Context-based programmable safety rules for personal protective equipment

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-11676468-B2
Application number	US-202117242966-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Apr 28, 2021
Priority date	Oct 14, 2016
Publication date	Jun 13, 2023
Grant date	Jun 13, 2023

Abstract

In some examples, a system includes: an article of personal protective equipment (PPE) that includes a communication component; a computing device communicatively coupled to the article of PPE, wherein the computing device: receives context data that is based on one or more of the article of PPE, a work environment for the article of PPE, or a worker assigned to the article of PPE; selects, based at least in part on the context data, a set of programmable safety rules that are contextually associated with the at least one article of PPE; sends the programmable safety rules to one or more of the article of PPE or a data hub communicatively coupled to the article of PPE; and wherein the programmable safety rules are configured at the article of PPE or the data hub to perform one or more operations based at least in part on PPE data.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A method comprising:
determining, by a computing device included in a data hub that is physically separate from an article of PPE and that is configured to be worn by a user, context data that is based in part on one or more of an article of PPE, a first work environment for the article of PPE, or a worker assigned to the article of PPE;
receiving information from an environmental beacon regarding a presence of a hazard;
selecting, based at least in part on the context data determined by the computing device and the presence of the hazard from the environmental beacon, a set of programmable safety rules that are contextually associated with one or more of the article of PPE, a second work environment for the article of PPE, or the user associated with the article of PPE;
configuring, by the computing device, the set of programmable safety rules to perform one or more operations based at least in part on generated data from at least one of a communication component of the article of PPE, or the data hub; and
in response to selecting the generated data from the at least one of the article of PPE or the data hub and determining that at least one of the set of programmable safety rules has been satisfied, performing the one or more operations based at least in part on the generated data received from the communication component of the article of PPE or the data hub.

2. The method of claim 1 , wherein at least a portion of the context data comprises positional information determined by the computing device.

3. The method of claim 2 , wherein the selecting of the set of programmable safety rules occurs in response to the user moving from the first work environment and to the second work environment that corresponds to the positional information determined by the computing device.

4. The method of claim 2 , wherein determining the positional information occurs by using a global positioning system.

5. The method of claim 2 , wherein determining the positional information comprises detecting one or more data hubs of other workers within a threshold distance.

6. The method of claim 2 , wherein determining the positional information occurs by wirelessly communicating with a beacon position.

7. The method of claim 1 , wherein the hazard is dangerous gases or toxic fumes.

8. The method of claim 7 , wherein a dangerous gas is carbon monoxide.

9. The method of claim 1 , wherein the environmental beacon comprises an environmental sensor configured to an air contaminant sensor for detecting carbon monoxide.

10. The method of claim 1 , wherein the environmental beacon is separate from the data hub.

11. The method of claim 1 , wherein the performing the one or more operations comprise updating firmware to the article of PPE.

12. The method of claim 1 , wherein the context data is first context data, the set of programmable safety rules is a first set of programmable safety rules, and the method comprising: in response to sending the first context data to at least one other computing device at a first time, receiving the first set of programmable safety rules when the user is within a predefined distance of the first work environment; in response to sending second context data to the at least one other computing device at a second time, receiving a second set of programmable safety rules when the user is within a predefined distance of a second work environment; and in response to receiving the generated data of the article of PPE and determining that at least one of the second set of programmable safety rules has been satisfied, performing the one or more operations based at least in part on generated data received from the communication component of the article of PPE.

13. The method of claim 1 , wherein the context data is first context data, the set of programmable safety rules is a first set of programmable safety rules, and the method comprising: pre-loading the first set of programmable safety rules and a second set of programmable safety rules at the computing device prior to the computing device at least entering or being within a predefined distance of at least one of the first or second work environments, wherein the first and second sets of programmable safety rules respectively correspond to the first work environment and the second work environment; in response to determining the first context data, configuring, by the computing device, the first set of programmable safety rules to perform one or more operations based at least in part on generated data received from the communication component of the article of PPE; and in response to determining the second context data, configuring, by the computing device, the second set of programmable safety rules to perform one or more operations based at least in part on generated data received from the communication component of the article of PPE.

14. The method of claim 1 , wherein determining the context data occurs in response to the user moving from the first work environment to the second work environment.

15. The method of claim 1 , wherein the positional information comprises at least one of: a position of at least one of the data hub or the article of PPE within a work environment, a geographic location of at least one of the data hub or the article of PPE, an identifier of a beacon within at least one of the first or second work environments, or a location of the beacon within at least one of the first or second work environments.

16. The method of claim 1 , wherein the performing the one or more operations comprises generating an alert at the data hub.

17. The method of claim 1 , wherein the performing the one or more operations comprises sending a message using communication unit to a personal protection equipment management system, wherein the personal protection equipment management system sends a notification to a remote user.

18. The method of claim 1 , wherein the performing the one or more operations comprises altering an operation of the article of PPE of the user.

19. The method of claim 18 , wherein the altering the operation of PPE comprises modifying any electronically controllable function of the article of PPE.

Assignees

• 3M Innovative Properties Company

Inventors

• Kanukurthy Kiran S
• Awiszus Steven T
• Lobner Eric C
• Wurm Michael G
• Gamberini Kenneth J

Classifications

• G08B21/12

  responsive to undesired emission of substances, e.g. pollution alarms · CPC title

• A41D13/002

  with controlled internal environment · CPC title

• G06Q10/0639

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

• G06Q10/0635

  Risk analysis of enterprise or organisation activities · CPC title

• G08B7/06

  using electric transmission {, e.g. involving audible and visible signalling through the use of sound and light sources} · CPC title