Abstract:
A child locator that enables a parent to locate a child includes a master unit for wear by a parent and a monitored unit for wear by a child. The master unit may actuate an on-board alarm when its processor determines that the monitored unit is beyond a first predetermined distance and may actuate an alarm on the monitored unit when the separation distance is beyond another distance. The first and second predetermined distances may be the same of different. The child locator may also actuate the monitored unit manually and the alarms may be audible or visual. Once an alarm on the monitored unit is activated, a signal from the master unit is required to deactivate it. The master unit may include a directional antenna for determining a position on the monitored unit. The monitored unit may deliver voice data to a speaker at the monitored unit.

Description:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
     This invention relates generally to child tracking or locating devices and, more particularly, to a child locator that enables an adult to locate a monitored device, to actuate an alarm at the monitored device automatically if a predetermined separation distance is reached or manually as desired, or to communicate with the monitored device. 
     Parents and children are frequently in environments or situations where they may become separated. This separation may be inadvertent, such as straying away at a shopping mall, or voluntary, such as playing at a park or beach. In either case, a parent or guardian often desires to locate the child very quickly to verify the child&#39;s safety. Depending on the situation, an audible alarm worn by the child may be desired while other time, say at the beach at night, a bright visual alarm might be more desirable. Of course, it would be desirable to just be able to hear the child playing without activating an audible or visual alarm. Or, in the case of a child merely playing at a friend&#39;s house down the street, a walkie-talkie type feature may be sufficient to locate and communicate instructions to the child. 
     Various devices have been proposed in the art for locating and/or tracking a child. For example, devices utilizing global position satellite technology are useful for locating an exact geographical position but are somewhat expansive and unnecessary when a child may be only a short distance away from the parent. Other systems merely propose two-way pagers worn by parent and child. Although assumably effective for their intended purposes, the existing devices do not provide both locating and alert means suitable for many different types of circumstances. 
     Therefore, it would be desirable to have a child locator for providing a visual direction indication of where a monitored unit (with a child) is located in relation to a master unit (with the parent). Further, it would be desirable to have a child locator that provides an audible or visual alarm either when a separation distance exceeds a predetermined distance or manually. In addition, it would be desirable if the child locator also includes both a one-way communication and a two-way walkie-talkie feature. 
     SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
     A child locator according to the present invention includes a master unit, which may be worn by a parent/guardian, and a monitored unit, which may be worn by a child. Both units, for example, may be strapped about the person&#39;s wrist. The master unit includes components that will enable it to determine a directional location of the monitored unit, to determine a distance between the units, to actuate an alarm on the monitored unit, and even to communicate audio signals to the monitored unit. The monitored unit includes components that enable it to provide an alert when actuated and to receive audible signals from the master unit. 
     The master and monitored units may set the same or different predetermined distances at which alarms are actuated. There are two desirable aspects to this feature. In one case, the parent may want the master unit to alert when the child is, say, 50 yards away but not to actuate the monitored unit&#39;s alarm until it is, say, 75 yards away. In this case, the parent may be able to visually check the child&#39;s location or call him back before the child&#39;s alarm sounds. This would help minimize false alarms. Another desirable aspect to this feature is that the monitored unit may have a predetermined distance at which it will remind the child that he is getting too far away. However, the master unit (with the parent) is not actuated until a larger predetermined separation sequence is reached. It is also a key feature that once the monitored unit&#39;s alarm has been actuated as being too far from the master unit, it can only be deactivated by a signal sent from the master unit. 
     Therefore, a general object of this invention is to provide a child locator that enables a parent or guardian to monitor the location of a child and to be alerted if the child moves beyond a predetermined distance from the parent. 
     Another object of this invention is to provide a child locator, as aforesaid, that can determine a relative distance and direction of a monitored device and can visually display such information. 
     Still another object of this invention is to provide a child locator, as aforesaid, in which alarms at a master unit and monitored unit may be actuated according to the same or different predetermined separation distances. 
     Yet another object of this invention is to provide a child locator, as aforesaid, in which the master unit may be utilized to manually actuate the monitored unit alarm. 
     A further object of this invention is to provide a child locator, as aforesaid, which includes a mode in which the monitored unit alarm can only be deactivated by a signal from the master unit. 
     A still further object of this invention is to provide a child locator, as aforesaid, in which the master unit may send voice data to the monitored unit in a walkie-talkie type feature. 
     Other objects and advantages of the present invention will become apparent from the following description taken in connection with the accompanying drawings, wherein is set forth by way of illustration and example, embodiments of this invention. 
    
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
         FIG. 1   a  is a top view of a master unit of the child locator apparatus according to the embodiment of the present invention. 
         FIG. 1   b  is a side view of the master unit as in  FIG. 1   a;    
         FIG. 1   c  is an isolated view on an enlarged scale taken from  FIG. 1   a;    
         FIG. 2   a  is a perspective view on an enlarged scale of the master unit as in  FIG. 1   c;    
         FIG. 2   b  is another perspective view of the master unit as in  FIG. 2   a;    
         FIG. 3   a  is a top view of a monitored unit of the child locator according to the preferred embodiment of the present invention; 
         FIG. 3   b  is a side view of the monitored unit as in  FIG. 3   a;    
         FIG. 3   c  is an isolated view on an enlarged scale of the monitored unit as in  FIG. 3   a;    
         FIG. 4   a  is a perspective view on an enlarged scale of the monitored unit as in  FIG. 3   c;    
         FIG. 4   b  is another perspective view of the monitored device as in  FIG. 4   a;    
         FIG. 5  is a block diagram of the electronic components of the child locator apparatus according to the preferred embodiment of the present invention, and 
         FIG. 6  is a flowchart illustrating an exemplary method of using the child locator apparatus according to the present invention. 
     
    
    
     DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT 
     A child locator apparatus  100  according to the present invention will now be described in detail with reference to  FIGS. 1   a  through  6  of the accompanying drawings. More particularly, a child locator apparatus  100  according to the current invention includes a master unit  110  and a monitored unit  120 . 
     The master unit  110  (shown in  FIGS. 1   a  through  2   b  and  FIG. 5 ) may have a processor  112  (also referred to as a master processor) in electrical communication with a transmitter  113  (also referred to as a master transmitter), a receiver  114  (also referred to as a master receiver), an alarm  115  (also referred to as a master alarm), an input device  116  (also referred to as a master input device), a microphone  117  (also referred to as a master microphone), and/or a power source  118  (also referred to as a master power source). The master alarm  115  may include, for example, a speaker  115   a  (also referred to as a master speaker), a display  115   b  (also referred to as a master display), and/or a visual alarm  115   c  (also referred to as a master visual alarm). This display  115   b  may be, for example, a liquid crystal display (LCD), and the visual alarm  115   c  may be, for example, one or more LED. The power source  118  may be, for example, a battery. Means for selectively attaching the master unit  110  to a wearer may be included, such as straps  119 . 
     While all of the input buttons associated with the master unit  110  are labeled with reference numeral  116 , it is understood that each one is electrically coupled to the master processor  112  and trigger different functions and programming. More particularly, the master input devices may include an on/off button, a button to activate the Talk feature, a button to activate the Locate Child feature, a button activate an on-screen Menu, and one to initiate a Time Set routine ( FIGS. 1   c,    2   a,    2   b ). 
     The monitored unit  120  (shown in  FIGS. 3   a  through  5 ) may have a processor  122  (also referred to as a monitored processor) in electrical communication with a transmitter  123  (also referred to as a monitored transmitter), a receiver  124  (also referred to as a monitored receiver, an alarm  125  (also referred to as a monitored alarm), an input device  126  (also referred to as a monitored input device), a microphone  127  (also referred to as a monitored microphone), and/or a power source  128  (also referred to as a monitored power source). The monitored alarm  125  may include, for example, a speaker  125   a  (also referred to as a monitored speaker), a display  125   b  (also referred to as a monitored display), and/or a visual alarm  125   c  (also referred to as a monitored visual alarm). This display  125   b  may be, for example, a liquid crystal display (LCD), and the visual alarm  125   c  may be, for example, one or more LED. The power source  128  may be, for example, a battery. Means for selectively attaching the monitored unit  120  to a wearer may be included, such as straps  129 . 
     While all of the input buttons associated with the monitored unit  120  are labeled with reference numeral  126 , it is understood that each one is electrically coupled to the monitored processor  122  and trigger different functions and programming. More particularly, the monitored input device  126  may refer to a button to activate the Talk feature ( FIG. 3   c ), a button to initiate an on-screen Menu ( FIG. 4   a ), and a button to initiate a Time Set routine ( FIG. 4   b ). 
     Means may be included for actuating the master alarm  115  (e.g., the master speaker  115   a ) when the monitored unit  120  is not within a first predetermined distance from the master unit  110 . More particularly, the master processor  112  may include programming to determine whether the monitored unit  120  is within the first predetermined distance from the master unit  110  and programming to actuate the master alarm  115  (e.g., the master speaker  115   a ) when the monitored unit is not within the first predetermined distance from the master unit  110 . This may be accomplished in various ways, including by monitoring whether the master receiver  114  receives a reply from the monitored transmitter  123  after the master transmitter  113  sends a signal, by determining the strength of a signal received by the master receiver  114  from the monitored transmitter  123 , etc. 
     Means may be included for actuating the monitored alarm  125  (e.g., the monitored speaker  125   a ) when the monitored unit  120  is not within a second predetermined distance from the master unit  110 . More particularly, the monitored processor  122  may include programming to determine whether the monitored unit  120  is within the second predetermined distance from the master unit  110  and programming to actuate the monitored alarm  125  (e.g., the monitored speaker  125   a ) when the monitored unit  120  is not within the second predetermined distance from the master unit  110 . This may be accomplished in various ways, including by monitoring whether the monitored receiver  124  receives a signal from the master transmitter  113 , by determining the strength of a signal received by the monitored receiver  124  from the master transmitter  113 , etc. 
     The first predetermined distance may be substantially equal to the second predetermined distance (e.g., both may be seventy-five feet), or the first predetermined distance may be different from the second predetermined distance (e.g., the first predetermined distance may be fifty feet and the second predetermined distance may be seventy-five feet). In exemplary embodiments, the first and second predetermined distances may be operatively selected using the master input device  116  and/or the monitored input device  126 . More particularly, the master processor  112  may have programming for allowing a user to select the first and/or second predetermined distances using the master input device  116 , and/or the monitored processor  122  may have programming for allowing a user to select the first and/or second predetermined distances using the monitored input device  126 . 
     The master processor  112  may have programming for actuating the master transmitter  113  to transmit an alarm signal to the monitored transmitter  123  upon receiving an alarm signal from the master input device  116  and/or programming for actuating the master transmitter  113  to transmit a deactivation signal to the monitored transmitter  123  upon receiving a deactivation signal from the master input device  116 . The monitored processor  122  may have programming for actuating the monitored alarm  125  (e.g., the monitored speaker  125   a,  the monitored display  125   b,  and/or the monitored visual alarm  125   c ) upon receiving an alarm signal from the monitored input device  126  and/or the master transmitter  113 . The monitored processor  122  may additionally or alternately include programming for deactivating the monitored alarm  125  upon receipt of a deactivation signal by the monitored receiver  124  sent from the master transmitter  113 . In a currently preferred embodiment, the monitored alarm  125  may only be deactivated after receipt of a deactivation signal sent by the master transmitter  113 . 
     The master receiver  114  may be a directional antenna, and the master processor  112  may have programming for determining a direction to the monitored unit  120  using data from the directional antenna  114  and programming for actuating the master display  115   b  to present the determined direction to the monitored unit  120 . 
     The master processor  112  may include programming for actuating the master transmitter  113  to transmit a microphone activation signal to the monitored receiver  124  and programming for actuating the master speaker  115   a  to audibly present data collected by the monitored microphone  127 , transmitted by the monitored transmitter  123 , and received by the master received  114 . It is understood that this feature enables the parent at the master unit to merely listen in to sounds occurring at the monitored unit. The master processor  112  may additionally or alternately include programming for actuating the master transmitter  113  to transmit data collected by the master microphone  117  to the monitored receiver  124  upon receipt of a master microphone activation signal from the respective master input device  116  associated with the listen/talk feature ( FIG. 1   c ). 
     The monitored processor  122  may include programming for actuating the monitored microphone  127  upon receipt of the microphone activation signal by the monitored receiver  124  and actuating the monitored transmitter  123  to transmit data collected by the monitored microphone  127  to the master receiver  114 . The monitored processor  122  may additionally or alternately include programming for actuating the monitored microphone  127  upon receipt of a microphone activation signal from the monitored input device  126  associated with the TALK feature ( FIG. 3   c ) and actuating the monitored transmitter  123  to transmit data collected by the monitored microphone  127  to the master receiver  114 . The monitored processor  122  may additionally or alternately include programming for actuating the monitored speaker  125   a  to audibly present data collected by the master microphone  117 , transmitted by a the master transmitter  113 , and received by the monitored receiver  124 . 
     The master processor  112  may have programming for actuating the master display  115   b  to present time data (e.g., the time of day), and the monitored processor may have programming for actuating the monitored display  125   b  to present data(e.g., the time of day). Respective input device  116 ,  126  buttons may be pressed to initiate respective processor programming routines. 
       FIG. 6  shows exemplary methods of using the child locator apparatus  100 . While at the alarm mode M 1 , a user may activate the means for actuating the monitored alarm  125  when the monitored unit  120  is not within a second predetermined distance from the master unit  110  as discussed above and shown at S 1 . Also as discussed above, the master processor  112  may determine that the monitored  120  is greater than a first predetermined distance and activate the master alarm  115  only, assuming that the second predetermined distance has been set greater than the first predetermined distance. 
     As seen at S 2 , a user may operatively select the first and/or second predetermined distances using the respective master input device  116  and/or the respective monitored input device  126  as discussed above. As shown at S 3  and S 5 , the master processor  112  may actuate the master transmitter  113  to transmit a deactivation signal to the monitored transmitter  123  to deactivate the monitored alarm  125  after the monitored alarm  125  is actuated as discussed above. The advantage of this feature is that it precludes the child from deactivating the alarm, or, more importantly, prevents an abductor from doing so. As shown at S 4 , the master and monitored alarms  115 ,  125  may be actuated manually using the master input  116  and the monitored input  126  buttons as discussed above. 
     While at the listen/talk mode M 2 , the master processor  112  may actuate the master transmitter  113  to transmit a microphone activation signal to the monitored receiver  124 , the monitored transmitter  123  may transmit data collected by the monitored microphone  127 , and the master speaker may audibly present the data collected by the monitored microphone, as discussed above. This is, essentially, one way sound transmission as shown at S 6 . As shown at S 7 , there may be two way sound transmission similar to that created by walkie talkies. More particularly, the master transmitter  113  may transmit data collected by the master microphone  117  to the monitored receiver  124  to be audibly displayed by the monitored speaker  125   a  and the monitored transmitter  123  may transmit data collected by the monitored microphone  127  to the master receiver  114  to be audibly displayed by the master speaker  115   a,  as discussed above. 
     While at the locate child mode M 3 , the master processor  112  may determine a direction to the monitored unit  120  and actuate the master display  115   b  to present the determined direction, as shown at S 8  and discussed above. 
     It is understood that while certain forms of this invention have been illustrated and described, it is not limited thereto except insofar as such limitations are included in the following claims and allowable functional equivalents thereof.