Remote monitoring shower water apparatus and method of remote monitoring a showering user

Abstract

Remote-monitoring shower water apparatus comprises a housing, a shower water inlet at the housing, a shower water outlet at the housing, a controller at the housing which controls at least water flow from the shower water inlet to the shower water outlet, and a monitoring device which monitors at least one of the controller and the user of the controller. The monitoring device includes at least one sensor element and an offsite-signal transmitter at or adjacent to the housing which transmits a status signal to a carer location remote from an installation site of the shower water apparatus, based on a status of the sensor element.

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         33 . Remote-monitoring shower water apparatus comprising a housing, a shower water inlet at the housing, a shower water outlet at the housing, a controller at the housing which controls at least water flow from the shower water inlet to the shower water outlet, and a monitoring device which monitors at least one of the controller and the user of the controller, the monitoring device including a sensor element and an offsite-signal transmitter at or adjacent to the housing which transmits a status signal to a carer location remote from an installation site of the shower water apparatus based on a status of the sensor element. 
     
     
         34 . Shower water apparatus as claimed in  claim 33 , wherein the offsite-signal transmitter transmits a status signal to a remote carer location in a different building. 
     
     
         35 . Shower water apparatus as claimed in  claim 33 , wherein the controller is an electronic controller, the monitoring device being energisable by a power supply of the controller. 
     
     
         36 . Shower water apparatus as claimed in  claim 33 , further comprising an electric water heater, the monitoring device being energisable by a power supply of the water heater. 
     
     
         37 . Shower water apparatus as claimed in  claim 33 , further comprising a comparator circuit which compares an output of the in use sensor element with a predetermined expected output, the offsite-signal transmitter being activatable if the said output is outside a parameter of the predetermined expected output. 
     
     
         38 . Shower water apparatus as claimed in  claim 33 , further comprising an offsite-signal receiver at or adjacent to the housing which receives a control signal from the carer location whereby the controller is remotely controllable. 
     
     
         39 . Shower water apparatus as claimed in  claim 38 , wherein at least one of the offsite-signal transmitter and the offsite-signal receiver are communicable with a telephone system. 
     
     
         40 . Shower water apparatus as claimed in  claim 33 , wherein a said sensor element monitors each of the controller and the user of the controller. 
     
     
         41 . Shower water apparatus as claimed in  claim 33 , wherein the sensor element of the said monitoring device is provided at or adjacent to an exterior of the housing of the shower water apparatus or is remote from the housing of the shower water apparatus. 
     
     
         42 . Shower water apparatus as claimed in  claim 33 , wherein the monitoring device includes a user-operable alarm switch having a user-graspable cord which outputs an alarm signal to the offsite-signal transmitter. 
     
     
         43 . Shower water apparatus as claimed in  claim 33 , wherein the or a said sensor element is at least one of a piezo-electric sensor, piezo-resistive sensor, ultrasonic sensor, low-power radar sensor, capacitative sensor, and an audio-detection sensor. 
     
     
         44 . Shower water apparatus as claimed in  claim 33 , further comprising a drain pump which is spaced from the housing and which is controllable by the controller. 
     
     
         45 . A method of remote-monitoring a showering user using shower water apparatus as claimed in  claim 33 , the method comprising the steps of monitoring at least one of a controller of a shower water device and a user of the controller, and outputting a status signal to an offsite carer location remote from the installation site of the shower water apparatus based on a status of the sensor element. 
     
     
         46 . A method as claimed in  claim 45 , further comprising the step of remotely controlling the controller based on the outputted status signal. 
     
     
         47 . A method as claimed in  claim 46 , wherein remote control of the controller is via at least one of a password protected signal and an encrypted signal. 
     
     
         48 . A method as claimed in  claim 45 , wherein the offsite carer location includes a carer's mobile communications device. 
     
     
         49 . A method as claimed in  claim 45 , wherein the outputted status signal includes a phrase corresponding to the status of the sensor element. 
     
     
         50 . Shower water apparatus as claimed in  claim 33 , further comprising a communications system in communication with the offsite-signal transmitter of the monitoring device of the shower water apparatus, and an offsite-carer monitoring element in communication with the communications system which receives the status signal from the offsite-signal transmitter. 
     
     
         51 . Shower water apparatus as claimed in  claim 50 , wherein the offsite-carer monitoring element is outside of the building in which the shower water apparatus is located. 
     
     
         52 . Shower water apparatus as claimed in  claim 51 , wherein the controller of the shower water apparatus is remotely controllable, the shower water apparatus including an offsite-signal receiver which receives a control signal via the communications system from the offsite-carer monitoring element.