Silent alarm and exam notification timer device

A method for generating a silent alarm by an alarm timer device, the alarm timer device including a timer housing having a bottom panel adapted for placing against a user's skin and a vibrator, the vibrator including a motor having a rotor being rotatable around a rotational axis and a weight eccentrically attached to the rotor, the motor being disposed within the timer housing directly in contact with an area of the bottom panel, the rotational axis being parallel to the area of the bottom panel, the method comprising:

• repeatedly generating an activation signal at a programmed time interval for a programmed number of repetitions;
• in response to each activation signal, generating a sequence of two or more successive and distinct motor control signals and applying the motor control signals to the vibrator to cause the vibrator to generate a vibration motion successively at two or more distinct frequencies corresponding to the two or more motor control signals;
• and
• transmitting the vibration motion through the bottom panel of the housing to a wearer's skin.

An alarm timer device comprising:

• a timer housing having a bottom panel adapted for placing against a user's skin;
• a vibrator including a motor having a rotor being rotatable around a rotational axis and a weight eccentrically attached to the rotor, the motor being disposed within the timer housing directly in contact with an area of the bottom panel, the rotational axis being parallel to the area of the bottom panel;
• and
• control and timing circuitry electrically coupled to the motor for generating a motor control signal at predetermined times and applying the motor control signal to the motor to cause the motor to rotate,
• wherein the control and timing circuitry is programmable to repeatedly generate an activation signal at a programmed time interval for a programmed number of repetitions, and
• wherein in response to each activation signal, the control and timing circuitry generates a sequence of two or more successive and distinct motor control signals and applies the sequence of motor control signals to the motor, wherein the two or more motor control signals are at different levels which cause the motor to rotate at corresponding different frequencies.