The invention relates to an alert button. More particularly, the invention relates to a miniature button which may be affixed to clothing and clothing accessories, and is capable of being activated by the wearer to transmit an alert signal to another location.
Great advances have taken place in the field of personal communications in recent years. Cellular telephones are now small enough to fit in the shirt pocket. Pagers are capable of receiving not only numeric messages, but also alphanumeric and voice messages. Some wristwatches now incorporate paging devices.
These devices provide great versatility in terms of the type of information that may be conveyed. They also demonstrate the extent of current miniaturization technology, wherein a complicated computerized transceiver may now be contained in a very small housing.
However, these devices fall short in terms of providing a simple alert signal in the event of an emergency. A typical cellular phone is unsuitable for providing an emergency alert.
First, even though cell phones have become quite small, they are still not so small that they can be carried everywhere. A cell phone is typically carried in a pocket, or in a purse. However, when one is not carrying a purse, or is wearing clothing without pockets, they will typically not carry a cell phone.
Second, it takes time to actually make an emergency communication using a cell phone. The phone must be switched on, several keys must be pressed to dial an emergency number, it can take several seconds for the call to connect, and then one must speak to communicate the emergency. This process can be much too time consuming in certain emergency situations.
Further, a cellular telephone is not easy to operate, especially for small children, the elderly, and people with physical or mental disabilities. All of the steps necessary to operate the phone may be well beyond one of these people. Further, it is not always desirable to give a cellular telephone to a child or a teenager, who might use the telephone indiscriminately in non-emergency situations.
Pagers are not at all suitable for communicating the presence of an emergency situation. Pagers are only capable of receiving messages--not transmitting them.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,899,135 discloses a child monitoring device, in which an alert signal is generated when a child, wearing a transmitter, strays from the parent beyond a predetermined threshold distance. U.S. Pat. No. 4,785,291 to Hawthorne also discloses a distance monitor for child surveillance.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,337,041 to Friedman discloses a personal safety guard system for a stray person or pet. The device is typically worn by a pet, and can alert the pet when their owner is looking for them. In addition, the device can emit an audible alarm signal from the pet to notify passersby that the pet is lost.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,021,794 to Lawrence, discloses a personal emergency locator system which remotely activates and "homes in" on a miniaturized transceiver which is worn upon a person, such as a lost child.
While these units may be suitable for the particular purpose employed, or for general use, they would not be as suitable for the purposes of the present invention as disclosed hereafter.