Waist measuring belt

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-10845260-B2
Application number	US-201916433052-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Jun 6, 2019
Priority date	Dec 1, 2014
Publication date	Nov 24, 2020
Grant date	Nov 24, 2020

Abstract

In various example embodiments, devices, systems, and methods for a waist measuring belt are provided. An example waist measuring belt is made up of a belt buckle frame with attachments for a belt strap. The belt further includes a position measuring module coupled to the belt buckle frame that measures an attachment position of a second end of the belt strap to the belt buckle frame. The belt also includes a tension measuring module coupled to the belt buckle frame that measures a tension through the belt buckle frame and the belt strap. A memory and a wireless communication module attached to the belt may be used to store measurements and communicate with a mobile device or server. In various embodiments, estimated user waist sizes over time using measured values and belt-specific data may be used to estimate a user's waist size and generate a waist size history.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A method of estimating waist sizes, the method comprising:
receiving, from a first sensor of a belt buckle frame, tension data that indicates a plurality of tensions between the belt buckle frame and a belt strap over a time interval;
receiving, from a second sensor of the belt buckle frame, position data that indicates an individual discrete attachment area, of a plurality of discrete attachment areas along the belt strap, at which the belt strap is mechanically coupled to a belt attachment of the belt buckle frame;
generating, based on the tension data and the position data, a plurality of estimated waist sizes associated with the time interval;
causing the plurality of estimated waist sizes to be written to a storage device; and
causing a display of a client computing device to render a visual representation of the plurality of estimated waist sizes.

2. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:
measuring, using the first sensor, a first tension of the plurality of tensions between the belt buckle frame and the belt strap, wherein the belt strap, the belt buckle frame, and the first sensor are all mechanically coupled to each other, and wherein the first tension corresponds to a first time during the time interval.

3. The method of claim 2 , further comprising:
determining, based on the position data, a first discrete attachment area of the plurality of discrete attachment areas, wherein the first discrete attachment area corresponds to the first time.

4. The method of claim 3 , further comprising:
estimating, using the first tension and the first discrete attachment area, a first estimated waist size of the plurality of estimated waist sizes.

5. The method of claim 4 , further comprising:
measuring, using the first sensor, a second tension of the plurality of tensions between the belt buckle frame and the belt strap, wherein the second tension corresponds to a second time during the time interval;
determining, based on the position data, a second discrete attachment area of the plurality of discrete attachment areas, wherein the second discrete attachment area corresponds to the second time; and
estimating, using the second tension and the second discrete attachment area, a second estimated waist size of the plurality of estimated waist sizes.

6. The method of claim 1 , wherein the plurality of estimated waist sizes is generated by the client computing device on which the visual representation is displayed, and wherein each of the tension data and the position data are received by the client computing device from over a wireless communication channel.

7. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:
determining a belt strap length associated with the individual discrete attachment area;
determining an adjustment value for the belt strap length based on the tension data; and
determining a first estimated waist size by adjusting the belt strap length by the adjustment value.

8. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:
determining that a first estimated waist size of the plurality of estimated waist sizes is larger than a threshold value of a plurality of threshold values; and
causing an alert in response to determining that the first estimated waist size is larger than the threshold value.

9. The method of claim 8 , wherein causing the alert comprises transmitting a communication to a client computing device.

10. The method of claim 8 , wherein causing the alert comprises generating at least one of a vibration or a sound.

11. The method of claim 1 , further comprising displaying a chart of the plurality of estimated waist sizes, the chart displaying a first estimated waist size that corresponds to a first time and a second estimated waist size that corresponds to a second time.

12. The method of claim 1 , further comprising calibrating the belt to determine the plurality of tensions.

13. The method of claim 12 , further comprising:
storing in a database on a server a plurality of calibrations of different belt types received from a plurality of users; and
updating, based on the plurality of calibrations, information stored in the database for a belt type corresponding to a belt worn comprised of the belt buckle frame and the belt strap.

14. A system comprising:
one or more processors,
memory storing computer-executable instructions that, when executed by the one or more processors, cause the system to perform operations comprising:
receiving, from a first sensor of a belt, tension data that indicates a plurality of tensions between a belt buckle frame of the belt and a belt strap of the belt;
receiving, from a second sensor of the belt, position data that indicates one or more individual attachment areas, of a plurality of available attachment areas along the belt strap, at which the belt strap is mechanically coupled to the belt buckle frame;
generating, based on the tension data and the position data, a plurality of physical measurements in association with a user;
storing the generated physical measurements of the user on a storage device; and
causing a visual representation of the generated physical measurements to be displayed to the user.

15. The system of claim 14 , wherein the operations further comprise:
measuring, using the first sensor, a first tension of the plurality of tensions in a belt strap, wherein the belt strap, the belt buckle frame, the first sensor, and the second sensor are all coupled to each other as part of the belt.

16. A non-transitory computer readable medium comprising instructions that, when executed by a processor cause the processor to perform operations comprising:
receiving, from a first sensor of a belt, tension data that indicates a plurality of tensions between a belt buckle frame of the belt and a belt strap of the belt over a time interval;
receiving, from a second sensor of the belt, position data that indicates one or more individual attachment areas, of a plurality of available attachment areas along the belt strap, at which the belt strap is mechanically coupled to the belt buckle frame;
generating, based on the tension data and the position data, a plurality of physical measurements of a user;
storing the plurality of physical measurements of the user on a storage device of a mobile client device; and
causing the mobile client device to generate a visual representation of the plurality of physical measurements.

17. The method of claim 1 , wherein the first sensor is a stain gauge that is housed within the belt buckle frame, and wherein the second sensor is a contact sensor that is housed within the belt buckle frame.

18. The system of claim 14 , wherein the first sensor is a stain gauge that is housed within the belt buckle frame.

19. The system of claim 18 , wherein the second sensor is a contact sensor that is housed within the belt buckle frame.

20. The non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 16 , wherein the first sensor is a stain gauge that is housed within the belt buckle frame.

Assignees

• Ebay Inc

Inventors

• Robertson Jennifer T
• Luk Bryant Genepang
• He Robert
• Das Ananya
• O'Toole Christopher Diebold
• Tang Yu
• Bates Richard Chapman
• Ziaja Jason

Classifications

• B60N2/0248

  with memory of positions · CPC title

• A41H1/02

  Devices for taking measurements on the human body · CPC title

• G01B21/047

  Accessories, e.g. for positioning, for tool-setting, for measuring probes · CPC title

• G01L5/047 Primary

  Specific indicating or recording arrangements, e.g. for remote indication, for indicating overload or underload · CPC title

• A61B5/0004

  characterised by the type of physiological signal transmitted · CPC title