Patent Application
20140366249
Not Applicable.
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Not Applicable.
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to personal electronic signaling devices and in particular to a universally adaptable transforming styled cover sleeve for transforming any personal emergency help button device into a familiar clothing accessory which is visually appealing and socially acceptable and which is interchangeable to enable a user to remove and replace the styled cover sleeve with a differently styled cover sleeve to match the style of clothing of the wearer to encourage wearing the transformed clothing accessory covering the transformed personal emergency help button at all times for the safety and security of the wearer to be able to signal for emergency help whenever it is needed to save the homes and lives of the many people who often do not wear their emergency personal help button devices because of the stigma associated with the devices and the unattractive medical appearance of the devices which do not fit with any style of clothing.
2. Description of Related Art Including Information Disclosed Under 37 CFR 1.97 and 1.98
For any person in danger of experiencing any medical emergency or other emergency, the person is usually provided with an emergency Personal Help Button (PHB) device normally worn on the person hanging from a cord around the neck of the person, on a strap around the wrist of the person, or on a clip-on attachment to the belt of the person. The device normally consists of a plastic case with a large button located on the face of the case to push to signal emergency response services to provide immediate emergency help to the person in need pressing the button. The case with the rather large button is clearly an emergency help button which does not resemble any accessories normally worn by other people, and is therefore a socially unacceptable stigma and a signal that the person wearing the emergency help button may be weak and vulnerable.
Many people, especially women (who are the vast majority of Personal Emergency Response Service customers), do not want to wear the Personal Help Button (PHB) since it looks unattractive and looks like a medical alert button and can signal to them and others that they are weak and frail. Often people have the service but don't wear the PHB since it looks “ugly” or casts a social stigma or signal of vulnerability to others; therefore they don't have the PHB when they need it and could possible suffer serious health difficulties or even death because emergency help will not be sent when it is needed. If a person falls and lies on the floor without the necessary emergency medical response help for an hour or more, if that person survives, often that person never fully recovers and cannot return to that person's home, but that person must live in some kind of heath care facility.
Prior art devices generally do not take into consideration the importance of providing an emergency help button that people will actually wear all of the time to insure that they can activate the emergency help button to receive emergency help when it is in range in the home whenever and wherever it is needed. A few signaling devices have been fabricated into other things so they are not seen, but the prior art fails to produce a more universal solution to insure that everyone who has an emergency help button device can transform it into something they will feel comfortable wearing all of the time.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,121,160, issued Oct. 17, 1978 to Cataldo is for a miniature concealable radio alarm transmitter to be worn on the person, a switch means to activate the transmitter. The transmitter is preferably flat in shape, and includes a small battery which extends across the end of the circuit board. Two spring contact members extend adjacent each end of the battery, which has button-type terminals on its ends. A soft sponge elastomer spacer is fitted between each contact member and its end of the battery. The spacer has a central hole. Finger pressure against either spring member forces it toward the adjacent battery terminal to make contact therewith. To connect the battery to the circuit and energize the alarm transmitter, both spring members must be squeezed toward each other from opposite sides of the transmitter, making contact with each battery terminal. It is thus difficult to accidentally activate the transmitter. The switch means comprises two switches in series. The whole device is preferably cased in a bag-like enclosure of soft flexible material with a cord adapted to be hung around the wearer's neck.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,300,129, issued Nov. 10, 1981 to Cataldo, illustrates a concealable signaling, e.g., radio alarm, device worn on the person and actuated by concealed switch means that include mechanical detents. The engagement of the detents provides secret tactile information back to the wearer. The presently preferred embodiment is a miniature radio alarm transmitter concealed in a device which also serves as a belt buckle. The wearer distends his waist to actuate the transmitter. Tension in the belt moves an element through one or more detent engagements before it activates the transmitter. These detent engagements make transient changes in the belt tension which are felt by the wearer; these inform the wearer of impending activation, so preventing false transmitter signals or alarms.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,692,749, issued Sep. 8, 1987 to Bussing, provides a wearable alarm, which can be in the form of a religious cross, jewelry or decorative article or the like, normally found on the user's person, which, through simple sliding action, achieves completion of a contained electrical circuitry and the energization of an audible signaling device. Entry to the operative components may be achieved in any manner, depending on the article in which the alarm is presented and, additionally, the audible alarm varied to provide a warning at any pre-selected distance from the wearer.
U.S. Pat. No. D542,165, issued May 8, 2007 to Ayr-Popowski, shows a design for a heart-shaped pendant with reverse side having concealed alarm transmitter.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,420,570 (and U.S. Pat. No. 5,258,746), issued May 30, 1995 to Leitten, et al, describes a personal alarm which is compact, portable and fashionably designed. In one embodiment, this personal alarm is structurally incorporated into a wrist watch with the alarm components arranged thereon in a fanciful yet highly functional manner. This alarm may also be structurally incorporated into other conventional items such as a bracelet, pendant, necklace, keychain ornament, or any other conventional item which is often carried by the persons to be protected. In a further embodiment, the compact size is achieved without sacrificing intensity in the alarm signal by incorporating a specially wound autotransformer and an efficient switching device so as to provide a tuned warbling signal upon a piezoelectric transducer. Additionally, the alarm may be activated or deactivated by manually actuating an actuator, such as a switch or plurality of switches, in a particular sequence.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,491,970, issued Jan. 1, 1985 to LaWhite, et al., puts forth a small portable radio transmitter unit which can be worn on the wrist or suspended from a neck chain to provide immediate access in the event of an emergency condition and without interfering with the normal day-to-day activities of the wearer. The unit is contained within a watertight housing having a resilient membrane depressible by finger pressure to actuate a button switch within the housing for actuation of the transmitter. The housing is vented to the atmosphere to provide equalization of internal and ambient pressure in a manner providing isolation from water or other liquid entry to thereby maintain a watertight enclosure.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,668,528, issued Jun. 6, 1972 to Hutchinson, et al, concerns a housing assembly for miniature radio apparatus, such as a radio pager, having a molded frame member which supports the chassis and forms one end and two opposite sides of a housing. A U-shaped cover member slides in grooves in the frame member to form the other end and the other two sides of the housing, thereby providing a completely enclosed housing. Space for a battery is provided adjacent the end of the housing formed by the frame member, and the cover can slide with respect to the frame member to open the housing at that end to afford access to the battery. A detent is provided on the frame member which engages the cover member to hold the cover completely closed. A clip for holding the radio apparatus in a pocket includes a button to release the detent to permit the cover to slide for access to the battery. A second detent prevents further movement of the cover with respect to the housing preventing access to the radio chassis, with a key being required to release the second detent for removal of the cover from the frame member. Both single use and rechargeable batteries can be used, and contacts are provided in the housing for connecting the rechargeable battery to a charger.
U.S. Patent Application #20120212339, published Aug. 23, 2012 by Goldblatt, describes a transmitter, GPS, clock and, optionally, a microphone, video camera and identification signal means, and health monitoring sensors that are housed in personal articles such as a pendant, a watch, a ring, mobile telephone, or other personal article. The article is disguised to look like it does not have all or some of said features, and is provided with a switching device, preferably operable with one hand, to turn the transmitter on. Preferably, the switching device has two switching elements which require simultaneous operation to energize the transmitter, so as to minimize false alarms. The method of use includes selecting the best-suited type of transmitter, causing emergency personnel to be prepared to act when receiving transmission from the alarm device, and advising users on carrying the modified personal article when protection is desired.
What is needed is a universally applicable device that can be installed on any emergency help button device to transform the emergency help button device into a normally worn clothing accessory which is acceptable and attractive to the person in need and to others to insure that everyone who has an emergency help button device can transform it into something they will feel comfortable wearing all of the time.
A primary object of the present invention is to save the homes and save the lives of people who should be wearing an emergency personal help button device at all times to signal for emergency help when needed by providing a visually appealing universally adaptable styled cover sleeve device for transforming any personal emergency help button device into a normally worn clothing accessory which is visually appealing to encourage wearing the transformed personal emergency help button at all times for the safety and security of the wearer to be able to signal for emergency help whenever it is needed.
A corollary object of the present invention is to provide a decorative stretchable tubular sleeve configured to be adjustably and interchangeably installed over and cover any of a variety of personal emergency help button devices of various shapes and sizes and having various means of attachment to transform the personal emergency help button and housing into a commonly worn clothing accessory which is attractive and acceptable to the user and to others so that the transformed clothing accessory covering the help button will be worn by the user at all times.
Another related object of the present invention is to provide an interchangeable styled cover sleeve to enable a user to remove and replace the styled cover sleeve with a differently styled cover sleeve to match the style of clothing of the wearer to encourage wearing the transformed clothing accessory covering the transformed personal emergency help button at all times for the safety and security of the wearer to be able to signal for emergency help whenever it is needed to save the homes and lives of the many people who often do not wear their emergency personal help button devices because of the stigma associated with the devices and the unattractive medical appearance of the devices which do not fit with any style of clothing.
One more object of the present invention is to provide interchangeable cover sleeves which are styled for special occasions or events or locations such as holiday themed cover sleeves, sports and arts themed cover sleeves, and birthday or other occasion themed cover sleeves.
An added object of the present invention is to provide a personal help button cover sleeve using washable material which allows removal and cleaning of the material and allows the converted personal help button with the cover sleeve around it to be worn in the shower or bath or swimming so that the personal help button may be worn by the user at all times so that the personal help button is always available to signal for emergency help when needed.
A related object of the present invention is provide that any appliqués on the outer surface of the personal help button cover sleeve are attached by waterproof means including waterproof adhesives or sewing or other waterproof connecting means so that the transformed personal help button with the cover sleeve around the personal help button may be worn by the user at all times.
In brief, the present invention provides a stretchable interchangeable styled cover sleeve formed of stretchable tubular material in a variety of styles and colors with a variety of attachments to fit cover and camouflage any of a wide variety of emergency personal help button devices to transform the personal help button devices into a styled clothing accessory to match the style of clothing being worn by a user so that the user will always wear the transformed styled clothing accessory and be able to push the personal help button whenever and wherever it is needed.
Preferably a styled cover sleeve may be fabricated in the form of a highly stretchable thin SPANDEX material in the shape of a tube with a stretchable opening at each end, made in various styles, colors, patterns, imprints, insignia, characters, logos, and other decorative exterior features which is universal to fit interchangeably on most emergency personal help button devices, with a limited number of different shapes and sizes for extreme shapes and sizes of personal help button devices. Various decorative attachments can be applied to the cover sleeve by waterproof attachment means. A button pressing portion of the cover sleeve positioned over the personal help button may be indicated by a visual or tactile surface of the cover sleeve or a decorative attachment on the button pressing portion of the cover sleeve. The material of the cover sleeve is sufficiently thin and flexible, at least over the button pressing portion, so that the ridges or indent of the actual pressable portion of the personal help button can be felt through the cover sleeve under the button pressing portion.
The styled cover sleeve of the present invention can transform all types of personal help button (PHB) devices used for service with Personal Emergency Response Systems/Services (PERS) including the personal help button device on a pendant (most popular) transformed into a necklace, on a wristband transformed into a bracelet, on a key ring transformed into a decorative key ring and on a belt clip transformed into a styled belt clip.
An advantage of the present invention is that it provides a means to ensure that people will always want to wear their transformed clothing accessory with the camouflaged personal help so they can survive and can maintain their ability to reside in their home in a health-threatening emergency by responding instantly for emergency help when needed.
Another advantage of the present invention is that it provides a wide variety of designer styles and colors of personal help button cover sleeves.
An added advantage of the present invention is that it provides a personal help button cover sleeve using soft flexible thin material on at least one button pressing portion of the cover sleeve to enable the personal help button to be easily pressed through the button pressing portion of the sleeve.
An ensuing advantage of the present invention is that it is washable and can be worn in the shower or bath or swimming so that the personal help button may be worn by the user at all times so that the personal help button is always available to signal for emergency help when needed.
A related advantage of the present invention is that waterproof attachments of any appliqués or embroidered design or initial on the outer surface of the personal help button further ensure that the personal help button may be worn by the user at all times.
These and other details of the present invention will be described in connection with the accompanying drawings, which are furnished only by way of illustration and not in limitation of the invention, and in which drawings:
In
In
The adjustable, removable, and interchangeable tubular cover sleeve 10 enables the user to remove and interchange the cover sleeve with another differently styled cover sleeve to transform the personal help button device into another familiar clothing accessory having a different style to match another style of clothing of the user, to encourage wearing the transformed decorative clothing accessory at all times so the personal help button 30 is always available to the user to press for emergency help when needed.
The cover sleeve 10 further comprises a button pressing portion 9 of the cover sleeve positioned over a compressible help button 30 on the personal emergency help button device, as shown in
In
The styled tubular cover sleeve 10 is fabricated of any of a variety of different materials taken from a list of different materials including SPANDEX, LYCRA, NEOPRENE, NYLON, ELASTANE, a stretchable blend of materials, rubber, stretchable cotton, woven fabric material combined with at least one stretchable end opening 11, stretchable silk, silk material combined with at least one stretchable end opening 11, stretchable velvet, velvet material combined with at least one stretchable end opening 11, stretchable satin, satin with at least one stretchable end opening 11.
The styled tubular cover sleeve 10 comprises any of a variety of outer surfaces taken from the list of outer surfaces including a colored surface, a patterned surface, an indicia bearing surface, an image bearing surface, a textured surface, an imprinted surface, a combined surface, a natural fabric surface, a styled surface, a coated surface, a painted surface, a metallic surface, a rumpled surface, a padded surface, an embroidered surface, an iron-on patch surface and/or sewn-on patch surface.
The styled tubular cover sleeve 10 further comprises at least one personal adornment attached to the outer surface taken from a list of personal adornments including at least one flat ornamental bead, at least one sequin, at least one ornamental button 12 (shown in
The styled tubular cover sleeve 10 is fabricated of a material that can dry easily after getting wet to enable washing the material and to enable wearing the emergency help button 30 with the cover sleeve in a shower or bath and in inclement weather so that the emergency button 30 may be worn at all times by the user.
The styled clothing accessory may further comprise any of the following means for supporting the styled clothing accessory on the body of a wearer, including a neck encircling element 40 so that the styled clothing accessory comprises a styled necklace worn by a user, as shown in
The cover sleeve 10 preferably further comprises a distinguishable element positioned on the button pressing portion 9 of the cover sleeve 10 over the personal help button 30 to indicate to a user where to press on the cover sleeve to activate the personal help button 30 underneath the distinguishable element to signal for emergency help, the distinguishable element having a size and shape equal to or smaller than the personal help button 30 to insure that the user will push only the personal help button 30 and not push any other part of a casing or housing surrounding the personal help button.
The distinguishable element comprises at least one visible element taken from the list of visible elements including at least one printed indicia, at least one embroidered indicia, at least one attachment, at least one pattern variation, at least one color variation, at least one shape variation, at least one texture variation distinguishing the button pressing portion 9 of the cover sleeve 10.
The distinguishable element may comprise at least one tactile element taken from the list of tactile elements including at least one tactile fabric variation, at least one texture variation, at least one added tactile material, at least one tactile decorative element, at least one tactile functional element.
The cover distinguishable element may comprise at least one audible element taken from the list of audible elements including at least one sound producing finger heat sensing element, at least one sound producing finger sensing light sensor element, at least one sound producing finger detecting proximity sensing element.
The distinguishable element may comprise at least one combination element taken from the list of combination elements including at least one visible element combined with at least one audible element, at least one visible element combined with at least one tactile element, at least one audible element combined with at least one tactile element, and at least one visible element combined with at least one audible element and at least one tactile element.
The at least one visible element combined with at least one tactile element may comprise at least one personal adornment, attached to the button pressing portion 9 on an outer surface 8 of the tubular cover sleeve 10, taken from a list of personal adornments including at least one flat ornamental bead, at least one sequin, at least one ornamental button 12 as shown in
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Means for signaling a user that the emergency help button has been pressed properly through the cover sleeve to send a signal for emergency help may comprise a sound chip or an LED or both which are activated by pressure or motion of a piezoelectric device or other sound producing and/or light producing mechanisms attached to the button pressing portion 9 of the cover sleeve 10, such as a pressure sensitive switch 2 attached inside the cover sleeve 10 below the decorative emblem 15, as shown in
Preferred options for cover sleeve material include fancy thin SPANDEX or thin LYCRA or other stretchable fabric in a wide variety of colors and designs and fancy SPANDEX fabric with sparkles, gold or silver thread, or shiny metallic thread designs.
The SPANDEX cover sleeve 10 may be further enhanced with flat ornamental beads or sequins or ornamental buttons 12 or lockets or charms or pendants 14 or any other decorative element each smaller than the emergency button 30 adhered to the button pressing portion 9 of the sleeve with special waterproof stretch fabric glue or sewn onto the outside of the sleeve centered over the position of the emergency button 30 so that the outside elements indicate visually as well as tactilely where the user presses on the cover sleeve to activate the emergency help button below it.
Other variations can be added to the cover sleeve 10 to enhance the look and appeal in the form of characters. The cover sleeve can be decorated like a dog with the fluffy ears attached to the side of the sleeve, having a silk screen imprinted dog face on the cover; or angel wings attached to the side of the cover sleeve to be the “guardian” angel with the angel image imprinted on the cover sleeve.
There can be sets of three or more styled cover sleeves 10 in a package of differently styled cover sleeves for mixing and matching with various clothing styles or differently styled holiday or themed kits.
For men or women, a preferred embodiment may be a SPANDEX cover sleeve 10 that has a silk screen printed or embroidered or ironed on patch design of an insignia such as sports teams (Red Sox), sports paraphernalia (football 15 as shown in
In use, as shown in
In
To prepare for installation, the cover sleeve 10 and the emergency personal help button device 20C are both placed on a flat surface, such as a table or counter top, aligned for installation adjacent to each other with the front of the cover sleeve 10 having the decorative element 16 and button pressing portion 9 facing up and the front of the emergency personal help button device 20C having the emergency help button 30 facing up. The cover sleeve 10 is positioned closer to the user on the table with a top opening 11 of the cover tube close to the bottom of the emergency help button device 20C.
STEP 1: the user inserts a tip of one index finger into the top opening 11A of the cover sleeve just enough to spread open the top opening 11A as indicated by ARROW 1 in
STEP 2: the user pinches each side edge of the top opening 11A of the cover sleeve with a thumb and middle finger of each hand and pulls outwardly on both sides, as shown by ARROWS 2 to stretch the top opening wider than the bottom of the emergency help button device while still holding the top opening 11A open with the index finger of one hand, as shown in
STEP 3: the user pushes the emergency help button device 20C into the top opening 11A of the cover sleeve with the other index finger pushing down on the top 21 of the emergency help button device with the device flat on the table aligned with the cover sleeve top opening 11, as shown by ARROW 3, in
STEP 4: after removing the user's first index finger from the top opening 11 of the cover sleeve, the first index finger may be used to push the emergency help button device into the cover sleeve as indicated by ARROW 4 in
STEP 5: after the emergency help button device 20C is fully inserted in the cover sleeve 10 and the cover sleeve button pressing portion 9 with the personal adornment 16 has been checked for alignment with the emergency personal help button 30 underneath the cover sleeve, then the transformed decorative personal clothing accessory having the concealed emergency help button must be tested by actually pressing the cover sleeve button pressing portion 9 with the personal adornment 16 is pressed to press the emergency help button underneath and signal the emergency help service that the emergency help button works 30 underneath the cover sleeve 10.
Styled cover sleeves 10 may be easily removed by holding an opposite end of a first styled cover sleeve 10 matching a first clothing style and pulling the personal help device 20A, 20B, 20C, and 20D out of the first styled cover sleeve 10 and inserting the personal help device into a differently styled second styled cover sleeve to match a different second clothing style.
It is understood that the preceding description is given merely by way of illustration and not in limitation of the invention and that various modifications may be made thereto without departing from the spirit of the invention as claimed.
