Patents by Inventor Tom Rickards

Tom Rickards has filed for patents to protect the following inventions. This listing includes patent applications that are pending as well as patents that have already been granted by the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO).

  • Publication number: 20140169609
    Abstract: A communication eyewear assembly is configured to identify a zone of safety about a wearer and to notify the wearer and/or others of same. A frame assembly is worn to maintain at least one transparent eye panel in front of the wearer's eyes. A processor coupled to the frame assembly receives incoming data from at least one data source. Utilizing the received data, the processor generates zone of safety information in least one spatial dimension relative to a hazardous area. The assembly can also determine existence of extraordinary circumstances based on changes or lack of changes in the data, and notify the wearer and/or others of same, particularly with regard to the status of the wearer. In accordance with the monitoring of the wearer and/or the communication eyewear itself, a unique ID is assigned to the communication eyewear assembly.
    Type: Application
    Filed: December 13, 2012
    Publication date: June 19, 2014
    Inventor: Tom Rickards
  • Patent number: 8744113
    Abstract: A communication eyewear assembly is configured to identify a zone of safety about a wearer and to notify the wearer and/or others of same. A frame assembly is worn to maintain at least one transparent eye panel in front of the wearer's eyes. A processor coupled to the frame assembly receives incoming data from at least one data source. Utilizing the received data, the processor generates zone of safety information in least one spatial dimension relative to a hazardous area. The assembly can also determine existence of extraordinary circumstances based on changes or lack of changes in the data, and notify the wearer and/or others of same, particularly with regard to the status of the wearer. In accordance with the monitoring of the wearer and/or the communication eyewear itself, a unique ID is assigned to the communication eyewear assembly.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 13, 2012
    Date of Patent: June 3, 2014
    Assignee: Energy Telecom, Inc.
    Inventor: Tom Rickards
  • Publication number: 20070116318
    Abstract: The speaker head is inserted into the protective ear insert and into one of the wearer's ears so that the audio signal is audible to the wearer in a loud environment where exterior noise is muffled by the protective ear insert and the speaker head is shielded from contact with the wearer. The protective insert is removably and moveably secured to the frame and variably positionable in accordance with the location of the wearer's ears.
    Type: Application
    Filed: November 7, 2006
    Publication date: May 24, 2007
    Inventor: Tom Rickards
  • Patent number: 7133532
    Abstract: The speaker head is inserted into the protective ear insert and into one of the wearer's ears so that the audio signal is audible to the wearer in a loud environment where exterior noise is muffled by the protective ear insert and the speaker head is shielded from contact with the wearer. The protective insert is removably and moveably secured to the frame and variably positionable in accordance with the location of the wearer's ears.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 25, 2005
    Date of Patent: November 7, 2006
    Assignee: Energy Telecom, Inc.
    Inventor: Tom Rickards
  • Patent number: 6950531
    Abstract: An industrial hearing protection and communication assembly including a frame having a front frame member that, includes a substantially transparent shatterproof eye panel disposed to shield a wearer's eyes, and at least one protective ear insert structured to be fitted into a wearer's ear in order to substantially muffle exterior noise. A speaker head audibly communicates an audio signal received by a receiver disposed on the frame and is structured to be inserted into a bore defined in the protective ear insert, and thereby, into one of the wearer's ears. The audio signal is audible to the wearer while the exterior noise is muffled by the protective ear insert and the speaker head is shielded from perspiration or other body contaminants of the wearer. Further, the protective insert can be variably positionable in accordance with the location of the wearer's ears.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 9, 2003
    Date of Patent: September 27, 2005
    Assignee: Energy Telecom, Inc.
    Inventor: Tom Rickards
  • Publication number: 20050185815
    Abstract: An hearing protection and communication assembly including a frame having a front frame member that includes a substantially transparent shatterproof eye panel disposed to shield a wearer's eyes, and at least one protective ear insert structured to be fitted into a wearer's ear in order to substantially muffle exterior noise. The assembly further includes a speaker head to audibly communicate an audio signal received by a receiver disposed on the frame to the wearer. The speaker head is structured to be inserted into a bore defined in the protective ear insert, and as such, into one of the wearer's ears so that the audio signal is audible and clear to the wearer in a loud environment even though the exterior noise is muffled by the protective ear insert and the speaker head is shielded from contact with the wearer and from perspiration or other body contaminants of the wearer.
    Type: Application
    Filed: March 25, 2005
    Publication date: August 25, 2005
    Inventor: Tom Rickards
  • Publication number: 20030095679
    Abstract: An industrial hearing protection and communication assembly including a frame having a front frame member that includes a substantially transparent shatterproof eye panel disposed to shield a wearer's eyes, and at least one protective ear insert structured to be fitted into a wearer's ear in order to substantially muffle exterior noise. The assembly further includes a speaker head to audibly communicate an audio signal received by a receiver disposed on the frame to the wearer. The speaker head is structured to be inserted into a bore defined in the protective ear insert, and as such, into one of the wearer's ears so that the audio signal is audible and clear to the wearer in a loud environment even though the exterior noise is muffled by the protective ear insert and the speaker head is shielded from contact with the wearer and from perspiration or other body contaminants of the wearer.
    Type: Application
    Filed: January 9, 2003
    Publication date: May 22, 2003
    Inventor: Tom Rickards
  • Patent number: 6012812
    Abstract: An industrial safety assembly to be worn on a worker head in an industrial setting, the assembly including a speaker assembly structured and disposed to audibly communicate an audio signal received by a receiver assembly to the wearer through a speaker head. The speaker head, which is structured to be inserted into one of the wearer's ears so that the audio signal is clearly audible to the wearer in a loud industrial environment, is flexibly and communicably secured to the receiver assembly so as to permit variable positioning of the speaker head in accordance with a location of the wearer's ears. Further included in the safety assembly are a pair of disposable protective ear inserts structured to be inserted into the wearer's ears so as to substantially muffle any exterior noise. The protective inserts are removably secured to the speaker assembly such that each user can utilize their own clean pair.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 6, 1997
    Date of Patent: January 11, 2000
    Assignee: The Energy Corp.
    Inventor: Tom Rickards
  • Patent number: 5717479
    Abstract: An industrial safety assembly to be worn on a worker's head in an industrial setting, the assembly including a frame assembly having a front frame member, which includes a transparent shatterproof eye panel disposed to shield a wearer's eyes, and a pair of legs which extend from opposite sides of the front frame member and are positionable over a wearer's ears. The safety assembly also includes a speaker assembly structured to audibly communicate an audio signal received by a receiver mounted on the frame assembly to the wearer through a speaker head. The speaker head, which is structured to be inserted into one of the wearer's ears so that the audio signal is audible to the wearer, is flexibly and communicably secured to the frame assembly so as to permit variable positioning in accordance with a location of the wearer's ears. Further included in the safety assembly are a pair of disposable protective ear inserts structured to be inserted into the wearer's ears so as to muffle any exterior noise.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 6, 1996
    Date of Patent: February 10, 1998
    Inventor: Tom Rickards