CA1274279A

CA1274279A - Portable communications system

Info

Publication number: CA1274279A
Application number: CA000525104A
Authority: CA
Inventors: Paul S. Gradwell; Terence H. Leather; Frank R. Naylor
Original assignee: Individual
Current assignee: Individual
Priority date: 1985-12-13
Filing date: 1986-12-11
Publication date: 1990-09-18
Also published as: GB8629861D0; US4885797A; AU6771787A; DD269047A5; DE3682210D1; GB2185364A; GB8530772D0; AU599070B2; JPS63502082A; WO1987003501A2; WO1987003501A3; CN86108791A; GB2185364B; ATE68713T1; CN1011016B; EP0281564A1; EP0281564B1

Abstract

PORTABLE COMMUNICATIONS SYSTEM

ABSTRACT OF DISCLOSURE

A communication system especially for coaching swimmers comprises a hand set which the coach uses to summon up a swimmer or swimmers to be instructed by means of generated tones and a thing worn by each swimmer to.
be instructed which contains electronic amplifying means and audio transducers. To water proof the electronics they are enclosed in a sealed enclosure and then in the latex of a swimming cap. Batteries used in the circuitry can be recharged without breaking the sealing by using a strong magnetic field to break through the water-proofing and drive a constant current battery charging arrangement.

Description

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The present invention relates to communication systems.
The invention arose from a problem in coaching swimmers. A swim~ing coach watches his swimmers from a pool surround and yells his instructions. Swimming pools especially when indoor~ are noisy places and it is difficult for any swimmer to understand the ~houted instructions. Mormally there are many swimmers being coached at the same time and thu~ each swimmer has to listen for any instruction which might be meant for him and ignore instruction~ meant for anyone else; this is distracting to the swimmer.
The invention is not, however, limited to swi~ming instruction but is applicable to most sport~ and other communication.
The pre~ent invention aims to provide a communication system for the transmission of instructions from an instructor to a class or other group of instructees. The invention relates to a communication system for instructing individual me~bers of a group and the group a~ a whole comprising a tran~mitter to be used by the instructor and a receiver for each member of the group which receiver contains an electric battery and is mounted on an elastically extensible article to be worn on the head of the respective member~ Each receiver is designed to be extensible and to be contained within the extensible article, is an input a~plifier stabilized by a crystal oscillator and yielding an audi~ frequency signal, decoding means for sensing a sub-audible tone in that signal identifying that the signal is intended for the entire group or another sub-audible tone identifying that the signal is intended for ~he particular ~m:rn/jrc ~;~7~ g receiver, an output circuit for passing the Rignal to audio transducers, one over each ear o the member in use, when the decoding means yields a signal denoting that a sub-audible tone accepta~le to that receiver i9 contained in the audio frequency signal. The transmitter inject~ a sub-audible continuous tone under the control of the instructor to identify the member to be instructed onto the audio input to the receiver.
The electro-magnetic linking can be done at audio frequency by having a loop surrounding the class or group or by radio transmission. If radio transmission i5 used, the transmitter should be of low power, say 1 watt of radiated power, to avoid too large an area in which the signal can be received.
The system can incorporate an encryption or scrambling device to prevent outsiders eavesdropping on the instructions given~ There i6 keen rivalry between swimming coaches.
The system can also incorpQrate a switching arrangement whereby an individual and/or a sub-group and/or the entire group can be addres~ed qo the instructor can give instructions to whichever individual he selectæ~

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to whichever of a number of p~e-selected sub-groups he choses and/or -the entire group. It wou]d of course be possible to arrange for a plurali-t~ of individuals to be instructed without the need for determining in 5 advance which sub-g~roup they belonged to.
~ he receiving unit has to include an audio-transducer to produce the sound.' ~his audio transducer can be in the form of ear-piece to be received in the instructee's ear; this has an advantage in that the power demanded 10 from the unit is low but it is difficult to render such a transducer water-proof in a swimming environment.
It is preferred in a swimming environment to use a transducer which is enclosed in a water-tight case and then to incorporate that case in the latex of a 15 swimming cap, which in the case of a swimmer or diver would be the said something worn. In a non-watery environment, the said something could be in the form of a head-piece with, ear-pieces to fit in the ears although there is nothing to prevent said something 20 being anything worn or carried by the instructee.
Instead of instructions going direct from the instruction unit which can be a hand-held unit, it would be possible to use a relay unit to augment the signal and the relay unit can derive power from a 25 mains supply.~
In another aspect of -the invention, a swimming cap has provision for receiving an electronic signal receiving unit.
Sald provision can be in the form of ~ p~t~or~
30 poc~s into,"~ch the unit can be inserted.
A further aspect of the invention provides a swimming cap incorporating an electronic signal receiving device.
~ he cap can incorporate the said receiving unit by being made in a dipping process with the unit being 35 between two skins or by having a patch vulcanised over the unit.
~ he receiving unit can be made in two parts each fitting over an ear with each part containing an audio-transducer ~th'"one in addition havlng the electronic ~;~7~:7~

circui-try and the other a power supply.
Unfortunately it has been found that the power demand of -the receiving unit and particularly that of the transducers gives an undesirably short life o~ the 5 receiving unit when non-rechargeable batteries are used. It has therefore been found desirable to use re-chargeable batteries. It has also been found desirable to switch off the unit when not in use. ~o avoid the need for mechanical switches, the unit can be 10 switched on by an electronic signal and be held on for a determined period. One way of doing this would be for a part of the circuit to sense when a signal was being received and to switch off the remainder of the circuit if the signal was not addressed to it and 15 another would be to switch the circuit on when a signal was applied and then switch it off only after a delay.
A yet further aspect of the invention provides a method of recharging batteries without direct contact by placing the batteries with a charging circuit in an 20 alternating magnetic field with the circuit rectifying an alternating voltage derived from the field and deriving a conctant current to recharge the batteriesO
It has surprisingly been found that water does not attenuate the radio frequencies used in a prototype 25 sufficiently to prevent the prototype being used in swimming coaching,indeed the prototype was effective in six foot of water that is with a trainee at the bottom of the deep end of a swimming pool which was nominally six foot deep (six foot is over 1.8 metres).
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The invention ~ill now be described, by way of example, ~ith -re~erence to the accompanying clrawings.
BRIEF DESCRIPT:[ON OF Tll'~ DRA~INGS
Figure 1 is a block diagram of a communication system according to the present invention for use in coaching swimmers, Figure 2 illustrates a variant, Figure 3 is a perspective view of an instruction unit, Fi,gure 4 is a circuit diagram of the instruction unit, Figure 5 is a circuit diagram of a receiving unit, Figure 6 shows the arrangement of cells forming a battery used in the circuit of Figure 5, Figure 7 is a view of a swimmer wearing a cap embodying the present invention, Figure 8 is a section of a detail on line VIII-VIII
of Figure 7, Figure 9 is a schematic section showing detail of Figure 8, Figure 10 shows the present invention as used in a head : 20 band, Figure 11 shows diagrammatically a recharging unit for the battery used in Figure 5, F;gure 12 illustra~es how the unit of Figure 11 co-operates with circuitry connected to the battery to charge the battery lh/rv~

~7g~:79 D~SCRlPTION 0~ ~XE~P~ARY ~MODIMEN~S
~ i~ure 1 shows in block outline a communication system. A hand-held instruction unit 21 incorporates a key board and associated logic circuitry 22 which 5 will be mentioned in more detail in relation to ~igure 3, a built-in micro-phone 23, a speech encoding circuit 24, amplifying circuitry 25, and an aerial 26 all powered by a battery 27 or mains electricity, a rechargeable battery is preferred. A receiving unit 10 28 comprises a battery 29, an antenna 30, radio-frequency amplifying stages 31 possibly in the form of a heterodyne receiver, means 32 for detecting whe-ther the received signal contains a component identifying that the signal is intended for that receiving unit, ~ decodi~g a~rrange-15 ment 33, an audio-stage amplifier 34 and a power supply logic circuit 35. ~he transmission frequency can be of the order of 2? MHz or 49 MHZ but is not critical and the radiatea signal has a low power of say 1 watt and is preferably fre~uency modulated. Depending on 20 the supplier of the transmitters and receiving units, -there can be any reasonable number of receiving units associated with one instruction unit. ~hese receiving units would be indentical one with another except for unit-identifying tracks (not shown) which would be 25 processed during manufacture to give a unique identifying code and c~odes com~on to a group and to a sub-group, it is theoretically possible to have the said common codes as part of the unique codes (so the unique codes would be ABA,AB3, ABC etc. with the group code A and the 3 subgroup code AB with the receiver sensing the final letter and cutting off the receiver if the final letter is not the right one) and this would economise on tracks.
~ igure 2 illustrates a variant wherein instead of restricting the range by using low power to avoid 35 polluting the magnetic spectrum away from the instruction area, the instruction area 36 is surrounded by an induction loop 37 driven by a relay unit 38 which is mains powered 39 and can receive a signal from the instruction unit 21 by extremely low--power radio 3~2'7~7~

transmission or b~ a cable link 40.
~ igures 3 and 4 illustrate an instruction unit.
This instruction 1~nit is contained in a water-tight plastics material case 41 -the back of which is adapted to receive notes written on it with say a grease pencil or other marker. ~he circuit inside the case as shown in Figure 4 comprises a stop watch chip 42 controlled by an initiating button 43 (~igure 3) and a stop button 44 (Figure 3), a display 45 for the stop watch, a microphone 46, and audio amplifier chip 47, a battery 48, an on-off switch 49, a calling tone generator chip 50, an array of addressing buttons some 51 of which are intended to summon an individual and others 52 a group of individuals, t,hese buttons controlling 15 the tone generated, a chip~for superimposing the output of the tone generator chip on the output of the audio amplifier, and a radio frequency ampIifier chip 53 with its frequency deciding oscillator 54. ~he precise circuitry and components have not yet been finalised 20 and so it would be misleading to give components and precise circuitry. However the requirements for the stop watch chip are that preferably it is of a type that not only has an initiating and a stop button but also has an arming button 55 permitting the timing to start ; 25 on a receipt of a large signal on line 56 from the microphone denoting arrival of a loud noise such as a start-race signal. ~he calling tone generator can be in the form of a micro-processor which could not only synthesise the tones but perhaps could without too much 30 cost allow the buttons 52 to cover variable groups of individuals b~ a programme which included a step that pushing a button 52 followed shortly by pushing buttons 51 meant that that button 52 thereafter meant the pushed buttons 51 and then cycle the tones between the codes 35 for the right buttons 51; the receiver unit presently developed relies on each button 51 or 52 having a distinct tone ~nd so is tuned to two tones or more. The output of the chip 53 is fed through a rubber covered aerial 26.

'7 ~igure 5 is a circuit diagram of a receiving unit.
Whilst development is not complete and no provision has been made for scrambling the signals a.s indeed was the case in Figure 4, development has proceeded far enough to give ~uller details~ ~he anterlna 30 which can be in the form of a pick-up loop passes the incoming signal through a filter 60 such as a Ceramlc Murata S~49 -to a radio-frequency amplifying chip 61 such as a M~llard ~DA ~021 with a beat oscillator 62 controlled by a 49.80 Megahertz crystal oscillator 63, The output of the chip 61 is fed to a tone sensing chip 64 such as a CML ~X335SLVI through a noise eliminating filter 65. With the chip 64 there are associated a frequency-standard oscillator 66 such as a 1 MegaHert~
crystal and a succession of breakable links 67 to determine the tones to be sensed. lhe output of the chip 64 which is the output of the chip 61 only wnen the correct tone is sensed is fed through amplifier stages 68 to an audio transducer arrangement 69.
Another output from the chip 64 is taken to a power switching chip(such as a 74HC02)69 which receives a voltage ~rom a battery 70 and switches that voltage : off or on ('o~ means to the rest of the circuitry direct : or through a voltage regulator 71). ~his chip is switched into one state by a signal from the chip 64 or a large signal taken from the antenna 30 on line 72 and this state is the one passing the voltage.
~his chip 69 is held in that state until the state is reversed by another chip 73 such as a 74HC4060 which is a counter timer setting a delay of say 30 minutes.
~he signal on the line 72 will only be large if the antenna is very close to the transmitter and so this is used to set the receiver unit functioning at the start of a training session and thereafter this signal will be weak and only the signal from the chip 64 (which has been switched on) will operate the chip 69.

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~ igure 6 shows an arrangement of cells 80 forming the batterv 70 of Figure 5. Seven miniature nickel-cadmium cells packed six around a central one with suitable connections to arrange them in series can provide 8.40 volts with a capacity of 60 milliampere-hours within a diameter of 5 cm. and a depth of 6 ~m.
even when the cells are encapsulated in a wa-ter-proofing plastics material.
Figures 7 to 9 illustrate the mechanical arrangement of the receiving unit. ~igure 7 shows a swimmer wearing a bathing cap 82 which has a projection 83 over each ear.
~igure 8 shows that each projection contains a part ~4 embodied in the cap as by the parts with a stretchable electric interconnection 87 being attached to a layer 85 formed by a first moulding dip with a second layer 86 bein~ formed over the first layer and the parts and interconnection by a second moulding dip. ~ach of the parts 8~ contains an audio transducer 88 such as of Murata piezoelectric material and forming part of the arrangement 69 with each part being contained in a sealed enclosure 89. ~he walls of the enclosure are spaced from the transducer on all sides and there is free space behind the transducer to receive in one part the battery 70 and in the other part a printed circuit board 90 mounting the circuitry of Figure 5 which board is about the same size as the battery (this is fa'cilitated by using surface mounted components)~ and the antenna'30O
~ igure 10 illustrates that the receiving unit can be mounted otherwise than in a swimming cap for other uses. ~igure 10 actually shows the receiving unit in a sweat band for foot sports with the receiving unit being in one or two parts. It is not essential to use rechargeable batteries in uses where water-proofing is not a key issue. In uses demanding head protection, the receiving unit can be incorporated in a helmet.
~ igures 11 and 12 illustrate a way of recharging the battery 70 without removing, or obtaining direct contact with, it so it,can remain sealed within the enclosures for the life of a swimming cap. ~he caps ~ 2~ 9 _ 9 _ of several swimmers can be thrown into a non-metallic container 91 surrounded by a coil 92 in series with a capacitor 93, the coil and the capacitor being resonant a-t a freguency of say 25 kiloHer-tz. An oscillator 94 resonating at this frequency such as a Levell TH150 DM
feeds a power amplifier 95 such as a GA28~ Mosfet powered by a power supply unit 96 such as a ~arnell L~30.2 which in turn keeps the coil 92 strongly resonating. ~he resulting magnetic field is picked up by a coil 97 in ~igure ~2 which can be the aerial or antenna 30.
This coil is then connected to a current regulating device 98 consisting of a reference Zener diode 99, resis-tors 100 and a transistor 101 to charge the battery at a constant low current. ~he orientation of the coil 97 does not seem critical within a wide range of orientat-ions.
No provision has been made in the described embodiments for avoiding eaves-dropping but this would seem to be a mere matter of incorporating commercially available scrambling chips in the circuits.

Claims

THE EMBODIMENTS OF AN INVENTION FOR WHICH AN EXCLUSIVE
PROPERTY OR PRIVILEGE IS CLAIMED ARE DEFINED AS FOLLOWS:

1. A communication system for instructing individual members of a group and a group as a whole comprising a transmitter to be used by the instructor and a receiver for each member of the group which receiver contains an electric battery and is mounted on an elastically extensible article to be worn on the head of the respective member, each receiver designed to be extensible and to be contained within the extensible article, an input amplifier stabilized by a crystal oscillator and yielding an audio frequency signal, decoding means for sensing a sub-audible tone in that signal identifying that the signal is intended for the entire group or another sub-audible tone identifying that the signal is intended for the particular receiver, an output circuit for passing the signal to audio transducers, one over each ear of the member in use, when the decoding means yields a signal denoting that a sub-audible tone acceptable to that receiver is contained in the audio frequency signal, and in that the transmitter injects a sub-audible continuous tone under the control of the instructor to identify the member to be instructed onto the audio input to the receiver.

2. A communication system according to claim 1 wherein each receiver contains a timing unit which is arranged to operate after a delay to shut off the receiver.

3. A communication system according to claim 1 or claim 2 wherein each receiver's battery consists of at least one rechargeable cell and wherein each receiver contains circuitry for recharging the battery without the battery being removable from the receiver.