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.

Seat belts, seat belt assemblies, seat belt systems, and methods for incorporating the seat belts, seat belt assemblies, and seat belt assembly systems are disclosed, with the seat belt including a seat belt locking mechanism sensor that, in tandem with a seat belt thermal sensor provides confirmatory information as to a definitive locking condition or locking state of a seat belt.

A Seat Belt Release device for vehicles that is a backup and redundant release. It doubles the chance of release from a seatbelt system in an emergency situation. The release device includes an alert tab on a pull ring that is configured and holds the standard receiver with an extension strap. The receiver engages the tongue of a seat belt and subsequently the electrical switch that deactivates the no-seat-belt warning buzzer. The system provides a secondary backup to the traditional push only release and enables a person in an emergency to pull a pin and quickly release the safety seat belt to allow a driver or passengers to exit the vehicle and save lives.

A monitor monitors whether a person is present inside a vehicle that travels in an automated driving mode. The monitor also monitors the state of the vehicle. A controller performs one or more actions according to the result of monitoring of the monitor. This means that when one or more persons are present inside the vehicle, the controller performs one or more actions according to the state of the vehicle. In other words, when no person is present inside the vehicle, the controller does not perform one or more actions. Here, the controller generates control information for controlling the vehicle according to the result of the monitoring, and transmits it to the vehicle.

A multimedia control apparatus and a multimedia control method for a vehicle are disclosed. The multimedia control apparatus includes a sensing device that detects a terminal position and a seat seating position in the vehicle when an open door of the vehicle is sensed; a position searcher that determines a position of a rear seat passenger based on the terminal position and the seat seating position; and a controller that controls a privacy mode operation of a rear seat multimedia device based on the position of the rear seat passenger.

A system includes a base. The system includes a buckle movable away from the base from a retracted position to an extended position. The system includes a lock movable from a locked position that maintains the buckle at the retracted position to an unlocked position that permits movement of the buckle to the extended position. The system includes a spring urging the buckle toward the retracted position.

A seat unit includes a light receiving circuit configured to output a pulsed light detection signal in two levels depending on a light reception, a switch input circuit configured to output a pulsed on-off signal in two levels depending on whether a switch mounted on the seat is turned on or turned off, a logic circuit configured to output a turn-on signal upon receipt of the light detection signal in a level indicating the light reception and the on-off signal in a turn-on level, a light emitting circuit configured to emit light upon receipt of the turn-on signal, and a delay circuit configured to delay the light detection signal. The switch input circuit cuts off, upon receipt of the delayed light detection signal in a level indicating no light reception, the power supply from a battery to the switch and to output the on-off signal in the turn-on level.

A safety protection system for passengers and drivers includes passenger and driver seat belt fastening state detection apparatuses, emergency alarm apparatuses, a car roof sounding alarm, passenger and driver fastening and isolation and protection apparatuses, wherein if a passenger is a single female, a pregnant woman, an elderly man or woman, a child, an infant, a person with difficulty in moving and an intoxicated person, an order will only be assigned to a vehicle provided with the above-mentioned apparatuses

A seat belt attachment/detachment detection switch including a printed circuit board including a circuit for detecting attachment/detachment of a seat belt; a movable plate configured to slidably move along with insertion of a tongue plate of the seat belt; a rotor including a lever coupled to the movable plate, the rotor being rotatably attached to the printed circuit board to rotate as the tongue plate is pushed into a buckle; and an electric brush attached to the surface of the rotor that faces the printed circuit board, the electric brush having leg parts that change a state of contact/non-contact with a conductive part of the circuit in accordance with a rotating state of the rotor.

An example embodiment of a system and methods for detecting and reporting whether passengers are seated and secured in their seats within a vehicle may include a passenger sensor configured to provide an output indicative of a presence of a passenger in a seat in a vehicle, a restraint sensor configured to provide an output indicative of a status of a passenger safety restraint associated with the seat, a transmitter configured to be in electronic communication with the passenger sensor and the restraint sensor and to wirelessly transmit data indicative of the presence of a passenger in the seat and the status of the restrain, and a reporting module configured to be disposed proximate a driver of the vehicle. The reporting module may be configured to receive the data from the transmitter, and output a respective status for each of a plurality of seats.