Event-driven transitions in absorbent article management

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-9904562-B2
Application number	US-201314787583-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Apr 30, 2013
Priority date	Apr 30, 2013
Publication date	Feb 27, 2018
Grant date	Feb 27, 2018

Abstract

A method of operating a datalogger adapted for logging sensor data from an absorbent article having at least one sensor element and the datalogger are described. The method includes: determining an external event; and on determination of the external event, transitioning from a first operating condition to a second operating condition. The external event can be an event selected from: a disconnection event in which the datalogger is disconnected from the absorbent article; a connection event in which the datalogger is connected to an absorbent article; a charge event in which the datalogger is connected to a charging station; and a user interaction event in which the user interacts with a user interface element of the datalogger. The first and second operation conditions can be selected from: a datalogging condition; a standby condition; a status notification condition; and a data transmission condition.

First claim

The invention claimed is:

1. A method of operating a battery-powered datalogger comprising at least one tactile, audible or visible output element and adapted for logging sensor data from an absorbent article having at least one sensor element, the method comprising:
determining an external event, wherein the external event comprises a disconnection event in which the datalogger is disconnected from the at least one sensor element in the absorbent article; and
on determination of the external event, transitioning from a first operating condition to a second operating condition, wherein the second operating condition comprises a status notification condition in which the at least one tactile, audible or visible output element housed in an electronics enclosure of the datalogger is activated to signal a low battery status of the datalogger.

2. The method according to claim 1 , wherein the first operating condition is at least one condition selected from the group consisting of: a datalogging condition; a standby condition; and a data transmission condition.

3. The method according to claim 2 , wherein the first operating condition includes the datalogging condition, which comprises the transmission of sensor data over a data link.

4. The method according to claim 2 , wherein the first operating condition includes the datalogging condition and the data transmission condition,
wherein the datalogging condition comprises the storage of sensor data in a memory internal to the datalogger and the transmission of stored sensor data at predetermined intervals over a data link, and
wherein the data transmission condition is a flush condition in which sensor data stored in the memory is transmitted over the data link at other than a predetermined interval of the datalogging condition.

5. The method according to claim 1 further comprising transitioning from the second operating condition to a third operating condition on determination of a further event.

6. The method according to claim 5 , wherein the further event is at least one internal event selected from the group consisting of: an expiry of a timer associated with the second operating condition; a completion of a process associated with the second operating condition; and a change in status of an internal device.

7. The method according to claim 5 , wherein the further event is at least one external event selected from the group consisting of: a connection event in which the datalogger is connected to an absorbent article; a charge event in which the datalogger is connected to a charging station; and a user interaction event in which the user interacts with a user interface element of the datalogger.

8. The method according to claim 1 , wherein the determination of the external event comprises detection of a change in state of an electrical circuit of the datalogger that is responsive to an external event.

9. The method according to claim 1 , wherein the determination of the external event comprises detection of at least one event selected from the group consisting of: a change in state of at least one electrical contact on the exterior of the datalogger; a change in state of at least one sensor on the exterior of the datalogger; a change in state of at least one switch on the exterior of the datalogger.

10. A battery-powered datalogger adapted for logging sensor data from an absorbent article having at least one sensor element, the datalogger comprising:
an electronics enclosure, which houses:
a processor configured to determine an external event and, on determination of the external event, to transition from a first operating condition to a second operating condition; and
at least one tactile, audible or visible output element,

wherein the external event is a disconnection event in which the datalogger is disconnected from the at least one sensor element in the absorbent article, and
wherein the second operating condition is a status notification condition in which the at least one tactile, audible or visible output element is activated to signal a low battery status of the datalogger.

11. The datalogger of claim 10 , wherein the first operating condition comprises a condition selected from the group consisting of: a datalogging condition; a standby condition; and a data transmission condition.

12. The datalogger of claim 11 , further comprising a transmitter and wherein the first operating condition comprises the datalogging condition, wherein the datalogging condition comprises the transmission of sensor data over a data link.

13. The datalogger according to claim 11 , further comprising: a memory adapted to store sensor data; and a transmitter,
wherein the first operating condition includes the datalogging condition and the data transmission condition,
wherein the datalogging condition comprises the storage of sensor data in the memory and the transmission of stored sensor data at predetermined intervals with the transmitter, and
wherein the data transmission condition is a flush condition in which sensor data stored in the memory is transmitted with the transmitter at other than a predetermined interval of the datalogging condition.

14. The datalogger according to claim 10 , wherein the processor is further configured to transition from the second operating condition to a third operating condition on determination of a further event.

15. The datalogger according to claim 14 , wherein the further event is at least one internal event selected from the group consisting of: an expiry of a timer associated with the second operating condition; a completion of a process associated with the second operating condition; and a change in status of an internal device.

16. The datalogger according to claim 15 , wherein the further event is at least one external event selected from the group consisting of: a connection event in which the datalogger is connected to an absorbent article; a charge event in which the datalogger is connected to a charging station; and a user interaction event in which the user interacts with a user interface element of the datalogger.

17. The datalogger according to claim 10 , wherein the external event the processor is configured to determine comprises detection of a change in state of an electrical circuit of the datalogger that is responsive to an external event.

18. The datalogger according to claim 10 , wherein the external event the processor is configured to determine comprises detection of at least one event selected from the group consisting of: a change in state of at least one electrical contact on the exterior of the datalogger; a change in state of at least one sensor on the exterior of the datalogger; and a change in state of at least one switch on the exterior of the datalogger.

Assignees

• Sca Hygiene Prod Ab

Inventors

• Bergstroem Per
• Ranta Christer Olofsson
• Ålsnaes Bjoern
• Bosaeus Mattias

Classifications

• A61F13/42 Primary

  with wetness indicator or alarm · CPC title

• G06F1/3212

  Monitoring battery levels, e.g. power saving mode being initiated when battery voltage goes below a certain level · CPC title

• H04L67/12

  specially adapted for proprietary or special-purpose networking environments, e.g. medical networks, sensor networks, networks in vehicles or remote metering networks · CPC title

• G06F9/44505 Primary

  Configuring for program initiating, e.g. using registry, configuration files · CPC title

• A61F2013/424

  having an electronic device · CPC title