Improvements in an abandoned baby, infant, child or animal alter system is disclosed. When a child or animal is being transported with a driver in the vehicle, the driver will generally maintain a comfortable temperature in the interior of the vehicle. The temperature and temperature changes are monitored to determine that a child or animal is unattended. The monitor is coupled with a connection in the car, a seat belt of a baby seat or integrated into the baby seat. Integrating the sensor with a seat belt or buckle provides a switch for operation of the sensor. The signaling system can be integrated with the light, horn or alarm or can be connected to a cellular network, Wi-Fi or other radio communications system to send a notification that a baby, infant, child or animal has been left and secured in a vehicle and needs attention.

A child seat-vehicle safety system for a passenger vehicle, including at least one child seat buckle signaling device with a buckling detector for signaling the buckle status, and a portable controller device that attaches to the On-Board Diagnostic II (OBD-II) port of the vehicle, for detecting the status of the vehicle ignition system, receiving the buckle status signal, and generating an alarm signal in response to a predetermined condition of the ignition status and the buckle status signal. The system provides a method of warning a vehicle operator that a child has been left buckled in a vehicle after the vehicle's ignition system has been turned off, by generating an alarm signal when the ignition status is off and the buckle status signal is buckled beyond a predetermined grace or timeout period.

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.

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 system for operating a configurable buckle apparatus and associated method. The system includes an occupant type identification module configured to determine, based on data indicative of one or more occupant qualities of an occupant seated within a seat of a vehicle, the occupant's status as an assisted occupant or an unassisted occupant. The system further includes a locking mechanism control module configured to communicate a signal to a locking mechanism of the configurable buckle apparatus to cause the locking mechanism to transition from a locked mode to an unlocked mode in response to the determination of an assisted occupant. In the locked mode, the locking mechanism is secured to a latch coupled to a seat belt webbing associated with the seat, and, in the unlocked mode of the locking mechanism, the latch is removable from the locking mechanism.

The invention is related to a buckle housing (1; 1) for a safety belt in a child safety seat. The buckle housing (1; 1) comprises a recess (2; 2) adapted to receive a tongue (3; 3) of the safety belt, a magnet (4; 4) 5 arranged within the housing (1; 1) to be movable between a first position (P1) and a second position (P2) thereof, and a magnet sensor (5; 5) arranged in the housing (1, 1) and adapted to detect when the magnet (4, 4) is in the second position (P2). The invention also relates to a method for indicating the presence of a tongue (3; 3) in a belt buckle housing (1; 1).

A monitoring system for determining whether the child or pet has been left unattended within the vehicle. The system may include a vehicle device having a monitoring platform, an alarm switch, and an alert device, which may emit an alarm if a first sensor detects the presence of the child or pet and a second sensor detects that the vehicle is in an off state. The system further may include a portable alert device that detects its location relative to the vehicle device, and emits an alarm if it is located outside a predetermined zone surrounding the monitoring platform. In another embodiment, the system may include a vehicle device having a sensor that detects whether the vehicle transitions from an on state to an off state and an alert device that emits an alarm if the sensor detects that the vehicle transitions to the off state.

A safety seat with an alert function includes a seat body, a seat belt, and a buckle assembly. The buckle assembly is installed on the seat body in a seesaw structure. The alert system includes a control module, and a position sensor and a buckle sensor which are electrically connected to the control module. The position sensor is on the buckle assembly. The buckle sensor is in a buckle component of the buckle assembly. When the control module determines that the position sensor is triggered and the seat belt is not buckled to the buckle component, the control module sends an alert signal to remind parents or drivers to engage the buckle component in time to ensure the safety of a child on the safety seat.

A child safety seat, including a seat body; and a seat base. The seat body is rotatably mounted on the seat base, and the seat body is rotatable between a forward-facing use mode and a rearward-facing use mode. The child safety seat further includes at least one impact protection block mounting position; and a safety prompt system. The safety prompt system sends reminder information when a side impact protection block is not mounted or not accurately mounted. A child safety seat, including a seat base. The seat base includes a second mounting seat, a turntable, a fifth detection apparatus, and a second control module. A safety belt mounting prompt system and a safety belt mounting prompt method, used in a child safety seat. The safety belt mounting prompt system includes: a safety belt detection apparatus, a seating detection apparatus, and a third control module.

Systems and methods for automatically evaluating a vehicle seat replacement after a vehicle collision. Upon detecting a vehicle collision is detected, obtaining vehicle seat condition data from vehicle seat sensors and vehicle condition data from vehicle sensors. Analyzing the vehicle seat condition data and/or the vehicle condition data to detect one or more collision conditions indicating (i) the vehicle is not drivable, (ii) a vehicle door proximate the vehicle seat is damaged, (iii) an airbag of the vehicle is deployed, and/or (iv) the vehicle seat is visibly damaged. In response to detecting the one or more collision conditions, generating a recommendation to replace the vehicle seat and providing the recommendation to a user device.