GB2424084A

GB2424084A - Vibrating exercise prompter

Info

Publication number: GB2424084A
Application number: GB0604562A
Authority: GB
Inventors: Nasser Malekyazdi
Original assignee: Individual
Current assignee: Individual
Priority date: 2005-03-11
Filing date: 2006-03-07
Publication date: 2006-09-13
Also published as: GB2424083A; GB0604562D0; GB0505190D0

Abstract

Method and apparatus for prompting a person to engage in a non-sedentary activity, e.g. to move or perform the act of fidgeting or do specific movements,( e.g. to lose body weight, without doing any energetic physical exercise or using any gym apparatus) upon elapse of a set desired time interval. The apparatus comprises an electronic timer device (1) that counts down a specified time period, which is set by the user, and induces an alarm in the form of vibration, light and sound when the electronic timer has reached the prescribed time. The device resets and it again alerts the user after elapse of the same desired time interval - unless it is turned off or set for a new cycle time. The embodiment of this invention includes a timer unit and case (1), wristband straps (8, 9), a battery compartment (12), alarms in the form of a vibration device (11), a visual light indicator (3) and an audible speaker (4). It includes a visual LCD (2) and operating buttons for On/Off (14), set (15) time set increase (16), time set decrease (17), start (5), stop (6) and sound/light (7).

Description

MOTION PROMPTING DEVICE

DESCRIPTION

Technical Field

This invention relates to a motion prompting device to remind a user to engage in an activity, e.g. as a method for improving fitness and/or losing weight. Such activity, if performed at frequent intervals, can be of a minimal amount - perhaps no more than fidgeting. In other words, the invention is especially (but not exclusively) concerned with losing weight through the act of fidgeting and movement, by reminding a person upon expiry of a set desired countdown time interval to fidget or do certain short movements as simple day to day movements that can be performed even by old people and that are not associated with energetic physical exercise such as weight lifting or aerobics.

Background

It is considered that engaging in an activity such as in fidgeting, with short movements, causes a person to lose body weight even better and more efficiently than doing energetic physical exercise. That is why people who move or fidget by habit or action of their job are normally thinner than people who have no movement (often known as couch potatoes). Most people want to move or fidget and lose weight but either they have no encouragement or cannot remember to fidget at regular times. It is therefore considered appropriate to provide for them a motion prompting device whereby they can be encouraged to do some movements at any position in which they are.

Summary of the Invention

According to this invention there is provided a motion prompting device comprising a housing and attachment means operative for attachment or fitting of the housing to the body of a user, the housing having a vibration generating device in a face of the housing to engage the body of the user when the attachment means are operative, and wherein the device includes: an electronic timer to count down a desired set time period and, when the period has elapsed, to activate the vibration generating device; a visual LCD disposed on a face of the housing and in communication with said electronic timer, and to display the time in minutes remaining before expiry of the set time period or interval; a first actuating element having an "ON/OFF" function and in communication with said electronic timer such that actuating said first actuating element to ON or OFF position will respectively activate or de-activate an electric power supply to said electronic timer and said LCD; a second actuating element having a "Set" function, a third actuating element having an "INCREASE" function and a fourth actuating element having a "DECREASE" function, each in communication with said electronic timer such that actuating said second actuating element will activate the set mode and enable the third and fourth actuating elements to be actuated to respectively increase or decrease the set time period or interval.

Preferably the device further includes an electronic audible alert generator and speaker in communication with said electronic timer to provide an audible alert when the set time period has elapsed.

Alternatively or additionally, the device preferably further includes a visual light indicator disposed on a face of said housing and in communication with said electronic timer, wherein said visual light alert is activated and illuminates when said electronic timer has reached the prescribed time.

Advantageously, the visual light indicator comprises and LED (Light Emitting Diode) disposed on said front face of said housing wich preferably is of circular shape.

It is envisaged that embodiments of this invention can help people to lose body weight at their own pace simply by reminding and encouraging them to do some ordinary day- to-day activities more often. It can save them money and time; especially for people who have no access to sport facilities or cannot buy expensive exercise equipment or join gyms or have no extra time for physical exercise and people who have medical problems and disabilities.

Also for older people who may have problems in taking long walks (especially on slippery pavements) and are not comfortable engaging in tiring sport or have some kind of problem doing physical exercise. For example a non-sedentary activity could be simply getting up and sitting down, or getting up and walking a few meters back and forth before sitting down again, or getting up to perform a few housework duties and sitting down again. Or placing the motion prompting device a few meters away from the user's sitting area so that as the alarm beeps - upon expiry of each time interval - the user needs to get up and walk toward the device to stop the alarm and then return to the sitting area again and wait for the next cycle.

Several alert timers have been proposed for different purposes. Examples include the devices described in US-2003/206496(considered in detail in the priority document hereto [GB Application 0505190.9] and incorporated herein by reference) and GB- 2266978. However, there are apparently no devices on the market that simply and effectively indicate and remind a person to perform frequently at set time intervals a small non-sedentary activity, e.g. the act of fidgeting, and that can also continually provide vibration (and audible and/or visual) alerts after pre-set time intervals and especially suitable for the purpose of losing weight through fidgeting.

Hence, it is considered desirable to provide a motion prompting device to promote and remind an act of fidgeting in young and old people, andlor to encourage fidgeting instead of physical exercise thereby to lose weight, particularly for people who have problems with doing sport.

In one embodiment of this invention there is provided a motion prompting device which, for example, can be worn by people like a normal wristwatch and showing (by a two digit LCD) a representation of time in minutes to be counted down for each time interval, and to provide an alerting signal by means of an electronic vibration alert. The device can also include a visual light alert indicator and/or an electronic audible alert generator. It preferably includes adjustment means whereby any desired count down time interval can be set to provide a prompting signal for the user to fidget and make a short movement to lose body weight.

Preferably the casing of the device is made of plastic or metal material, similar to a wristwatch. The timer circuit itself can be made from suitable miniature semiconductors and can include a pulse generator, logic gates, output relay circuits and all necessary connections to the LCD, vibration alert device, audible alert generator, visual indicator, or voice generator IC, battery and other appropriate components. A time display circuit and display can also be incorporated in this device to facilitate its use also as normal wristwatch when desired.

Brief Description of the Drawings

By way of example, a preferred embodiment of this invention will now be described with reference to the accompanying drawings of which: Figure 1 shows a front face view of a motion prompting device embodying this invention; Figure 2 shows a rear view of the device of Fig 1; Figure 3 shows a side view of the device of Figs 1 and 2; Figure 4 is a flow chart of the operation of the device of Figs 1 to 3.

Detailed Description of Example(s) of the Invention As shown in Figure 1, the motion prompting device 1 comprises shows a circular housing having a two digit LCD display 2 of the front face of the housing. The two digit LCD display 2 is arranged to flash ON and OFF the digits "88" when an actuating element in the form of a depressible button 15 -marked "Set" (Fig 3) - is depressed once, and thereafter displays the time cycle interval and a countdown of the elapsed time, each display being in minutes. A visual alert indicator 3 (preferably a LED) is also provided to display a red or orange light when the alarm is activated, and an audible alert speaker 4 is also provided to generate a beep or other sound when the alarm is activated.

A further actuating element in the form of a depressible button 5 - marked "Start" - extends from the front face of the circular housing of the device 1 and operates to start and activate the time cycle interval which has already been set by the user's operation of actuating element 15.

Another actuating element in the form of a depressible button 6 - marked "Stop" - extends from the front face of the circular housing of the device 1 and is operable to stop and reset all the alarms previously activated and further initiates the next time countdown cycle. Yet another actuating element in the form of a depressible button 7 - marked "Sound/Light" extends from the front face of the circular housing of the device 1 to enable or disable the visual light alert indicator 3 and the audible alert speaker 4 upon elapse of the time cycle interval prescribed. This is useful if the user only wants to be privately and quietly alarmed by only the vibration device 11 mounted on the rear face of the housing or wants to be alarmed at the same time by all three signals: from the vibration device 11, audible device 4, and visual indicator device 3.

Figure 1 also shows a wrist strap 8,9 connected to two opposite sides of the surrounding edge of the circular housing whereby it can be fitted on to a user's wrist.

Alternatively or additionally, a chain or other band may be attached to the housing, e.g a necklace, or the device (though having such body attachment/mounting means) can be used without any of them being employed and from a location remote from the user.

As shown in Figure 2, device 10 comprises not only the vibration alert generator device 11, but also a battery compartment 12.

Figure 3 shows the surrounding side edge 13 of the device with protruding buttons constituting first, second, third and fourth actuating elements 14, 15, 16 and 17. The first actuating elements 14 is marked "ON/OFF" and, by depressing to ON or OFF position, will respectively activate or deactivate the electric power to the device and the visual LCD 2. The second actuating element is marked "Set" 15 and, upon depressing it once, will activate the set mode and the visual LCD 2 such that the latter's digits start to display and flash on and off and enable the third and fourth actuating elements 16, 17 to function. When thus enabled, depressing and holding the third actuating element 16 (marked "+") or the fourth actuating element 17 (marked "-") stops LCD 2 flashing and begins to respectively increase or decrease the specified interval shown in minutes on the LCD 2.

The flow chart of Figure 4 shows the actions of the device of which desired time cycle intervals (in minutes) can be set by the user.

From the foregoing it will be appreciated that the above described and illustrated motion prompting device can be suitable for many people, especially those having a medical problem, disabled and/or older people, to replace physical exercises by instead reminding and encouraging them to do more fidgeting and normal everyday housework duties thereby to keep fit and/or lose body weight. This is achieved by the device reminding a person to move or perform the act of fidgeting or do specific motions and movements after a pre-set desired time interval. The motion can be a simple fidgeting action or other non-sedentary activity such as getting up and sitting down, or getting up and walking a few meters back and fort before sitting down again, or getting up to perform a few houseworking duties and sitting down again. Alternatively, the above- described and illustrated device can be placed a few meters away from the user's sitting area so that, as the alarm beeps upon elapse of each time interval, the user has to get up and walk toward the device to stop the alarm and then return to the sitting area again and wait for the next such cycle.

It will thus be appreciated that the above-described and illustrated embodiment of this invention provides a method and apparatus for prompting a person to engage in a non- sedentary activity, e.g. to move or perform the act of fidgeting or do specific movements,( e.g. to lose body weight, without doing any energetic physical exercise or using any gym apparatus) upon elapse of a set desired time interval. The apparatus comprises an electronic timer device (1) that counts down a specified time period, which is set by the user, and induces an alarm in the form of vibration (and preferably light andlor sound too) when the electronic timer has reached the prescribed time. The user then resets the device and it again alerts the user after elapse of the same desired time interval - unless it is turned off or set for a new cycle time. The embodiment of this invention includes a timer unit and case (1), wristband straps (8, 9), a battery compartment (12), alarms in the form of a vibration device (11), a visual light indicator (3) and an audible speaker (4). It includes a visual LCD (2) and operating buttons for On/Off (14), set (15) time set increase (16), time set decrease (17), start (5), stop (6) and sound/light (7).

Other modifications and embodiments of the invention, which will be readily apparent to those skilled in this art, are to be deemed within the ambit and scope of the invention, and the particular embodiment(s) hereinbefore described may be varied in construction and detail, e.g. interchanging (where appropriate or desired) different features of each, without departing from the scope of the patent monopoly hereby sought. -8.

Claims

1. A motion prompting device comprising a housing and attachment means operative for attachment or fitting of the housing to the body of a user, the housing having a vibration generating device in a face of the housing to engage the body of the user when the attachment means are operative, and wherein the device includes: an electronic timer to count down a desired set time period and, when the period has elapsed, to activate the vibration generating device; a visual LCD disposed on a face of the housing and in communication with said electronic timer, and to display the time in minutes remaining before expiry of the set time period or interval; a first actuating element having an "ON/OFF" function and in communication with said electronic timer such that actuating said first actuating element to ON or OFF position will respectively activate or deactivate an electric power supply to said electronic timer and said LCD; a second actuating element having a "Set" function, a third actuating element having an "INCREASE" function and a fourth actuating element having a "DECREASE" function, each in communication with said electronic timer such that actuating said second actuating element will activate the set mode and enable the third and fourth actuating elements to be actuated to respectively increase or decrease the set time period or interval.

2. A device according to Claim 1 wherein the device further includes an electronic audible alert generator and speaker in communication with said electronic timer to provide an audible alert when the set time period has elapsed.

3. A device according to Claim 1 or Claim 2 wherein the device further includes a visual light indicator disposed on said front face of said circular housing and in communication with said electronic timer, wherein said visual light alert activates and illuminates when said electronic timer has reached prescribed time.

4. A device according to Claim 3 wherein the visual light indicator comprises a LED (Light Emitting Diode)

5. A device according to any preceding Claim wherein said LCD comprises a screen capable of displaying two digits.

6. A device according to any preceding Claim wherein the first actuating element is disposed on a side face of the housing.

7. A device according to any preceding Claim wherein the LCD is arranged to flash "88" on and off when the second actuating element is initially operated.

8. A device according to any preceding Claim wherein the fitting means comprises one or more straps to mount the device about the wrist of a user.

9. A device according to any preceding Claim wherein the housing is of generally circular outline and of substantially wristwatch dimensions, the said actuating elements being mounted on a side face of the housing.

10. A device according to any preceding Claim and incorporating a time-ofthy display.

11. A device according to Claim 3 or to any one of Claims 4 to 10 when dependent from Claim 3, wherein the device further includes a voice generating IC circuit providing an alarm signal comprising speech.

12. A device according to Claim 11 wherein said speech includes the words "Move Now" or "Fidget Now".

13. A motion prompting device substantially as herein described with reference to and/or as illustrated in the accompanying drawings.

14. An exercise regime for the purpose of increasing or maintaining fitness, wherein a device according to any one of the preceding Claims is used to provide at least a vibratory alarm signal, that is to prompt motion or other activity, at pre-set intervals of time.