METHODS AND APPARATUS FOR DETERMING SEATBELT STATUS

• US 20180265215A1
• Filed: 05/23/2018
• Published: 09/20/2018
• Est. Priority Date: 11/23/2015
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: The Boeing Co.
• Original Assignee: The Boeing Co.
• Inventors: Pollard, Gerald, Fletcher, Joseph M.
• Granted Patent: US 10,399,697 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• CPC Class Codes: A44B 11/2569 Safety measures buckles for releasing in a vehicle emergency B60R22/32; control, alarm, or interlock systems for the correct application of safety belt buckles in vehicles B60R22/48
• CPC Class Codes: B60R 2021/0093 Aircraft
• CPC Class Codes: B60R 2021/01088 wireless
• CPC Class Codes: B60R 2022/4816 for sensing locking of buckle
• CPC Class Codes: B60R 2022/4858 for sensing pressure on seat
• CPC Class Codes: B60R 2022/4866 Displaying or indicating arrangements thereof
• CPC Class Codes: B60R 22/48 Control systems, alarms, or interlock systems, for the correct application of the belt or harness
• CPC Class Codes: B64D 11/062 Belts or other passenger restraint means for passenger seats
• CPC Class Codes: B64D 45/00 Aircraft indicators or protectors not otherwise provided for camouflage F41H3/00

Abstract

Methods and apparatus for determining seatbelt status are disclosed. An example system includes a plurality of seats including seatbelts. Each of the seatbelts includes a sensor to detect a position of a respective seatbelt, the position including at least one of a fastened position or an unfastened position, and a transceiver to wirelessly communicate the position of the respective seatbelt. The system includes a remote monitoring unit to receive the positions of the seatbelts. The remote monitoring unit is to determine if one or more seats are occupied and, in response to determining that one or more seats are occupied, the remote monitoring unit is to display an overview the seats and the respective positions of the seatbelts for the one or more occupied seats.

Claims

1. A system including:

a plurality of seats including seatbelts, each of the seatbelts including;

a sensor to detect a position of a respective seatbelt, the position including at least one of a fastened position or an unfastened position; and

a transceiver to wirelessly communicate the position of the respective seatbelt; and

a remote monitoring unit to receive the positions of the seatbelts, the remote monitoring unit to determine if one or more seats are occupied and, in response to determining that one or more seats are occupied, the remote monitoring unit is to display an overview the seats and the respective positions of the seatbelts for the one or more occupied seats.

2. The system of claim 1, wherein the remote monitoring unit is to determine if one or more seats are unoccupied and, in response to determining that one or more seats are unoccupied, the remote monitoring unit is to display that the one or more seats are unoccupied.

3. The system of claim 1, wherein each seatbelt includes a buckle defining a cavity to receive a tongue in the fastened position and a magnetically-responsive switch disposed in the cavity to detect the tongue when the seatbelt is in the fastened position.

4. The system of claim 3, wherein the magnetically-responsive switch is a micro-reed relay, a reed switch, or a Hall-effect sensor.

5. The system of claim 1, wherein each of the seats includes an audio unit.

6. The system of claim 1, wherein the remote monitoring unit is to emit an audio alarm via a first audio unit if a first seat is occupied and a first seatbelt associated with the first seat is in the unfastened position.

7. The system of claim 1, wherein the remote monitoring unit is display the overview of the seats at a central location.

8. The system of claim 1, wherein each of the seatbelts includes a buckle having a window to enable a wireless signal communication between the transceiver and the remote monitoring unit.

9. A method for monitoring seatbelts in a mass transit vehicle, the method comprising:

receiving positions of a plurality of seatbelts associated with seats of the vehicle, the positions including at least one of a fastened position or an unfastened position;

determining if one or more seats are occupied; and

displaying an overview of a cabin illustrating the seats and the positions of the seatbelts corresponding to the one or more occupied seats.

10. The method of claim 9, further including determining if one or more seats are unoccupied and displaying that the one or more seats are unoccupied.

11. The method of claim 9, wherein in response to determining that the one or more seats are occupied, displaying for each one of the one or more occupied seats a first symbol representative of the seatbelts of the one or more occupied seats being in the fastened position or a second symbol representative of the seatbelts of the one or more occupied seats being in the unfastened position.

12. The method of claim 9, wherein receiving the positions of the seatbelts includes wirelessly receiving the positions of the seatbelts from wireless transceivers coupled to the respective ones of the seatbelts.

13. The method of claim 9, further including emitting an audio alarm from at least one of the display or a first audio unit adjacent a first seat in response to determining that the first seat is occupied, and a first seatbelt associated with the first seat is in the unfastened position.

14. The method of claim 9, wherein each of the seatbelts includes a buckle defining a cavity to receive a tongue when the seatbelt is in the fastened position, the method including generating a first signal when the cavity receives the tongue and generating a second signal when the cavity does not receive the tongue.

15. A tangible computer-readable medium comprising instructions that, when executed, cause a machine to at least:

receive positions of a plurality of seatbelts associated with seats of a mass transit vehicle, the positions including at least one of a fastened position or an unfastened position;

determine if one or more seats are occupied; and

display an overview of a cabin illustrating the seats and the positions of the seatbelts corresponding to the one or more occupied seats.

16. The computer-readable medium as defined in claim 15, wherein the instructions, when executed, cause the machine to determine which of the one or more seats are unoccupied.

17. The computer-readable medium as defined in claim 16, wherein the instructions, when executed, cause the machine to display the one or more unoccupied seats.

18. The computer-readable medium as defined in claim 15, wherein the instructions, when executed, cause the machine to display at least one of a first symbol representative of the seatbelts being in the fastened position or a second symbol representative of the seatbelts being in the unfastened position.

19. The computer-readable medium as defined in claim 15, wherein the instructions, when executed, cause the machine to wirelessly receive the positions of the seatbelts.

20. The computer-readable medium as defined in claim 15, wherein the instructions, when executed, cause the machine to emit an audio alarm from at least one of the display or an audio unit adjacent a respective one of the seats in response to determining that the respective one of the seats is occupied and the seatbelt associated with the respective one of the seats is in the unfastened position.