Embodiments of the present invention provide a seat belt retainer for a vehicle, the retainer comprising a body having an opening, the body being configured for attachment to a support. An actuator is mounted within the opening, the actuator being moveable within the opening for actuating a seat latch mechanism. A guide is supported by the body, the guide defining an at least partial aperture for receiving a seat belt therethrough. The actuator and the guide are at least partly aligned along the longitudinal axis of the seat belt passing through the aperture, in use.

Disclosed are techniques and apparatuses for seat belt status detection in a vehicle. In an aspect, a method includes the operations of: obtaining first infrared (IR) images and second visible light images of a seat belt region where a seat belt is expected to be visible when it is worn by a person in the vehicle; transmitting the first images to a first classifier and the second image to a second classifier; determining a first estimate of probability and a second estimate of probability that the seat belt is correctly worn, from the first and second classifiers; combining the two estimates of probability, using respective scores attributed to the first and second images, each score being indicative of the trustworthiness of the corresponding image to detect a seat belt status, to determine a combined probability; and comparing the combined probability to a predetermined threshold to determine a seat belt status.

A safety alert system includes a child seat that may be positioned within a vehicle. The child seat has a plurality of belts and each of the belts may restrain a child in the child seat. A remote unit may be retrofitted to a dome light of the vehicle. The remote unit generates an alarm sequence when a door of the vehicle is opened. A base unit is removably coupled to the belts on the child seat and the base unit is in electrical communication with the remote unit. The base unit emits an audible alarm when the remote unit generates the alarm sequence. Thus, the base unit may prevent the child from being inadvertently left unattended in the vehicle.

An infant safety car seat seamlessly and permanently integrated into the bench seat between two adult seats or replacing the adult seats if more than one is incorporated into the vehicle. The child seat is sunken or not below and behind the vehicle bench and seat and safety harnesses are permanently installed to secure an infant in the safety seat. The seat adjusts to allow forward or rearward facing configurations suitable to different ages of the infant, from zero to eight years old. Security features are internally integrated to prevent the incidence of leaving an unbuckled and/or an unattended infant in a vehicle that includes some combination of a scale, hasps sensors in display and video monitor of cameras in screen.

A plus-two-point belt system is disclosed. The plus-two-point belt system includes a longitudinal webbing anchored at a first end to a seat and fixed at a second end to a retractor. The webbing is extendable from the retractor to allow an occupant to slip their arm under the webbing to provide a supplemental restraint. The webbing includes first and second portions where the second portion is retractably coiled on the retractor and the second portion has at least one conductive marker. A sensor is provided to sense the marker and a processor is provided to set an alarm when the marker is not detected.

A monitoring system for buses includes presence sensors and belt sensors connected to slaves connected to a connection cable to transport the signals from the slaves in such a way to form a field bus. The connection cable is connected to a master that receives the signals from the slaves. The master is connected to a human-machine interface (HMI) by a network cable.

Disclosed is a system and method for passenger safety. A sensing unit, remote device, and/or fob may interoperate to provide various alerts and other indications representative of aspects of a context environment proximate to a sensing unit. In this manner, passenger safety may be enhanced.

Safety apparatus for indicating the usage state of a seat belt. The seat belt has a strap spooled from a retractor and being lockable to a buckle by a tongue. The apparatus has an indicator unit for mounting to an upper part of a seat. A lock indicator is provided on the indicator unit and, in use, is operably connected to the buckle for indicating a state when the tongue has been locked into the buckle. A strap indicator is provided for indicating a state when a spooled length of the strap exceeds a threshold corresponding to a predetermined minimum length of strap needed to secure a body with the seat belt. The lock indicator and the strap indicator are detectable by a camera.

An overhead console includes a console housing, an illumination board, a vehicle interior checking mirror, a mirror surface light source mounted on the illumination board together with the illumination light source and configured to emit light toward the mirror surface of the vehicle interior checking mirror in the mirror surface visible position, and a see-through display plate that is a display plate capable of transparently displaying a symbol indicating predetermined information, the see-through display plate being provided in the console housing at a location between the mirror surface light source and the mirror surface so as not to hinder the passenger from visually recognizing the mirror surface and so as to face a partial region of the mirror surface, and the see-through display plate being configured to allow light from the mirror surface light source to transmit therethrough to display the symbol on the partial region of the mirror surface.

Electronic circuit device for constantly monitoring the correct use of the safety belt in the area of a vehicle, comprising: general power supply battery and a ignition key; one or more infrared light emitting diodes located at the upper part facing each of the positions of the driver and/or passenger; one or more pulse generators (G.sub.E, . . . , G.sub.En) connected to one or more infrared light emitting diodes; one or more infrared light receiving diodes located at each position with a safety belt; one or more infrared light receiving diodes in each of the safety belts located on the diagonal strap thereof; one or more electronic circuits consisting of two Steps 1 and Stage 2 associated in conjunction with each safety belt, Step 1 commanded by the infrared light receiving diode located in the seat of the driver and/or passengers determines the presence or absence of an occupant and Stage 2 commanded by the infrared light receiving diode located in the diagonal strap of the safety belt is enabled according to the status of Step 1, determining the use of the safety belt; and an audible and/or luminous alarm with an associated timer circuit within the area of use of the safety belt integrated for all devices; each set of steps 1 and 2 of the one or more operating circuits working autonomously for each of the safety belts.