Abstract:
The cellular telephone/breath analyzer combination increases the functionality of the cellular telephone by informing the user of his/her breath quality. The visual display of the cellular telephone displays the breath analysis function. Using the keypad of the cellular telephone, the user can instruct the cellular telephone/breath analyzer to perform a breath analysis. When the user exhales into the breath analyzer, a microcontroller and digital processor disposed within the cellular telephone convert the electrochemical sensor reading into a breath quality indicator on the visual display of the cellular telephone.

Description:
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION(S)  
       [0001]    This application claims priority from provisional application serial No. 60/409,481, filed on Sep. 10, 2002, and entitled “Cell Phone/Breath Analyzer”, which is herein incorporated by reference.  
     
    
     
       BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION  
         [0002]    The present invention relates to a breath sensor disposed within a portable communications device. In particular, the present invention relates to a breath analyzer for use with a cellular telephone.  
           [0003]    The use of cellular telephones is widespread, seemingly with no end to their utility and proliferation in sight. At the touch of a keypad, verbal information can be communicated to parties located at great distances from one another and global information can be accessed from the Internet from nearly any location. Features such as caller ID, voice messaging, appointment books and calculators have added to the convenience and utility of cellular telephones.  
           [0004]    A source of self-consciousness for many people is the quality of their breath. The purpose of the breath analyzer is to detect oral malodor and provide the user with an indication of breath quality. Poor breath quality, or bad breath, is typically indicated by the presence of volatile components in the oral cavity. Volatile components of oral malodor include sulfur compounds which are produced by bacteria in the mouth. In most situations, hydrogen sulfide, methylmercaptan, and di-methylmercaptan constitute over 90% of the total volatile sulfur content in mouth malodor.  
           [0005]    Thus, there is a need in the art for cellular telephones that can analyze the user&#39;s breath quality.  
         BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION  
         [0006]    A combination cellular telephone and breath analyzer of the present invention provides the added functionality of breath analysis to the cellular telephone. The visual display of the cellular telephone provides the user with the option of having the quality of his/her breath analyzed. The user selects this function by pressing the keypad of the cellular telephone and exhaling into a breath analyzer incorporated into the cellular telephone. Once activated, the breath analyzer senses the presence of hydrogen sulfide gas with an electrochemical sensor and utilizes the measured gas concentration as an indicator of breath quality. The breath quality is then conveyed to the user on the visual display of the cellular telephone.  
       
    
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS  
       [0007]    [0007]FIG. 1 is a front-perspective view showing the cellular telephone and breath analyzer combination of the present invention.  
         [0008]    [0008]FIG. 2 is a block diagram of the electronics of the cellular telephone and breath analyzer combination of the present invention.  
         [0009]    While the above-identified figures set forth preferred embodiments of the invention, other embodiments are also contemplated, as noted in the discussion. In all cases, this disclosure presents the present invention by way of representation and not limitation. It should be understood that numerous other modifications and embodiments can be devised by those skilled in the art which fall within the scope and spirit of the principles of this invention.  
     
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION  
       [0010]    [0010]FIG. 1 depicts a typical cellular telephone  10  used to transmit and receive communication signals. The cellular telephone  10  includes a housing  12  sized to fit a human hand that houses conventional electronics for a cellular telephone including a visual display  14 , keypad  16 , antenna  18 , battery (not shown), microphone  20  to receive sound signals, and speaker  22  to provide audio signals to the user. It is common in the art for the visual display  14  to be either a liquid crystal display (LCD) or a plasma display. The display  14  visually informs the user of the various functions available on the cellular telephone  10 . The user then provides input to the cellular telephone  10  to perform a particular function by utilizing the keypad  16  to select the desired function from the visual display  14 . The housing  12  of the cellular telephone  10  also includes a breath analyzer  24  within it.  
         [0011]    The breath analyzer  24  is utilized for detecting the presence of oral malodor. For convenience, the breath analyzer  24  is disposed in the general area of the microphone  20 . The breath analyzer  24  can be linked to a distinct and separate circuit for converting the analog sensor signal to a digital signal or to the same circuit board as the cellular telephone  10  with the cellular telephone  10  circuit board accepting signals from the breath malodor analyzer  24 . The circuit board of the cellular telephone  10  includes analog-to-digital and digital-to-analog conversion chips that translate outgoing audio signals from analog to digital and incoming signals from digital back to analog. Such chips in the cellular telephone  10  could also be used to convert the signal from the breath sensor  24 .  
         [0012]    [0012]FIG. 2 depicts a block diagram of the circuitry of a cellular telephone/breath analyzer combination  30 . As indicated in the block diagram, the implementation of a cellular telephone/breath analyzer  30  is partitioned into two sections: a cellular telephone section  32  and a breath analyzer section  34 . In addition, a battery  36  and one or more voltage regulators  38  generate power supply voltages for operation of the cellular telephone/breath analyzer  30  electronics. In order to maximize battery life, both the cellular telephone section  32  and the breath analyzer section  34  of the electronics can be switched to minimum power consumption modes when not in use.  
         [0013]    The cellular telephone section  32  of the invention comprises a user interface  40 , baseband electronics module  42 , radio frequency (R.F.) transmitter  44 , power amplifier  46 , radio frequency receiver  48 , and antenna  18 . The user interface  40  includes the microphone  20 , speaker  22 , keypad  16 , and display  14 . The baseband electronics module  42  includes modulator  50  and demodulator  52  electronics and a cellular telephone digital processor core  54 .  
         [0014]    The cellular telephone digital processor core  54  is operatively connected to the keypad and switch  16 , which may be used to provide input to the cellular telephone section  32 . The digital processor core  54  is also operatively connected to the display, and may optionally be operatively connected to the microphone  20  and to the speaker  22 . In this way, the digital processor core  54  is configured to present visual information on the display  14  as well as provide audio indicators through the speaker  22 . The microphone  20  may also be connected to the digital processor core  54  to allow voice activation of various features of the cellular telephone  10 .  
         [0015]    The digital processor  54  also controls the sequence of events when the user communicates using the cellular telephone  10 . For instance, the digital processor  54  includes modulator  50  and demodulator  52 , and controls the sequence of events when the user verbally communicates into the cellular telephone  10  through the microphone  20 . Audio inputs from the microphone  20  are translated into a format suitable for transmission by the modulator  50 , converted to a radio frequency signal in the radio frequency transmitter section  44 , power boosted by the power amplifier  46 , and transmitted through the antenna  18 . The radio frequency receiver section  48  amplifies incoming radio signals and converts them into a format that the demodulator  52  can use to generate analog voltage level signals that drive the speaker  22  with audio tone and reconstructed voice information.  
         [0016]    The breath analyzer section  34  of the invention comprises an electrochemical sensor  56  that is sensitive to hydrogen sulfide gas, current-to-voltage amplifier  58 , voltage gain amplifier  60 , analog-to-digital converter  62 , and breath sensor microcontroller  64 . The breath analyzer section  34  is controlled by the microcontroller  64 . When hydrogen sulfide gas is detected by the electrochemical sensor  56 , the electrochemical sensor  56  produces a current proportional to the concentration of hydrogen sulfide gas in the current-to-voltage amplifier  58 . The output of the current-to-voltage amplifier  58  is then boosted by the voltage gain amplifier  60  to a level that allows the analog-to-digital converter  62  to convert this signal from analog to digital form. The output of the analog-to-digital converter  62  is transferred to the breath sensor microcontroller  64  for scaling as an indicator of breath quality. A measurement of low or no concentration of hydrogen sulfide gas is indicated as good breath quality. A measurement of high concentration of hydrogen sulfide gas is indicated as poor breath quality. Measurements between low and high hydrogen sulfide concentrations may also be indicated on a relative breath quality scale between the two extremes.  
         [0017]    The expected useful lifetime of an electrochemical sensor is two to three years. In one embodiment, the electrochemical sensor  56  element can be constructed as a user replaceable module. The breath sensor microcontroller  64  can be programmed to monitor the condition of the electrochemical sensor  56  and alert the user when it needs to be replaced.  
         [0018]    The breath analyzer section  34  is operatively connected to and is also controlled by the cellular telephone digital processor core  54 . For instance, the interface between the cellular telephone section  32  and the breath analyzer section  34  may be a bi-directional digital serial data communications link between the cellular telephone digital processor core  54  and the breath sensor microcontroller  64 . In this embodiment, the serial data communications link utilizes a UART (universal asynchronous receiver transmitter) for full duplex serial data transfer. The UART is a logical choice for this design because many microcontrollers and other digital processors are available with these devices built in. However, those skilled in the art will recognize that there are many types of serial data communication links that can be used.  
         [0019]    In operation, the user selects the breath analyzer function using the keypad  16 . The cellular telephone digital processor  54  then issues a request for a breath analysis to the breath sensor microcontroller  64 , such as by serial communications interface, and instructs the user either audibly via the speaker  22  or visually via the display  14  to exhale into the breath sensor  24  on the face of the cellular telephone  10 . Once the breath analysis is completed, the breath sensor microcontroller  64  transmits the results of the analysis by the serial communications interface to the cellular telephone digital processor  54 . The digital processor  54  then outputs the analysis results, such as via the visual display  14  or via the speaker  22 .  
         [0020]    The design of the cellular telephone section  32  presented is not intended to be an exhaustive description of cellular telephone technology. The simplified description of electronics circuitry representative of a cellular telephone is presented as an aid to understanding the invention. This design embodiment maintains a clear separation between the cellular telephone section  32  and breath analyzer section  34  in order to clearly describe the unique features of the invention. As an alternative embodiment, the cellular telephone section  32  and breath analyzer section  34  may be integrated into a single unit to minimize physical size and to reduce manufacturing cost. In addition, the breath analyzer section  34  analog-to-digital converter  62  and breath analyzer microcontroller  64  functions could be integrated into the cellular telephone digital processor core  54 . Under this embodiment, the interface between the breath analyzer and cellular telephone sections  32 ,  34  would be the analog voltage output of the breath analyzer section  34  voltage gain amplifier  60 .  
         [0021]    Although the present invention has been described with reference to preferred embodiments, workers skilled in the art will recognize that changes may be made in form and detail without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention.