Abstract:
A board that hides information in a manner that only certain authorized personnel may change the information and other authorized personnel may view the information. This invention accomplishes the foregoing by placing a locked panel of translucent material over certain information written on the board that may only be changed by an authorized individual by opening the lock. A panel of opaque material is placed over the translucent material in a manner that certain information written on the board will be revealed when authorized personnel remove the opaque material or cause the opaque material to be transparent. The translucent material may be removed by activating a switch or entering a code.

Description:
This Application claims the benefit of the filing date of U.S. Provisional Application No. 60/630,692 filed Nov. 24, 2004, which is owned by the assignee of the present Application. 

   FIELD OF THE INVENTION 
   The invention relates generally to the field of display systems and, more particularly, to restricting access to display systems. 
   BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
   Currently business, insurance companies, doctors and governments are collecting, recording and collating information about people from the time they are born to the time they die. Consequently, it has been said that we are living in the age of information. Many people are concerned that they are loosing their privacy in the information age. In order to alleviate certain invasion of privacy fears Congress has enacted and the President has signed the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 (HIPAA), Pub. L. 104-191. 
   HIPAA requires that Federal agencies operating health plans or providing health care, State Medicaid agencies, private health plans, health care providers, and health care clearinghouses must assure their customers (for example, patients, insured individuals, providers, and health plans) that the integrity, confidentiality, and availability of protected health information they collect, maintain, use, or transmit is protected. The confidentiality of health information is threatened not only by the risk of improper access to stored information, but also by the risk of interception during electronic transmission of the information. 
   Before the enactment of HIPAA, a given unit of a hospital monitored a number of patients by listing the patient&#39;s name, room number, physician, and other patient information on a large board. The board usually was centrally located and easily viewed. 
   Thus, according to HIPPA a board may not be used in its current manner. 
   SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
   The present invention overcomes the problems of the prior art by modifying a board in a manner that information, i.e., the names and information about patients, or other matters, will only be seen by authorized personnel. This invention accomplishes the foregoing by placing a panel of material over the patient&#39;s name and other information concerning the patient that prevents an observer from viewing the above information. The patient&#39;s name and other information concerning the patient are revealed when authorized personnel remove the panel of material or make the panel of material translucent. The panel of material may be removed by activating a switch, entering a code, removing the material by inserting a key in a lock that keeps the material attached to the board and the panel of material may be reaffixed to the board by activating a switch, entering a code, replacing the material by inserting a key in a lock. Authorization to view patient information is controlled by limiting the personnel who have the key or code to remove the material. 
   This invention also supplies additional security by only permitting physicians and other authorized personnel to change the patient&#39;s diagnosis and treatment by adding or correcting information that appears on boards, i.e., whiteboards. The foregoing is accomplished by placing a translucent material over the board that may only be removed by a physician and/or other authorized personnel. Thus the physician or other authorized personnel will be the only people who will be able to change certain information appearing on boards, room panels, etc. 
   This invention may also be used in any environment in which only selected people may be authorized to view sensitive, proprietary, or government classified information. 

   
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
       FIG. 1  is a drawing of a prior art board; 
       FIG. 2A  is a drawing of a board in which information is hidden from observers; 
       FIG. 2B  is a drawing of the back of a panel that may be placed over a portion of the information shown in the board of  FIG. 2B ; 
       FIG. 3A  is a drawing of a board in which information is hidden from observers by means of a panel that may be removed with a key; 
       FIG. 3B  is a drawing of the back of a panel that may be placed over a portion of the information shown in the board of  FIG. 3A ; 
       FIG. 4A  is a drawing of a board in which information is hidden from observers by means of a panel that may be removed by pressing a switch; 
       FIG. 4B  is a drawing of the back of a panel that may be placed over a portion of the information shown in the board of  FIG. 4A ; 
       FIG. 5A  is a drawing of a board in which information may only be changed by a physician or otherwise authorized personnel by opening a lock to a panel  68  that does not allow observers to view certain patient information, namely the patient&#39;s diagnosis and the patient&#39;s treatment; and. 
       FIG. 5B  is a drawing of the back panel that may be placed over the information that may be changed by a physician and the back panel that is placed over the physician information and a portion of the information shown in the board of  FIG. 5A . 
       FIG. 6  is a drawing of a clear glass board that is mounted in a housing  100  in which information is hidden from observers by means of illuminating the board with white light and polarizing the white light. 
       FIG. 7  is a drawing of board  109  of  FIG. 6 , as seen by an observer who is not using glasses  107  to view board  109 . 
       FIG. 8  is a drawing of board  109  of  FIG. 6 , as seen by an observer who is using glasses  107  to view board  109 . 
   

   DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT 
   Referring now to the drawings in detail, and more particularly to Prior Art  FIG. 1 , the reference character  11  represents a board. Information may be written on board  11  with a marking pen (not shown). For instance: the name of the attending physician may be written in column  12 , the patient&#39;s name in column  13 , patient information in column  14  and the patient&#39;s room number in column  15 . Patient information may include the patient&#39;s diagnosis, treatment plan and other information that may be useful to the hospital staff. 
     FIG. 2A  is a drawing of a board in which information is hidden from observers. Information may be written on board  20  with a marking pen (not shown). For instance: the name of the attending physician may be written in column  22 , the patient&#39;s name in column  23 , patient information in column  24  and the patient&#39;s room number in column  25 . Patient information may include the patient&#39;s diagnosis and treatment plan. The patient&#39;s name that appears in column  23  and the patient information that appears in column  24  for Physicians Salk and Flemming are not currently, not observable, since panel  26  covers columns  23  and  24 . Panel  26  may be made of an opaque material that is more fully described in the description of  FIG. 2B . A magnet  29  is attached to board  20  so that panel  26  may be placed over and removed from columns  23  and  24 . It would be obvious to one skilled in the art that panel  26  may be attached to Board  20  by hinges, hooks, vacuum, tracks and rails etc. 
     FIG. 2B  is a drawing of the back of panel  26  that may be placed over a portion of the information shown in the board of  FIG. 2B . Panel  26  has portions  27  that are made of a metallic material that will be held in position over columns  23  and  24 . Panel  26  may also be a shaded material similar to those used in a two-way mirror which reveals the information on board  20  by supplying a back lighting so that a health care professional who is in a hurry will not have to remove panel  26 . The health care professional will be able to view the information contained in columns  23  and  24  by being in close proximity to board  20 , using a remote control device, badge reader, etc. An example of a shaded material is the see thru acrylic mirror manufactured by Plaskolite Inc. of P.O. Box 1497, Columbus, Ohio 43216. An example of a NCAP paymeric liquid crystal material that becomes transparent when power is applied the NCAP polymeric materials are manufactured by Xymox Technology Inc. of 9099 West Dean Road, Milwaukee, Wis. 53224. 
     FIG. 3A  is a drawing of a board in which information is hidden from observers by means of a panel that may be removed with a key. Information may be written on board  30  with a marking pen (not shown). For instance: the name of the attending physician may be written in column  32 , the patient&#39;s name in column  33 , patient information in column  34  and the patient&#39;s room number in column  35 . Patient information may include the patient&#39;s diagnosis and treatment plan. The patient&#39;s name that appears in column  33  and the patient information that appears in column  34  for Physicians Salk and Flemming are not currently, not observable, since panel  36  covers columns  33  and  34 . A magnet  39  is attached to board  30  so that panel  36  may be placed over and removed from columns  33  and  34 . Panel  36  is made of an opaque material that is more fully described in the description of  FIG. 3B . A lock  31  is attached to board  30  so that panel  36  may be placed over and removed from columns  33  and  34  with a physical key (not shown). 
   Lock  31  may also be a cipher lock in which a code has to be entered to open lock  31 , or a biometric device that recognizes someone&#39;s fingerprints like the Biometric Fingerprint ID manufactured by Sony Electronic, Inc. of 1 Sony Drive, Park Ridge, N.J. 07656, or a biometric device that recognizes someone&#39;s iris like the Eye Pass manufactured by Eyeticket Corp. of 3030 E. Market Street, York, Pa., 17404, or a smart card that recognizes an individual like the OMNI Heavy Duty Slot Reader manufactured by I D Tech of 10721 Walker Street, Cypress, Calif. 90630. 
     FIG. 3B  is a drawing of the back of a panel  36  that may be placed over a portion of the information shown in the board of  FIG. 3B . Panel  36  has portions  37  that are made of a metallic material that will be held in position over columns  33  and  34  when the latch portion of lock  31  is closed. 
     FIG. 4A  is a drawing of a board in which information is hidden from observers by means of a panel that may be removed by pressing a switch. Information may be written on board  40  with a marking pen (not shown). For instance: the name of the attending physician may be written in column  42 , the patient&#39;s name in column  43 , patient information in column  44  and the patient&#39;s room number in column  45 . Patient information may include the patient&#39;s diagnosis and treatment plan. The patient&#39;s name that appears in column  43  and the patient information that appears in column  44  for Physicians Salk and Flemming are not currently, not observable, since panels  46  covers columns  43  and  44 . 
   Electromagnetic materials  49  and  50  are attached to board  40  so that panel  48  ( FIG. 4B ) may be placed over and removed from columns  43  and  44  when switch  53  is open. Wire  51  is connected to one end of electromagnetic material  49  and the other end of wire  51  is connected to one of the ends of a source of electric current  52 . The other end of the source of electric current is connected to one of the terminals of switch  53 . The other terminal of switch  53  is connected to electromagnetic material  50 . Wire  54  is connected to the other end of material  49  and  50 . Panel  46  is made of an opaque material that is more fully described in the description of  FIG. 4B . 
     FIG. 4B  is a drawing of the back of panel  48  that may be placed over a portion of the information shown in the board of  FIG. 4A  next to Physician Debackey. Panel  48  is an opaque material that has portions  47  that are made of a metallic material that will be held in position over columns  43  and  44  when switch  52  is closed. 
     FIG. 5A  is a drawing of a board in which information may only be changed by a physician or otherwise authorized personnel by opening a lock to a panel  68  that does not allow observers to view certain patient information, namely the patient&#39;s diagnosis and the patient&#39;s treatment. Information may be written on board  60  with a marking pen (not shown). For instance: the name of the attending physician may be written in column  62 , the patient&#39;s name in column  63 , patient information in column  64  and the patient&#39;s room number in column  65 . Patient information may include the patient&#39;s diagnosis and treatment plan, which may only be changed by a physician or other authorized personnel. The patient&#39;s name that appears in column  63  and the patient information that appears in column  64  for Physicians Salk and Flemming are not currently, not observable, since panels  66  cover columns  63  and  64 . 
   Magnets  61  are attached to board  60  so that translucent panel  68  may be placed over and removed from column  64  by unlocking lock  91 . Panel  68  is more fully described in the description of  FIG. 5B . A lock  91  is attached to board  60  so that panel  68  may be placed over and removed from column  64  with a physical key (not shown) to enable a physician to write the diagnosis and treatment on board  60  with a marking pen (not shown) for their patient. Lock  91  may also be a cipher lock in which a code has to be entered to open lock  91 , or a biometric device that recognizes someone&#39;s fingerprints or a biometric device that recognizes the individual or a smart card that recognizes an individual. 
   Electromagnetic materials  80  and  87  are attached to board  60  so that panel  88  ( FIG. 5B ) may be placed over and removed from columns  63  and  64  when switch  83  is open. Wire  81  is connected to one end of electromagnetic material  80  and the other end of wire  81  is connected to one of the ends of a source of electric current  82 . The other end of the source of electric current is connected to one of the terminals of switch  83 . The other terminal of switch  83  is connected to electromagnetic material  87 . Wire  84  is connected to the other end of materials  80  and  87 . Panel  88  is made of an opaque material that is more fully described in the description of  FIG. 5B . 
     FIG. 5B  is a drawing of the back of panel  68  that may be placed over the information that may be changed by a physician and the back of panel  88  that is placed over the physician information and a portion of the information shown in the board  60  of  FIG. 5A . Panel  68  has portions  67  that are made of a metallic material that will be held in position over column  64  when the latch portion of lock  91  is closed. Panel  88  is an opaque material that has portions  87  that are made of a metallic material that will be held in position over columns  63  and  64  ( FIG. 5A ) when switch  82  is closed. 
     FIG. 6  is a drawing of a clear glass board that is mounted in a housing  100  in which information is hidden from observers by means of back illuminating the board with white light and polarizing the white light. Clear glass board  109  is similar to opaque board  20 . The same type of information that is written in columns  22 ,  23  and  24  of  FIG. 2A  may be written on a clear piece of glass  109  that is attached to housing  100  by holder  99 , which is attached to housing  100 . Holder  99  supports board  109 , polarizer  103  and diffuser  104  in housing  100 . White marker  101  may be used to write information on board  109 . White marker  101  may be the Staedtler white liquid chalk marker manufactured by The Essentials Company of April House, Davey Lane, Charsfield, Woodbridge, Suffolk IP13 7QG U.K. 
   White light lamp bank  102  is placed behind diffuser  104  in a manner that the information written on board  100  will be back illuminated by light  102 . Diffuser  104  will diffuse the light produced by white lights  102  to make board  109  appear uniformly white. Diffuser  104  may be a plate of ground glass that diffuses the light. A polarizer  103 , that is neutral in color, is placed directly in front of diffuser  104  and behind board  109  with its plane of polarization oriented in the vertical plane. Polarizer  103  will limit the polarization of the light received from diffuser  104  so that an observer  108  sees only vertically polarized light and an observer  106  who is wearing horizontally polarized glasses  107  will not see the diffused light component at all. Thus, observer  108  will see board  109  as a bright white screen and observer  106  wearing glasses  107  will see board  109  as a black screen. Polarizer  103  may be the 5511 model sheet polarizer, manufactured by New Focus, Inc. of 2630 Walsh Avenue, Santa Clara, Calif. 95051. 
   A clear piece of glass  109  is placed in front of polarizer  103  in order to provide an erasable surface to write information on board  109  with white marker  101 . Lamp array  105  illuminates the front surface of board  109  and the information that is written on board  109  with marker  101 . Adjustment balance  110  is provided to vary the relative illumination between lamp bank  102  and lamp array  105  to render the writing on board  109  invisible to some one who is not wearing glasses  107 . Cable  115  connects controller  110  to lamp array  105  and lamp bank  102  and cable  116  connects controller  110  to dual light sensor  111 . The adjustment may be manually performed or automated by the use of a dual sensor  111  that monitors the illumination component from lamps  105  and the light being emitted from polarizer  103  and diffuser  104 . The dual light sensor  111  has two matched sensors one looking forward, the other looking back towards polarizer  103 . Observer  108  when looking at board  109  will see bright written alphanumeric characters against a n equally bright white background rendering the information written on board  109  with marker  101  invisible. Observer  106  wearing glasses  107  sees white characters against a black background and is able to read the alphanumeric characters written on board  109  with marker  101 . 
   If the polarizer  103  used is not “neutral” in color and in fact has a color “tint” there is the possibility that the color difference between the tinted back light source (lamp bank  102 ) and the and the “white” lamp array  105  may produce a large enough color tint difference to reach the threshold of visual perception. To prevent the foregoing one may pre-tint lamp array  105  to approximate the tint of polarizer  103 . 
   Polarizer glasses  107  may be ordinary polarizied glasses with the plane of polarization rotated 90 degrees from the orientation of normal polarized sunglasses 
     FIG. 7  is a drawing of board  109  of  FIG. 6 , as seen by an observer who is not using glasses  107  to view board  100 . Observer  106  will see board  109  as a white screen with nothing written on it. 
     FIG. 8  is a drawing of board  109  of  FIG. 6 , as seen by an observer who is using glasses  107  to view board  100 . Board  109  will appear black to the observer and the observer will see the information written on board  109  with marker  101  in white. Observer  108  will see board  109  as a black screen with the marker  101  produced white information written thereon. 
   The above specification describes a new and improved method for restricting access to material that is placed on a board. It is realized that the above description may indicate to those skilled in the art additional ways in which the principles of this invention may be used without departing from the spirit. Therefore, it is intended that this invention be limited only by the scope of the appended claims.