SYSTEM TO MONITOR PRESENCE OF A BODY IN AN AUTOMOBILE SEAT

• US 20150266395A1
• Filed: 03/24/2014
• Published: 09/24/2015
• Est. Priority Date: 03/24/2014
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Cornerstone 5 20 Incorporated
• Original Assignee: Pearland Seafood Inc
• Inventors: BRADLEY, Kaci Kay, BRADLEY, Justin Morgan
• Granted Patent: US 10,766,381 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 1/1
• CPC Class Codes: B60N 2/002 Seats provided with an occupancy detection means mounted therein or thereon detection means responsive to presence or absence of children B60N2/266

Abstract

One example of a system to monitor a presence of a body in a seat of an automobile can implement a method using processing circuitry. After an automobile engine has stopped operating, the system determines a presence of a body in a seat of the automobile. The system provides a notification indicating the presence of the body in the seat in response to determining the presence of the body in the seat of the automobile.

Claims

1. A method comprising:

after an automobile engine has stopped operating, implementing, by processing circuitry, an operation to determine a presence of a body in a seat of the automobile;

in response to implementing the operation, determining the presence of a body in the seat of the automobile;

in response to determining the presence of a body in the seat of the automobile;

providing, by the processing circuitry, a notification indicating the presence of the body in the seat; and

providing, by processing circuitry, a control signal to cause one or more automobile functions to be performed; and

executing, by the processing circuitry, a timer for a duration after determining the presence of the body in the seat of the automobile; and

after the expiration of the duration, ceasing, by the processing circuitry, to provide the notification and the control signal, wherein the one or more automobile functions cease to be performed in response to ceasing to provide the control signal.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein providing the notification indicating the presence of the body in the seat comprises providing an output signal to cause an alarm system of the automobile to sound.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein the one or more automobile functions includes at least one of restarting the automobile engine or restarting a temperature control system of the automobile.

5. The method of claim 4, wherein the one or more automobile functions includes restarting the temperature control system of the automobile, and wherein the method further comprises:

determining an ambient temperature outside the automobile; and

causing the temperature control system to set an interior temperature of the automobile based on the detected ambient temperature.

6. The method of claim 1, wherein providing the notification comprises transmitting a notification to at least one computer system over a data transmission network.

7. The method of claim 6, wherein the data transmission network is at least one of a wired network, a wireless network, a Bluetooth network, or a Global Positioning Satellite (GPS) network.

8. The method of claim 6, wherein the at least one computer system is at least one of a mobile device or a computer system of a service provider that monitors the automobile.

9. The method of claim 6, further comprising transmitting an identifier representing a geographic location of the automobile over the data transmission network.

10. The method of claim 6, further comprising:

receiving, over the data transmission network, a control signal to cause one or more automobile functions to be performed in response to providing the notification; and

causing the automobile to perform the one or more automobile functions in response to receiving the control signal, wherein the one or more automobile functions performed in response to receiving the control signal includes at least one of restarting the automobile engine or restarting a temperature control system of the automobile.

11. The method of claim 1, wherein the seat of the automobile includes at least one of a front-facing child seat, a rearward facing infant seat, a booster seat, a seat for a handicapped person or a seat for an elderly person.

12. The method of claim 1, wherein determining the presence of the body in the seat of the automobile comprises determining the presence of the body in the seat of the automobile for a threshold amount of time starting from a time at which the automobile engine stopped operating.

13. The method of claim 1, further comprising, after providing the notification indicating the presence of the body in the seat:

sensing, for a duration of time, if the body is present in the seat;

determining the presence or an absence of the body in the seat before the duration expires in response to the sensing; and

continuing or ceasing to provide the notification in response to determining the presence or the absence, respectively, of the body in the seat after the duration expires.

14. The method of claim 1, wherein determining the presence of the body in the seat comprises determining the presence of the body in the seat based on a load value represented by a load signal received from a load sensor connected to the seat.

15. The method of claim 1, wherein determining the presence of the body in the seat comprises determining the presence of the body in the seat based on a positive signal received from a contact sensor connected to a fastening mechanism installed on the seat, the contact sensor configured to transmit the positive signal in response to fastening mechanism being engaged to fasten the body to the seat.

16. The method of claim 1, further comprising determining that the automobile engine has stopped operating by determining that an ignition of the automobile engine has gone to ground.

21. The method of claim 1, wherein implementing the operation to determine the presence of a body in the seat of the automobile is a first instance of implementing the operation, providing the notification is a first stance of providing the notification and providing the control signal is a first instance of providing the control signal, and wherein the method further comprises, in response to ceasing to provide the notification and the control signal:

implementing a second instance of the operation to determine the presence of a body in the seat of the automobile in response to ceasing to provide the notification and the control signal

in response to implementing the second instance of the operation, determining a presence of a body in the seat of the automobile;

in response to determining the presence of a body in the seat of the automobile in response to implementing the second instance of the operation;

providing a second instance of a notification indicating the presence of the body in the seat in response to determining the presence of the body in the seat of the automobile; and

providing a second instance of a control signal to cause one or more automobile functions to be performed in response to again determining the presence of the body in the seat of the automobile for a threshold amount of time.

3. (canceled)

17. A method comprising:

determine, by processing circuitry implemented in an automobile, if an environmental automobile condition from among a plurality of environmental automobile conditions is satisfied;

determine that a load is present in a seat of the automobile when the environmental automobile condition is satisfied; and

providing an output signal indicating that the load is present in the seat of the automobile when the environmental automobile condition is satisfied.

18. The method of claim 17, wherein a stoppage of an automobile engine is the environmental automobile condition that is satisfied.

19. An automobile monitoring system comprising:

a sensor connected to a seat of an automobile, the sensor to determine a presence of a body in the seat; and

processing circuitry to perform operations comprising;

after an automobile engine has stopped operating, starting a timer for a duration, the processing circuitry to determine a presence of a body in the seat of the automobile based on a signal received from the sensor after the duration expires;

after the automobile engine has stopped operating and before the duration expires;

determining that the automobile has been locked, and

receiving a signal from the sensor indicating the presence of the body in the seat; and

providing a notification indicating the presence of the body in the seat in response to receiving the signal indicating the presence of the body in the seat of the automobile.

20. The system of claim 19, wherein the sensor includes at least one of a load sensor to determine a presence of a load in the seat or a contact sensor connected to a fastening mechanism installed on the seat, the contact sensor configured to transmit the positive signal in response to fastening mechanism being engaged to fasten the body to the seat, and wherein providing the notification indicating the presence of the body in the seat comprises at least one of providing an output signal to cause an alarm system connected to the automobile engine to sound or providing a control signal to cause one or more automobile functions to be performed, the one or more automobile functions including at least one of restarting the automobile engine, restarting a temperature control system of the automobile, or transmitting a signal indicating the presence of the body in the seat to a computer system over a data transmission network.