Unattended child alert system and method
First Claim
1. A method of monitoring a living presence in a vehicle, the method comprising steps of:
- monitoring an engagement state of a driver'"'"'s seat belt via a safety monitoring apparatus;
monitoring a presence of an at least one of a child and a pet located within a rear seat area of a vehicle via the safety monitoring apparatus;
identifying the presence of at least one of the child and the pet within the rear seat area of the vehicle;
identifying when the driver'"'"'s seat belt is in a disengaged state;
providing a time delay between a step of placing the child in the rear seat area and when the driver'"'"'s seat belt is buckled;
accounting for the time delay prior to determining if the driver'"'"'s seat belt and presence of at least one of a child and a pet dictate an alert condition; and
providing an alert when the driver'"'"'s seat belt is disengaged and when the at least one of the child and the pet is within the rear seat area of a vehicle.
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Accused Products
Abstract
A warning system for notifying another person when a child is left in a child safety seat. The system recognizes a child in a child safety seat by either a pressure pad or a secured child seat lap belt. The system is activated by the release of the driver'"'"'s seat belt. Should a child remain in the seat when the driver'"'"'s seat belt is disengaged, the system alarms notifying the driver of such. The alarm would include a calm audio output such as a lullaby, a song, or a story. The system can be integrated into the OEM features to provide an alert escalation process using a local alert, a vehicle alert, a wireless alert and ultimately a 911 alert.
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Citations
18 Claims
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1. A method of monitoring a living presence in a vehicle, the method comprising steps of:
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monitoring an engagement state of a driver'"'"'s seat belt via a safety monitoring apparatus; monitoring a presence of an at least one of a child and a pet located within a rear seat area of a vehicle via the safety monitoring apparatus; identifying the presence of at least one of the child and the pet within the rear seat area of the vehicle; identifying when the driver'"'"'s seat belt is in a disengaged state; providing a time delay between a step of placing the child in the rear seat area and when the driver'"'"'s seat belt is buckled; accounting for the time delay prior to determining if the driver'"'"'s seat belt and presence of at least one of a child and a pet dictate an alert condition; and providing an alert when the driver'"'"'s seat belt is disengaged and when the at least one of the child and the pet is within the rear seat area of a vehicle. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7)
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8. A method of monitoring a child'"'"'s presence in a vehicle, the method comprising steps of:
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monitoring an engagement state of a driver'"'"'s seat belt via a safety monitoring apparatus; monitoring a presence of a child located within a rear seat area of a vehicle via the safety monitoring apparatus; identifying the presence of the child within the rear seat area of the vehicle; identifying when the driver'"'"'s seat belt is in a disengaged state; providing a time delay between a step of placing the child in the rear seat area and when the driver'"'"'s seat belt is buckled; accounting for the time delay prior to determining if the driver'"'"'s seat belt and presence of at least one of a child and a pet dictate an alert condition; and providing an alert when the driver'"'"'s seat belt is disengaged and when the child is within the rear seat area of a vehicle. - View Dependent Claims (9, 10, 11, 12, 13)
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14. A method of monitoring a living presence in a vehicle, the method comprising steps of:
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monitoring an engagement state of a driver'"'"'s seat belt via a safety monitoring apparatus; monitoring a presence of an at least one of a child and a pet located within a rear seat area of a vehicle via the safety monitoring apparatus; identifying the presence of at least one of the child and the pet within the rear seat area of the vehicle using at least one of; a motion sensor, a heartbeat sensor, and a thermal sensor; identifying when the driver'"'"'s seat belt is in a disengaged state; providing a time delay between a step of placing the child in the rear seat area and when the driver'"'"'s seat belt is buckled; accounting for the time delay prior to determining if the driver'"'"'s seat belt and presence of at least one of a child and a pet dictate an alert condition; and providing an alert when the driver'"'"'s seat belt is disengaged and when the at least one of the child and the pet is within the rear seat area of a vehicle. - View Dependent Claims (15, 16, 17, 18)
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Specification