Abstract:
A defibrillator enclosure system generally includes an automated external defibrillator (AED), an openable cabinet, a detector, and an alarm circuit. The openable cabinet is used to enclose the AED while the detector monitors the presence and absence of the AED within the cabinet. Specifically, upon detecting that the AED is no longer within the cabinet, the detector activates an alarm circuit whereby an alarm indicating the absence of the AED is issued.

Description:
FIELD OF THE INVENTION  
         [0001]    The present invention relates to an enclosure for an automatic external defibrillator (AED) and, more particularly, to an AED enclosure that provides an indicator that the AED has been removed from its enclosure.  
         BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION  
         [0002]    Automatic external defibrillators, or AEDs, are devices that in the past were typically accessible to only emergency personnel due to their cost. However, with improved technology and the decreasing costs of manufacture, AEDs are now becoming commonplace in locales frequented by the public, e.g., malls, sports arenas, schools, government buildings, airplanes, etc. Typically AEDs are fairly small, hand-portable devices that are used relatively infrequently. Consequently, they may be misplaced and not locatable by a rescuer unless presented in some form of an identifiable emergency cabinet akin to a fire extinguisher cabinet. The cabinet preferably provides some type of alarm indicating that an emergency situation is at hand so that others may become involved or obtain additional help for the situation at hand.  
           [0003]    One such AED cabinet is described in U.S. Pat. No. 6,301,501. The cabinet provides a defibrillator mount that is connected to an interior surface of the cabinet so as to present the defibrillator in a position that allows a full view of the defibrillator through a window of the cabinet. The cabinet additionally provides for an audible and visual alarm that is connected to an exterior surface of the cabinet. These alarms are activated via a switch that detects when the door of the cabinet has been opened; an open door produces the alarms. A key switch that enables or disables the door switch is also provided. In the circuit of the &#39;501 patent the alarm switch is constantly monitored causing the circuit to constantly consume battery energy. This significantly affects the life of the battery and the reliability of the alarms.  
           [0004]    While the &#39;501 patent provides a useful identifiable emergency cabinet, it provides one that activates an alarm only upon the cabinet door being opened and does not address the situation wherein the glass panel of the door has been broken and the AED removed, or the situation of a non-doored cabinet that provides only a breakable panel for access to the AED. Further, the AED cabinet of the &#39;501 patent provides an alarm circuit that constantly draws power making battery life a significant concern in the use of this cabinet.  
         SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION  
         [0005]    The limitations described above are in large part addressed by the defibrillator enclosure system of the present invention. The defibrillator enclosure system generally includes an automated external defibrillator (AED), an openable cabinet, a detector, and an alarm circuit. The openable cabinet is used to enclose the AED while the detector monitors the presence and absence of the AED within the cabinet. Specifically, upon detecting that the AED is no longer within the cabinet, the detector activates an alarm circuit whereby an alarm indicating the absence of the AED is issued.  
           [0006]    Any number of devices may be used to detect the absence of the AED from the cabinet. These devices include but are not limited to a push button, a microswitch, a spring loaded bracket, and the combination of a light emitter/detector. The cabinet may be equipped with a shelf or bracket to support at least a portion of the weight of the AED; the shelf or bracket may also be used to present the AED in position so as to be viewable through a see-thru window in the cabinet enclosure. The alarm circuit is designed to be a no draw circuit, meaning it draws no power until the absence of the AED from the cabinet is detected by the detector, though this is not a requirement of this invention.  
           [0007]    The present invention further includes a method for publicly securing an AED. The method includes the steps of: (1) fabricating an enclosure for the AED; (2) mounting the enclosure in a publicly accessible position; (3) enclosing the AED within the mounted enclosure; (4) monitoring the presence of the enclosed AED; and initiating an alarm upon the absence of the enclosed AED being detected. 
       
    
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS  
       [0008]    [0008]FIG. 1 depicts an automatic external defibrillator (AED) enclosure of the present invention.  
         [0009]    [0009]FIG. 2 is a circuit diagram of an alarm circuit of the present invention.  
         [0010]    [0010]FIGS. 3A-3E depict alternative embodiments for alarm switches of the present invention. 
     
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS  
       [0011]    The defibrillator enclosure system of the present invention provides an enclosure cabinet for an automatic external defibrillator (AED) that also includes an alarm circuit indicating when the AED has been removed from the cabinet. The alarm circuit of the defibrillator enclosure system draws power from a battery power source only upon the AED being removed from the cabinet. Referring to FIG. 1, the defibrillator enclosure system  10  of the present invention generally includes an enclosure cabinet  12 , an alarm switch  14 , an alarm circuit  16 , an audible alarm  18  and/or a visible alarm  20 .  
         [0012]    In a preferred embodiment, the enclosure cabinet  12  includes a door  22  for access to the AED  24 , however, the door  22  can be replaced with a breakable panel enabling access to the AED. The door  22  is preferably provided with a glass panel  26  enabling viewing of the AED  24  contained within the cabinet  12 . A hinge  28  is preferably used to secure the door  22  to a faceplate  30  of the cabinet  12 . The faceplate is secured to a five-sided box  32  completing the external coordination of the enclosure cabinet  12 . In the embodiment of FIG. 1, the cabinet  12  is additionally provided with a spring-loaded pivoting shelf  34 , the direction of pivot indicated by the arrows, upon which the AED  24  rests. The alarm switch  14  is positioned beneath the shelf  34  and activates upon the AED  24  being lifted from the shelf  34 . The removal of the weight from the shelf  34  enables the shelf  34  to pivot upward such that the normally closed push button contact is open activating the alarm circuit  16 .  
         [0013]    [0013]FIG. 2 depicts the alarm circuit  16 . The alarm circuit  16  is designed to save battery energy, which is preferably provided by a nine-volt-DC battery  36 . This is accomplished by not monitoring the alarm circuit  16 , which is the common approach to alarm circuits and the one that is used in the &#39;501 patent described in the Background of the Invention. Here, the alarm switch  14  is preferably a normally closed switch. As such, with the AED  24  in the cabinet  12 , the alarm switch  14  is opened so that no current draw is put on the nine-volt battery, i.e., the contacts of the relay  38  are closed when the relay is de-energized. The alarm switch  14  is activated by the removal of the AED  24  from the cabinet that sounds the audible alarm  18  and/or the visual alarm  20 , i.e., the contacts of the relay  38  are opened enabling a complete current path to the audible and/or visual alarm. Note that the alarm circuit  16  may additionally be provided with a test switch  40  for testing the alarms and a key switch  42  for enabling/disabling the alarms. A contact for activating an auxiliary alarm  44  may also be provided.  
         [0014]    [0014]FIGS. 3A through 3E depict alternative embodiments to the pivoting shelf  34  and push button alarm switch configuration of FIG. 1. Specifically, FIG. 3A depicts a fixed shelf  46  within the five-sided box  32  of the cabinet  12  wherein a levered microswitch  48  (shown through use of a cut-away section of the shelf  46 ) extends through an opening in the shelf  46  and operates as alarm switch  14 . The AED  24  (not shown) rests atop the microswitch  48  and shelf  46 , removal of the AED from the shelf activating the alarm switch  14  and alarm circuit  16 . FIG. 3B depicts the fixed shelf  46  with a push button  50  acting as the alarm switch  14 . The push button  50  extends through an opening in the shelf  46  and operates similar to the microswitch  48  described immediately above.  
         [0015]    [0015]FIG. 3C depicts an alternative embodiment of the present invention wherein the alarm switch  14  comprises a spring loaded hanging bracket  52 , similar to an old-style telephone. The AED (not shown) is configured to hang from the spring-loaded bracket  52  wherein removal of the AED causes the bracket to spring upward and activate the alarm circuit  16 . FIG. 3D depicts an alternative embodiment wherein the alarm switch  14  comprises a photoelectric beam emitter  54  and detector  56 . Placement of the AED  24  (not shown) within the cabinet  12  blocks the beam of light preventing interception of the light by the detector  56  while removal of the AED enables the detector  56  to detect the light from the emitter  54  and activate the alarm circuit  16 . The emitter  54  may be placed on a shelf upon which the AED sits or upon the bottom surface of the cabinet where the AED sits. FIG. 3E depicts an alternative embodiment wherein the alarm switch  14  comprises the emitter  54  and detector  56  in a side-by-side arrangement and comprises a light reflecting panel  58  on the AED  24 . Upon lifting the AED  24  from the cabinet the light reflecting panel  58  reflects the light from the emitter  54  into the detector  56  thereby activating the alarm circuit  16 . When the AED  24  is resting atop the emitter  54  and detector  56  no light is transferred between the two. The emitter  54  and detector  56  may be placed on a shelf upon which the AED sits or upon the bottom surface of the cabinet where the AED sits. Other manners of detecting removal of the AED from the cabinet  12  may be used without departing from the spirit or scope of the invention; the above-described alternative alarm switches are provided as examples and are not intended to limit the invention.  
         [0016]    The concept of the defibrillator enclosure system is to provide a publicly accessible enclosure of an AED that also warns those around that the AED has been removed from the enclosure and an emergency is at hand. The defibrillator enclosure system provides these features when the enclosure is mounted in a publicly accessible position within a public location.  
         [0017]    The present invention may be embodied in other specific forms without departing from the spirit of the essential attributes thereof; therefore, the illustrated embodiment should be considered in all respects as illustrative and not restrictive, reference being made to the appended claims rather than to the foregoing description to indicate the scope of the invention.