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 child car seat is provided, comprising a base; a seat coupled to the base; and a sensor device mounted to the base or the seat, the sensor device including a sensor that outputs a measurement signal indicating whether a child is present in the seat, a processor that receives the measurement signal and determines whether a child is present, and a communication circuit that transmits a proximity signal configured for reception by a first mobile device. The proximity signal causes a first alert to be communicated to the first mobile device in response to the first mobile device exceeding a range from the sensor device, and a second alert to be communicated to a second mobile device if, after a threshold amount of time, the measurement signal continues to indicate that a child is present and no response is received in response to the first alert.

A new approach is proposed that contemplates system and method to backseat child safety in a passenger vehicle by preventing locking of the vehicle in a parked state when at least one of its backseats is occupied. Specifically, one or more backseat sensors are each configured to detect if one of the backseats of the vehicle is occupied by a passenger. Upon accepting signals from the backseat sensors indicating that at least one of the backseat is occupied, a vehicle controller is configured to disallow locking of the vehicle in the parked state. The vehicle controller is configured to only enable locking of the vehicle when a backdoor corresponding to the occupied backseat has been opened as detected by one of a plurality of backdoor sensors, which generates and provides a backdoor signal to the vehicle controller when the corresponding backdoor to the occupied backseat is opened.

An alarm system can remind or alert an adult about the presence of a child in a vehicle. A child detector, such as a weight sensor or weight-activated circuit, can detect whether a child is occupying the child safety seat. The child detector may be integrated with or coupled to a child safety seat. The child detector can be used in coordination with a vehicle alarm system to remind or alert a driver that a child is occupying the child safety seat when a key is not in the ignition.

A load exerted on one of supporting parts supporting a seat of a vehicle is detected and is corrected according to an inclination of the vehicle. A load object on the seat is determined a plurality of times of turning on and turning off an ignition of the vehicle using the load thus corrected or the load detected. The load object is determined as an adult at least when the load is greater than or equal to a first threshold and determined as other than an adult at least when the load is less than a second threshold that is less than the first threshold. A function is further provided of determining the load object from a combination of a magnitude relation between the load and a third threshold less than or equal to the first threshold and greater than the second threshold and the inclination of the vehicle.

Disclosed herein are various aspects of a buckle assembly for use with a child safety seat. The buckle assembly comprises a buckle sensor, the buckle sensor configured for determining whether fasteners of the child safety seat are secured into the buckle assembly; a processor coupled with the buckle sensor; and a transceiver coupled with the processor, the transceiver for communicating with a control system of a vehicle. The transceiver is configured to receive a signal from the control system, the signal indicating at least what gear the vehicle is in and whether the vehicle's ignition is on or off; and signal the control system after a first period of time has passed after receiving a signal that the vehicle's ignition is off and the fasteners remain secured into the buckle.

Embodiments include a vehicle comprising a user interface, a first sensor coupled to a child seat for detecting a child seat belt status; a gear selector for selecting a vehicle gear, and a processor communicatively coupled to the first sensor and the gear selector, and configured to cause the user interface to present a first notification if a first alarm condition is detected based on the child seat belt status and a selected gear. Embodiments also include a method of providing child seat monitoring in a vehicle, the method comprising receiving a gear position from a vehicle gear selector, receiving a child seat belt status from a first sensor coupled to a vehicle child seat, and presenting a first notification using a vehicle user interface if the gear position is a non-park position and the child seat belt status is unbuckled.

A vehicular safety system includes a vehicle that has a plurality of seat belts, an alarm and an ignition. Each of the seat belts is operationally coupled to the alarm and the ignition. A car seat is provided that has a belt and a clasp. The car seat is removably positioned within the vehicle. A conductor is coupled to the car seat and the conductor is selectively electrically coupled between the clasp and one of the seat belts when the car seat is occupied. Thus, the alarm detects when the conductor is operationally coupled to the buckle. The alarm generates an alarm sequence when the ignition is turned off and the conductor is electrically coupled between the clasp and the buckle. The alarm sequence includes an audible alarm such that the alarm may inhibit an occupant from being inadvertently left in the vehicle. A switch is positioned within the vehicle such that the may be manipulated. The switch is electrically coupled to the alarm and the switch de-actuates the alarm when the switch is manipulated.

A pressure-sensitive pad is installed either between a child car seat and the vehicle seat OR between the child and the child car seat that communicates with an alerting system. This pad includes a pressure sensor, a battery, a stored program computing system having a processor executing instructions from a, and communications system compatible with the alerting system. The alerting system is a wireless system that both measures a proximity of the responsible party to the pressure pad and issues an indication (e.g., one or more of an audio, visual, haptic, vibratory, and the like signal(s)) that a proximity (e.g., local geo-fence around the pad) distance has been exceeded AND that the child remains in the child seat. The alerting system may be installed in an alert system that is part of a portable electronic device (e.g., smartphone) or a special module (e.g., key fob).

A car seat occupant detection system for a car seat installed in a vehicle is provided. The system includes at least one harness sensor for detecting whether connectors of a car seat harness are connected and a weight sensor for detecting the weight of an occupant in the car seat. The system includes a controller in communication with the at least one harness sensor and the weight sensor. The system includes a transceiver configured to selectively communicate with a driver device via a local wireless link and with a third party device via a wide area wireless link. The controller determines whether or not an occupant in the car seat has been abandoned by a driver based on detections of the at least one harness sensor, the weight sensor, and communication range status between the transceiver and the driver communication device via the local wireless link.