US 6,513,532 · Granted 2003-02-04
The 2003 Patent That Turned Wearables Into Food Trackers
Before apps like MyFitnessPal, this patent described a wearable device that tracks both what you eat and how active you are throughout the day. You'd press a button whenever you ate something, and the device would record the time and link it to your activity level at that moment.
The plain-English version
What it protects
The claim covers a wearable device that combines three core functions: a timer that tracks time, a motion sensor that monitors body activity, and a button you press to log when you eat food. What's protected here is the specific integration of these three components into a single system that stores timestamped records of both your activity and food consumption, allowing users to correlate their eating habits with their physical activity.
Why it matters
This patent arrived at the birth of personal health tracking, when fitness devices were mostly simple pedometers. By combining activity monitoring with food logging into one device, it staked out early intellectual property in what became the massive wearables and health-tracking category. The ability to link eating behavior directly to activity level was novel in consumer devices at the time, though the patent itself was filed just before smartphone apps revolutionized how people actually track their health.
Real-world use
When you wear a modern fitness tracker that counts your steps and syncs with a food-logging app, you're using a concept that traces back to this patent—the idea that your device should know both what you're doing and what you're eating.
Original USPTO abstract
A diet and activity-monitoring device includes a timer which outputs a time-indicative signal. A body activity monitor monitors the body activity of a subject and outputs a signal indicative of the body activity. A consumption notation control is provided which the subject may operate to indicate when they consume food. An activity calculator receives the body activity signal and determines a body activity level for the subject. A consumption calculator communicates with the consumption notation control and receives the time-indicative signal. The consumption calculator determines and stores the times when the consumption location control is operated.
Patent details
- Publication number
- US 6,513,532
- Filing date
- 2000-12-23
- Grant date
- 2003-02-04
- Assignee
- Healthetech, Inc.
- Inventor(s)
- MAULT JAMES R., PEARCE EDWIN, GILMORE DAVID, GIVECHI ROSHI, RAGAN JEANNE, SKOSKIEWICZ ANDRZEJ, GRIMMER NEIL
- CPC class
- A61B5/02055
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