System for providing real time locating and gas exposure monitoring

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-9235974-B2
Application number	US-201514610120-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Jan 30, 2015
Priority date	Aug 14, 2009
Publication date	Jan 12, 2016
Grant date	Jan 12, 2016

Abstract

A system, method, and apparatus for gas exposure monitoring of a work area are described. The system may include a processor; an interface to communicate with a first device and a second device; and a memory to store first and second gas exposure identifiers and first and second location identifiers received from the first and second devices, respectively. The system may identify a concentration of gas detected by the first device in a work zone. The system may be operable to transmit alert information to the second device when the second device is in the work zone and the concentration of gas detected by the first device in the work zone is above the set amount.

First claim

The invention claimed is:

1. A computer-implemented method for providing real time locating and gas exposure monitoring, the method comprising:
receiving, by a hazard detection system, a first gas exposure identifier and a first location identifier from a first device;
identifying a work zone of the first device based on the first location identifier;
identifying a concentration of gas detected by the first device in the work zone based on the first gas exposure identifier;
receiving, by the hazard detection system, a second location identifier from a second device;
identifying the second device as being in the work zone based on the second location identifier; and
transmitting alert information to the second device in response to the second device being in the work zone and the concentration of gas detected by the first device at the work zone being above a set amount.

2. The method of claim 1 wherein the work zone is a section in a work area being monitored for gas exposure.

3. The method of claim 1 wherein the first device comprises a location determining device and a gas detector.

4. The method of claim 3 wherein the location determining device and the gas detector are in communication via a wired connection.

5. The method of claim 3 wherein the location determining device and the gas detector are in communication via a wireless connection.

6. The method of claim 1 wherein the alert information initiates, at the second device, comprise at least one of a vibrating alert, an audible alert, or a visible alert.

7. The method of claim 1 further comprising:
receiving, by the hazard detection system, a secondary location identifier from a network infrastructure based on communications with the first device when the first location identifier does not identify a location of the first device; and
determining the work zone of the first device based on the secondary location identifier.

8. The method of claim 1 further comprising:
receiving, by the hazard detection system, an alarm from the first device; and, in response to receipt of the alarm from the first device:
automatically transmitting the alert information to the second device in response to the second device being in the work zone.

9. The method of claim 8 wherein the alarm from the first device is received in response to a button on the first device being activated.

10. A computer-implemented method for providing real time locating and gas alert monitoring, the method comprising:
determining a first location of a first device, wherein the first device comprises a location determining device and a gas detector in communication with each other;
transmitting to a remote server, by the first device, a location identifier that identifies the first location;
receiving, at the first device, alert information from the remote server when the first location of the first device is determined to be in a zone in a work area from which a second device has transmitted an alarm in response to detecting a concentration of gas in the zone being above a set amount; and
providing, by the first device, an alert on the first device when the alert information is received from the remote server.

11. The method of claim 10 wherein the second device transmitted the alarm to the remote server.

12. The method of claim 10 wherein the alert comprises at least one of a vibrating alert, an audible alert, or a visible alert.

13. The method of claim 10 further comprising:
detecting, by the first device, a second gas concentration;
transmitting, to the remote server, a gas exposure identifier that identifies the second gas concentration detected by the first device in the zone; and
initiating a communication with a communication device of an emergency responder based on the gas exposure identifier.

14. The method of claim 10 wherein the location determining device and the gas detector are in communication via a Bluetooth connection.

15. A system for providing real time locating and gas exposure monitoring, the system comprising:
an interface configured to communicate with a first device and a second device;
a memory configured to store a first gas exposure identifier and a first location identifier received from the first device via the interface, and a second location identifier received from the second device via the interface; and
a processor operatively connected to the memory and the interface, the processor configured to:
receive, via the interface, the first gas exposure identifier, the first location identifier, and the second location identifier,
identify the first device being in a work zone based on the first location identifier,
identify a concentration of gas detected by the first device in the work zone based on the first gas exposure identifier,
determine whether the concentration of gas detected by the first device in the work zone is above a set amount,
identify whether the second device is located in the work zone based on the second location identifier, and
transmit alert information to the second device when the second device is in the work zone and the concentration of gas detected by the first device in the work zone is above the set amount.

16. The system of claim 15 wherein the work zone is a predefined area in a work area.

17. The system of claim 15 wherein:
the interface is further configured to communicate with a communication device of an emergency responder; and
the processor is further configured to identify a concentration of gas detected by the second device based on a second gas exposure identifier from the second device, and initiate a communication with the communication device of the emergency responder based on the second gas exposure identifier.

18. The system of claim 15 wherein:
the interface is further configured to receive a secondary location identifier from a network infrastructure based on communications with the first device when the first location identifier does not identify a location of the first device; and
the processor is further configured to identify the location of the first device based on the secondary location identifier.

Assignees

• Accenture Global Services Ltd

Inventors

• Johnson Jr Ernest K
• Davisson Mark J

Classifications

• G08B25/12

  Manually actuated calamity alarm transmitting arrangements {emergency non-personal manually actuated alarm, activators, e.g. details of alarm push buttons mounted on an infrastructure} · CPC title

• G01N33/0006

  Calibrating gas analysers · CPC title

• G01N33/0075

  for multiple spatially distributed sensors, e.g. for environmental monitoring · CPC title

• G01N33/0004

  Gaseous mixtures, e.g. polluted air · CPC title

• G06K7/0095 Primary

  Testing the sensing arrangement, e.g. testing if a magnetic card reader, bar code reader, RFID interrogator or smart card reader functions properly (testing of electrical circuits G01R31/28) · CPC title