Hygiene compliance monitoring

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-10997848-B2
Application number	US-201716607857-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Apr 27, 2017
Priority date	Apr 27, 2017
Publication date	May 4, 2021
Grant date	May 4, 2021

Abstract

A system is provided for determining a hygiene compliance metric which indicates a usage of hygiene equipment. The system includes distributed hygiene equipment arranged to dispense a hygiene consumable and/or to dispose of a hygiene consumable, a tag configured to at least transmit radio signals; positioning equipment arranged to determine information on a position of said tag by at least receiving radio signals from said tag; and a processing entity. The processing entity is configured to receive said information on a position of said tag, to define a zone into which said tag may enter, to define a rule, and to calculate said hygiene compliance metric based on said information on the position, said zone, and said rule.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A system for determining a hygiene compliance metric which indicates a usage of hygiene equipment, the system comprising:
distributed hygiene equipment arranged to dispense a hygiene consumable and/or to dispose of a hygiene consumable;
a tag configured to at least transmit radio signals;
positioning equipment arranged to determine information on a position of the tag by at least receiving radio signals from the tag, and configured to determine information on a direction along which a radio signal was received from the tag for determining the information on the position; and
a processing entity which is configured to receive the information on the position of the tag, to define a zone into which the tag may enter, to define a rule, and to calculate the hygiene compliance metric based on the information on the position, the zone, and the rule, wherein the processing entity defining the zone into which the tag may enter includes defining one or more usage zones each surrounding a piece of the distributed hygiene equipment and defining one or more opportunity zones surrounding persons or locations where hygiene consumable use is desired before or after interaction with such persons or locations, and wherein each of the usage zones and each of the opportunity zones is defined by sizing on a human scale to reliably confirm interaction with the distributed hygiene equipment or the persons or locations where hygiene consumable use is desired,
wherein the tag is carried by a user and the processing entity processes the information on the position of the tag in relation to one of the usage zones for determining a usage instance of a piece of the distributed hygiene equipment, and in relation to one of the opportunity zones for determining an opportunity in relation to a usage instance for, in turn, having the processing entity calculate the hygiene compliance metric based on a sequence of positions of the tag to determine for each such opportunity whether a usage instance within a time window before or after the opportunity has occurred at any of the usage zones and can be paired with the opportunity to indicate compliance with desired hygiene practices.

2. The system of claim 1 , wherein the positioning equipment is arranged to determine the information on a received direction based on determining an angle of arrival of a received radio signal.

3. The system of claim 2 , wherein the positioning equipment is arranged to determine the information on a received direction based on determining at least two angles of arrival of a received radio signal and information indicating a vertical height of a tag.

4. The system of claim 1 , wherein another tag is arranged to be associated with a piece of the distributed hygiene equipment and the processing entity is configured to define one of the usage zones in relation to a position of the tag associated with the piece of the distributed hygiene equipment, the one of the usage zones being associated with a usage instance of the piece of the distributed hygiene equipment.

5. The system of claim 1 , wherein another tag is arranged to be associated with an object or individual where hygiene consumable use is desired before or after interaction with the object or individual, and the processing entity is configured to define one of the opportunity zones in relation to a position of the tag associated with the object or individual, the one of the opportunity zones being associated with an opportunity in relation to a usage instance of the piece of distributed hygiene equipment.

6. The system of claim 1 , wherein at least a piece of the distributed hygiene equipment is arranged to detect the usage instance indicating a use of the piece of the distributed hygiene equipment by a user, and to send information on the usage instance toward the processing entity.

7. The system of claim 1 , wherein the processing entity is configured to process information on a type of event received as payload data from a radio signal from the tag, the type of event including an opportunity and/or a usage instance.

8. The system of claim 1 , wherein the processing entity is configured to process data records comprising information on a type of usage and/or opportunity and information on an association to another record for determining the hygiene compliance metric.

9. The system of claim 1 , wherein the processing entity is configured to consider a time between a determination of a usage instance and a determination of an opportunity for determining the hygiene compliance metric.

10. The system of claim 1 , wherein the processing entity is configured to store information on several hygiene compliance indicators, each indicator relating to at least one determined usage instance and one determined opportunity.

11. The system of claim 1 , wherein a piece of the distributed hygiene equipment is any one of a soap dispenser, a towel dispenser, a disinfectant dispenser, an alcogel dispenser, a tissue dispenser, a hygiene article dispenser, a waste bin, a used towel bin, and a toilet paper dispenser.

12. The system of claim 3 , wherein another tag is arranged to be associated with a piece of the distributed hygiene equipment and the processing entity is configured to define one of the usage zones in relation to a position of the tag associated with the piece of the distributed hygiene equipment, the one of the usage zones being associated with the usage instance of the piece of the distributed hygiene equipment,
wherein another tag is arranged to be associated with an object or individual where hygiene consumable use is desired before or after interaction with the object or individual, and the processing entity is configured to define one of the opportunity zones in relation to a position of the tag associated with the object or individual, the one of the opportunity zones being associated with an opportunity in relation to the usage instance of the piece of distributed hygiene equipment,
wherein at least a piece of the distributed hygiene equipment is arranged to detect the usage instance indicating a use of the piece of the distributed hygiene equipment by a user, and to send information on the usage instance toward the processing entity,
wherein the processing entity is configured to process information on a type of event received as payload data from a radio signal from the tag, the type of event including an opportunity and/or the usage instance,
wherein the processing entity is configured to process data records comprising information on a type of usage and/or opportunity and information on an association to another record for determining the hygiene compliance metric,
wherein the processing entity is configured to consider a time between a determination of the usage instance and a determination of an opportunity for determining the hygiene compliance metric,
wherein the processing entity is configured to store information on several hygiene compliance indicators, each indicator relating to at least one determined usage instance and one determined opportunity, and
wherein a piece of the distributed hygiene equipment is any one of a soap dispenser, a towel dispenser, a disinfectant dispenser, an alcogel dispenser, a tissue dispenser, a hygiene article dispenser, a waste bin, a used towel bin, and a toilet paper dispenser.

13. A method for determining a hygiene compliance metric which indicates a usage of hygiene equipment, comprising the steps of:
detecting a usage instance of distributed hygiene equipment arranged to dispense a hygiene consumable and/or to dispose of a hygiene consumable;
at least transmitting a radio signal from a tag bei

Assignees

• Essity Hygiene & Health Ab

Inventors

• Lindstrom Hakan

Classifications

• G06Q50/22

  Social work or social welfare, e.g. community support activities or counselling services · CPC title

• G06Q10/0639

  Performance analysis of employees; Performance analysis of enterprise or organisation operations · CPC title

• G08B21/245 Primary

  Reminder of hygiene compliance policies, e.g. of washing hands · CPC title

• G16H40/20

  for the management or administration of healthcare resources or facilities, e.g. managing hospital staff or surgery rooms · CPC title

• G09B19/0076

  Body hygiene; Dressing; Knot tying · CPC title