A seat belt take-up control system includes: a first belt-take-up unit mounted at a child seat, the first belt-take-up unit taking up a seat belt of a vehicle seat and applying a predetermined tension at a time of fastening the seat belt; a belt lock unit that prevents pulling out of the seat belt in a state which the seat belt has been taken up by the first belt-take-up unit; and an second belt-take-up unit that, in a state in which pulling out of the seat belt has been locked by the belt lock unit, takes up the seat belt and applies a predetermined tension after the seat belt is fastened in at least one of a case in which pulling out of the seat belt is detected or a case in which a predetermined period of time has elapsed.

A seatbelt use determination device includes: a sensor section configured to detect insertion of a seatbelt tongue into a seatbelt buckle; a detection section configured to detect rotation of a take-up section for taking up a webbing; and a notification section that is configured to, when insertion of the tongue into the buckle has been detected by the sensor section, use a detection result of the detection section to determine a predetermined improper use of the webbing and to provide notification of the improper use. When insertion of the tongue into the buckle has been detected by the sensor section, the notification section is configured to determine improper use and to notify of the improper use in cases in which a time period during which a rotation change amount per unit time of the take-up section is continuously less than a predetermined value is longer than a predetermined first threshold.

A method for operating a seat belt system (10) for an occupant (12) in a vehicle (14) comprises a belt webbing for restraining the occupant (12), a belt buckle (26) and a sensor (28) for sensing the webbing extension. The method initiates a reaction when the webbing extension exceeds a threshold which takes the minimum webbing extension after the closing of the belt buckle (26) into account.

A system includes a first webbing payout sensor and a seatbelt wear condition module. The first webbing payout sensor can detect a first webbing payout of a seatbelt associated with a seat of a vehicle. The first webbing payout is a first length of webbing of the seatbelt dispensed from a first retractor of the seatbelt. The seatbelt wear condition module can identify whether the seatbelt is worn correctly based on the first webbing payout. The system may further include a second webbing payout sensor that detects a second webbing payout of the seatbelt associated with the seat. The second webbing payout is a second length of webbing of the seatbelt dispensed from a second retractor of the seatbelt. The seatbelt wear condition module identifies whether the seatbelt is worn correctly based on the first webbing payout and the second webbing payout.

A sensor system for determining extension or tension in a seat belt of a seat-belt system in which the belt extends from and can be wound up on a retractor. The system has an electrical conductor extending longitudinally along the belt, a retractor for paying out and winding up the belt and the conductor thereon, and n electrode juxtaposed with the retractor. A controller connected to the conductor applies an electrical voltage to the conductor and is also connected to the electrode for detecting the voltage in the conductor.

A sensor system for determining extension or tension in a seat belt of a seat-belt system in which the belt extends from and can be wound up on a retractor. The system has an electrical conductor extending longitudinally along the belt, a retractor for paying out and winding up the belt and the conductor thereon, and n electrode juxtaposed with the retractor. A controller connected to the conductor applies an electrical voltage to the conductor and is also connected to the electrode for detecting the voltage in the conductor.

A seatbelt retractor includes a retractor frame, a spool fixed for common rotation with a spool shaft, a seatbelt webbing wrapped around the spool, a reduction mechanism, and a sensor coupled to the reduction mechanism for sensing the movement of the spool.

A computer that may be programmed to: in response to receiving an indication that a vehicle is approaching a geofence boundary, retract slack in a webbing associated with a seat in the vehicle by actuating a seatbelt retractor; then receive measurement data from one or more sensors associated with the seat; using the data, determine whether an occupant occupies the seat; and when no occupant occupies the seat, then transmit an instruction to stop the vehicle.

An in-vehicle control apparatus performs a hazard avoidance process. The in-vehicle control apparatus includes an anomaly determination section, an alarm control section, and a hazard avoidance control section. The anomaly determination section determines whether a driver is under driving inability state during travel of the vehicle, based on information on monitoring of state of the driver. The alarm control section activates an alarm annunciator to issue an alarm outwardly from the vehicle when the driver is determined to be under driving inability state. After the alarm annunciator starts the alarm, the hazard avoidance control section fails to perform the hazard avoidance process when the alarm is stopped by a manipulation of the driver and performs the hazard avoidance process when a specified time elapses under state where the alarm is not stopped since the starting of the alarm.

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.