Patent ID: 6087941
Filing Date: 2000-07-11
Classification: G08B

Abstract:
A warning system for warning a user that a condition being one of the user having fallen asleep and the user being about to fall asleep exists, the user having at least one eye and a pair of eyelids, the eyelids varying in state from wide open to completely closed, the eyelids completely covering the eye when in the completely closed state, said warning system comprising:an ophthalmic contact device adapted for application to the user's eye, said ophthalmic having a detectable feature which produces a signal in response to incident energy, said signal varying in response to the state of the user's eye;a detector capable of transducing said signal into a detector output signal;an alarm means capable of generating a stimulus that can awaken a person; anda data processing and control circuit means communicating with both said detector and said alarm means, said data processing and control circuit means being programmable, said data processing and control circuit means being programmed with criteria establishing an alarm condition corresponding with a probable condition that is one of the user having fallen asleep and the user being about to fall asleep, said data processing and control circuit means processing said detector output signal to determine if said alarm condition exists, said data processing and control circuit means controlling said alarm means to generate said stimulus if said alarm condition exists.