Bed position and activity sensing apparatus

Claim 1

An apparatus for detecting the relative location of a body lying upon a bed, said apparatus comprising: an electrical power source; and a single elongate sensor disposed upon said bed and parallel to at least one axis thereof, said elongate sensor having a longitudinal axis defining a plurality of points along said elongate sensor that are at least partially coextensive with a range of motion of said body in said bed, said elongate sensor having first and second electrically conductive members, one of said electrically conductive members being electrically coupled to said electrical power source, said body lying upon said bed and at least partially upon said sensor and urging said electrically conductive members into electrically conductive contact at least one of said plurality of points, wherein said sensor provides a sensor signal whose magnitude depends upon which of said plurality of points along said sensor that said body is lying upon wherein said sensor detects said body lying upon said at least one of said plurality of points and said sensor signal provides an indication of the relative location of said body in said bed.

Claim 2

An apparatus for detecting the relative location of a body lying upon a bed, said apparatus comprising: an electrical power source; and a single elongate sensor disposed upon said bed and parallel to at least one axis thereof, said elongate sensor having a longitudinal axis defining a plurality of points along said elongate sensor that are at least partially coextensive with a range of motion of said body in said bed, said elongate sensor having first and second electrically conductive members, one of said electrically conductive members being electrically coupled to said electrical power source, said body lying upon said bed and at least partially upon said sensor and urging said electrically conductive members into electrically conductive contact at least one of said plurality of points, wherein said sensor provides a sensor signal whose magnitude depends upon which of said plurality of points along said sensor that said body is lying upon wherein said sensor detects said body lying upon said at least one of said plurality of points and said sensor signal provides an indication of the relative location of said body in said bed.

Claim 6

An apparatus for detecting the position of a body lying upon a bed, said apparatus comprising: an electrical power source; an elongate sensor including: an elongate first conductive member having a first selected resistance-per-unit-length; an elongate second conductive member having a second selected resistance-per-unit-length, which is different from the first resistance-per-unit-length, of said first conductive member, and said elongate second conductive member disposed coextensively with said first elongate conductive member; an output node electrically coupled to said first conductive member at an intermediate point therein, wherein a body lying upon said elongate sensor at a selected point urges said first conductive member into electrical contact with said second conductive member to define an electrical path for output of a sensor signal having a sensor signal magnitude that varies as a function of location of said selected point along the elongate sensor because of said different between said first resistance-per-unit-length and said second resistance-per-unit-length; and an alarm circuit including: a position detector circuit coupled to said output node for detecting said sensor signal magnitude and comparing said sensor signal magnitude to a predetermined minimum and a predetermined maximum and producing a position signal if said sensor signal magnitude is without a range defined between said predetermined minimum and said predetermined maximum; an activity detector circuit coupled to said output node for detecting changes in said sensor signal magnitude over time, and comparing changes in said sensor signal magnitude over time to a predetermined activity maximum, and producing an activity signal if said changes exceed said predetermined activity maximum.

Claim 7

An apparatus for detecting the position of a body lying upon a bed, said apparatus comprising: an electrical power source; an elongate sensor including: an elongate first conductive member having a first selected resistance-per-unit-length; an elongate second conductive member having a second selected resistance-per-unit-length, which is different from the first resistance-per-unit-length, of said first conductive member, and said elongate second conductive member disposed coextensively with said first elongate conductive member; an output node electrically coupled to said first conductive member at an intermediate point therein, wherein a body lying upon said elongate sensor at a selected point urges said first conductive member into electrical contact with said second conductive member to define an electrical path for output of a sensor signal having a sensor signal magnitude that varies as a function of location of said selected point along the elongate sensor because of said different between said first resistance-per-unit-length and said second resistance-per-unit-length; and an alarm circuit including: a position detector circuit coupled to said output node for detecting said sensor signal magnitude and comparing said sensor signal magnitude to a predetermined minimum and a predetermined maximum and producing a position signal if said sensor signal magnitude is without a range defined between said predetermined minimum and said predetermined maximum; an activity detector circuit coupled to said output node for detecting changes in said sensor signal magnitude over time, and comparing changes in said sensor signal magnitude over time to a predetermined activity maximum, and producing an activity signal if said changes exceed said predetermined activity maximum.