Warning system for signaling to vehicle operator that a child has been left Unattended In An Infant Seat
First Claim
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1. A warning system for warning a vehicle operator of the presence of a child buckled into an infant seat of the vehicle, the warning system comprising:
- a transmitter, said transmitter being connected to a seat buckle of said infant seat and adapted to generate and transmit signal of predetermined strength and frequency when the seat belt of the infant seat is buckled, anda receiver unit, said receiver unit including an alarm device and adapted to receive said signal,said alarm device being operable to activate an alarm signal when the RF receiver exceeds a predetermined distance from the RF transmitter when said child restraint is closed about the child and the vehicle operator provided with the receiver is remote to the vehicle by a distance greater than that permitted by the reference value, the alarm signal is transmitted to the alarm device and the vehicle operator is warned.
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Abstract
A wireless, self-activating, proximity warning system utilizes an on-board computer of an automobile and a GPS locating system to sending a warning signal to a vehicle operator that a child has been left buckled and unattended in an infant seat. A transmitter associated with the child seat transmits coded RF signals of certain strength to a receiver carried by the operator. The receiver triggers an alarm when the signal strength or time between transmitted signals indicates that the operator has gone beyond a permitted range.
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Citations
21 Claims
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1. A warning system for warning a vehicle operator of the presence of a child buckled into an infant seat of the vehicle, the warning system comprising:
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a transmitter, said transmitter being connected to a seat buckle of said infant seat and adapted to generate and transmit signal of predetermined strength and frequency when the seat belt of the infant seat is buckled, and a receiver unit, said receiver unit including an alarm device and adapted to receive said signal, said alarm device being operable to activate an alarm signal when the RF receiver exceeds a predetermined distance from the RF transmitter when said child restraint is closed about the child and the vehicle operator provided with the receiver is remote to the vehicle by a distance greater than that permitted by the reference value, the alarm signal is transmitted to the alarm device and the vehicle operator is warned. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9)
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10. An apparatus for warning a vehicle operator having left the vehicle that a child has been left unattended in a car seat of the vehicle, the apparatus comprising:
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a seat belt for restraining the child in the seat, said seat belt including a seat belt buckle structure for releasably locking the seat belt restraint about the child, means for detecting that the buckle structure is locked, indicative of the fact that a child is buckled into a car seat, transmitting means for transmitting an RF signal of predetermined frequency when the seat buckle of the child seat is buckled, said transmitting means connected to said detector means, portable receiving means for receiving an RF signal of predetermined strength, the receiving means being operably connected to an alarm device having an alarm signal, the receiving means activating the alarm signal to alert said vehicle operator when the strength of said RF signal falls below a permitted value. - View Dependent Claims (11, 12, 13, 14, 15)
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16. An alarm apparatus for indicating the presence of a child buckled in a child restraint seat and left unattended in a vehicle when the vehicle operator is remote to the vehicle, the alarm apparatus comprising:
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a proximity transmitter capable of transmitting an RF signal of predetermined frequency and strength, said transmitter being coupled to the seat belt and activated upon buckling of the seat belt, a proximity receiver capable of receiving RF signals transmitted from said proximity transmitter, a proximity range adjuster coupled to said receiver for comparing the time taken for an RF signal from the RF proximity transmitter to be received by the RF proximity receiver with a predetermined range and generating an alarm signal when the time taken is not within the predetermined range, the time taken being representative of a maximum predetermined distance that the vehicle operator is permitted to be from the infant seat. - View Dependent Claims (17, 18, 19, 20)
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21. A vehicular warning system for signaling the presence of a child buckled into an infant seat of a vehicle, comprising:
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a transmitter, the transmitter being connected to a seat buckle of the infant seat and adapted to generate and transmit a signal of predetermined strength and frequency when the seat belt of the infant seat is buckled, a receiver unit comprising at least a vehicular mounted receiver in electronic communication with at least a vehicle on-board computer, the receiver emitting a signal to indicate the buckled status of the seat belt, the on-board computer adapted to activate a requisite vehicular operation responsive to a sensed condition within the vehicle when the receiver is sensing the buckled state of the seat belt; and the receiver emitting an audio or visual signal to indicate the buckled state of the infant seat.
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Specification