Multi-function thermostat with health monitoring features

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-10345781-B2
Application number	US-201615336789-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Oct 28, 2016
Priority date	Oct 28, 2015
Publication date	Jul 9, 2019
Grant date	Jul 9, 2019

Abstract

A multi-function thermostat for a building includes a communication interface and a processing circuit. The communications interface is configured to communicate with an emergency server and receive occupant health data from one or more health sensors configured to monitor an occupant of the building. The processing circuit is configured to determine a health metric associated with the occupant based on the occupant health data and cause the communications interface to send a distress message to the emergency server when the health metric associated with the occupant indicates a medical emergency.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A multi-function thermostat for a building, the thermostat comprising:
one or more sensors configured to measure an environmental condition of a building space;
a user interface configured to receive input from a user and display output, wherein the input comprises a setpoint value for the environmental condition;
a communications interface configured to:
provide operating parameters to HVAC equipment based on a measurement from the one or more sensors and the setpoint value to control the environmental condition of the building space;
communicate with an emergency server; and
receive occupant health data from one or more health sensors configured to monitor an occupant of the building, wherein the occupant health data comprise a plurality of health values indicating measured biological conditions of the occupant; and

a processing circuit configured to:
calculate a health metric associated with the occupant based on the plurality of health values, wherein the health metric is a function of the plurality of health values and indicates health of the occupant;
cause the communications interface to send a medical distress message to the emergency server when the health metric associated with the occupant indicates a medical emergency of the occupant; and
cause the user interface to display an indication of the medical emergency when the health metric associated with the occupant indicates the medical emergency, the indication of the medical emergency comprising a name of the occupant and a description of a type of the medical emergency.

2. The thermostat of claim 1 , wherein the communications interface is configured to communicate with occupancy sensors;
wherein the processing circuit is configured to identify the occupant based on occupancy data received from the occupancy sensors.

3. The thermostat of claim 1 , wherein at least one of the one or more health sensors is a smart wrist band and the health values comprise at least one of a heart rate and a body temperature.

4. The thermostat of claim 1 , wherein the processing circuit is configured to determine the health metric associated with the occupant by:
comparing each of the health values indicating the measured biological conditions of the occupant to one or more stored threshold values, wherein the health values comprise a body temperature of the occupant, a heat rate of the occupant, and an insulin level of the occupant; and
calculating the health metric based on a result of the comparing.

5. The thermostat of claim 1 , wherein:
the health values comprise a measured heart rate of the occupant; and
the processing circuit is configured to determine the health metric associated with the occupant by monitoring the measured heart rate for heart arrhythmia.

6. The thermostat of claim 1 , wherein:
the emergency server comprises at least one of an emergency response operator server, a nurses' station computing system, and a hospital server; and
the medical distress message comprises a description of the medical emergency associated with the occupant.

7. The thermostat of claim 1 , wherein the processing circuit is configured to push health messages to a user device, wherein the health messages comprise at least one of the medical distress message, a reminder to take medication, and a reminder for an appointment.

8. The thermostat of claim 1 , wherein:
the communications interface is configured to communicate with a hospital server; and
the processing circuit is configured to push the occupant health data to the hospital server via the communications interface.

9. The thermostat of claim 1 ,
wherein the indication of the medical emergency further comprises an indication of a location of the occupant in the building.

10. A method for operating a multi-function thermostat for a building, the thermostat comprising one or more sensors configured to measure an environmental condition of a building space, a user interface configured to receive a setpoint value for the environmental condition, and a communications interface configured to provide operating parameters to HVAC equipment based on a measurement from the one or more sensors and the setpoint value to control the environmental condition of the building space, the method comprising:
receiving occupant health data comprising a plurality of health values indicating measured biological conditions of an occupant from one or more health sensors via the communications interface of the thermostat;
calculating a health metric associated with the occupant of the building based on the plurality of health values, wherein the health metric is a function of the plurality of health values and indicates health of the occupant;
causing the communications interface to send a medical distress message to an emergency server when the health metric associated with the occupant indicates a medical emergency of the occupant; and
causing the user interface of the thermostat to display an indication of the medical emergency when the health metric associated with the occupant indicates the medical emergency, the indication of the medical emergency comprising a name of the occupant and a description of a type of the medical emergency.

11. The method of claim 10 , further comprising:
receiving occupancy data from one or more occupancy sensors via the communications interface; and
identifying the occupant based on occupancy data received from the occupancy sensors.

12. The method of claim 10 , wherein the health sensors comprise a smart wrist band and the health values comprise at least one of a heart rate and a body temperature.

13. The method of claim 10 , wherein:
the health values comprise a heart rate; and
determining the health metric comprises monitoring the heart rate for heart arrhythmia.

14. The method of claim 10 , wherein the emergency server comprises at least one of an emergency response operator server, a nurses' station computing system, and a hospital server, and the medical distress message comprises a description of the medical emergency associated with the occupant.

15. The method of claim 10 , wherein the indication of the medical emergency further comprises an indication of a location of the occupant in the building.

16. The method of claim 10 , wherein the method further comprises causing the communications interface to push the occupant health data received from the health sensors to a hospital server via the communications interface.

17. A multi-function thermostat for a building, the thermostat comprising:
one or more sensors configured to measure an environmental condition of a building space;
a user interface configured to receive input from a user and display output, wherein the input comprises a setpoint value for the environmental condition;
a communications interface configured to:
provide operating parameters to HVAC equipment based on a measurement from the one or more sensors and the setpoint value to control the environmental condition of the building space;
communicate with a second thermostat for the building, the second thermostat located in a different location within the building than the thermostat; and
receive health data from a wearable health sensor, wherein the occupant health data comprise a plurality of health values indicating measured biological conditions of an individual wearing the health sensor; and

a processing circuit configured to:
calculate a health metric associated with the individual wearing the wearable health sensor based on the plurality of health values, wherein the heal

Assignees

• Johnson Controls Tech Co

Inventors

• Sinha Sudhi
• Ribbich Joseph R
• Ribbich Michael L
• Gaidish Charles J
• Cipolla John P

Classifications

• H05B47/11

  by determining the brightness or colour temperature of ambient light · CPC title

• A61B5/1113

  Local tracking of patients, e.g. in a hospital or private home · CPC title

• A61B5/681

  Wristwatch-type devices · CPC title

• G06Q20/405

  Establishing or using transaction specific rules · CPC title

• H04W64/00

  Locating users or terminals {or network equipment} for network management purposes, e.g. mobility management · CPC title