1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to alerting devices, and more particularly to a temperature based alerting device for obtaining a user""s attention upon the occurrence of a predetermined event.
2. Description of the Related Art
The use of wireless communication is increasing at an exponential rate, and as such there have been many attempts among the service providers and manufacturers of the hardware implemented in the wireless systems to provide options to the users that enable more convenient and more user friendly and discrete access to the services. Among these attempts have been the implementation of other methods for alerting the user of the occurrence of a particular event and more specifically, the occurrence of an incoming communication signal. For example, with radio paging devices, the user generally has two options for setting the alert type when an incoming page is received; (i) an audible tone to indicate the presence of an incoming page or alternatively, (ii) a vibration mode to vibrate the device when the incoming page is being received. The vibration mode of the radio pager serves the same function of obtaining the user""s attention when an incoming page is received but does so in a silent manner so as to not disturb the user or persons surrounding the user when the page is received.
Some wireless telephones also provide a similar vibration mode for indicating the presence of an incoming telephone call. The vibration mode has been implemented into these devices primarily to provide the user with the option of turning off the audible tones generated by the radio pager or wireless telephone to prevent inconvenient audible disturbances in a variety of different places. Examples of these places would be office meetings, libraries, and any other place or circumstance that the user deems appropriate to eliminate the audible tones generated by the respective devices.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,861,686 to Lee discloses a device for generating waking vibrations or sounds. The device is implemented into alarm watches or in communications equipment such as cellular pagers or phones. The device utilizes an electromagnet, a element and a first and second set of vibration members in a ring case. These elements are connected to the printed circuit board PCB of the device (e.g. watch, phone or pager) and together enable the selective generation of vibratory motion when the device receives an incoming call, or in the case of a watch for providing an alarm function.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,619,181 to Murray discloses a vibratory alerting device with audible sound generator. The alerting device simultaneously generates a vibration alert and an audible alert to notify the user as to the presence of an incoming call on a portable communication device such as a pager or wireless telephone.
As mentioned previously, the use of an audible alert signal can be undesirable when the user is located in place where an audible alert signal would be considered an interruption. In addition, the devices used to implement a vibratory alert signal in a communication device are generally bulky in nature and have mechanical moving parts which require additional space within the device and thereby increases the overall size of the device.
Furthermore, all of the existing alerting devices (e.g., audible and vibratory) are contained within the communication device (i.e., phone or pager) and therefor require the user to be carrying the same in order to receive the alerting signal.
It would be advantageous to provide a more discrete alerting device that is not physically connected or disposed within the user""s communication device. This would enable the user to be alerted as to the presence of an incoming communication signal without requiring them to carry the communication device.
In accordance with a preferred embodiment of a invention, the method for generating a temperature based signal for alerting a user to the occurrence of a predetermined event comprises: providing a temperature based alerting device having at least one heating element in contact with the user""s skin; initializing the temperature based alerting device to a predetermined temperature; setting a temperature change limit for the temperature based alerting device; changing the temperature of the heating element of the temperature based alerting device upon occurrence of the predetermined event; and resetting the temperature of the heating element of the temperature based alerting device when the user has responded to the occurrence of the predetermined event.
Other objects and features of the present invention will become apparent from the following detailed description considered in conjunction with the accompanying drawings. It is to be understood, however, that the drawings are designed solely for purposes of illustration and not as a definition of the limits of the invention, for which reference should be made to the appended claims. It should be further understood that the drawings are not necessarily drawn to scale and that, unless otherwise indicated, they are merely intended to conceptually illustrate the structures and procedures described herein.