and the mobile alarm device simultaneously. A search system for a wandering elderly person or the like, wherein a warning signal including the personal identification information and the location information is issued to a device by a wireless signal. 5. The same system as in claim 1, wherein the alarm device includes an automatic dial device and an automatic message transmitting device, and simultaneously issues an alarm and notifies a specific partner or organization set in the automatic dial device. Characteristic search system for wandering elderly people.