Secondary seat belt warning system
First Claim
1. A secondary seat belt warning system for a motor vehicle comprising:
- at least one control module for activating at least one secondary warning signal;
a driver seat belt sensor for producing an input signal indicative of a state of a driver seat belt between a buckled and unbuckled condition;
at least one passenger seat belt sensor for producing an input signal indicative of a state of at least one passenger seat belt between a buckled and unbuckled condition; and
said at least one control module communicating with said driver seat belt sensor and said at least one passenger seat belt sensor for activating a primary warning signal to alert a corresponding occupant of the motor vehicle if the state of the driver seat belt and the at least one passenger seat belt is the unbuckled condition for a first predetermined period of time and activating the at least one secondary warning signal to alert the corresponding occupant of the motor vehicle if the state of at least one of the driver seat belt and the at least one passenger seat belt is the unbuckled condition after expiration of the first predetermined period of time.
3 Assignments
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
A secondary seat belt warning system for a motor vehicle includes at least one control module for activating at least one secondary warning signal. The secondary seat belt warning system also includes a driver seat belt sensor for producing an input signal indicative of a state of a driver seat belt between a buckled and unbuckled condition. The secondary seat belt warning system includes at least one passenger seat belt sensor for producing an input signal indicative of a state of at least one passenger seat belt between a buckled and unbuckled condition. The at least one control module communicates with the driver seat belt sensor and the at least one passenger seat belt sensor for activating the at least one secondary warning signal to alert a corresponding occupant of the motor vehicle if the state of at least one of the driver seat belt and the at least one passenger seat belt is the unbuckled condition.
70 Citations
20 Claims
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1. A secondary seat belt warning system for a motor vehicle comprising:
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at least one control module for activating at least one secondary warning signal;
a driver seat belt sensor for producing an input signal indicative of a state of a driver seat belt between a buckled and unbuckled condition;
at least one passenger seat belt sensor for producing an input signal indicative of a state of at least one passenger seat belt between a buckled and unbuckled condition; and
said at least one control module communicating with said driver seat belt sensor and said at least one passenger seat belt sensor for activating a primary warning signal to alert a corresponding occupant of the motor vehicle if the state of the driver seat belt and the at least one passenger seat belt is the unbuckled condition for a first predetermined period of time and activating the at least one secondary warning signal to alert the corresponding occupant of the motor vehicle if the state of at least one of the driver seat belt and the at least one passenger seat belt is the unbuckled condition after expiration of the first predetermined period of time. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7)
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8. A method of producing a seat belt indicator signal indicative of an unbuckled condition of at least one vehicle seat belt comprising the steps of:
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detecting a state of a vehicle ignition between an off position and an on position;
detecting a speed of the vehicle;
detecting a state of the at least one vehicle seat belt between a buckled and unbuckled condition;
producing a primary warning signal when the ignition run condition is detected and the seat belt unbuckled condition is detected for a first predetermined period of time; and
producing a secondary warning signal when the ignition run condition is detected, the seat belt unbuckled condition is detected and the detected vehicle speed is above a predetermined threshold after expiration of the first predetermined period of time. - View Dependent Claims (9, 10, 11, 12)
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13. A method for qualifying an occupant as a user or non-user of a vehicle seat belt comprising the steps of:
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initializing a status of an occupant as a user of a vehicle seat belt;
qualifying an occupant by detecting a state of the vehicle seat belt between a buckled and unbuckled condition and the status of the occupant;
classifying the occupant as a user if the state of the vehicle seat belt is the buckled condition for a predetermined time; and
classifying the occupant as a non-user if state of the vehicle seat belt is the buckled condition and then the unbuckled condition within the predetermined time. - View Dependent Claims (14, 15, 16, 17)
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18. A method for repeating secondary warnings for a secondary seat belt warning system of a motor vehicle includes the steps of:
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waiting for a primary warning period to end;
enabling secondary warnings after the primary warning period has ended;
turning on the secondary warnings for a secondary warning period if the secondary warnings are enabled;
turning off the secondary warnings after the secondary warning period has ended; and
re-enabling the secondary warnings after the secondary warnings have been turned off. - View Dependent Claims (19, 20)
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Specification